A new sense of desperation swept through him. He wished he could be there to comfort her and reassure her she wasn’t losing her mind. But he wouldn’t be able to shift again until the first rays of sunlight sparkled against the ocean water. Until then, he was trapped here beneath the ocean. Without her.
In the near distance, he spied Catalina’s bikini top and bottom floating close to each other about a foot below the surface and his hearts quickened with excitement. Propelling himself through the current, he grabbed each piece. Using the sensory organs on his tentacles he took in her scent and within a second it turned his body into an agonizing ball of alertness. Her female scent was all over the material. He absolutely loved her sexy smell. Like wildflowers and ocean waves and female.
Calder closed his eyes and curled his tentacles tighter around the suit pieces, embracing them, wishing she was here. For the first time in his entire shapeshifting life, he couldn’t wait until morning. Couldn’t wait until he had land legs again. Couldn’t wait to be with Catalina.
Catalina trembled from head to toe as she stepped into her tiny shower. Despite her earlier comfort at seeing that wonderful rainbow out on the ocean, over that houseboat, her relief had collapsed as Misty ran down the beach and into the water to hug her with such fierceness it unnerved Cat. There were several other people milling around, concerned for her safety, and all she wanted to do was get to the privacy of her RV.
“My God! I thought you were dead. I was sleeping for a good hour. One second you were there and then I drifted off to sleep, and when I woke up I couldn’t find you. Someone said they saw a red air mattress about a mile out in the ocean and then I really freaked. And like I told the lifeguard, you would have woken me up if you’d decided to go somewhere. I was about to call 9-1-1.”
“She should go to the first-aid shack so I can check her out,” the young man said.
“I’m fine. Seriously,” she lied. “I’d just like to get back to my RV and get changed.”
Thankfully her throw covered all necessary private parts and, because she’d remained in the deep water and put the throw on while there, it was sopping wet and she was truly cold.
“I should have asked you these questions earlier, but you mentioned an undertow. Did you black out? Hit your head? Anything like that?” the lifeguard questioned. He shifted nervously and Cat figured maybe he hadn’t followed proper protocol about calling 9-1-1 due to his inexperience or panic.
“Oh my God, Cat! You could have drowned,” Misty cried and once again threw her arms around Catalina.
“I’m fine. Believe me. I just got pulled out and had to swim back.”
The lifeguard didn’t appear to believe her as he frowned and shook his head. Gosh was she that transparent?
Thankfully, he went to report the incident, but Misty had been like a clinging vine as she’d brought Cat to her RV and insisted on spending the night. But Cat had been adamant Misty was overreacting, reminding her friend she would be late for her date with a hottie fireman on her one night off. It had been hell getting her to leave, but Cat had just wanted to be alone to think.
Thank God for dates.
Catalina stepped into the shower and the warm water beat down against her pleasantly sore nipples. Gosh, not only were her nipples tender, but the harsh crash of water made them bead and harden with exquisite arousal. Actually, the silky water splashing against her skin made her flesh tingle wonderfully, as if the liquid were embracing her, hugging her, comforting her. It was weird to think about water being her friend, especially after what had happened out in the ocean.
She shivered as she remembered looking down at herself, admiring her tentacle tattoos and imagining them coming to life.
Maybe she had been caught in an undertow and conked her head. Maybe she had imagined her arms and legs being tentacles and mating with some half-human, tentacle man who looked like Calder. Yeah, she must have hit her head, and maybe it had been some Dorothy-in-the-Land-of-Oz adventure?
She sighed heavily and reached for her peach-scented soap. Whatever had happened, she’d blacked out today. Twice. All this blacking out was just not normal. But both times she’d fantasized about Calder. Huh, odd. Maybe Misty was right. Maybe she should go see a doctor.
Lathering her body, she paid particular attention to her sensitive pussy and sore ass. Triple penetrated? By tentacles? Those were crazy ideas. Really crazy. If she went to a doctor and explained what she believed had happened, she’d be thrown into a mental institution for observation or, at the very least, told to have brain tests done. Tests she just didn’t have the money for since she wasn’t even insured!
