The water was cold as it quickly sunk in and surrounded my whole body, leaving me numb, yet my blood was boiling with adrenaline. Immediately regretting not taking off my clothes before I jumped, I swam to the river bank near Pierre, who was treading water and smiling like a mad man.

     I crawled up the bank as the river water flowed off my body. I quickly threw off my soaked shirt, exposing my lacy black bra. Unzipping my barely-there shorts, I shimmied them down my legs to reveal my matching underwear. The sand crunched underneath my feet as I crept back into the cool river water.

     It wasn't as cold as I swam back to Pierre, who had mischief in his sparkling eyes. He took a quick look at my chest, trying to be discreet. A blush quickly rose to his high cut cheeks. I didn't mind, although I had never been so exposed to someone like this before. Despite my best effort, I blushed in return.

     "This is amazing," I said over the trickle of a small waterfall farther down the river.

     "It is, isn't it, " He said, looking up to the tops of the trees surrounding the secluded embankment and cliff, his accent crumbling my heart like dry oats.

     The water was a transparent shade of greenish brown, allowing me to see the small fish bounding between rocks towards the bottom of the riverbed. Freshwater marine snails stuck to the cliff near the water's edge. Fallen tree branches covered in a bright green moss loitered around the slow-moving waterfall. The sandy beach was also covered in smooth, round pebbles and some slightly larger stones the size of my palm. Lily pads grew in a pool-like space underneath the fallen branches. A lone trail wound its way up the other side of the cliff, a way back to the picnic if chosen.

     "I found this place when I was 13, I thought of it as my special alone-time space. I would come here every so often just to think or get away. " His drifting eyes met mine and he swam a single stroke closer. So close. So far. Too far for me to stand it.

     I swam closer in return, needing to feel his closeness, his warmth even more now. Pierre's arm brushed mine, sending warming shocks all along my body. He brought me close, bent his head a bit at an angle, and whispered into my left ear.

     "Il tu, tag," He said, then lightly tapped my shoulder and spun away slowly, eyes glowing, cheeks radiating.

     "What?" I asked, confused by his French.

     "I believe it translates to, 'Tag, you're it'," Pierre cheeked, and took off across the river, mid-morning sunlight streaking across his muscular back and smirking smile.

     "No fair!" I shouted at his figure, already a good 50 yards away. Tilting my head upward in laughter, I splashed after him, relishing the innocent fun.

     He swam to a sturdy branch floating just above the water and pulled himself into a sitting position, smiling and chuckling, while I continued my strokes. Pierre reached down for my hand and pulled me up; half on top of him, half next to him. I giggled and he kissed my smiling lips, sending wave after wave of sparks through me. I will never get enough of this.

      "Neither will I," Pierre whispered softly, his lips brushing mine. I really needed to control myself.

     I rushed to meet his crashing kiss, looping my arms around his neck and tangling my fingers in his shining brown hair. In return, Pierre wrapped his arms around my bare waist, pulling me closer than ever before.

     Using his built arms, he lifted me off of himself and lowered me down so that my back was against the soft bark and moss of the wide tree trunk. Pierre kept his hands on my waist and bent down lower to kiss me again and again, my back arching to meet him. I trailed my hands along either side of his chest and torso, reveling at a small tattoo near his underarm.

     I traced the intricate line work with my index finger, following each swirl of the rune-like symbol. He shivered from my touch.

     His mouth hot on mine, Pierre engrossed my body with his arms, hugging me tightly. I held his cheeks for a broken moment, his chocolate eyes staring into my green ones. I rolled him over so that he was lying next to me, and laid, with my head against his tattoo, on the soft fallen tree.

**********************************

     We laid there for an hour, maybe two, just talking about random things, nothing of importance. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me.

     "What's your tattoo for?" I asked.

     "It's a, uh, tribute, I guess you would say in English, to my dad that is. He died when I little, around nine years old." He said softly, looking up to the treetops. Silence surrounded our ears, and we sat there again, him smoothing my hair, me listening to his rhythmic breathing.

     "How'd he die?" I asked politely, partly from curiosity, partly just to get him to talk so I could hear his accent. I know I'm selfish.

     "Liver cancer, he battled with it for a while, but the cancer struck the final blow. His dad was diagnosed as well, though he didn't die from it until much later when my dad was in his twenties. My father got the tattoo right after his dad died, so I thought it would be a great way to commemorate the both of them by getting it in the same tattoo in the same spot. It's genetic, I guess, the cancer that is." Pierre said, his eyes without their usual shine now, instead they were welling up with salty tears.

