Dolphin's Playground

by Jaci Burton

  “Mermaids, you mean?”

  He nodded. “Yes, mermaids, mermen, many other types of beings you had thought were only fantasies.”

  “Where did you all come from?”

  He led her back to the sofa. She sat, tucking her feet underneath her.

  “We’ve always been here, just as your kind have always been here.”

  Her kind. Humans. This was totally unreal, and yet her entire being embraced what he said as fact. Excitement bubbled up inside her. “What else can you tell me? Can you tell me about your civilization? What about your customs? Does everyone live in a place like this? Do you have cities, states, countries?”

  “One question at a time,” he murmured, tucking an escaping tendril of her hair behind her ear.

  She shuddered at his touch, her body warming. She needed him again, wanted him next to her, inside her, a part of her. Despite what she’d just discovered, despite the realization he wasn’t quite human, she still wanted him.

  Reaching for his face, she cupped his cheeks, pressing a kiss to his mouth. His generous lips curled upward in a grin. “Was that a question, or a request?”

  “Just a passing thought.”

  “I like the way you think.”

  He reached for her, but she laid her palms on his chest. “Answer my questions first, Trey.”

  “I’ve already told you too much. Land humans don’t belong down here.”

  “Land humans? That’s what you call us?”

  “Among other things.”

  The disdain in his voice was evident. “You don’t care for my…species, I guess you’d call it…do you?”

  “Land humans belong on land. My people belong down here. We’re not meant to mix. One culture doesn’t assimilate well into another.”

  “And has that happened before? Do your people live on land?”

  He averted his eyes, but not before she caught the pain reflected in the crystal blue depths. “Some do. It’s frowned upon, forbidden, actually.”

  Jaz shook her head, more confused than ever. Not only did she have a mountain of curiosity about Oceana, but she sensed a deep pain within Trey and she suddenly wanted to know what caused him hurt more than she wanted to know about Oceana.

  “What happened, Trey?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Did something happen to one of your people?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it, Jasmine.”

  “This has something to do with a woman, doesn’t it?”

  He arched a brow. “What makes you say that?”

  “You have a hurt look. Someone hurt you. A woman.” She reached for him, refusing to be put off when he pulled away. “I’m right, aren’t I? Tell me about her.”

  He shrugged as if it didn’t matter. She knew it did. “There’s nothing to tell. There was this woman, years ago—an Oceanic woman. We were supposed to marry, had been together many years. I thought I was enough for her, but she chose to live on land. She wanted to be a land human more than she wanted to remain in Oceana.”

  What he didn’t say was that this woman chose land over him. “That had to have hurt you.”

  “Nothing hurts me. I just learned that it’s foolish to trust any woman, or love any woman.”

  “You can trust me, Trey.”

  “You’re a woman, Jasmine. Trust isn’t in my vocabulary. Now let’s drop this subject.”

  Don’t push him. Not now Setting aside the pain at his words, she nodded and said, “Okay, I won’t ask you to tell me any more about your relationship with the woman who hurt you. But I do have a lot more questions.”

  “Start asking.”

  “No, don’t say any more!”

  A booming voice made her jump, her gaze gravitating to the source.

  A man stood at the doorway. He was very tall, older than Trey, and imposing as hell. Long, dark hair was quickly drying against his neck. His sharp gaze was focused on her.

  Dear God, he was beautiful. Fierce, like a warrior, with his flowing black hair and cerulean eyes that seemed to cut right through her. His body was magnificent—hard, firm and muscled. A cloth of some sort was fastened at his hips, dropping down low on one side. The result was a teasing glimpse at a nearly naked, perfect male specimen.

  But he looked angry as hell. He held a trident in his hand, a vicious looking weapon that made him appear all the more imposing.

  Immediately scrambling behind Trey, her body trembled at the deep timbre of the man standing just inside the watery doorway.

  “You had no right to bring her here, Triton. No right to tell her the things you’ve told her.”

