Midnight Swim

Decades earlier, Carlisle and I had worked together with Esme to build her a house on her very own island. Until that point, he and I had lived in houses that could have been considered little more than cabins and, at the time, the new house had seemed excessively grand with large windows, high ceilings, stone fireplaces, and long corridors that guided the breezes right through the whole house. But for all of its luxury, it had been a primitive place, with a well and hand pump instead of running water, and no electricity.

That hadn't bothered us. Indoor plumbing was a new innovation and the use of a well was familiar to all of us. We could see well enough without lights, especially when we had a fire going, and preferred the natural entertainments that the island had to offer.

As the years went by, and humans made advances in technology that had been unimaginable at the time we'd first built the place, we had decided that it would be a good idea to keep up with the times. Rosalie in particular had demanded that we not live in the stone age. She had taken her skills with cars and applied herself to bringing us into the era of electricity and all of the modern conveniences which that brought. At first she'd installed a rather large wind turbine, which she had long since replaced with a version so tiny that it perched, unnoticed, on our roof. The never-ending ocean breeze kept our house supplied with more than enough electricity.

No longer primitive, the beautiful house was truly luxurious, with all the latest amenities which we could lay our hands on. The living room held a massive television - though it had taken some convincing before Esme had agreed to that request - and an entire wall of dvds. The stereo was wired into the house so that music could be played throughout, and the kitchen would have made human chefs drool. We were all quite amused any time Esme wanted to upgrade the kitchen appliances, considering it had never once been cooked in.

The hand pump had been replaced with interior plumbing, and the bedrooms each had their own massive bathrooms, complete with separate showers and bathtubs large enough for more than one occupant. Esme had insisted on adding an outdoor shower on the back porch, demanding that we rinse off the beach sand prior to coming inside. Just because she enjoyed being a mother with the inexhaustible stamina of a vampire did not mean she wanted to spend more time than necessary cleaning up after us.

Unwilling to let her go just yet, I carried my beloved Bella through the house, turning on the lights in each room. The place was as spotless as always, and I was pleased that our housekeepers had maintained our property so well. It helped that they were paid far beyond what such a service would normally bring them, but also that they were terrified of us. They may not have known what we were, but they knew we were something other than human, and that was enough. Breathing deeply as I passed the kitchen, I could smell the food with which they had filled the pantry.

Each room I passed through seemed to bring an increase in Bella's pulse rate until her body was practically humming in my arms. Finally reaching the largest suite, I stopped and turned the last light on, watching Bella's eyes widen as they took in the over-sized bed. Alice had strung shimmery gauze and lace about our house for our wedding, and I was certain that she had done so - at least in part - because of the very room in which I now stood. The bed had a curtain of the same material hanging from the posters and frame.

Placing Bella on her feet, I was surprised by how steady she seemed to be, not wobbling at all when I took my hands away from her. She kept her eyes averted, and I was tenderly amused by how shy she suddenly seemed. In her bedroom in Charlie's house, she had become so forward with me since our engagement that I had half expected her to start kissing me right away.

Suspecting that she could use a moment to collect herself, I inched toward the door, though I didn't want to take my eyes off of her. "I'll... go get the luggage," I forced myself to say.

Bella didn't answer me. Standing motionless, her eyes were locked on the bed and she had a strange look on her face. Turning away from her, I strode back through the house and onto the front porch where I had left our trunks. Kicking off my shoes and socks by the front door, I padded barefoot back through the house. When I returned to the room, I found Bella standing close to the bed, running her fingers lightly along the gauzy curtain. I placed the trunks on the dressers and opened hers, exposing the clothes Alice had packed for the trip.

Bella hadn't moved since I entered the room. With her fingers gripping the gauze, she stood as still as a vampire and seemed to be barely even breathing. She had her hair pulled off to one side and thrown over a shoulder, exposing her neckline to me again. As I watched, a bead of sweat formed and began to trickle down toward her shoulder. She didn't seem to hear me approach, though my ears were filled with the sound of her living body.

I was tempted to taste the salty bead of sweat, but resisted, running a finger along the line of moisture instead. Though she had moved to Forks from Phoenix, which had a much higher average temperature than our tiny, rainy town, she must have grown used to the cooler air over the past year and a half. I had specifically been looking for someplace warm, but I didn't want her to be uncomfortable.

