Author's Note: This is the sequel to Summer 2021 : Cake by the Ocean.

After the steamy kiss, Carly looked into Jason's eyes, her lips still tingling from the sensation of being crushed by his. "Jason, I -."

"Carly, I think..."

Jason sucked in his breath as he struggled to find the words. "This marriage. It isn't what I expected," he said. "When we stood at the altar and I said those vows to you, I meant it. I meant every word."

"Are you saying...?"

She didn't even know how to put those feelings into words. It had been so long since they had been "there" in their relationship, but it had always been bubbling underneath the surface, always wanting to come out. Others had seen it. Hardly anyone seemed overly shocked by their union. It was as if they had expected it somehow - as though it had been destiny.

Carly searched Jason's eyes, looking for the answers. She needed to hear it from his lips. "You know I love you. I've always loved you. You were always first for me above all others. It's always been you." There he had said it - the words she had longed to hear for so damned long.

"What are you saying?" Carly said because she just couldn't believe it was true. Jason wanted her in every sense of the word? Was this for real?

"Carly, I love you. I really love you," he said as he pulled her against him.

"No, you don't. You love her." She could barely push the words passed the ache in her throat.

He shook his head. "No. I had something with her. I can't deny that she and I had a moment, but with you it's a lifetime and it's you who has my heart."

He took her hand and lay it on his muscular chest so she could feel his heart as it was beating so strong. "Jason, ohhh God. I never thought... We..."

Then she was crying, tears rushing down her face. "I love you so much. I mean I really love you... and I never thought we'd have a chance again. I thought our time together had ended... that it was over and gone."

"Carly, take a breath," he urged, looking at her with tenderness. "We have the rest of our lives to figure this out. I'm sorry I hurt you. I am sorry I left you. I am sorry for everything."

"Ohhh I'm sorry, too. I never should have..."

He placed a gentle finger against her lips. "You don't have to say it. I know."

He pulled her against him as she cried, wetting his shirt. "I - I got your shirt all wet," she said as she pulled away after calming down.

"It's okay. I will take it off."

He started to lift the hem of his shirt and Carly's eyes got wide. "Carly, we are on a private beach. People skinny-dip all the time. Besides, you have seen it all bef -"

"I know, but Jason, we're married!"

"All the more reason for me to take my clothes off," he told her with a wink.

He started to raise up the shirt again, exposing some skin. Suddenly he stopped. "Unless you don't want me to?"

Carly didn't want to seem overly zealous but her mouth was watering. She wanted to see Jason's toned, rock-hard body once again. She wanted to taste and touch every inch of his sinewy skin. "It's okay, Jase."

"You'll get in the water with me?"

She giggled and a smirk spread out on her face. "Yeah. But I... don't have a bathing suit."

"You won't need one for what I have in mind," he said gruffly. "Take your clothes off, Carly. Come on."

She didn't have to be urged again. As Jason stripped away his clothing, she was tossing hers aside. "I have never been naked on the beach before," she admitted as her gaze travelled his body, taking all of it in. The memories of their past moments of fierce lovemaking was not unlike the waves that were lapping at her skin.

In the dying sunlight, they stood on the beach with nothing between them but the sultry air. "Come here. Let me hold you." Jason reached out for Carly and she went into his arms. It was safe there and warm. She collided with his chest as the urge to kiss and caress every part of him made her feel as though she was floating on a cloud instead of standing on the sand beside the sea.

"I love you, too, Jason," she whispered as her lips slid over his skin. He shuddered, but he heard her words. He felt her love upon his solid flesh. He had been dying to feel it again for decades. If only he had known and trusted his own heart. It always led him straight back to her, but he hadn't listened to the calling inside his soul.

"I wish we could stay here forever. You and me in this paradise, but we'll have to go back to our lives... to our family... and the business, but for now, this is just about us. You and me, Carly. So you never forget, so you'll always remember..."

He groaned as her silky lips explored his skin, relearning every curve. He grabbed her chin and pulled her mouth up to his, kissing her with so much desire that they were both feverish. Passion washed over them like the waves. Carly was drowning in it. If this was drowning... if this was death; she never wanted it to end.

But it wasn't. It was life. It was everything they had been dreaming of for so many years but they had denied themselves, because they thought they weren't worthy; because they feared they could not make it right.

"We're so good together, Carly," Jason sighed as they lay on the beach, exhausted from the intensity of their passion.

"I know," Carly said. "I told you we were soulmates, but you wouldn't listen to me."

"Spinelli told me that, too."

"He's a smart man," she said as she cuddled up against his body.

"Are you cold?" Jason asked with concern as she shivered.

"No, I just want you again."

"So soon?"

"Yeah, dammit. I had to live without you... without us for so long. I am never going to get enough of you." She smirked and he chuckled.

"Okay, but I am getting sand in my 'places,' so maybe we should take this inside."

"You're the one who wanted sex on the beach."

"You loved it, Carly. You can't deny you didn't love every second of what we just shared."

"Yeah, that's why I want to do it again."

"Okay, let's go inside for now. We'll have sex on the beach again tomorrow," Jason said, standing up and reaching for her hand.

"We do have a lot to make up for," Carly agreed as she reached for her clothes, but Jason told her they'd find them in the morning.

He lifted her into his arms when she protested, carrying her inside. He lay her on their marriage bed. "I just carried you over the threshold."

"But this isn't our house."

"I will buy you a house. It will be our house. Just yours and mine."

"I like that idea," she said as she looked down at the ring on her finger, the only thing on her body besides Jason's hands as he caressed her. "Did I tell you how much I love this ring? It's so perfect."

"You're perfect, Carly. You've always been. And you're perfect for me."

"So we aren't getting a divorce?"

"Never," he said as his lips were sipping her skin.

"No one will come between us?"

"Let them try."

His lips trailed up her neck to meet hers in another simmering kiss. "I love you," he whispered against her lips. "We're forever."

The End