"I'd invite you to sit out on the beach with me and snuggle," she murmured with a smile, "but it seems we've run out of
clothes."
He laughed at that. "So?" He pointed out. "Haven't run into anyone, and we can always bring the sheet. That was your
great cover all solution. I figure if it would work going down the highway on a bike, should work on the beach, in case
we have to run from errant fishermen."
She laughed. Hard.
"You're terrible." She stated, sounding less bothered and more proud of him for it. Though it was true. So far they
might as well have been on a deserted island for all the 'neighbors' they'd seen or hear so far. It was nice. The
freedom was nice. The isolation and the chance to concentrate on nothing but each other was - heaven. She slipped
her arms around his shoulders.
"You do realize of course that our clothes must be dry by now." She told him with laughing eyes. "But we should at
very least bring a sheet. It's very sandy out there."
"Yeah, they might be." He said in reference to their clothes. "But I think they're enjoying the evening air without some
warm body inside them. So, sheet it is. Luckily we've got a few sets of them, in case these happen to get wet, and
sandy, and who knows what other torture we'll have in store for it!"
It wasn't often Andi got to think that Suz would be shocked by her behavior. This, however, happened to be possibly
the one single time.
"Mm." She hummed the laugh and pressed a kiss to his jaw. "Just imagine." She teased. Giving into the dare in his
dark eyes. It was a good thing her Da was halfway around the world...
She slipped off the bed and gathered up the makings of their 'dinner' to put away. Some of her habits wouldn't die if
you beat them with a stick. "Since we've already got crumbs on these sheets anyway, we might as well make some
use out of them." She agreed.
"My chalk would be doubled over in laughter about now." He said with a chuckle as he stood up and stripped the bed
while she was putting the food away, watching her. She was an absolute joy to watch, relaxed, smiling...now the goal
was to keep her that way.
She slipped him a look over her shoulder as she put away the bread, dark eyes laughing.
"You tell anyone about this, your chalk included, and I will deny it. All. Categorically." She warned, lips twisting upward
at their edges. "I'll tell them you knocked yourself out with a stone kicked up by the mower and spent the entire
vacation so drugged up you hallucinated everything else." She moved over to join him and pressed a kiss to his
cheek. Murmuring: "And imagine how boring that was for me."
"Oh, nice." He said with a chuckle. "You'd love it if I were on drugs again. I can see you taking advantage of me. In
fact, so can my chalk, so are you sure you want to add in the drugs? After all, you wouldn't be supervised by Potter
and Cara, your options are pretty much limitless..."
Both her eyebrows arched.
"Your chalk fantasizes about me taking advantage of you?" She laughed. "Oh dear. Those poor men very much need
to get out more often. Besides, you're the one that set your mind on taking advantage of innocent doctors,
remember?" She gently caught the edge of one of the sheets he'd 'collected' and drew him toward the door. "That's
what you told your family. Though - just for the record - I'm rather unsupervised at the moment as well. If we were
weighing options..."
"I tell my family a lot of things, and they don't listen anyway." He said with a chuckle as he reached around her to open
the door. "Besides, I promised you a vacation, remember? So if we're both relaxed and enjoying ourselves, there's
this nice American phrase: no harm, no foul."
She paused. There on the threshold. Reaching up to cup his cheek gently with her hand and meet his eyes.
"I am." She told him softly. "I've never been this happy and free before." She kissed him gently. "Thank you." She
added. Then she flashed him a grin and caught his hand, tugging lightly. "Come on. I want to see if the water's nice
enough for a swim."
"Might as well state we're going for a swim." He said with a chuckle as he followed her out. "Look how well our 'stroll
along the water edge' went." Where the floor dropped out beneath them suddenly and they ended up submerged.
"That was fun." She protested with a laugh. "Even if it was my last dry shirt. We really should have bought more." She
added as an afterthought. The beach was as empty as it had been the night before and the moon was just as bright,
hanging high and round in the night sky above. The waves lapped at the shore in quiet murmurs.
"Catch me?" She challenged with a grin and raced for the water.
