Knadyn: A Terraneu Novel (Book Six) (7 page)

Could a person be in Heaven and Hell at the same time? It had been a
month and Hu’lani was everything you would expect a tropical paradise to be.
The temperature felt moderate … now that she was getting acclimatized to it.
The white sandy beach was pristine and perfect for long walks, building sand
castles, and lounging under the sun. The plant life and flowers all around the
domes, pathways and patios put off an intoxicating mixture of aromas that made
her head swim.

Top all of that off with plenty of leisure time with Knadyn. Playing
cards, an Earth thing his mother had insisted he learn. Reading, Ava was
astonished they had solar powered readers with almost every book written just
before the End. With a blush she realized even erotic novels were included. She
made a note on a few she might read during her private time. Listening to music
was another thing that had been brought from Earth before the End. She had
already burst into tears at the sound of the music, so thankfully she didn’t
have that same reaction in front of Knadyn. Dancing was something Knadyn
insisted she try. Football was one of his favorite sports and he spent hours
practicing his footwork in the sand. Kicking the ball back and forth, up and
down the beach. Surfing and snorkeling she hadn’t tried yet because she was
still uncomfortable with her swimming abilities. Not that Knadyn hadn’t been
teaching her how to swim. She just wasn’t very good at it.

It all started that morning of their first full day at the beach. Knadyn
had remained firm in his desire to teach her to swim, so she had grudgingly met
him at the edge of the water. They had to do the lessons in the morning since
the waves were much higher in the afternoon. With more bravado than she felt,
she had joined him in the ankle … then knee … then thigh high water and refused
to go any deeper. She could see all the way to her feet in the crystal clear
turquoise water, but the sand shifting under her feet and squishing between her
toes was making her very aware that she wasn’t on solid ground. With the ebb
and flow of every wave, she felt like the ocean wanted to pull her further out
into deeper water. If not for Knadyn’s patience, she would have panicked and
given up that first morning.

Knadyn had begun the lesson by showing her the first step to swimming. He
wanted her to pretend to put her face in the water and blow air out of her
nose, like making bubbles. She had looked at him like he was crazy.

“Pretend to put my face in the water and blow bubbles?” she had asked
incredulously.

“Yes.” He had bent over and placed his face about a foot above the water.
Then to her amusement, he started blowing air noisily out of his nose. Standing
up he saw her attempts to hide her laughter and smiled, “Like that. Trust me.”

Ava didn’t believe he knew what he was talking about, but nevertheless
bent over and started to blow air out of her nose. Laughing softly all the
while.

“Very good.” Knadyn encouraged. “Now do that same thing but with your
face
in
the water. Like this.” He
bent at the waist again, only this time he allowed his face to go into the
water. When he was finished demonstrating he stood upright and tossed his head,
water flying everywhere. “Remember, keep your eyes closed, it is salty and will
burn if you keep them open. Also, the key is to blow air out your nose as well
as your mouth.” He wiped his face and waited for her to try.

Looking down Ava figured it was now or never and scrunching her eyes
closed she put her face into the water. Blowing air out of her nose to make
bubbles, she kept blowing until she ran out of air then jerked her head out of
the water. She threw her hair out of the way and laughed, “I did it.”

“Yes.” Knadyn was smiling warmly, his purple eyes intense. “Keep
practicing that…blowing bubbles. If you get comfortable, turn your head side to
side when you need a breath. Like this.” He demonstrated the technique he was
talking about then started toward the beach. “Be careful to watch for any
larger waves. I will be right back.”

Ava watched him retreat up the beach and wondered at his sudden
departure. What had him so agitated? With a shrug, she kept practicing. By the
end of the day, she was an expert on blowing bubbles our her nose and turning
her head side to side in the water for air. The next day Knadyn promised to
teach her floating.

