What if? He allowed the question to guide him. Nervously, he approached Hudson and placed a hand on his chest. Then he moved down, lower and lower, until he felt Hudson’s hardness. His hands tugged at the yellow bathing trunks, pulling them down, and Hudson’s sex sprung free. He touched it, feeling its thickness, stroking the length of it.

When Hudson reached out for him, he held his breath, afraid. But when Hudson took him in his hand, he felt nothing but his touch. It radiated through him like an electric current, stimulating his heart so that its beat filled his ears. He felt warm water, and skin, and then a rush of heat.

He came, crying out softly as the stickiness splashed against his chest. In his hand, his penis throbbed, emptying itself. His body shook, and he threw his head back against the pillows. When it was over, he touched his fingers to the shimmering white drops on his skin and rubbed them together.

She was right, he thought, and fear descended like night.

CHAPTER 38

CHAPTER 38

Caddie shined her flashlight into the crack. Immediately, the long, thin arm retreated into the darkness. She moved closer, trying to see what it belonged to, but there was nothing. A small fish, attracted to the light, darted into the crack, then emerged again and streaked past her.

The ocean was different at night. They had entered the water as the sun was setting, so that it would become dark gradually. Now the only illumination came from their underwater lights, and they swam in a circle less than a dozen feet in diameter. Beyond it, the ocean waited, black and mysterious, as if they traveled in a golden bubble.

It occurred to her that she should be frightened. Who knew what swam outside the protective light, waiting for its chance to feed. And yet, she wasn’t afraid. There was a peacefulness to the nighttime world, a quiet that suffused everything. She heard only her breathing, the gentle bubbling of the regulator. It was as if she were swimming through the night.

Moving away from the rocks and into the sand, she swept the light before her, hoping to catch some nocturnal denizen at its secret business. Brian had told her that she would see different creatures at night, and he had been right. In addition to whatever it was that spread its arms over the rocks, she had seen half a dozen fish she couldn’t identify. The familiar nudibranchs, she discovered, were not to be found. But several new ones had taken their place, as if each species were assigned specific hours of operation and these had drawn the night shift.