Page 28 of Finding Her
“I’m grateful you accompanied me on this trip.” His gaze stayed locked on the path ahead as I turned to face him. “I enjoy teaching you about things. You appreciate them so much.”
“How could I not? Everything is new to me. Besides, I don’t think anything on Earth compares to this island. I swear Ican feel the air vibrating with life.” Honestly, I had considered more than once that I would miss this if—no,when—I returned to Earth. The pesky desire to never leave had been tingling in the back of my mind since I set foot on Eitrea.
Ahead of us, I saw shining silver water refracting starshine through the trees, casting beams of light into the otherwise dim shadows of the forest. As we drew closer, I was able to take in the full scale of the lake. Its perimeter was far more expansive than I had expected, the shoreline disappearing in the distance. Purple petals floated in the still current, blotches of their color bleeding into the liquid mirror below them. When a tree dragon knocked some debris into the pool from a hovering branch, all the lilac hues bled together in the resulting waves.
I hurried ahead of Graysen to the edge of the water and dipped my toe in. Ripples shot from my intrusion and traveled out of view before settling the surface back into complete stillness. It was difficult to imagine a single creature living inside this lake in its eerily dormant state. I wondered if the water dragons had left since Graysen was last here. Hopefully not, I wanted to experience something that was special to him, together.
My toes sank into cool mud as I took another step forward. I could clearly see the tops of my feet through the glistening surface. The water was somewhat chilly, which I should have expected given that spring was hardly swimming season. I didn’t mind; the goosebumps made me feel alive and present. They ripped me from the constant feeling of transient experience that I fought against. One point redacted from my “coma” theory.
The hem of my dress began to float on the surface as I walked in past my knees. I knew that my body would only acclimate to the temperature once fully submerged. And Iintended to be fully submerged. If I could breathe underwater—as he had implied on the carriage ride here—there was no stopping me from getting lost within these depths.
I paused once I was waist deep and looked back at Graysen, beaming from land as he began to unbutton his shirt. “Go ahead!” He waved me on. “I’ll be in in a moment.”
My steps absentmindedly carried me until the water reached my chest. I could sense the ground beginning to slope rapidly, and knew it was time to dive below the surface. I took one more look at the pastel sky above me, took a deep breath, and dove.
Once below the surface, my eyes darted around in curiosity. As with the shallower ocean, my vision was surprisingly clear. The distance faded into an abyss of cool gray shadows. I pushed off the mud to propel myself deeper, approaching a forest of seaweed-like vegetation. It was sparse enough that I could weave my way through, realizing as the floor disappeared into darkness that each blade was the height of a skyscraper. I used my hands to brush slippery green strands to the side as I looked for life. It was much plainer than the ocean, but I was sure there had to be more biodiversity than just kelp. After all, an abyss lurked below me.
I looked up to avoid thinking about the black depths; I was several meters beneath the surface. The sky cast a lavender haze above my head. My body didn’t attempt to float up, and I realized as I weightlessly rested in place that I had been breathing comfortably for some time. It felt unnatural not to experience even the faintest apprehension of drowning, as if some instinct I remembered from Earth was null and void here. The pressure of water stopped in my throat, diffusing into a comfortable gas. One point added back to my “coma” theory.
There was a tap on my shoulder, and I turned my head to see Graysen’s welcoming grin. His dark hair framed his features with wisps of charcoal. I nearly choked. Not from the water, but fromhim. He’d taken his shirt off. Of course he had, why would he keep it on? I’d been avoiding the indulgence of imagining what he looked like in the absence of clothing. I knew at that moment, I’d never be able to resist the temptation again. His pectorals wrapped around a broad rib cage with brown nipples dotting where the muscle was thickest. His core was an appetizing balance of soft and shaped, the muscular V of his groin rising above his loosely fit waistband. A soft line of dark hair ran down the bottom of his abdomen, thickening right before the denim hem concealed my view. His arms didn’t tread the water; they instead relaxed comfortably by his sides, causing his traps to flex beside his neck.
I want to lick him.
“How are you feeling?” he asked me, his muffled voice barely snapping me out of my lustful daze.
“In disbelief. As always, I am in complete disbelief.” I hoped he thought I was talking about the underwater experience.I wasn’t.
His eyes squinted with joy, and bubbles escaped through his smiling teeth. “Good.”
Maintaining eye contact as best I could, I tried to redirect my attention. “So where do we go to catch a glimpse of a fabled water dragon?” My cheeks were concerningly warm despite the cool water.
When was I laid last? Have I ever been laid? Why does it feel like I’ve never seen a shirtless man before?Oh fuck, he’s moving closer.
His corded arm pointed past my head. “We’ll need to venture deeper. They feed at the surface in open waters.”
I nodded and followed his lead as he gracefully passed me. The view of his back was no less appealing, but at least he couldn’t see my wandering eyes. I tried to remind myself that I was here to explore the magic of a new world—not his body—but some parts of me weren’t getting the message.
Graysen was a stronger swimmer than I was, madequiteobvious from the way he barely kicked his legs to move along while I pulled myself forward with an effortful breaststroke. Occasionally, he’d look over his shoulder at me, and I smiled reassuringly.I was not checking out your ass. I wished this lake had more to look at. Shiny shells, caves, geodes, underground volcanoes, fish—literallyanythingother than Graysen.
The vegetation seemed to be opening up, and Graysen paused to rest. The low noises of the lake had become louder, like the bellowing song of a whale. I assumed it was the water dragons below, certain there was nothing else capable of vibrating through my bones in such a deep melody. It was a daunting reminder of what lived underneath my kicking feet.
“Are those the water dragons?” I asked.
“They are.” His head bobbed. “The males will still be sleeping on the rocky floor until later in autumn, but the females are out feeding as much as they can for the upcoming mating season. It improves our odds of seeing one.”
I moved towards the open feeding grounds. Graysen wasn’t following me. “You coming?”
He shook his head. “They’ll be scared away if they see us. We need to hide here and hope one comes close enough to catch a glimpse.”
I stared into the incredibly still water and tilted my head. “There’s nothing here for them to eat.” Hell, I hadn’t seen a single fish.
“They filter feed at the surface.” He nodded up to the glassy plateau several feet above us. Knowing they were filter feeders was rather comforting, considering we were definitely at a physical disadvantage.
I could only see slivers of the open waters outside of our kelp forest hiding place, so I kept my eyes locked on these openings for any sign of a shadow or movement.
I found the lack of gravity rather comforting as we floated in silence, and was fully content to wait as long as I needed to. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine I was fully incorporeal, just a spirit drifting in the void. Graysen’s heat warmed the water to my left, giving me the sensation of his presence despite the space between us. In my bodiless state of awareness, I felt the experience was rather fitting for us. Two souls, floating in the intangible, keeping each other company until something happened.
Unsure of how long my eyes had been closed in thought, I was pulled back to reality with aphysicalyanking, back towards Graysen. My eyes flew open, and I found myself looking into two milky orbs as large as my shoulders were wide. Between them was a smooth silver-blue slope which disappeared into the kelp below. Long transparent ribbons glowed above the white spheres, flowing up and over a roundedskull. The orbs blinked. Reality hit me like a ton of bricks. I was staring at a head several times the size of my body, the connected snout parting the vegetation under my feet and causing it to wave with each snorted huff.
