POV: Alaric
The ocean stretched wide before me, endless and serene, the waves rolling in gentle, rhythmic crashes against the shore. I had never been the kind of man to marvel at nature, but today, standing on this beach with the salty breeze brushing against my skin, I found myself appreciating the beauty of it. Yet none of it—not the brilliant blue sky, not the golden sunlight reflecting off the water—held a candle to the sight in front of me. Jasmine.
I watched my obsession tense every now and then, trying to walk with her legs pressed tightly together. She went and sat beneath the shade of a small coconut stall, her legs crossed at the knees, doing everything she could to avoid looking in my direction. Her dark hair tumbled over one shoulder, the ends damp from an earlier swim, and her flawless skin shimmered under the sun. That bikini—that goddamn bikini.
