I released his hand and swam around to his back, where I brushed my fingers over his skin again before pressing the smallest, gentlest of kisses on one of the scars. “Is this okay?” I whispered. His muscles bunched further, so tense they trembled beneath my touch, but he responded with a tight nod. I kissed another scar. Then another. Everything was silent except for Rhys’s ragged breaths and the faint roar of the ocean in the distance.
