Wonderful.

I felt that way last night, too. Sex last night was unbelievable. The sex was so damn good, I vow right now never to have bad sex again. Only hot, super-sexy sex. The kind that makes you shiver on the inside, all eager and excited. Hungry. Demanding.

“You’re smiling,” Kai says as we carry our frappuccinos back to the truck. The impromptu stop at Starbucks was my idea. I might be 2,600 miles from home, but I still love my coffee.

“Yeah, I am,” I answer, sliding into the passenger side as Kai holds my door for me.

“Happy, girl?”

“Mm-hmm.”

He shuts the door, goes around to his side, and climbs in, handing me his drink to hold while he starts the truck. “Why are you in such a good mood?”

I shrug, poke my tongue into the mountain of whipped cream on top of my frappuccino. “I’m having fun.”

“Good.”

He takes back his drink as he backs out of the lot.

“And it’s my birthday,” I add quickly. He shoots me a quick look, and I nod. “The big four-oh.”

Kai brakes. “Today?”

“Today.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I am now.”

He looks at me long and level before leaning over to kiss me. “Happy Birthday, girl.”

His kiss is warm, hard, and yet sweet, and everything inside me flips over. “Thanks.”

“Anything special you want to do for your birthday?”

My eyes meet his, and I feel bold and fierce and shy all at the same time. “Just you.” And then I shiver at the heat I see in his eyes.

“Good girl,” he answers, shifting into drive. “Let’s go back to the hotel.”

We spend two hours in the darkened hotel room, and the sex is even better than last night. I don’t know why it works so well, but everything is comfortable, easy, exciting. I’m turned on everywhere, my head as well as my body, and in some ways I feel as if I’ve known Kai forever, that he’s been part of my life forever. As he moves over me again, I’m reminded of him surfing yesterday, of how I’d watch him catch a wave to come retrieve me.

I loved the way he moved on his board through the water and the way the water rushed, the board cutting through the wave, water streaming liquid blue and green. It was beautiful, and he was beautiful, and it was a kind of magic I’d never seen before, a magic that made me look at life differently. That made me want things different. Watching Kai surf made me wonder what it would be like to not be tied to land, or rooted to the earth, but to fly across water…

To fly at life.