Summer's Last Breath

Part 38

At one point, he turned over, threaded his hand around the back of my head, and pulled me down for a kiss, the evidence of his continual want for me pressed between us.

"If you were—" he started then stopped himself, something shining in his eyes I couldn't decipher.

"If I were what?" I was sure he'd been about to say if I were like him and I felt a stab of regret that I wasn't.

"Nothing," he said and claimed my mouth in another kiss that had me longing for summer. I'd almost brave the cold water and the risk of hypothermia for the chance that he'd unzip this wetsuit and show me what it was like to be with him out here.

He ended the kiss and turned back over, securing my hands on his shoulders.

"Don't you get cold?" I struggled to keep my teeth from chattering while his skin under my hands was still so warm.

"Well, it's not the same as in the summer months when the water is eighty degrees. We prefer it warmer. It would get uncomfortable out here after a few hours, but we aren't likely to stay out that long this time of year, especially in the deeper waters where it's colder."

After a few more minutes he stopped, and I gazed back toward shore, surprised how far away we were. Taking note of the choppier waters, I waited to feel a sense of alarm but it never came. I knew it wouldn't, not with Jamie here.

"This should be good. I don't want to keep you out here too long."

I held the sea star in my hand palm up, and I could see now that the light was beginning to fade. "We didn't wait too late, did we?"

"No." Jamie hugged me from behind, wrapping his whole body around me, giving me as much of his heat as he could. He brought his hand up underneath mine and cupped it with his. Then he slowly turned our hands over, and the sea star dropped into the water, falling like a penny dropped in a wishing well or a star shooting across the sky. I followed the light, wanting to watch its glow for as long as possible, my heart turning heavy when I could no longer see it.

"Do you think it's still shining?" My heart sank as an unexplained sadness stole over me. I already missed its light.

"Yes." He nuzzled my ear, his arms tight around my middle.

I turned my face into his.

"Go check." Something inside me needed to know it was still shining.

"What?"

"Go check. Please. I want to make sure."

"You'll be all right by yourself for a few seconds? You won't be scared?"

Land was so far away it was only a thin, white line on the horizon.

"Why would I be scared? I'm with you."

He pressed warm lips to my cheek. "I'll be right back."

Jamie dove and within the space of a breath it felt as if I were all alone in this vast space with a whole world beneath me that I would never be privy to, that I had no way to be a part of. I almost felt like an intruder, as though Jamie had brought me to a forbidden place. The waves chopped angrily around my shoulders as if she, the Deep, didn't want me here. Before my thoughts could grow more morose, Jamie resurfaced in front of me and his lips immediately found mine, allaying any doubts that I didn't belong here with him.

"It's still shining," he said.

"I love knowing it's down there. I wish I could go down there with you."

He studied me for a moment, a longing building in his eyes. "Take a deep breath and hold on."

As soon as I did, he dove, taking me with him.