by Lakes, Lynde
Minutes later, as they opened the restaurant’s heavy wooden doors the coolness inside whished out at them. The antiques, winding stairways and stained glass windows wrapped a quaint ambiance around them. It was early, so they were seated immediately in a quiet corner. They sat sipping burgundy wine and held hands.
“I feel so free, Darli. For the first time in months, there are no fences barring my exit.” Cortz smiled and squeezed her hand. A thrilling current charged from his hand to hers. “I can hardly wait to be alone with you…with no chance of someone intruding.”
“I want that too,” she whispered. “I—”
She abruptly stopped talking when the waiter appeared with the food. What she had to say was for Cortz’s ears alone. She watched their server place the steaming plates of spaghetti and meatballs covered with thick, dark red sauce in front of them.
When he turned away, Cortz squeezed her hand. Their gaze met. In spite of the wonderful spicy aromas rising from the plates, suddenly eating was the farthest thing from her mind. “Let’s get out of here…now,” she whispered, in a voice husky with passion.
Cortz asked the waiter to wrap everything up to go, and then paid the bill with a wad of cash, not even bothering to count it.
Twenty long minutes later, Cortz closed the apartment door behind them. Darli stood stiffly in the center of the room, another wave of unexpected shyness washing over her. Cortz drew her into the circle of his arms. Her shyness evaporated as his mouth closed over hers. The kiss was tender, sweet, undemanding. She glanced up at him in surprise.
“Before we couple, I want to settle something.”
She couldn’t hold back her laugh. “Couple?”
He ignored her question. “Will you join with me…marry me tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?” She laughed. “I’ll marry you the minute it’s possible. But we need a license.”
“License?” His face looked young, eager, endearing, like a child asking when Santa would arrive.
“We can’t get a license before Monday, and I’d like to have a little time to make a few plans. How about setting the date for a month from now?”
He nodded. “But I can only stay until we get the license.” Cortz began to massage her back slowly, in penetrating circular motions. “Now that we have the matter of our wedding date settled, let’s get back to our previous subject.”
“What subject?” Darli wrinkled her brow slightly.
“This,” he said, as he gently put his fingers under her chin and lifted her face to his. He brought his mouth down on hers softly at first. Again, the feeling was familiar, like coming home after a long, long journey.
Somewhere in another apartment, a Hawaiian love song played softly. She couldn’t identify it; she didn’t even try. When Cortz picked her up and carried her to the couch, she wrapped her arms around his neck, molding herself against the hardness of his chest. He kissed her, his mouth searching. Joy flooded her heart, it was dizzying, intoxicating.
“I love you,” she whispered. “I want you now.” Her desire had been growing since they kissed at the airport. No…before that…since she visited him in California, or was it from the moment they met? “I’ve dreamed how this first time would be. Slow, magical, not grasping and quick. And I want to be the aggressor.”
He lifted an amused brow but said nothing. Taking that as agreement, she removed the lei from around his neck and tossed it onto the couch, then she slipped her hands inside his shirt and touched bare skin. His heart pounded. She kissed his chest, then pulled off his shirt inch by inch, before slowly removing his belt, his trousers. Undressing him was like undraping an exquisite statue. His skin was like alabaster, with only a hint of a tan, but in spite of being in a hospital for the past six months, his body was lean and well-muscled. His waist and stomach were sculptured gracefully to a hard, smooth plane.
When he stood naked before her, he showed no embarrassment and merely murmured, “Now it is my turn, yes?”
She nodded. After the arousing experience of touching him, she was in a hurry to get her part over with. But he made her suffer, taking forever between each item of clothing, kissing every inch of her scorched skin, enflaming her more. Finally, when he bent to remove her lacy bikini panties, kissing her midriff, her stomach, the round of her hips, she helped. When he lowered her scorched body to the couch, the sensation was like sinking into layers of plumeria petals. With the fragrance of his lei filling the room, the illusion was incredibly real. She closed her eyes as he gently threaded his fingers into her hair.
“I have imagined us like this,” he murmured, trailing kisses from her neck to her waist.
“It’s beyond what I imagined,” she whispered, raising herself to spread kisses along his shoulders.
He touched her breasts, first with his hands then with his lips…moist, searching lips.
Her desire was beyond feverish, it was crazed. She arched her body to meet his. The movement drew a moan of desire from him.
“I want to please you in every way,” he whispered.
“You are.” Her voice was husky, her eyelids half-closed. He drew her tighter against him. She felt his hardness, his power. She entwined her fingers around the back of his neck, stretching her body its full length, arching toward him.
“Don’t be afraid. I have a technique that may alarm you at first. But just relax, I promise you will like it.”
“Cortz! Forget technique, just get on with it.” Frenzied, she wanted him now. Inside her.
His touch was everywhere, awakening, exciting. She felt more alive than ever before. There was no concept of time, only of feeling. Then, he slipped his hard member inside. He moved slowly at first, his pace increasing into a perfectly matched cadence.
Then, she felt it. His penis was vibrating! It was wild! The tremors increased little by little. “My, God,” she screamed.
“Do you want me to stop?” His voice was breathy and low.
