by Rissa Brahm
They continued their swim together, now more or less side by side. Ben had been there before and obviously knew the way, so they didn’t need to stop and wait for Pedro at the opening to the arching entrance of the island. They swam on. The water was so crystal clear to the bottom that she could see small schools of fluorescent fish darting this way and that. They made their way through the watery tunnel to the hidden beach, like two magnets unable to keep from touching each other somehow, some way. And she liked it. A lot.
As they got to the shallower water of the inside portion of the site, her hand was in his—strange but as natural as could be. She laughed to herself, unsure of when he took her hand. Or was it she who took his? What did it matter? It felt right. Righter than right.
She smiled at him as he helped her out of the water onto the white sandy beach.
“Stand here and look up.” She did as he told her while he unclipped her life vest and tossed it on the ground.
The scene had captivated her speechless. Her toes wiggled in the silky white powder with escalating excitement. No words at all.
She tore her eyes from the view hovering over her and looked at him. Still no words available. She reached up on her tiptoes, slid her hands around his neck, and kissed him on the mouth, a deep, delirious kiss. Then she backed away from him almost giggling—glee, that’s what ballooned in her chest—and began to spin around and around and around, eyes up to the earthen crater above them, which opened to a perfectly blue circle of wide-open forever-sky.
*
“Pedro thinks you’re beautiful,” Ben said while she continued her spinning dance of awe. “He was going to ask you out but I told him to wait until after our honeymoon’s over.”
“Well, Pedro is kinda cute…maybe he can take me on a honeymoon tomorrow.”
“Yeah…or if you prefer, we can call our honeymoon day over here and now and I’ll go hook up with Sun Hat and Charles over there. They look like they’d be into a threesome.”
She paused, stunned to laughter by his out-of-character comment, and, too dizzy to function, she fell to her knees. The two older couples were just making their way through the archway toward them, their back-and-forth grumblings echoed throughout the cavern. Imagining Ben and the couple not operating on them but operating on them made her nearly pee her pants, or bikini bottoms, as it were.
Since she’d already made it to the so-soft sand, she crawled on her hands and knees to a perfect sunny spot while her laugh attack simmered. She squinted up at Ben with a raised brow and patted the spot next to her. “Get over here, hubby, and let’s get some sun. Because, man, do you need it.” She smirked at him standing there so sweetly proud and tall, his lean, long, and athletic build making his statement for him. “Sweetie,” she said for the benefit of their older friends and, well, the game of pretend had become fun, “you’re gonna blind someone with that gleaming white torso of yours.” She reached for his ankle to pull him down to join her already. “That is, if you don’t scare someone to death with those farmer’s-tanned arms first.”
He gave her a narrowed stare then flicked his eyes away in mock anger.
“I meant those lean, muscular farmer’s-tanned arms, hun.” Again, for their audience. “They’re totally sexy. Hot red sexy.” Another laughing outburst covered up her preoccupation with the head-to-toe and inside-out tingling sensation shooting through her. It was the total recall of those arms—his strong, sinewy arms—holding her down, flipping her over, squeezing, wrapping, and maneuvering her, any way he wanted—only two nights ago. Too long ago now.
She lay back on the warm, wet sand and patted the spot next to her again, then untied the sunscreen from her sarong. “Here, I’ll lather you up.”
But Ben didn’t speak or budge. He just stood over her, still and tall and pensive. Was he soaking her in with that golden gaze of his—she adjusted her bikini in case—or was he planning how to cook her up and eat her?
No clue.
Then, without a word, he nodded to her—or someone farther off?—turned on his heels and disappeared. Even stranger. And the sudden and ultra-strong glare from the sun streaming through the overhead crater practically blinded her so she also had no clue where he’d gone.
So mysterious.
A half minute later he was back with waters for them both. Or not mysterious, but really sweet. And hydration-conscious. She smiled a thank-you as he sat down next to her, hip to hip. She was glad to be in closer proximity to him again.
