“We’re here,” Nathaniel said, shaking my shoulder gently.

I blinked awake. “We’re here?”

“Yes, too bad you fell asleep,” he teased, whispering in my ear. “I really wanted to make you come a few more times.”

I had no doubt if he really had wanted to that badly, he would have woke me up. But I loved him playing with my head.

I stretched leisurely. “Then I’m glad you let me rest, but I’m terribly curious about where we are.” I popped my head up to look around. “All I see is a parking lot. Cool, but you know, they have these in Wilmington.”

“Wench,” he joked, pushing me playfully. “I didn’t bring you here for a parking lot.”

He slipped out his side of the car and came around to open my door. He held out a hand. “Come here.”

I stepped out. “Nice parking lot.”

“You’re tempting me to put you back in the car and go with my multiple orgasm plan.” But he squeezed my hand and led me a few steps so I could see around the building we were near.

“What do you see?” he asked.

I looked around and stopped in my tracks. “Is that the ocean?”

“Yes.”

I threw my arms around him. “You brought me to the beach.”

“I thought you might miss it.”

I loved the fact that our estate was so close to the water, but it wasn’t until I saw the ocean that I realized how much missed not seeing it every day.

I stood just looking for a few minutes, until he finally said, “Come on.”

Hand in hand, we walked across the street toward the public access. A wooden boardwalk curved a path through tall beach grass and led to the most inviting-looking sand.

“We should have brought our bathing suits,” I said as we made our way onto the sand.

“But that would have given my plan away.”

We were at a quiet end of the beach, and there were only a few people near us. We kicked off our shoes and I dug my toes into the sand, enjoying the feeling of being barefoot.

“Wait a minute,” he said when I would have started walking toward the ocean. He held my collar in his hand. “You’re missing something.”

I bowed my head as he fastened it around my neck. He pulled back and gave me a kiss. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you, Master.”

We strolled down to the water’s edge and dipped our toes into the surf. I inhaled deeply. “I love the sea air.”

“It’s so refreshing.”

A family of four—mother, father, and two little boys—jogged by us, trying desperately to get a kite airborne. The youngest boy looked to be Elizabeth’s age and he brought up the end, yelling, “Go, kite. Go!”

All the yelling in the world didn’t help though and the kite never made it more than a few inches off the ground.

I shook my head. “I always sucked at that. Never could get the hang of flying a kite.”

His gaze followed the family and his expression grew wistful. “I remember flying a kite with my dad. He was the best, never had any trouble. Mom used to laugh at us because we’d be in the backyard weaving in and out of the trees. She always said she didn’t know how he managed not to get it stuck. I told her it was magic.”

My heart ached as it often did when he spoke of his parents. Even after all these years, it still hurt to think of the boy Nathaniel was and how it must have been when he lost his parents.

“I imagine it was pretty tough not to get the kite tangled up in the trees,” I said.

“Yes. They weren’t quite as tall as they are now, but they were tall enough.” He turned back to me, his expression still somber. “I never flew a kite again after they died.”

I took his hand and gave it a squeeze. Words were unnecessary and couldn’t change anything or bring them back. In that moment though, I needed to touch him probably as much as he needed to be touched.

“I should get a kite for the kids,” he said. His face broke into a grin. “Can’t you see Elizabeth running through the yard, Henry toddling along behind her?”

“Yes, but I’ll have to stand on the sidelines and cheer everyone on. It’s doubtful my kite-flying abilities have improved over the years.”

We started walking again, holding hands and enjoying the peacefulness of the surroundings. There were a few seagulls out and we laughed as they fought over pieces of bread. Farther down the beach, the family that had been flying the kite had stopped and the two kids were building a sand castle.