“God, no!” she managed through her insanity. Out of control, she soared higher and higher with the escalating sensations to a magnificent pinnacle of exploding climax. She screamed in ecstasy. His groan echoed it.
Once the fever subsided, and they once again were able to breathe normally, he asked, “Are you okay?”
“Where did you learn to do that?”
He smiled down at her and whispered, “Don’t try to learn all of my secrets at once. Leave some mystery for each anniversary. We have a lifetime to share and I promise one day you will know all there is to know about me.”
His deep voice and enchanted words lulled her into a place of contentment. They lay in one another’s arms for a long time. The lingering closeness and the wildness of their lovemaking was incredible, but his words had communicated more than passion…more than their joy at being together again. It expressed his promise to share a future.
Darli snuggled deeper into the shelter of Cortz’s arms, only vaguely aware of the birds chirping in the trees outside the window. Life would never be the same now that she had met and fallen in love with this unique man.
She didn’t know why an apprehensive shiver slipped down her spine, or why she suddenly felt things were going too well. Fox’s words, there have been new developments, troubled her, though for the life of her, she didn’t know why. Or why now.
Chapter Forty-Five
Cortz hauled the box holding his gear out of Darli’s closet and sorted through it. Darli had reclaimed his diamonds from her safe deposit box, and he secured them in his travel bag. But where was his retriever…his quick escape option…the crucial unit he needed to enter and control his spaceship…the one that could call the craft to him anywhere, anytime?
It had to be here! Without it he’d be stuck on Earth forever. He dug deeper in the box, thrusting the stun gun, enerplane and small computer aside. As though attuned to his desperation, the music on the radio grew frenzied. Its dissonance rubbed his nerves raw, but he was too intent on his quest to turn it off. Sweat broke out on his brow. His stomac
h knotted. Where was it?
When he finally closed his hand over the remote retriever, relief rushed through him. He tucked the credit card-sized unit into the hidden compartment in his belt. From now on, he wouldn’t go anywhere without it.
He planned to tell Darli the truth about everything in a week or so, hoping that by then, she would love him enough to leave with him. But he had to pick his moment carefully.
The music softened and he heard Darli speaking into the telephone, making the appointment to get their blood tests at the clinic later in the morning. Fortunately, his blood was no different than Earthlings or he’d be in big trouble. In his heart and as far as Uraticean edicts were concerned, he and Darli had already joined physically and emotionally. The license and nuptial formality were for her. He had watched enough television to know the wedding ceremony was an important celebration to many Earth women.
Cortz hummed the lilting tune from his other world as joy bubbled in him. He glanced at Darli as she hung up. Her green eyes sparkled with excitement. “Persistence paid off,” she said, “I found a clinic that can do the test today.”
“I heard. That means I can leave for California on an early flight Tuesday morning.” A prickle of apprehension tightened his neck muscles. He wasn’t concerned about taking over the operation of Greg’s business. His own education and background along with knowledge of Uraticean advanced technology more than qualified him for the job. What bothered him was functioning as Greg, recognizing friends and coworkers, and knowing their relationship. He’d have to worry about that later. Right now, he wanted to make every moment with Darli count.
“I refuse to think about you leaving.” Her voice was soft.
“That’s my favorite astronomer,” he said, turning on his biggest grin. “Let us just enjoy the three days we have together.”
****
Heading for Waikiki beach, Darli checked the lane of traffic then pulled out. An old gray Ford, parked on the other side of the street, left the curb and made an illegal U-turn into the lane behind her. The sun glinted on the Ford’s cracked side window. Odd, an hour before, when she and Cortz were there getting their blood tests, she’d seen the same car follow them out of the clinic parking lot.
After passing over the Ala Wai Bridge, she edged to the right. Maneuvering into the heavy traffic took all her concentration. It wasn’t until she pulled into a parking space, a block from the beach, that she relaxed. The relief didn’t last long. The gray Ford passed by. Her gaze followed, as it continued slowly down the street. She chewed at the corner of her lower lip. Bright sunlight reflected off the gray metal and blurred her vision, but she didn’t look away. The car swerved into a parking space further down the block.
“Let’s go this way,” she told Cortz. They walked down the street until they passed the unoccupied Ford. Her stomach tightened. The side window was cracked. It couldn’t be a coincidence that this car turned up everywhere they went.
The concrete ended and Darli felt the gritty texture of warm sand as her bare feet sank into it. She glanced around the crowded beach, searching for a patch of sand large enough to squeeze in two more bodies. She smiled at the polyglot of humanity. Hawaiians, Orientals, Blacks—it seemed some of every race was there. “If I ever had to leave Hawaii,” she said, “it would be the people that I would miss the most.”
“Your love of people makes me feel safe with you.”
What a curious comment. “You’re safe with all these people around,” she said, “but just wait until we get back to the apartment.”
The flecks in his eyes glowed like rubies under jeweler’s floodlights. “Sounds interesting,” he said. “Maybe we should go now.”
“After battling that heavy traffic to get here? I hope you’re kidding.” She laughed and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. Darli felt his arms slip around her waist. She wriggled loose. “There’s a spot for us…over there.”
