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68: Reflections
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2021-02-02 19:33:09The Blue Yonder swayed with the rolling waves as Andrew and Evelyn reached the swim platform and pulled themselves back aboard.
Holding the railing, she got her feet under her and stood. At the ship’s bow, Blink had set up a folding chair. With his fishing line thrown into the water and the rod tucked into his folded arms, he dozed in the warm sunshine, his feet propped on the bow railing.
“And you were worried he might swim over to the cave.” Andrew glanced down his straight nose at her, flashing a devilish smile.
“No,” she corrected softly, reticent to wake their captain. Though the sun was warm, gooseflesh erupted over her skin. “I was worried he’d know what we’d been doing. None of this convinces me otherwise.”
Reaching into the back of the boat, Andrew lifted a towel, one of two Blink had left there for them. Unfolding it, he wrapped it about Evelyn’s should
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Collapsed lightly atop Andrew’s chest with her weight supported on her knees straddling him, Evelyn passively allowed him to move her, tugging her out of the twisted tangled silken nightgown she wore. As she settled over him again, she squirmed and stretched to put her mouth to his ear. “Do you really consider undressing is wise?” Planting his heels, he arched his hips upward into a tabled position, sending a blissful rippling aftershock through her, originating where their bodies were still merged. Hearing her soft groan so close to his ear, he groaned in response, hurrying to slide his sleep pants down his hips before relaxing flat on the bed again. “I consider anything that keeps as much of my naked flesh directly against yours to be wise,” he replied with a chuckle, his lips close to hers as she'd done to him. Tipping his face to hers, he pecked a brief kiss upon her lips as he used his legs and feet to work his sleep pants the rest of the way down his long legs.
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The hotel’s ballroom was a gently baroque style. Its elegant space was replete with all manner of luxuries one would expect of a high-profile hotel, no matter where one might visit in the world—custom paneled with artfully etched-mirror and plaster walls, gold-leafed accents and intricate crown moldings. Above the near-magical dancefloor, which was lit from below, hung in the decorative ceiling, a ponderous crystal chandelier lit the warm wooden dancefloor beneath it. Along the periphery, undulating balconies supported by Corinthian pilasters gave an air of classicism to the space, but one not overly staid. These generous galleries provided seating for those who had only come for a meal, to watch the dancing or to listen to the orchestra. They’d dressed for a late dinner, but though the orchestra played, their music broadcast exactly as Evelyn had always dreamed of experiencing, she and Andrew hadn’t danced. In fact, they hadn’t stayed much longer than
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