That is how it had been for a month. Every morning Knadyn would give her
a swimming lesson. After blowing bubbles and floating, he taught her the doggy
paddle. She felt ridiculous but Knadyn said it was the most basic way to stay
above water, besides floating which she had already learned. After that, he
started teaching her the strokes that would move her around in the water. They
were freestyle, back, side and breaststrokes. She liked the backstroke but
between the currents and her swimming, she ended up zigging and zagging all
over the place. Her favorite stroke was freestyle. She didn’t have the stamina
to go very far since her muscles hadn’t improved that much. Still swimming
every day was making her stronger so she kept at it. Strangely most days Knadyn
would leave her in the water and end up pacing up the beach.

~*~*~*~

Ava made her way to the teleport room where her weekly food supply would
be waiting on the teleporter. Knadyn’s uncle had given her a Transport 101
walkthrough in case of emergency but she hadn’t needed to use it so far. She had
to smile to herself over the first month of life at the beach. She had adjusted
to the weather, and she was even working on her comfort level in swimwear. It
wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy the water and activities. She was just very aware
of how un-Terraneu like she was. Her skin was trying to tan but was more red
than golden. Her hair was gaining some luster but nothing compared to the women
Knadyn was used to and that was the core of her problem.

She was beginning to really
like
Knadyn but was having a hard time not comparing herself to the women that he
was used to. They were so healthy and … perfect. What could he find attractive
about her?

Making her way into the dome, she was surprised to see Amber standing
hesitantly in the room. “Is something wrong?” she hurried to ask. They were
supposed to keep clear of Knadyn so Ava immediately worried something had
happened.

“No. Everything is fine.” Amber rushed to assure her, “I just wanted to
drop off your food and see how things were progressing.”

“Everything is going really well.” Ava took the basket of food Amber was
holding out.

“Really?” His mother looked expectantly at her and Ava couldn’t help but
continue.

“Knadyn is doing well. He hasn’t had very many memory lapses and seems to
be in really good health.” Trying to convey more information that his mother
might want to know she said, “For the most part I think Knadyn has recovered
nicely. Judging by his brother Knacayn, I would say that Knadyn is almost back
to full musculature. He is getting as much sun and water as I can force on him.
His hair is growing very quickly and he thinks it is almost ready for a trim.
His skin is also gaining a nice golden tan…” Ava stopped talking when she
noticed Knadyn’s mother looking at her slyly. “What?”

“Nothing. I am just making a mental note of the things to send along next
week.”

Ava couldn’t help but think that Amber was lying. She was up to something
judging by the calculated look on her face. “Okay. Thank you.”

Looking Ava over she smiled, “How is the variety of clothing we packed
working out for you?”

“Very well. I’m glad you talked me into various sizes.”

Amber laughed softly, “I knew that you had never been around a consistent
supply of food. In the six months you are here at the beach you are sure to…”
she paused and waved her hands, “Uhh…fill out your clothing even more.” Amber
finished, blushing slightly.

Ava looked down at her cover-up. Between the fruits, vegetables and fish
she was catching she had filled out a bit.

Amber suddenly pulled her into a fierce hug. “Thank you for taking care
of Knadyn. I am glad that he has somebody here with him.” She jerked back just
as suddenly and hurried for the transport pad. “I better get back. I don’t want
to jeopardize Knadyn’s health if he were to see me. Take care of him…and
yourself.” Before Ava could respond, Amber was gone.

Taking the food and moving back along the pathway to the beach Ava felt a
skip in her step. She had never had cause to be this carefree and it felt
wonderful. The worries of Earth and all that chaos seemed so far away. She knew
that it would all come crashing back soon enough. For now, she was going to
enjoy this little break from reality.

Knadyn watched Ava frolicking in the water. He shook his head at the
transformation his friend had gone through. It wasn’t her physical appearance
that drew his attention the most. Although he would be a liar if he said he
hadn’t noticed her body at all. She had gone from wearing the one-piece tank
suit, to the tankini, to the monokini to finally the bikini’s that he loved to
see her in. Not because they were sexy as hell, though they were that. He loved
seeing her in them because it meant her self-confidence was growing. It was
that self-confidence and her bubbly personality that had really come shining
through. They had spent the last few months playing in the water, lounging in
the hammock, and reading, playing board games, card games and listening to
music. He liked doing all of that but his favorite times were taking walks on
the beach, talking with Ava and dancing. Not that he could get her to dance
very often. She seemed to struggle with the concept of letting herself flow and
move to the music. It was nice that she tried though.