"Nope, I'm watching." He said with a grin as she ran around naked as a jay bird, the moon reflecting off her pale skin.
"Really, it's a nice view. No, keep going. I like this. For once you running around instead of me!" Though if he did
choose, which he probably would in a minute, it would be unusual, running around without 50 pounds of gear on his
back!
She just laughed at him, pausing just long enough to stick her tongue out at him over her shoulder before she
reached the water.
"I should have challenged that the last one to the water was an angry Sox fan." She told him, water already whispering
up to curl around her feet and ankles. She should be self conscious and to a degree she was. But he took such
pleasure in simply looking at her this way... it was silly because she wasn't much to look at but he certainly thought so.
And the paradox of that - it did something wonderful to inside her.
The water was warm and she waded in just far enough to be able to slip under it entirely. Rivers she was familiar with.
But ocean... water that just went on forever... it was - it suited this moment and this time with him perfectly.
Hector waited until she had slipped under the water's glassy surface and left his sheet on the beach, surface diving
beneath the water and swimming to where she was.
"Miss me?" He said with a grin as they both came up for air.
She jerked her inhale in surprise and then laughed, flicking water at him. She didn't have any experience with fear
and water in the same situation. The flooded river situation hardly counted.
"Terribly." She admitted, tipping her head with a bright grin as she swam close enough to brush a light kiss against his
lips. Using her tongue to taste the salt water on her lips as she slowly scooted herself backward in the water
afterward. She tapped him with her toes. "I was almost over five yards away from you for a moment there." She
gauged. "It was terrible."
He was a handsome man. Always. But his dark hair tended to curl when it was wet now that it was a bit longer and his
darker skin almost glowed with warmth in the sheen of water and moonlight. The night only made his dark eyes darker
and there was something primal and altogether drawing about him in the shadows and cast light the surface of the
uneasy water offered back up. The muscles in his back and shoulders moved and melted like the shifting water. He
was dangerous in a way only a woman would understand. All darkness and shadow.
Andi shifted over onto her stomach, long arms cutting the smooth strokes. Casting him a look over her shoulder and
from the edges of her eyes. One edge of her lips starting to curve upward in that secret smile.
"I don't blame you for not racing though." She tempted, voice reasonable. "I am much faster than you after all."
Hector laughed. In the time she had been underwater, he had gotten from the beach to where she was. Speed was
not an issue. And he may not be a smooth graceful swimmer like she was, floating along the surface of the water like
a swan. but he was a strong swimmer.
Her hair was wet and plastered down around her shoulders before it floated off on the surface of the water like inviting
tangling tendrils.
"I'll let you have that one." He said.
The edge of her lips curved upward but she sank down under the water until it was past her nose. Watching him with
narrowed dark eyes before the edges of them crinkled and laughter started to dance in them. She wiggled her
eyebrows at him before ducking entirely under the water, long fingers trailing the soft sand at the bottom. Rivers were
limited. You always knew, even if you didn't see them that there were edges. Borders and boundaries to hold you in
place. But the ocean went on forever, always deepening and the continents were just islands it let lay on its surface.
He gave her a look as she sunk below the surface of the water and waited a moment before taking a breath and
propelling himself down to the bottom himself. While he wasn't as extensively trained as SEALs like Jet tended to be in
the water, he could more than hold his own. That included his breath too as he waved at her, her hair floating around
her according the current. Around her, above her, over her, airy and graceful and light, like the rest of her.
He was wondering how long the both of them could hold their breath, because she was a beautiful sight, underneath
the barely lit water.
She'd opened her eyes to look at the things her fingers had found to sift over and she turned when Hector joined her.
Laughed silver bubbles as his wave.
He was dark.
Down here, between the air and the sand, a twilight trapped in twilight where the moon's beams actually had form as
they laced into the water, he was all shadows. And she wasn't afraid of his shadows.
With a light push she joined him, her body wrapping comfortably against his in the half weight the ocean gave them.
Brushed his cheek with hers and poured the shells and water rounded rocks she'd collected into his larger hands.
Then she slipped away from him again to catch a breath of air before she went back under.
