by Lily Harlem
“I transferred a ton of cash to his bank account,” he blurted out with a grin, “an amount with several zeros on the end, this morning.”
“You did what? How?” I asked, holding my palms up. “And why? You’ve never even met him.”
“What has that got to do with anything?” he asked. “If he’s happy you’re happy, and that’s what’s important to me.”
“Yes,” Aimery said. “We don’t want you to have to worry about his well-being ever again.” Aimery reached forward and stroked my cheek. “And we know that worrying about your father makes you sadder than anything else. We want you to know that he is okay, more than okay.”
“But he will never accept it.” I shook my head. “He’s very proud. He won’t just take money from you.”
“Oh, he doesn’t know it’s from me,” Ryle said with a chuckle. “Aimery drew up a legal document with a complex trail that leads to a fictional long-lost distant relative who’d died with no close relations, leaving your father as the only beneficiary. It will be impossible for him to trace.”
I studied Aimery. “So you lied.”
Aimery looked unremorseful. “In my experience, people don’t question too many times where money has come from. Especially an amount that will leave him secure for the rest of his life.”
I stared out to sea again, feeling overwhelmed at the news that my father was now a wealthy man after living hand-to-mouth all of his life. “That really is very kind of you,” I said, watching a yacht pick up speed. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t need to say anything,” Ryle said. “This is the solution to Master Concord’s worries about you having a living relative who might question your life with us too deeply. We’ve made sure he had everything he needs, and always will. As far as your father is now concerned, you are with Aimery, a rich, jet-setting lawyer who is giving you a fabulous life, and your father is free to enjoy a comfortable retirement knowing his only daughter is happy and cared for.”
“Very happy and cared for,” I said with a smile. “But I can never repay you.”
“Do you mean financially?” Aimery asked.
“Yes,” I looked at him. “How can I possibly?”
Aimery leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. He linked his fingers and rested his chin on his knuckles. “Beatrice,” he said in his most serious voice. “Whatever figure of money Ryle deposited this morning is irrelevant. It’s done and he doesn’t expect you to pay it back.”
“Of course not,” Ryle chipped in. “Why would you even think that?”
“And,” Aimery went on, “you have already more than paid him, us, back in love, affection and by committing yourself to us.”
“But—”
Besides,” Ryle interrupted, “what do we need endless amounts of money for? I had to do something with it.”
“Everyone needs money,” I said.
“Mortals need money for food and clothes and a roof over their heads,” Aimery said. “We could survive without any of that. We choose not to. In order to blend in, we wear clothes—”
“Most of the time,” Ryle said with a wink.
“And we have become used to the comforts of modern living,” Aimery said. “But after centuries of working in a variety of professions, accumulating money that the Order has wisely invested, we both have more than we can ever spend and it’s growing all the time.”
“You mean you’re like really rich?” I asked.
Aimery laughed, a lovely deep rumble of a sound. “Well, I thought you would have guessed that from the fact we have a private island, jet and boat,” he said with a gentle smile.
“Well, yes, but you’re a lawyer, lawyers get paid well.”
“True, but I only work on Order business when they need me, and that is not for a salary—it is my duty.”
“So you don’t have to work every day?”
“No,” Ryle said. “We can do whatever we want. The world, as they say, is our oyster.” He shrugged. “We just can’t eat it.”
I was quiet for a moment. Absorbing the fact I’d married two guys who were fabulously wealthy and whose only occupation, it seemed, was to keep me happy and satisfied.
“So what do you think?” Aimery asked. “Let’s winter here, enjoy the sun, the sand, the sea, and of course each other.” He paused and gave me a sexy smile, one that made my heart melt all the more for him, not least because he just looked so relaxed and happy. “And then in the spring we can decide what to do next.”
I pulled in a deep breath as a bubble of emotion welled in my chest. Just when I thought I couldn’t be any happier, I was. “It sounds wonderful.” I paused, a sudden thought hitting me. “But what will I tell Dad? I can’t just not go home when I said I would.”
“Easy,” Aimery said. “Tell him I have some work come up here and you’re going to stay to keep me company. He doesn’t need you back to help him now, he can hire as many employees as he wants, or even sell up and move to the sun himself.” He paused. “Though I do hope he likes me enough to be happy that you’re spending time with me.”
I touched his hand. It was cold despite the glare of the sun on it. “I know he likes you, a lot, more than any other guy I’ve ever dated.”
“We’re more than dating,” Aimery said with a slight frown.
“I know.” I stroked my palm down his smooth cheek. “I’m yours and you’re mine.”
He nipped the soft pad at the base of my thumb, not hard, not with his fangs. Just playfully. “Too right, now why don’t we head back and send your father an email to say you’re staying in paradise.”
An hour later our island came into view. Aimery was steering the boat and Ryle and I sat on the back deck. Despite the sun I’d pulled a shawl around my shoulders. The sea breeze was laced with coolness.
“Ryle,” I said, snuggling into him, not that he provided me with any warmth, just a bit of shelter. “How did you become a vampire?”
He put his arm around me and tugged me closer. “Why do you want to know?”