     "Are yo-" I started, but Pierre cut me off.

     "My sister and I get regular screenings each month. There are no signs of liver cancer, but Roselyn has already had a few lumps removed from her breasts." He answered my unasked question.

     I nodded slowly, taking in the new information.

     We stayed there for a while, relaxing in the afternoon sun.

     "Lunch?" I asked as he brushed my dry hair from my face.

     "Oui," He said, his chocolate eyes back with their normal glint, and helped me walk across the fallen branch to the other riverside.

     I gathered my soaking clothes as Pierre held my hand and together, we hiked up the side trail to the cliff's edge. Once at the top, he handed me a turquoise blue towel to dry off with and tied another around his waist before spreading out a blanket for us to sit on instead of the short and spikey grass.

     Pierre opened up the vintage looking picnic basket and took out a small bottle of light red wine, two crystal glasses, a plate of mini pastry cakes, (no doubt from his mom's bakery), and a few tea-style sandwiches that looked amazing.

     Using a corkscrew from the bottom of the basket, he expertly opened the bottle and poured a little less than half a glass in each clear crystal flout. I helped myself to one of the tea sandwiches and was completely thrown off guard.

     The small crustless snacks had a spicy mustard spread, some kind of meat that tasted almost like turkey, and some avocado slices. The creaminess of the avocado mixed with the spicy mustard made for a wonderful combination, the bread was so fluffy and almost crisp.

     "You made these?!" I exclaimed, disbelief shrouding my statement.

     "I wish, my mom actually supplied all this." Pierre chuckled to himself. Except with his accent, 'mom' actually sounded like 'mum', making me love it even more.

     "Well, tell your 'mum' thanks for me," I poked his side playfully as he handed me my glass of rosé.

     I took a small sip, knowing wine was quite bitter and was for more accustomed tastes. It wasn't half bad, although I must have made a face because Pierre, in the middle of a bite from his own sandwich, laughed so hard he spit some of it out. This made me burst into hysterics as Pierre's face reddened and he apologized again and again.

     "Do you cook?" I asked him once I regained control.

     "God no, I'm an awful cook, Roselyn must've gotten those genes. She's a great cook, though not with baking. Most of her pastries come out flat and hard instead of my mom's fluffy ones. Do you? Cook I mean," He asked.

     "I can, but I've never really had to. My parents always hired a chef for some reason. Too busy to even cook a meal for their only child." I joked though it wasn't really.

     "Do you like scary things?" Pierre asked me suddenly, throwing me off guard.

     "I've never really experienced them, wasn't a big horror movie fan," I said, wondering where this was going.

     "I have somewhere I want to take you tonight, it could be a bit creepy, but I think you'll be fine. I'll pick you up at your hotel around ten, wear something casual and good for walking. It'll be a bit cold, so wear layers as well, " He instructed me.

     "Okay?" I said, a bit confused but also intrigued by his words.

     "Since its already four, I figured it would be better to do one of the later tour times, let you see some more of Paris or relax some," Pierre explained.

     After a few more pastries and sandwiches, Pierre gave me his light grey t-shirt to wear since all my clothes were still wet. I pulled it over my head as he buckled his shorts and packed up the picnic. The shirt fit well on him, but on me, it ran down to the middle of my thighs.

     I picked up the basket and turned around to see Pierre laughing like a loon and pointing at a bush on the side of the cliff.

     "I cannot believe I forgot!" He burst out, still laughing hysterically, "Once, when I was around 14, I came down here to swim a bit, so I put my stuff down near that bush like I always  did, " he explained, "when I came back up, I found a bra in the bush on the ground. I had never seen one apart from my mom's and sister's in the laundry. I thought it was disgusting, obviously, this was before I became a perverted teenage boy, but now I find it hilarious!" Pierre kept on laughing.

     I, too, thought it was hilarious and just the thought of a little disgusted Pierre finding a bra in a bush was enough to bring me to tears from laughter.

     We finally straightened out and wiped our tears before heading to his truck. Pierre turned on the radio and we sang horribly to each song, laughing and laughing the day away. Too soon, though, he pulled up in front of my hotel.

     I leaned across the center console and kissed him passionately as he kissed me back. Gathering up my few things, I said goodbye and went in to take a shower before Pierre was back at ten.