"It's a little hot here. I thought... that would be best," I tried to explain. Though she had always seemed to enjoy my touch, I knew I was cold to her, just as she was hot to me, and there would be no clothes or blankets to protect her tonight. I would have to let the air itself keep her warm, since I could not.

"Thorough," she said in a husky voice.

My voice sounded strange to my ears when I chuckled. "I tried to think of everything that would make this... easier."

She swallowed, and I was certain that she was as nervous as I was when I heard her do so.

Though I had witnessed couples together before, I had always tried my best not to pay them any more attention than a human would if they were to come across a pair of animals mating. Now, I wished I had at least seen how they initiated things. Since she wasn't approaching me for once, I wasn't sure how to begin. As I had been reminded when speeding toward the island and I had been able to see it, but she had not, we were so different. She was soft, fragile, and pure, where I was cold, granite, and far from innocent. Perhaps if we were more alike, things would be easier. I had wished more than once that I could be human again, or at least more like she was. Good, and sweet, and so warm...

Remembering the way I had always soaked up her warmth, I thought that perhaps that was the place to start. If I made myself warm for her, maybe we wouldn't seem so different. The pulsing of her beating heart was out of rhythm with the pulsing of the ocean waves, but I felt drawn to both of them.

"I was wondering," I began, speaking slowly, "if... first... maybe you'd like to take a midnight swim with me?" My voice still sounded strange, and I swallowed as hard as I had heard her do and took a steadying breath. "The water will be very warm. This is the kind of beach you'd approve of."

Her voice trembled when she answered me. "Sounds nice."

I watched her, waiting, but she didn't move. "I'm sure you'd like a human minute or two," I tried to tease. "It was a long journey."

Still not turning to face me, she jerked her head up and down in a stiff nod. I saw another bead of sweat forming at her hairline and didn't resist the urge that time. Leaning close to her, I inhaled the enticing scent of her skin just before I placed my lips against my favorite soft spot under her ear. Licking her salty taste from my lips, I laughed softly to myself. That had done nothing to calm either of us.

"Don't take too long, Mrs. Cullen," I whispered into her ear. Her new name tasted as good on my tongue as the salt from her sweat had, though she jumped slightly. Unable to resist tasting her skin just once more, I brushed my lips along her neckline to the tip of her shoulder. If I didn't pull away from her now, we would never make it into the water. Since I had been the one to suggest it though, and she had agreed, I straightened and turned away from her. "I'll wait for you in the water."

Bella's already rapidly beating heart broke into a sprint at my words, but she didn't move a muscle as I walked away from her, tugging my shirt over my head as I went. The wide glass door slid open easily, and I stepped out into the night. The beach's high-water line was well below the place where we had built the house, but the powdery sand reached right up to the back porch.

Strolling across the sand toward a tree with a low hanging branch, my gaze was drawn to the brightest light in the sky. The nearly full moon shone on the island like a spotlight, casting shadows through the trees. Unlike when the sunlight hit my skin, the moonlight didn't break into unnatural rainbows. Instead, I seemed to soak it up, and my skin's marble white color seemed the same as every other surface that the moon's light touched.

Over and above the low pulsing of the ocean waves, I could still clearly hear Bella's heart as it raced, seeming to beckon me back. Resisting the pull, I shed the rest of my clothes and stood naked on the beach. The breeze against my bare skin was warm, but I shivered at the way it felt. My skin seemed more sensitive than usual, and I was certain that I could have counted the individual hairs as they moved with the wind's light tug.

I dug my toes into the sand, just able to feel the residual warmth from baking all day under the hot sun. The nearly cloudless sky was an inky black with the thick stripe of the Milky Way arching up from behind the island toward the bright moon. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect setting for the coming night.

Taking an unnecessary breath, I pulled the salty air deep into my lungs, savoring the way I could still detect Bella's scent. Although the breeze was steady, it was light and only barely affecting the gentle roll of water against sand. At times, I had seen the surf riled up enough for us to bring out our surfboards, but with the shelter that the crescent shape of the cove provided and lacking the push of a storm, the waves that lapped our beach were usually gentle enough for a baby's bath. Tonight, the water looked like so much rippling glass, smooth and reflective, and the moon's light was doubled as its twin stretched across the ocean's surface.

