Nathan, Kate and Derick was already at the beach house when we arrived. The car was parked in front of the house with the boot and the back door standing open. My mind was still focused on what happened hours ago. I couldn't concentrate on the house or the surroundings.

All I wanted to do was get away from him. The moment he parked the truck, I pushed the door open and stumbled up the steps and into the house. For a moment I was shocked by the open floor plan, but the shock broke when Stephen called out behind me.

I made a beeline for the stairs and took it two at a time.
The second floor contained six doors. One of them stood open and from inside I could hear Kate's voice. I turned left and entered the first door. It looked like the master bedroom.

Pressing my back against the door, I allowed the sob to escape. More followed and soon after I found myself on the floor with my knees against my chest.

“Alia?”

I pressed my mouth against my arm and squeezed my eyes shut.

“Baby please open up for me,” Stephen begged from the other side of the door. “Alia?”

Sniffing, I wiped the tears from my cheeks and the stumbled to my feet. I hesitated with my hand on the doorknob. He has a good explanation, the voice in the back of my head whispered. Stephen would never do that to you otherwise.

With a shaky breath, I pulled the door open and then turned away. Stephen closed the door silently behind him once he entered. For a few minutes there was only silence until he broke it.

“I'm sorry Alia.”

When I reached the bed my legs gave way beneath me. Another sob escaped before I could stop it. A second later I felt his arms around me. Stephen pulled me onto his lap and pressed my tightly against his chest.

His face was buried against my neck as he rocked us back and forth. As my tears dried I realized two things; my neck was damp and Stephen was crying. I pulled away from him and cupped his cheeks so I could look at him. His eyes were red rimmed and his cheeks damp.

“Alia,” he breathed, squeezing his eyes shut. “I’m s-so f-fucking sorry. W-what I did– no words could e-explain how sorry I am.”

“What happened?” I whispered. “We were talking and then you suddenly-” I broke off.

He swallowed, and pressed his forehead against mine. “My mother died while giving birth to me so my grandparents took me in. When they died I was sent to foster care. What you said about tying me up it triggered some memories.” He sucked in a breath. “I was trying..then you were there and… I'm so fucking sorry Alia.”

Now it was my turn to comfort him as he started crying again. I straddled his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. The conversation we had floated through my mind. I had asked him if I could tie him up and that's what caused him to withdraw from me.

“Shh,” I whispered, stroking his hair. “It's okay.”

Stephen pulled back to look at me. “I'll do anything you want me to do to make it up to you baby. Just tell me what I have to do.”

“Is this why you don't want it to go further?” I asked instead of answering him.

He reached up to stroke my cheek with shaking fingers. “I'm pretty sure things has already moved past our arrangement.”

I blinked at him. What does he mean?

“When I first got into town all I was thinking about was that this town better be fucking better than the last one. Small towns have less crime and sometimes that's pretty boring. The first day on the job was just as I thought it would be– fucking boring. So I went out with my brother and I got drunk, that's when I met Kate.” I winced. “We were both pretty fucking drunk but I was still aware of what I was doing. I booked us into a hotel for the night. After that things got better. I was assigned a new case– one they had trouble solving.” Stephen ran his fingers down to the strap of my dress. “And then I found you. I was going through the website and I stumbled across your add. When I realized you were the chief's daughter I thought I'd give you the biggest scare of your life. I thought that with your father as a cop that you'd at least have a better prospect of the danger out there.”

“We were never close.”

“I noticed that,” he nodded. “I kinda wrote a speech on my way to the café, everything I could think of that could scare you. And then I saw you,” he smiled. “The moment you looked up at me with these beautiful eyes, all the words flew from my mind. I knew that I had to walk away from you, but I couldn't. There's something about you that pulls me in. I'm a cop so I knew how much trouble we would be in if we got caught, but I still made the suggestion. Hell baby, the moment I saw you I wanted to take you right there.”

“I thought you couldn't stand to look at me,” I whispered, “in the bathroom.”

Stephen chuckled. “It was the opposite. I wanted to fuck you so I tried to think of anything but you. You were half naked and you were right there. All I had to do was strip your pants.”

“I felt like you didn't want me because of how I look.”

He shook his head then leaned forward to trail his lips over my cheek. “I told you baby, I fucking love your body.”

“Stephen-”

He silenced me by smashing his lips on mine. I moaned, gripped his hair as I pressed my body closer to his. Breaking the kiss, he stared at me with strange emotion in his eyes.

“I know I said that we shouldn't involve feelings, that we should keep this mutual. But, if you're willing, I'd like to take things further. I'd like to see how this goes.”

“You really mean it?”

“Alia Dune, will you do me the honour of becoming my girlfriend?”

A smile broke out across my face as my heart swelled with happiness. I fought the urge to stand up and dance around. Leaning down, I pressed my lips against his. Stephen allowed me to control the kiss, but only for a few minutes before he took over. I could feel him swell against me and that made excitement and panic fill me.

My muscle's clenched as I remembered the feel of him inside me. There was still pain but I knew once the pain faded it'll only be pleasurable.

“Oh I'm so sorry!”

I broke away and buried my face against his neck as he chuckled. We didn't hear the door open until it was too late. I heard Nathan muttering under his breath as he walked down the hall.

“Are you sharing my room?”

“No, but I'll sneak in when everyone's asleep.” He kissed my cheek before placing me on the bed.

