“You can’t ever move away from the ocean, can you?”
His hand snaked down her back to her bare bottom and patted her gently. “Nope.”
If their relationship was heading toward marriage, like she thought, then she would always live by the ocean, too. That suited her just fine, because she couldn’t imagine surviving without the roar of the wind and the waves, the exhilaration of diving beneath the sea or feel of the sand between her toes. Maybe she wasn’t as indelibly tied to the sea as Justin, but she needed it all the same.
As she continued to stroke his chest and study his room for more hints of his oceanic heritage, she bathed in the knowledge that they were made for each other, like two halves of an oyster shell, except one half of the shell had an insatiable appetite. “Can we talk now or are you gearing up for another round?”
He moaned tiredly and turned his head to the side, his eyes pinning her with a satiated look. “I’m spent.”
Thank God. She’d wanted to start quizzing him about his demi-god status as soon as she’d arrived at his house, but he’d had only one thing on the brain. Not that she minded three orgasms in a row.
She sighed contentedly, nestling into the crook of his arm and peering up at him. “Why didn’t your mother believe your dad’s story?”
“The same reason you didn’t.”
“But, I do believe.”
“Because I showed you.”
“And your dad couldn’t show your mom?”
“Nope.”
He scooted down until his nose touched hers. So close, his chocolate eyes looked as big as an alien’s. She stifled a giggle.
His lips twisted into a cocky grin. “Face it, woman. No one’s as awesome as I am.”
Mandy rolled her eyes.
“Don’t give me that look. You know you’re lucky to be with me.”
She curled a chest hair around her finger and tugged—hard. It plucked right out. “Sorry!”
“Ouch!” He bolted upright, rubbing the small patch of hair between his pecks. His eyes narrowed, but mischief sparkled behind them. “I’m going to teach you to leave my poor hairs alone.”
“I didn’t mean to—” Before she finished her apology, Justin pinned her to the bed, wrapping his hand around her wrists and restraining them high above her head.
“Get off me!” she demanded, but instead, he ruthlessly tickled her ribcage. She giggled uncontrollably. “Stop!” she yelped between gasps for breath. “I’m sorry! I won’t pluck any more hairs!”
“Not good enough,” he said with an ornery grin. “I expect a heartfelt apology.” He lowered his lips to her stomach and blew air bubbles just above her belly button. “And groveling.”
Her giggles turned manic. “Stop!” she begged, hardly able to speak as he continued to tickle her tummy. Desperate for a reprieve, she said, “I’m truly sorry for taking one of your precious hairs from your manly chest!”
“What else?”
“No one’s better than you in the sack!”
His tickling moved to the inside of her arms, her most giggle-inducing spot. “And?”
“You have the biggest Mr. Winky this side of the Mississippi!” That wasn’t a lie.
A satisfied smile lit up Justin’s face, and his fingers stopped tormenting her. “You’re getting good at this.”
She should be. It was the second time in a month he’d traded a tickling truce for an ego boost. As soon as he released her, she rolled over to the side of the bed and grabbed her T-shirt off the floor.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked.
She peered over her shoulder at him. “Putting clothes on.”
He cocked a dark eyebrow in disapproval. “Why?”
“As your punishment for using brute force on me.”
“No clothes in my bed,” he said in a low authoritative rumble. “If it wasn’t a rule before, it is now.”
Mandy sat up, facing away from him, and brought the shirt up over her head, making as if she were about to put it on. “I’ll tell you what.” She laid the shirt in her lap. “If you answer all my questions, I’ll stay naked.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her toward him. “It’d be a real shame to hide that body of yours.” His teeth nipped at the back of her neck.
“Then you accept?”
“How could I not?” He nestled her into the crook of his arm and pulled the sheet up to their waists. “What do you want to know about?”
“Your family.”
His grin fell away, replaced with a solemn expression deeply marking his furrowed brow.
Even though he’d made a deal, she felt cruel pushing him, given his mother’s recent death. “Do you want me to leave it alone?” Her heart sank even as she asked the question because she wasn’t sure she could.
He brushed a lock of hair from her forehead and tucked the strands behind her ear. “If you need to talk, I’m not going to say no.”
Okay, where to start? She bit her bottom lip and began at the beginning. “So your mom didn’t believe your dad because he couldn’t manipulate water?”
Justin nodded.
“And you have no idea why you can and he can’t?”
He nodded again.
“You have to have a hypothesis.”
His expression became introspective as if he were peering into his soul for an answer. When his eyes came back to her, he said, “The night of the Calling, I was desperate to save my sister.” He drew out each word, as if his mind still processed her question, trying to find the best way to explain. “The energy on the beach was as thick as mud and, somehow, I latched onto it. I would have tried anything, and I think the hopelessness of the situation made me realize that I could use the energy.”
“How’d you use it?”
“I made a wave and threw it across the beach at Cecelia. If I couldn’t bring her to the water, I thought maybe I could bring the water to her.”
