Page 15 of On the Line

I swallowed hard when I realized what she was suggesting. “You wanna go skinny dipping?” I croaked, barely recognizing the woman I’d fallen in love with.

Ellie stomped her foot, hands on her hips. “As a citizen of the Conch Republic, I declare it my sovereign right to swim naked under the stars.”

“Well, who am I to argue that?” I laughed at her tipsy antics, but my heart pounded in my chest. I’d never seen Ellie naked, and wasn’t sure how I’d handle it when I did.

The moon hung low and full in the sky, casting a silvery glow over the sandy shore and painting everything in a soft, ethereal light. I tried not to look when she peeled her tank top off, the fabric slipping from her shoulders and landing in a crumpled pile with her denim shorts.

The moonlight illuminated her perfect, pale skin, casting a delicate sheen across her body as she turned to run into the water. For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath. I caught a fleeting glimpse of her bare form, the gentle curve of her breasts barely visible in the shimmering light. The water around her seemed to come alive under the moon's glow, each droplet catching the light and sparkling like tiny stars as she splashed and danced. I thought I was hallucinating for a moment, before my rational brain kicked in. I’d seen this before. Bioluminescence.

It was a rare occurrence caused by a certain type of plankton bloom. I’d seen it a few times on my late night trips out working for George. But seeing it light up my wake was nothing like seeing the water shimmer and swirl around Ellie like angel dust.

Ellie kicked out further from the shore, on her back, her perfect breasts like pale islets floating on the surface. “Come on,” she yelled. “What are you waiting for?”

I stood, hesitant to shed my shorts. The truck bed wasn’t the only thing tenting. “Do you see that?” I called from the shore. “The bioluminescence?”

She peered up from the trail of light streaming from her hands, waving me over. “Yes! Hurry up!” She marveled at the sparkles, giggling. “I haven’t seen this in years.”

It was quite the sight, stirring feelings I’d never felt. I clutched the wooden box, making sure it was secured in the depth of my pocket before I pushed my shorts to the ground and rushed into the water, throwing up ripples around her magical figure. “This is mermaid dust,” I said, splashing her playfully, “reserved only for true sirens of the sea.”

“You are full of shit,” Ellie gleaned, her teeth sparkling white in the moonlight. “But I like it.”

We played in the water for a long while, watching the plankton flow over us, illuminated by our touch. I was afraid to touch Ellie. Without clothes between us, I wasn’t sure I could stop myself. But she was the one who got closer. She was the one who kissed me.

My nerve endings sparked, much like the surrounding bioluminescence. I pulled my hips away to hide how she made me grow. But Ellie abandoned all restraint that night, kissing me deeply and openly.

I tried to keep space between us but she wrapped her legs around me, crossing her ankles behind my back. Hugging my neck tight, she moaned through kisses that became impatient for more. All I wanted was to get lost in those lips, and to feel every inch of her surface with every inch of mine. It took all my will to pull away.

I panted, straining my neck to find respite from her kisses. The fiery spark in her blue eyes, as if staring deep into my soul, made it hard to speak. “Ellie, if we keep this up I might not be able to stop.”

“I don’t want you to stop,” she said, her voice sure.

A tingling desire pulsed to my erection that was pressed between us, but it was the warmth that flooded my chest that took my breath away. This moment was too good to be true. For a long moment, I worried if she was too good for me. If I deserved her.

“But you’ve never…” I said, worried she might regret giving herself to me later.

Her legs tightened around my waist, pressing herself onto the hardness I couldn’t control any more than the feelings rushing through me in electric waves.

“I don’t know how to do this, but I’m tired of not doing it,” she gushed, almost breathless. “I can’tnotdo it anymore. I need this, Spencer. I need you.”

My heart pounded so hard I felt like it might leap from my chest as I stared into her eyes, searching for signs of doubt. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been so sure,” Ellie said, loosening her hold around my hips. Her hand slipped between us, her fingers wrapping around my girth. I throbbed in her hand, breathless.

“Oh my god,” she said, a worried look in her blue eyes. “I don’t know if you’ll fit.”

My palm slid up her back to the space between her shoulder blades, the fingertips of the other hand touching her cheek tenderly before trailing down her neck and chest, over her taut stomach and between her legs. Ellie gasped as my fingers parted her lips. I’d dreamt for months of touching her like this. Gazing into the depths of those shimmering blueeyes as I explored her silky center, I whispered. “I think I will fit perfect.”

I slid a finger inside and her head fell back as she moaned. “I want you so bad it hurts,” she whined.

I knew exactly how she felt, the deep ache of desire. I’d never needed something so bad as I needed her right then… I couldn’t wait to lay her out and take her. But then I thought about the hard metal bed of the truck. “I have a towel. We can lay on the beach.”

She lifted her head, eyes afire as she constricted around my finger. A charge shot through me, making me even harder in her hand as she pushed out the breathy words full of longing.

“I want to do it here. Now.”

She tightened her grip, and waved her other arm through the water, leaving a trail of sparkles. “Please, Spencer,” she pleaded. “It’s magical.”

My breath caught as I pulsed in her fist, desperate to feel her from the inside. “You’re magic.”

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