“So, while we wait, do you wanna hear the background of this place?” He pointed up at the hovering crater, which cast an ethereal shadow around the outskirts of the über-romantic and mystical beach.
“Yes, please…but while we wait for what?”
He smirked, waggled his brows, and took a large gulp of his water.
She gave his arm a light shake, impatient with the game, though she liked the game very much, and she liked the playful Ben very much. “Wait for what, Ben?”
“You’ll have to wait for what we’re waiting for. Now, for your history lesson…get ready to get your bubble burst…”
She cocked her head, eyes narrowed, unsure if there was innuendo in there or what. “Okaaay?”
“This massive hole above us was created by bomb tests performed by the Mexican government decades ago.”
She frowned like a child whose bubble had just literally been burst.
He touched her chin and began to laugh without pause.
“Stop laughing at me,” she mock-whined and slapped his arm.
“Sorry, sorry…” But he couldn’t stop his laughing fit. “It’s just…you…look like I ruined Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy all at once.” He leaned into her. “You’re even gorgeous when you pout, Preeya Patel.” He placed a kiss on her earlobe, then on her neck just under her jawline. He dragged his lips down and over her shoulder, then down her arm while she followed his trail of grazes with her eyes. “Mmm, you taste salty-sweet.” He leaned back again, dug his elbows into the sand, and gazed at her.
She rolled her eyes playfully and lay back to join him. Breathing in the sea air and his scent, a mix of sea salt and musk, she felt high. His hand at her side brushed her leg; she laced her fingers through his and squeezed. Then they both looked up above them.
The backstory of the locale—aka, their mystifying pretend honeymoon spot—didn’t do any damage to how splendid and breathtaking the place was. Or the day. And the moment. With Ben by her side.
*
He squeezed her hand back, then brought both of his arms above his head and settled all the way back onto the white silken sand. “Nap with me a while,” he said. “We still have a bit of a wait for—uhp, I almost slipped.”
“Oh just tell me, already. Please, Ben?”
But he’d already closed his eyes, pretend-snoring away.
She huffed and tightened her grip on his hand, then settled down into the sand to wait patiently. The ocean’s tide outside the cavern lulled her, but she didn’t want to close her eyes. She was still too in-awe of the thin shell of earth hovering over them. “This is like another world…”
With his eyes still shut, he broke his fake-sleep silence. “You wanna see another world that was made by Mother Nature herself?”
“Definitely…”
“Good,” he said as a tall shadow appeared on the sand in front of them. “My man Pedro is here to take us.” Ben grinned at her with a twinkle in his eye, like a little boy about to show her his secret tree house.
He helped her up and then kept one of her hands in his, then nodded at Pedro to lead the way.
CHAPTER 22
Thirty minutes later they were at his spot. Pedro plopped himself down on a rock by the far side of the falls, placed his cap over his eyes, and wasn’t shy about his intent to doze off. Maybe he was just being awesome, giving them some privacy. Good man.
He glanced up at Preeya, wanting to stare at nothing else all day. Her attention was set firmly on the waterfall cascadin
g down the natural rock cliff into the pristine lagoon, an endless oasis. God, her dark-lashed eyes couldn’t get any wider, he thought.
And he understood why. To him, this place was heaven on earth.
But now being here with Preeya, it had elevated to something else, something more.
He looked hard at Preeya then touched her arm to grab her attention. “Strip.”
“Excuse me?”
“Take your clothes off. The water’s perfect.”
“Wow. Okay, Mr. Forward,” she said with one brow raised.
He smiled and lifted a brow back. She liked him this way, he could tell. And he liked him this way. His true, no bullshit self.
“Chop, chop.” He tilted his head expectantly, then he softened. “I promise, Preeya Patel, you’ll thank me.”
“Maybe, but you go first, Doctor Benjamin Trainer.”
He gave her a wicked grin as he’d already started untying the drawstring of his swim trunks. Way ahead of her. “I’ll meet you in there, slowpoke.”
Completely naked and in up to his ankles the next moment, he dove in the rest of the way. “God, this is as perfect as I remember!” The temperature was bathwater warm.
