Out of Focus #SYTYCW15 Top10 Finalist! [COMPLETED]

17| Sunset

They fell into step together, barefoot in the teasing wake of surf and foam, the tide rolling out for the evening. And God, he was right, she mused, enjoying the lap of water around her ankles, the soft sand cool underfoot and squishing between her toes.

It was a beautiful summer evening with the light going deep at the edges and stars peaking through a fading canvas of purple and blue. Her eyes lifted to where those colours bled into a needle-thin swath, illuminated by a fiery heart dipping below the watery horizon.

"You did good back there. I'm impressed." He looked down at her, all warmth and admiration. "You stood up for her. No one else was going to, but you did."

"You would have. And not just to back me up. But because it was right," she pointed out and smiled at the dance of long-legged birds raced along the shoreline, skirting around rolling waves or strips of driftwood in search of their supper.

"My biggest fear is that some douche will take advantage of my daughters like that poor, foolish girl in there. It's a scary world. And they won't be kids forever. All I can do is give them the tools to make smart choices and hope to god they don't fuck it all up."

Like I did. The confession sat at the back of her throat and Eva washed it away with a long, sobering breath of briny breeze. Losing herself in that beautiful scent. She loved the smell of the ocean. Loved the sound of rolling waves and the cry of wheeling gulls. Even though she had been born and raised in the large, multicultural city of Toronto, no place that had felt more right then Haven.

"You're just lucky I was there," Marshall said, injecting a bit of humour to lighten the mood with a puff of his chest and flex of muscles

"Please." Slanting her gaze up at him, Eva snickered. "I could take him just as easily as I could take you."

"Oh really?" Marshall said, eyes lighting with challenge. And kicked at the surf, splashing her with water. Laughed when Eva squealed like a girl.

"Jerk," she rounded on him, rolling up her sleeves. "I'll show you."

"Now, now," Marshall warned as she stooped, dipping her hands in the surf. "Don't start something you can't finish." And was struck full in the face with a slap of water. Snickering impishly behind her hands, Eva backed up a pace. And bolted.

But her legs were no match for his and, within three strides, Marshall caught her around the waist and hauled her tiny, wriggling body over his shoulder. Wading out deeper into the shallows, Eva sputtered threats of grave bodily as he spun and spun until they were dizzy.

Disoriented with laughter, between the rush of water and the slip of sand, Marshall lost his footing and they both fell, with him taking the worst of it, landing squarely on his back in the wet sand of the shore and Eva caught in his arms, stretched on top of him. A tangle of limbs and body-wracking giggles.

"Jesus," sides aching, Eva planted her hands on either side of his head so she could look down at him. "The hell is the matter with you?"

And though laughter shone in his eyes, a heat simmered there. Bright and fast, as sudden and dazzling as a bolt of lightening to the spine, the mood between them changed. Shocking the senses, awakening every nerve in her dormant body.

Blood scorched beneath her skin, flooding her neck and face, racing down her arms and legs. Pulsing in her core.

This was dangerous. She knew it. Understood it, but couldn't think. Couldn't move as she took that slow, lazy spin into the primal. Eyes locked, bodies fused, Eva swayed closer. Drawn to him. Sucked into a vortex of want and need and intense longing.