Moving slowly, reminding myself of the need to act human, I folded my clothes neatly and hung them over the low branch before striding toward the ocean. I didn't stop until the water covered my head. Fully submerged, the water filled my ears, hiding the sound of Bella's heart from me. Not breathing in her scent, not hearing her heart beat, yet still able to taste her on my tongue as long as I avoided letting any sea water into my mouth, surrounded on all sides by the warm, gently swirling waters, and with no thoughts in my head but my own, I was as close to sensory deprivation as it was possible to get. My eyes were closed, and I forced my muscles to relax, one by one. Eventually, I floated in the water, drifting only slightly with the current.

It had been a year and a half since my world had been forever changed by the arrival of the human girl into my life. Tiny and fragile, quiet and mysterious - despite her generally easy-to-read emotions - gentle, sweet, and innocent, she was my opposite. Bella was a contradiction that had kept me fascinated from the start. Her fragile body was inhabited by a strong, fiery soul, and her clear eyes - which could see right through me - were somehow blind to the truth of what I was. I smiled as I shook my head in the water. Would I ever understand her?

The very first time I had seen her, I had been drawn to her. I had wanted to protect her without understanding why. Upon discovering her silent mind, I had admonished myself not to become interested in what she was thinking simply because I couldn't hear it. I had been certain that if I had been able to do so, I would have found her mind no more interesting than I did any other human's.

I scoffed. Despite what I had told myself, I had done the exact opposite. From the moment I had first met her eyes, I had belonged to Bella. Her silence had fascinated me, and the more I learned of her mind, the less like other humans she had seemed. Perhaps she was right, in that case; if she was unlike the humans, maybe she was meant to be a vampire as Carlisle believed.

Not tonight, though!

Soon, she would change into a vampire for me, to spend eternity with me, but for tonight, she was still a human, and it was up to me to keep her that way. And that meant being human for her. I opened my eyes. Floating underwater without breathing for - how long had it been? I wasn't sure. Far longer than a human could have held his breath - for far too long, at any rate, was hardly acting human. I surfaced and took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the sultry island air. With just a few strokes, I reached the shallower waters and was able to put my feet down again. Moving slowly in the water, I waded closer to shore until I stood in the exact center of the crescent beach.

Smiling, I thought back to another wedding day, when I had stood on almost this very same spot, watching my father marry my mother. The tide had been out at that time, and the wide beach exposed. I hadn't believed, then, that I would ever find a mate of my own.

There had been another time when I'd stood in the center of this crescent shaped beach, waiting. After the darkest time in my life, I had returned to the only place I had known of that I could dare to hope to be reunited with my family. It had been on this spot that I had seen Carlisle and Esme again after spending four years as a human hunter. It had been on this spot that I had begged their forgiveness, and had my life offered back to me. Though they had forgiven me, never had I forgiven myself. Certainly, I hadn't dared to believe that God ever would.

Now, here I stood, a married man, waiting on my beloved wife to join me in the water. Turning away from the island, I stared up at the brilliant moon. Maybe I had been wrong. Carlisle couldn't be more forgiving than God, could he? If he had forgiven my sins, perhaps He had, too? How else could I explain the gift of an angel as a wife?

I was distracted from my musings by the sound of soft feet padding across the powdery sand and was abruptly aware of the increased volume of Bella's steady heart beat. Her quiet steps paused briefly before I heard the slippery sound of the water against her skin. Though I wanted to go to her, I kept my eyes on the moon and waited for my bride to come to me, just as I had waited at the altar. Bella's steps were slow but steady, until I felt her slip her warm hand over the top of mine. The water had warmed my skin, just as I had hoped, but there was still a definite difference between her vital, living warmth, and my cold, stone skin. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, and was stunned by the sight of her standing naked beside me.

"Beautiful," she said with a steady voice.

It seemed her nervousness was gone, but mine returned with full force. She was staring at the moon as I had done, but it couldn't hold my attention now. Strangely, the bright moonlight had the same effect on her skin as it had on mine. Her cream and roses was turned a silvery white that matched my marble skin. She had a fresh scrubbed scent, and all of the make-up was gone. Though Alice's skills had turned Bella into a creamy, dark-haired goddess in her wedding gown, somehow, with the moon changing her natural beauty into something that matched me for a change, she looked even more alluring than before.

"It's all right," I disagreed. Slowly, I turned until I faced her, shifting my hand in hers so that our fingers twined together. "But I wouldn't use the word beautiful. Not with you standing here in comparison."