When he dunked his head and came up again, Preeya was moving toward him, her sweat-kissed skin practically sparkling in the sun. Her breasts were full, chest out, nipples—oh Lord—pebbled and perfect, maybe from the temperature contrast between the incredibly humid air and the water’s perfection. But maybe for want of him, need of his attention, his detailed tending and care like he’d given her the other night. He’d passed that test, thankfully. And was so ready to give her more. So much more.
And she continued toward him, slightly bashful but not shy enough to move too quickly or to hide herself. No, she glided into the natural pool slowly, seductively. And he could only admire. And anticipate.
Once the water hovered just below her nipples, she sank suddenly, then bobbed back up. “There’s a drop-off!” she yelled. He laughed, swimming over to her. “I didn’t know there was a drop-off.” She spit out a stream of water and coughed, but then began laughing which made her cough more. When he got to her, she wrapped her arms around him, her smooth skin rubbing against his making him spark to life. He swallowed hard, trying to keep focus on her, not on having her.
“You’re okay,” he told her. “It’s only ten feet down at this point. But come.” He let his hands slide down her arms, ready to pull her toward the water cascade. “I want to show you what’s under the falls. It’s magic on earth. You’ll see.”
*
She couldn’t stop where things were going. Neither could he, it seemed. It was a force of nature starting with a deep kiss behind a torrential wall of water.
She wasn’t sure if she’d ever made love before. But hidden from the world on that perfectly molded bolder behind that impenetrable sheet of deafening water, that protective curtain rushing down between them and the outside world, she was undoubtedly made love to. No question in her heart. No question in her soul.
Their connection had all of the out-of-body passion they’d shared the first night they were together in Boise, Idaho, but she was anything but out of her body now. She was so present, so in the moment with Ben, she couldn’t help but feel like it was a dream. Like there was no before, no after, just them, together, writhing in perfect harmony, the gentle vapor from the falls gracing both their bodies. A magical mist. Pure magic, like Ben had said. His kisses and their connection, also perfect. Unforgettably perfect. She didn’t want to wake up from the now he’d brought her to.
But they had to leave the enclave eventually. And when they swam out, she was thankful for his constant touch. There wasn’t a second when his finger or his hand wasn’t in contact with her skin. And she needed that, any remnant of his spark, or else she thought she might just evaporate, become part of the waterfall crashing down in front of her. And simply mist away. Up and away.
CHAPTER 23
Once they got back to Vallarta, Preeya felt like a year had gone by since morning. And she didn’t want their yearlong day, their mock honeymoon, to end.
When he called his sister to let her know he wouldn’t be home for dinner, she felt a tinge of guilt for keeping him from his family, but a wave of relief and excitement for his choice, choosing her.
He brought her to a very nice seafood restaurant—swimsuits and flip-flops in Vallarta’s best establishments were the norm, he said. The place was on the river, the Rio Cuale, that fed into the bay. The flowing water splashed up to tickle her toes and legs she was so close to the bank. Vibrant overhead lanterns of blues and golds reflected in the water as dusk turned to twilight. “Are you positive you don’t want to invite Stacy and the kids to join us?”
He gave her a look. “Absolutely positive. I don’t want to share you with a soul.”
*
Is this happening right now? In reality—not another stupid pipe dream of hers, not a waking dream?
And as if he’d read her thoughts, he reached for her hand from across the small, intimate table for two and locked his fingers with hers. She inhaled the evening air deep into her lungs to slow her pulse reverberating throughout her chest.
It’s happening, Pree. And don’t get too excited about it. She had to enjoy now and worry about nothing else.
She took a sip of the wine he’d ordered to attempt to do just that. It was a rich and fruity pinot noir, he’d said, one that he’d thought she’d enjoy very much. And she did—the taste and warmth and heaviness on her tongue—but more, the sophisticated association of the act of drinking wine. With a man, this man, at this fine dining gem on a river in Puerto Vallarta. She hadn’t much experience with wine and fine dining and men, a real man—all what she’d considered more adult pleasures. A giggle escaped her at the mental reference. Being an adult. Yeah, twenty-five, it was time. She sighed and smiled at Ben who’d been watching her throughout her cerebral wanderings.
