Eversea A Love Story

are still friends, as far as I know.” He shrugged and gave a small grin. “She made the best Digi Cake.”
    “The best what?”
    “It’s cake made with chocolate, syrup, crushed cookies and butter. A heart attack on a plate.”
    “Sounds amazing.” I pulled my hand away from his hip and slid it through his hair, then across his face and down the side of his body and back to the beautiful artwork. Running my fingers over it, I followed every line and curve and ribbon, and then without thinking, I lowered my mouth and kissed every section of it. I ran my tongue over the angry raised ridges here and there like I could erase them away.
    Jack was tense and still as he watched but didn’t stop me.
    There was no pity in my actions. It was simply worship of the man who had been forged out of his past. I didn’t care if Jack wasn’t his real name, and I didn’t want to know it. He was Jack to me. I wanted to take away his pain. “I can think of another damn good thing that came out of it,” I whispered, noticing he was becoming aroused again.
    “What?” he asked.
    “You.” I took a deep breath and pushed him onto his back.
    Jack tensed. His hand came to my hair. “What are you doing?”
    “Show me?” I asked nervously and proceeded to make love to him the way he had to me.
    “I don’t think ... I need to,” Jack stuttered out, and this time it was his hand, white knuckled, grabbing fistfuls of sheet.
     

 
    T W E N T Y – N I N E
    The next morning when I awoke with the bright sunlight streaming in Jack’s window, it was to find myself with Jack still wrapped fully around me, in a very similar position to the one we’d fallen asleep in. I smiled groggily, closing my eyes against the bright glare and reveled in the feel of us cocooned together.
    My heart was floating somewhere far above me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had woken up with such buoyant happiness. I had to work later today, but perhaps Jack and I could kayak this morning, and I could see what other materials I could find. If I was going to start creating things again, I needed to start collecting more raw materials. And oh man, I was hungry. We never had gotten around to dinner or even eating the cheese and crackers Jazz packed.
    My stomach chose that moment to growl, loudly. The sound was followed, immediately, by the bed vibrating as Jack laughed at me. I guessed he was awake. I reached my hand behind me and smacked where I expected his butt to be.
    Quick as a flash, he rolled onto me, pressing me, belly down, into the mattress as his voice growled playfully in my ear. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” And then his stomach growled, too. I burst out giggling.
    “I guess that makes us even.” He laughed and reached for his boxers. “Time for food.”
    “I have no idea where my underwear ended up,” I said, looking around the bed and holding the sheet up to cover my nakedness.
    “I ate it.”
    “Ha ha. Seriously, these girls need confining, where’s my bra?”
    Jack laughed and dropped to his hands and knees at the end of the bed then came up and snapped my bra at me, followed by my panties. “Nice color.”
    “Thanks,” I mumbled, my cheeks flushed again.
    He pulled his jeans on, and then came and pressed a lingering kiss to my lips before heading to the bathroom.
    I dressed quickly, opened the French doors to the view, and inhaled the cool ocean air. Glad I had a moment in the fresh light of day to think for a second and compose myself, I thought about what Jack had told me last night. It was such a big secret, and he had trusted me with it. I was humbled at the same time my heart broke for him. It explained so much about who Jack was. The fact that, as a scared six-year-old boy, his instinct had been to fight his mother’s attacker rather than run and hide was a testament to his courage and strength of character. I had sensed all this about him, but knowing what I knew now, while it underscored what I felt for him, was no great comfort.
    I took a deep breath and focused on the beauty laid out before me as Jack came up behind me and propped a chin on my shoulder. He snaked his arms around my waist, the warmth of his bare chest at my back. I smiled and leaned my head back against his.
    “Hey, do you see the staked out squares down there in the dunes?” I pointed down to the left about twenty yards along the beach. “Someone found a turtle nest and marked it out. When those turtles grow up, they’ll