wrath of the Sea Queen (201 page)

"
You're staring at me,
"
she said softly, noticing Vin's gaze
and sensing
the emotion behind it.

The wind in the room stirred along with Vin's thoughts, playfully rippling through C
a
eli's hair.  Vin's heart beat faster as his desire for her suddenly
surged
and
became
overwhelmingly strong.  He stepped up close and
held
her in his arms,
passionately pressing his lips to hers
.  The
emotion
she
reciprocated
flowed stronger than ever
through their special bond
.
 
When
C
a
eli
allowed herself to
be pulled
further into his inviting embrace, Vin could not
restrain himself
.  He needed her. 
He wanted her. 
For several minutes, nothing else existed except the two of them.

Then, w
ith regret
,
Vin
forced himself
to
pull away. 
He
could
not only feel C
a
eli's excitement
through their bond
, he could
also feel the pain he was causing her where his
arms
put pressure on her injured
rib
s
and tugged against the wounds still mending on her stomach.  Despite outward appearances, C
a
eli was not fully
recovered
.
 
I
t was
much
too soon to entertain such thoughts as were
coursing
through
Vin's
mind at the moment.

"
I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to hurt you,
"
Vin said, trying to calm his heated emotions
as he held her at arm's length
.

"
A kiss like that was worth
it
.
"
  C
a
eli
found it
impossible to resist her
own emotions after having them so fervently stirred. 
She
purposefully
closed the distance
to Vin and returned
his
favor, encouraging the
emotion she felt rising in him,
successfully
tempt
ing him
to
draw her close once more.

Unfortunately, C
a
eli could not stifle a small whi
mper
of pain as Vin
pulled her
down to the bed. 
She did not want to deny him; she
very much
wanted
to be close to Vin
.  When C
a
eli
involuntarily
flinched
and pulled
away with pain in her ribs a few minutes later, it
finally
broke
the intens
ity
of the moment
.
 
Vin
c
ould not continue with her in pain
, and she simply could not conceal
he
r
pain
while allowing her other emotions to run free
. 
Vin
got up and helped C
a
eli to her feet. 
After
one last kiss, t
hey both
managed
,
reluctantly
, to
put
a lid on their simmering passion
.

"I'll take a rain check," Vin smiled at her.

Shortly thereafter, Vin and C
a
eli
walked out of their room and headed toward the lounge.

Maku was across the way with his video camera.  He
intended
to film Pete's treatment
so there
would be
a
record
of it
in case it might be helpful in the future.  He looked up when Vin and C
a
eli approach
ed
.  Both were smiling, m
ainly
at each other.  Maku
had
met Vin
previously
, but this was the first time
that
he
got to see
C
a
eli.  He immediately agreed with Apela's description of
her
.  She was certainly worthy of the festival contest.

He turned the video camera to film the couple as they walked
toward him
, arm in arm.  After all, Maku still needed
a
few candid shots
of one more lady
for the contest.  Maku
would
submit
the final
entry today, and
Vin’s wife
w
as
perfect.  Unbeknownst to
Salma
, Maku
had
submitted her photo the day before. 
He
ha
d asked Pete to get a few shots of Salma during her seminar. 
Maku
had no doubt that
either of these two lovely ladies
could take
home
the prize this year.  Of course, that was provided the storm didn't last too much longer and force them to completely cancel the festival
activities
.
  The weather still looked grim.

Maku
next
aimed
the camera toward Dr. Erickson as she finished setting up
the equipment
for
Pete
.  His brother
was sitting comfortably in a
recliner
by the far window with his feet propped up and an IV line
inserted in
to his arm. 
Attached to the
other end of the IV line was a
partially filled
bag containing
C
a
eli's
diluted
blood
.  When everything was
connected
,
Salma
set the machine so that it would drip slowly into Pete's arm. 
Her
original plan
had been
to give Pete a
series of
shot
s over the course of a
half
hour
, ge
t
t
ing
the blood into him
quickly
.  Then Ben reminded her of the nature of C
a
eli's gift, causing
Salma
to decide on this method instead.

After a parting kiss from Vin and
arriving in the lounge,
C
a
eli went
over
to sit on one of the sofas
opposite where Pete was being treated
.  Max climbed up beside her.  Since the ladies were not alone, and Maku agreed to keep an eye on them, the other three men went into the kitchen to cook dinner.  C
a
eli was confident that they would come up with something interesting, but it was Pete who currently held her attention. 

"
Salma, how long do you think it will take?
"
  C
a
eli asked curiously of Salma,
who st
ood
next to her.

C
a
eli spoke quietly so that Pete would not overhear.  She had been studying Pete ever since she walked into the room. 
It was obvious that h
e was very sick.  If she
tried
to
make an estimate
, C
a
eli would say he was
treading on
death
's doorstep
.  If Salma's treatment did
n
o
t work, Pete probably would not last more than another day or two, at the most. 

"
It's difficult to say.  I added water to the blood.  It seems to respond better that way.  I hope he will see improvement as soon as it integrates with his own.
"

"
Will it be soon enough?  He doesn't look
so
well.  Is there any way that I can help?
"
  C
a
eli offered.

Maku, who was sitting in a chair
near
C
a
eli, overheard her comments.  He
had been
thinking along th
ose
same lines
regarding Pete's condition
. 
Hearing such concern from this virtual stranger impressed him. 
This lady was not just a pretty face, but
was
also
caring
and generous
. 
She didn't even know Pete, but
readily offered her aid
. 
Having heard Apela's account of Vin's rescue mission, i
t
became
clear to Maku why Vin was so protective of h
is wife
.  She was a treasure, indeed.