[shadrach]

A good beach read to melt those winter blues...


It was high noon, the sun strong, the sky deep blue as the powerful speedboat tore through the ocean, skimming across the waves. Jina stepped up through the small hatch below deck. Cal was sitting upright at the captain's seat with one hand relaxed at the wheel. Jina held onto the edge of the door to keep her balance as the speedboat leaped over the waves rapidly. Immediately, the wind took her long dark brown hair and blew it in a strong breeze to sail behind her.

Cal seemed oblivious to the seawater mist gently watering his chiseled face as he turned slightly back to glance at Jina. She loved the way he looked at her like that through his dark sunglasses, and she beamed a bright smile in the radiant sunlight as she squinted at him, her arm raised over her forehead to block the glare.

Suited up in a tight aqua-colored wet suit that hugged every inch of her feminine yet athletic body, Jina was ready for her fifth dive of the week. But this time was different. On each previous dive, Cal had taken her out into the deep and let her dive alone as she did what she did best, swimming among the most beautiful fish in the world and capturing it all on film. But on this dive, she had asked Cal for a special favor. The photography company that Jina worked for needed photos of her diving with the fish, and since she had always worked alone, only Cal could shoot her underwater since he had sufficient diving experience.

They had only met three weeks earlier when Jina had chartered a boat for her diving excursions off the coast of Miami. Since that time, they had only exchanged brief conversation, but they had spent a lot of time together, and Jina was beginning to feel the electric chemistry between her and Cal when they were close.

Cal was strong, muscular, tan, and the most handsome Cuban male Jina had ever seen. But she knew nothing more about him other than the fact that he had recently broken up with his Cuban girlfriend and lived alone in a small house by the wharf on the bay. How much Jina desired to get closer.

As the speedboat skimmed over the waves, Cal's short, black, unkempt curly hair blew out of control. Jina watched his muscular upper body beneath his tight white tank-top that was tucked into very loose-fitting navy blue swim trunks.

As if reading her mind, Cal glanced back and smiled. "We're almost to the spot," he yelled over the noise of the boat.

Not wanting to match his yelling over the engine's noise, Jina slid up behind his chair and steadied herself on his strong broad shoulders, speaking warmly into his left ear. "Are you ready for your first underwater photo shoot?"

Cal gave her a smile that sent her pulses racing. His teeth were like marble and when he smiled, two dimples formed on his cheeks. "Ready as I'll ever be. But you'll have to be gentle with me. It's my first time," he chuckled. Although Jina caught the sexual reference, she seriously doubted that Cal had never pleasured a woman before.

As soon as they were over the right spot, Cal shut the engine off, and once the boat and the waves calmed down, they were all alone in the middle of the ocean. Jina waited for Cal as he slipped below deck to change into scuba gear. When they were both fully suited up with tanks strapped to their backs and masks over their foreheads, Jina gave Cal a quick lesson in how to operate the underwater camera.

Cal was very attentive as Jina taught him as many details as she could without confusing him, but there was no doubt that the sexual tension between them was reaching a boiling point. Jina felt almost wrapped in an invisible warmth as Cal's body leaned slightly against hers while he listened to her. As Jina's eyes turned to meet his, she projected a desperate desire to attack him, smother his mouth with hers and strip him out of that tight rubber wet suit that clung to his body. But she decided to wait until the job was finished. She knew that Cal could feel it, too, and that he was disappointed when she stood up to ready herself for the dive. But Jina knew that waiting would only make later so much sweeter.

Jina slipped the scuba mask over her face, placed the mouthpiece between her lips, and gave Cal a thumbs-up sign just as he was snapping his own mask over his eyes. With that, she dropped backwards into the seawater with a splash.

Under the surface of the ocean, there was the usual calm serenity and quietness that Jina had come to be addicted to with every dive. Bubbles formed all around her as she breathed through her mouthpiece. As she floated in the water, allowing herself to sink to a lower depth, Jina looked up to the surface as brilliant sunlit rays pierced through the green sea.

It was only a few minutes until Cal had dropped into the ocean right behind her. As soon as he got his bearings, finding Jina and signaling with a thumbs-up, Jina took off like a dolphin through the water with Cal holding the underwater camera with both hands and kicking through the water right on her tail. Jina was impressed that Cal could keep up with her quick pace through the water, delighted that he was an experienced diver.

