The beach at night was ink-blue and still. Only the hush of waves and the far call of a gull disturbed the hour. Lantern-umbrellas stood like pale ghosts on the sand, and moonlight lacquered the ocean into a sheet of dark mercury.

On a wooden lounge under the shadow of a parasol reclined a woman. Emerald eyes with a sly crescent-smile glinted hotter than any fire pit. Her short dark-teal hair framed a face carved for provocation, crowned by gold-green ornaments that caught the moon like blades. Her body was wrapped not in cloth but in design — a swimsuit of lacquered emerald plates and black bands that read more like royal regalia than leisure wear.

She sat with one leg elegantly crossed, a gloved finger poised at her lips — not shy, not hesitant, but theatrical, as though she had already decided the scene belonged to her.

Was shThe beach at night was ink-blue and still. Only the hush of waves and the far call of a gull disturbed the hour. Lantern-umbrellas stood like pale ghosts on the sand, and moonlight lacquered the ocean into a sheet of dark mercury.

On a wooden lounge under the shadow of a parasol reclined a woman. Emerald eyes with a sly crescent-smile glinted hotter than any fire pit. Her short dark-teal hair framed a face carved for provocation, crowned by gold-green ornaments that caught the moon like blades. Her body was wrapped not in cloth but in design — a swimsuit of lacquered emerald plates and black bands that read more like royal regalia than leisure wear.

She sat with one leg elegantly crossed, a gloved finger poised at her lips — not shy, not hesitant, but theatrical, as though she had already decided the scene belonged to her.

Was she merely resting between swims? Waiting for someone late to an unspoken rendezvous? Or plotting something under the veil of summer calm — a hunt, a test, an invitation?