“I didn’t know how to say.”

Linda smiled against Marissa’s mouth. “You’ve explained algorithms, statistical sampling and the mysteries of couple dynamics and you’re going to stop talking now?”

In the moonlight, Linda’s eyes were black but the laughter in them was bright. “It’s not a language I’m familiar with. You don’t program lovers like computers.”

“More’s the pity. Want to try?”

Marissa pushed Linda back. “You’re incorrigible, you know that?”

“I’m not. Really.” Linda’s voice dropped and the laughter in her eyes went away. “I’d really like to go to bed with you. I’ve wanted you since . . . halfway up the cliff.”

“You’re kidding. Those were the worst moments of my life.”

“And you smiled through them. Fought your way through them. I was wondering if you attacked sex the way you attacked that climb.” Linda’s expression was caught between chagrin and desire. “You were incredibly inspiring.”

“I was arguing with my mother.”

“Ugh.” Linda made a face. “Okay, that ruined the mood.”

“Sorry.” Marissa could have bitten her tongue off. The fragile moment was gone. Though the sand still felt wonderful between her toes and the moon’s mystical path was as bright as ever, the moment was undeniably gone.

Linda padded out of the bathroom with a puff of steam behind her, hair still damp and hanging down her back, leaving a wet trail on her thin T-shirt. Marissa tried to look as if she was reading but she couldn’t take her eyes off the tall, lithe figure. Nor could she stop her fantasies from running through her head in full, screaming digital clarity.

“Do you want something?” Linda was looking at Marissa in the mirror over the shared dresser.

Caught staring, Marissa tried for a flirtatious smile. “Yes.”

“So do I.”

Her heart pounding more and more rapidly, Marissa watched Linda cross the room to the light switch and the last clear vision she had of Linda was the hungry look in her eyes. Then there was moonlight only to illuminate the difference between the dark and Linda’s hair.

There was only a hint of sound as Linda sat on the edge of Marissa’s bed. One broad hand cupped Marissa’s thigh, pushing her gently onto her back.

“Is this what you wanted, Marissa?”

“Yes. Please, yes.”

“It’s what I want too. Please,” Linda whispered in Marissa’s ear. “Let me feel how wild, how sensuous you can be.”

Soft, scented hair surrounded Marissa’s face as she arched to the first tentative touch of Linda’s hand between her legs. “I want to be everything I can be for you.”

Linda gasped as her fingers slipped into heat and wet. “I’ve never felt so close . . . stayed so close.”

Marissa pulled Linda’s mouth to hers and for several minutes kisses were their only conversation. Linda’s fingers were playful but indirect. Marissa realized, surfacing from one deeply intimate kiss that they were rocking together like the motion of their lifeboat, and the idea wasn’t alarming. Fate lent a hand, she thought, smiling into the next kiss.