With a wink he walked out of the room. The moment the door closed behind him, I let out a squeal.

We're actually fucking dating! I sat up on the bed and glanced around.

The room was almost the same size as mine at home. A king size bed was pushed up against the wall between a medium-sized window with a window seat, and French doors that led out onto a balcony. One wall was decorated in only dark grey cabinets and the other wall held photo frames and other small shelves with ornaments. A door to the left led into a spacious bathroom that was the same colour scheme as the bedroom.

I kicked off my sandals and curled my toes into the soft carpet. The heat of the day was catching up on us, even if it was only past ten. Pulling my sandals back on, I headed out of the room and downstairs. I was surprised by the open-plan of the first floor.

The staircase was set in the middle; to the right was the living room and to the left was a sort of game room. Behind the stairs was the kitchen and then sliding doors that led out onto a wooden patio. I turned to study the living room.

There was a stone fireplace right in front of me with a flat screen TV mounted above it. Leather couches was placed neatly around to face it. In the middle was a small coffee table that held a bowl of fake flowers. The floor was made out of the same rug that was in the bedroom upstairs. I turned to face the game room.

The windows were large– it gave a perfect view of the front yard. Sunlight streamed in from between the trees which gave the room a nice glow. A small step led down onto a white tiled floor.

There was a pool table to the left and a smaller poker table to the right. A Pinball game was pushed against the wall between two smaller windows.

The kitchen looked like something out of a magazine. There was an island with six barstools placed around it neatly. To the left stood a table with six chairs placed neatly around it. A bowl of fake food was place in the middle on top of a blue cloth.

I stepped into the kitchen and trailed my hand over the black and white marble countertop. The kitchen contained all the best appliances that were on the market. I was eager to go outside and explore the beach, but I needed to help the guys first. Half an hour later all our things were packed away.

Stephen had dropped my bag in the room we were in earlier, and chose the bedroom next to that one.

Kate and Derrick would be sharing a room and Nathan had his own. Once everything was packed away we all gathered in the kitchen. I took a seat at the island so I could watch Nathan as he made sandwiches. Derrick was standing on a chair next to him completely focused on helping him.

It felt strange being here with my teacher but I was glad he came along. Derick seemed to have taken to him instantly– much to Kate's disappointment. I could tell by her expression that she never really wanted to bring her son along.

“We still need to get some things,” Stephen entered the kitchen. “Sebastian forgot to stock up.”

Goosebumps broke out over my skin when Stephen pressed a kiss to my neck. He wrapped an arm around my waist and buried his face against my neck.

“Did they say when they'll arrive?” Nathan questioned.

“Around noon,” Stephen muttered. “Alia and I will go get the groceries.”

“I'll come along,” Kate said. “I need to get some things.”

“No.” Stephen pulled away from me. “There's a local shop just down the road. I'm only getting the basics and by that I mean food and such. We can go explore the town a bit tomorrow.”

***

I followed Stephen silently down the aisles with the cart. He grabbed things from the shelves and threw it inside before walking on. By the time the cart was already half full he seemed to be satisfied.

“Is there anything specific you want?” he asked me, as he glanced over his shoulder.

“If I want something else, I'll buy it myself.” I was already feeling guilty that he had to buy all this stuff.

Stephen stopped and then turned to face me. He cupped my cheek ad tilted my chin upwards so I looked up at him.

“You're my girl and I have the right to spoil you if I want to,” he said.

He pecked my lips and then turned again. I followed him down another aisle. It wasn't until we were halfway down it that I realized which aisle we were in. Stephen suddenly stopped. I pulled the chart to a stop just before it could hit him.

“What are you doing?”

“You said you wanted to know what it felt like to be completely bare, and since you don't want to shave we're looking at other options,” he said pointing to the shelves.

I bit my lips as I walked closer to him. For a second I hesitated but then turned to look at my options. One shelf held different kinds of lube, another held different boxes of condoms. And the one we stood in front of held wax and other hair removal options.

I was pretty sure I looked like a tomato at the moment. This was usually the aisle I avoided whenever I did shopping.

“So?”

My eyes trailed over the choices. They all pretty much seemed the same to me. I shrugged at him then risked a glance at him. He was smirking down at me.

“I dunno, what do you use?”

He reached out and picked up a light blue box. Reading it over he held it out to me. The instructions were pretty simple and it was a natural product so chances of infection was slim.

“Okay,” I said, turning to dump it into the cart.

“We need something else also.” He took a step to the left. “Do you want flavoured or glow in the dark condoms?”

My mouth fell open and then slammed close. I glanced around. A couple stood at the end of the aisle talking softly amongst themselves.

“Baby, which do you want?”

“You're serious?” I asked in disbelief.

Stephen chuckled. “No,” he leaned down, “but we need to stock up. Or would you rather buy some when we go to the mall tomorrow?”

I groaned, burying my face against his chest. This was normal for some people but not for me. I never thought I'd find myself standing in a shop discussing condoms.

“Just take normal ones,” I muttered.

“Right.”

I pulled away when he stepped forward. My cheeks got hotter by the minute. Stephen grabbed a blue box of Magnum condoms and dropped it into the cart. He reached out again to grab another box, and another.

“That's way too much,” I whispered.

His eyes caught mine. “Really?”
I nodded.

“We'll see.”