Tears of the Moon - Di Morrissey [113]
Tyndall grinned broadly when Olivia first emerged on deck in what he called her Chinese sailing pyjamas.
‘Not a word,’ admonished Olivia lightly, wagging a finger at him.
He took both hands off the tiller and held them up in mock surrender. ‘I’m too much of a gentleman, you know that. I’m surprised it even crossed your mind that I might utter an ungentlemanly remark. You look positively divine.’
‘Huh!’ But she couldn’t hold back a grin.
And that was the mood that prevailed as they fell into a comfortable routine at sea, a good humoured interaction as Olivia, tanned and toughened, threw herself into crew tasks, handling the sails, taking the tiller and even, briefly, working the pump.
The weather was peaceful, the water clear and calm. But the diving was disappointing. Time and again Tyndall appeared in a whoosh of bubbles and once on the rope ladder, before his helmet was off, he’d give the thumbs down. There was shell but it was small, the nacre thin and lustre dull.
‘These duds won’t produce pearls,’ he declared in disgust.
Olivia could see he was getting cranky with the enterprise and so one morning suggested they go ashore and explore. They took a water container, rowed ashore, pulled the dinghy up on the beach and set off.
Following the water course through the sand dunes they were thrilled to discover it widened into a deep creek. They waded through the warm knee-deep water as the undergrowth on either side of the creek was thick and hard to penetrate. About a mile inland the creek broadened and, through the bush, cliffs suddenly appeared. Clambering round a bend they stopped and caught their breath. The creek widened into a large freshwater pool. It was fed from a waterfall that fell from the high red cliff escarpments surrounding it.
‘How beautiful!’
Tyndall waded to the small strip of crystalline red sand and dropped his shoes, hat and water container and pulled off his shirt.
‘Turn your back, I’m swimming.’ He pulled off his trousers and plunged in. ‘Come on, Olivia. It’s glorious.’ He faced the other way while she stripped down to her underwear and slid into the water.
Refreshed and relaxed, they sat in the shade looking at the sparkling pool.
‘Bit of paradise isn’t it?’ said Tyndall, smiling at the damp-haired Olivia. ‘Glad you came?’
‘Very.’
They stared at each other for a moment longer, then Tyndall leaned over and gently kissed her. ‘You look sweet,’ he said softly.
Olivia felt she was in another world. All that had gone before them slipped away and she and Tyndall were in some time warp, some dreamscape where only these moments counted. She had no thoughts of past connections with people, places or events. There was just this beautiful place, this tranquillity, and this special man beside her. She reached for him as he did her.
Briefly, as Tyndall’s hands caressed Olivia’s smooth skin the thought flashed into his mind, that this act would lead them into deep and complicated waters. But he dismissed the future and the past and lived in this glorious moment of losing himself in Olivia’s arms and body.
Their bodies melded together with ease and felt as one. Their breathing, their mounting passion, the physical pleasure they gave each other was in tandem. Olivia felt no weight from Tyndall’s body pressing against and within her. They moved together, their bodies in a dance of love that carried them along in wild sweeps of energy then into valleys of gentle tenderness, exploring, feeling and absorbing each other. They smiled into each other’s eyes as they thrust and lingered, teasing and pleasuring. Tyndall’s lips brushed against hers as she wound her fingers in his thick hair and they whispered of the