Cindy

The sun begins rising in the East. While the water was warm, the night still chilled us. The sun gives us a welcome warmth on our faces. I can tell by the sunrise that we've been floating and bobbing in the ocean waves for about four hours. Sam and I have bared our souls to each other. I know more about this man than I know about anyone else in the entire world, and I like what I see. I can feel myself falling for him. I know that it's way too early to be throwing out the 'L' word, but I can see it in our future. Our future, I like the way that sounds.

"Cindy?"

"Yes?" I glance over at Sam. His brows furl, and he has an urgent look on his handsome face. "Are you okay, Sam?"

He clears his throat and relaxes his tense muscles. Finally, a grin spreads slowly across his irresistible lips. "Am I okay?" He looks around the ocean surrounding us before resting his eyes on me. He chuckles, and I love it. "I couldn't be better than lost at sea with you. I'm falling for you, Cindy. I am falling fucking hard."

He blushes at his confession, and I smile and cup his cheek into the palm of my hand. "I'm falling pretty hard for you, too."

We lean into each other to kiss. Sam captures my lips, and I moan into his mouth. The heat this man ignites deep within me lights a match of desire so hot that I can't believe the water surrounding us isn't bubbling to a full boil. Feeling his jaw move in my palm as his smooth tongue decimates my mouth is the sexiest thing I've ever felt. He releases me way too soon and places his forehead against mine.

I see movement over Sam's shoulder. "Oh my God!" I scream.

"I know, that kiss was pretty fucking intense," Sam replies proudly.

I quickly look back at Sam. "What? Yes, it was, but look, Sam, I see a helicopter and boat coming our way!"

He quickly turns to see a helicopter in the sky and a boat in the distance sailing in our direction.

"How the hell did we not hear a helicopter?" I ask, surprised that we never heard it approaching.

Sam smirks and wiggles his eyebrows adorably. "We were kind of busy." I raise my eyebrows in response. "Also, the wind is blowing in the opposite direction that the helicopter is moving, so it is blowing the sound away from us."

As the helicopter gets closer, we start screaming and waving our hands in desperation for them to see or hear us. They continue to get closer and closer. Finally, the boat horn sounds off, letting us know they see us. All of my emotions take over, and I begin to sob for joy. Sam looks at me with tears in his eyes as well.

He kisses me so damn hard and fast. "We're saved, Babe! They found us! They fucking found us!"

All I can do to respond to him is nod my head. With tears spilling down both cheeks, we embrace each other with one arm while holding the lifesaving ring with the other.

As the boat gets closer, we can see 'US Coast Guard' written on the side of it. By the time they reach us, we have our emotions in check. With giant smiles, we wave at the crew approaching us.

They wave back, and one of the crew calls out to us. "Are there any injuries?"

"No." "No." Sam and I reply in unison.

The crew member yells back to us. "Good to hear. My name is Wes, and I'm the Maritime Enforcement Specialist on this watercraft. We're going to come alongside you and will be pulling you onto the deck." We nod in acknowledgment as we are pulled out of the water and onto the dry deck—the helicopter retreats and flies away from us.

Wes gives us both silver blankets, and we immediately pull them around our shoulders. I instantly feel warmer. A man comes directly to us. The crew backs away, giving him access to us before returning to their duties. Only Wes remains.

He kneels in front of us. "Hello, my name is Tom. I'm a Health Services Technician. Do I have your permission to assess your health?"

Sam and I give the technician permission. "Do you know how long you've been in the water?"

"About four hours." I quickly answer.

"We're you on a private boat?"

I shake my head. "No, we were on the Norwegian Bliss."

"How did you end up in the water." The technician questions us as he also takes my vitals.

"We got thrown overboard," Sam replies gruffly.

Sam's comment gets the technician's attention, and he looks at Wes.

Wes speaks next. "Do you know the identity of the person who did this to you?"

Sam looks at me because I'm the one who saw our assailant. "The ship's doctor, Paul Williams. We also believe he's responsible for several people who have mysteriously disappeared on ships he's worked on for many years. Almost all of the missing passengers were women."

Wes places his hand on his chin as he ponders what I just revealed. "I'm aware of the situation. The Captain called us earlier regarding the two women and called early this morning that someone went overboard. He had no clue of your identity and didn't even know if there was more than one of you that went over. If you'll excuse me, I need to make an important phone call regarding the information you disclosed. Thank you." Wes turns and leaves us in Tom's capable hands.

After being cleared by Tom, we sat down with Wes and told him the entire story. We requested that the Coast Guard take us to the port of Mazatlán so that we could speak to the FBI agents on board. He agreed, and within the hour, we were stepping onto dry land. I'm not going to lie; I had a moment where I considered getting on my hands and knees and kissing the ground we stood on.

We had made sure to let the Captain know that we were returning aboard the ship. We quickly find the Bliss docked in the commercial port of Mazatlán. We see trams lining up to transport passengers to the cruise terminal, where they can go about their chosen daily excursions. I'm disappointed that we'll miss our excursion to the Mazatlán Aquarium.

As we walked over to the gangplank to board the ship, we saw the Captain standing at the entrance. Agent Cash and Agent Lowell escort a handcuffed Dr. Williams off the boat. His eyes catch ours, and the evil that passes through through his glaring eyes is palpable.

Sam goes tense, and I squeeze his hand. "He is so not worth it, Babe."

Sam turns his attention to me and gives me a wink and a cute smirk. "I know. He's not worth risking my career over."

I lean up and kiss Sam's scruffy cheek. "I don't doubt he'll get what's coming to him."

I hear Millie scream as she descends the gangplank. "Where the hell have you two been?"

*****