I.
Lucy leaned against the railing on the balcony of the small rental house, watching Ricky down on the beach below. Married for almost a year, they decided to stay in the modest summer home of Lucy's friend for a week, located on the popular strip of the Jersey shore. It was their first summer vacation together and a rare escape from Ricky's nightclub job. A warm breeze rolled off the ocean as she watched him walk out of the gentle waves, shaking his wet black hair as the salt water glistened off his tan skin.
Lucy smiled as Ricky caught her watching him and ran across the sand toward the house. He stood under the low balcony and looked up at her. "Come in the water, it's beautiful!" Lucy shielded her eyes from the blazing sun of early afternoon. "If I go out there now, I'll be burned alive!"
Ricky laughed gently, his eyes caressing her ivory skin from afar. "I guess you're right." He disappeared into the door under the balcony and she heard him climbing the steps behind her.
He entered the room and grabbed a towel that was draped on a nearby chair. Lucy's eyes widened. "Stop right there! You'll get sand on the carpet, wipe your feet!" Ricky sighed and wiped his feet as he stood on the tile near the door.
He smiled at the memory of his mother scolding him and his brothers in a similar way when they came from the beach, still covered in sand and salt water, and bounded through the house, leaving trails as though they were wet dogs.
With his feet clean, he crossed the room toward her, water from his swim still dripping from his hair and the rest of his body. Ricky stopped, mere inches from his wife's face, and smiled mischievously. "There. All clean."
Lucy giggled. "It's nice here, isn't it?"
Ricky nodded and leaned slowly toward her, kissing her. Her head swam as his lips warmed hers and left the taste of salt as they gently pulled away again.
He turned and began walking in the other direction. "I'm gonna take a shower," he said softly over his shoulder. "Ok…" Lucy trailed off as she watched him disappear into the bathroom.
As the water in the bathroom burst on, she wandered into the nearby bedroom and sat on the bed, picking up the magazine that she'd left open across her pillow.
II.
Ricky stepped out of the shower, the faint sounds of the shore making their way into the bathroom from the open balcony door in the other room.
Still damp, he wrapped a towel around his waist and walked quietly out of the bathroom. He looked around, expecting to see Lucy on the balcony, but finding it empty. He turned toward the bedroom and saw her lying on the bed, her chest rising and falling gently as she napped, an open magazine slipping from her hand. He looked at her quietly for several moments, his eyes tracing her legs, exposed by the silk robe that had fallen aside from them, resting motionless on the comforter like two columns of sculpted marble.
Ricky walked silently toward the bed and lay next to her. He looked into her face as she slept, until he, too, fell into a light slumber.
III.
When Ricky opened his eyes again, the room was slightly darker as dusk had fallen outside.
He sat up, surprised at how long he had napped. Lucy was still in a sound sleep next to him. He rose from the bed, not wanting to disturb her, and walked out to the balcony.
He inhaled deeply as he looked at the slowly setting sun out over the water, not a soul on the private beach below. He smiled as an idea crossed his mind and he slipped quietly out the door and down the steps to the sand.
IV.
Shortly after Ricky departed to the beach, Lucy sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Oh my goodness, how long have I been asleep," she asked aloud.
She looked to her side to see the wrinkled comforter as evidence that Ricky had been beside her.
"Ricky?" She called out, to be met with silence in return.
Lucy stood up from the bed and walked out to the balcony, her legs shaky from her lengthy nap. She looked out at the water and saw Ricky, only his head and shoulders above the ocean surface. Her eyes caught what appeared to be a bath towel laying absently on the sand not far from him.
"He didn't," she laughed to herself before heading down to the beach.
V.
Ricky stood in the water, looking wistfully out to the sun which seemed to be sinking into the ocean ahead of him. Seagulls circled above him, looking for a fish beneath the surface to swoop down for.
"Ricky?" He turned to see Lucy walking down from the house toward the water lapping up onto the sand.
A smile crossed his face as he exhaled, watching her move in the orange purple light of the sunset, her silk robe moving around her legs like a liquid.
"Hi!" He started walking out of the water to meet her.
Lucy caught her breath. His silhouette rose from the waves, against the backdrop of the fire in the sky, like one of the mythical Greek gods she had read stories about. She suddenly laughed nervously. "Ricky, what if someone sees you?"
He stood in front of her, his fingers inching toward the silk wrapped around her figure. "There's no one here, honey, it's private!"
Lucy looked around. Indeed, there was no one up and down the small section of coast that was walled off at the house's property line. There were far away sounds of neighbors laughing and swimming on the other side of the walls in the distance.
She closed her eyes slowly as Ricky tugged on the long belt that held her robe closed at the waist. As it fell open, she heard Ricky chuckle and she opened her eyes. "What are you laughing at?" She was indignant.
"Look who's talkin' about bein' afraid to be seen!" Lucy blushed, remembering that she was as bare as he was.
"Well. I meant to put something on…" She smiled as she closed her eyes again, Ricky's arms circling her waist and his lips meeting with hers. His tongue slipped against hers and she sighed softly as the full warmth of his body pushed against hers. His hands moved upward to slip the robe off of her shoulders.
The crashing sound of the tide soon drowned out the already distant sounds of the neighbors, and the cool water swirled around their feet. With gentle pressure, Ricky lowered Lucy down to the sand.
They opened their eyes, adjusting to the darker sky as the last of the sun disappeared behind the horizon. She lay fully into the sand as Ricky's lips lowered to kiss the milky flesh of her breasts. Her nipples stiffened and goosebumps rose on her arms as the water licked their bodies gently and they sank into the wet sand as though it were a bed of down feathers.
Lucy gasped quietly as Ricky's fingers dipped inside her, moving with the motion of the water. He bit his lower lip as his other hand brushed over the mound of one of her breasts, a few grains of sand rolling between his fingers and her creamy skin.
Lucy's hands wandered along her husband's body, slick from the water. He moaned audibly as her fingers grazed down his stomach and circled his erection, quivering with desire. Ricky's hands sank into the sand as he braced himself over her, Lucy's knees wrapping around him.
He thrust into her hungrily, filling her completely as she arched her back toward him.
As the tide rose and crashed into the rock wall, so they continued to crash passionately into each other. Ricky wound one hand behind Lucy's neck and his fingers gripped her red curls, pulling her closer to him.
She whimpered softly as her orgasms began in waves. Ricky lifted her toward him as he knelt in the sand and she lowered herself into him deeply. He wrapped his arms around her as his own passion began to peak, the wet sand falling from her back as they moved together.
As the water rose around them, Ricky released into her and tossed his head back, gripping her wet, sandy skin.
They panted against each other as the water continued to rise around them. Ricky stood, scooping Lucy up in his arms, and carried her out of the water toward the house. "I think we might get some sand on the carpet," he laughed.