Chapter 36
Night has descended quickly, as it does here, but the sky is aflame with stars. We float alone on the serene sea, the quiet hush of the night wrapping around us like a secret. Keston steers the boat toward the entrance of a lagoon and turns off the engine. The silence is broken by the gentle lapping of small wavelets against the boat.
Mangroves grow thickly alongside the edges of the lagoon. Their branches look like ghost arms under the half-moon’s light.
If anyone needed the perfect hideout, this would be it. Was this what it was like when CC and Kipson met late at night on the island? Only the moon and stars observing their love?
“Watch,” Keston murmurs. He reaches out, skimming his hand across the water’s surface, and suddenly, the sea comes alive with light. Brilliant blue swirls erupt around us, bathing the boat in a surreal, glowing aura.
“What is this?” I ask fascinated.
“Bioluminescence,” he says proudly, like he made it.
With each movement he makes with his hand, brilliant bursts of blue blossom. It’s as if we’re cradled in the arms of the cosmos itself. My laughter spills into the night and I cover my mouth with both hands.
He pulls my hands away and holds them in his. “This is your surprise, baby. Laugh as loudly as you want.”
“It’s like we’re sailing through the Milky Way,” I whisper, my voice awed and hushed as I gaze around us.
Wrapping both his arms around me from behind he leans me gently over the edge of the boat.
“Touch it.”
I sweep my hand across the surface of the water. Blue-green light dances along the surface.
“I’m making magic?” I whisper.
“You are the magic,” he says, then he kisses the back of my head with such tenderness, tears form in my eyes. Not because I’m sad. The opposite. I have never been happier in my life.
“The bioluminescence is the mysterious, luminous life of the ocean,” he says. “Just the way stars are the luminous life of the sky.”
I turn in his arms. His eyes meet mine, lit by the ethereal blue that envelops us. In his gaze, I see a reflection of the beauty around us.
Was this how it was for Charlotte and Kipson, I wonder? Did they find a world of beauty beyond their restricted, narrow, and dangerous ones? Where true love shone like this bioluminescence.
I wave my hand across the water once more just to see it turn bright blue. Keston uses a paddle and propels us through the lagoon leaving a wake of azure light shimmering on the surface.
“It’s like an alien being,” I say, trying to scoop some up and failing. The blue glow slips through my fingers with the water.
“I want to catch it.” I stick both hands in the water this time.
Keston’s throaty laugh in the silence of the night reminds me of when we were stranded on the island and had only each other for company. I grew to love him there. I love him even more now.
“It’s gorgeous, Kes. Thank you.” I give up my quest to capture the bioluminescence and snuggle up next to him.
He nuzzles my neck with his nose because his hands are busy paddling us around the lagoon.
“Anytime, baby. I hope I can always show you the magic in the world.”
I slip my arms around his neck and rest my head on his shoulder.
Amidst the spell of the luminescent ballet, I can feel the boundaries between us dissolve.
“My Keston,” I whisper.
“My CJ,” he whispers back. He drops the paddle in the boat and scoops me up in his arms. I wrap both legs around his waist as he slides onto the long bench at the front of the boat.
His lips find mine. We kiss like we’ve never kissed before. As if we’re sealing our hearts and souls together.
“Do you promise to love me forever?” he asks, his eyes full of the starlight shining from above.
I nod my head. “As long as the moon rises, the stars shine, and the bioluminescence glows.”
He laughs. “Woman, you must never leave me.”
“Never,” I whisper. “Ever.”