Page 113 of Shattered Vows

Honestly, I didn’t think it was possible to surf with a bikini on. Sure, they did it in movies and during competitions, but those people were the best in the world.

Morina wasn’t the best in the world.

She was supposed to be an average girl on a board that had grown up around water.

How the fuck she even got on the board after I tried and failed so many times was baffling to me. How she did that and kept the scraps of material covering her tits was a goddamn miracle.

Why the hell I was out here torturing myself in the first place was an even bigger mystery.

“Mo, I’m done.” I bobbed up and down in the water next to my board after another failed attempt at standing up.

“What?” She jumped off her surfboard as she rode past. When she surfaced, she shook her head. “No! You’re almost there.”

Her smile was infectious. It stretched across her face in a way I’d never seen before. There weren’t any frown lines when she looked at me and the smile raised her cheeks even more than usual. The sun glowed on her smooth skin and the water glistened on her nearly bare chest like a mesmerizing game of where not to look.

Fuck, she was pretty out here.

Now, more than ever, I wasn’t immune to her. She radiated a light I wasn’t used to. All my life, I’d been around darkness, business, pain.

My father bred me to take his place and I was damn good at that.

How to handle a woman so genuinely naive of that darkness was baffling, intoxicating.

She vibrated with energy as she swam to my board and wrapped an arm around it. “You almost got this. I’ll give you anything to master it today.”

“You’ll what?” I cocked my head. “Today? You’re kidding me. People don’t get up on a board for weeks after they start trying.”

It pained me to admit I’d researched it after the first time.

“But you’re so close and I’ve never taught anyone to get on it and ride in less than a week of lessons. And I don’t teach often but come on! This could be epic for me.”

“For you?” I pointed at her. “You realize this is supposed to be about me, the student.”

“Okay. What does the student want from the teacher?” She squared her shoulders and had such a completely straight face that I couldn’t help but give her hell.

“Teachers give gifts now, huh?” I chuckled and looked around. The blue water rocked the us back and forth. The sun burned our skin, and the air smelled so damn fresh I almost forgot why I was irritated about being out here.

Then I looked at her and remembered people were eyeing up my wife.

“I’ll give you one thing.”

“You wear a one piece next time you’re out here.”

She glanced down at her tits and back at me. Then, she burst out laughing. “Never happening, Bastian. My boobs, my display.”

Fuck me.

“Fine. I’m done then.” I pulled the board with me and made my way out of the water.

She chased me down. “Oh my God. Let’s compromise! Jesus, you’re such an old man sometimes. You realize people go topless here half the time? There’s a topless beach right up the road. Want to go?”

“Don’t fuck with me, Morina. You’re my wife now.”

She rolled her eyes. “I know. I know. Fine. I’ll wear a sports bra next time. That’s better, right?”

Compromises.

I made them with others.

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