12. FREE FALL

She sauntered out of the bathroom, already in a short kaftan cover-up. Of course, I was just a tad bit disappointed that she was wearing one at all, but no matter – patience is a virtue, am I right?

"Ready?" she asked and held her hand out for me to take.

"Definitely." I said with a big, stupid grin on my face and we headed out the door together. We didn't even have to get on the boat (thank God) and she led me by the hand through the shimmery green forested paths of Earnest Island, which were empty like the backroads of the countryside where no one's in a hurry because you can't see anyone for miles. Like the world was all yours. She stopped me at the mouth of a lush green byway where long vines of soft vegetation dangled down from a low-hanging tree and she pushed the covering aside, waiting for me to go in front of her before coming in right after I did. As we hiked deeper and deeper into the hidden trail, the sound of roaring water got louder and louder and reverberated out all around us like a surround sound HD home theater set. Finally, at the heart of it all a shimmering blue waterfall cascaded down the face of a cliff and I didn't realize how high up we were.

"Oh my god, this is freaking amazing." I brought my hands up to either side of my temples and let my bare chest get sprayed by the coolish mist coming up from the rocky blue floor underneath the shimmering ribbons of water which broke against the tops of giant boulders and stones, though it was shallow enough that if we waded into it, it would only have come up to our knees. Edythe seemed to have different plans though - she lifted me easily into her arms and jumped onto this other giant slab of rock before putting me down again and took my hand, beckoning for me to look over the edge and down at the cloud wisps like the ends of rainbows gathering at the place where the waves crashed in the basin below, my face getting wet with the bouncing mist of the spray ricocheting off the rocks nestled deep behind the infinite stream of the waterfall. I was just about to jump off, but I felt Edythe's hand grab my shoulder before I could even get close to the edge and she pulled me right back to her.

"Don't even think about it." She warned. Just as I was about to protest, she started tugging off that little kaftan which definitely got my attention real quick and threw it down onto the slab of rock we were standing on. She had on this itty-bitty white swimsuit top that ties in the front and a pair of white bikini bottoms with lace insets on either side of her beautiful thighs and I stopped immediately in my tracks, mesmerized by this heavenly vision.

"Wow." Was all I could say, my voice coming out a dazed sound. It was impossible for someone – anyone – to look that beautiful, yet there she was standing right in front of me, a literal angel in white. I was silent for a moment, utterly speechless. Her dimples shone in her bright smile and I couldn't look away. She came towards me and stopped.

"Hop on." She said, kneeling down so her back was to me now.

"Wait what?" I said, still completely dumbstruck.

"Oh, there's no way I'm letting you jump off this thing by yourself."

"Why?"

"Because I don't trust you not to die doing that, of course." She said with a shrug as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

"Oh. Right." Yeah, I guess she had a point. I mean, I've actually cliff-dived once before and miraculously managed to see the light of another day, but I definitely wasn't about to go and tell her that knowing she'd end me right then and there for it. Besides, she didn't need to know - it would have only made her feel terrible, and I wasn't going to let that happen. That was the past now; it was done. And so, without a word of protest, I wrapped my arms around her neck pressing my bare torso to her cool back and bent my legs, letting her hook her fingers onto the insides of my knees.

"Ready?" She asked, her voice excited.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I said, my face continuing to flush at the nearness of her body, the closest we've ever had skin-to-skin contact since the first night of our honeymoon. She started to back up, giving herself enough of a runway of sorts to charge forward at what seemed to be the speed of light.

"Alright! Three… Two… One!" she launched us over the edge of the waterfall becoming one with the wind and sky, gliding in the air so it felt like we were literally flying. I was tempted to keep my eyes shut but thought the moment was too rare and valuable to miss – in fact, all the time I spent with Edythe felt like this. Everything was precious. She might have forever but I didn't, at least not yet – thinking that, something inside me clicked. Could my being human feel like that for her? That the limited time we have together somehow makes everything - every experience, every moment – together that much more valuable and significant? Did she want it that way? Was she right in thinking this? Should I reconsider after all? Mortality... maybe it wasn't as bad a thing the world had made it out to be, at least not always. Eighteen, nineteen, twenty... did it really make a difference? Maybe I did want to see that now; maybe I did want to grow, and to change. And Edythe... I love her. I love her with everything in me, and I know in my heart that will never, ever change. So why was I rushing it? Why was I rushing anything at all? All these questions whirred around in my head as we were floating in the air, but not wanting Edythe to worry I put those heavier thoughts away for later so we could just enjoy today. As soon as I did that, Edythe brought her feet together and then we were free falling. The air whooshed through my ears before we plunged into the coolness of the water below and bobbed to the surface together as I took a gasping breath once my nose and mouth broke through the surface. We were laughing loudly as we tread the water, her hand tight against mine. Her bronze curls were slicked back, shimmering in the light of the sun along with her cool porcelain skin which sparkled like diamonds, and it looked like she was literally glowing with happiness. She turned to me, flashing her dimples and my heart did that weird double-thump thing again. Ah, just like old times.

"Congratulations, you made it in one piece." she beamed, her voice teasing.

"Real funny." I said and turned away again, feeling those unattractive red splotches traveling up my neck and cheeks. I dunked my head in the water to hide my tomato face from her.

