Alec & Circe
The daughter of the sea sunbathed in the ocean’s arms at dawn.
Surely, her home had come with a tub, but the young lady craved his eyes on her—the escape in his gaze. So, it was there, on Weeping Hollow’s shore, where she bared herself to the sea. The fading night said its goodbye across her skin, and the warm rising sun shone down on her like Summerland’s spotlight.
At the cliff’s edge, Alec’s eyes had fallen upon Circe once again.
A year had passed of inescapable grins and barely caught glances. Alec adored her from the shadows, and through the year, Alec had become intimate with her in all the ways he could. He knew that on Thursdays she preferred vanilla rose moon milk, and how she braided her hair back on the mornings it rained. He knew the cream-colored dress was her favorite because she walked differently in it, more at ease, and that she clutched her necklace when she was nervous. He knew more about her than most others, without ever knowing her name.
On this day, however, she had become more brazen.
While almost a hundred feet separated them, Circe met his eyes as her dress slipped off her body and collapsed on the sand.
My god, he thought the second his eyes hit her.
He leaned against the cliff, his shoulder hitting the rock, almost sinking at the sight of her. He clutched his drawings in his shaking hand to hold himself back, his heart stampeding in his chest like a herd of wild horses. Alec memorized her edges, curves, and Circe’s smile was tempting, teasing.
A fire rose in his cheeks.
Then she turned her back to him and stepped into the ocean until the water came up to her ankles.
Brisk morning winds brushed his skin from all directions, sending his golden-brown curls to blow into his line of sight.
He shook his hair from his face and leaned his forearm against the cliff, using it to prop up his sketchpad to draw her. With every airy light stroke, every black line of the silhouette of the girl that stood in the shallow, his chest thundered. Drawing her was, after all, the only way he could ever really touch her.
Circe’s locks fell just above her waist and clung around her shoulders and back as she stood naked in the sea as if it were the only home she’d ever known, slathering every inch of her skin in stolen lavender oil. Her skin color was like a rich treasure as the sky illuminated, casting spotlights on parts of her, then drifting to others.
Alec watched with adoration as she smoothed the oil from her feet to her breasts, his breath coming out in a shudder. His arm fell to his side in awe. He could draw her every day for the rest of his life but no amount of talent could match her beauty. He was completely and utterly fixated.
Hypnotized, he turned, his spine meeting the cliff, and he dropped his head back, eyes falling all over her. Falling, sinking, going down. Why must she torture him before destroying him?
Bain Seldon, Cantini’s most loyal guard, shouted in the distance from the other side of the cliff, his voice closing in on Circe. She quickly wrapped herself in a dove-colored cloth, left her unnecessary belongings behind, and ran in Alec’s direction, unable to conceal her laughter.
Only Alec turned frigid as she passed, having never been this close to her.
Nearing, Circe turned her head just enough to meet his gaze, and she gestured for him to follow her.
Eager to be close to her, Alec tucked his drawing into his back pocket. This was mad. Insane.
If not now, then when? he asked himself.
So he chased her across the shoreline.
Like he was sick in love. Though, perhaps he was.
At first, Circe was hesitant to speak to him. She knew the musical sound of her voice could make even the cruelest man with a callous heart fall in love with her. However, this was the first time she had the chance to be close to the islander—the one who made her heart do the most maddening things—without anyone seeing.
No more gazing, she thought, unable to resist him any longer. With the utmost longing, she clutched the sapphire lying upon her chest until it glowed in her palm, trapping all her magic inside so this would be true. He was worth it, she believed.
Dear heart, be easy.
Circe turned just in time, Alec only a breath away.
The two locked eyes, trying to calm their hearts, their breathing, their feet halted in the white sand that was still cold from the night.
“Tell me your name,” she all but demanded, putting on a brave face. In truth, she was entirely nervous to stand this close and be enchanted by his details, his light eyes. “I have the right to know my admirer’s name, the one who’s been watching me from the shadows.”
Alec’s face transformed from anxious to amused by her remark.
But that wasn’t all he was feeling. He stood tall and protective of this moment, daring the guard, who was not far behind, or anyone for that matter, to steal this from him. He was in awe of her, his masterpiece, longing for the chance to touch her for the first time. And if he were honest, he was afraid she’d change her mind and leave.
He was all these things, and it was equally nerve-wracking.
“Alec,” he said, smiling, gripping his hip bones to inhale, exhale, to settle himself, to control his hands from taking her into his arms. “And I would have to disagree. It was hardly from the shadows. Have I not made myself obvious?” She stood stunned, so Alec took a careful step closer, raising a brow. “I have to know your name.”
“It’s been a year,” she said, taking a step back.
“The longest year of my life. Both enslaving and intoxicating.” Alec’s mouth quirked at the end. “Now, please tell me your name.”
