Just seeing the vast expanse of all that blue-green water fading seamlessly into the horizon had brought tears to my eyes. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen.
I couldn’t swim, but I wasn’t afraid of walking into the water. The waves looked fairly calm and I didn’t plan on going out very far, anyway.
I should probably thank Lea for bringing me down here. Instead, I’d snapped at him for just putting sunscreen on my back. No, that wasn’t true. I’d snapped at him because I was deeply embarrassed that his simple touch had gotten me so hard I’d been on the verge of coming.
The water was warm against my toes, bubbled around my ankles, frothy and a little grainy. I waded deeper until I could touch the rippling waves with my fingers and feel the strength of the water against my thighs. A smile broke across my face, and I turned toward Lea. He was watching me with a guardedexpression, but then his eyes lowered to my lips. His features softened and he pushed toward me with a smile of his own.
“Everything you ever thought it would be?”
“It’s amazing,” I gushed. A bubbly kind of joy churned through me, giving me a heady sensation of lightness. “Thank you.”
Lea raised one of those wickedly arched brows at me. “For what?”
I ran a finger across the surface of the water. “For bringing me here. Helping me last night. Putting up with me in general when you really don’t have to. For everything.” My eyes dipped down to Lea’s bare chest, his lean muscles defined enough for me to be able to trace them, if he’d let me. His nipples were pink buds, and he had a light smattering of blond hair across his pecs.
Lea had a divinely masculine figure that became even more tempting when he added touches of femininity to it.
Like his lace panties.
I dragged my eyes away when I realized I was staring.
“Hmm, I’ll let you thank me for bringing you here, maybe for helping you, but not that last one. There’s nothing to put up with, Beau. If I had my choice of any roommate, anyone at all, I’d choose you a thousand times over. You’re quiet, polite, considerate. I like having you there,” he admitted. “With me. I was kinda lonely before you came along.”
I slowly waded deeper, my eyes riveted to his.
Did that mean he wasn’t lonely anymore?
The water was up to my chest, and I moved my arms back and forth as Lea’s words rattled around in my mind. I wasn’t sure anyone had ever said those kinds of things to me. And when Lea said it, something intense in his gaze, it only made everything more buoyant.
“I like being there,” I said softly, offering him a small smile. “I really like being there. With you.”
Lea’s lips parted, his eyes boring into mine. “Beau, I?—”
I took another step back, and my foot slid down into nothing. The water engulfed me entirely as I went under, thrashing my arms frantically as my nerves screamed with panic. I inhaled ocean water, tried to kick my legs, tried to find the bottom, and then someone grabbed me around the waist and dragged me to the surface.
I coughed and sputtered as I clung to Lea, wrapping my arms around his neck, my legs around his waist. Every inhale was so loud and sharp, and I felt the attention of several people nearby. I squeezed Lea tighter, burying my face in his neck as I trembled violently.
“Hey, hey, you’re okay. You’re all right, I got you,” he said, stroking up and down my back. “I got you. What happened? You step off a shelf?” He had one hand splayed across my thigh, clutching me to him, searing into me like a brand.
Skin to skin, I could feel every curve of muscle, all his natural warmth, and there was something so right about being this close to Lea.
“What happened, Beau?”
There were drops of water on Lea’s neck, and I pressed my lips against one. Lea froze, and I turned my face away from the temptation of his throat. “I can’t swim,” I whispered.
Lea crushed me tighter against his body. “What?” he said in disbelief. One hand slid up to grasp the nape of my neck, holding me to him. “Are you serious? Why wouldn’t you tell me something like that? Jesus Christ, Beau!”
His voice was filled with fear and anger, and a wave of shame rolled over me. I tried to drop back down to the ocean floor, but Lea only squeezed me harder.
“I’m s-sorry. Let me go,” I said, mortified that my voice wobbled so much.
“Fuck no, I’m not letting you go,” he growled, wading toward the shore. “I never should’ve let you come out this far!”
The water slowly dropped away until Lea was holding me all on his own, sand flying out from under his furious feet as he stomped toward our spot. He didn’t let go of me until we were back, and even then, he seemed extremely reluctant to put me down.
Finally, he loosened his grip and let me slide my legs off him. I planted my feet in the sand, tipping forward as he kept a firm hold on my arms. I let my forehead fall against his chest and whispered into his skin. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, please don’t be mad at me. Please.”
I sucked in a breath when he took my chin in a firm grasp and forced me to look up at him. “It’s okay. All right? I’m not mad at you, love, you just…” He took a shaky breath and let it out slowly. “That scared me. From now on, you promise me you’ll tell me something as important as that. Okay? You really scared theshitout of me, Beau. I can’t have something happen to you. I can’t.” He searched my eyes, and my chest tightened at the panic I could clearly see in his.