Fire - Betrayal Read Free Page A

delighted by the smell of the fresh, pure, salty ocean air.
    I held Ben’s hand lightly as we walked together in silence along the shore, my senses alert to the gentle waves breaking upon the beach, my ears listening to the rhythmic water washing up onto the sand.
    Then I stood in the shallow waves alone, feeling the coolness of the salt water soothing my feet.  I closed my eyes and tilted my head to the heavens as the burdens of the past couple of years lightened.
    I turned to face Ben. He had stood back, watching me, hands in his pockets.
    But by the time that I had walked over to him, he was sitting on the sand.
    He watched me as I came closer to him, his cerulean eyes alluring. My heart quickened just at the thought that I would be close to him.
    I sat so very close to him , but I did not touch him in any way. I was teasing him because he would expect me to touch him. He looked at me, and then looked away smiling, before looking back at me again.  He moved his lips, about to speak to me, but then stopped himself.  Was he playing the game too?   I smiled at him, and then turned to watch the final moments of the setting sun, in silence, next to the man who had stolen my heart.
    Then the sun finally set, scattering its rays of red, orange and yellow into the darkening sky .  I looked at him again, still not saying a word.
    He did not speak either, but focused on the sand in front.
    But I am sure that he heard me giggle quietly. I know that he pretended to ignore it, before he looked over at me, his face intense.
    My eyes met his, deeply.  He held my gaze with passion, taking my breath away until I dropped my eyes from his.  Still, we did not speak.
    I could feel the energy moving between us, pulling me closer to him.  But I resisted it, choosing not to touch him.  I knew that he would not cope with it.
    But to my surprise, he got up and walked to the water’s edge.  How could he do that?  How could he walk away instead of touching me like I wanted him to do?
    After what seemed like a n eternity, he turned around to face me.  There I sat on the beach in the same position as before he left. He walked slowly over to me, and then stopped in front of me.
    Still, not a word was spoken.
    He reached out his hands to me.  I reached up and he gently pulled me up off the sand, sending a jolt of electricity through my body, the moment our hands touched.
    Still, not a word was spoken.
    He burned his cerulean eyes into mine, taking my breath away .
    Yet, he still waited, torturing me .
    Then I could not resist my intense attraction to him anymore. I was weaker than he was. Little by little, I moved my lips closer to his, gently touching, before he kissed me with deep lingering passion. I ran my hand up to the back of Ben’s head and pulled his lips more firmly to mine and moaned softly at the pleasure of our kiss.
    An d then Ben pulled away.
     
    He looked into my eyes, and I understood that he would not break his promise of purity.
    Silently, I held his hand as we walked back to the beach house, saturated with strong feelings of desire for him, strong feelings that I could not act upon.
    As we entered the beach house, thunder rumbled in the distance, and the atmosphere became highly static.
    “ Cate, let’s get a bite to eat at the Resort’s Beach House Café before the storm rolls in. You’ll love it there,” he said.
    “How do you know that I’ll love it Ben?  Have you been here before?  What do you know that I don’t?” I inquisitively asked.  I knew that Ben wasn’t giving me all the details about this place, and it annoyed me.  I didn’t like surprises. I liked to know what was coming up and what would be happening at all times.  I liked to feel in control.
    I gave Ben an untrusting look, but went along with his plan begrudgingly.  If I wasn’t so hungry, I would have argued more, and definitely worked the truth out of him somehow.  I was good at outwitting him, or so I thought.
    In between the