“I’m just interested, that’s all.”
Aimery turned, glanced at us then set his concentration back on the horizon.
“I was born one,” Ryle said.
“What? Is that even possible?”
Ryle stroked his finger over my forearm and circled a bite mark on my wrist that was almost healed after just eight hours. “Of course. My parents were both vampires, so it figures that’s what I’d be. I don’t know any different.”
“And your parents, are they still…?” I struggled for the right word, for I knew Aimery and Ryle always referred to themselves as existing rather than being alive. “Here?”
“My mother is, last I heard, in Thailand, working with the poor. And my father…” He tensed and curled his hand into a fist. “He was banished from the Order in 1459.”
“Why? What did he do?”
“Benedict’s ancestors created a new law that said no more vampires could be born. Members had to mate only with humans to avoid this.”
“But why would a law like that be passed?”
“With a population of just over five thousand, and in the wake of the Bombay blood frenzy, it was deemed uncontrollable to have more of us in the world.”
“Because you don’t die?”
“Exactly, and if we just kept breeding eventually we would out-populate humans, there would be no blood to drink and our existence would have no meaning.”
I nodded. “And your father?”
“He disagreed with this law. He believed that world domination was the way ahead for vampires. He was in the minority and was eventually ousted from the Order.”
“So he could still be in existence?”
“The likelihood is slim. Reports came in four hundred years ago that the Carlton Pack had him cornered in Alaska. He wouldn’t have survived that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“Who are the Carlton Pack?” I aske
d. I’d heard them mentioned before, in chambers.
“Wolves.”
“Dolphins,” Aimery said, suddenly slowing the boat. The breeze dropped and the hum of the motor faded. “Look, they’re right beside us.”
I shed the shawl and jumped up. Sure enough there was a pod of bottlenose dolphins lining the port side of the boat.
“Beatrice. Go down to the swim deck and see if they come over to you,” Aimery suggested with a smile.
The boat fell silent and its movements reduced to a slow bob. I grinned up at Aimery, excitement churning within me at being so close to real, live dolphins.
“I’ll come with you,” Ryle said, grabbing a bag from the cooler. “They might come closer if we tempt them with fish. You’ll get a better look.”
Now that the boat had stopped, the intensity of the sun warmed my shoulders again. But I barely noticed as I climbed down to the ten-by-five swim platform designed for getting in and out of the water after a dip.
“Oh look, they’re coming,” I said to Ryle.
Quickly, I sat on the edge and dipped my legs into the cold, dark ocean. Immediately I caught the gaze of one dolphin whose head was breaching the surface. His eye was round and glossy, his skin looked so smooth. My hand itched to touch him, stroke him, learn the texture of his wet flesh.
Ryle sat next to me and dangled his long legs in the water too.
Suddenly the dolphin turned and thwacked his tale, creating spray and ripples. He disappeared.
“Oh no,” I said, disappointed. ‘”I thought he might come over.”
Another three dolphins glanced out the water at me, but they wouldn’t come as near as the first one had.
“Can I tempt them with a fish?” I asked, holding my hand out to Ryle.
“Sure.” He passed me a slippery sardine. “Try this.”
I held it up by the tail then dipped it in the water, imagining I was spreading its taste. The first dolphin eyed me again from a distance.
“Come here,” I said softly. “I won’t hurt you.”
“Any luck?” Aimery asked from the deck behind me.
“No, he’s too scared.”
“Well, I’m not surprised,” Aimery said, exasperation in his voice. “Ryle, get your legs out of the water.”
“Oh shit, sorry. Of course.” Ryle quickly tugged his feet up and stood, splashing fat drips onto the deck and over my sundress. “I didn’t think.”
“Why would that matter?” I asked, not taking my attention from the dolphin and still waggling the long fish in the air.
“They’ll sense he’s different,” Aimery said. “All animals do.”
“So no pet puppies for Christmas, then,” I said.
“Um, no, dogs are my least favorite things,” Ryle said with a huff.
I glanced up at his sulky face.
“Here he comes,” Aimery said. “Look, Beatrice.”
The dolphin was getting closer, his long, blunt nose and upturned end of his mouth becoming clearer. “Oh wow,” I said, “he’s beautiful.”
He was so streamlined moving through the surface of the water. Small ripples slid around his face and body. He was much bigger than I’d thought he would be, darker too, a beautiful stormy silver-gray. He had a tiny chunk out of his fin and I wondered what had happened to him.
“Hey there,” I said, when he was less than three feet away. “Would you like a fish? Fresh from the market.” I leaned forward and offered him the scaly-skinned treat.
He made a strange clicking sound and opened his mouth. I threw the fish toward him and he caught it.
“Wow, did you see that?”
“He likes you,” Aimery said.
“Here.” Ryle passed me another fish.
I held it out and tipping over the edge slightly I felt Ryle hook his hand on the back of my dress to stop me falling in.
“Would you like another?” I asked.
This time the dolphin came even closer. He opened his mouth, exposing his gray tongue and long rows of tiny teeth. I popped the fish in and he bobbed his head as if saying thank you.
I wanted to shout my delight but I held it in for later, afraid of scaring him away.