  “I had no choice, Ronan.” Trey stood, holding out his hand for Jasmine. With great reluctance, she followed as they approached the one called Ronan, but Jaz didn’t care at all for the way he was looking at her.

  Looking at her. And she was stark naked! She quickly grabbed the discarded sheet near her feet, hurriedly wrapping it around her body. She looked at Trey, who smiled and shook his head.

  “There is always choice, Triton,” Ronan said, not even glancing in her direction. “You know better than to bring a land human here. What is it with these females? First, Dax, now you. You know the trouble we had with Isabelle.

  “Isabelle and Dax turned out fine. Don’t worry about this, Ronan. I’ll take care of it.”

  Take care of it? Did that mean her? And what exactly would he take care of? “Excuse me, but who are you?”

  Ronan turned a sharp gaze on her, then nodded slightly. “My apologies for being so rude, Dr. Quinlan. I am Ronan.”

  “Nice to meet you, Ronan. Now can you tell me what’s going on?”

  “I think Triton has told you enough. You aren’t supposed to be here.”

  Like her presence in Oceana was her fault? “I realize that, but the fact of the matter is I am here. You might as well answer my questions.”

  Ronan turned his frowning gaze to Triton. “I warned you about this.”

  “I had no choice. What was I supposed to do? Let her die? It was my fault she got hurt in the first place.”

  Trey’s fault? How could that be? He wasn’t even there at the time. She stupidly veered into the rock ledge because she’d been trying to avoid a shark or something.

  She rubbed her temples as a memory flash sailed through her mind. No, not a shark. It had been a dolphin. The dolphin from the aquarium, the one who’d been hovering outside Trey’s sanctuary. But if he said it was his fault, that meant…

  “The dolphin.”

  Trey and Ronan both turned to her.

  “The perfectly formed Bottlenose had been outside the sanctuary. I swore he had almost human qualities. When you appeared, Trey, the dolphin disappeared.” Putting her thoughts into words made her shiver. It couldn’t be, could it?

  Trey opened his mouth to speak, but Ronan spoke first. “You already know too much.” Before she could object, he turned to Trey. “Triton, deal with this now.”

  Trey’s eyes narrowed. “She deserves to know. I trust her.”

  A warmth crept into her soul at his words. He trusted her, with what must be an incredible secret. The very fact she was here, underwater, that Trey had already told her more than he obviously should have, touched her deeply.

  “Why?” Ronan asked.

  “Why do I trust her? Because she has the dolphins’ interests at heart. She’s made breakthroughs in the disease, Ronan. She knows what she’s doing. She wants to help cure them.”

  Ronan laughed. “She’s a land human, and doesn’t have the knowledge we do. She can’t help.”

  Okay, that was about enough. She’d stood by long enough and listened to them talk about her as if she wasn’t even there. “Excuse me, but why are we discussing my dolphins?”

  Ronan arched a brow and said, “Your dolphins?”

  “Yes, my dolphins. I’ve been working my ass off trying to find a cure for their disease. And I’m close to finding the cause, which means an antidote will follow. Are you telling me you’ve been
trying to cure them?”

  “Of course we have been,” Ronan said. “The dolphins are part of Oceana.”

  She crossed her arms and cast him a smug look. “So why did they come to me?”

  Trey snorted a laugh. Ronan glared at both of them. “You seem very sure of yourself, Dr. Quinlan.”

  “I’m good at my job, Ronan. I’ve nearly isolated a new bacterium that could be the cause. In fact, the reason for my dive was to verify what I’d found. Now, you want to tell me you’ve found what I’ve found? And if so, then why haven’t you cured them?” She didn’t know who this guy was, but got the idea he was somebody with major influence in Oceana. Nevertheless, she found his attitude condescending and insulting.

  Ronan’s eyes widened. “Condescending and insulting?”

  Oh, holy hell, she knew she hadn’t said that out loud. “How did you do that?”