No, she would just have to take a wait-and-see approach.
After shampooing her hair and rinsing her soap, she turned off the faucets, slid open her glass shower door and stepped into her bathroom. Just then, she noticed a folded piece of paper lying on the floor.
Picking it up, she unfolded it and found a credit card inside. The paper was a receipt made out to Calder for a boat slip rental. The credit card was in his name.
Oh dear. It must have slipped out of his pants when he’d hung them up. He might need the card tomorrow. The poor guy was probably frantically looking for it.
The receipt was dated yesterday and the marina where he supposedly was renting a slip was only about a half an hour walk up the beach.
Huh. She should phone him, let him know she had his card.
Wrapping a towel around her body, she treaded barefoot to the main foyer of her RV. Sitting at her bench seat, she quickly went through her files on her laptop and found the phone number he’d given her. Her heart picked up speed and she dialed his number. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed the call went straight to voice mail. She shivered at the intoxicating sound of his deep voice. Strong and confident. Listening to him soothed her rattled nerves and, at the beep, she left a message and hung up.
Placing the card and receipt in a nearby cupboard, she strolled back into her tattoo room, checked on the sterilization equipment and made sure everything else was okay. She stared at the footrests where Calder had placed his feet earlier today.
It was while she’d been tattooing him the first blackout had occurred. Actually, she’d fantasized about him while tattooing. Yet the tattoo hadn’t suffered due to her fantasizing, and when she’d come out of whatever spell she’d been in, he hadn’t seemed to notice. So what did she have, a split personality?
Yeah right. Suddenly she could breathe under water like the ocean creatures? As if maybe her tentacle fetish had manifested into something…fantastical? Gosh! Was that even a word? A fantasy world to escape reality? Too much stress? Or had she pricked her finger and gotten some ink into her veins and hallucinated. She’d seen a movie about that once.
The shrill ring of her cell phone, echoing from the bathroom, made her scream as a jolt of surprise shot through her. She quickly padded down the hallway to get it.
Gosh! Was she ever jumpy. She needed to chill because she normally wasn’t the nervous type. But who could blame her? Especially after today’s strange events.
She noticed Misty’s number on her caller display and answered, knowing her friend was checking up on her, but it warmed her heart to know Misty really cared.
“Hey, how’s the date going?” Cat asked quickly, hoping to deflect Misty’s worry.
“Quit trying to change the subject. How are you?”
Great.
“I told you before you left that I was fine.”
“I just want to make sure. You know me. Do you have a headache or dizziness or anything like that? Chuck wants to know.”
Cat grinned. Yeah, Misty’s worrying irritated her sometimes, but not right now.
“Chuck. The fireman boyfriend who is going to make you so hot tonight?” Cat teased.
Misty didn’t take the bait, but plunged ahead with her concern. “He knows some first aid and I told him what happened to you in the ocean. He says you could have had some oxygen depri
vation.”
Oxygen deprivation. Lack of air. Hallucinations? It made sense.
“No, none of that.” Thankfully it was the truth.
“No, she doesn’t.” Misty said to her hunk. She came back on the line. “That’s a good sign, he says.”
Oh thank God, Misty’s date was on her side. “I told you, you didn’t have to worry. Now go have fun.”
“What are you doing now?”
“Come on, already, miss worrywart.”
“Cat, indulge me.”
“Just had a shower, checked my equipment and now I’m heading off to bed.”
“Good. Good. Sleep will be good for you.”
“Go, will you? Have fun.”
“All right. Stay safe. Kiss. Kiss.” And then she disconnected.
“Thank you,” Catalina breathed and slapped her cell onto the bathroom counter, clutched her towel to her breasts and padded into her bedroom.
