“One second,” Nicholas said and stepped back from me, even as his gaze inspected and appreciated every square inch of my exposed skin, particularly my breasts and the apex of my thighs. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, but every time he saw it, he looked as hungry and lustful as the first.

Nicholas kept his arms wrapped tightly around me as I slowly returned back to myself. It took a good long while for my heartrate to return to normal, and even longer for my breathing. I was sore from having lost my virginity, but pleasantly so. It wasn’t overly painful. It felt more like an… aware

Eventually, though, we both gave in to our more mature impulses and separated so Nicholas could get dressed. He slipped on his shorts, and then held up the shirt that had been our blanket. It was almost certainly ruined: wrinkled and covered in sand, with a few mystery wet spots here and there. He

My mind reeled. I couldn’t imagine what another event might be. To me, personally, I was still trying to recover from the previous events, including the treasure hunt on the island where I had fallen into that pit as well as the social event with the merfolk that nearly ended in an international inc

The camera crew set up around the small circle of chairs while Nathan stepped inside of it. Everyone waited until the crew indicated that they were ready. Nathan gave them a signal, and little red lights turned on, on the cameras. Nathan clicked on his own false persona then, smiling for the cam

Forfeit? Why in the world would Nicholas want me to back out of an event I had a good shot at winning? My face must have revealed my confusion and displeasure. His own features immediately softened, but his frown did not ebb. He lowered his voice even though we were far from the others. He must

“My castle!” Elva cried out. Bridget stopped walking. She looked down. She was standing over the carnage, the complete and total destruction of Elva’s sand castle under Bridget’s own feet. “Oops,” she said with a small laugh. “Sorry about that.” Elva looked at the scene with large, vulnerable

I turned and carried Elva toward the deck. Julian stayed behind, looking down at the mess that was once Elva’s castle. I had thought he would have followed me. I felt bad now. I should have said goodbye. But, hauling Elva around, I didn’t really want to go back and forth. Julian would understand

Elva glanced up at Veronica and her laughter stifled. “What’s wrong?” she asked. Veronica startled a little, then tried to smile again. It wasn’t as big as before. It barely twitched her lip, and certainly did not meet her eyes. “Nothing’s wrong,” Veronica said. “I’m glad you liked the trick.”

It was difficult to wait the hours needed for everyone else to have gone to sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about Nicholas, and being in his arms again. A late night swim sounded dangerous but I trusted him to keep me safe. All I had to do was wait. Finally, after Elva was deeply asleep and the