by Jaci Burton
Yeah, right. And there really were flying turtles named Pegasus.
How could one man have wiggled his way inside her heart in such a few short days? A mysterious man at that, if he were even a man at all. She wished she’d had the time to get answers to the questions that had plagued her since the moment they met.
After she cleaned up she dragged a lawn chair down to the beach to watch the moonlight rise. Its glow cast a silver beacon over the calm sea. She dug her toes into the cooling sand, wishing she could blanket herself with the gritty substance and forget she’d ever met Dax.
The night quiet unnerved her, whereas it never had before. She’d always enjoyed this part of the day, the peaceful feeling of being completely alone with nature. Now, she wanted to hear dark, husky laughter, feel a certain man’s warm hands around her waist, touch her mouth against a living, breathing man who desired her as much as she desired him.
No sense in missing him. She’d told him to leave, brushed him off as if he’d meant nothing to her.
The problem was, he did mean something to her. She loved him. Yes, she’d admitted it before, but part of her held back. Acknowledging that she loved him didn’t mean she wanted a future with him.
Now it was different. No matter what her mother had gone through, no matter the pain she’d known as a child watching her mother suffer because of the man she loved, none of that mattered to her.
Her heart opened and swelled with joy and a bittersweet agony brought about by the fact she’d lost the man she loved. And had no earthly idea how to find him.
Looking to the sea, it hit her like a punch to her middle, nearly toppling her over. Her heart beat frantically against her ribs and she broke out in a sweat.
She remembered! Everything. From that first night until yesterday.
When she’d had the stomach pain in the water the first night, it had been Dax who’d rescued her and brought her to shore. She even remembered the conversation he’d had with Ronan.
She remembered Ronan, the gorgeous god-like guardian of the sea people. Dax’s laboratory, even Zeus, the talking dolphin.
Most importantly, she remembered what Dax had said before she’d lost consciousness last night. He’d told Ronan that he loved her!
None of it had been a dream, it had all been real. Hadn’t it? Or was she so wrapped up in hope that she was manufacturing reality where it didn’t exist? Maybe it had been a dream, after all.
The only person who could verify that for her was Dax.
She jumped out of the chair, searching the ocean’s surface, hoping against hope he’d show up if she willed it hard enough.
Back and forth she paced along the shoreline. A half hour, an hour, sending mental signals to Dax to come out of the water and talk to her. A week ago she’d have thought herself insane for even thinking someone lived in the sea. Now, she believed it to be true, hoped for it to be true.
There! She saw a spot in the water. A dolphin, probably. She refused to get her hopes up until she was certain.
Dax, please, I need you.
Over and over and over again she repeated the mantra. The tide was rising, water rushing over her feet, then her ankles, higher and higher each length of beach she paced.
There it was again! This time, she was certain it had to be him. She ran inside and threw on a swimsuit, nearly stumbling in the sand in her haste to get to the water. She dove in and swam quickly, keeping her eyes focused on the spot where she’d seen him. She had to talk to him, had to know if what she remembered had really happened.
By the time she’d reached the spot she thought she’d seen him, he was nowhere to be found. And she was exhausted. Stupidly, she’d gone too far out and further lung power was nearly nonexistent. She’d never make it back to shore. Taking a chance, she fought for breath and dove down, knowing somehow he’d see her and make contact.
The sea was dark, nothing like what she remembered. Tears filled her eyes at the effort she expended to hold her breath, and still she kept diving, spurred on by faith that he was close, that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
It wasn’t a dream, she was convinced of it. Everything she’d remembered had been real. It had happened.
But she was running out of air, and still she dove further, knowing she’d never be able to hold her breath long enough to get back to the surface. Would she die for him? Would she die here because she was as foolish as her mother?
She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the panic, the feeling that she’d just made a fatal error in judgment. And now she was going to drown.
Just as she was about to let go, a hand snaked out and pulled her against a warm, living, human body. Water rushed into her lungs, but instead of a clawing panic she could breathe. Relief soared through her.
Light flickered against her tightly shut lids and she opened her eyes. Dax smiled at her.
With a whoop of joy she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him long and hard.
He returned the kiss with fervor, his mouth devouring hers, his tongue plunging inside her the same way she wanted his cock to do. His erection bobbed between her legs. She shifted, wrapping her legs around his waist. Not wanting to take time to remove her swimsuit, she yanked it to the side and guided his shaft inside her.
“God, you feel good,” he whispered as he entered her, lightly biting the tender flesh of her neck.
He moved quickly against her, their bodies rising and falling together, an electricity surrounding them as they clashed like a fierce storm. Isabelle clawed at Dax’s back, unable to assuage the fierce hunger that made her desperate for each thrust of his shaft.
She panted in his ear, he licked her neck, his heart pounding against her breast. It was fast and furious and heart rendering. This could very well be the last time she felt this connection to Dax, and she wanted it to last an eternity.
