After giving them a rundown on the coral reef they’d be exploring and the key sights to be on the lookout for, he showed some hand signals to use to communicate with each other about the marine life they might encounter.
“Last thing,” the guide continued, “everyone be sure to complete your three-minute safety stop before surfacing.” He explained that those with air remaining could stay down a little longer to explore the reef under the boat.
Everyone got busy preparing to enter the water by putting on their equipment. The dive company had already taken care of assembling the weight-integrated buoyancy control devices or BCDs, regulators, and air cylinders for each diver.
His heart raced. He hoped he wouldn’t embarrass himself, given his relative lack of experience compared to hers. He would try to remember his training and be ready for whatever came up and try not to make any rookie mistakes. But today was more about having fun than having perfect technique and skills. Spending the next half hour or forty-five minutes diving with Carm was all that mattered. A new bond between them.
After they put on their masks and fins, they entered the water. The four other divers started to follow the guide, but Carm signaled for him to follow her in bringing up the rear. Happy to. The hair not contained by her dive buff undulated in the water like a mermaid’s. As she swam ahead of him, her shapely legs moved her fins up and down in a rhythmic motion, mesmerizing him—until she came to a stop and turned to face him.
Carm then signaled, asking if he was okay, and he indicated he was. Then she pointed downward, and he glanced where she pointed to find a reef shark apparently napping in the sand amongst the vibrantly colored coral. It was the closest he’d ever been to a shark—without an aquarium glass between them—but the guides had assured them they were harmless unless threatened. He and Carm simply stared at it awhile before she tugged on his arm, and they swam to where they caught sight of the rest of the group again.
Soon they found themselves amidst the coral in an area filled with fish of every color. It was as if he and Carmella had swum into a tropical aquarium like the one Franco had had since high school. Only these fish were enormous. He needed to talk Franco into taking a starter scuba class so he could bring him down to the Caribbean sometime; they hadn’t done anything together in a long time. This sight would blow Franco’s mind.
Not that Tony knew when he’d find time to get away like this again.
But that thought fled as he became intrigued by two off-white fish with brown stripes that seemed to be in a love-hate relationship. One would come up to the other trying to get some action only to be rebuffed. He’d never thought much about fish having serious relationships, but these two sure had some kind of tension going on between them.
He gestured for Carm to watch and signaled her asking whether she knew what type of fish it was. She glanced around as if to make sure the coast was clear then took his hands and placed them on her breasts and squeezed. His cock got hard as he felt her nipples harden under his palms, but he wondered why she wanted to start something down here when others were close by. One of the other divers even had an underwater camera and had promised to take photos of them at various points in the dive.
Carm pointed to the fish once more, placed her hands over his, and groped herself again.
Oh! Grouper! She was giving him her own signal for the Nassau grouper. He sure liked her signal better than their guide’s boring one. Removing his mouthpiece, Tony gestured for Carm to do the same, then kissed her. Not as deeply as he would have liked, but just enough to show her how hot he thought she was. He couldn’t wait to get back to the villa—or to the surface at least—to finish the kiss properly.
They put their regulator mouthpieces back in place, and Carm descended closer to the sandy bottom. He saw a turtle the length of his arm swimming above a green-camouflaged crab hiding under a coral or rock outcropping. Taking his mind off the hot woman beside him for a bit, he marveled at how amazing this experience was—an entirely new world. No wonder she’d come back to the islands every time she could get away from her family’s mountain resort.
Swimming through the bubbles in Carm’s wake, the two of them continued to explore the swaying coral. The scene put him into an altered state of mind, slowing down his breathing, his heart rate, his thoughts. All distractions and concerns faded away. Grounded in the moment, Tony let her take the lead, and he simply swam behind her on this incredible journey.
At one point, she pointed to a seahorse hanging onto a piece of coral by its tail. Carm winked at him, reminding him of a legend she’d told him about last night. According to the story, if you and someone of the opposite sex came across a seahorse while diving together, it was a sign that you are meant to be together.
Was there anything to that or was it merely a diving myth?
One thing was certain: Tony would never forget this experience or
