“Oh, no. You know how I feel about this. I’ve had an amazing morning, and I’ve got some great shots of you guys and the sharks. It’s been an experience. Trust me when I say that.”

“Listen.” He tapped me on the nose, and I swiped his finger away. “You’ll probably never have this opportunity again. You’re going to get back to shore and regret not being closer to the sharks. That platform floating there is called the playpen. You just lie on it—I’ll be with you—and we should see something really special. Please, Poppins, I’m not joking anymore. I want you to do this.”

That imploring look. No wonder he was irresistible. Stone could really turn on the charm when he wanted something.

“What if—”

“What if nothing. What if you don’t do it and the only story you have to tell is that you saw a shark? Who cares about that? I’ll tell you. Nobody.”

“I’m not you, Stone. I don’t need these big thrills to know that I’m alive.”

“Do you really want to be a spectator for the rest of your life?”

“This isn’t fair. You’re trying to make me feel small for not wanting the same things you seem to need.”

“I’m trying to help you live. I looked at your stuff, Poppins. So, yeah, I got a bit stalky. You know what I saw? The I wish person. You wish you can do this and that, and what you don’t realize is that the day will come when the potential to do those things will be gone. And all you’ll have left is a wish that you had done them.”

He had a point. When they were in the water, most of me wished I had the courage to be in there with them, experiencing that massive fish swimming around me, being nosy, jabbing the camera lens with its snout. I did want that experience.

“I’m scared. There, I said it.”

“Scared is good. Scared means you’re not going to do anything stupid. Scared people are the best to take on the water because they pay attention. Come on, Poppins. Don’t do it for me. I’m not the one who has to live with the regrets. Do it for yourself.”

“Will you stay with me?”

“I’m going to be with you on the pontoon, and Rip will be in the water. We’re not going to leave you alone. Losing clients is bad for business.”

“I was about to say yes until you gave me that little danger reminder.”

“You know I’m teasing. I’ll make sure you’re totally safe.” He kissed my ear, nipping the lobe. “I have plans for tonight, and you’re in them,” he whispered.

My arousal and fear crashed and combined, leaving me with a ridiculous sense of adventure. “Let’s do it.”

Stone and I wrestled with the wetsuit, though I think he was hampering things, copping a feel when he should have been helping me pull it on. He turned me around and drew the zipper up until I was encased in a new thick skin. My steps out of the cabin were reluctant.

“Stone, wait.”

“What’s up?”

“I need a nervous pee.”

“Pee in the suit when you get in the water. It’s traditional, and it keeps you warm.”

“That is gross. And, I’m not getting in the water.”

“Of course not. Don’t worry, it’s nerves. You don’t really need to go.”

At the back of the boat, Rip and Colin held the platform steady while Stone and I clambered on.

“This thing’s tethered, isn’t it? I mean, we’re not just going to float off into the ocean and be abandoned.”

“Shit, Poppins, who does these awful things to you that you always fear being abandoned or something more nefarious? Did I say I’d keep you safe?”

“I guess.”

“And, am I here with you, now, doing just that?”

I nodded.

“Would you please, then, say you trust me?”

“I trust you.”

“Thank you.”

“Jesus, you two are like a married couple,” Rip said.

“Negotiations are over. Let’s roll.” Stone let out a whoop so loud that it probably frightened away every sea creature between where we were and the horizon.

I quickly became used to the motion of the round platform we lay on. It had a handrail all around, and though we were exposed, being only inches above the surface of the water, I soon relaxed.

Rip vanished below the surface, the occasional appearance of bubbles giving a rough indication of where he was. Watching him was like watching a large, elegant fish. He seemed even more at home in the water than he was on the boat.

“Hi, lovers.” He’d popped up behind us.

“Take care, smartass, or I’ll smother you in chum and feed you to the sharks.”

“Stone, saying things like that is not helping.”

“Speaking of which,” Rip cut in, “I think we’ve got an encounter coming our way.”