They spread their blanket out and sat silently for a while. Darli lowered her sunglasses and peered over the top at Cortz. He lowered his shades as well and asked, “Are we playing grandma and grandpa?”
“No, silly,” she said. “Since we plan to share a lifetime together, I wanted to take a good look at you and peel away your masks.”
“You better push your glasses back up. Looking through them protects you from some glaring realities.”
“Such as?”
“That you’re about to marry a man who just got out of a mental institution.”
“I’ve gotten past that.” She drew her brows closer together and rested her chin on her knees. “But there are things that still bother me.”
“Like what?”
“Since the diamonds and other stuff in your gear didn’t come from the planet of Uraticus, where did you get them?”
She watched Cortz’s neck muscles tense and protrude.
The diamonds were an investment,” he said. His gaze didn’t meet hers. “The other things are inventions I was testing.”
“I see,” she said, but she didn’t.
“I’m sorry, Darli. You deserve to know what you’re getting into.”
“So tell me.”
Cortz sprang to his feet. “How about some underwater exploration? I’ll rent compressed air tanks.”
Remembering that the venders wouldn’t rent equipment without proof of certification, she dug in her bag and gave Cortz two PADI cards to show that they’d had snorkel training. But her mind was on what he hadn’t yet disclosed. “What about what you said…are you avoiding something?” She knew it was true when he failed to look into her eyes.
“Just give me a little more time,” he said. “You won’t be sorry.”
He turned and walked toward the equipment rental shack. His bikini rested low on narrow hips and his gait was agile and swift. Among all the tanned bodies, he stood out…a beautiful white Adonis. And he was hers. But was he really?
She felt someone’s gaze bearing down on her. She looked around. A man in dark glasses and a straw hat lifted his newspaper higher in front of his face. Darli pretended to read the novel she’d brought along, then darted a second glance at him. He turned toward the water.
Cortz returned with the scuba diving equipment. He showed her how to inspect the face mask. She tried it on. The seal was good, so she laid the mask aside and checked her regulator. The creepy feeling that someone was watching her grew stronger. She glanced around. Oh, no. The man in the straw hat had a camera aimed right at her. She jumped to her feet. “Hey…what are you doing?”
Cortz stood too. “What’s wrong?”
“That man took our picture!”
“What man?” Cortz put his arm around her shoulder.
Darli pointed to where the man had been sitting, but he had disappeared.
Cortz frowned. “Why would he want a picture of us? He must have been taking a picture of the hotel behind us.”
“Don’t make light of this. He was staring at me.”
“Why not? You’re a beautiful woman. He was just a tourist taking pictures and couldn’t resist capturing perfection.” Cortz brushed a quick tingling kiss across Darli’s lips. “Forget him. Come on, let’s gear up. After we put our things in a locker, we can swim out to the deck where we first met. From there we can explore the sea floor.” He helped her into her backpack and got into his own. Darli adjusted her weight-belt last, then they gathered their things and he led her down the beach.
“Have you seen Fox lately?” Cortz asked as they walked toward the lockers.
What made him ask about the annoying Navy lieutenant out-of-the-blue like that now? “Right after I returned from California he came by my apartment.”
Cortz stiffened. “What did he want?”
“He mentioned new developments on the thing that dropped in the ocean, but wouldn’t discuss what they were.”
“New developments?” Cortz’s grip on her arm tightened.
“He’s so sure I know more than I’ve told him.” She arched her brow an
d met Cortz’s gaze. “I only wish it were true.”
Cortz dug through his beach bag. After a moment, he pulled the enerplane out of the bag, tucked it under his arm, and closed the locker. He held her gaze with troubled ruby-brown eyes. “Have you told him about me? That for a while, I believed I was from another planet?”
“No.”
The tension lines around his eyes deepened. “Are you going to?”
Chapter Forty-Six
Darli shrugged. “Since you’re not from another planet there’s really nothing to tell, is there?”
“Absolutely nothing. Ready to explore the deep?”
She had the feeling his smile was forced. He ran toward the water and she followed. He easily out swam her, and arrived at the deck first. He crouched, knee braced on the weatherworn wood, and extended her a hand. She removed her mouthpiece. “Do you always have to win?”
“I always have to try,” he said grinning. “Besides, I cheated.” He held up the shiny silver disk. “I used the enerplane.”
“I should have known.” Darli laughed and grasped his hand and he pulled her onto the deck. She straightened to her full height and inhaled the salty air. Sounds of laughter from other swimmers mixed with the gush of gentle breaking waves. The sun reflected blue into sky and glittering sea, changing both with varying intensities into lighter blues, greens and turquoise.
Cortz watched her with a question in his expression. “I trust you,” he said as though making up his mind if he really did. “I love the way the breeze lifts the ends of your golden hair, the way your eyes reflect the turquoise-green in the curl of the waves, the way the bridge of your nose turns slightly pink. But mostly, I love your gentle heart.” His words seemed tight as though he were talking past a constriction. “The fact is, I love you more than I ever thought possible. And I do trust you.” He paused. “Ready to see what’s down there?”