"Fine, if that's how you're going to be." she stopped and shrugged before throwing a glance at me from over her shoulder and I saw her tongue running over the top of her lip in a playful manner like she was daring me to follow her. She swam away again and then hopped up backwards onto another slab of floating rock as her feet kicked together in the water like she was some kind of mermaid. Her palms were pressed down to the rock on either side of her thighs and she leaned back just a little, tossing those dimples at me again as the whites of her teeth showed and the glory of her fiery hair flowed out behind her in the wind like wisps of cloud-smoke; almost like a phoenix rising from the ashes. It made me think of those statues and goddesses again, and immediately I began in the water towards her. Before I could join her though, she started splashing me with her toes, keeping me at bay. I splashed her right back, throwing handfuls of water at her like they were liquid snowballs until we were both howling with laughter. Dodging and navigating around her searching toes, I jumped up onto the floating island and pounced on her from behind, launching us both into the water.

"Gotcha!" I cried out, triumphant. She let out a bright laugh and we tumbled and rolled in the waves together. When the sun began to fade, she and I clambered onto the shore where the water from the river bank met dry land, merging into one. We fell down backwards onto the soft sand, the waves gently lapping at the tips of our toes and our hands met between us. For a few minutes, we just stayed looking silently at the brilliant sky above us and listening to the roaring of the falls which filled our ears. Just as I was about to close my eyes, Edythe moved closer to me and laid a slender arm over my chest, pressing her still-damp ringlets into the shadow of my neck. I rested my hand on her head and combed through the silk of her hair with my fingers, inhaling her sweet scent.

"What are you thinking of now, Beau?" she asked, genuinely interested in what I had to say.

"Of you. How beautiful you are." I answered her simply, still stroking her head.

"Mm. I'm flattered."

"I'm sure you already knew that though."

"I had a feeling." She replied with a shrug of her shoulders. She looked up at me with those hypnotic golden eyes of hers, giving me an intense look from under her thick black eyelashes. She broke into a half-smile, and those dimples bested me once again. I swallowed really loudly and tried not to look long at her, but it was impossible. I was helpless.

"They're doing it again." I stammered.

"Whatever do you mean, Beau?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes and bringing her face even closer to mine just to see me suffer.

"That thing. You know, with the dimples. And the eyes." I revolved my palms nervously in a circular motion, indicating the whole of her face. "We're right by the water you know, it's highly dangerous." She let out a bright little laugh at that and I was struck.

"Hey, don't take this the wrong way, but…can I kiss you?"

"Do you want to?" she brandished her dimples, further challenging me with that silvery laugh of hers. As if it were at all possible that I even could say anything other than yes to her.

"Um, yeah. Thought I've made that pretty obvious." I said, flushing red all over again. Putting her hand on my chest, she brought her face up to mine and ran her icy fingers over my warm lips, making them tickle. She leaned in, and then her lips were pressed firmly to mine. She explored every part of the inside of my mouth with the tip of her velvet tongue and I paid her back in kind, pressing my own lips even tighter to hers. My hands ran up and down her achingly-beautiful back and she pulled on my shoulders to bring me closer to her. Quickly, I began to tug at the tie on the front of her swimsuit top and she grabbed my hand but didn't stop me – it was more like she was wanting me to untie the knot quicker with her, and we did it together – I tugged on one loop, she tugged on the other. She shrugged it off and Boom. It fell away. We were sitting up now and I cupped the gentle swell of her beautiful breasts tenderly in my hands, running my fingers up and down them. She pressed her lips to my neck; I pulled her closer to me and we fell down sideways onto the sand. Then, I was on top of her again. She settled herself below me and smiled even wider as my hands pressed into her bare chest as if feeling for a heartbeat though I knew I wouldn't find one there. That was fine - my own heart would beat loud enough for the both of us. Clumsily, I started undoing the ties of my own swim trunks and then folded my fingers into the elastic waistband of her bikini, feeling the damp, slick fabric against my skin but just as I began to pull it down over her thighs, she stopped me, her legs kicking up a flurry of sand from under her.

"Stop that." she said between two breaths and peeled my hands off her. She sat up, pushing me away and I saw her reach for her white top again. You can't be serious, I thought.

"Do you just hate me now or something?" I said with obvious hurt in my voice that I didn't really want to admit. "Seriously, I - you can't keep doing this to me, Edythe." She reached for me but I'd much rather she didn't - all the places her hands touched me burned almost painfully now and I fought that urgent, blaring need to touch her even more intensely than I ever had to before. It took everything in me to let her be and my self-control was dwindling away to nothing, so I pulled away - just the way she wanted me to, I guess. She protested otherwise, though.

"It's precisely because I don't hate you that I do this. It just so happens that I'm actually pretty crazy about you." She said, her voice teasing. She held out her hand for me to take.

I frowned and pulled my hand away. She made a sad face. I brought it right back to her. It just so happens that her cheeks dimple up when she pouts, too. Nice.

I squeezed her fingers and she smiled happily at me again, tilting her head like a little puppy and I rolled my eyes at how pathetically weak I was up against my wife's innumerable charms.

She looked up to the sky. "It looks like it's getting late." she said, pressing her pretty pink lips together. They looked like burnt vanilla sugar set against a frosted glass canvas. "I think it's best if we start heading back up." She took off in a burst of blurry white and came right back to me in two seconds flat like a boomerang – this time, with that cover-up she left all the way back at the top of the waterfall. We started home together then, just as the sun dipped behind a cloud. She offered to give me one speedy piggy-back ride to our place but I opted – for my own sake - to return to the beach house at my slow, normal human pace and we started back through the green forested pathways hand-in-hand. It began to rain. I didn't change my mind.