Someone Else's Ocean

Three weeks later…

I WHISPERED THROUGH A HALO of blonde hair. “Hey, beautiful, wake-up.”

“I should probably tell you those are fighting words.”

I chuckled and kissed her until she roused from sleep.

“Would you please let me recover? Surely there’s no skin on your penis after that last round.”

This time I couldn’t help my laughter as I gathered her to me and lifted her from the bed.

“Ian,” she sighed, kissing my neck and wrapping her legs around my waist. “I can appreciate how sexually starved you must have been after going without, trust me, I love sleeping with you.” I made my way down the porch steps and onto the sand. “Sex with you is my favorite hobby, but there are necessities that need priority as well. Wine, s’mores, and sleep.”

Setting her on the beach, I smiled down at her and turned her to face the ocean. “Shut your drivel, woman, and look.”

Her grin disappeared as her mouth parted. “Oh, my god!”

She sank into my frame as we stared at a moonlit sky. The islands below easily seen due to the sheer size of it. Thousands of stars littered the sky leaving us momentarily speechless.

“My God, now this is a good excuse to wake a girl up.”

“I thought you would appreciate it.”

“I used to be such a huge fan of the stars,” she sighed. “So much mystery. I believed all that hoopla about mythology until my science teacher told me they were balls of fire. It was kind of like finding out Santa wasn’t real.”

“Sucked the magic right out of it?”

“Exactly. Like why can’t we leave certain things a mystery?”

“Some would argue that those balls of fire in relation to where we stand are important.”

“I don’t want to know if some asteroid is coming for me.”

“You’re safe tonight.”

“I feel safe.” My stomach dropped as she settled further into me and I reveled in the feel of her warm skin.

She turned in my arms more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen in my thirty-eight years.

“This is wildly romantic, Kemp. Are you feeling okay?”

“Got a little moonstruck is all. I remember skies like this when we camped after a safari in South Africa.”

“I can’t imagine how amazing that was. Growing up there must have been incredible.”

“I’ll be a Saffa till I die. I can’t believe my parents moved us to Texas. I’m still pissed.”

We both laughed.

“That’s the way it is, right? You think you’ll end up one place and you end up on a different planet.”

With both hands, I pushed the hair away from her face. “I loved this planet.”

Even with the white noise of the waves, I was sure she could hear me swallow.

Her eyes watered as she looked at me for the truth. “This is an asteroid, isn’t it?”

She searched my eyes before she hung her head. “When do you leave?”