Goddess of the Sea (23 page)

“Absolutely not,” CC said firmly. In one quick motion she swept her hair back, leaving her breasts totally bared. Then, naked except for her jewelry, she started walking toward the sound of waves. But soon her steps faltered and she was suddenly unsure of herself.

“Call to him.” Gaea's voice came from behind her.

“Just call?” CC asked, looking over her shoulder at the goddess.

“He will hear you.” The mist started to close and thicken around Gaea, so that her last words were disembodied. “You cannot remain long tonight. There is a storm coming, and they will be looking for you. My blessing goes with you, Daughter.”

“I'll remember,” CC said to the mist before turning back to face the sound of water. She walked slowly forward, making her way carefully between the many rocks and shells that littered the sand. The fog surrounded her, brushing against her skin in a wet caress, forming tiny drops of dew which glistened to decorate her body like liquid jewels.

When her feet touched water she stopped, peering outward, but she could see nothing through the thick fog. Feeling a little foolish, she cupped her mouth with her hands and called to the merman.

“Dylan! Are you here?”

Only the sound of waves breaking against the rocky shore answered her. She sighed and cupped her mouth again.

“Dylan!”

CC felt him before she saw him. There was a tingling all along her skin that settled somewhere low in her stomach—and she knew he was there. Over the section of ocean that stretched in front of her the mist thinned.

Dylan broke the surface, sweeping his long dark hair from his sparkling eyes. His blood throbbed hot at the sight of her. She was so lovely, standing there in her exotic human body which was all soft curves and long, supple lines. Her beautiful face lit at the sight of him, and her full lips shaped a delighted grin that was solely Christine—his vibrant, joyous Christine.

There was laughter in his voice when he spoke. “You do not need to shout for me, Christine. You need only call me from here.” He smiled and pointed to his own temple. “Simply send your thoughts to me, as we do under the water. I will hear you.”

“Oh,” CC said inanely. She was sure he could also hear the herd of butterflies that were pounding around in her stomach. “I didn't know. Gaea just told me you would come if I called.”

His expression sobered. “Always, Christine. I will always answer your call.” He glanced around at the fog. “Is this the doing of your goddess?”

CC nodded. “It seems Sarpedon is on the prowl. Gaea says he can't find me in this. And, anyway, I think he's busy at the monastery tonight.”

“It almost makes me feel pity for the monks,” Dylan said, trying to lighten his voice, but it was clear the mention of Sarpedon made the merman uncomfortable.

“Don't be too hasty with your sympathy. I think that monastery could use a little shaking up, or at least that abbot sure could.” She dug her toes into the sand and looked down. She didn't want to tell Dylan about Sarpedon's possession of Andras. She could only imagine how it would make him feel—probably mad and jealous and frustrated that he couldn't do anything about it. And she didn't want the oppressive subject of Sarpedon to ruin her time with Dylan.

She glanced at the merman, and all thoughts of Sarpedon dissipated. Dylan's eyes were on her naked body. She could feel his gaze. It made her skin flush with a sensuous tingle.

He made her feel breathless and very nervous.

“I know it's not the third night, so I'm early, and, well, I can't
change
yet, but I'm glad you came.”

He smiled at her. “I am glad you appeared early.”

“Even if I can't, uh, be a mermaid tonight?” she stammered.

He raised one eyebrow, grinning at her boyishly. “Are you worried that I might let you drown?”

At his easy jest, CC felt her nerves loosen, and she smiled back at him. “Well, I do remember swallowing a lot of water the first time we met.”

He laughed. “That is only because I was unprepared for your kicking and squirming.” Drifting closer to shore he held one strong hand out to her and his voice deepened seductively. “Tonight I am prepared; come to me. I will not let you drown.”

Without hesitation, CC walked into the water. When her feet no longer touched ground, she began to swim, but before she could finish a full stroke Dylan pulled her into his arms.

