wrath of the Sea Queen (11 page)

Discovering
the
knowledge of his special her
itage
had co
me
at
a terrible price.  It hurt C
a
eli
deeply
and nearly cost Vin his
life
as well
.  Knowing
,
now
,
that the blood flowing through his veins
carried
an innate attenuation to the forces of the wind, and how that connection helped maintain the barrier, was a
responsibility
Vin carried willingly.  It was
the
choice he made when he decided to save C
a
eli instead of e
xacting vengeance on Antonius.

Looking toward the closed door of the bathroom, hearing
C
a
eli
happily bustling about, Vin had absolutely no regrets about his decision.  His life was perfect.

A few minutes later, C
a
eli returned, wearing his navy blue robe
,
which was much too big for her.  It hung down six inches over her feet
and nearly tripped her as she walked toward the bed.  C
a
eli
was holding
the robe
tightly
closed around her trim figure.  Vin sat up, on the o
pposite
side of the bed this time, as she moved to stand a few steps in front of him.

"
You look
like you got swallowed by a fabric store
in that.  What are you up to
now
?
"
  He shook his head and laughed at her.

"
I wanted to show you my new outfit
.
I finally worked up the nerve to buy something interesting.
  It's a swimsuit that can also be
worn as
a skirt and top
,
so that I can
also
wear it out to eat or
to
go shopping
without having to go back to the hotel and change clothes
. 
Since you aren't going
along
,
I wanted to get your opinion before I packed it away.  I'm a little bit nervous.  So be honest, but be nice.
"

C
a
eli opened the robe and let it fall to the floor, trying to give her best imitation of a model-like pose.  She watched for Vin's reaction as he looked up from where he instinctively reached down to catch the robe as it fell.  Then C
a
eli blushed deeply as she saw the intensity of the effect it had on him.  It took several moments before he could pick his jaw up off the floor, in addition to the robe.  The first thought
Vin
could voice didn't exactly sound like the compliment he intended.

"
Whoa!  Honey
, I do
n't think you
should
wear an
outfit like that
out
in public.
"
 

C
a
eli
was wearing
a sapphire
and baby
blue, two
-
piece
swimsuit
.  The
upper portion
had
crossed straps that joined together in the center and became the braided section of a wider strap that wound across her left shoulder.  The bottom
piece
was a typical bikini bottom with a
teasingly thin
skirt overlay
that swirled slightly in the
warm
breeze suddenly blowing through the room
. 
The skirt portion angled slightly lower on
the
right side than the left, perfectly accentuating
her delicate curves
. 
The removable sarong
gave the outfit the versatility to be worn elsewhere besides the beach. 

F
or half a heartbeat,
Vin's statement caused
C
a
eli
to believe
she m
ight
have misread
his
initial
reaction.

"
Really?  Is it too revealing? 
I tried so hard to find one that fit well. 
What's
wrong with it?
  Maybe I can fix it.
"
 

Vin laughed at her serious and innocent concern.  C
a
eli's typical attire, though flattering, could easily be called conservative.  She did not seek the
type of
attention that more revealing clothes might draw. 
In Vin's opinion,
it wasn't necessary
.  Anything she wore looked good on her. 
However, this outfit was a departure from
every
thing else in her wardrobe.

"
Oh no!  There
i
s nothing wrong with it
; n
ot
hing
at all!
"
  Stressing those last three words,
Vin
quickly reassured
C
a
eli
and drew her close to steal a kiss before he continued. 

"
You know
that
I think you look good in anything
, but this
is.…Wow!
  It might be worth
enduring
a week at the beach just to see you
in
it
again.
"

Vin held her out at arm's length, glancing up and down, admiring the view.  This time it was Vin who pulled her onto the bed
.  H
is hands wer
e playfully tempting C
a
eli to let him
review the outfit from a
much
closer
perspective
until
, at last,
her alarm clock started to buzz.  Regretfully, they both got up as the persistent sound prompted them to officially start their day.

As they headed toward the bathroom, C
a
eli noticed a large bruise on Vin's lower
left
leg
that she hadn't seen before
.

"What happened to your leg?"  She asked curiously.

"You were tossing around quite a bit
Friday night
.  I don't know if it was jet lag or something else
on your mind
, but you couldn't have slept well
.  You nudged me several times before landing the kick that did this
," Vin explained.

C
a
eli was a restless sleeper.  For as long as she could remember, C
a
eli
had
flailed about in her sleep. 
Oddly enough, while s
he
could not
control her involuntary movements
during her slumber
, Vin
could
.  For some reason, when she lay on his shoulder or chest, she was able to relax, and the movements typically subsided. 
C
a
eli
could
n
o
t deny Vin's good-natured teasing, insisting that she was under his spell.

"I'm sorry.  I didn't even realize
that
I
kicked you
,
"
she apologized.

"I know
, though I'm surprised you didn't wake yourself
with as much as you were
tossing
around
. 
I
woke
u
p several times
to check on you
.  After the kick that did this, I
finally
pulled you onto my shoulder, and you eventually settled down
and rested
."

"T
hat
's the
part I remember. 
You
do
make the perfect pillow. 
But
,
I am sorry.  I
t looks like it
still
hurts," C
a
eli observed with regret.

"You do swing a powerful kick. 
It m
ust be from
your
years on the
swim
team
. 
Nonetheless
, i
t
i
s not
as
bad
as it looks
.  It ha
s had twenty four hours to
don this lovely shade of purplish-green
. 
Now that we
'
re on the subject,
I
haven't
seen you
this restless in
quite
a while
.  Y
ou were
keyed up and stayed
up late last night, too.  When did you finally fall asleep?"