“Do you like the wine?”
“I do. I really do.”
“It will go perfectly with the tuna steaks I’ll order for us. This place is famous for their tuna, confirmed by yours truly. I need you to experience it.” He winked then lifted his glass to hers and sipped.
She nodded and took another pull from her glass. It felt a bit strange, his choosing their meal, ordering for her—a bit presumptuous. But as the wine and the light rush of the river and Ben’s gaze penetrated her senses, she let the concern go. She’d enjoy the experience, trust it. Trust him and his desire to make her as happy as he’d done all day long.
*
Dinner was divine, but she’d been too taken by Ben to have enjoyed it as thoroughly as he’d intended. He’d really have to blame himself, topping the meal with his own general effervescence—his questions and answers and stories and ideas made her forget all else.
And anyway, living for the now takes practice, she guessed.
“So, your opinion of your honeymoon day?”
“You are the ultimate pretend husband, Doctor Trainer, and the ultimate guide.” To save herself from blushing, she held back her comment on what else he’d been ultimate at—her entire body still hummed from their lovemaking behind the falls.
He nodded; a sweet warmth resonated from him. Again, like he’d read her thoughts.
“You know…since…the funeral…” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple lifting and falling with his suddenly tightened shoulders, “…I’ve used Vallarta. To hide away, to isolate myself from…myself. And from my past life.” His face lowered, focused and pensive, his fingers fidgeting with his fork and knife. “But I will tell you something…” With slow and controlled intent, he brought his eyes up to meet hers.
“What’s that?” she asked, now swimming in his eyes of sunset.
“Today, with you…I feel like myself again. This place has felt like a deserted tropical island to me over the last year-plus, but now…I’m here to enjoy it. Like, I’m really here. It’s a paradise again to me. With you.�
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She smiled at him, melted for him. His foot met hers under the table. And her hand found his above it.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he said, his thumb stroking her wrist, her tattoo peeking out from under her ever-dead watch. “What is this exactly—what does it represent?”
“My blue moon,” she said, half smiling.
“Is it your sad blue moon?”
“No, it’s not that blue.” She laughed. “It’s just rare. You know, the full moon that appears a second time within the same month?”
He smiled and shrugged. “Us doctors definitely don’t know everything.” He winked.
“Well, I got the tattoo with my teen-hood boyfriend…total rebel rocker type.”
Ben’s head cocked to the side.
“Shit, yes, at Sea-Tac that day. Josh Bolte.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah…wow. Total pipe dream turned…pipe head.” She shook her head. “Fell into the life, you know?”
“So you and he…that night…”
“Did nothing. Well, that’s not true. He snorted, and I slept—with the help of half a liter of vodka.”
Ben nodded, relief spreading a smile over his mouth. “The guy was pretty…intense.”
“That’s the one consistent thing about him. Not always into the bad shit, but always intense. God, back in the day we—or, I— thought our ‘love’ was so special, so rare and, yes, intense.” She rolled her eyes and sighed, then chuckled at her own expense. “So damn special that he left me cold. Skipped out with no warning. But hey, he left a note—it wasn’t a text, right?”
Ben blinked and smiled at her. “I thought you were going to say he left you for another hot girl, not that I can imagine anyone hotter than you.” He waggled his brows, as if racking up points.
She shook her head as her face heated to scorching. “No, it wasn’t as dramatic as another woman, though I can’t say for sure there weren’t others.” She scoffed. There likely were. “Anyway, it hurt maybe as bad as catching him with someone else. I hate cheaters.” She couldn’t help but think of her father then, marrying another woman. Although her mother had left them, Preeya had an image of marriage—idealistic as it may seem, whatever. Like Legends of the Fall, forever should be forever. And it wasn’t like Mom left them for another man, another family. But still, her dad moved on. With Sylvia. Silicone-sexy Sylvia.