I was shocked by the speed of the dorsal fins approaching the platform. My heart stuttered because it was a sight that induced such a rush of fear, everything was telling me to run. They circled, just as you’d imagine they would...just like the movies. Rip stayed in the water, and the sharks’ curiosity was incredible. They kept approaching him and bumping his camera, the lens of which must have seemed like an enormous eye scrutinizing them.

Stone slipped his mask and snorkel on and encouraged me to do the same.

He hung over the side of the platform, his head beneath the surface as the sharks swam around. He waved me over with his hand, and I don’t know what gave me the shot of bravery, but I went to him and dangled over, too.

The first thing I noticed was the extraordinary coloring of the blue sharks. A vignette of a deep cerulean blue from the top of the body, gradually lightening over the sides to finish with a white belly. In the right light, their snouts had shimmering speckles of gold.

Stone beamed at me, his eyes wide with excitement. I found it arousing because at times, I’ve thought him indifferent about things that would impress most people.

“I’m going to slip into the water for a better look. I’ll stay right by the platform here. Feel free to join me.”

His excitement was contagious. Now, I wanted that experience, too. “Wait for me.” I scrambled to the side.

Stone lowered himself in, then helped me in, too.

My world changed immediately. The buoyancy, for one thing, the slop of the ocean, and the proximity of the sharks. Although my heart was thumping like mad and my breathing noisy and fast in the snorkel, I felt strangely calm. I ducked beneath the surface with Stone, and the curious sharks, who swam toward us in an almost languid way, filled me with exhilaration. I kept my focus on them, holding my breath.

One drew closer, its black eye connecting with my gaze. Adrenalin flooded my system. Everything felt wrong until the eye contact. That moment felt spiritual, a connection that filled me with awe. As the shark darted off I looked towards Stone. I’d have thought his face mask would have hidden everything, yet I could feel his immense thrill to have witnessed my encounter, to have been part of it.

He swam beside me, pushing my back against the raft just as a group of six returned to us, circling, coming closer as they became more accustomed to our presence. The braver of the group bumped Stone, and I swear my fingernails almost pierced his suit as I clung to his arm.

When a second one came in, Stone held out his hand to bump the shark’s nose. It’s lightning change of direction spooked the group and in seconds they were gone.

Stone swam me back to the boat, and the stupid fear grin plastered across my face stayed there, I’m sure, for the next hour.

Poor Stone and Rip patiently listened to my repetitive telling of the encounter as if I were the only one of us three who’d been in the water.

By the time we got back to the dock two hours later, I was exhausted and hungry.

“Fish and chips?” Rip suggested.

“Not fish.” Somehow, I couldn’t eat fish right now after that amazing day.

“Gets them every time,” Rip said, digging Stone in the ribs.

“Meet us at the hotel in an hour for a drink, and we’ll find a restaurant,” Stone suggested.

We parted at the end of the dock. Back in our suite, Stone ran the bath.

“Come on, mermaid,” he called out. “Let’s have another underwater encounter.”

I’d collapsed on the daybed on the balcony, but Stone had appeared with champagne and two glasses.

There had been little chance that morning to take advantage of the luxuries in the bathroom, but it smelled as though Stone had made use of everything now. I think he’d tipped a little of every bath salt into the water because the room had a heady scent of jasmine, lavender, tropical fruit, a hint of vanilla, and who knows what else.

“Wasn’t sure what you liked, so I went for the lot.”

“Interesting.”

“Quick, undress and get in. It’s been killing me all day having you parading around the boat and not being able to tear your clothes off.”

I stripped, strangely coy, still getting used to being naked around him. I guessed we really needed to have a talk of some sort about how we were going to proceed once we were back at his house, but I didn’t want to spoil the day by raising that sort of subject.

He passed me a glass of champagne, raised his glass, and toasted. “To the one who didn’t get away.”

Did he mean me? The uncertainty of the status of ‘us’ became patently obvious in these moments.

Stone stepped into the bath behind me, and I lay nestled in the cradle of his body, his ever-present erection making itself known.

I’d pinned up my hair, but it needed a wash. Sensibly, I’d have been taking a shower and getting all the salt out of my hair, then spending the next thirty minutes taming it into some kind of submission, but it was impossible to abandon Stone’s roving mouth.