“Twelve new moons, and you haven’t spoken to me. You kept me waiting,” she teased, her pulse pounding beneath her skin. “Do you even desire me at all?”
Every word coming from her mouth only made Alec fancy her more, how she was bold, playful, a little free. “I cross the ocean nearly every day just to catch a glimpse of you. I have no other business being here.”
“So, why do you only watch?”
“Because,” he said simply. “You are terrifying and could absolutely rip my heart out. Now,” he took another step forward, “if you don’t tell me your name, I will call you mine.”
She took a step back. “Circe,” she said, amused and looking up at him through her dark lashes. “I’ve seen that look many times. You gaze at my body with desire in your eyes.”
This only drew him in more. “I’ve desired you long before I’ve seen your body, Circe.”
And she raised a brow, taking another step back with a gorgeous smile that made all the blood in his heart melt to other places. But then her back met the cliff, and she had no place left to go.
A wave hit the shore, causing a breeze to crash between them.
Her scent slammed into Alec. He closed his eyes to savor the aroma of essential oils. Perfume and a sapphire around her neck, he knew only a lady of fortune could acquire such valuables. He had these assumptions about her, but this never disturbed him.
Alec took his last step forward, exhausted from his frolic.
His breath stuttered when he lifted a hand to touch her cheek.
She flinched, and he cocked a brow at her reaction.
“I would never harm you,” he said, dropping his arm in surrender.
Patiently, he waited, breath stalled, heart on reserve, eyes on her.
Then he felt her fingers reach out and touch his.
He felt his heart beat again.
Circe took his hand in hers and brought it to her face until her cheek was in his palm. His thumb grazed her cheekbone, and she closed her eyes, and he freed a breath. He shifted in place, shifted closer, and tilted her head back to see her face. “If you must know,” he said with a shaky breath, “I desire something far more than your body.”
She looked at Alec with two seafoam eyes that sparkled like sea glass. He wasn’t only handsome. In truth, there was something disarming about him. And to be disarmed by a man to any degree was equally thrilling and terrifying. Circe had everything to lose, so why couldn’t she stop herself?
“Stay! Identify yourself,” Bain called out.
Circe slipped out of Alec’s grasp, took his hand, and pulled him around the corner, dipping into the cave. He looked from left to right before slipping into the shadows behind her. When he faced Circe again, she had her back pinned against the wall, her chest heaving.
He came up on her and leaned in, resting his forearm on the cave wall above her head. “Tell me to stop, and I swear to you, I will stop.” She was so close he could taste her breath on his lips, but he kept his hands to himself, waiting, waiting, his gaze sliding into hers. “But I don’t want to stop—”
Circe pushed up on her toes and kissed him right on the lips.
Just once before pulling back to look at him.
Alec blinked, suddenly looking much younger with a boyish grin.
Circe’s heart raced and Alec lowered his head, dipping down, taking it.
His mouth crashed into hers before the rest of his body did. And after all this time, he was kissing her, and kissing her, and kissing her, opening his mouth, feeling her tongue slide across his. It made his head spin and his chest ache.
She lifted onto her toes, grasping at the back of his head, pulling him closer, crushing his body to hers. The cloth wrapping around her body slipped off her and Alec’s warm hand dragged up her spine, the other sliding down her soft skin at her side.
He was losing control, his erection pressing into her.
Her heart was already hungry, but at that moment, it was starved, threatening to gnaw on itself if she didn’t let him in.
Alec had to pry himself away from her, but he did with a moan. “Come back with me to Bone Island,” he said, his hand sliding up and down her back, still unable to peel away from her body. “I don’t want a mere moment. I want more.”
Circe shook her head and kissed him once more.
A kiss that left him unraveled as she slipped out of his arms.
Alec turned, watching her take off toward the ocean.
“Circe!”
Then he chased after her.
It seemed, as the story goes, he was always chasing after her.
Circe ran into the water with grace, yet Alec’s steps seemed the opposite.
“What are you doing to me?” he asked, reeling and afraid.
The waves were challenging, forcing him away from her.
She turned to face him with a daring smile and raised her arms to each side. “Prove to me,” she said above the sound of the sea just as another wave slammed into her from behind. “Prove to me there is more, Alec. That once we delve deeper, it will still feel like this.”
She closed her eyes, and Alec held his breath when she fell backward into the water. The same wave crashed into him, and saltwater burned his eyes. He pinched them tightly with two fingers then opened them again. But she had gone.
Alec dove into the sea, propelling himself forward against the tide. He
waved his arms in all directions to find her. As time passed, the panic inside him stretched until it filled him. His head broke above the water, and he scanned the surface for a sign of Circe. He had no such luck.
Refusing to give up, he drew in as much air as his lungs would carry, dove back under, and added more distance between him and the shore.
But despite all efforts, she had disappeared.