He finished working the sand out of the shells before coming up for air, his hair getting nearly to the point where a flip
of the head was necessary to get it out of his eyes (since his hands were full). Or more correctly, would have been
that long had it been straight.
Not that it mattered, he was coming up for that breath and going back down, long legs curling around himself as he
forced himself to sink to the bottom again. She was like some impossibly delicate and beautiful siren, he swore
sometimes. Most of the time, actually, as he found her again in the water.
It was like some impossibly slow forever dance, she thought as her body curved against his again. Leaving and then
returning to his arms. Her short side hunts for a new 'treasure' to bring back and place in his open hands while she
brushed up against him. Rising for air and then sinking again. And always, always finding each other.
It was like magic. And whispered music. All of them woven threads of shadow and light and forever. Stories about the
ocean were always different from the stories told only on land and she thought she could begin to understand why.
She grew picky with her treasures since they didn't have pockets to keep them in, sorting odd shaped rocks and
winding shells to find the special ones to fill Hector's hands with. Always winding close herself as she gave them.
Leaving less and less as his hands filled until she was simply content to rest against him feeling the gentle sway of the
ocean against them. If the ocean was forever then she was glad she had learned it with Hector. Now. And here.
Both his hands were full the next time they came up for air, so he had to resort to shaking his head to get his dripping
hair out of his eyes and blink the water off his lashes.
"If I ever run into Jet again, I'm going to tell him to recruit you." Hector said with a chuckle.
She was resting against him this time and she had to stand on her toes here to touch the bottom, the water still up to
her shoulders. Shaking her hands, she reached up and gently brushed the water from his face. Slipping back his
dark, wet hair. Hands as much caressive as purposeful. He was still dark. Handsomely, dangerous dark. Shadows and
warmth. But it’s not a darkness inside him. And its hers. He's hers.
"I thought there were rules against fraternizing if I was in the armed forces." She teased softly with a smile. Fingers
gentle as they traced his cheek and down to his lower lip. "And I'd very much hate to give up fraternizing." She added,
voice softer.
"You're right." He said. "So don't go enlisting in the US military. I'm a little vague on the Salvation Army too...so maybe
that should be on the list too." He leaned forward a bit, his hands full, and kissed her. "That problem is solved. Guess
I closed a career option for you though, hope you don't mind."
She smiled against his lips. Tasting the salt. Shutting her eyes to concentrate on the way all of this simply felt. The
warmth and solid feel of Hector counterposed to the shifting sand under her toes and the rhythmic sway of the water
against her. She shook her head when he drew back, hands resting against his chest.
"I think I'll manage to find something useful to do with the rest of my life despite that." She answered with a smile.
Slowly opening her eyes to look up at him in the moonlight and starlight. Lifting her face, she nuzzled softly against
his. "Besides, this way I'm always ready whenever you get leave."
"And surprisingly, I'll probably start taking some of it." He said with a laugh. That alone should be enough to send
Major Hawthorne into retirement. Or the looney bin, figuring reality had figured out a way to reverse itself. But she'd
be worth it, and it wasn't like he didn't have the time. He had so much time he was loaning Swan time.
"Good." Her smile spread soft and warm. Leaning up, she kissed him again. "Because if you don't I may not realize I'm
supposed to either." Her voice dropped to a whisper in the endless night as she only drew her mouth away from his
enough to confess: "I suspect I'm a bit of a workaholic."
"Oh you think?" He teased her with a quiet chuckle. "I still remember when that elephant saw more of me than you, no
wonder he hates me. Think I might get the hang of this vacation thing yet." He said, carefully putting his arms around
her, lest he drop their harvested treasures.
She snuggled close as soon as his arms came around her. As if she'd just been waiting for an excuse to tuck herself
against him. Closing her eyes with a content sigh as her body settled against his.
"Me too." She agreed peacefully.
He was still holding the shells. He could have dropped them, they'd be easy enough to replace. But he kept them
because she'd given them to him, because they'd collected them together. Because they represented a specific
moment in time. He was always so careful with everything she gave him. Even the small little things. As if every bit of it
was precious and important to him. She loved him for that too. It made her feel safe. And important. And she never
wanted to lose that. Or take it for granted.