Like a lingering lightning bolt from a storm long passed, everything that had seemed mysterious about Justin fell into place. With each child he plucked from the ocean, he sought forgiveness for what he deemed his most poignant failure. His drive wasn’t so much a choice as a need to redeem himself.
She took his hand in hers and kissed his palm, then brought his hand to her heart, aching for the man who could do so much for others but nothing for his own family. “I’m sorry about Cecelia, Justin.” She peered up at him, and the sadness in his normally sparkling eyes made her want to latch onto another subject to ease him. “So, your father had no powers at all?”
“He can sense things in the water.”
“Really? Like what?”
His expression relaxed. “One time, when my family went to the beach, my mom forgot to take off her jewelry. She lost a silver bracelet in the waves. A few minutes after she told my dad, he dove into the water and found it. When he gave the jewelry to her, he winked at me. I knew it hadn’t been an accident he’d snagged it so easily.”
He squeezed her tighter, the sparkle in his eyes returning. “Come to think of it, my mom once told me that Pops could wade into the surf and bring up shells the size of his head. She lined them up on a shelf in our bathroom. My favorite was a giant conch. It was old and gnarled, but I could still hear the ocean when I held it to my ear.”
“Did you keep the shell?”
Justin shook his head. “Pops or Aunt Grace probably threw it away.”
“Surely, you have some keepsakes from your family.”
“I’ve got a couple of my mom’s necklaces and her wedding ring.”
“Maybe you’ll have a daughter someday, and you can give the pieces to her.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Maybe.”
Mandy stretched, warding off her sleepiness. She had too many unanswered questions to doze off now. “Can you tell me more about your abilities? Like, can you make giant whirlpools or raise sunken ships?”
He chuckled. “I’m not that awesome. I can use waves to mov
e ships around, if the seas aren’t too high. But when a boat’s sinking, the water inside is too much of a force to overcome.” His expression dimmed, his gaze locking onto the painting of sailboats. “If I could keep a ship from going down, there’d be about ten more people in this world right now that wouldn’t have needlessly died.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s about a hundred people in this world right now who would have died without your abilities.”
“Maybe.”
“And a hundred more to come.”
“That’s why I do it.”
“See, you are that awesome, even if you can’t make a giant whirlpool. Although, that would have been cool.”
For a moment, she went quiet, thinking of his job and all the times he had braved high seas and gale force winds. Yesterday, finding out about his gift had been comforting to her, as if she never had to worry about his safety again when he was at work. But he wasn’t a superhero capable of freeing himself from every bad situation. He was a man with an amazing gift, but that gift had limitations.
“You okay?” he asked, eyeing her with too much scrutiny. She felt like he could read her mind, and for a moment, she wondered if mindreading was one of his super powers. But if that were the case, then he’d know the answer to his question.
“I’m fine.” She smiled to ease his worry. “Tell me more about Triton.”
“I don’t know much about him.”
“You have to know how the Calling works.”
“I get the urge to jump in the water, so I do. If I don’t, I die.”
Mandy shook her head. Pulling a hippo’s tooth would’ve been easier than coaxing an answer from this man. “But why does Triton need you in the ocean?”
“To count his descendants, I guess.”
“There has to be more to it than that.”
“My dad said once that the Calling had something to do with Triton’s soul. I was too young to understand what he was talking about.”
“How do you know so little about your family’s godliness? It’s kind of a big deal.”
“Well, let’s see. My dad and I don’t talk, and I was never close to any of his family. Plus, most of my family on the god’s side is dead.”
“That’s kind of sad… that no one can tell you more.” She breathed deep and readied herself for the next question. “Do you think you and your dad will ever reconcile?”
Justin’s shoulders snapped tight as if his muscles were spring loaded. “It’s been twenty years, Mandy. I doubt anything’s going to change between us.”
“Have you thought of talking to him?”
He pursed his lips, the unease in his dark eyes growing steadily. “You mean, ask him why he’s a standoffish son of a bitch?”
She swallowed hard. “Yeah. Something like that.”
“I spent ten long years of my life waiting for him to come back to me. I wrote him letters, sent pictures, asked him to visit me. He never answered with more than a sentence or two, usually something about being at sea on his fishing boat. When I turned twenty, I wrote him off. End of story.”
Mandy sighed, not convinced that was the end of the story. The hurt he tried so hard to hide was a testament to his longing. Every boy, and every man, needed a father. She laid her head on his shoulder, afraid if she spoke again, he’d stop sharing. When he reached over, turned off the light and pulled the covers over them, she knew he was done for the night.
She rolled on her side, facing away from him, and clutched her pillow, wishing she could come up with something profound to say that would make everything okay. But that was the problem with family relationships. Sometimes, they were what they were, and no amount of talking or plotting could change them.
Justin curled behind her and draped his arm around her waist. He squeezed her so tight she couldn’t move. His breath tickled the back of her ear, as he said, “We’ll never end up like my parents.”
She thought of her own parents and how they still loved each other after thirty-two years of marriage. Justin might not have had good role models to learn from when it came to relationships, but Mandy did. And Justin wasn’t one to give up on anything. She was sure that included wedding vows.