“Stroke him,” Aimery said. “He won’t hurt you.”
“Do you think he’ll mind?”
“You won’t know if you don’t try.”
I seized the moment, reached out and petted the side of his head. He was slippery and smooth, his skin not like my skin but rubbery and hard.
“Oh, you’re lovely,” I cooed, stroking him a little more. He didn’t appear to mind me touching him at all. His black eye was staring straight at me, full of curiosity, wonder and delicate trust.
Suddenly another dolphin came up, nudged him on the side and made that rapid clicking noise. With a sudden splash and a fizz of white foam they were both gone.
“Oh, did I scare him?” I asked, sad that the spell had broken.
“No.” Aimery laughed. “I think that was his mother telling him not to talk to strangers.”
“He was a baby, then?”
“I would say about three years old. Some of the others were much bigger than him.”
Ryle laughed. “He’s obviously a handful, then.”
The pod was moving off now, skimming over the water, leaping in and out in a constant rise and fall.
“That was something I’ve always wanted to do,” I said, standing. “I’ve read about other people having experiences with dolphins, feeding them, swimming with them but never imagined I would.” I grinned at both my husbands. “That was just incredible.”
“Seeing you smile is incredible,” Aimery said. “We’ll come dolphin spotting every single day if that’s what you want.”
“Yes, that sounds great.”
“I kinda like Bea spotting, myself,” Ryle said, suddenly dragging me up against his body.
My breath caught as he kissed me hard and hungrily—the type of Ryle-kiss that blew my mind and made my body buzz to have him in me.
I heard the boat engine start.
Ryle broke our kiss. “Wait, Aimery, I’m going to swim back from here.”
“You are.” I glanced at the island. I could see our small pier and the villa’s long, red roof.
“Yeah, it’s not far, about a quarter of a mile. I like the feel of the water around me.”
Quarter of a mile. I reckoned I could do that. Plus the exercise would do me good, all this pampering and delicious food should be balanced out. “I’ll come with you,” I said.
Ryle looked surprised. “You will?”
“Sure.” I peeled off my sundress and tossed it up to the middle deck.
Ryle’s gaze slid down my body. I wore nothing but tiny red knickers and I could see his approval of the plan quite plainly. He hitched in a breath and rubbed his hands together.
“Last one in is a pansy,” I said.
Chapter Seventeen
With one bound I was in the water. It bubbled around my ears and the chill stabbed my skin. But the second I broke the surface, I struck out my arms and headed toward the island.
“See you there,” Aimery shouted from the boat.
Ryle was beside me in an instant, his strokes smooth and seemingly effortless whereas I had to work at my swimming.
The cold was refreshing on my near-naked body, tightening my nipples and swirling between my legs. The gentle undulations of the waves bobbed me along as I settled into breaststroke. At one time I might have been afraid of swimming in the open ocean, but Ryle and Aimery made me feel so safe, like there was nothing they couldn’t or wouldn’t do to protect me. They’d told me enough times, and experience assured me they would stick to their word.
“Are you enjoying your swim?” Ryle asked after a few minutes.
“Yes, though it’s a little farther than I thought.”
“If you get tired, tell me, I’ll swim for both of us.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said determinedly.
But the current was strong, and
, after another twenty minutes I was feeling fatigued and no longer cold, but hot and out of breath.
“Come here,” Ryle said, reaching for me. “Let me help.”
“No, we can’t be more than a few hundred yards away.” I slipped my arm from his grasp. “I can do this.”
He chuckled and that just hardened my resolve all the more. I firmed up my movements and set my sights on the long wooden deck that stretched across the back of our villa. I could see the sunbed with its white linen curtains wafting in the breeze and the thought of flopping onto it in just a few minutes kept me going.
Aimery was home already. The boat was moored and I saw him go through the big folding doors and then come out, a minute later, with a drink for me.
Eventually, just before exhaustion gripped my body, the tips of my toes touched sand and the waves began to break around me.
“You can stand here,” Ryle said.
He was already upright, not even vaguely out of breath, and his wet shoulders glimmering in the brilliant sunlight.
Relief washed through me as my feet flattened on the sand and I stood. “I did it,” I gasped.
“You certainly did.”
Next thing I knew I was in his arms, pressed against his chest and being carried through the rolling waves.
“Hey,” I said, indignant that he thought I needed carrying.
“Your legs will feel like jelly when you try to stand after that long swim,” he said, marching out the water. “So I think this is our best option.”
“Nothing wrong with my legs,” I said, swinging them.
He raised his eyebrows and looked at my kicking feet and my bright pink toenails. “Okay, point taken, in that case, let’s just say I’m doing this for selfish reasons.”
“What’s that?” I linked my fingers behind his neck and squeezed myself closer. My nipple pressed over his and my breaths were still coming fast. I had a pretty good idea how Ryle’s mind worked and could have guessed his answer.
“Let’s just say I want you to have some energy for later, seeing you in nothing but a teeny, tiny pair of knickers and diving off the back of the boat has made me hot for you.”
“Everything I do seems to make you hot for me,” I said then giggled.
