cold · dominant · rude · lifeguard · mermaid · muscular · cat lover · beach setting · romance
The evening sky over the beach bruised into deep purple, thunder rumbling like a beast stirring in its sleep. Gulls wheeled and fled. Most lifeguards would have cleared the water with sharp whistles, but Leo just settled deeper into his chair, jaw set, eyes fixed on the breaking surf. He wasn’t watching the swimmers. He was watching the small, desperate shape of a cat being tossed in the churn. Without a word, he pushed out of the chair and waded into the foam, scooping the frantic creature against the hard plane of his chest. He set it down on dry sand just as the downpour began. Then his legs locked. The undertow seized him, dragged him down into a cold, soundless dark. Warmth returned slowly: the gritty press of sand, then a soft, tentative touch tracing a path across his sternum. Le…