34: Swimming with a Shark

Quincy St. Martin

“Excuse me, Caspian,” says Miss Preppy in pastel pink. Her hot-pink fingernails are tapping Caspian’s arm. “We really don’t have time for silly interruptions.” She stares pointedly at me. “We need to finish this project on time.”

I try to slip out of Caspian’s hold, but he wraps an arm around my shoulders and brings me closer to him. I can feel his warm chest rising and falling against my back.

“Look, Sienna…” he says to the girl.

His voice is cold like shards of ice. The way his arm tightens around me serves as a warning not to try to slip away again.

“I’ve done the research and everything else. All you have to do is tie everything together and write the conclusion. I told you we don’t need to meet up again.”

“But I think it would turn out better if we—”

“I’ve done my part,” he says, looking at her in disdain and annoyance like she’s a lowly subject who dares to overstep. “Just make sure to send it in on time,” he adds, coldly dismissing her.

The look he’s giving her just reminds me more that he’s the crown prince on the path of becoming a powerful king someday.

“Now all I want to do is spend time with my woman,” he murmurs, kissing the shell of my ear as he pulls me away.

His fingers digging into my side tickles, and I can’t hold in the giggles. “Stop!” I tell him.

“Hmmm, somebody’s ticklish. Interesting.”

Oh, no. He’s going to use that information against me. His fingers skim my middle, prodding to find the most sensitive part of me, which is almost everywhere.

“No!!” I can’t stop giggling while squirming, trying to wiggle out of his hold.

“Don’t you think you should work on your project with her?” I squeak.

I sneak a glance at Miss Preppy, or rather Sienna, who is still standing on the front steps of the library, staring after us, or glaring. Really, I can’t tell.

He glances over his shoulder, and his expression turns haughty again.

“No, I’m done. She’s been acting more like my prison guard than a project partner. Hounding and cornering me any chance she gets. I don’t get how she could complicate a simple project, needing to talk and meet up all the time.”

He shakes his head before he turns back to face me. His hands snake down to wrap around my waist.

“Now, let’s talk about you and me.” His voice turns several degrees warmer. “You never gave me an answer. Now that you own me, what are you going to do with me?”

That makes me realize how aloof, imperious, and cold he looks most of the time. He only reserves the warmer side of himself for very few people.

So far I’ve seen his genuine smile only when he’s around Genesis, Serena, Penny, and now, me. Open, playful, and adorably annoying.

***

It’s the end of fall, and the days are getting cooler, but today is perfect. The sand is warm and the sky is clear blue with very few clouds. The Pacific Ocean glistens under the sun, and the wind carries the smell of the ocean and blows my hair out of my face.

Perfect. I raise my arms up above my head with a sigh. I know a big smile is playing on my lips. I let the sun kiss my skin. My Nana would have loved it here.

We’re on a deserted stretch of beach. We have taken off our shoes, we have our jeans rolled up, and we’re standing with the waves lapping at our feet.

He wants us to spend the rest of today together before he has to fly back to Russia tomorrow.

He asked me what I wanted to do.

I told him that I wanted to spend today just getting to know each other, no kissing or making out since we both know what would happen once we start.

I asked him to take me to the beach.

“You’re easy to please.” He takes my hand and laces his fingers through mine like we’ve done this a thousand times already.

I feel the electric current traveling from the tips of my fingers down to my toes. I feel our connection right to the bones. I wonder if he feels it too.

“I am,” I tell him. “Especially since this is my first time by the ocean.”

He steps right in front of me, blocking my view of the sea. His eyes are penetrating and his expression is so serious when he asks me, “This is your first time in the ocean and you’re only ankle deep in the water?”

“Wait, Caspian! What are you doing?” I shriek when he lifts me up by my waist.

I grab hold of his shoulders and wrap my legs around his hips.

“We’re getting rid of your virginity the proper way.” His eyes are now burning with mischief. His hands settle firmly under my butt, holding me tightly against him.

“What?” I shriek louder.

“We’re getting rid of your ocean virginity the proper way. We’re going swimming!”

He walks deeper into the water. The waves are now lapping against my thighs and my butt.

“What? With our clothes on?”

“Do you want to take your clothes off now, princess?” He leans in.

I feel the muscles of his shoulders flex underneath my hands.

“No. It’s too late now. We’re already wet.”

“You’re right,” he says as he dips us both underwater.

“Caspian!” I come out gasping for breath, pushing away from him. I take it back. He’s not adorably annoying. He’s annoying. Period.

His smile is wolfish as he swims closer, droplets of water running down his face. His golden hair seems darker all wet with strands plastered to his face. His eyelashes are wet and stick together with a few tiny droplets at the end.

His unusual green eyes are bright and mischievous.

He’s so gorgeous even all wet like now. It’s so annoying. I must look like a drowned rat. I push backward, away from him.

“You’re in the ocean, sweetheart,” he states casually as he moves closer again.

“I know, you made sure of that.” I give him the stink eye. I can touch the ocean floor with my tippy toes now as I keep moving backward, away from him.

He chuckles. “You know there are sharks around here, don’t you?”

I jump on him. I wrap my arms and legs around him like a monkey and look at the murky water around us in alarm, searching for the dreaded fins.