Far Beyond Duty

Chapter 13

Anna

I'd forgotten what it feels like to be free. Really free, without the weight of million-dollar decisions on my shoulders, without corporate politics crushing me. But here, watching the waves crash against the rocks, with Dakota holding me from behind, I finally remember.

“This was a good idea, spending the weekend at your beach house. You seem different,” she whispers, brushing my hair aside to kiss my neck.

“Different?”

“Yeah, more relaxed. Like you've taken off that armor you wear to look tough.”

“I don't need that armor with you,” I admit, turning to kiss her lips.

The beach house stands exactly as I remember from the few summers I spent here. I bought it after the company's first big success and back then, it seemed perfect. I told myself I'd make the most of it. I think this is the third time I've come in eight years.

“Want to walk along the shore?” she asks extending her hand, though she already knows the answer.

We leave our shoes at the door and walk barefoot on the sand, still warm from the afternoon sun.

“When was the last time you did this?”

“Did what?”

“Just let an afternoon pass. No meetings, no phone calls, no pressuring yourself. Just existing,” she explains, watching two or three seagulls circle in the sky.

“I can't remember. Maybe when I was a kid,” I admit, realizing how pathetic my answer sounds.

“That's why you needed to come. Especially after the shock with your personal assistant.”

The last rays of sun make her brown eyes shine like amber and they seem the most beautiful I've ever seen.

“The water's almost warm,” she announces with a mischievous look.

“You're not thinking of…”

But it's too late. Dakota pulls off her shirt, revealing a simple gray sports bra and starts removing her pants.

“You're crazy,” I mutter, bringing my hand to my forehead.

“You said it's a private beach, right?”

“You're still crazy,” I joke, rolling my eyes.

But before I can say another word, Dakota's completely naked, with water up to her knees, beckoning me to join her. I've seen her naked many times now, but this feels somehow different. Wilder, freer.

Perfect.

“What are you afraid of, Miss Businesswoman?” she asks, splashing me lightly.

“Anna Sinclair never backs down from a challenge,” I respond, stripping off all my clothes and running into the water.

Dakota watches me, biting her lower lip with desire. I swim toward her and when I reach her, she pulls me close.

“You're beautiful,” she whispers, encircling my waist, though I only have eyes for those nipples that have hardened like small pebbles.

The sensation of waves just below our breasts, the salty kisses, the water drops on her strong shoulders… everything feels simply perfect.

We float together for a long while, letting everything disappear. My fears, my responsibilities, the walls I've built around myself.

“Race you to that rock?” she suggests, nodding toward a rocky formation about fifty yards from us.

“I'd rather wait till your shoulder's completely healed, don't want you using that as an excuse when I win,” I joke, though truth is I was never a good swimmer.

She opens her mouth to say something, but before she can, I push forward, moving away from her.

“Cheater!” she shouts, swimming after me.

Too soon, her hand wraps around one of my ankles and pulls me down, dunking me underwater.

“What happened to protecting me?” I protest angrily when I surface.

“Let loose!” she whispers, carrying my body while swimming. “Think I wouldn't protect you in the sea too?”

I go limp, allowing Dakota to glide me through the water, and I must admit there's a sublime sensuality to it. Trusting her while we move toward the rocks has something special about it.

“I love seeing you like this,” she confesses as we sit on one of the rocks, now in the moonlight.

“Naked?”

“Free. Playful, being yourself.”

“Don't get used to it,” I squeal, pulling her hand so she falls into the sea.

We spend a good while like this; swimming, stealing kisses between waves, caressing our bodies until our skin wrinkles, and it starts getting cold.

“What are you looking at?” I ask as we walk naked toward the house.

“Never seen you so happy,” she confesses with a beautiful smile, as if she feels proud of me.

On the porch, still naked, she wraps me in a blanket while we sway in a huge garden swing in the moonlight.

“Tell me about your energy project,” she whispers in my ear before kissing my neck.

“You're starting to sound like Olivia,” I joke.

“Don't be stupid. I don't want technical data, or your corporate speech. I want what's underneath. Tell me why it matters to you.”

“Like I told you once, when I was little, in the years after my father's company went bankrupt, we couldn't always pay the electric bills. There were months we couldn't turn on the heat, when the house was dark, when I had to shower at a gym. This technology will end all that suffering for many families. And that's not even mentioning countries where energy is a luxury,” I add thoughtfully, sharing with Dakota reasons I've never expressed in the boardroom.

“Is that why Thorne and his friends are so scared?”

“You really hate that guy, huh?”

“Yeah, won't lie to you. He seems arrogant, someone who thinks he's better than others just because he comes from money. But most important, something tells me he's involved in all this,” she sighs, lifting my hand to kiss my knuckles.

“He'll make a lot of money if the prototype works. He has a significant share package,” I admit. “It wouldn't make sense to sabotage the project.”

“Would he make more than he could lose in his traditional energy businesses?”

“Put that way… I guess he always wins, no matter what.”

“And what if other companies research in the same direction and develop technologies that compete with yours. Would he still win?” she insists, raising her eyebrows.

“That's called competition, and we can't prevent it,” I explain, shrugging.

“Unless they kill the first person who develops the technology to send a clear message to the rest.”

“It's not him, Dakota. He's got enough trouble with Olivia blackmailing him over his relationship with Dottie,” I protest, tired of her distrust.

“Look, I'm just saying killing someone is relatively easy. All you need is a good shooter and a long-range rifle. Doing it in a crowded place, though, complicates things a lot, but sends a clearer message to anyone who might try doing something similar to what you're developing.”

“No! He has nothing to do with it. He supported me from the beginning,” I protest, raising my voice.

And just as she's about to respond, her phone rings with that sinister melody she's set for Marcus's calls.

“Yes, one moment. Give us a minute, please,” she murmurs.

She looks at me, and we both know the bubble has burst. A new crisis drags us back to the real world. And yet, something this afternoon has changed. Today I remembered there's a woman under the inventor or businesswoman title. A woman with her yearnings and needs. Lost in Dakota's eyes, I know she's seen me from the beginning, that she'll always see me, even beneath the layers of my corporate armor.