Bella smiled slightly, but didn't blush, for once. She placed the hand I wasn't holding on my chest, just where my heart should have been beating. Her hand was a flame against my skin, despite how the ocean had warmed me. I shivered slightly and felt my breathing accelerate. Had any creature ever wanted another as much as I wanted her in that moment? I doubted it. I couldn't have stopped myself from responding to her touch if I had wanted to.

"I promised we would try," I stressed. Suddenly, I was terrified by what we were planning. A girl's first time was often unpleasant at best, and usually somewhat painful. I never wanted to hurt her; I wanted her to enjoy making love with me, but if she didn't, she needed to tell me. She never acknowledged the dangers to herself, and I needed some reassurance that she would help me keep her safe.

"If... if I do something wrong, if I hurt you, you must tell me at once."

I stared into her eyes, begging her with mine to understand. The moon's effect on them was as profound as it was on her skin, changing the melted chocolate into an inky black that matched the sky, including the sparkle that they caught of the moon itself.

Slowly, she nodded, and I was relieved when she didn't dismiss my fears. Her breaths steady and calm, she closed the distance between us to lay her head against my chest as she had when we had danced our last dance. My breath caught as I felt her bare stomach press against the length of my sensitive skin.

"Don't be afraid," she whispered to me. "We belong together."

Sighing in pleasure at those words, I believed the truth in them as I never had before. Bella was my wife, and I was her husband. With our skin matching in the moonlight and our temperatures nearly the same in the warm water, I completely accepted that she was meant to be my mate, and was grateful for her love.

Wrapping my arms around her, I hugged her gently against me and vowed, "Forever."

I felt her smile against my chest before I moved back toward the deeper waters, pulling her along with me. Chuckling softly, I grinned at her just before turning my back to her. Keeping hold of her hand in mine, I pulled her into place as I had so often before, only this time I would be swimming with her, not running. Seeing what I intended, she wrapped her arms about my neck, pressed her bare chest against my back, and slid her legs around my waist.

Oh, the difference a few pieces of fabric could make!

I shivered at the feeling of being surrounded by Bella's naked body. It was a good thing she had done so while clinging to my back, or I may have lost what little self-control I had. Firmly reminding myself that this long night was only the first in the rest of our eternity, I angled us away from the island. With my arms positioned in front of me to slice through the water, I kicked hard, sending up a spray of sea water. Bella's laughter was reward enough for my restraint, and I laughed along with her.

When I stopped swimming, Bella released her hold on my neck, and I pulled her into my arms. Floating on my back, barely kicking my legs, I held my lovely wife against my chest as we swam where the light from the house couldn't reach us. The moon and the stars were the only sources of light in the deep blackness of the open ocean.

It always amazed me how trusting she was of me. From the start, she had placed her life in my hands and had seemed to do so gladly. Humans instinctively held a fear of the open ocean, of deep, dark waters, and of the unseen things which swam in them. Though she was in no danger, she had no way of knowing that there was only one monster swimming in the deep. I was the most dangerous thing in the ocean with her, but I had vowed to love and protect her, to cherish her and keep her safe from harm.

Bella folded her arms against my chest, resting her chin on her hands while she smiled at me. The curve of her bottom was just sticking up out of the water. Her calves and heels alternately peeked out too, as she lightly kicked her legs along with me. Her hair was damp and clinging to her face, with one strand straying forward and almost covering an eye.

I reached a finger out to tuck it behind her ear and said, "I love you, Mrs. Cullen."

She laughed. "You like calling me that, don't you?"

Grinning crookedly at her, I nodded. "Yes, I like it. You have no idea how much."

She laid her head against my chest as she wrapped her arms around my waist. "I like it, too," she admitted to my delight.

Since her ear was pressed against my chest, I started to hum so that she would hear and feel the deep rumble in my chest. She sighed, the small sound seeming to be one of contentment or happiness. Despite months of kissing and touching while clothed and knowing that it would go no farther than that, now that this night was upon us and we were swimming naked together, neither of us seemed in a hurry for more than that. We watched the stars, occasionally catching each others' eyes and exchanging small smiles.

