hiya there! We've made it to Friday! Phew! Here's a little EPOV to get us through to next week.

Some of you might recognize parts of this one as it was posted with the #lifesabeach prompt for The Fic Lab on Facebook. If you haven't checked that out, go go go, so many talented peeps post their beautiful words prompted by images or phrases provided by the wonderful ladies behind the curtains. It's really been an inspiration for me and so so many others.

While you're at it, I'm on Facebook too (as Ronnie Macaroni). I post teasers and imagery there. Today's update link comes with a song that was a huge inspiration for this chapter (I guess I'm in love, by Clinton Kane) as well as a link to a news article about Bella's research because I'm a geek and I love that stuff. And yes, turtle poop is a thing people study LOL

See ya next week!

Chapter 30. The Sunsets

EPOV

Sunsets.

Sunsets have become my favorite part of the day.

Picking up Bella from her lab, and walking together to the beach for a late afternoon swim, is always the highlight of my day.

Today is no different, as I wait outside of the research labs, anxious to see her.

The three blond girls always leave the lab before Bella. Today, Jacob is with them. They probably have a patrol planned for tonight. I politely nod at them and try not to let it get me in a bad mood.

Jake and I discussed his plans for the night patrols a while back. I know he has good intentions, but I still think it's a ridiculous idea, not to mention dangerous, too. Especially knowing that James is back. I had already told Jacob that I saw James around town, dealing new stuff he brought back from the States, but it didn't make a difference. The night patrols are still happening.

Jake seems to think James won't try anything, but after what he and his gang pulled at the rally, I am not so sure, which is why I plan to continue to keep Bella as far away from those patrols as humanly possible. For as long as I can. For as long as she'll let me.

When Bella finally comes out through the door, her smile brightens her face and my chest feels immediately lighter.

I hug her. I kiss her. As I have been dying to do all day. Then we walk hand in hand to the beach while she animatedly tells me about her day at work.

She's excited about the data they've collected so far. While she still has lots of turtle poop samples to process, it looks like her trip here has been a success. Today, she and Emmett were interviewed over the phone for a news article that is going to be published about their work. To say that I am proud of her would be an understatement.

She's proud of herself too; I can see that. Proud of her work. She still has two years to complete her PhD, but I know, already, she'll do great things with it. She'll make a difference.

We walk to a newly acquired favorite spot, past the mangrove patch, where the waves aren't big at all. It's nice. It's hidden. It's private. And nobody cannonballs.

Soon enough, I'm enveloped by wet kisses under the warm summer sunlight that casts an orange tint over everything it touches.

Her skin is soft and covered with sand, as she squirms under me, begging me to stop, worried someone might see us. But I know. I know nobody comes here. I also know she wants this. She wants me.

"Do you really want me to stop?" My fingers halt, half inside of her, my voice strained with need.

"No. Yes. I don't know."

"There's no one else here, Bella. No one to see us." I kiss her neck, nuzzling my nose behind her ear. "But I'll stop if you want me to." At the slightest attempt to remove my fingers from under her bathing suit bottoms, her hips buck and her hand circles around my wrist, keeping my own hand in place.

"Please, don't stop." Her gasps tell me she's close. I know her body so well now. I've explored almost every inch of it. I've taken everything she's allowed me to take. And even then, it never seems enough.

My lips devour her neck as she lies flat on the sand, my hand on her, my fingers doing what feels like they were made to do. Bringing her pleasure, until she's clutching onto my arm, biting my name into my shoulder.

I get lost looking at her as she comes undone. Her eyes fluttering closed and that fucking beautiful grin on her face. The one that makes my chest feel funny and my dick rock hard.

"You're so fucking beautiful." I kiss her cheek, still wet from our swim, and drop next to her, staring up at the sunset-colored sky. My own breathing is ragged and my heart beats wildly in my chest.

And it's not just from what I witnessed. It's not just from knowing that it was my fingers that brought her pleasure. That it was me.

It's not just that. It's everything else she makes me feel. She's home. She's life. She's everything I never dreamed of having.

She makes the fucking sweetest little moan as she turns to her side, her fingers tracing patterns from my stomach up to my chest.

"What are we going to do about this now?" I jokingly gesture to the bulge between my legs, to the obvious straining of my swim trunks.

"I have an idea." She sits up on the sand, looking deviously at me. But I see it in her eyes. In that playful twinkle there.

Before I can stop her, she reaches behind her, and in the next second, she drops a blob of wet sand over my shorts, squealing as she gets on her feet and bolts.

As if she could outrun me.

"Oh, you're in trouble now!" I yell behind her, getting up and painfully rearranging myself in my trunks before running after her.

She's laughing, giggling, trying to run away from me, trying to dodge my arms. I can't help my own chuckles. Just two dorks running on the sand, so fucking in love.

How did that happen? So soon? So fast? So substantially?

Well, I can't speak for her, but I know that I am. So fucking in love with her. Like I've never been before. With her smile. With her eyes. With the way her fingers feel in my hair. Or how she catches me off guard every time I look at her. How it feels like I can breathe a little easier when she's near.

When my hands reach her waist, I swing her over my shoulder, clasping my hands on the back of her legs. My fingers dig into her skin, while my teeth mark her asscheek with a bite.

She squeals, kicking her legs and hitting my back with her fists, as I walk us into the water. I bring her down, her body gliding along mine, and my hands secure her legs around my waist.

"Now you've got to wash all that sand off of me." My lips are on hers in a rush, while her hands roam my own face, pulling me to her.

"Yes, sir." She moans into my lips.

I laugh as I throw her in the water, diving quickly after her, in the push and pull we know so well.

I know our days together are numbered. I know she leaves in a month and I am working against the clock. It keeps me up every night as I lie next to her and curse the universe for giving me the right person at the wrong time. But then I push those thoughts down, bury them deep inside of me, allowing myself to just enjoy these moments with her. To just love her and be with her.

Until the next sunset comes.

~~o~~