Mike didn’t know he had turned bright read from the current conversation in the hot tub. Masturbation? Lube? Lessons? He had lived his entire adult life with sailors and he wasn’t ready for this. Fortunately the darkness hid a lot of his embarrassment, and Katy had put her hand on his, and that allowed him to go back to thinking, which is where he wanted to be in this moment anyway.<br/><br/>“Your story is very harrowing, Sean,” Mike mused. “I’ve been through some rough seas myself, even shot at in Kinshasa, but nothing quite like that. Nothing that serious. I thought I saw something in your eyes before, and now I know what it is. Courage.”<br/><br/>Mike’s hand squeezed around Katy’s instinctively, and his focus turned out to sea. He was craving it, suddenly. He realized what was happening and he decided to try to relax. He leaned back against the side of the tub and closed his eyes, and let the feel of the heat and water coax his body into releasing tension. He moved so that his thigh, now opened, ran along the length of Katy’s. He had just met her, but found himself already liking her body, and how she worked with it. One by one he let go of his senses until only touch and sound remained. The heat, the water, the smoothness of Katy’s leg; and the harmonious mixing of accents.