Ivy's Tower

Chapter Eleven: The Beach

Most of the crew went back about The Camellia to sleep, but Ivy, only slightly hazy now, wanted to sleep out under the stars. I pointed out that it was cloudy but she insisted.

There were no open grassy plains in Aphra as in Vassia, only wet jungle sprung up from the frequent storms, but tonight was dry so walked down the beach until the city was out of view and the night was nearly black. Waves crashed and hissed against the surf. I always thought the ocean looked strange at night. It seemed so much more eternal, as if it could swallow the sun and still hunger. Ivy bunched up her skirts around her thighs and waded into the water. I sat in the sand and watched her.

"It's warm," she said, sighing. The dark water swirled around her legs. "Is it always warm?" she asked me.

"What do you mean?"

"The ocean. I've never touched it before. Is it always warm like this?"

I found it hard to imagine that anyone had never swam in the sea. She'd been on a ship for weeks now, and you could even see the ocean from her tower. I didn't want to embarrass her by questioning this.

"In Vassia, the water's always cold," I said. "It's too far south."

"Did you ever swim in it anyway?"

I thought back to how my father had thrown me in the ocean to teach me how to swim, said it was the only way I'd ever learn. Petra was better at it. She'd hold my hand and walk me into the water, slowly moving deeper as my body adjusted to the temperature, showing me how to kick my legs in a rhythm to stay afloat.

"Sometimes," I answered.

Ivy dropped her skirts and let them fan out around her in the shallow water. She traced her fingers along the surface in an arc. "If we lived here," she sighed, "I'd be in the water every day. You could teach me how to swim, and I'd dance around the water like a proper mermaid."

"You'd make an excellent mermaid," I jested. She looked back at me over her shoulder and smiled.

"Join me?" she asked, as if I could resist a look like that. I took off my belt and sword and slipped out of my boots. Moonlight cracked through the clouds above us as I crossed the sand.

"You're like a sail," she teased. My white shirt billowed in the wind and glowed in the light of the moon. I paused to roll up my pant legs before touching the tide, but Ivy reached an arm around my waist and tackled me my knees. Seawater soaked us both as the wave came in and toppled us. When the wave rolled out, I was on my back with Ivy over me, moonlight behind her head like a halo. I was about to tell her she looked like an angel when I started sputtering and spitting up seawater. I cursed myself for ruining the moment.

Ivy apologized for catching me off guard. "I couldn't resist," she said with a half-smile. I shook the wet sand from my hair and took the hand she offered to bring me to my feet. She pulled me close and kissed me, her lips salty from the sea. A water droplet traced a gentle path down her neck and I kissed it away.

"No one's watching," she whispered in my ear. I felt her hands wander inside my shirt, the wet fabric clinging to our skin. She grazed her lips against my collarbone, her thumb stroking my breast.

I looked back over her shoulder. The city lights were far off and twinkling. Our ship, docked at port, was smaller than my palm. I looked back at Ivy, her dark hair shining purple in the moonlight. I wrapped one arm around her waist and another around her legs and swept her off her feet as she gasped.

I laid her down in the sand and drew a line of kisses from her jaw to the top of her dress. Her fingers felt around in the low light for the hem of my shirt, and peeled the soaking thing over my head. I struggled to lift off her dress, the layers of skirts clinging to one another, until I finally gave up and ducked under them altogether as  Ivy giggled in glee. A few more moments of fumbling and I pressed my lips into soft curve of her hip. I traced my fingers along the inside of her thigh, her sighs setting me on fire.