Page 58 of Someone Exactly Like Me (Wounded Hearts 1)
He waves to the couple as we pass them and they wave back. We walk to the water’s edge and it’s a little chilly splashing up my legs. I take a few more steps in and it’s still pretty cold. By the time I’m thigh-deep, he does a shallow dive under the water. Slowly wading in, I get up to my stomach.
“It’s beautiful,” he says, swimming back to me.
“A little cold too.”
“You’re cold?”
I nod. “A little.”
“Just dive in. You’ll get used to it.”
I chuckle. “You don’t know my body temperature issues.”
“I know you get cold easily.” Now I’m in up to my breasts and sink my arms under the surface, shivering.
He’s farther out. I can’t go out to where he is because I’ll be under water.
He swims over to me. “Can you swim?” he asks.
“Yes, I can swim. I just don’t swim in the ocean much.”
He laughs. “But you live at the beach.”
“I know. A lot of times it’s just too cold for me so I don’t go in all the way.”
“Here.” He takes my body in his arms. “Wrap your legs around me,” he says, guiding my legs around his waist. “I can take you out a farther and keep you warm.”
What is he doing?How the hell am I in this situation right now? In an ocean, with Niccolo Mancini, my legs wrapped around his body.
“Nicco, maybe we shouldn’t be like this, so close. I’m sure people have recognized you by now.” I nod toward the shore. “I can’t imagine you want pictures taken of us like this. It would misrepresent you.”
“Pictures will always be taken and always be misinterpreted,” he says, as I tremble in his arms and he presses me against his body. “Are you shy about your body?”
“No.” My teeth chatter as I lie. “A little, maybe.”
Moving his hands to where his thumbs are just under my breasts and his fingers wrap around my back, he pushes my body back from his.
Our faces only inches apart, he gazes into my eyes. “Destiny, you are a very,verysexy woman. You should never feel anything less than that.”
I shiver in his arms, speechless, and wrap my arms around his neck, looking back toward the shore. If I wasn’t so cold right now, I’d probably be turned on.
“I like your belly ring. When did you get it?”
“That was a Candi-adventure. She wanted to go into the city for her birthday. She got a tattoo and I got my navel pierced. I think it was her twenty-third birthday.”
“It looks good on you.”
“Thank you. I’d always thought they looked so cute on other girls.”
“It doesn’t look cute on you. It looks sensuous.” With our bodies pressed together, I’m pretty sure he can feel my heart racing.
Silently, we stand in the ocean, the water enveloping us.
“I like having you wrapped around me.” The sincerity in his words cradles me.
I like being wrapped around him. Knowing I’ll never be in this situation again, for a brief moment, I let go of how intimidated I am by him and surrender into the safety, comfort, and euphoria of being in his arms. I know the moment will pass in a heartbeat so I revel in it, etching this surreal intoxication in my mind and on my heart.
My shivers stop, I curl my neck around his, and relax into him. He sways gently with the water as it bathes us. He squeezes tighter around me, dropping his head to my shoulder. We’re fused together as one.