“I think it would be safer if you allowed me to do the swimming,” he said with mock seriousness.

“And what will you do if I kick and squirm?” CC teased.

“I said that tonight I am prepared.” His arms circled her naked body, pressing her firmly against his chest. CC could feel the rhythmic beat of his powerful tail as he tread water, easily keeping both of them afloat in the calm, fog-shrouded ocean. “I will simply hold you closer.”

“That makes me want to kick and squirm,” she said breathlessly, his touch making her feel a little light-headed.

“And I will be careful that you do not drown,” Dylan murmured as he bent his head to her.

Their lips met in a rush of heat, and CC wrapped her arms around his shoulders, loving the mixture of hard muscle and slick, wet skin under her hands.

“Oh, Dylan,” CC whispered against his lips. “I missed you today.”

Dylan kissed her forehead softly. When he spoke his voice was rough with suppressed emotion. “I saw you.”

CC blinked in surprise. “You mean when I came to the beach to eat brunch?”

“Yes. With the man.”

CC touched his cheek gently, hating the haunted look in his eyes.

“I watched as he kissed you.” The merman's jaw clenched. “I have never before wished to have legs, but today I wanted nothing more than to walk from the waters and take you from him.”

A tingle of emotion flushed her body at his words. She took his face between her hands and looked into the deep brown of his eyes. “You need to know something.” She felt him tense, as if readying himself for a blow, and she hurried on. “I'm not very good at this. I mean I'm not very experienced in relationships. I really haven't had much practice, so there's a lot I'm not sure about. But there is one thing I do know. I won't lie to you. I believe in truth and fidelity. And I'm giving you my word that I do not want Andras. He is not the man for me.”

The tension in the merman's jaws relaxed under her hands, but his eyes were still shadowed.

“Man . . .” Dylan said, smiling sadly. “You say he is not the man for you, and I am glad of it. But I am also not a man.”

“I didn't mean—”

Dylan's lips brushed gently against hers. “
Shssh
. I have something to show you.”

Before CC could say more he flipped to his back, pulling her up so that she rested against him, safely out of the water. He propelled them backward, careful to keep her protected from the wash of waves while she lay securely within his arms.

“I did miss you,” she whispered into his ear. He didn't answer her, but she felt him nod, and his hand caressed the curve of her back intimately.

After traveling down the shoreline, Dylan stopped in front of a large arrangement of stone and coral, part of which towered above the ground. It was vaguely cavelike, but the top was open to the sky. It was round and reminded CC of a corral.

“There is no other way to enter than from under the surface. You will have to hold your breath, but it will not be for long.”

The sun had set, and it was almost totally dark, with the mist obscuring even the dim light left in the evening sky. CC looked nervously at the hulking structure that jutted imposingly out of the water. “Are you sure?”

Dylan smiled reassuringly at her. “Do you promise not to kick and squirm?”

“I'll be good,” she said, trying to laugh off her trepidation.

Dylan kissed her forehead gently and cupped her chin with his hand. “I would never cause you harm.”

His eyes were warm and she felt undeniably safe wrapped in his strong arms.

“I'm ready,” she said.

Dylan shifted her so that she floated in front of him, then he turned her so that her back was to him. His hands cupped her waist, which left her own hands free.

“When you are ready, take a deep breath and dive. I will do the rest.”

Before she could change her mind, she took a huge breath, nodded and stretching her arms over her head, she dove under the surface. Guiding and pushing her from behind, Dylan's power made CC feel slick and strong under the water—and she was almost disappointed at how quickly he angled them up so that their heads broke the surface together. CC shook the water from her face, laughing.

“Wow! That was almost like I had a tail of my own . . .” Her words trailed off as she registered the beauty that surrounded them.