He knew that there was still damage to his memories and his family
members were working on fixing it. He had been informed that he and Ava were
going to stay here until the matter was resolved. He didn’t mind since the
beach was very nice, and Ava was fun to be with. The only shadow on this
experience was the frustration he felt when he stumbled with a memory. He
always knew when he said something wrong because Ava would have to help him
around a thought or concept. He was just grateful that they were minor hiccups
and nothing major had happened.

Looking back toward the water, he froze. Ava was gone. Turning on the
spot, he looked down the beach both ways and still couldn’t see her. She had
become a fairly proficient swimmer, but the waves and currents could still be
tricky. Rushing toward the last place he had seen her, there she was. Floating
under the water, arms spread out at her sides and unmoving. He panicked, did a
clean dive into the waves to where she was floating and grabbed her. Tucking
her under his arm, he pushed against the outgoing waves to get her back to
shore. His only thought was to get her to the beach and see if he could revive
her. He was about knee deep in the waves when he felt her laughing against his
side.

“Uh. Knadyn…” she was barely able to talk through the laughter, “What are
you doing?”

Knadyn felt the heat rising in his face, “Saving you?”

“Ohh. Okay. That’s nice.” She relaxed against his hold.

Letting go and helping her right herself in the water Knadyn tried to
assist her with the tangled mess her hair had become. “I’m sorry. I thought you
were drowning…” Helping her tuck her hair back, his fingers brushed the skin of
her shoulders and neck. Just as it had during all of her swimming lessons, his
body responded to her nearness and he lost his train of thought. Normally he
would excuse himself and go running on the beach to get his body under control.

This time he couldn’t keep his fingers from trailing down her arms then
back up to rest on her shoulders. Her skin was so soft and warm. His fingers were
sending little electric charges up his hands and arms to his brain. Ava had
stopped laughing and her hands had started to come between them as if to push
him back. However, instead of flattening on his chest as he expected, they
moved along his stomach.

“Knadyn.” Ava began and afraid she was going to protest he only knew of
one way to keep her from talking. He leaned into her until their chests were
touching and at her shocked gasp of surprise, he fused their mouths together.
Since her lips were already parted, he was able to tentatively lick the seam of
her lip and he almost died at the thrill when her tongue flicked out to meet
his.
 

Knadyn knew he was in trouble. His whole body was on fire and Ava was the
only one who could save him. He used one hand splayed in her hair to keep her
pressed into the kiss, the other hand he let travel over her body. She was
still slightly gaunt, but she had gained some muscle tone. His hand found one
globe of her ass and pulled her hard against his arousal. In his excitement, he
had her half bowed back and neither of them cared. She was making soft sounds
in her throat that were driving him crazy. His kiss became demanding. His
tongue was openly dueling with hers, his teeth grazing and plumping her lower
lip. He used his chest to rub against her breasts and he could feel the
answering pebbling of her nipples against his skin. His fingers deftly untied
the strings to her top and he moved just enough so that the material could fall
away before he pressed back in. The feel of her naked chest against his was
electric. Her nails scoring down his abs and her fingers dipping into his swim
trunks made his knees go weak.

Dragging his mouth away from her lips, he trailed a hot path down her
neck. Since Ava was so small, he used his hold on her for leverage to lift her
breasts level with his mouth. He was just about to get a taste of the sweet
morsel when a wave knocked him off kilter and down they went.

Knadyn wasn’t as quick to recover as Ava. He came up out of the water to
see her rushing along the beach back toward their dome. So much for taking up
where they left off. He was going to have to cool off a bit longer in the water
before he went to talk with her. If he got close right now, he would try to
press her into something that she obviously needed time to think over. Taking a
swim Knadyn let his thoughts race around. Ava was his best friend and he wanted
to take their relationship into a physical one. The only question was, did she?
He figured it was time to find out. After giving Ava enough time to sort
through her own thoughts, Knadyn started swimming back to the beach.