Every Beauty Deserves a Beast

Chapter 7

Chapter seven

[Seychelles’ POV]

I woke up later than usual to the howling and whistling of the torrential winds outside. The wind hadn’t let up during the night and the house was freezing. I’d been woken up several times throughout the night and I was beyond exhausted this morning.  The sun shone brilliantly and the scattered clouds flew quickly across the powder blue sky.

“Ughh” I groaned throwing my arm across my tired face. I tossed my sheets back and shivered as the cold clung to my exposed skin. I padded to the bathroom and grimaced at the woman who stared back. My hair was a muddle of tangles from endless tossing and turning and shadows dug deep around my eyes giving me a hollow skeletal look. Although still tanned from daily visits to the beach, my skin lacked its normal glow and instead looked pale.

“You look horrible” I murmured to my reflection before taking care of business.

I sighed when I realised I had nothing to eat for breakfast and mentally set a reminder to go grocery shopping. My stomach grumbled and I knew I wasn’t being the healthy personal trainer I ought to be. The number one rule to being healthy and looking good was to eat nutritious foods. I sighed, I really should listen to myself.

Ignoring my grumbling stomach I quickly changed into a black bikini and threw on a pair of bleached denim short shorts and a white tank top before carefully packing Sandy’s clothes into my bag. I grabbed a clean towel on the way out before locking the door and walked down to my favourite place in the world – the beach.

Since I woke up later than usual it was a bit strange to see the odd person walking or jogging across the wet sand when I was so used to the beach being void of anyone. I dumped my towel and bag on the soft sand before stripping off my clothes and running into the cold, glittering ocean.

As soon as it was deep enough I dived under and ignored the goosebumps that were plastered over every inch of my skin. Now this was a way to way up! The coldness of the water woke me up instantly erasing any trace of tiredness and fatigue and I continued to kick my way under the water further out.

When I could no longer hold my breath I kicked up and burst through the glassy surface of the water sucking in much needed oxygen. The wind prickled at my face and I smiled as I bobbed with the waves. I looked back at the shore and realised I was much further out than I thought and silently congratulated myself for having a better lung capacity than I realised.

“Jesus! I thought you were knocked unconscious again!” A deep male voice sounded from directly behind me.

I gasped and quickly turned to come chest to chest with Ray. “Ray! Christ! You scared the crap out of me!”

Ray ran a hand through his growing hair and chuckled lightly. “Sorry about that Beauty. When I saw you dived under the water and then not come back up I thought it was the surfing incident all over again” he shrugged looking a little embarrassed.

I smiled at his concern yet felt embarrassed that he kept bringing that up and lightly splashed him. “I’m a big girl Beast” I emphasised on his nick name, “I’ve been swimming and surfing since before I could walk. There’s no need to worry”

We fell silent and once again I found myself gazing over his naked torso and lingering over his many, many scars. He was so broad up close (not that it wasn’t obvious from far away)  and I had the strange need to run my hands over his shoulders just to feel how strong they were.

I always did have a thing for broad shoulders.

“So... you come to the beach every morning then? I don’t see you swimming when I’m out surfing” I commented paddling back a little when the waves pushed me closer to him.