Then I ran two steps and dove clean off the bow.
Cold water exploded around me.
Shock. Salt. Alive.
I surfaced laughing, slicking my hair back.
“Come on!” I called. “It’s perfect!”
She stood there for half a heartbeat.
Then—
Lightning.
Nothing slow about her.
Dress over her head in one smooth, impatient motion.
Gone.
A flash of tan skin in moonlight.
Long legs.
Strong stomach.
Black silk against gold skin. Smooth cleavage from her firm high, breast encased in satin.
Confidence, not shyness.
Like she’d never once doubted her body a day in her life.
My throat went dry.
She didn’t pose.
Didn’t tease.
She attacked the moment.
Two quick steps?—
And dove.
Cut through the water clean and sharp, like a blade.
And then she dove.
Cut through the water like she belonged there.
Came up laughing, hair fanning around her like some kind of sea-born myth.
Floating on her back.
Glowing.
A mermaid.