Schools of brightly colored fish floated by at every turn. Different colors of ginger and maplewood kelp, lit up in a bright glow from the sunlight above, sprung from coral rock below. Even a dolphin group had curiously found Jina interesting and surrounded her with love, one swimming right up to her to play and another brushing her side as if to hug her. Jina smiled as she pet the dolphin's nose, hoping that Cal was capturing all this on film. Sure enough, as she looked over in his direction, she found Cal pointing the camera at her.

The joy of playing with the dolphins and having it all on film was exhilarating, and she was about to swim further with her newfound dolphin friends until suddenly they both darted away frantically. Just as she was wondering why they had darted off so fast, she spun around to notice a shark circling around her. Then she noticed another, and then another. Jina turned back to look for Cal, but he was gone. Had he gotten scared and abandoned her?

Anger rose to the surface of her heart, but years of diving training took over. She relaxed herself in the water, trying to stay still, not appearing a threat to them. However, she soon realized that it was feeding time for them and they were possibly mistaking her for a tasty fish. Suddenly, one of them rushed at her while the others continued circling. Quickly, she shifted her body in the water to avoid a direct attack as the shark's teeth grazed her upper thigh, tearing her wet suit. Although it was only a graze, Jina saw a red cloud of blood trickle out into the water around her thigh. Her heartbeat increased as she knew the sight of blood would only make the sharks desire a more fierce attack.

Just as another shark swam in her direction, a spear came out of nowhere and pierced the skin of the shark. Then another spear sailed past her and sunk into the flesh of another shark. The spear attack had surprised the sharks and they quickly slithered away into the deep. But it wouldn't be long before they returned.

Jina then noticed Cal swimming over to her, carrying a spear gun. With a powerful arm, he grabbed her around the waist and Jina felt lifted up toward the surface. Although she probably could have handled swimming on her own, she knew that her injury might slow her down, so submissively, she relaxed and clung to Cal's muscular bicep as he pulled her to safety.

Jina didn't realize the extent of the damage until she was back safely on the deck of the speedboat. She noticed her wet suit had been torn at the upper thigh and a long gash stretched across half of her leg.

Cal quickly laid her on her back, removing Jina's scuba mask and tank and his own as well until only their wet suits remained.

"Lie back," Cal breathed heavily from his hard swim. "I have some gauze wrap below." Quickly, he slipped below deck and returned a few minutes later with a jug of fresh water and a first-aid kit.

Jina was impressed at how much of a gentleman Cal was with the cleaning of her wound. First, he tore only a little bit of her wet suit around the cut instead of removing her entire suit, and then as he washed the cut with fresh water, he tenderly dabbed it with a clean towel.

"You'll be okay," Cal reassured her as he dabbed the wound.

"Thank God you came back," Jina said, realizing now that he must have quickly returned to the speedboat to get the spear gun.

Cal sighed. "I came back as quickly as I could, but I only wish it had been sooner."

As Cal continued cleaning her wound, Jina put a soft hand over his. "You did what you could. I only..." she said, rubbing his hand softly. "I only hope I can express my appreciation." She hoped he would see the sparkle in her eyes.

He smiled the dimpled grin again. "First, you need to rest," he said, squeezing her hand gently before sterilizing the wound and wrapping it with a gauze wrap. "I'll give you something for the pain."

Jina winced at the sting of the alcohol on her wound. "But promise me one thing," she said. "Promise me that you won't go back to shore until I've repaid you." As he wrapped the gauze around her leg, Jina's skin tingled at his touch on her thigh.

"I promise," he grinned, the sun glistening off his jet-black hair as he blew it away from hanging over his eye.

For the entire rest of the day, Jina slept soundly down below deck on the soft bed. When she awoke, it was already dark. She lifted her head in a start. Had they gone back to shore already, she wondered as she slipped from the bed. She was completely naked except for the gauze wrap around her thigh. The pain in her leg had subsided a bit. In the dark, she pulled the blanket from the bed to wrap around her body like a robe and went up the small stairs to the deck.

It was cooler outside than before, with a softer, cooler breeze, but it was still humid. Jina sighed and grinned as she noticed Cal lying on his back, asleep on a towel on the deck. He seemed to be sleeping so peacefully with his arms behind his head, wearing only his loose navy blue swim trunks. For a moment, she marveled at his muscular physique, his tight ab muscles and chest.

Cal opened his eyes and when he saw her peering over him, he smiled. "How did you sleep?"

