Page 35 of Try Me

Tandem Surfing

Declan

They madetheir way over the calm water to the lineup far out in the channel. When they reached their destination, Declan climbed onto the board behind Pearl. The waves at Queen’s Beach shimmered like glass.

There were kids playing in the shallow waters, and sunbathers dotting the sands. Brightly painted surfboards floated along the long gentle waves, carrying mostly kooks and grommets, since the waves weren’t big enough to attract any surfers with real experience.

Winter brought long, hollow waves to Waikiki Beach, the exact opposite of the dangerous beasts it delivered to the North Shore.

The three-foot rollers sweeping in from the south were perfect for beginners and tandem surfing if you knew and trusted your partner.

“Get up here,” Pearl said, pointing to the front of the board.

“Bossy.”

“Just do it.”

Declan splashed into the water, slipped around Pearl’s leg, and then pulled himself up onto the surfboard in front of her. They were silent, watching the glassy waves for a bump big enough to ride all the way to shore.

Pearl leaned forward. Her hand brushed Declan’s shoulder, and her whisper tickled his ear.

“There’s one,” she said.

Pearl’s voice unleashed a torrent of fantasies in Declan’s mind. His body stiffened in response. His muscles tensed. His heart rate skyrocketed. He pulled in a breath and focused his gaze on the wave barreling toward them.

“You sure?” he asked.

“Trust me.”

A bitter taste flooded his mouth. “I don’t trust anyone.”

“I’ll make you look good,” she promised.

“I already look good,” he said, keeping his tone light, joking even while his heart raced.

She laughed and leaned closer, brushing her chest against his back. “I’ll make you look better,” she said.

Her husky tone sparked a flame of lust that Declan couldn’t deny. His skin flushed, and his blood surged to his crotch. He turned his head and caught Pearl’s eye. She winked.

“Go,” Pearl urged, leaning into Declan’s back.

Declan went. Plunging his hands in the water, he steered them into the wave, then stalled to let it catch them. He popped up first and then felt the board wobble as Pearl stood behind him.

They were doing it! She was doing it. The impossible was easy for a woman like Pearl. Declan felt the surge of Pearl’s energy as surely as he felt the power of the wave beneath him. Her radiant heat filled him with power.

Not only was Pearl making him look better than he ever had before, she was making him feel better, too. He felt drunk on Pearl’s vitality, high on the buzz of her strength.

He felt her hands on his shoulders, the warmth of her body behind him.

“Bend your knees,” she said, sliding closer.

Declan bent at her command.

Wedging the arch of her foot at the juncture of his hip and thigh, she pressed her hands into his shoulders and jumped. Declan felt the pressure of Pearl’s hands on his shoulders, then nothing at all. It seemed Pearl was flying for a long moment before her feet settled at the crook of Declan’s neck, and his shoulders bore the brunt of her weight.

The surfboard wobbled, and Declan instinctively spread his feet wider. Pearl squeezed his shoulders and then reached for his hands. Declan locked his fingers with Pearl’s. A surge of power burst from her palm to his. A shiver ran through him, into the ocean and then rippled back, up and out his fingertips.

Pearl’s hair brushed his cheek as the wind ripped past.

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