CHAPTER SIX
Peter
“I think…” Serafina says only that and stops. At the moment, we walk along the shore of a beach that isn’t exactly private but is very hard for anyone to access without a boat. Thankfully, my good friend Raymond owns a boat. “How long do we have here, Daddy?” she asks.
“Ray has a three-hour fishing charter. So, I think he’ll be back here in about four hours. Would you like to go fishing after?”
“I’ve never been fishing. I think that might be nice but maybe not today, Daddy. You said we might see a movie later, and I’d like that better.”
“Okay, little girl,” I say.
We walk along the beach and I see a sand dollar. I point at it and say, “Have you ever seen one of those, little girl?”
She kneels and says, “Peter! Is this… is this a sea cookie?”
“Some people call them that. Sea biscuit, sea cookie, sand dollar, sand cookie.”
She lifts it up and says, “I’ve only seen pictures and in a couple of gift shops, you know, when they have a basket of shells almost like a bouquet of flowers. Is it alive?”
“I think not, little girl. It’s just the shell. On a sand dollar, the shell is called a test.”
“A test? Really?”
I take it from her and touch her forehead with it. “See, I’m testing you.”
She giggles and says, “You’re being silly. Silly Daddy!” Then she looks at me and says, “I think I’m falling in love with you, Peter.”
The words hit me like a baseball bat to the gut except a good hit and not painful. It still takes my breath away pretty damned dramatically, and I likely would fall to the sand if my arms didn’t wrap around her and give me strength as I kiss her and kiss her hard. Already in the absolutely perfect frame of mind for a kiss, of course, she melts against me and the kiss feels about as wonderful as a kiss can.
The moment the kiss is over, I lift her up, moving my arms to the small of her back and I twirl around as she squeals and laughs. Naturally, I end up twirling until I’m dizzy enough that I don’t really pay attention to where we’re going and soon, I’m twirling in the surf.
You can probably guess what happens next.
The two of us fall into the water and the tide crashes around us. She laughs more and flails her arms and legs to splash me. I lift her up so we’re both on our knees and kiss her again. The kiss feels perfect, absolutely perfect as waves gently flow forward, about as deep as our waists while we kneel, and then flow backward again.
I never really think about things like whether even exists such a thing as a perfect moment in time but right then as the water flows around us and we kiss, I know exactly what perfection is. I guess like everyone I’ve seen the movie scenes and television shows where a couple kiss and the surf crashes around them. I realize all my reactions to those scenes before, sort of dismissive and even derisive, don’t take into account how profound the moment is.
She’s falling in love with me.
I’m already there.
Dear God, I’m not falling. I’m already there.
I kiss her passionately, energetically and my hands move up and over her body. Her hands move the same way but once her hand slips into my bathing trunks I speed up. Her top comes off and the surf carries it away. I start to go after it and she pulls me back. “We have clothes to change into,” she says, slips her hand back into my shorts and kisses me again. It doesn’t take long until her bikini bottoms and my swim trunks are also carried away by the tide.
The sensations are so different, her hand moving over my shaft with the ocean splashing around us and on us. I can’t get enough of the feel of her, and not only the feel of her touching me but also the feel of her body as my hands move over her. This girl is everything I could possibly want and everything I could possibly need.
Jesus, I love her.
The kiss breaks for a moment and she stares at me as she strokes. “Serafina,” I breathe out. She lets out a sigh and strokes and then kisses me again. Why the hell can’t I just tell her I love her?
I move us toward the sand and then stand and lift her up and carry her on the beach. The tide doesn’t reach us anymore but it makes for a wonderful backdrop, like beautiful music provided by the Earth just for us. Soon we’re kissing again and she’s not interested in waiting but takes hold of my shaft and guides me into her.
God, the feel of this girl!
“Oh, Daddy!” she breathes out and the sound of her voice is even better than the sound of the waves lapping at the sand. I move my hands over her body and she wraps a leg around me and lifts herself up to meet my thrusts. “Oh, Daddy!” she says again and once more I am struck by how this is a perfect moment, an absolutely perfect moment as I kiss the little girl I love and make love to the little girl I love.
I love her.
It’s a done deal.
I love her and she’s falling in love with me.
I need to tell her but I can’t. The last time I said those words it brought me pain far greater than anything before. I kiss her and hold her. I know I love her and she’s falling in love with me. That is enough for now.
It will have to be. It’s all I can manage at the moment no matter what I want.