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fourteen
He'd gone ahead of her, eager to rip off the strange clothes. There was a shaky exhilaration lingering there in his belly. Hastily pulling the shirt up, he unbuttoned it and threw it aside. Already he had removed his shoes, the sand nice and warm under his toes.
"Jie, what in the hell has gotten into you?"
"I...I don't know what came over me just then. I've never wanted to do that before." He spoke seemingly out loud, tossing aside the suspenders from his arms and reaching down to unbutton his pants. At once they too met the other discarded clothes and he at last felt like he could breathe. Turning, he looked at her still in her dress. She glanced down his body but found her gaze brought back up by way of his hands.
"Get undressed bòhé." He whispered against her mouth, drawing her breath.
"The waves will make us clean again. Once they do, we'll go from there."
"But,"
"I don't care where I have to travel to. As long as you're safe... as long as we're together I don't care." He pressed his face against her neck with a shaky uneven sigh.
"I know you're scared sweetheart. Was that the first time...you ever did somethin like that?" He didn't answer but she felt him nod against her. Licking her lips, she drew him closer in a hug.
"We'll go for a nice swim right?" Smiling at her, he lifted his head.
"Yes. For a little while."
"Okay." He watched as she began to undress, casting aside the outer dress and reaching behind her to unlace her corset. Once she stood in her shift, boots and stockings, she reached up to carefully pull the hat and its pins from her hair. It all met the sand. Leaning down, the stockings slipped down her small slender lower legs and the boots too were strewn. Just the shift left, she reached for his hands and he came to her, leaning down to kiss her. It was his hands that pulled the shift down and once she was fully nude, he lifted her up into his arms. Slowly, her arms and legs came around him and he walked them towards the softly lapping waves. Soon they crashed into them.
***
He let the water wash away the blood from his face and hair and outwardly sighed. Opening his eyes, he found her still underwater, seeming to float in mid air. Smiling, he swam towards her and gave his fins a gentle flutter as he playfully circled her. Wrapping arms around her, he lifted them to surface.
"Do you feel better?" She asked, breath starting to grow heavy.
