Going Deep (Divemasters Book 2)

by Jayne Rylon

  Archer and Tosin reached down to lift her into the boat.

  Due to the nitrogen load they’d taken on during their regular daily dives, they had even less bottom time available. Especially since they were picking up Miguel’s divemaster slack, though they’d never once complained.

  “What’d you see down there?” Miguel asked when he’d joined her in the boat.

  “I’m not sure. Maybe just a funny reflection. For a second, I thought it was another dive light. A white one. But since the guys are already up here, I guess it wasn’t that.” She shrugged as she began to break down her gear while Archer got them underway, returning to the Divemaster with some more work for her to do.

  “We used UV lights, too,” Tosin said. “Not full spectrum.”

  The guys exchanged another one of those infamous stares, probably saying she was clearly nuts, so she changed the subject. “How many samples did we get? I hope I can process them all before tomorrow night so we know what to concentrate on next…if we don’t already have the winner.”

  She grinned at that. They had to be closing in on Heinrich’s secret.

  “Lindeza, you need to sleep first.” Miguel didn’t seem like he was going to listen to her arguments about how she could power through with the help of a gallon or so of black coffee. It might be hard for him to take her seriously when a huge yawn escaped her at the reminder.

  Even harder would have been for her to persuade him in any fashion when she was unconscious, which she was by the time they arrived back at the ship. The ups and downs of the day had sapped her energy.

  It was a good thing she rested before tackling her next round of experiments, because none of them panned out. On the bright side, she got to experience the gorgeous nightly display over and over with Miguel by her side. It never grew old, though she had to keep reminding herself that it would be better if they had achieved their goal even if it meant the end of her quality time with her favorite divemaster.

  Nearly two weeks after her first night dive, Sabine stumbled from her laboratory and plopped onto the dive platform, dangling her legs behind the Divemaster as she watched the waves roll by endlessly.

  Her renewed optimism had suffered the same fate as her original bout of worthless enthusiasm following more than a dozen fruitless collecting expeditions. Everyone was feeling the strain of their pointless trips.

  They’d all agreed to take a night off and regroup.

  A month into her research, she wasn’t a single step closer to figuring out exactly what Heinrich had uncovered. If she didn’t stumble across it soon, she’d have to admit it wasn’t here to find. Then pick a different approach. She’d already inconvenienced Archer, Tosin, and especially Miguel long enough.

  It would be nearly impossible to find someone who’d fund continuing research with this mammoth failure under her belt, even if she could figure out where to look next. Maybe another Indo-Pacific location that had been on Heinrich’s route. Hell, she might have to return to Germany to regroup. Sabine would see if she could salvage anything from Heinrich’s home computer or the rubble of his laboratory.

  The odds of that tactic being productive were even worse than those of the Molokini Crater divulging its secrets to her at this point.

  Worse, it would mean saying goodbye to Miguel.

  How many blows could she take before they crushed her?

  Twelve

  Miguel finished tucking the last of the items for their excursion into his backpack and zipped it as quietly as possible. Sabine needed every minute of rest she could stockpile. The experiment, and the lack of results she desperately hoped for, weighed on her more and more.

  When he’d fallen asleep with her in his arms the night before, he’d noticed her hipbones dug into him a bit. Using gentle caresses, he surveyed the rest of her and was convinced she’d gotten thinner during her stay. Consistently shorting herself on sleep had given her dark circles below her eyes that hadn’t been there before, either.

  This time he knew better than to let her reach her breaking point. She needed to step away for a quick break so she could stay positive. Clarity of mind was a job requirement she couldn’t meet when she got too down on herself. Not even their clubroom sessions seemed to help her relax as much as they had at first.

  Maybe because the more attached they grew to each other, the more troubling it was to consider what would happen if she didn’t make progress soon.

  Miguel had considered that as he beat the stuffing out of the punching bag in the ship’s gym during his past few workouts. He had the bruised knuckles to show for it, too.