  “We possess the powers of mental telepathy, Jaz,” Trey answered. “Be careful what you think.”

  She looked at Trey. “You can read my mind?”

  “Yes.”

  All the things she’d thought on land, all the fantasies she’d had about him. Had he heard them all?

  “No, not everything. Some, yes, but not all. I try not to invade, especially those who do not know their minds are being read. Your secrets, whatever they are, Jaz, are safe.”

  It was damned disconcerting having someone inside her head. She’d have to be more careful what she thought.

  “Enough of this,” Ronan said, “Get her back on land where she belongs. And erase her memory before she goes.”

  “What?” She didn’t know what that meant, but didn’t care one bit for the sound of it. “No one is going to erase my memory without my permission. This is my body and my mind and no one is going to fuck with it.”

  “Cheeky little thing, isn’t she?” Ronan said to Trey.

  “You bet she is. Damn smart, too.” Trey tried to keep his face serious, but Jaz caught his near-smile.

  “And you think she can be of some help?”

  Trey nodded. “With her knowledge and our laboratories, she might be able to come up with a solution to our problem.”

  Ronan studied her, as if trying to decipher how trustworthy she was. Really, the man was insufferable. And she didn’t give a damn if he did read that comment from her mind.

  Then his lips twitched. Subtle, and gone as soon as she’d noticed it. Surely the ogre wasn’t trying to fight a smile, was he?

  “Very well, Triton. See that it’s done. But watch her. I don’t want her to know more than she has to. Although it doesn’t matter, anyway. Soon enough she’ll forget.”

  “Would somebody please tell me what the hell that means?” she asked.

  “It means what it means, Dr. Quinlan. But thank you for working so diligently to save our dolphins.”

  Oh sure. Just as she was about to tell him to kiss her ass, he had to go and say something nice. “You’re welcome.”

  Ronan turned and walked through the doorway, completely disappearing in the water outside.

  “Insufferable bastard.”

  Trey laughed, then. Loud and hard. “I swear, I’ve never seen anyone give Ronan as hard a time as you just did. Normally, our people just about fall at his feet.”

  “Why?” She followed him to the monitors, watching as Trey moved his hand across them. Visuals of the ocean sprang to life.

  “Because of who he is.”

  “Who is he?”

  “Land humans think of him as Neptune, or Poseidon. He is the master guardian of all the living things in the ocean.”

  She was certain her jaw dropped to her chest. “Neptune?”

  Trey shrugged. “It’s folklore, actually. But that is his official name, although he prefers to go by Ronan. Either way, he is what you would call the ruler of the oceans.”

  Holy hell. And she’d just insulted the hell out of him. Nice move there, Jaz.

  “Would have been nice if one of you had told me that before I spoke to him like he was nobody.”

  “Ronan can take it. He gets too uppity sometimes anyway.”

  Jaz tilted her head. “I see you don’t give him the honor he deserves.”

  “He’s my brother and an irritating pain in the ass sometimes.”

  “Your brother?” Every ounce of blood dropped to her feet. She felt lightheaded, dizzy, her mind no longer able to comprehend all that she’d learned in a short period of time.

  “Yeah. Don’t make a big deal of it. We’re just normal people. Well, normal for Oceana anyway.”

  All her childhood fantasies, legends of Poseidon and the creatures under the sea. All of it was true. This was just too much.

  “Sit down, Jasmine,” Trey said, finally noticing her distress. “You look pale.”

  He pulled up a chair and she plopped down. “I just can’t believe all this.”

  “Well, you’d better get a grip on it because we have a lot of work to do.”

  He was right. Despite her shock, her attempts at assimilating all she’d heard, the one fact remained that dolphins were still sick and needed her attention. As soon as she isolated the cause, they’d be able to develop an antidote. And right now, that had to be her primary focus.

