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A couple of weeks had passed since that first, electrifying encounter with Ilkay. Spending time with him was a thrill. He kept her on her toes and - she liked to think - she on his. The weeks had passed in stolen moments and waves of passion, peppered with occasional moments of more personal conversation.

She wasn't ready to let him get too close. They both knew that he was only here short-term, and much as she enjoyed his wit and sass and all the things they got up to when nobody was watching, she wasn't prepared to let him break her heart. So she kept it casual, let him meet a couple of the cousins, let him sometimes stay for dinner. But rarely, if ever, did she broach any topic of conversation that made her feel vulnerable. He didn't need to hear it.

But that didn't mean, of course, that she didn't thoroughly enjoy losing herself in his company. He was magnetic and fun, and she matched his energy and wicked flirtation with her own.

Today, on a relatively quiet morning at the end of the week, she was waiting for him at the docks. Weeks of talking about sailing, and he had yet to see any of her family's boats or the sea in this part of the country. It was a great day to whisk him off for a ride on a little catboat, usually used for short solo fishing trips or recreation.

No time limits, no responsibilities, and most importantly, no prying eyes.

#FAB66F

She caught sight of him making his way down to the dock. Hard not to. His complexion stood out in a brilliant blue against shades of red and brown here, and she quite liked how eye-catching he was even from a distance.

As he approached, she made a show of looking him up and down, gently chewing at her bottom lip. "Mm, looking good," she said, letting out a wolf whistle as she ogled him shamelessly.

"Welcome to home sweet catboat," she added, gesturing to the agile, single sail hull behind her. It was open-air, no cover or lower deck, and comfortable to sail solo. "Good for a quick seaward jaunt. No intruders to speak of."

She lifted her eyes to look at him with a knowing smile.

"You mean am I going to stop looking at all that you got going on? Not a chance, baby," she said with a low chuckle as he stepped closer, walking two figures up his chest. They both knew he was enjoying the attention, and far be it for her to withhold it from him.

She let him lift her chin up, staring at him with upward-tilted eyes and seemed to say, "come hither." That cheeky, knowing smile of hers widened. Iro rose up a couple inches on her toes to kiss him - deep, unreserved, with tongue - and when she broke away, she nodded at the boat.

"One, you say? Well, that's alright, I guess. Does he like to watch?" she winked.

"Well we don't want that," she murmured, smiling against his kiss. She could tell from his touch that he was being gentle for good reason, and she knew that his mother had raised him well. He was asking permission, and she would readily grant it, so went they came apart from that softer kiss, she gave a gentle tug on his arm and led him down the dock.

Iro waited for him to sit, and then untied the moorings from the dock and tossed the ropes on board, vaulting onto the deck.

"You're allowed to distract me while I sail, in case you were wondering," she said, wiggling her brow invitingly as she hoisted the sail. There was a nice, easy wind blowing out of the harbor today - good for a leisurely ride. They'd have all the time in the world.

Iro threw her head back in laughter. "You do that," she said appreciatively. She didn't miss the way his eyes followed her butt as she moved back and forth on the boat - she worked hard on that thing, and it deserved every bit of attention he gave it.

Before long, they were underway, and the catboat cruised along for close to an hour, leaving behind the hustle and bustle of Jatine, the docks, the people on land. It became beautifully quiet as the sounds of human civilization faded away, and by the time Iro brought the boat to a stop and dropped anchor, they were tucked away in a little secluded bay, accompanied by only the sounds of water lapping against the boat's hull and the cry of sea birds passing overhead.

Iro rolled up the sail and tied it, snagging a bottle of water before settling herself down on the cushioned seat beside Ilkay. "What do you think?" she said, nodding to the sea around them. "Not a bad change of scenery, eh?"

She snuggled into arm comfortably, lifting a hand to lightly trace the line of his jaw before pressing her lips to his. "You can hold me captive here as long as you want, sailor, nobody's going to run into us out here," she said with a chuckle, arching her back in a deep stretch that was also certainly meant to give him a show of her strong body. "Oh, that's too bad. Well. I've got something you can eat..."

She cause his gaze and her eyes widened suggestive, letting it sink in for a second, before she finally leaned forward and reached under the bench to pull out a box of assorted dried snacks and fish. Not necessarily the most luxurious of food, but none of it was susceptible to heat and rot, and it'd keep their energy up if they were going to participate in a marathon of... activity.

"Doesn't it?" she said, quirking her brow. She took one of the crackers from the box - hard, dry and mostly tasteless - and nibbled at a square of it. This wasn't particularly tasty fare, so she didn't try very hard to convince Ilkay to have any. It was mostly survival food, but it worked like a charm when you were hungry.

Iro set the box down with a laugh and let him pull her onto his lap. She settled in (with perhaps a couple more wiggles than was technically necessary) and wrapped an arm around him, leaning in to softly brush her nose against his.

"You're delicious," she said, her voice low. He could probably all but hear the smile in her voice. "I know this is all temporary, and I'm more than okay with that, but damn if I'm not glad that you're the one who came up to my table that day."

Iro chuckled, pointing to her lip and the cracker crumb he was trying to lick off of them. "The good stuff? This isn't it," she said, laughing as he lifted her and repositioned so that she was straddling him.

"Mmm, always ready to get down and dirty, aren't we?" she said, placing a hand on either side of his face. She tilted her head down and landed a soft kiss on his lips, waiting, inviting. They seemed to be very much on the same page when it came to down and dirty.

"We both understand I didn't bring us all the way out here to eat crackers, right?" she said, smiling wryly. It was an unspoken understanding, of course, but she derived no small amount of pleasure out of the sarcasm lacing the sentence. She grinned, lips still hovering close to his.