The Professor and the Siren

10. Orlando

Orlando

"This is the galley," I told Mariana rather unnecessarily at the end of my quick tour with her of the ship. She'd eyed the gear we had aboard the ship with a practiced eye and then grinned my way, knowing immediately that we had too little of the stuff for what we did.

Dad had disappeared at the start of the tour but was waiting for us now with a spread of breakfast stuff. Neither he nor I had eaten yet and from the sound of Mariana's rumbling tummy, neither had she. I was glad my dad had thought to supply food though, this was typically one of the things I just totally forgot about.

As she sat down at the table though, I couldn't help but think how right she looked in our space. She fit right in. She talked easily too, not letting any awkward pauses fall the way they would if you left the conversation up to me. It was nice, now I could focus on listening to her and sitting at her side I could put my hand on her lap and touch the silky skin at the back of her knee.

She'd shoot me these flustered shy little smiles everything I did so I kept doing it, I loved those little smiles. Her cheeks were slowly growing pink which made it more and more difficult for me to stay in my chair. I'd never been so easily turned on in my life, Mariana was just so cute.

"Ahem," my dad said from across the table. "You two better head out if you want to have plenty of time to yourselves in the water. I need to check on the engine repairs. The parts should arrive today."

He was right of course, we should head out. The sooner I had my Siren all to myself the better. As soon as I started leading her to one of our dingy she clutched onto my hand tightly, tugging me to a halt the moment we were out of hearing range of my father. "Did you have to do that?" she asked.

Confused I eyed her blushing face and raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" Did she not want to go out with me for a swim anymore? But she shook her head, "Touch me like that in front of your father!" Huh? It was an innocent touch wasn't it? Or had I missed something?

Maybe she saw just how confused I was getting because she relented and gave me that shy smile again that made my heart thump loudly in my chest. "You really don't know what you're doing do you? How can you be so bloody sexy and not know?" Ah, I'd turned her on as much I'd turned myself on touching her skin. That was indeed a no no in company, I knew that. But I kind of liked it so I smirked at her instead. "I liked seeing you flustered, should I not do that again?"

Her eyes got this naughty look to them then which I liked a hell of a lot and she shook her head, "Didn't say that. Just uh... maybe not on the first meeting with your family yeah?" Ah, that made sense, she wanted to make a good first impression. Honestly, I was fairly certain my father was more entertained and happy to see this development between Mariana and I.

Taking her hand I lifted it to my mouth to press a kiss to her knuckles. "I can see the sense in that. No fondling you under the table on the first meeting. After that, it's allowed." Her face went bright red but she started laughing, as intended and I smiled with her. "You are a terrible flirt now that you feel comfortable around me aren't you?"

It seemed my younger brother Matt had taught me a little on how to talk to women after all. My usual bluntness tended to work fine, but I liked this teasing I had going with Mariana far more. This way, she smiled at me.

We went out in the boat towards one of the nearby sandbanks that I knew would allow us shallow water to swim in but also privacy. It wasn't the prettiest place but then I wasn't too familiar yet with this area, I'd been in this particular port only twice before and only for short periods.

I figured Mariana would be too busy watching me to care about the surroundings, at least I hoped she would. And I'd probably draw the attention of some of the wildlife, they tended to get curious when I, or one of my family, swam. Especially seals and dolphins liked to play with us when we had time.

"Let's try here, I think it's secluded enough. I don't see any boats near enough to cause me worry." The moment I spoke those words she perked up, looking around and watching as I tossed out the boat anchor into the sand. "How good are you at snorkeling, confident enough?" I asked as she pulled out her gear. "Fine for short dives, I'm not the best at holding my breath but I have some training."

Then she stood up and shimmied out of her sundress, revealing the formfitting dark blue one piece she'd put on. It clung to her ample breasts, dipped just right over her waist and hips and the tiny triangle cut outs along one hip and side were the most tantalizing thing I'd ever seen. I wanted to touch my finger to every single one of them and then follow that up with my tongue.

When my eyes finally came back to her face I saw the adorable shy smile that I loved. "Like it?" she asked and when I simply nodded she smiled a little wider. "I know I'm not model thin... I could stand to lose a couple of pounds."

I gave her my best glare, "Don't say that. I happen to like the way you look very much." To prove my point I leaned in from where I was still sitting and grabbed hold of her hips. She only needed a little nudge to step between my legs and then I could do what I wanted and trace those tantalizing triangles. "This looks amazing on you," I said and then I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her hip.

When I looked back up she had this dazed look to her face that I enjoyed very much. The red streaking across her cheekbones was perfect as well, I liked knowing I'd caused that. I wanted to cause a lot more looks like that. But I'd promised her a swim first, I'd take her to my bed afterward.