Unfortunately, her body had other ideas. Intense pleasure rose up to meet her and she threw her head back, screaming out an orgasm so filled with emotion it made her cry.
Dax clutched her to him and groaned his release, spilling his seed deep into her core.
Breathless, she clung to him, not wanting to let go, not yet ready for reality to intrude on this ultimate fantasy she’d created with him. For it was a fantasy, and she finally realized it. Unless…
She kissed him lightly and smiled. “It’s all true. I wasn’t dreaming.”
He nodded. “You remembered it all. You even fought through the memory spell Ronan gave you. No one has ever done that before. That makes you one strong woman, Isabelle.”
She didn’t feel strong. She felt weak, helpless and thoroughly overjoyed to find him. She didn’t care if he didn’t want to be with her past this week, she only knew she couldn’t leave things the way she’d left them with him earlier.
“I’m sorry about today,” she said. “I didn’t know how to handle my feelings for you.”
“And what are your feelings for me?”
“I…” She started to tell him she loved him, but something in his face, some hesitation tensing his body, stopped her. “I care about you, Dax. I didn’t want to leave without letting you know that. Without telling you that I remembered everything. I wanted to thank you for showing me your world, even though there’s so much of it I don’t understand.”
“Come with me.”
They swam together into the ocean’s depths, each meter they descended reminding Isabelle of the same trek she’d made with Dax before. This time she didn’t shut her eyes to the darkness, knowing she’d find the light at the bottom of the ocean.
When she spotted his lab, she smiled, an idea forming. She just hoped he’d go for it.
She sat down on the transparent sofa, watching Dax as he worked the scanners. He seemed lost in thought, and very quiet.
“What’s on your mind?” she asked.
“Gimme a second here,” he said without turning around, his gaze still focused on the screens in front of him.
Isabelle waited
patiently, growing more excited as her idea began to take shape. It made perfect sense to her and was definitely workable for both of them. And if Dax agreed to it, she could tell him how she felt about him. Was it possible for her happily ever after to be looming around the corner? She didn’t want to hope, but couldn’t stop the joy that swelled within her.
When he finished, he sat next to her on the sofa and took her hands in his. She smiled at him, more nervous than she’d ever been before.
“I have to leave soon,” he said, his gaze focused on her hands.
She frowned. “What? Leave?”
He nodded and looked up at her. She could get lost in his turquoise eyes, so achingly blue like the ocean she loved.
“I have work to do in another part of the world.”
“I see.” Disappointment stabbed at her. Maybe her hopes had been unfounded after all.
“But I think I have a solution to our problem.”
“Our problem?”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “Yeah. That problem we have of wanting to be together.”
Hope swelled again. He did feel the same way she did! “Oh good, because I have a solution, too. I’ll bet it’s the same one.”
“Really? Go ahead, then.”
She wiggled, unable to contain her enthusiasm. “I do want to be with you, Dax. More than anything. And I thought you might want to come with me when I leave the island.”
His brows knit together. “Come with you? Where?”
“To Texas. Where I live.”
He shook his head, his tense grasp on her hands lessening. “I can’t.”
“But I thought you said—”
“I can’t go with you, Isabelle, but I thought you might want to come with me.”
Her first reaction was to object, but before she spoke she thought about it. She could travel with him. She had autonomy in her work, and there were oceans all over the world. She could certainly make it work. “Where are you going? Don’t you live here?”
“Sometimes. We really don’t have one spot that we call home.”
“Do all of you live like that? However many of you there are? By the way, how many of you are there?”
Threading his fingers through her billowing hair, Dax pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I can’t tell you any more until you decide.”
Confusion reigned within her. “I don’t understand. You can’t come with me to Texas, and you don’t really have a place you call home. So, why can’t you just live with me, and when you have to work you can go do your…thing?” Whatever the hell his thing was.
Again, he shook his head. “It’s much more complicated than that, Isabelle. I can’t just leave the ocean and live on land with you.”
“Why not? Are you physically prevented from doing so?”
“No.”
“Then what’s stopping you?” Dread formed a knot in her stomach. She didn’t like the direction this conversation was headed.
“I have commitments. Promises to keep. My life is under the sea, not on land.”
“Are you some kind of alien species? Like from another planet or something?” She’d seen so much in the past few days nothing would surprise her any longer. But she wanted to, desperately needed to understand who Dax was and what prevented him from coming with her.
His soft chuckle unnerved her. “No, we’re not aliens. We’re humans, just a little different than the ones like you who live on the land.”
“Tell me more,” she pleaded. Tell me everything, Dax. Make me understand. But she already knew he wouldn’t.
“I can tell you everything, as soon as you commit.”
“Commit to what?” Now he’d really lost her.
“Commit to me, and to spending the rest of your life under the sea. Only then can I tell you everything.”
Chapter Fourteen
Dax knew he wasn’t going to get the answer he’d hoped for. At his mention of committing to living under the sea with him she’d paled, her confusion replaced by something akin to fear.
It had been a gamble to even suggest it, but he couldn’t help but hope she’d surprise him.
