A dorsal fin breached the water. I started but didn’t panic. “There!”
He laughed at my reaction and flipped onto his back, continuing with a backstroke. I regained my composure and resumed paddling.
Two more fins breached the water in tandem, and I stopped again, mouth gaping in awe.
“Come on,” Elias urged. “Faster! They want to swim!”
So, I swam. We moved through the water side by side, and three dolphins swam alongside us, all cares left behind in our wake.
The dolphin closest to us disappeared beneath the waves, and I turned onto my side to face Elias and the horizon, hoping it would return.
Without warning, the dolphin sprang from the water. It sailed over our heads in a dizzying arc, sprinkling us with droplets that glistened like diamonds in the sun. It crashed into the water on its flank with a thwump, submerging us beneath a titanic splash.
Elias wiped the water from his face, his muscled shoulders shaking with laughter, his playfulness infectious.
Two fins continued with us along our path, but the third troublemaker stopped and poked its head out of the water, whistling, clicking, and nodding its head. Elias stopped and splashed the dolphin, his brilliant smile shining like the sun, his eyes as bright as the sky.
“Lena! Come here!”
Nervous, but captivated by the beautiful creature bobbing its head above the waves, I swam to meet him, and he wrapped an arm around my waist. “Don’t be afraid,” he said and pressed me against his muscled torso. Adrenaline surged, but it wasn’t just from the wild dolphin within arm’s reach.
“Hey, buddy.” The dolphin lay on its side, waving a fin in the air as if it understood Elias’s words. “Good swim today.” He scratched its belly. The dolphin whistled and clicked, waving its fin and nodding its long snout like a dog. “Yeah, you like that, don’t you. Go ahead, Lena. Give him a scratch.”
My hand shook as I reached out. I touched the dolphin, tentative at first, a brush of my fingertips against its smooth, almost slimy belly. It waved its flipper while I ran my fingers along its slippery skin. I giggled like a child, filled with the indulgent joy of the moment, and scratched in earnest. The dolphin bobbed its head up and down, whistled, and dove beneath the waves. It disappeared for only a moment before launching out of the water in a graceful arc, the sun glinting off its sleek body. It plunged back into the water, sending another wave crashing over our heads.
Joy sprung forth from my heart, a glowing point of light that erupted into a blazing sun, radiating bright, exhilarating energy. I threw my head back in laughter, lost in the moment’s decadence. Elias tightened his arm around my waist, and I wrapped mine around his neck. I rested my chin on his shoulder, and he squeezed me tight in his arms.
Peace. Contentment. Happiness. Feelings I hadn’t experienced off my mat in what felt like an eternity. They all lived in the space between us.
He pulled back enough to look into my eyes. “See. Nothing to be afraid of.”
“Thank you,” I said, breathless, but from the dolphins or Elias, I wasn’t sure. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”
We floated, entwined in each other’s arms, faces mere inches apart. The desire in his eyes burned hot, and his gaze once again dipped to my mouth. My eyelids became heavy, each caress of his warm breath against my cool skin sending a luscious frisson of heat to my core. Our lips crept toward each other as if pulled by the force of their hunger to touch.
My body wanted him to kiss me, to press his lips against mine and claim me. But my mind, packed with painful memories of betrayal, won the battle. I leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek before he could make a move. I lingered there, longer than necessary, desperate to prolong his closeness, but managed enough self-control to pull back. Our eyes locked, and his lips parted in surprise as I wiggled free of his arms and started to swim for the shore.
I made it to shallow waters, scrambled to my feet through the break, and trudged through the sand. Collapsing onto my towel, my breath came hard and heavy. Swimming was not my forte, no matter how fit I was from yoga. I flopped onto my stomach and shielded my eyes from the sun to watch Elias emerge from the water. He strode up the beach, his powerful body moving with purpose, and when he reached me, he sank down onto the sand.
“That was fun.” His eyes sparkled in the light, a blue as bright and clear as the ocean in front of us.
I propped myself up on my elbows. “I’ve never done anything like that.” The words tumbled out of me in rapid succession. “That was incredible! I mean, dolphins! We swam with dolphins! In the wild! I can’t believe you do that every day.”
“Not every day.” He leaned back, resting on his elbows, and squinted under the sun’s brilliance. “But often enough. There aren’t many things I enjoy more than swimming. Sharing a piece of the freedom those dolphins have? Priceless.”
I rested my hands on the sand and my chin on my hands, letting the sun warm my body, cool now after the swim and from the light ocean breeze. Elias’s eyes bored into my back, so I rolled onto my side and propped my head up on a bent elbow. His eyes shifted to my sports bra, then my underwear, and then my face.
“We need to get you a proper swimsuit if you’re going to come swimming with us again.”
I sat up and slugged him in the shoulder. “I have a proper swimsuit!”
He mouthed an “ow” and chuckled.
“I hadn’t planned on coming this morning. Well, not so early anyway. Yoga was extra hot.”
“Ah, yoga. I knew you had to be an athlete.” His eyes traveled the length of my body before settling back on my face, his hungry gaze as palpable as if he’d used his hands. “You have great muscle tone.”
I raised an eyebrow and put every ounce of effort into not blushing, but failed, my insides heating to a boil.
