Page 26 of Found at Sea
After I agreed, we walked down the ramp and onto the dock. Our feet sounded heavy on the wood and some of the boards creaked beneath us as we advanced farther.
I’d thought we’d just jump in the water near the ship to swim, but Alek had other ideas as he led me away from the dock and into the surrounding forest. By the easy way he found the path through the trees, I suspected he’d been that way before, which reassured me.
Before the ship vanished from sight, I looked back over my shoulder and saw the captain staring at us.
Then the trees enclosed us, shielding everything else from view.
We walked for a few minutes before the sun broke through the branches and more of the sky appeared.
“Welcome to paradise,” Alek said before we left the enclosure of the forest and arrived in the most beautiful area I’d ever seen.
The white sand was soft and powdery, so much so that I plopped down on the ground and removed my shoes, wanting to feel it beneath my bare feet. The sand was warm from the sun, but not unbearably hot, and I took a handful of it before slowly releasing it back to the earth. Burying my toes in it, I grinned and looked around.
The crystal blue water from the harbor was the same there, but different in a way. That part of the beach didn’t have anyone else around, no other ships or drunken sailors talking too loud. The open blue sky above us reigned down warmth and light.
Beyond the shoreline were the greenest plants, trees, and grass, as well as tropical flowers I couldn’t name. Where the water touched the land, it was paler and darkened the deeper it became before expanding into the vastness of the sea.
And it was quiet, no sounds other than the surf rolling ashore and birds singing from above.
It really was a paradise.
Unable to wait a moment longer, I pulled off my shirt and pants before rushing in. On the surface, the water was warm, but beneath the waves it was refreshingly cool. I glided through the water before going all the way under.
Alek was right behind me, and when I surfaced, we were only inches apart. His wet dark hair clung to his head and face, and the smile he wore made him look even younger.
“Every time we come to Stonebridge, I come here,” Alek said, still smiling. “I like how peaceful it is. And silent. Like just for a moment, the noise of the world fades away and it’s just me and the sea.”
“But you don’t always like being alone,” I pointed out when remembering the brothel incident, and then blushing for bringing it up again.
“Aye.” Alek had a tint to his cheeks as well. “Other than my body’s basic desires, I prefer solitude. It’s easier that way.”
“Why?” I asked, too curious. “And why do you have an accent when you talk to me, but when you talk to others, it’s almost imperceptible? Well, when we first started talking, I didn’t notice it much, but over the weeks, it’s become more noticeable.”
Logic told me that he disguised it around other people. But I wanted to hear it from him, and hopefully, an answer as to why too.
With eyes as blue as the water we waded in, he met my gaze. “There ya go asking questions again.” He smiled, though, so he wasn’t angry. “When I’m around you, I don’t feel the need to hide.” I opened my mouth to ask another question, but he lifted his hand and touched his fingers to my lips. “That’s all I can say about it.”
I nodded to let him know I’d drop the subject.
“Is it true?” I asked as a different question entered my mind. “That you like both men and women?”
His mouth lifted in a smile before he leaned back in the water and spread out his arms. “I believe that one shouldn’t deny himself the pleasures of the world. Women are beautiful, and so are men.”
We swam a while longer, splashing at each other one moment and then floating on our backs the next. I felt weightless in the water, and as I floated, I stared at the sky, watching the white, puffy clouds glide across the world of blue.
My eyes became heavy, and I eventually closed them.
A splash to my right made me jolt and sink below the water. Breaking the surface, I searched for the cause of the sound and what I saw took the breath from my lungs.
No… surely not.
Alek saw it too.
A huge green and blue tail smacked down on the water again as the creature went back under the waves, but before it had…I’d seen the upper body of a man.
“Was that—?”
“Aye,” Alek interjected, not taking his eyes off the area it had been. “A merman.” He quirked a brow. “Told you they were real.”
