Divine (40 page)

“
Oh, that's
right. Well,” he sighed, “can you do something
afterwards?”

“
Yeah, but we
have a later appointment. We probably wont get done until the late
afternoon.”

“
That's fine. I
was hoping you could meet me out at the cove?”

My skin shivered with
the thought of being with him in seclusion. “Yeah,” I
agreed willingly, “but by the time I get out there it will
almost be dark outside.”

“
Oh, I don't
think that will be a problem,” he said with a smooth, alluring
voice.

“
Okay,” I
laughed with more of a giggle than I had planned. “I'll see you
out there tomorrow.”

“
I can't wait.”

The day spent with
Brittany was so much fun and was just what I needed, especially
ending it with our trip to the spa. It was such a relaxing experience
that by the time we were finished it felt like every bone in my body
was made of rubber.

I left feeling blissful
as I drove toward the cove to meet the man of my dreams. I spent the
whole drive there thinking about him, about our last encounter at the
cove, about our next encounter that was soon to happen.

His lifted truck filled
me with excitement when it came into view, sitting parked in its
usual spot in front of the giant hill of rocks. I parked next to it
and jumped out, running as fast as I could and jumping over the
boulders as I came upon them, slowly working my way over the
mountain. When I reached the top I took a moment to catch my breath
and look at the wonderful view in front of me. The sun was setting on
the water and delivered millions of sparkles across its calm surface,
casting a deep, orange glow over the cove and its fluffy sand.

I spotted Jonah below,
stretched out on the sand, shirtless, with his stomach down and his
face buried in the crook of his arm. When I made it to the bottom I
took my time as I walked over to him; I wanted to absorb the
provocative sight of his perfectly-toned back.

His head raised at the
sound of my quiet scuffles toward him. “Hey,” he smiled
warmly as he pushed himself away from the ground, revealing to me a
muscular chest that was sprinkled with tiny grains of sand. He
brushed them away and grabbed me up into his intoxicating arms. “I
missed you,” he breathed through my tight grip. “I feel
like I haven't seen you in forever.”

“
I know. Every
day that passes without seeing each other feels like a year.”

“
Yeah, I agree.”
He relaxed his hold and looked at me softly. “I think it's
really awesome that you landed that job,” he told me through
proud eyes.

“
Thanks, I'm
really happy about it. That restaurant has really good memories for
me. And, to top it off, it pays really well. Maybe I can work toward
getting my own place soon.”

“
Oh, so you want
to get out from under your parents watch, huh?”

“
Yeah,” I
shrugged, “I don't want to live with mommy and daddy forever.”

He let out a quiet
laugh and looked over at the water in thought. “Yeah, well,
maybe one of these days you can be under
my
watch.” He
took a moment to let the words sink in and then looked back at me
with a relaxed gaze.

“
Mr. Jonah,”
I teased, “what exactly are you implying?”

“
I'm implying
that you're too much trouble to be on your own; you need someone to
make sure you don't trap yourself in a corner.” He smiled,
waiting for me to muster up a witty reply.

“
Trap myself in a
corner, huh? What am I, a mouse?”

“
Yeah, I guess I
would say that you're a mouse.”

I shook my head and let
out a happy laugh. “Oh, okay. I see it so clearly now.”

He laughed back and
pulled my body more tightly against his, swaying us gently from side
to side in the calm breeze. “But,” he whispered while
leaning down and planting a gentle kiss on the side of my neck,
“you're
my
mouse.”

A smile formed along
the corner of my mouth. “Yeah, but mice are pests. I don't
think I'm a pest, am I?”

He pulled his mouth
away from my skin and met my lips with a deep kiss, ignoring my
attempt to stick up for myself. When he pulled away he looked at me
with a deep seriousness, the same look that I was always craving to
see in his eyes: the look that meant he was craving me.

“
That was a nice
kiss,” I breathed onto his seductive mouth.

“
I was just
trying to shut you up,” he gently teased.

I smiled up at him from
under my lashes. “Well, if that's what happens when I shut up,
then I'll never talk again.”

He smiled with a deeply
sexy smile, so serious, yet with such a look of passion displayed
across his handsome face. His head gave a short nod toward the dark
ocean next to us, making me look over at the vastness of black water.
“Do you want to get in?” he asked.

“
Of course. And
this time I actually put my bathing suit on before getting here, so
no changing behind your truck door.”

“
What a shame,”
he said in a low, smoky voice, making the tiny hairs stand up on the
back of my neck.

We let go of each other
and I began taking my clothes off in front of him, first my shirt,
then my shorts, leaving my body covered only by my prized pink
two-piece. His eyes scanned over my body in the dusk of the evening,
making no attempt to hide that he was delighting in what he saw.

“
See something
you like?” I asked, echoing his words from our last ride home
from the cove, remembering the look of his slicked-down board shorts.

He turned with a grin
and looked out at the sea. “I'm going to brighten up the water
out there. And yes, I see something I like.”

Ha, he remembered
our conversation.
I wasn't surprised though, he remembered
everything.