  Fortunately, he had an idea about how to help her rejuvenate. One that involved less intensity and, hopefully, more fun than his previous methods. That’s not to say they hadn’t been enjoying some quality time in the clubroom. Because—oh, fuck—had they. Even there, she was his well-balanced counterpart.

  It was just that he felt compelled to show her that great sex wasn’t the only thing he cared about because he might have to make his case soon for why she shouldn’t leave him. What if he couldn’t persuade her to stay when the time came?

  In the back of his mind, he thought about the out Archer had given him. One he’d never planned to take. Could he sell his share of the Divemaster? Would he if that was what it took to follow Sabine wherever she needed to go next?

  Incredibly, he was starting to consider the possibility.

  With everything ready, he couldn’t delay waking her any longer. If he did, they’d miss the main event. Stalking to the side of the bed, he took a few precious moments to memorize what she looked like as she slept in his bed. Facedown, sprawled across most of the wide-open space, she’d burrowed into the super soft sheets wearing nothing but his necklace, which she’d never once taken off. Though she’d only found her place there a month ago and could be a total cover hog, he couldn’t imagine what it would be like to climb into bed alone after sharing it with her.

  He wouldn’t.

  If she wasn’t there, he didn’t want to be either.

  Whoa.

  Miguel drew a deep breath then knelt beside the bed. He shook her shoulder lightly, awed as always by the softness of her skin. “Good morning, lindeza.”

  He waited for her to smile at him slowly before he placed a kiss on her cheek.

  “Am I late for the lab?” She closed her eyes for a moment as if psyching herself up, then pushed onto her elbows. He tried not to stare at her rack, or even to notice how amazing it was, in case he fell back into bed with her to wake her up properly. They didn’t have time for that.

  “Not exactly.” He handed her a bra and underwear—practically a crime—along with a soft T-shirt and a pair of comfortable shorts. “Get dressed.”

  “Is something wrong?” She bit her lower lip.

  Miguel hated that disaster came to her mind as the first motivation for his actions. “Nope. Everything’s great. It’s a field day. Or I guess, if you want to be more grown up about it, I’m taking you out on a date.”

  “Huh? You are?” She pushed fully upright, rubbed the last lingering bit of sleep from her eyes with her fists, then perked up, always down for an adventure.

  Could she be any more adorable?

  “Yep.” He stole one more kiss then tweaked her nipple. “Hurry up. We don’t want to miss our ride.”

  “Where are we going?” she wondered.

  “You’ll have to come with me to find out.” He nudged her toward the edge of the mattress.

  Sabine took the clothes, hopped from bed, and scampered to the bathroom still naked, giving him a great view of her ultra-spankable ass and long legs.

  Damn, maybe he should have woken her up just a little earlier. He rubbed the growing bulge in his cargo shorts.

  She’d taken care of business, brushed her teeth, and reappeared in a few minutes, fully dressed. He liked that about her. Sabine didn’t bother wasting time primping, didn’t need to because she was so damn gorgeous naturally.

  He already
had his backpack over his shoulder.

  “Let’s go!” She darted ahead of him out the door and down the hall. Her easy smiles and genuine enthusiasm made his hours of planning worth it.

  “Up to the helipad,” he told her when they neared the elevator.

  “Ohh, fun.” She clapped then poked the button for the appropriate deck.

  Miguel couldn’t help but laugh. He drew her to him and squeezed her tight. “It’s so great to see you happy again.”

  She froze. Had he said exactly the wrong thing?

  “Maybe we shouldn’t go.” She swallowed hard enough that he heard it. “The samples—”

  “Can wait one day.” He’d prepared this argument. “You need time off, a mini vacation, and when we get back you’ll be twice as effective, making up any delay.”

  Miguel expected her to argue. She didn’t.

  She must have felt even worse than he’d realized. Shit.

