A/N: A couple of years ago I wrote a series of Max/Mariam kisses for Valentine's, and I wanted to do something like that again. I decided on several separate oneshots, centered on different ships, for Valentine's Day and the days after. There will be six in total, each based off of a different kiss cliché or trope. This is number four: Ray/Salima.

A Kiss at the Beach

"Funny thing, I could have sworn I felt someone watching me during my run. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, Salima?"

Salima couldn't see Ray's face past the brim of her sunhat, but when she flicked her eyes up off of her book she could see two feet half buried in the sand. Her gaze traveled up his body, past the board shorts and naked torso, to his teasing eyes. Lucky she was sunburned – it would disguise her blush.

"Oh, no sorry – I was reading." She brandished her e-reader and didn't bother trying to sound convincing.

Ray knew they were the only two on the beach this early. He'd run the length of it twice while Salima snuck peeks at his sun-glazed muscles every few paragraphs. It was becoming their morning routine while they were in this corner of the world. Ray would get his workout in as the sun rose and Salima, wearing a hat to shield her eyes from its angle, would sit with a drink and something quiet to occupy herself until he was finished.

"Uh-huh," Ray said, reaching over her to pick up the towel hanging over the back of her chair. There was a twinkle in his eye when he pulled back that said he hadn't missed the way Salima's gaze lingered on the curve of his bicep as he did so. "Reading anything good?"

Salima shrugged. "Funny thing," she said, echoing his words from earlier, albeit a little distractedly, "but I don't really remember."

Ray laughed and Salima watched as he toweled off. When he was done, he tossed the towel to the side and held out a hand to her. She allowed herself a moment to immortalize the sight of him, draped in the sunrise with his skin still glistening and a loving look on his face, before she let him haul her to her feet.

The sand was cooler under her feet than it would be later, when the sun peaked in the sky. There would be more people then, but she and Ray would be further inland where the locals had a beyblading dish set up, probably surrounded by a cluster of kids.

She loved those moments almost as much as she loved when it was just the two of them.

Ray tugged abruptly on her hand and jolted her out of her train of thought.

Salima gasped and stumbled forward, into his waiting arms.

"Ray!" she scolded halfheartedly through her laughter. She didn't mind their new, closer proximity or the way his hand felt spanning the center of her back.

Ray answered her with a kiss that made her toes curl into the sand. She didn't need any cajoling to kiss him back. After a morning spent drooling over him, she was content to tilt her head to the side and let him deepen the kiss.

Ray always kissed her like he had all the time in the world. Sensual and slow, gently stoking the fire between them with every sweep of his tongue or touch of his hand. This time was no different. Both of his hands slid up under her shirt to bracket her waist.

Salima sighed and snaked her arms around his neck. She shivered when his thumbs brushed over her skin, and again when he broke the kiss for a breath and began to kiss a path from the corner of her lips down her jawline. She tilted her head to the side to give him access to her neck.

His hands tightened on her waist and suddenly the world went sideways as he hoisted her up and over his shoulder.

She shrieked wordlessly and scrambled for purchase, but his hold on her legs was solid enough that she needn't have worried.

"Ray!" she laughed, pulling at his ponytail. "What are you doing?"

He didn't need to say a word; the second he turned around she knew knew the answer. All she could do was watch her beach chair – and the sunhat she'd been wearing until she was turned upside-down – shrink into the distance as Ray jogged toward the ocean.

They hit the water in a fit of laughter and halfhearted struggling on Salima's part. Once the waves were lapping at his chest, Ray let her fall feet first into the water. He caught her before she submerged completely. She huddled close to him on instinct; the water was chilly, especially with no morning run to warm her up beforehand.

"Cooling off?" Ray asked, amusement coloring his voice.

"I didn't need to!" she exclaimed, giving him a playful shove. Moving helped her get used to the temperature, so she coasted back and began to tread water.

It was beautiful enough here that she didn't mind the impromptu swim so much. If there wasn't a more captivating sight right in front of her, she might have turned around to watch the sun finish its ascent. As it was, she bobbed a little further from shore and sunk beneath the water to wet her hair.

When she came back up, Ray was watching her with a mischievous glint in his golden eyes. "That's not the impression I got from your blush earlier," he teased.

Clearly Salima wasn't as sunburned as she thought. She blushed again. Even though she was more than allowed to look, Ray's reactions when he caught her staring – that singular gaze that made her feel seen and known and wanted – would always fluster her.

He was giving her that look now, gliding towards her with the water kissing his shoulders. Her stomach did a somersault when he closed in on her and pulled her, once more, into his embrace.

"Salima," he whispered, lips brushing the apple of her cheek before placing gentle kiss there as her flush spread even more.

Maybe, Salima thought, as he claimed her lips with his, her staring affected him more than he wanted to admit.

She wrapped her legs around his hips, tangled her hands in his hair, and kissed him back.

By the time they emerged from the ocean, a breeze had carried her hat off to places unknown. She couldn't bring herself to mind.

A/N: When I write Ray/Salima, I feel like it's either zero stakes fluff or the most deep conversation ever. Maybe that's the relationship in a nutshell. Idk, but they make me happy to write when they aren't driving me insane. This one was fun. :)

Thanks for reading!