“Rose,” I said softly. “Do you forgive me?”
Eleven
Rose
I stared at him with my eyes wide and filled with tears, not knowing what to say.
There were no words to make it all better, nothing I could have said to make him forget the hardships he’d gone through. I wanted desperately to convince him things would be okay, but the tragedy he’d spoken about was something I had never dealt with. My biggest heartbreak was losing Mummy, but I couldn’t imagine losing a child and a relationship in one fell swoop.
“I’m so sorry,” I finally managed to get out, feeling stupid and awkward all at once and struggling to convey how much I felt for him, how tragic this news was. “I wish I knew how to make things better.”
“You do,” he said, his voice softer than I’d possibly ever heard it. “You make it better every day, my Rose. You make it more bearable. You make me believe in a silly thing like love again.”
My eyes lit up as he took my face in his fingers and left a long, lingering kiss on my waiting lips. I wanted him so badly. I wanted to submit to him fully, let him have all of me. And I wanted desperately to spend the rest of the day with him, only us and our love story, not memories of something bitter and cruel.
As if he was reading my mind, Thorn got off the bed and turned to face me, saying, “I thought we’d spend the afternoon together. I’ve asked the kitchen to pack lunch for us.”
“Where are we going?” I asked, unable to hide the smile that had made its way on my face.
“I’m taking you to the beach,” he said simply.
I had wanted to go to the beach since the moment I first saw it through my window. Now, the time had finally come, and I found myself nervous and excited not only at the prospect of leaving the Mansion again, but also because I was excited to spend the day with Thorn.
One of the silent maids gave us a large picnic basket, and Thorn carried it with him as we made our way down to the shore. There was a path amidst the shrubs, one that Thorn had told me only he was allowed to use. He showed me how to look for it, how to find the hidden trail that led from the cliffs down to the beautiful, seemingly untouched coast.
When we reached the bottom of the hill, my toes buried themselves in the soft sand and I exhaled a soft sigh of happiness.
“I can’t swim,” I told Thorn as he led me forward. “I never learned.”
“No?” he asked, seemingly surprised.
It made my cheeks color and I felt embarrassed for having admitted it.
“I’ll teach you,” he promised me.
I helped him get a huge blanket out of the basket and we set up a place on the sand with towels. It wasn’t too hot just yet, but the day was pleasant and sunny, the sun high in the air. I was so excited to spend the day with him, and there was nowhere I’d rather have done it than on the beach.
“I don’t have a swimsuit,” I realized later on, but Thorn merely laughed at my words.
“As if I’d let you wear one, little Rose,” he grinned devilishly, making me smile wide as well. “I want your naked body against mine in the water.”
He led me into the small waves lapping at the shore, his fingers firmly holding onto my hand. He held me in a reassuring way that told me everything would be alright, even though I was freaking out a little at the prospect of being in the water. I’d been in swimming pools before, of course, but I’d somehow managed to avoid the swimming lessons at school because I was genuinely terrified of it.
Now, as the water reached up to my hips, my bottom lip trembled and I turned towards Thorn with an exasperated expression on my face.
“I… I don’t know if I can do this,” I admitted shakily.
He stepped to me, water splashing around us as he took my face in his hands and kissed me yet again. One of his signature deep kisses that convinced me everything would be alright.
“Let’s begin,” he said gently, and he placed his hands at the small of my back, gently lowering me into the water.
Panic kicked in. Inevitable, frightened panic made me kick at the waves, splash Thorn and struggle in his arms.
“It’s okay,” he said gently, water dripping off his hair. “We’ll take things slow. Really fucking slow, Rose. Just feel the water on your skin. Let yourself float. I’ve got you.”
For some reason I believed him, and I did as he asked, slowly floating on the salty water. The sun hung high and heavy in the sky, and the water was pleasantly warm. It felt incredible to be one with nature, my naked body glistening with drops of water just like Thorn’s was. Underneath me, I could feel the rigid thickness of him probing against my hips, and I could tell he was aroused. But he was patient with me, never asking for a thing as he held me in the water.