Page 86 of Dagger in the Sea

She stilled, staring at the sea.

Oh, this sea. Aqua blue blended with turquoise. Pure and clear, calling to something thirsty in my soul. Waves swelled in a relaxed rhythm, beckoning us to enter their soothing swirl. A sensual seduction of a different kind. Smooth, round, white stones were scattered over pale gold sand. We were on the edge of the world. A different world from everything I’d ever known.

Perfect.

Unbelievable.

And yet, here I was. Herewewere. Me and Adri together.

I went up behind her and leaned into her. “Nowhere else I’d rather be.”

Her hand reached out and fell back into my chest, and I took it and rubbed it there, liquid warmth spreading through me. Our fingers entwined, and we breathed in and out. Breathed in the pure salty-sweet air blowing over us, capturing it in our lungs.

She turned to me, her fingers squeezing mine, and my heart stopped. Eyes a brighter blue than ever before locked on mine, smile huge and relaxed, hair floating in the breeze. The magnificence of this beach wasn’t enough. No, it was Adri herself.

“Nowhere else I’d rather be,” she whispered.

We got our bathing suits out of our suitcases and took turns changing in the jeep. We headed toward the pairs of loungers stretched out underneath straw umbrellas over the sand. She chose one up front by the water, smack in the center. “I have plenty of sunscreen, so don’t worry. I won’t let you get burnt.”

“You’ve thought of everything.”

“I’m thorough, Mr. DeMarco. Now, onto important matters. What would you like to drink? A juice? An iced coffee? Soda?”

A waitress in a bikini top and shorts holding a pad and pen marched over to us in the sand.

“Whatever you’re having,” I said. Yes, how very unlike me, but I wanted to experience Adriana’s island, Adriana’s way.

A feathery eyebrow lifted. “Freddoespresso it is then. How do you like your sugar?”

“On your skin so I can lick it off you.”

Her teeth grazed her lip. “And in your coffee?”

“I’m a purist. No sugar in my coffee, no milk.”

Her gaze lingered on me as the waitress waited. Adri ordered our coffees and bottles ofneró,water. Sitting on the edge of the lounger, I buried my toes in the small, smooth, warm stones that filled the beach. She removed her tunic and my eyes burned at the sight of her fantastic body in a pink bikini with a strapless top, and a high waisted bottom that had ties at each hip. My hands itched to pull on those ties, pull her hips to my face and—

She said, “Shall we go in? I can’t wait.”

Baby, neither can I.

I placed my sunglasses next to hers on the small, round table between our loungers. “Why should we wait?”

We entered the chilly water, both of us moving through the full rolling waves that never broke or got very high. Crystal aquamarine. I could see straight down to the smooth, sandy bottom. I dove in, the cool water sheathing me. I broke the surface as Adri swam to the other end of the shore where the beach bar was, and I followed her.

At the end of the shoreline rose a high wall of concave rock which towered over the water, the sides jutting out into the sea where a lone snorkeler swam. The water was darker and wilder here, slamming and smacking swiftly into the rocks of the small cave. Adri emerged from the sea and clambered up over the slippery slabs of that shimmering mica, and grinned like a kid who’d been given the birthday present she’d been coveting for a long time.

But she was no kid.

She was Aphrodite rising from her seashell, water sluicing over her skin, wet hair in a long tangle down her body, eyes huge and bright, ready to greet her ardent lover.

The compulsion to drop to my knees and worship her as any ordinary mortal would overwhelmed me. But she was no ethereal goddess. She was real, and she had chosen to run away to this hidden paradise with me. To share this special place in her heart with me.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” she asked, sniffing in air, hands wiping the water from her face.

“Fantastic.” I smoothed my hair back, a hand down my middle, catching my breath. The cave, the wind, the loud smack of the waves.

The girl.

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