...Beth dropped to a seat on a large flat rock at the edge of the pool and was still struggling with her boot when Carlos appeared on the ledge between the two upper falls. She gasped. All the blood in her body rushed to her sex. She couldn’t move.

He was wet, having parted the waters of the smaller fall, and he was naked. Head thrown back, he let the spray sluice over his face and body in an act akin to worship. Mouth agape, she followed its course from his shoulder to his feet over a form sculpted by imagination.

Even as her eyes took in the powerful muscles of chest and arms, the long sinews of his thighs, the flawless skin stretched taut over all, she thought such perfection could not be part of the natural world.

On the return trip, her gaze lingered at his groin. His relaxed scrotum hung loose from its dark nest, his flaccid cock resting neatly between his balls. As she studied him, it stiffened and pulled away to stand on its own an inch or two from his thighs.

When she discovered him watching, she flushed, embarrassed to be caught examining him, but the expression he wore held no amusement, just a hint of concern that confused her a moment.

With a downward glance, he dove gracefully into the pool.

He took to the water like an otter, coming up for air and diving back to the bottom. When he came up the second time, he swam over to her with strong, smooth strokes. The sight of him stole her breath away.

He rested his arms on her rock, watching, with his upper torso above the water. His long black hair washed back to reveal the whole of his face. Heart-shaped, with a small widow’s peak at the hairline. But it was his eyes that held her, wide-spread, golden orbs, deep-set and shadowy. He had a dangerous look about him.

“Kiss me, or stop looking like that at me.” His voice was silk over gravel.

Eyes locked to his, she slowly finished removing her boots and socks and slipped out of her shorts. Down to swim trunks and bra, she rolled onto her stomach, and taking his head between both hands, had her way with his mouth.

At first, he stood still for her gentle nibbles and licks, lips parted, wearing a tiny smile. She grew bolder, sucking. His taste was cool, fresh. She wanted more and took it, invading the moist warmth, exploring every crevasse. Deep inside, the smoldering coals of her desire ignited.

On cue, he took possession of the kiss with a needy hunger of his own until she had to come up for air.

She rolled onto her back and lay over the boulder so she could inspect his face, upside down.

“I dream about you,” she admitted.

“What do you dream?” His fingers played with her hair, unraveling the braid, combing through the long locks until they flowed over the mossy rock and touched the water below.

“I dream you come to my room in the dark and make love to me.”

His eyes widened a little and locked with hers. The silence went on too long. Had she made a mistake, baring such an intimate detail?

“Do you enjoy these dreams?”

For a moment, she hesitated, fearing this was too much too soon. But Beth didn’t want to settle for the dream any longer. “Very much. I’d like them even better if they were real.”

To avoid seeing his reaction, she pulled him into an inverted kiss.

The earth moved. He took her mouth with slow, sucking strokes until her lips parted for his tongue. Fingers entwined in her hair, he held her to his mouth like some ripe fruit and supped.

He lowered her head to its mossy pillow and kicked away from the rock. Throwing himself backward into the water, he floated, staring through the canopy at the sky.

Beth sat up to watch, holding her knees to her chest. What was he thinking? Any minute now, he’d come back and tell her it was all a misunderstanding. He wanted to be friends.