“
You're eyes
haven't changed yet,” I pointed out, wondering how he would
brighten the water without them glowing a color.

He shot me a white grin
that crinkled the corners of his blue eyes. “Oh, don't worry.
It's coming.”

I waited on the shore
while he walked into the black water and reached down into its
coolness, flipping his hands around and splashing it up onto the skin
of his bare chest.

“
I don't see it
changing,” I called out to him.

He shot me a look of
frustration over his shoulder. “Miss impatient, over there,”
he joked. “I'm working on it; I have to think for a second.”

“
Think about
what?”

He looked back at the
water in front of him. “Something to change its color.”

“
Well, what color
are you going for?”

“
I don't know,
Ashy,” he said as he stood up and turned to face me. “What
color do you want it to be?”

“
Oh, so I get to
decide, huh?”

“
Yep, or you can
leave the decision up to me . . .”

“
And what color
would the water turn then?”

He brought his hands to
his hips and shot me a devilish smile. “I think you know.”

“
Then why isn't
it turning?” I chuckled, trying to hassle him as much as I
could.

“
Alright,”
he gave up, walking out of the water toward me. “If I'm not
doing it like you want it, then
you
show me how it's done.”
He grabbed me up into his arms and turned around, taking me back into
the black ocean with him.

“
Jonah, no,”
I cried out with a loud giggle. “It's scary in here!”

“
No it's not.”

My butt hit the sandy
floor as he sat me down in the shallow water. “I don't like
being in it when I can't see the bottom.” Just as the words
left my mouth I felt something move next to my water-covered leg. I
jumped up with a scream and flew back onto the shore.

Jonah's deep laugh
echoed between the rocks of the cove. “Calm down, it's just
Fred.”

With my hand on my
chest I breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god. I thought it
was something that was going to bite me.”

“
No,” he
chuckled, “nothing's going to happen to you; you should know
that by now.”

I dropped my shoulders,
feeling a little guilty for not trusting him completely. “Yeah,
I know.”

“
Now, get back in
here and help me turn the water.”

Fred met me instantly
and swam next to my legs as I made my way through the water toward
Jonah. I planted myself in front of him and gazed into his crystal
blue eyes, which at that moment looked black in the darkness of the
evening. His body glowed under the light of the early moon, its
powerful beams pouring over his skin and showing off the mountains of
his muscles. I was truly infatuated.

“
Well, what color
do you want to see,” he asked me gently.

I bit my lip and looked
at the dark cove around us. “I have an idea,” I said with
a twinge of excitement. “Let's play Marco Polo.”

“
Marco Polo?”
he laughed.

“
Yeah, I haven't
played that since I was little. It'll be fun.”

“
You do realize
that it wont be a fair game, right?”

“
And why is
that?”

“
Because I know
exactly where you are in the water.”

“
Well,” I
shrugged, “I'll take my chances.”

He shook his head and
wrapped his tongue around the backs of his teeth, amused by my
request. “Okay, then. Let's play Marco Polo.”

“
Yay! I'll find
you first since it's harder.”

He chuckled and walked
backwards into the water, crouching down and submerging his shoulders
below its shiny surface. “I doubt you can find me,” he
cockily replied.

“
Just wait,
you'll see.” I walked in after him and shut my eyes. “Just
don't let anything get me in this pitch-black water.”

“
The only thing
that's going to get you in here is me . . . and Fred.”

I giggled as I took a
step forward, trying to keep my body above the water for as long as I
possibly could.

Jonah noticed my
hesitation and let out a laugh. “Just sit down, Ash. I'm not
gonna be in the shallow end so you might as well just submerge
yourself now.”

“
Hey, just mind
your own business. It's my turn, not yours.” I heard him laugh
under his breath as he swam around, trying to avoid me. “Okay,”
I called out, “here we go. Marco?”

His warm chuckle hit my
ear. “I can't believe I actually agreed to playing this game
with you.”

I smiled and followed
the sound of his voice through the water. “Marco?”

“
Polo.”

“
There you go,”
I praised him. “Now you're doing it right.”

“
I always do it
right.”

I shook my head with a
smile and kept following toward his husky voice. “Marco?”
A quiet silence hushed over the water. “Um, Marco?” I
called again. Still silence. I opened my eyes and looked out at the
water in front of me, but Jonah wasn't there. “Jonah? Come on,
this isn't funny.” I turned myself around in the water and
jumped at the sight of his face positioned directly in front of mine.

“
Boo!” he
shouted toward me, followed by his deep, roaring laughter.

I screamed happily and
splashed water in his face, making him choke on the salty liquid.
“That was so mean!”

His choking turned back
to bellows of laughter. “I knew I would get you; you're so easy
to scare.”

“
Well that was a
chicken move on your part because you already know that I'm afraid of
being in here.”

He cleared his throat
and looked at me with a sarcastic sweetness. “I'm sorry, Ashy.”

“
Oh, I'm so sure
you are.”

“
Hah, no really,
I am.” He moved toward me in the water and looked at me softly,
turning more serious as he wrapped his arms around my waist. “I'm
sorry, I shouldn't have scared you.”