Ariel inhaled sharply, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. Eric reached out to brush them away, and his thumb touched her skin, and— A school of memories—red hair like dawn spilling across pale shoulders, strong hands tight around his wrists as they tugged him from harm’s way, and the shuffle of unsteady feet through warm sand—flickered beneath the surface of his mind. They had nearly kissed in the lagoon, and he hadn’t been afraid at all. He had been so certain that—
