A Thousand Salt Kisses (Book 1 of Salt Kiss series)

><>Chapter Two<><

"Are you okay?" he asked. His voice was so calm; he was clearly fine with being dragged out to sea.

"We're stuck!" I spluttered. What was wrong with him?

He reached out and placed his hands on the outside of my upper arms, steadying me in the waves.

"No, we're not," he said. "You just got a bit nervous."

"Nervous?" I yelped. We were about to die!

And then I was hit by another stroke of paranoia.

"You were watching me?" I whispered. He was a psycho, waiting in the waves. Now I was going to be killed by him instead of currents or sharks.

"For a little while," he said soothingly, wrapping his right arm around my waist and extending the left out into the water. "Let's go back," he said.

I allowed him to pull me along, now rendered speechless. I had felt so helpless out here, but the stranger carried me swiftly over the waves that I had been unable to conquer, his arm sliced confidently through the waters I thought would take my life. I looked up at the sky as we traveled. It was a clear night, and every star was out. The moon was near full, and watched over us, giving us light in our moment of need.

Soon we were close to the beach again. The fire, no longer a little flame, cast an orange glow onto our faces. We were now amongst the only few people left in the sea.

I looked at my rescuer properly as we stopped, still deep enough to tread water. He was watching my face too. I immediately looked away again.

Oh my god, he was handsome!

He had these thick arched eyebrows and lively sparkling eyes. The color I could not make out, but they were friendly and intriguing. I instantly felt that these eyes had seen many things, stuff that I couldn't even imagine. They had seen wonders, magic.

Underneath his eyes were high cheekbones and then perfect big lips - the type you would just love to kiss.

I suddenly felt so embarrassed. Could he feel me ogling over him? Did he think I was the biggest idiot ever? And how could I ever regain my cool after that crazed panic attack?

"You were very far out," he reassured me. It was as though he sensed my humiliation.

I bit my lip and nodded, looking down. I noticed distractedly that he had tattoos on his chest and arms. I could not make out the details, but it appeared to be symbols and letterings. I squinted, peering closer. Perhaps they were words in another language. I could not be sure in this light.

"Yeah, well, so were you thank fff....," I replied finally, trailing off before I swore.

He smiled. "You were at the party?" he asked, in that tranquil voice. He swam close to me; we were a couple of inches apart.

"Yes," I said staring to the right at the waves that lapped at my arm. "Yep, I was here."

"You were having fun?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, until my friend's boyfriend took her into the sea. She was so drunk. I was trying to find her," I said remembering Rosie and beginning to worry all over again.

"I think I saw her if she is the girl with long dark hair. Her mate took her back."

"Oh thank heavens for that," I breathed. I felt so relieved that I did not question his peculiar reference to Will. "I was like, SO worried," I muttered looking down again.

His fingers touched my cheek and lifted up my face so that his gaze met mine. At first, I blinked taken aback, but when I looked into his eyes, I was overcome by intrigue.