Tinsel, Sand & Snow: A Christmas Collection by Bastion Kat & Bastion Stone

Author:Bastion,Kat & Bastion,Stone [Bastion,Kat & Bastion,Stone]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Kat Bastion and Stone Bastion
Published: 2016-09-25T21:00:00+00:00

Water sluiced off my skin in tiny rivulets as oxygen flooded my lungs on a deep inhale. My body floated to the surface, weightless. On my back, ears just submerged beneath the gentle rolling waves, I heard muted sounds: distant high-pitched cracks, lower booming thumps.

On a slow exhale, my entire form sank with every lost gaseous molecule. With an effort to balance my breaths, I swayed in time with the rhythm of the sea, in perfect buoyant harmony.

I wondered at the discovery.

Had I swam before? Sure. When I was younger. I’d raced from one side of an Olympic sized swimming pool to the other for better time, to develop another of the many skills I’d been collecting in my armory.

But never to just…exist.

Eyes gently closed, sensations affected me from every possible avenue. A salty taste lingered on my lips. The roots of my hair tickled as waves swept my floating locks to and fro. Cool water lapped at my skin as the warm afternoon sun radiated down, heating the front of my body through the crystalline Caribbean Sea. It was as if the elements all vied for my attention.

Guard down, my thoughts diverted away from my goal of learning all I could in the short training time Alec had unknowingly granted me. I paused to let my new sensory world say hello.

The man who’d stumbled onto my balcony had awakened me in an unexpected way.

And I was overcome by all that my newfound perspective offered.

With a heavier exhale, determined not to miss anything while immersed in a rare nature-epiphany, I let my lower body sink and scissored my legs, catching traction against the water with my fins. I kept my head above water, mask perched above my forehead, snorkel dangling alongside my face.

All the while, through a pair of dark sunglasses, Alec focused his attention toward the shoreline, oblivious to my mini mental fieldtrip. Or simply not caring.

I waited until my forward momentum glided me alongside him, then coasted to a halt inches away. “So what changed your mind? What made you include me in your ‘preparations’ today?”

If he registered my question, not one facial muscle betrayed his reaction. His body bobbed upright, his stone face scanning the half dozen houses sparsely dotted along the beach a hundred and fifty yards directly in front of us. A barely visible cadence to his movement was generated by a methodic flap of his fins with a drag coefficient slight enough to keep his two-hundred-pound lean body perfectly upright.

“You wanted to come. It’s proving useful to me.”

Amused at his pragmatism, I tilted my head and fought a smile. “In what way?”

“You’re the perfect cover.”

How flattering. “Why? Because I’m a mildly attractive tourist, and you’re a local, showing me the sights? Hoping to get into my pants?”

The corner of his lips twitched. “You’re an incredibly attractive tourist. And I’ve already been in your pants.”

My body flushed warm at the reminder. “Now, your sole focus is the mission?”

“Yes.”

I floated onto my back again, baring my bikini-clad body before him.

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