It was ridiculous to be nervous. I was a hundred and five years old! Despite how I looked - and not counting my current immersion in the ocean water - I was no wet-behind-the-ears school boy. Nevertheless, I felt nervous, and not just about hurting her. I had no doubt that loving her would feel good to me, but it was her pleasure that worried me. I was going to hurt her, no matter what I did, but I wanted to make her feel good, too. Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that I had spent most of my life with three couples who loved each other nearly as much as Bella and I did, and who had no qualms about expressing their affections whether I was near or not. I knew what to do, even if I was unsure of how to start.

As I always did when in need, I let the side of me that best expressed itself through music say what needed to be said. Merging the end of her lullaby with the beginning of a song that I had heard her play, I changed from humming to singing. "Come away with me in the night," I invited her. "And I will write you a song."

Bella laughed softly, knowing that I had already done so. To my surprise, she hummed along with me, recognizing the tune. I hadn't heard her sing before and thrilled to the sound of her voice mixing with mine. "Come away with me, and I'll never stop loving you."

I broke off as I heard her sing the words. Placing my hands against her cheeks, I said, "Never."

She wrapped her arms about my neck and pulled me close for a kiss. When we had been standing on the dance floor kissing, we had ignored the crowd around us as though we were the only two people in the world. Here, in the middle of the ocean, miles away from anyone else - and with no irritating sister to interrupt us this time! - we truly could have been the only people on the Earth. Her soft mouth shaped itself to my stone lips, and it didn't matter that we were made from different material - she, warm and soft and alive, and I, hard and cold and stone. Somehow, we still fit together.

Releasing her mouth, I slid my hands around her waist to lift her out of the water so that I could more easily reach her neck and the soft spot by her ear. She threw her head back, giving me full access to her fragrant throat, her neckline, and her jaw. Trailing my lips along her jaw from her ear to her chin and back, my hands slid up her side to where I could feel her ribs as my thumbs brushed the round sides of her breasts.

Bella's hands left the back of my neck and traveled into my hair as I kissed her. They moved down to my shoulders where I felt her grip me tight, pulling her body against mine. All of her soft curves pressed against my chest, and I had to pull away from her with a moan and a shudder. She took the opportunity to kiss me, exploring my jawline with her mouth. Closing my eyes, I gave myself over to the feeling of her warm body against me, of her lips on my face and neck, where she found the nearly imperceptible scar that had been left by Carlisle's teeth on my throat.

I found my hands on her face again, my palms resting lightly against her soft cheeks. Pulling her face away from mine so that I could look into her dark eyes, I was pleased to see her smiling, and her eyes lit with happiness and excitement. Unable to help myself, I laughed at her expression.

"What's so funny?" she demanded.

"You are," I said smugly.

"Funny, am I?" She wrinkled her nose and lightly flicked water at my face.

Releasing her, I sank lower into the water, narrowed my eyes, and growled. The sound was deep and threatening, and one that few creatures other than my family had ever heard and lived.

"I'm not scared of you," she taunted me.

"No?"

She shook her head defiantly.

"We shall see about that!" Submerging entirely, I propelled myself away from her, hiding below the reflective surface. Though she couldn't see me, I was easily able to see her, and I watched as she spun first one way, and then the other, searching for me.

Moving slowly through the water and avoiding her lightly kicking legs and swirling hands, I ran a finger along the bottom of one of her feet. Her high squeal was easily audible to me, even under the water, and I laughed, sending up a stream of bubbles. She ducked her head, blinking against the blur of water in her eyes as she tried to find me. The dark night was my ally, and I swam unseen behind her, reaching out to tickle her foot again.

At my touch, she spun around, but my trail of bubbles was the only thing she would have been able to see as I was already many feet below her and invisible once more. Bella released her breath slowly as her head swiveled back and forth, but I kept out of her line of sight until I got close enough to tickle her foot a third time. She let out her breath in a gust and kicked herself away from me. Back at the surface, she slapped the water, and I distinctly heard her exclaim my name.

Surfacing only a few feet away from her, I grinned, feeling victorious.

"You think you're funny, don't you?"

"No. I think you are," I reminded her.

She launched herself at me and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Let's see you tickle me now!"

I raised an eyebrow and slid a finger down the underside of her arm to where she had exposed the sensitive hollow of her armpit. She wriggled away from me, fighting the squeal that my touch brought forth.

"That wasn't fair."

"All's fair in love and war, and you did ask me to," I pointed out with a snicker.

"All's fair, huh?" She narrowed her eyes at me.

"So they say," I answered warily.