"Next time we come here on vacation, we'll have to remember to bring a bag or something." She commented, pressing
a kiss to the edge of his lips. Willing, finally, to dream beyond today. If he promised to be there to make the dreams
come true.
"Next time we'll plan it a little better." He said with a chuckle. This wasn't exactly a planned trip. They just started
driving, and ended up here. "But bags, real food, definitely on the off season...wouldn't want to trip over fishermen like
this after all."
He liked that, the planning beyond tomorrow's sunrise.
"Mm." She made the humming noise against him, tucking her face against his jaw line and closing her eyes. Thinking
about the future... and completely at peace. "As long as it’s warm." She added after a moment of thought. "I think this
beach would look lonely in cold weather." Her lips shifted upward against his throat in a smile. "And it would make
swimming a bit more uncomfortable too." She added.
"It doesn't get very cold here." He said. "This is where the Northerners come in the winter. But we'll keep this place on
the list to come back to. Never know, we might find some places that top this one. Hard, but could happen."
Her smile went a bit brighter and she laughed silently against him.
"That sounds like a challenge." She answered softly. Shifting her head on his shoulder to look up at him, dark eyes
quietly pleased. "We might just have to start looking each time we go out somewhere new now."
"I like challenges." He said as they stood there in the ocean, water up to her shoulders, nearly to his, washing the last
remnants of sand from their treasures between his fingers. He kissed her again and smiled at her. "Come on, let's get
this stuff back to the cabin before I drop it."
"All right." She raised her face to brush the tip of her nose against his with a soft smile. Even as warm as the water
was she was starting to feel the warmth it was stealing from her own body. But oh... this was so nice... so perfectly
peaceful and soul warming... Tender she brushed a kiss against his jaw line. Started back toward the shore but this
time she stayed close to him, slipping an arm around his waist as they moved. Done with the teasing and playing for
now. Content to simply stay in his arms, tucked up against him. Soul completely at peace and relaxed.
He kissed her temple as they made their way back to the shoreline and the beach, and their long forgotten sheets. He
just didn't want to push their luck in no one observing their streaking tendencies. And they'd certainly been streaking
for a bit, but it felt good.
The absolute state of relaxation and comfort, really.
She gathered up the sheets as they paused on their way past and then they tracked damp sandy footprints into the
cabin, across its wooden floor. Andi shut the door behind them and gave a content sigh. Raising her face to give
Hector another kiss. Letting her long fingers tangle in his damp, curling hair as she rested the other against the wet
skin of his chest. They really weren't so good about carrying through with their plans here. A nap in the hammock
turned into something else entirely. A sit on the beach turned into a swim. It was - nice. It was very nice to be so
unstructured. Especially considering their lives up to now.
He kissed her back, depositing the shells and water smoothed rocks in a near by empty bowl, then raising his now
free hands to her face. "Love you." He said, again, after the kiss ended for the moment. He couldn't tire of saying that
to her, or kissing her for that matter. Luckily for him she didn't seem to object.
She opened her eyes and they were dark and soft and hazy. And full of the way she loved him. Of the way his love
moved through the very soul of her.
"I know." It whispered out of her and it wasn't arrogant or proud. It was a whisper at the miracle of it. That he loved
her. She wrapped one of her hands around the outside of his and turned her face to press a kiss into his palm. And
then looked back up at him.
"I love you too." She answered softly. Winding her fingers through his and slowly drawing him backward.
"Good, I like agreeing with you." He said with a smile as he drew her backward toward, well, wherever she wanted to
go he was fine with. For once, there wasn't this overwhelming need to be in the drivers seat.
She made her humming noise. Pleased and took their linked hands behind her so she was in his arms again as she
slowly made her way across the room. Their skin was still damp and the drying salt added a tactile feel to them. She
left his hands against her back and slowly slid her own up his wrists and then his forearms to slide against his biceps
as they moved. Looking up at him, face soft and almost glowing with life and contentment.
The jungles of Africa were very far away right now.