Mandy cuddled closer to him, resting her head on the inside of his arm, and inhaling his ocean scent. “No. We won’t.”
The tension drained from his body, and his hold on her loosened. For several minutes, they lay in silence while she listened to his steady breathing. She longed to end the night with the words they’d only said once before, but maybe he wasn’t the type to repeat what he assumed was a given.
Just before she drifted to sleep, she felt Justin shift behind her. His lips brushed her ear. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she replied, knowing she was lying beside the man she wanted to share a bed with forever. With a tranquil aura enveloping her, one of protection and belonging, she drifted to sleep wrapped in Justin’s warm arms.
Chapter 17
Justin sat on his bed and slipped the diamond ring on his pinky, the white gold cool against his skin. The half-carat solitaire wasn’t exactly up to bling standards, but the stone had come from his mother’s wedding ring, and he’d decided it deserved a happy ending. Plus, it warmed his heart that Mandy would wear something that signified his parents’ love—they had loved each other, once upon a time.
He wiped the ring on his T-shirt until it glistened in the lamp light. The setting was new—a platinum band with blue sapphires, the color of Mandy’s eyes, on either side of the marquis. It had cost him a month’s salary, but she was worth every penny.
Justin smiled, imagining her reaction when she opened the black velvet box. This evening, the wait would be over because, on the beach, where they’d spent their first night together, he was going to ensure she’d be his forever.
His smile disappeared behind a cloud of doubt. What if she said no? He’d tried to make his intentions obvious since they’d begun dating. She had to know it was coming. If she didn’t… well, he’d cross that bridge when he got there. For now, he’d just assume her answer would be yes, and that the ring belonged to her.
A light tapping sounded on the window, like fingernails restlessly pelting a tune on a desk—rain. He groaned and tilted his head toward the ceiling, his gaze locking on an old water stain left by a tropical storm a few years ago. It seemed the weather was going to sink his beach plans. He’d have to think of somewhere else romantic to propose, but at least he had all day to brainstorm a new location, as long as a nasty storm didn’t drag him into work. He’d been so preoccupied with his proposal, he’d forgotten to check the forecast.
A few hours later, he got the call he’d been dreading.
“We need you at the station,” Dale said. “A tropical storm’s bearing down on the Gulf, and we’re getting distress calls right and left. We can’t keep up.”
“I’ll be there in ten.” He hung up and mentally prepared himself for a busy night.
By the next day, when the storm intensified, he knew he was in for a long weekend at the base. “I’m on call all weekend,” he told Mandy over the phone.
She sighed deeply. “I’ll pick up an extra shift to keep from missing you too much.”
“We can go to dinner Monday night.” Hopefully, the storm would have passed by then, and he could stick to his original plan of a proposing on the beach.
“I look forward to it. Be careful,” she said, her voice too tense for his liking.
“Always.” He hung up, hating that she was worried about him.
Suddenly, the hairs at the nape of his neck stood at attention. A cold dread filled his chest. Only one other time had he felt that sense of foreboding—the night his sister had died.
* * *
The skies whirred with the pounding of helicopter blades and the fury of a tropical storm. Below, the tides clashed in a cross-sea of conflict, waves ripping and tearing at one another, their crests reaching for Justin, threatening him even though he dangled thirty feet
above their violent crowns. He’d trained for weather such as this his entire life, yet fear constricted his heart and made his body numb, his mind cloudy.
Relax. He took a deep breath, the salty air filling his lungs, then blew it out slowly through his clenched teeth.
“If you’re not comfortable going in,” Dale said over the intercom. “I’ll turn around. The cutter Tahoma will be here in thirty minutes.”
By then, every one of the men swimming in the ocean, after having fled their sinking ship, would be dead from hypothermia, if they didn’t drown first. “I can handle it.” He was the descendant of a water god, for Christ’s sake. He had nothing to fear. So why did his heart hammer against his ribs as if he were facing a dragon instead of thirty-foot waves?
“It’s nasty down there, Justin,” Dale said, his voice thick. “Don’t get yourself killed playing the hero.”
Justin snorted a laugh. “I didn’t know I was up for the role. I would’ve told my agent.”
“Wiseass. Just be careful and pull out if your hackles rise.”
“I’m not a dog, Dale.”
“Maybe not, but follow your instinct.”
If he were following instinct, he wouldn’t deploy at all, but there were men in the water who needed him, and he wasn’t going to fail them. Bad vibes or not, he was going in.
While he waited for his pilot and Ty to work out the details of his jump, he surveyed the commercial fishing vessel. The boat listed starboard, quivering under the assault of wind and waves. Three men had already jumped overboard. They wore bright orange life vests, the strobes attached to their protective suits blinking brightly.
Fingers of darkness quickly closed around them, strangling the last remnants of light filtering through the leaden clouds. He swallowed hard. With nightfall fast approaching, those men’s lives might just depend on the twinkling lights attached to their survival suits.
The Calling Page 17
