Sam

As Cindy and I stroll around the deck, enjoying the quiet peace in the early hours of the day, I can't stop thinking about today's unbelievable afternoon. Making love to Cindy was beyond incredible. She has the body of a goddess. I plan on taking my life, getting to know her up close and personal.

Being with Cindy is so different from anyone I've been intimate with. While she is perfection, and her body is fantastic, everything about her attracts me. She's the complete package that I never knew existed. I feel honored to have met her and love that I'm fortunate to be dating her.

After these thoughts run through my mind, I must take her into my arms."Are you ready to head back to our stateroom? We have an early day tomorrow."

She turns to face me. I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her closer to me. She raises her head, and our eyes meet.

"First a kiss, please?" Her eyes are burning an internal fire of desire for me that I'll never be able to resist.

I don't answer her with my words. Instead, I smash my lips onto hers. She melts against me with her soft, beautiful body. She moans, and it's all that I can do to control myself by not taking her right here on the deck floor. Our kiss deepens, and I fucking love how she wrestles her tongue with mine in an attempt to dominate mine. Not today, pretty lady. I move my hands down her ass and gently grasp her cheeks.

We take a quick breath. "I'm ready." She says as she inhales deeply, struggling to gain the oxygen back that I just sucked from her lungs.

I smile, but before I know it, my smile dissipates, and shock overtakes it. I see the panic in Cindy's face as she watches me in terror get ripped away from her. I don't have time to react as a man lifts and heaves me over the ship's railing.

I scream. "CINDY!"

My heart stops as I hear her screams get closer to me. She, too, was tossed overboard. I take a deep breath as the inevitable happens, and I disappear beneath the chill of the Pacific Ocean.

As I go down, I try to keep my wits about me. Even though the saltwater stings my eyes as I open them, I'm desperate to swim to the surface to find Cindy. Thank goodness that it didn't take me long to see the lights of the cruise ship sailing away from me. I swim as if I am being chased by a fucking shark.

When I find the surface, I inhale sea air and begin screaming again. "CINDY!"

I cry real fucking tears when I hear her in the distance. "OVER HERE, SAM! OVER HERE!"

We call each other until I finally see her silhouette backlit by the bright evening moon. I swim over to her and realize that she is holding onto something. I about shout for fucking joy when I see that she has a lifesaving ring.

We paddle to each other, and I also hold the ring. I kiss her hard, all of my apprehension dissolving with her sweet kiss. I pull back. "So, did you just grab this on your way down?"

She laughs, and it is the best sound that I'veever heard in my life. "I was just swimming by and ran right into it."

My heart soars. I love how this woman can match my wit blow for blow, even in this dangerous situation. "The good news is that someone heard us as we took a dive and tossed it overboard for us."

She shakes her head. "All we have to do is wait for our rescuers and try not to get eaten by sharks. Easy, peasy!"

It is my turn to laugh. "I really can't argue with you on that point. Just let your legs rest. Try not to tempt the sharks by moving them. They might mistake you for a yummy fish."

Cindy's face turns serious. "I saw who did this to us."

I raised my brows, surprised at her statement because I had no clue who lifted me up and over the railing. "Really? Who?"

She reveals to me the suspect's name that we believe is the person responsible for Lucy and Kelly's disappearance. "The ship's doctor, Paul Williams."

"Well, damn," is all that I can say as I take in this newfound information.

Cindy and I stay quiet for a long time, hanging tightly onto the ring, letting our bodies bob up and down with the ocean moving.

Cindy breaks the silence. "I know that I said it already tonight, but I'm so damn happy that we took that nap. I should have no problems staying awake through the night."

I lean over and kiss her forehead. "I agree. I'm used to all-night stakeouts after a full day of work, but I have the help of coffee to keep me awake and alert. Little did we know how much we would need that nap."

She shakes her head, and while I can't see her eyes, I can hear the sound of remorse in her voice when she speaks. "I'm so sorry, Sam."

Wait, why would this amazing woman have any reason to apologize to me?

"For what? You've absolutely nothing to apologize for, Cindy." I gently move a piece of wet hair behind her ear to see as much of her face as the moon will allow.

She takes a shaky breath, and my heart squeezes as if it's in a vice. "We should have left for our stateroom as soon as you mentioned it. Because I asked you to kiss me, we were caught off guard and ended up in this mess."

I scooch closer to her and wrap my arm around her shaking shoulders while holding the ring with my other arm. "Please don't cry, Baby. None of this was your fault. Let's put it where it belongs, strictly on Doctor Williams' shoulders. Please don't ever regret me kissing you, ever!"

She rests her head on my shoulder and slowly accepts her guilt. "I know that you're right. I've never been the 'should of, could of' kind of girl. So, why start now?"

I smile even though I know that Cindy can't see me. "I could not agree more." I hug her tighter, and I'm relieved when I hear her sigh.

The next several hours before the sun rises, we talk about anything and everything. We laugh, cry, and speak about our fears and dreams that we hope to accomplish. She's the only person I ever told about my childhood detective game I played with my parents. She thought it was amazing that, at such a young age, I already knew what I wanted to do with my life. She gave me a very rare glance into the man that I had always looked up to as a great leader and legend in my field. It was mind-blowing to hear about the softer side of her father.

I know that our circumstances are precarious, but knowing that someone on the ship knows that we went overboard gives Cindy and me the hope we so desperately need to hold on to till help arrives. I pray that we can survive the treacherous ocean while waiting for someone to discover us.

*****