Her room was her sanctuary and with her RV slide-out, she gained an extra three feet of walking space. The room was decorated in brown hues and she had a small, flat-screen TV up on the wall beside one of her two windows. Normally she would roll into bed and watch the news or a movie, but tonight she was too tired to do any of that.
Flipping on the bedside light, she dropped her towel with the full intention of slipping beneath the covers, but froze as she glanced at herself in the full-length mirror on her closet door.
“What in the world?”
She moved closer to the mirror and gazed at the body art on her back. The octopus design and its tentacles stretching sexily up her spine looked the same, yet…they looked different too. The coloring seemed more vibrant than she remembered. And she swore the tentacles appeared…larger? More swollen? Longer than she remembered them and so unbelievably lifelike. If she stared hard enough, she could swear they even moved ever so slightly.
Catalina swallowed back the round of anxiety threatening to pummel her. Why would her tattoos move? And why was her skin so pink and flushed? Yeah, she’d had a shower and it had been hot, but her skin appeared to be softer, as if it were new.
Okay, Cat. Too much sun today and she was just tired. Yeah, that’s it. Tired. Maybe she’d gotten too much sun out on the beach and lack of oxygen when she’d gone under the water. Perfectly good explanations.
Relief whispered through her. Yeah, maybe she’d had too much sun yesterday too. Too much driving the day before in her hurry to get to California. She’d pushed herself hard getting to her reserved RV campsite. Then yesterday and this afternoon she and Misty had caught up with each other’s lives since seeing each other. Of course, that’s why she’d been zoning out. Those had to be the reasons.
She blew out a tense breath and opened the nearest window wider to allow more of a breeze to enter the warm room. The gently lapping waves as they hugged the beach about twenty feet away soothed her. From this angle, she got the perfect view of the ocean and the huge, white, full moon sitting on the horizon. Her heart picked up speed as she saw that same houseboat anchored about a mile out. The one she’d seen earlier, right after…
Heat seared through her as she remembered the tender strokes of tentacles touching her flesh then grabbing her nipples. The intoxicating way a tentacle had slipped into her vagina, another plunging into and filling her ass to perfection. Her mouth being impaled.
She blew out an erratic breath. Had someone from that boat attacked her? Maybe someone wearing a tentacle suit or something?
Okay, now that was a crazy idea. She just needed to go to sleep and forget. But as she climbed beneath her sheets, she couldn’t forget the delightful green eyes of Calder, or how being around him this morning had made her fantasize about him. And then thinking he’d been a tentacle guy or whatever the hell he had been. Nor could she forget that awesome orgasm she’d experienced while being triple penetrated.
No, she certainly couldn’t forget. She didn’t even want to.
Chapter Four
Surprise washed over Catalina as she stared at the houseboat anchored in slip thirteen. This was Calder’s boat? She looked at the receipt she’d found with Calder’s credit card. Yes, slip thirteen. Gazing back at the houseboat she frowned as unease crept through her. It looked exactly like the one she’d seen anchored offshore last night. Actually, it was identical.
“Hello! Calder! Are you home?” she called out as she stood on the dock. A small gangplank led to a one-foot-high chrome railing with steps onto the boat deck. If he had the gangplank out then maybe he’d either left or was waiting for his girlfriend to arrive? Or perhaps his girlfriend had spent the night and left?
Knowing she shouldn’t be reacting to those questions, she couldn’t stop the uncomfortable frisson of jealousy zipping inside her. Should she board?
She gazed around at the neighboring, colorful boats. All of them were smaller than his. There were sailboats, yachts and large fishing boats, but no one appeared for her to ask whether he was home or not.
Well, she was already here so she may as well take a look around. Maybe he’d come back? Walking up the gangplank, she stepped over the railing and descended onto the polished, wooden deck.
“Hello, Calder? Are you free?”
No answer.
Huh? Now what?
Most of the cabin was comprised of windows, but they were frosted white so she couldn’t see inside. Maybe he was sleeping? Perhaps he was toast after a night of hot sex with that girlfriend he loved so much he’d commissioned Catalina to tattoo tentacles on him and his cock.
