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“We have to swim the rest of the way,” Guy said the words with every appearance of contentment, but Addie heard the undercurrent. The resentment.
“Great,” she beamed, her smile overly bright for Santiago’s benefit. “But what about you?” She turned to the older man, her expression dubious.
“No, no. It is enough to see the caves from here,” he said with a sage nod. “Besides, someone has to keep the yacht safe from pirates, eh?”
“Or their ghosts,” Addie agreed with a nod and a somber expression.
Guy was impatient, though. “Can you dive?”
She looked at him, and then towards the water. It was crystal clear, she could see all the way to the bottom. “Of course.” She nodded, lifting her shirt over her head and tossing it onto a sun lounger. “You sure you don’t want to join us?” She teased Santiago.
But he was reclining, his eyes on the caves of the island, apparently miles away.
“Come on,” Guy said, pulling his own shirt off, and stripping down to his shorts.
She did the same, so that she was in just a bikini, and without any further prompting, she climbed over the railing so she was standing on the wrong side of the ledge, and leaped into the air, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, bombing herself right into the ocean with a laugh. Water splashed in all directions, and both Santiago and Guy wore their fair share of it.
She caught a hint of Guy’s expression – the challenge she’d laid one he was tempted to accept – before seeing the smile spread across Santiago’s aged face. She duck-dove under the water, breast-stroking her way towards the island, lifting up only to take a breath. She felt the water shift as Guy reached her, his own powerful stroke changing the currents that ran around her. His fingertips brushed against her side and when she came up for her next breath, she faced him, her eyes meeting his.
She trod water – it was still too deep to stand – and cast a look back towards the boat. They were far enough from it to speak without fear of being overheard, and yet she was silent. Nervous.
She turned to the caves once more – doubt filling her. “They just look like little holes,” she said with a lift of her shoulders.
“Yes,” he nodded, grimly, apparently willing to continue their feud even now.
He pulled away, stroking easily through the w
ater. She followed after him.
Once they were close enough to touch the rock wall that seemed to rise out of the ocean, Guy turned to face Addie. “After you.”
She lifted a brow. “How do I know you’re not planning to do away with me in there?” It was a joke. He didn’t laugh.
“Santiago is watching us like a hawk. You should smile, and laugh, and then swim your lovely little lying body straight into the cave.”
She glared at him, and anger exploded inside of her. Anger at his unfairness and cruelty, anger at life. “Or I could do this.” She closed the distance between them, wrapping her legs around his waist under water to hold him tight to her, and she kissed him, a kiss that he obviously wasn’t expecting. A kiss that stole their breath and enflamed their hearts.
“Ava,” he ripped his head away but kept their bodies close. Beneath the water, she could feel his desire stirring and an ancient, feminine heat made her proud, and made her need. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know, Guy. Am I fooling your grandfather? Lying to him, like you asked me to? Or am I kissing you because I want to, because I love being with you? Because I couldn’t sleep for needing you all over again?” She rolled her hips over his arousal, having the satisfaction of seeing his eyes flash with something like heated awareness, as his hands found the naked flesh at her back and ran over it.
“You said sex was a silver lining to having me here. So?”
His eyes flared wide. “You can’t seriously be suggesting…”
“That you take me into this pirate cave and have your wicked way with me? That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Her heart stood still. Fear and doubts mingled inside of her, but she knew how badly she needed this. She needed the satisfaction that came from being with Guy, but also the clarity. The certainty that this was what made sense. And she could only hope he felt the same.
“This is absurd,” he said with a shake of his head, but he kicked through the water, moving them towards the tiny, rounded entrance. Addie held her breath as they swum under it, her legs still wrapped around Guy’s waist, her eyes locked to his face, studying every single flicker of emotion she saw there. But then, the light changed. It was much darker in the cave, but high above them, there was a hint of sun streaming in.
“There are small holes that lead to the sky,” he said. “Openings that the pirates carved to allow air in. To weaken the rock. They were terrified of drowning in here – of being boarded up by the authorities if they were discovered, so they made sure they had an escape route.”
His hands ran along her spine, finding the clasp of her bikini top and unpinning it without stalling his speech. “There used to be a thick rope that dropped from the ceiling. I imagine they’d use it for climbing.”
Addie could hardly concentrate on what he was saying. Her breasts bobbed on top of the water, between them, her bikini top held balled in his hand, against her back. He swam easily through the water, until suddenly, his feet found purchase on the bottom of the ocean and he was walking, Addie still wrapped around his waist. At first, it had been hard to see, but as her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw that there were little patches of ground. The caves here were covered it scratches. Drawings? Writing?
“Ancient graffiti,” he said, his smile genuine. It did funny things to her pulse, seeing a glimpse of the old Guy. But it brought a sense of fear, too, because Addie didn’t want him to stop being this version of himself. He was Dr Jekyll and Mr Heartbreak, and that duality was robbing her of any certainty.
He lay her down on the ground; it was cold and damp beneath her back. She didn’t care.