"Then you can't complain if I fight back!"

"I am not ticklish," I said, my voice smug again.

"Who said anything about tickling you?"

She pressed herself to me, her hands locked in my hair and her mouth found mine, while her legs wrapped around my waist. I inhaled sharply, unprepared for the suddenness of her very successful attack. Of their own volition, my arms wound around her, holding Bella against me. She was panting into my mouth, letting her tongue trace my lips. Since I could taste no venom, I brushed my tongue along hers, tasting her sweetness, accented by the salt from the ocean.

Her body began emitting a new scent on top of her already powerful natural freesia and strawberries. Her human hormones reacted to me, and our temperatures - which had been steadily growing closer - were again miles apart as her skin ignited against mine. She could have been made of fire, and I would not have been surprised to find her glowing from her inner warmth had I been able to open my eyes.

It was no longer her blood - or rather, no longer just her blood - that I burned for. I was too hungry for everything about her. I wanted to crush her against me and let her feel the strength in my hands and arms as I proved to her that I was a man in love, and not just a vampire. I ached to cup and squeeze her breasts, to take one in my mouth and to press my face between them. I wanted to suck and nip at the skin on her neck and longed to dig my fingers into the muscles of her curvy bottom, but this was going to be dangerous enough as it was, and I had been given more than enough visuals of what her fate would be if I were to act without restraint.

However, I couldn't not touch her. We were going to make love, and I had to give my desires some leeway, even if I couldn't give into them completely. Her touch sent shivers through me, and I found my breaths growing as rapid as hers. We were touching each other's skin and, keeping myself firmly in check, I allowed my hands to do what I had longed to for so many months. Lightly, I explored the way her naked body felt, tracing the valley of her spine, and enjoying the slippery feeling of the skin of her back, wet from the ocean water. I didn't dig my fingers into her, but neither did I stop them from roaming as I memorized her shape with the tips of my fingers.

Her hands were traveling all over me, across my chest, over my shoulders, and sliding along the muscles in my back. Though I was trying to be careful, she wasn't, and her hands tugged on my hair, pulling me away from her throat and back to her inviting mouth. Bella's legs were locked above my hips, but that didn't stop her from brushing against the part of me that was aching to enter her. Each time she did, a shock shot through me until I was forced to push her away with a gasp.

"You win!"

"Hah. Well then, what's my prize?" Her lips twisted to the side in a pleased smirk, and her eyes danced playfully.

I considered her for a moment. "What would you like?"

Bella chewed her lower lip briefly before shaking her head. "I already have you. There's nothing else that I want."

"Nothing?"

She shook her head again.

Regaining control over myself, I leaned close to whisper, "I can think of a few things." Wrapping my lips over my teeth, I pulled her earlobe into my mouth and breathed into her ear. The heat from her blush warmed her entire body, and I laughed against the skin of her neck.

"Okay... maybe you're right," she agreed breathlessly.

"Mmm." Kicking my legs lightly to keep us upright in the water, we kissed again.

"There is something I want," she eventually whispered against my mouth.

"Anything."

"I want you to not worry."

I pulled away from her lips to look into her eyes.

"Please? You're being so careful."

"Bella, I have to be."

She shook her head. "You won't hurt me."

I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead to hers, wishing I could believe that as strongly as she claimed to.

"I know you're not used to letting yourself just... live in the moment. You've spent too long suppressing your nature."

I glared at her. "You wouldn't be here now if I hadn't."

Bella brushed her fingers along my face, tracing my jaw and running light fingers along my lips. "And what is your nature telling you now?"

Smiling ruefully, I admitted, "The same thing it has told me from the start. I want you. And I want to protect you."

"The two aren't incompatible, you know. Will you please try to stop worrying?"

I nodded, attempting to let my fears at hurting her go.

"Then I think I've had enough swimming for tonight."

Chucking softly, I held her hand up to the moonlight. Her skin had taken on the wrinkles that came from being submerged for an extended length of time in the water. "You're right. I wouldn't want you turning into a prune."

Affecting an offended look, her jaw dropped, and she splashed water at me.

Snickering, I shook the water from my hair and onto her. She held up her hands, protesting my retaliation with a laugh. We watched each other's eyes for a moment before I offered her my hand, which she took with a delighted smile. I moved her to my back and began to swim again, this time heading toward the shore, and the bed which awaited us there.