“I don’t understand, Dax. What do you mean commit to living under the sea? I’d have to vow to live in the ocean forever?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s the only way we can be together. The only way I can explain everything to you. Without your oath of commitment, I can’t tell you any more than what you already know. And at that, you’re lucky they’ve allowed you to return here after you fought past the memory block.”
“Lucky to be allowed to return? Surely you don’t mean to suggest they’d have tried to stop me?”
He refused to tell her what could have happened to her had he not interceded. But her joyful face as he watched her on the beach, the way she had jumped into the ocean and come looking for him, had given him enough hope to stall Ronan from placing a deeper memory loss on her. He’d explained he was certain she’d commit, so there was no reason for his concern.
Besides, he knew Isabelle. Even if she didn’t commit, she’d never tell the world about their existence. Convincing the League of that fact was a different matter entirely. But convince them he would. He couldn’t live with himself if something happened to Isabelle because of his stupidity.
Isabelle’s hand on top of his brought him back to reality. “Dax, you’re scaring me. Please explain.”
“I’m sorry. There’s nothing to be afraid about. If you decide not to commit I’ll put a deeper memory block on you. I guarantee you won’t remember anything about me or what you’ve seen the past few days. You’ll be safe.”
“I don’t like the idea of not remembering you. Oh, this is all so complex!” She stood and paced the laboratory. Her arms crossed like a protective shield, she worried her bottom lip in the way he found so amazingly sexy it never failed to harden him. His cock rose and twitched. He wanted her again.
And again and again and again. Like he always would. Today, tomorrow and forever, no matter what choices she made. If she walked away today, his heart would still be hers, just like it had been from the first moment he saw her.
Her breasts rose and fell with every breath, her nervousness apparent in her wringing hands and near hyperventilating state. Dax wanted to offer comfort, but the decision rested with her. He couldn’t help her.
“Tell me again how this works?” she asked, turning her bleak amber gaze toward him.
Dax read the defeat in her eyes, and felt it deep within himself. “You have to make a commitment to live the rest of your life as an ocean dweller. Once that’s done, you’re transformed.”
“Physically?”
“Yes.”
“You mean I become like you are.”
“Yes.”
“But I could still survive out of the water.”
“Of course.”
“Forever, or just temporarily?”
“Forever.”
“So I can change my mind if I wanted to, after the transformation is made.”
“Not really. I mean, yeah, it’s happened before, but only once. They don’t want it to happen again.”
“Who are they, Dax?”
Frustrated at his inability to adequately explain, he said, “I can’t tell you.”
“In other words, you just expect me to accept this at face value, commit to changing my life, my very biological makeup and live under the sea with you.”
“Basically, yes.” If she loved him, she’d do it.
Tell her you love her. Tell her she means everything to you. Beg her if you have to.
No, he wouldn’t do that. Isabelle had to decide for herself if a life with him was what she wanted, and not because of love, but because of choice. Her choice, not his.
She turned and stared out at the ocean, then nearly whispered her response. “No, Dax. I can’t do it. I won’t do it. You’re not giving me enough information to base my decision on.”
He knew tha
t would be her decision. “I’ve given you all I can, Isabelle. I know it’s a lot to ask.”
Still, a part of him hoped he’d be enough for her. Her hesitation dashed his hope.
“I’ve loved the ocean since I was a child,” she said, the sadness in her voice tearing him apart. “This is my element and I’ve always thought it was the place I was meant to be.”
“Then why not stay here with me?”
She turned to him. “Because I also love my life on the surface. A life I’ve worked very hard to build. I have family, Dax. Am I supposed to tell my mother I’m disappearing for the rest of my life, see you later? What about my career? People might notice if I disappeared.”
“You can quit your job. People do it all the time. You don’t need money down here, or any of the superficial trappings that land humans need. Here, food is plentiful and everyone works. As far as your mother, your job, your friends…I don’t know what to tell you. I know it would be difficult to leave them behind.”
She shook her head. “It’s impossible to just disappear. And it’s not only the money and family. I love my job, Dax. ’I love what I do.”
“What better place to do it than down here?” Dax grabbed her hands, feeling their icy chill. “Isabelle, the things I could show you…there’s magic down here.”
Her eyes widened, that old familiar sparkle of enthusiasm appearing for a flickering second, then gone. “I can’t. It’s just too much change for me. Too much risk.”
Her words were all too real, making the concept nearly impossible to fathom. “It’s difficult, I know.”
“No, it’s beyond difficult. It’s impossible. I love my job. I’m a marine biologist and a damn good one, if I say so myself. And I’m a teacher, too. Children’s eyes light up when I tell them stories of the sea and the wonderful life that can be found below the ocean’s surface.”
“You can teach down here.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know what I can or can’t do down here. I mean, I love it in the ocean, Dax.”
“But?” He knew there was more, something that she wasn’t telling him.
“But nothing. I can’t give up my life to follow you. If I did that I’d be no better than my…”