"Restfully," Jina sighed, sliding down to lie next to him and throwing half of her blanket over him. Jina slid her arm around Cal's waist and pulled herself to him beneath the blanket, feeling the heat from his body, as her breasts softened against his hard chest. Jina's heart burned like fire as her mouth closed over his in a kiss of passion. Finally, the passion between them was let loose as Cal responded, slowly opening his lips to allow Jina's soft tongue to enter, his strong arm wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her to himself. Their tongues met as a surge of energy flowed through their bodies and their lips softly yet firmly locked over each other's. Jina's body melted in Cal's embrace and his fiery kiss of passion.

When their mouths separated ever so slowly, Cal smiled and brushed strands of loose hair away from her face, his tender fingertips sliding gently across her cheek. Again, Jina felt Cal's sweet honeydew lips moisten against hers. Now it was Jina's turn to separate.

"Thank you for saving my life," she whispered to him, her breath close to his mouth.

Cal smiled. "Look," he said, his head turning toward the night sky.

Jina looked up and saw one of the most spectacular clear night skies she had ever seen. A million stars stared back at her in brilliant display. Even the moon shone its light like the gentle glimmer of a smile over their bodies as Jina embraced Cal and they kissed once again.

[dark_angel29]

Wow...While I was reading this, I could see everything happening. Amazing story!!

[WingcommanderIV]

Then why did you give it such a low rating?

[BookWhale***]

That was great - beautiful, actually... glad they find out they like each other...

[BookWhale***]

haha, james. you are cold hearted.

[dark_angel29]

I didn't know we could give ratings!!Sorry.

[awelgraven]

I enjoyed that. It was a good read.


Now I need to learn how to operate a spear gun to get the ladies. Lol.

For real though, nice job.

[spinx]

i liked it so i read it two times

[alja123]

Let me guess... You are a girl?
It shows quite strongly
I enjoyed the story loads anyway. Its well written and picturesque. And sharks smell blood not see it i think.

[camiroxursox]

Great story. I could imagine it all! I'm glad they like each other! Maybe you could make it into a novel...

[RENA HANDS]

Maybe adding ‘that,’ here…the sky deep blue as the powerful speedboat (that) tore through the ocean skimming across the waves. (I think there should be another examination of the commas in this sentence.)

Quite possibly add more adjectives and adverbs in the whole story? I have the same lacking details/descriptions in my own writing.

Why did you not add more imagery of the world under the water; schools of fishes, the plant life, the shifting sand? This would have been an enthralling entertaining scene of your story.

Maybe...he yelled over the roaring/purring engine (of the boat.) (Just something more about the ‘noise’ radiating from the boat’s engine.)

When you say ‘marble teeth,’ or compare to the teeth, you should probably say ivory marble or even something to ivory itself. Yes, we know that ‘teeth’ are usually white, but be a bit more specific. Don’t forget people smoke, the body ages and that changes the image of their ‘teeth.’

Possibly…As soon as they reached their destination, suspending above the ‘right spot,’ Cal (had) shut down the engine. Alone they were in the middle of ocean they stared at each other listening to rushing/crashing waves waiting for their calmness so that they could enter the water. (Or something similar.)

I would like to know more about what ‘lessons’ Jina taught to Cal.

I think there could a bit more smoother illustration of the sexual tension in the water between Jina and Cal.

What about something like…Under the surface of the ocean (was that usual calmness, serenity that Jina had become all too addicted with every dive.)

What about something like…Hues of Ginger and Maplewood Kelp, lit up…Even a passing group of dolphins swimming by turned course to see Jina. Her erratic motions caused a stir (then show some action) as the bubbles heightened in intensity a single dolphin swum up to her side brushing its fin against her.

You still need (for me anyway add more detail about the ocean and its life swimming creatures.)

What about something like…The joy of interacting with the dolphins and having captured it on film, exhilarated Jina so much so that she hadn’t notice that dark shadow approached from behind. The dolphins knew this and darted away frantically. She shook her head noticing the change in lighting around her…A shark (kinda of boring I think, why not try the most unusual like an octopus?)

How would she know that it’s ‘feeding time?’ Just say something like they were ready to eat. ‘A bloodied meal is a bloodied meal and she was it!’
Of course the struggle scene would change if the octopus is used.

What about something like…Although it was only a graze, Jina watched as a trickle of blood seeped from her arm meshing in with the surrounding water. The sharks excitedly wagged their fins, more determined snapped at her.

I think with more imagery and action, this adventure would be more elating. There were a few more scenes that could you use a rewrite, but that’s totally your decision. I will rate your originality…3/5!