There were people everywhere, but the beach didn’t feel crowded—maybe because it was so large. Couples strolled along the sandy shore, holding hands and chatting, or just enjoying the golden sunshine. Ma’shorka Centra had a yellow dwarf sun like Earth, which was one thing that made the planet very like her own home world.
Only the Ma’shorkans seemed to have done a much better job of keeping their planet clean, she thought, looking around. There wasn’t a scrap of litter or trash on the soft pink sands—a welcome change from some of the beaches on Earth.
When she mentioned how clean it was to Valen, he nodded and said,
“Of course. If you’re caught littering, the fine is a thousand annahs for every piece of trash you throw and the law is very strictly enforced. It’s literally throwing money away, every time you don’t clean up after yourself.”
“Wow.” Selena looked around with wide eyes. “Remind me never to litter around here—not that I would, anyway,” she added quickly. “Oh, look—they’re building sandcastles!”
She pointed to some people along the shore who were, indeed, engaged in packing the wet, pink sand into buckets and shaping them.
“Yes, you can rent a sand-shaping kit from one of those kiosks, over there.” Valen pointed to a row of little wooden huts at the edge of the sand.
“Oh, can we rent one? Can we—please?” Selena begged.
“You want to play in the sand?” He laughed. “I think it’s mostly for children.”
“But please, can’t we do it anyway?” Selena asked. Gazing up at him, she gave the big Kindred the most soulful, pleading look she could. “It looks like fun and I see some other couples doing it.” She pointed along the shoreline, where a few other people were building sandcastles.
“Well…I suppose it can’t hurt.” He grinned indulgently at her and tugged lightly on the leash, making her bite back a moan. “Come, little one, let’s get a sand shaping kit.”
The kit was filled with all kinds of shapes and shovels and buckets and sand-sifters. Selena was delighted with it. She supposed it might be a little silly to want to play in the sand, but she couldn’t help remembering that one trip to Florida when she was a kid and how much fun it had been.
She told Valen about it, as they built a sandcastle together, digging the wet sand and stacking it, smoothing it into various shapes. The big Kindred was an excellent listener, asking lots of questions about her family, as though he actually wanted to get to know her.
He was more reticent, however, when Selena asked about his past. He told her that he had left home early to go to the Kindred equivalent of law school, and that he had been practicing for a long time.
Selena wished she could ask him more in-depth questions—maybe about any past relationships he might have had. She wanted to know if Pashmeena’s theory that the big Kindred had gotten his heart broken was true or not. But she didn’t quite dare—he seemed to get stern and distant when she asked too much about his past—so she decided to just keep things light and fun.
It wasn’t hard to do—building the sandcastle brought out her inner child and she was delighted with the results. When they were finally done, the castle stood as tall as she was—thanks to Valen’s help—and included several turrets that she had decorated with lovely blue and green shells she’d found in the pink sand.
“There—a true work of art,” she told him, dusting her hands in satisfaction.
“A fleeting monument of beauty which will be ruined by the next tide,” Valen remarked, but there wasn’t any malice in his tone and he was grinning at her when he said it.
They washed the loose sand off them in the softly curling waves and then brought the sand-shaping kit back to the kiosk. Then Valen insisted on buying her a cream-cone from the stand beside it. It was a kind of cold, creamy treat a little bit like ice cream, but it didn’t melt all over the place, which was nice.
Selena tried to object that she’d had a big breakfast already and the cream stuff was probably fattening, but Valen fixed her with a stern look.
“How many times must I tell you that your curves are beautiful, little one?” he demanded. “Would I be showing you off in this skimpy little beach harness if they weren’t?”
He nodded down at the dark red strings that outlined her breasts and pussy and then tugged sharply on the leash, making Selena gasp.
“No, Master,” she moaned softly. “I…I guess not.”
“Good—I’m glad we understand each other. Now, what flavor do you like?”
In the end, Selena picked a purple-pink swirled cone that tasted a bit like spicy cinnamon almond and Valen got a dark green one with shiny silver flecks in it.