“I marked you here,” he said, kissing a tender spot on the back of my neck. “You bruise easily, Poppins.”

“In every way,” I warned him. I didn’t want insincere words that he might have thought I wanted to hear, but he steered the conversation back to the day’s excursion.

“Another event crossed off your list. There’s not much left to do.”

I wondered if the end of the list meant the end of us. Perhaps that’s how Stone ran his life. A relationship, a to-do list for the woman, and the termination once everything on the list had been ticked off. I didn’t want to think like this. The sort of doubts my mother liked to infuse were creeping through me, starting as in irritation in my mind and seeping into my veins to spread the infection throughout my body. Even if this thing with Stone was temporary, I should grab it as an opportunity to live outside my comfort zone. Except, doing that felt as though I’d traded one apex predator experience for another.

I took a long draw on my champagne glass, enjoying the tingle of the bubbles as the cool liquid slid down my throat. The mixture of alcohol and fragrant steam in the bathroom made me daring. I turned around, got on my knees, and told Stone to sit on the edge of the bath.

“What’s up?” he asked, a knowing smile spreading across his face.

I eyed his erection. “I think we can both see what’s up, and I don’t want this one to get away.”

Reaching between his legs, I stroked his heavy balls.

Stone leaned back against the wall tiles. “Fuck me, I’ve awakened the perfect monster,” he said as I engulfed the head of his cock with my mouth. It was salty, like the sea. I swiped my tongue around and felt him groan and tremble...felt powerful as I took as much of him in my mouth as I could. I stroked his shaft, dipped a couple of fingers lower to play with his balls, and licked the pre-cum leaking from the head. His hand thrust into my hair, half of it spilling free across my shoulders. I felt wanton and sexy and in control.

But not for long. Stone guided my head, moving me down, holding me still and back up again, and my control quickly became cooperation. I liked that, too. I squeezed my legs together, relieving the heavy ache that wanted the feel of his hand, his tongue or his cock.

Suddenly, Stone lifted my head from him. Gasping, he said, “Something about that wicked mouth of yours, Poppins. Don’t know what it is, but it makes me want to nut in seconds. Shift back.”

I shuffled backward on my knees as Stone slid down the smooth side of the bath.

“Good girl, now come here and get on my cock.”

His hand shot between my legs as I moved up and straddled his hips. I moaned as I felt his finger slip inside me, comforting the wakened nerves that throbbed and begged. I’d become so needy, so hooked on his touch and the pleasure he could give me.

“All wet for me and ready.”

He took his cock to my entrance, and I sank down. The sound of our pleasure mixed as he pulled me toward him, covering my mouth, thrusting with his tongue in cadence with the thrust of his cock. We stayed, locked like that, grinding harder, water sloshing out of the bath, as we rocked and fucked until we came.

When we’d finished, we lay there, exhausted, my head on his shoulder, the water in the bath growing cold. I could have slept, and I almost did sleep, until Stone pushed me upright.

“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He swore between gritted teeth.

“Are we late?”

“I hope you’re not going to be. Fuck, Poppins, I didn’t use a condom.”

“Um...oh, shit. I’m on the pill, but...” How could I tell him?

“But you think I’m a manwhore.”

My already flushed cheeks grew hotter. “Something like that.”

“I can assure you that I’m clean. I always use protection, except for today. Hell, what was I thinking? Anyway, I haven’t been with anyone since I was last tested. I promise you that, Katrina. I said I’d protect you.”

“Okay, well, that’s fine.” I had to believe him.

He smirked, his voice low and sexy. “You felt fucking amazing. Your pussy was hotter than ever.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Bet your ass it is,” he said, pinching it for emphasis.

I cupped my hands in the water and splashed him, and then, like two children, we started a water fight until I reminded him we had champagne going flat and I needed a shower to wash my hair.

“I’ll help,” he suggested.

“You’ll hinder. Let me shower alone.”

He constantly overwhelmed me, and I needed some time by myself to try and make sense of what was happening between us.