Page 14 of His to Seduce
Chapter 6
David
My knuckles ached from Camden’s tight grip, her little hand so strong around mine I thought she might break my fingers. I kept my promise, swimming at her speed, and languidly kicked through the water.
Snorkeling had taken my breath away yesterday when the guys and I had come out. This morning, with Camden at my side, it was just as gorgeous. Through the bright teal waters, below us was a myriad of neon colors. Coral in oranges and yellows, spotted with a purple so bright I’d never seen the shade before. It waved through the blue waters, looking like brilliant balls of popcorn.
I tugged Camden’s hand to get her attention. Her eyes were wide with wonder and she smiled as best she could around the snorkel. I wanted to talk to her, ask her how she was doing, but the softness in her features told me she was okay.
A flash of movement caught my attention, and I pointed below as a school of neon-yellow-and-black-striped butterfly fish swam toward the coral. Larger than my head, the fish were beautiful. Everything swam below us, seemingly unaware of our presence. There was a quietness beneath the water, a peacefulness that rolled around me. Yesterday, for what felt like the first time in months, I’d felt like I could breathe again. It was as unsettling as it was welcome.
Camden pushed closer to me and loosened her grip on my hand. Nudging me with her shoulder, she pointed at something farther away and then looked at me quickly before glancing back to the coral.
Another school of fish, vivid orange and blue and red, they looked like they’d been dipped in color and tie-dyed. Raheem had called them rainbow parrotfish and their name fit perfectly. They mixed with the colors, blending into the coral and the water, and were even larger than the butterfly fish. All of it mesmerized me. I was so lost in the colors and the shapes and everything we were seeing, more so than when I’d been with the guys, that I scarcely recognized it when Camden let go of my hand and dove lower.
I followed her, chasing her body as it cut through the water without effort, until we were swimming among the fish. Our hands reached out, fish swimming around us, avoiding us at the last moment before contact. The schools split into sections and merged back together. Camden turned and smiled at me behind her, her teeth visible around the snorkel. Her laugh vibrated through the water, straight to my dick.
Even muffled by the water, the sound was glorious.
We swam through the reef, bobbing and dipping with the waves. I led Camden and she switched, leading me. I followed her, pulled between marveling at the brightness and wildness of sand sharks and fish and seahorses bobbing above coral and focusing on the curve of Camden’s ass and the length of her legs, along with her auburn hair billowing behind her as she swam. Between her hair, the deep-emerald bikini that barely covered her ass and breasts, and her porcelain skin, she was as vivid as the colors beneath us.
Eventually, I caught up to her and tapped her on her shoulder. She pulled her gaze to mine, almost reluctantly. I gestured for us to go up, and she frowned before nodding.
Above water, I pulled off my goggles and removed my snorkel. As soon as she did the same, I pulled her to me, forcing her to wrap her legs around my waist. “Beautiful,” I murmured against her lips before I kissed her.
She was. The entire morning had been. She hummed against my mouth, and I swallowed the sound and the salty taste of her lips. My hands roved her skin, unable to get enough of her. Beneath my swim trunks, I was hard and I pushed myself into her, settling my hands at her hips to pull her against me.
“I have more planned,” I said, yanking myself away from her. Raheem was somewhere on the boat nearby and I had to get control before I lost it completely. How did she always do this to me? Ever since the first night I saw her at Fireside I’d wanted her this desperately. Five months of waiting and planning and pushing and flirting had taken its toll.
“You do?”
I nodded, sliding my hand on her hip, switching her goggles and snorkel to my other hand so I held all of our gear. “Yep. Come on. I have a lunch for us on the boat and then another surprise.”
“I hate surprises.” She grinned as she said it and looked back to the ocean. “But I suppose one more of yours might not kill me.”
—
“Why are you trying to kill me? I thought you liked me.”
I stared down to the water below us. Our toes were at the edge of a cliff. Seventy feet across from us was another cliff. Forty feet below us, white-capped waves rolled off the rocks, the thundering of the impact echoing up to where we stood.
We’d eaten lunch on the boat, and I’d convinced her to explore the rocks of the smaller uninhabited island with me. I’d saved the surprise until we’d reached the top.
“It’s just a little cliff-diving, Camden. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“I lost it when I was twelve.” Her voice, thick with fear, snapped my attention off the water below. Her lips pressed together into a thin line and her hand began trembling in my grasp. Something about the tone made me take in her seriousness and, for a moment, I questioned taking her over the edge with me.
She was truly afraid.
“What are you afraid of?”
It was the same question I’d asked her on the boat. This time it carried a heavier weight.
Squeezing her eyes closed, her entire body shivered visibly, as if a blast of subzero temperatures had racked her.
“Camden.” I took a step back, tugging her with me. We stepped away from the edge and I shifted until I was directly in front of her. “What is it?”
“Heights.” Redness bloomed on her cheekbones, but she wouldn’t look at me. “Heights aren’t my thing.”