  The elevator dinged and opened onto the deck with the helipad. Waverly and the chopper stood by. He kissed Sabine’s forehead then swung his backpack around so he wore it on his chest. She looked at him funny until he turned and crouched. “Piggyback ride?”

  Whatever he could do to keep her smiling today, he would gladly do it.

  “Woot!” She hopped on, wrapping her legs around him. The heat of her core against him had a million other dirty thoughts racing through his mind. She hugged his shoulders and laid her cheek against one of them.

  As he jogged, he heard her say softly, “Thank you, Miguel.”

  “You can thank me properly later,” he said with a wink as he reached the chopper and helped her inside.

  “Noted.” She blew him a kiss, then glanced around as if only now realizing it was still dark out. “I think I’m jacked up from our night dives. What time is it?”

  “Four fucking thirty in the morning,” Waverly grumbled. “Who takes someone on a date at the ass crack of dawn?”

  Miguel laughed. “Sorry, babe. Tell Banks to give you a bonus for putting up with outlandish requests.”

  “It’s not the request that’s a pain, it’s the owner,” she mock-grumbled even as she smiled. “Happy to take you anywhere, anytime, you know that. Now hop in and let’s get going.”

  He kissed her cheek then climbed inside, taking a seat next to Sabine on the triple-wide bench side of the passenger area across from two captain chairs that were extremely comfortable but far too separate from each other. The center seat had been folded down to make a table and an assortment of fruit, juices, croissants, and yogurt was laid out.

  Sabine was digging in. This had definitely been a good idea.

  He owed the kitchen staff a personal thanks when they returned, too. On the floor, he spotted another delivery from them that he’d need later. Perfect.

  When they’d buckled in, Waverly lifted off so smoothly they didn’t even have to hang on to their glasses. She had mad skills.

  Licking pineapple juice from her fingers, Sabine peeked out the window. Miguel did the same. The view from up here never ceased to impress. He remembered when he’d first met their resident scientist. Could it really have only been a month ago? They’d made this trip in reverse and she’d asked about the Haleakala Observatory.

  “Are we going to see the sunrise from the summit of Haleakala?” She practically bounced in her seat as she swung around to face him. “It’s supposed to be amazing. Did you know Haleakala actually means ‘House of the Sun’?”

  “I didn’t, no.”

  “Sorry, is my inner nerd showing?” She grimaced as she brushed her hair out of her eyes.

  “Just a little.” He finished the job for her then leaned in for a quick kiss. “No worries, I think she’s cute.”

  More like Miguel loved this side of her. He wondered if he could convince her to wear thick-rimmed glasses and a plaid skirt for him in bed sometime.

  He grinned as she rattled off facts to him and Waverly without stopping to draw a breath. “The summit is 10,023 feet above sea level. There’s a plant you can find around the main parking area called a silversword that’s endangered. People walk right by it and don’t even realize how rare it is. The observatory on top of the mountain is run by the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy and it’s regarded as one of the best in the world in part because it sits above the tropical inversion layer, so the view is crystal clear from there.”

  He had no idea what that meant, but he nodded anyway, feeling better and better about his itinerary for the day. They landed a few minutes later. He helped Sabine into the foul-weather jacket he’d brought for her, handed her the shoes she’d had to give up when onboard the Divemaster, then snagged the two-man sleeping bag he’d stowed along with the rest of his supplies.

  Sabine asked Waverly if she wanted to join them for the sunrise. She declined, opting to stay with her helicopter instead.

  Silently, Miguel thanked her. Not that he didn’t love the woman, in a completely platonic sort of way, but he felt some indescribable urge to have Sabine to himself today. They spent so much time around others onboard the Divemaster that it was a rare treat.

  He figured that was one reason his relationship with Sabine seemed so intense. They’d been together damn near every second of the past month. And yet he wanted more.

