Waves of Passion (Wild Women Trilogy Book #1) (2 page)

On the eve of Amber's eighteenth birthday we finally succumbed to the crest of chemistry that had been building between us over the years, it wasn't orchestrated in the slightest and quite frankly I think it took us both by surprise. Her birthday party had been held in the boathouse, which was usually reserved for the villagers to gather on a weekend for their community meetings, formal dinner parties or, on the odd occasion a Casino Night in which Charlie, the local business tycoon, laid on a special night to thank the villagers for all their industrious efforts.

As it was a special birthday for Amber, her parents rented the boathouse and with its decorations and exquisitely laden tables there was planned a celebration for the entire village. Both Amber’s parents and mine were close so they'd all worked hard in creating the perfect party night for everyone to get together and have a good time.

Huge dinner tables were elaborately decorated bottles of wine, an abundance of lavish food was provided and a DJ had been hired to provide us with the best music to dance to.
 

When she arrived, my mouth went dry as I did a double take. She was in a dress, which was very un-Amber like, but she was breathtaking in the silky gray material that matched her eyes and hugged her figure. It was far too short and revealing, and the high heels did something to her figure that was practically indecent, but she was beautiful and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. That was the first time it really clicked in my mind that she was all grown up-- that she was a beautiful woman and a child no longer. 

Amber and I danced the night away along with various friends and it was the very first night we'd both tried alcohol. I didn't much like the taste but Amber had certainly taken to it, a little too much if truth be known.

It started quite civilized with a bottle of wine at the dinner table which didn't last long before another bottle was ordered and then another. Whether it was a taste for it or nerves, Amber seemed to be drinking a lot more than everyone else and by the time dinner was over it could have easily worked out that Amber had drunk an entire bottle to herself. She wasn't a loud drunk or an embarrassing drunk but she seemed so much more confident and flirty.

I didn't want to give her a hard time on her birthday, but I did try to get her to slow down on the champagne when it was made available at the bar, but she wouldn't listen. Unfortunately, when the local troublemaker, Trey Haughton arrived I could sense we’d have more problems before the night was over.

Trey Haughton was the man of the moment in Amber's circle of friends. He lived on the outskirts of the village in a trailer with only his mother; she was a single mom bringing up Trey and his younger brother, Cain. They had settled in our town a couple of years previous and from day one there had been problems with Trey. He rode a motorbike and he had no respect for noise or mess around the village.

Amber and her friends found him exciting and it was considered quite a competition who he would ask out on a date first. In my opinion, Trey wasn't a 'date' kind of person, he would be more likely to throw a girl on the back of his bike, feed her copious amounts of beer and then have his wicked way with her. I didn't like him and he didn't like me, it was a silent agreement that had been decided upon our first glance at each other. 

As Trey appeared that night I knew he was on the prowl and when he took a hungry glance in Amber's direction I knew I was in for a bumpy night. I'd wanted to whisk her to safety, but Trey was by her side before I could distract her. I heard him ask her if she wanted a drink and I quickly stepped in.

“I think she's had enough,” I proposed.

Trey ignored my remark and quite frankly, ignored me. Amber on the other hand smiled in my direction and then turned to Trey.

“I don't really accept drinks from strangers,” she stated taking a step closer to his side. She spoke in such a suggestive tone; I wondered if she knew what she was doing. Did she realize she was flirting with him?

“Well if we get to know each other a little better I won't be a stranger any longer will I?” Trey replied. I didn't like the look in his eyes but I was at a loss as to what to do. This was Amber's party and a lot of organization, thought and effort had gone into it, I didn't want to cause any unnecessary scenes.

I waited with baited breath for Amber's reply, hoping she wouldn't surrender to his wily charms.

“No, I don't suppose you would be, so how do you see us getting to know each other more?” She was playing games with him and it surprised me as to where she'd learned this kind of behavior.

I'd heard enough and walked off to join some friends on the other side of the room to avoid watching her embarrass herself. By the time I turned to see how it was going, Amber and Trey had already gone. My heart skipped a beat but not in a good way. I was disappointed in Amber that she would behave in such a forward manner, but I knew it was the alcohol having an effect on her, not to mention the influence of Trey.

Half an hour passed and they were still absent from the party and I started to worry, deciding I would give them five more minutes and then I would go to look for them. They couldn't have gone far and hopefully wouldn't have 'gone' too far. The very thought caused a surge of jealousy which shocked me as I didn't realize I had feelings for Amber in that way. I couldn't wait the designated five minutes, I needed to know where they were right at that moment.

Leaving my friends, I walked out into the cold, crisp night air and listened. The only sound that reached my ears was the slapping of the waves on the side of the boats as they happily bobbed up and down in the ocean. The occasional creak of wood could be heard, but I wanted to hear voices, familiar voices that would tell me which direction to head search. Should I shout out, or would that alert them to my approach sending them further into hiding?

In the darkness, it was hard to make anything out without my mind playing tricks on me. There were several other partygoers hanging around outside, some were smoking, some were kissing; each one of them I closely surveyed to see if it was Trey and Amber. I couldn't see them and this worried me even more, if they were only getting to know each other, then why would they go off somewhere unless they were up to no good, it wasn't that I distrusted Amber, it was the fact that I didn't trust Trey.

