He looked at her sleeping peacefully in the crook of his arm. He nestled closer to her warm body and used the rhythm of her breathing to stabilize his own. They fit together perfectly. He knew why he loved her and wanted to be with her. She understood him. Evelyn saw through his protective shell and accepted him as he was. She not only accepted him—hell, she loved him. He gently kissed the part in her hair.

It was as if he had made love to his best friend. Evie was right. She wasn't a subservient Oompa-Loompa. She was a goddess. She was his world. Evelyn found the Nick name demeaning, but she didn't understand it was his coded way of saying he liked someone. He wanted them to come into his world and play. How could he show her how he felt about her? He hadn't a clue. She snuggled closer in her sleep and smiled.

I hope she already knows.

He sighed and looked up at the night sky that was filled with stars. The twinkling lights on Orion's Belt were beautiful, but lurking behind that cluster of heavenly matter was a network of surveillance satellites that Jamison and Casper had weaponized for their cruel, despotic vision.

Fuck them—

He had wanted to stop those two, and the rogue Intelligence organization they worked for, to help humanity. He snaked a protective arm around the sleeping girl. That was before he met Evelyn. His stomach tightened. Now, he not only wanted to guard the world from those evil henchmen, he also wanted to start a family with her. His mouth turned upwards. They would be a new generation of Sinclairs that would protect the planet and mankind.

Two hours later, Evelyn's eyes cracked open. She looked up. Moonlight backlit Raymond's handsome profile. He was smiling while he gazed up at the stars. "What are you thinking?" She asked.

"Just how happy I am. I've never been on a beach. It's not as unpleasant as I thought." He wiggled his toes in the sand.

"She broke away from him and rolled over on her side up on her side." She laughed, "I'm happy too."

She looks like a magical mermaid.

He loved how her Texas accent surfaced when she was relaxed. How her vowels flattened as if she was chewing a piece of caramel.

"Is it the vodka?" He ducked his head, suddenly shy.

She poked him in the chest. "No silly. It's not the vodka. It's because of you."

"What about you? How was your relationship with your parents growing up?"

Her face grew closed. All her life she had run from her past. "I was raised in a small Texas town by my mother. She was the town sheriff."

A small-town girl. No wonder she was so refreshing and honest.

Sadness clouded her eyes. "She died in a car accident when I was twelve." Although she wasn't cold, Evelyn hugged her shoulders. "I went to live with my Aunt Clara in Santa Barbara, California. She adopted me and helped me through the ups and downs of being a teen. I was bullied and mocked in middle school, so I had traded my grubby overalls for dresses. Aunt Clara taught me how to channel my tomboyishness, what she called gamine quality, to appear confident. I loved mathematics and spreadsheets, but by high school I had learned to hide how smart I was in order to fit in."

She stood up and mooned him as she brushed sand off her nude buttocks. She looked at him over her shoulder and moved her chin towards the water. "Come on." She took a few steps towards the ocean.

The low pitched rumble of the pounding surf had been soothing when they made love. Now the rolling waves sounded like distant thunder. Alarmed, he sat up. "That water's freezing—we don't know what's under the surface. There could be sharks. Or flesh eating bacteria." He grimaced. "I have serious doubts about the hygiene level." His stomach rumbled. "Let's see if we can find something to eat in Satoshi's kitchen.

She leaned down and grabbed his hand and leaned backwards as she struggled to pull him upright. "We've got to wash the sand off ourselves."

He shook his head and leaned back on his elbows. "No way."

"Get up now you lazy creature!" She yanked at his  shoulder. In response, he playfully grabbed her and rolled her underneath him.

She expertly used her feet to flip him off her, then jumped on top of him. "Don't make me get rough, Sinclair."

Raymond smiled. "I like it rough. When we get CENTIEN back there's someone I want you to meet. Her name is Themis." Alarmed, Evelyn frowned in the dark.