  On a relatively level spot, he laid out the sleeping bag and a thermos of Sabine’s favorite hot tea then climbed in beside her, drawing her onto his lap. She cuddled up to him, curling into his embrace.

  For a while, they sat there in silence, observing the stars.

  She was right—they did look unbelievable from up here. If he lifted his hand, he might be able to pluck one from the sky for her. Gradually, the dots were joined by hints of color that illuminated the clouds, which were actually below his and Sabine’s perch. The sky looked like the ocean on calm mornings when fog blanketed the surface.

  Golden rays gilded the wisps, which began to be offset by a background of salmon and burnt oranges. Finally, the sun peeked above the horizon, setting the vibrant colors to shame. And when the magic faded, leaving behind a bright, beautiful day, Sabine cheered.

  He caught her as she turned to him and kissed her, savoring the flavor of tropical fruit mingled with her lips.

  Miguel made love to her mouth as thoroughly as a public park would permit. The entire time, he stared into her eyes, which gazed right back at him, never shying away from the bond that shone brighter than that epic sunrise had.

  “I think I’m ready to go home now,” she whispered.

  It thrilled him that she had called the Divemaster home. Nearly as much as it affected him to realize she was equally eager to get him in bed as he was to have her there.

  “Are you sure?” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Because it turns out I know people who fund a shit-ton of grants. Including ones to the Institute of Astronomy.”

  As of two days ago, anyway. Thank you, Banks.

  Sabine’s eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

  “Yup.” He nodded. “Out of respect for their patrons, they’ve arranged for us to take a quick peek around the facilities. You know, unless you would rather split. I’m not opposed to taking you back to bed if you prefer.”

  Well, okay, it wasn’t an either or proposition. He’d do that later. There was no way she’d pass up this chance.

  Sabine squirmed from the sleeping bag and yanked on his hand. “Come on!”

  He didn’t release her fingers during the trek to the observatory or the admittedly interesting tour they were taken on by one of the leading researchers. Sabine asked tons of technical questions, but Miguel zoned out, spending his time wondering about what might be out there in space and if he could ever find a place, a home, a group of friends, and a lover that made him as content as he was at the moment.

  When he decided the answer was a resounding no, he knew it was official.

  He’d fallen for Sabine.

  Lost in thought, he almost didn’t hear the latest man they were being intro
duced to ask Sabine about Heinrich. The slight uptick in her tone and the way she stepped closer to Miguel alerted him to the situation.

  He put his arm around her waist, cursing the probably well-meaning fuckface for reminding her of things Miguel couldn’t fix for her, not even with the influence of several billion of Archer’s dollars.

  “So what are you doing in the area?” Professor Bookworm asked her. “Working on a new project? Or maybe something of his he hadn’t finished before he passed away?”

  The question seemed a little too casual and way too insensitive for Miguel’s liking. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name. Who are you again?”

  The guy shrugged. “I’m Brad Post. Just a grad assistant around here.”

  “It’s been nice talking to you, Brad. But if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got somewhere else to be.” Yeah, like anywhere people weren’t asking too many questions about something Heinrich had been trying to keep under wraps or topics that hurt his woman to discuss.

  Sabine nodded. “Thank you for the tour, Dr. Pickering.”

  They exchanged handshakes before Miguel and Sabine retraced their steps to the helicopter.

  “You okay?” he asked Sabine.

  “Fine.” She smiled, though some of the shine had dulled. “Lots of people know he was my mentor. Especially in academic circles—everyone knows everyone.”

  “Then you’re up for more fun?” He could salvage the rest of the day, he figured.

  “I’m not sure how you can top this.” She rose onto her tiptoes and kissed him sweetly. “Honestly, Miguel. This is the nicest thing someone’s ever done for me. You know, other than the whole Divemaster thing. But this is…personal.”

  “Yeah, it damn well is.” He kissed her this time, lingering for a while. Their next activity wouldn’t be very comfortable with a boner, though, so he reined himself in before he could get carried away.