Cloud Riders(99)

Kayden nudged Cassie as they waded out into the water. ‘Very sneaky, Cassie. I just hope you don’t intend to fob me off to one of them as well.’

‘You even look at one of them and you are toast, buddy,’ she chuckled. ‘If any of them even get within cooee of you, sweet-cheeks, you know I have powers and I will use them,’ she added as her hazel eyes turned green.

Kayden grabbed her, amused by her jealousy. ‘I believe you would at that, my little feisty one.’

Never having swum under water before, the women all had to be shown. A couple of the girls acted ditzy playing the helpless damsels for extra attention. Damned if it wasn’t working! Cassie watched as the men pandered to their every whim. They were actually enjoying themselves immensely.

Cassie stuck her head underwater to wet her face and hair before putting on her mask and came up spluttering and disgusted. ‘Yuk! That tastes like over-salted water. What the hell’s this crappy taste?’ She spat and couldn’t stop laughing. The waves started throwing her about and felt irritated and cranky with the pounding they gave her. ‘You can have this shit! I’m getting out.’

Everyone was cracking up laughing at her so much that they could hardly hold their own footing. She stomped back up the beach with Kayden on her tail. Snatching her up in his arms, he carried her back. ‘You ain’t going anywhere, missy. We want to laugh at you so get back in the water so we can have some fun.’

Once she became desensitised to the motion of the waves and the unusual feeling of looking under the water with goggles on, she had a blast. In the meantime, the guys got to have a good laugh before taking off ahead of her with one of the women in tow. Kayden nearly drowned, he laughed so hard.

‘You wait, you bastards. I’ll get you back. Just wait and see,’ she warned through tears of hysteria.

All the pretty coral and the colours of the fish were extraordinary. Cassie had only ever seen them in books and was fascinated by how defined the colours were. There’s no way to appreciate it fully until you see it with your own eyes. She was amazed.

Kayden kept trying to get Cassie away from the group but the guys were on the ball and kept following him, just to give him the shits. Cassie didn’t notice what was going on around her as she was too interested in snorkelling. She found some little crabs under a rock and over further she spotted a group of fish that looked like they were wearing evening dresses, their fins were so delicate and long.

Finally dragging her out, Kayden took the opportunity, while the men were playing a game of beach volleyball against the girls, to disappear with her for a few hours. It was late afternoon when they finally came out of their chalet. The beachfront was empty so they strolled along the edge of the water while waiting for dinner. They passed a table set up ready for the nightly meal and a chef who had just started to cook on the BBQ. It smelt delicious. They thought a short walk would keep them amused while they waited and were surprised to come across Jason.

‘He’s with Sonia McMasters,’ Cassie whispered. ‘He normally goes for the tall attractive women. She’s hardly his type at all. I’m shocked.’

They’d been kissing and Sonia seemed a bit embarrassed that they had been sprung. She was so shy compared to her brazen friends. Jason had once told Cassie what type of woman he preferred yet this young girl was no rough diamond, so it had Cassie stumped as to what he saw in her. She was quite a plain-Jane, even if she was quite sweet.

Hand in hand they walked back together, the aroma of the food wafting up the beach making the four of them look forward to a nice meal. When they arrived at the table, the others started to surface from their chalets as well with their choice of woman on their arms, all except for Woody. He walked out with two of them, making Cassie smile, knowing he would need at least two to replace his evil Ella.

They’d all been drinking, except Jason. Cassie was sure he’d not even had a drop and wondered what Sonia had that the others didn’t. Eyeing her again for a minute, she couldn’t see it. Shaking her head, she grinned. Sun must have got to him and mucked with his senses.

The meal was superb and later they sat on the beach drinking shots of tequila, watching the stairway to the moon. Kayden explained it only happened at a certain time of the year when there’s a full moon. ‘As it rises over the water at low tide, it creates the effect of stairs, giving the illusion that they reach as high as the moon.’ Cassie thought it was awesome.

Afterwards, he pulled Cassie up and took her for a private stroll. Out of sight, they decided to have a private skinny-dip together. They left their clothes on the beach, swimming out and frolicking in the night with the waves lapping and rolling around them.