They floated in the center of a ring of coral and rocks. As she had already observed from outside, the structure was open to the sky, and the circle formed a calm pool in the center, sheltering them from the rhythmic crashing of waves against rock. But that wasn't what was so spectacular about the structure. All around them hundreds, maybe even thousands, of phosphorescent blue fish the size of one of CC's thumbs, darted in schools of perfectly synchronized swimming. Their lights illuminated the ring of water with an otherworldly turquoise glow, giving their little section of the ocean the appearance of a swimming pool lit by magical, moving bulbs. It was an oasis of brilliance in their fog-shrouded world.

“Dylan,” CC breathed. “I've never seen anything like this.”

“That is not all.” He pulled her with him to the side of the wall. Pointing down at a little pocket of coral under the water, he said, “Watch.”

CC peered down into the clear, neon-lit water and gasped in wonder. Within the rocky pocket she could see two sea horses. The miniature equine replicas were about six inches long and colored mostly an amazing black-bronze, except for an area of their bodies that looked like waistcoats; there they were splashed with brilliant patches of pink, yellow, blue and white. As CC watched, the two creatures swam in delicate circles around each other, coming ever closer. Finally, they met in a trembling embrace, joining their bodies together.

“There are more.” Dylan's lips moved against her ear and he pointed to another place within the coral wall. CC followed his gesture to see that another pair of sea horses were beginning their graceful mating dance.

CC leaned back against the merman, wrapping her arms around his. “I didn't know there was such beauty in the ocean. I never spent much time around it, and I didn't realize how incredible it could be.” She turned fluidly in his arms. “You really are a wonderful teacher. Thank you for showing me.”

“I cannot imagine you away from the water.”

“It seems ridiculous now, but I used to be afraid of the water. As you may have noticed, I'm not even a very good swimmer.”

“Then you did not know any of the mer-folk in your old world?” Dylan asked.

CC laughed. “There aren't any mermen or mermaids where I come from.”

Dylan looked startled. “Are you certain?”

“Well, I'm pretty sure. They are considered mythological beings. People tell stories about them and draw pictures of them, but if they ever existed in my world they haven't been seen in more than a thousand years.”

Dylan studied the woman in his arms with new eyes. He was struck by the realization that he loved a woman who was not simply a land creature, but from a strange world where none of his kind even existed. How could he hope to win her love in return? He knew she found him interesting and probably even exotic and appealing, but those were not emotions on which to base a lifetime of love—they were fleeting, transient and would vanish like mist with the rising sun of experience. He began to understand the despair that had destroyed his mother.

“I must seem very strange to you.”

CC could hear the vulnerability in his voice and felt him pull away from her—not enough that she would be in danger of slipping under the surface, but the intimacy with which he had been holding her faltered, like he was suddenly afraid to be too close to her.

“Strange is not the word I would choose.” She tightened her arms around him, so that he had to come back to her.

“Then what word would you choose?” Dylan asked, trying hard to keep his voice neutral and his tumultuous emotions controlled.

“Well, I don't think one word would do—I think I would have to use several.” She kept one arm wrapped securely around his shoulder. With the other she let her hand trace a path down his face and over his chiseled cheekbone. “Beautiful,” she said softly, moving her fingertips down the side of his neck and over the firm muscle of his shoulder. “Spectacular,” she continued, stopping to caress his thick bicep before crossing over to his chest and continuing down. “Amazing.” CC's hand moved over the side of his taut waist. When her fingers felt the flesh of his skin change from human to mer-being, she hesitated and her gaze shifted to his eyes. He was watching her intently, and his breathing had deepened.

“I have legs now and not a tail,” CC said.

Her words made Dylan's lips curl up in a surprised ghost of a smile. “Yes, I did notice that,” he said.

“Have you ever, uh, been with a human woman before?” she asked.

Now his surprise was complete. “No! I have never before known a human woman.” He paused, trying to find the right words. “. . . in any way . . . What I mean is that I have not . . .”

CC nodded quickly. “So what you're telling me is that you've never been intimate with, or even known, a human woman, yet you don't seem to find me repulsive, even though right now my body is very definitely human.”