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The sun shone bright and strong, encompassed by the clearest of blue skies; a rich azure which stretched out to touch the furthest point of the horizon before effortlessly returning on unhurried waves of a slightly darker hue.
Beating out a steady rhythm against a mixed shore of golden sand and dark grey stones, the sea lay calm and easy, accompanied by the gentlest of breezes that skipped and danced across the dozens of hat-covered heads that had gathered on the beach that morning.
“You sure you’re not coming in?” asked the slight but well-toned figure of Dave Polworth who stood before them in swim shorts. “Got a couple of mates that’ll help with your leg, if that’s what’s putting you off?”
“It’s not, but thanks anyway,” Strike assured him with a smile.
Polworth eyed him curiously, unconvinced at his friend’s refusal of a refreshing dip in the Cornish sea. Turning to the woman beside them he held out his arms and lifted his eyebrows in question, hoping for a more positive response.
“I’m good too, thanks,” she answered, her Yorkshire accent stark contrast to that being largely voiced by those surrounding her.
“Another time for definite,” Strike added with a reassuring nod.
With a disbelieving shake of his head Polworth muttered his thoughts on the matter, “Fucking wimps,” before turning back in the direction of the shoreline and returning to the large group of enthusiastic swimmers assembled before them.
Taking a purposeful step closer to her partner, Robin tilted her head up towards him and was immediately wishing for her sunglasses. The unfiltered rays of sunshine were sharp and bright, and she found herself having to squint as she spoke to him.
“So this is a thing then?” she asked sceptically, glancing towards the water and mentally cataloguing the total lack of wetsuits.
“Yup,” he responded dropping his head closer to hers, enabling the strands of strawberry-blond hair that had escaped her hat to tease at his nose. The soft scent of her shampoo, her perfume, just her had combined with the sea air to create something wholly unique which his mind had simply chosen to label ‘Robin in Cornwall’.
“Like an annual thing?”
“Yup,” he murmured against her ear, a smile stretching at his lips as a shiver travelled like a shock across her shoulders. “You cold?” he asked innocently, his hand rubbing lightly at her lower back before finding her hip and squeezing lightly.
Robin looked around at him, an eyebrow raised.
“If I was, would you warm me up?”
“I think you know the answer to that after last night, Ellacott.”
“Well you might have changed your mind,” she suggested with a dismissive shrug but he saw the flash of uncertainty she failed to mask. “You might have taken the last few hours to decide that us diving in like that last night was all very nice, but also a bloody big mistake.”
He eyed her carefully, curiously even, mildly incredulous over what she was implying. He could sense the lightness she was trying to force into her tone, but could also hear the words jump and skid against a melody they did not fit.
Shuffling his stance so that he stood directly in front of her, he linked both hands around her waist and dipped his head until it touched hers, resting a little off-centre.
“No,” he told her simply. “No, I haven’t changed my mind... about kissing you in the kitchen this morning while you made us tea and we watched the sunrise.” Robin’s expression flickered. “Nor do I harbour any regret at the manner in which you chose to wake me up. Who needs ‘good morning’ when you can start the day like that...”
His smile was soft and sexy, and Robin could feel a light flush of colour rise across her cheeks as a glorious stir of memories began to stage an assault on her senses. Indeed, ‘good morning’ had been a long way from escaping either of their lips as their hands, mouths and bodies had made all verbal communication both unnecessary and irrelevant.
“I haven’t changed my mind about last night,” he continued, his voice lowering to a whisper, his lips grazing her cheek, “when you were on top... our heads touching just like this and me holding you... as we both came apart.”
A smile ghosted over her lips at the confidence in his words, an unexpected ease of conviction that had her sinking further into his embrace, fingers reaching up to trace lines across his lightly bearded cheek.
“I haven’t changed my mind... about the first time either,” he said closing his eyes and pressing his lips to her forehead, “Fireworks were going off inside my head as well as across the bay.” Robin chuckled softly. “And just so you know, us sharing that glass of whiskey outside the pub last night... and then snogging like a couple of drunk teenagers, couldn’t be further from being a bloody big mistake. Ok?”
“Ok,” she conceded with a smile, wrapping her arms around her partner’s neck. “You make a pretty good argument, I suppose.”
“That was the aim,” he said smiling back at her broadly.
Closing the small distance between them Robin touched her lips to his-
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
The shock of the air horn caused them both to start and the loud cheer which followed had Strike grinning and Robin looking to him in confusion.
“What the hell was that?”
With a nod of his head he gestured towards the amassed, but temporarily forgotten, gathering of eager swimmers behind her and she turned, stepping out of his arms, to see the crowd running down the short stretch of beach and into the Cornish sea.
“Wow,” she murmured with a hint of disbelief.
“I know,” he concurred. “Idiots. They are all idiots.”
Robin laughed and leaned back against his broad chest, feeling his strong arms wrap around her shoulders and pull her even closer.
“So, what about you? Any regrets or changes of mind I should be made aware of?”
Robin turned her head back towards him, her nose meeting his just over her left shoulder.
“No, I’m good,” she answered with a smile as Strike released a noticeable breath and pushed a kiss to her temple.
Watching the scene before him with the warmth of the sun on his face and Robin in his arms, he couldn’t think of anything more he needed right then.
Pressing another kiss to her head, just because he could, he smiled, “Happy New Year, Robin.”