I walked down towards the marina, the lights from the boats would give me more of a chance to recognize them if they were around. I suddenly heard Amber's voice and she sounded distressed. I followed the direction it was coming from and it led me to a boat that was moored in the darkest part of the marina. To make sure I wasn't about to make a fool of myself, I waited a moment for them to talk again. I could have been mistaken; it could have been laughter I'd heard. I heard Amber's voice once more and it confirmed to me that she was definitely not laughing.

“Trey please,” she begged, “I don't want to do this, I hardly know you and I'm not that kind of girl.”

That was enough for me; I didn't need to wait for her cry for help that I knew would follow soon enough.

Leaning over and looking into the stern of the boat, Trey was sitting on top of Amber with her dress bunched up around her hips, her arms pinned to her sides leaving her unable to move. Trey had his back to me and I couldn't quite see what was happening, but I could see the look of horror on Amber's face and it was enough to set my blood boiling.

“Get your hands off of her right now or I'll break both your arms," I said in a low menacing growl I hardly recognized.

Trey jumped up immediately and if his open jeans were anything to go by, I'd arrived just in time. It was dark so I was slightly blinded to the expression on his face, but as he crammed himself back into his pants, he looked down at Amber with a cold stare.

“Prick tease!” he spat, slapping her across the face and that was all the restraint I had. I punched him square in the jaw and started pummeling him with my fists. He scrambled away, his face and my knuckles bleeding. I drew a ragged breath and lunged after him, but he skulked off into the night without another word. Guys like that made me sick. He would prey on a sweet girl like Amber, strike her when she’d done nothing wrong and then run off with his tail between his legs when confronted by another guy who wasn’t going to let him get away with that kind of behavior.

Amber was still in the small boat, and I could see she was trembling. I quickly jumped on board and gathered her up in my arms.

“Oh Seth, thank God you came … he was trying to force me...” she sobbed, rubbing her arms where he'd had her brutally pinned down against her will. I put my arms around her and consoled her as best as I could. We sat for a couple of minutes in silence as she was clearly in shock, and I didn't really know what to say to her anyway. If I chided her it would be pointless, she knew she'd put herself in this position and she'd suffered enough, she didn't need me to tell her she'd acted like a fool. I was just relieved that she was safe and I'd got there in time, it could have been so much worse.

“I'm sorry Seth; I know you were trying to warn me. Why I didn't listen I don't know ...” she trailed off and I cuddled her up to me a little closer.

“It doesn't matter now, it's over and you're safe, but he's trouble and you know it. How about finding danger somewhere else eh? We'll find you a really big tree to climb tomorrow shall we?” I attempted a laugh but it wasn't really that funny.

Amber suddenly shrugged me away from her, “You see? This is probably why I did what I did. You all treat me like a child and what's more you all treat me like a boy, well I'm not a boy, today I became an adult and I wanted to know what it felt like to be treated like a grown woman!” she snapped angrily.

Her outburst amused me. “Amber you don't have to rush these things you know? Jumping into bed with just anyone isn't something you're going to respect yourself for in the morning.” 

She looked back at me; the moonlight was filtering its rays onto her face, lighting up her already flushed cheeks. “Who said I wanted to respect myself in the morning?”

Sighing and replacing my arm around her shoulders, she allowed me to pull her close again. “Oh Amber…your first time should be with someone special, not a bastard like Trey Haughton who's only after one thing. He's the kind of guy who's only in it for himself, and trust me, he will not make it special for you, and you deserve to have that, Amber. You deserve to be treated respectfully; waiting for that 'someone special' will make it so much better.”

"Was it special with Becky?" she asked dryly.  

"No, and that's exactly why I'm trying to caution you...I wish I'd waited for someone special," I admitted.

In a whisper Amber spoke carefully, “I
have
been waiting for someone special, but he only sees me as a child who needs protecting."

For a second I was speechless and couldn't move. Did she mean me? Did I want her to mean me? I loved Amber, I couldn't not love her, but did I love her that way? She was right, I had always seen her as a little sister....except when she walked in tonight wearing that scrap of a dress, but I'd always presumed she regarded me as a brother. I
had 
felt an incredible pang of jealousy when I'd thought of her with Trey. In fact, when I thought of her with anyone else in that sense, I didn't like it at all. I realized from the heavy sensation in the pit of my stomach, I did have more than just friendship feelings for her.

As I looked into her face, the pupils of her eyes dilated; the crystal blue pools of color disappeared as the blackness expanded, overtaking the diameter of her eyes. She bit down on her lip and my stomach flipped, before I could say or do anything she leaned towards me and planted a soft, sweet kiss on my lips. It wasn't like kissing Becky and I held onto the somewhat chaste kiss for as long as she let me. As she pulled away, I gently brought her back, this time letting the kiss develop into something stronger, deeper and more urgent. Amber let me drive the pace of our passionate kiss and I felt so many emotions awakening inside me; I couldn't believe I'd never realized how much I loved this girl. This was not at all what I had envisioned for this evening.

I lifted my hand up to her face, stroking my palm across her smooth skin. “Where did that come from?” I asked gently, searching her eyes for answers.

“I don't know, but I've wanted to do that for such a long, long time.” She smiled.

We kissed again, but now our hands were wandering, and I knew I was letting this move way too fast for how inexperienced she was, and the last thing I wanted was to scare her after what she'd already been through tonight. I couldn't still my hands or slow our kiss; the way our bodies moved together in unison was as if we'd been doing this together for years and I never wanted to stop. Finally, I backed away, careful not to make her think I didn't want this, I just needed to make sure she wanted this...with me.