Oh Cat, quit thinking this way. Despite not wanting to react, a bubble of irritation made her catch her breath. She was being silly over all this. Too emotional over a man she’d met less than twenty-four hours ago. For her, this sappy kind of attitude was totally out of character. Usually she enjoyed being alone with her own company. But since meeting Calder, she felt different. Nervous. Needy for him. Needy for a man who was already taken.
Oh God! Cat! Stop all this whining. Knock on the door and, if he’s home, hand him the credit card or at least slip it beneath the door.
She better just knock first. At the door, she noticed a cute, brass, heart-shaped knocker. The metal was cool to the touch as she lifted it and brought it down several times. The clack was loud enough she swore everyone in the marina would hear and come looking. Thankfully no one did. And neither did Calder.
Tension embraced her as she waited anxiously for a reply. Nothing.
Okay, on to plan B. Slip the card beneath the door. But first, she had to make sure the door was locked. It wouldn’t do for her to slip the card beneath the door if it was unlocked and someone other than Calder came along, found it and used it. Not good.
Okay, so…
Twisting the handle, she was surprised to find it unlocked. She opened the door and inhaled the coffee-scented, cool air breezing against her face. Peeking inside the semi-bright interior, she instantly liked the modern décor of the combination living room kitchenette. The walls were white, frosted glass. A flat-screen TV was mounted on a beam. The floors were a warm-brown, wood-planked vinyl. Two comfortable-looking, dark-brown sofas sat opposite each other with a cushioned coffee table between them. The kitchenette consisted of four black metal chairs bolted into the floor, situated two on each side of an icy-white, faux-granite countertop and stainless steel sink. He had an electric cook stove on top of the counter and cabinets for storage beneath the sink. Steam rose from a full, glass carafe inside the coffeemaker. Hence, the coffee smell.
From somewhere to the stern of the boat came the distant splash of someone showering. Calder? Excitement raced through her.
He was in the shower. That’s why he hadn’t answered. He hadn’t heard her knock.
Okay, so she would just leave the card and a note. She needed a pen. But she could find no pen. Or paper. Come to think of it, it appeared as if he didn’t use this place much. It was way too clean and orderly.
She could take a quick look around, perhaps down the hallway
? But she really shouldn’t go there. She’d never been in a luxury houseboat before and the shower was still running. He wouldn’t even have to know she was snooping around. Perhaps one little peek around? Surely it wouldn’t hurt?
She entered the hallway and immediately found the bathroom. Sweet mercy! The door to the bathroom was wide open. She stood right there as the water turned off and the misted shower door slid open.
He stepped out of the shower.
Something…a tremble of wicked lust, a shimmer of intense need, whatever it was had her frozen to the spot as her gaze caressed every, solid muscle rippling across his wide chest.
Wow! The man was built just as great on top as below his waist. Tanned muscles bulged in his upper arms as he grabbed the dark-brown body towel from the bar just outside the shower door. He hadn’t seen her yet. She could probably make her escape without being noticed, but then she caught sight of his semi-erect cock. Big. Juicy. Long. Oh, a very long cock.
Had she actually tattooed him? Had he really been this big when she’d done him?
Another sweet shiver of awareness coursed through her as she imagined him making love to her. Her cheeks flamed as he froze, his gaze snapping to her face.
Shit.
Caught.
“I’m so sorry. I mean… I knocked. I really am so sorry.” He really should wrap that towel around his waist. He didn’t. Oh, yummy man. She should look away at least. She just couldn’t.
“Don’t be sorry.” His voice melted wonderfully over her senses. “I’m actually glad you came…by. I wanted to talk to you about something important.”
The last word was spoken in a deeper tone and he grabbed her full attention. Not that he didn’t already have it. Just now her brain suddenly seemed to be kicking in and overriding her body urges to mate with him.
Moonlight Mist: A Limited Edition Collection of Fantasy & Paranormal) Page 52