  “You’re right. The dolphins are our first priority. Where do we start?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Trey was impressed at Jasmine’s fortitude. Not many women could go through what she’d been through in the past twenty-four hours and not be traumatized by it.

  Instead, she seemed to have embraced life in Oceana as if she’d been born here.

  Disconcerting thought. One that made him feel like he’d never felt before.

  A woman he cared about who actually liked living in the sea.

  No. He didn’t care for her. They were simply emotionally joined because of the dolphins, not because of any feelings he had for her.

  They had work to do, and they had to hurry before they lost any more dolphins. Now was not the time to think about how her skin reflected the water’s light, about how her hair fell in soft waves down her back, or the way she chewed her lower lip when she was concentrating.

  After Ronan left, Triton took her to the lab, careful to limit the number of Oceana residents in there. His first choice was to make them all leave, but their scientists had work of their own and needed to be there. All non-essential personnel were asked to make themselves scarce. It wouldn’t do for her to see that many people besides him. The more memories she gathered, the more difficult it would be to erase them when the time came.

  And when that time came, he would leave her life and her memories.

  The thought of Jaz not being able to remember him and all they’d had together caused a sharp ache in his chest. Shouldn’t it make him happy to know he’d finally be able to break free of her? That his ties to a land human would be severed?

  That’s what he wanted. He hadn’t wanted to go topside in the first place, least of all to get involved with a woman there. A land human. Too close to Leelia, too many bad memories.

  So why did he ache all over at the thought of never seeing her again?

  “Your lab equipment is incredibly high-tech.”

  Jasmine’s voice brought him back to the here and now, where he was supposed to be. “Does it help?”

  She peered into their microscopes. “Hell yes it helps. This stuff is fantastic. Cuts the working time in half. Where did you get the bacterium samples, by the way?”

  “From the lab topside. By the way, the aquarium staff thinks you’re on a research trip to find out more about the bacterium. The dolphins are unchanged, status wise, and your crew is looking forward to your return.”

  “They’d never believe that I’d leave the dolphins.”

  “I kind of helped them along with a suggestion.”

  “What do you mean, you helped them along?”

  “It’s kind of complicated.”

  “And I’m kind of smart. So tell me.”

&nbs
p; “It’s a psychic connection. I tap into their brains with a subliminal message. Sort of like projecting something on a movie screen. They see images in their head, putting in what I want them to know.”

  “I see. Like what you’ll do to my memories once this is over.”

  “Sort of.” He wondered how she felt about that. Her reaction was unclear as she kept her emotions masked. More importantly, how did he want her to feel about it?

  “As long as they don’t think I’m lying dead in the bottom of the ocean, I suppose that’ll work. I wish you didn’t have to do that to them, though.”

  “What would you have me tell them, Jaz? That you suffered an injury while diving and I rescued you, and you’re doing a bit of research in Oceana, an underwater civilization no one is supposed to know about, and you’ll be back later?”

  She scrunched her nose. “I guess not. This is all just so…complicated, Trey.”

  Indeed, it was. More than even she could imagine. “I know. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it has to be. We’ve survived down here forever without land human intervention because we’ve managed to keep our existence a secret. With the media as it is today, can you imagine what would happen if your people found out about our existence?”

  “I wouldn’t tell them.”

  “We can’t afford to take the chance it might slip out. One of the primary reasons we keep Oceana undiscovered by land humans.”

  “So everything I know about this place, the incredible things I’ve seen, will all be erased from my memories.”

  “Yes. There’s no other choice.”

  She hesitated, then nodded. “I guess I understand the necessity. Shall we get back to work?”

  Just like that, she’d shut him off, as if she didn’t care.

  He rolled his eyes and went back to work, disgusted with himself. Here he was mooning about how Jaz felt, when he didn’t want her around in the first place. And he sure as hell didn’t want any attachments, especially to a land human.

  It was best this way. Do their jobs, bring the dolphins back to health and return Jasmine to land, where she belonged.

  Without memories of him or Oceana.