“I figured.” He paused to marshal his thoughts. “Do you mean how I talk to the dolphin, or how I change?”
“Both, I guess. I assume the two are related.”
“Intimately.” He ran a hand through his hair. “What you saw, Heidi, that’s what I really am. This shape,” he gestured down at his legs. “It’s only temporary. I’m not a human.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, choked off a high-pitched giggle. “So you’re what? A mermaid? Half man, half fish?”
“Merman would be the proper term. I’m not a girl, as I’d hoped you’d noticed. And the bottom half is dolphin, thank you very much. I may not be human, but I am a mammal. I’d think you, of all people, would know the difference.”
“Fair enough.” She leaned her elbows on her knees, buried her face in her hands. With her hair falling loose, he couldn’t see her face, and that bothered him.
He reached over and tucked one silky lock behind her ear. He really missed the blonde and hoped the dye washed out soon. “You okay?”
“Just ducky.” Her snort of laughter wasn’t quite hysterical, and her sarcasm was reassuring. “It isn’t every day a girl finds out she’s been sleeping with a merman.”
“I know.” The tiny of quiver of hurt in her voice shot into him like a harpoon. “And I’m sorry, Heidi. But it’s not something I can just tell people.”
“Yeah, I guess not.” She nodded and propped her chin on her fists to look up at him. “How the hell can you exist without science knowing about it?”
“Very carefully.” His lips twisted into a wry grin, and his tone was dry. The combination drew a hint of a smile from her lips, making his grin a little wider. “And there’s a good bit of magic involved.”
“Magic,” she repeated, shaking her head. “Of course. Why not?”
“Is that harder to accept than talking to dolphins?”
She shrugged. “Yeah. Not sure why, but it is.”
“Maybe because you come awfully close to talking to the dolphins yourself. You’re not crazy when you think you understand them, Heidi. They can tell you have some sort of psychic link. It’s one of the reasons they like you so much.”
“Christ!” Her face fell back into her hands, but just for a second. Then she looked up at him with a rueful grin. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance that I just drank one too many margaritas tonight, and that this is all a really wild alcohol-induced dream?”
He shook his head. “Sorry.”
“Figures. Drug runners, CIA agents, why the hell not mermaids?”
He cleared his throat.
“Sorry. Mermen.”
“Thank you. If nothing else, I’d think you could attest to the fact that I’m not a girl.”
Her laugh was like a cool drink after a long swim. If she could laugh, he knew she’d be okay. His Heidi was tough and resilient; she could handle whatever crap life threw at her. Even his.
“So tell me, Jake. If you can turn into Flipper, why the boat? Why hang out on land at all?”
“It’s a long, ugly story.” And one he hated to talk about. “Sure you want it at one o’clock in the morning?”
“Hell yes. No way will I be able to sleep now, anyway.”
“Then would you mind if I got some pants? I feel a bit stupid sitting here in a towel.”
“Fair enough.” She gave him a lopsided grin. “Though you haven’t seemed to mind being naked before. You get some clothes on, I’ll make some coffee. Meet me in the galley in five.”
He stood and held out his right hand, while his left held the towel in place. The fact that she accepted his help was another good sign. Wasn’t it? He let her precede him down the stairs, then he ducked into the main cabin to throw on a pair of cut-offs and a shirt. When he returned to the galley, the coffeemaker was already beginning to hiss, and Heidi had pulled out the leftover doughnuts from that morning. He slid into the seat across from her and reached over the table to take her hands, which were busily mutilating a cruller.
“Where would you like me to start?”
“The beginning is usually a good place.” Her words were cautious, but she didn’t pull her hands away, so he held on, and gazed into her ocean-blue eyes.
“My birth?”
She laughed. “If that’s what it takes to make any sense of this.”
He nodded. “Okay. I was born in a merfolk settlement a long, long time ago. We have a pretty long lifespan, so I’m older than I look.”
“Merfolk. Okay, that makes sense. So how old are you?”
“That isn’t really important.” He didn’t want her focusing on that, not just yet. Admitting to the age gap between them made him feel like a pervert. “The thing is, I was still young and stupid. My mother is the ruler of our people, and like a lot of young people, I was a little too rebellious for my own good. I wanted out, wanted to experience life on land, try out all the wonders I imagined that the surface-dwellers had.”
She nodded in what looked like understanding, so he continued.
“So I went to my uncle, who’s a wizard. He offered me a spell. If I took it, I would be human for the next hundred years. But there was a price. Magic is never free. In my case, the price was that for the full hundred years, I couldn’t contact my family or enter any merfolk settlement. I also have to transform back into my original shape five times a month, on the full moon and the two nights before and after.”
She scrunched up her eyes and snickered.
“What’s so funny?” He wasn’t sure whether or not to be insulted.
“One week a month?” She laughed. “You must be the only man in the world who has a period.”
Jake rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help a small chuckle of his own. “Let’s not go there, okay? I’m enough of a guy to be creeped out by that particular thought.”
“Gotcha. And that’s why you live on a boat, isn’t it? You need to be by the ocean in order to do that, to make the change or whatever?”
“Right. If I’m not in the sea, salt water of some variety, the change can’t happen. And if the change doesn’t happen, I’ll be stuck in human form permanently.”
“So you’d never be able to go home.”
“Right.”
“Man that would suck.”
He nodded, pleased by her perceptive nature.
She continued. “No wonder you live on a boat.”
“It sure makes it easier.”
“So how far are you into this hundred years?”
“Seventy-eight,” he replied. “Twenty-two to go.” He could actually cite the time remaining to the day, if not the hour, but he didn’t think she needed to hear that.
“Wow, you do look good for your age,” she teased, but there was an undertone of sadness to her words. “Who knew I had a thing for older men?”
“Sorry.” He wasn’t sure what for, but he still felt like he’d somehow let her down.
“No.” She squeezed his hand and shook her head. “Don’t be. I understand, I think. Would you look the same if you hadn’t been turned human?”
“Pretty much,” he admitted. “From the waist up, anyway.”
“Okay, I really don’t want to be thinking about that!” He guessed he understood. Sex in his native form was a little different. The parts were similar, but not exactly the same. And Heidi would know, being a specialist in marine mammals.
“If it helps, all merfolk spend some time on two legs.” He wasn’t sure why he cared so much about her reaction. Maybe it was because she was the first human he’d ever shared his heritage with, or maybe he just wasn’t ready to give up their weird relationship. “Our settlements have humans in them, most of whom were rescued from shipwrecks or storms. My father, for example, really was a sailor from Argentina—or what would later be called Argentina, anyway. Without a steady influx of human DNA, our gene pool would be awfully shallow. Being with humans, it’s normal for us.”
“So why did you need the spell to live on land?”
“Time limits. M
y own magic wasn’t powerful enough to maintain human form for more than a few days at a time.”
“Right.” The coffeemaker stopped spitting, so she stood and poured two mugs of coffee, then returned and handed him one. He took it, but missed the feel of her hands in his.
“Heidi—”
“Look, Jake—”
They spoke at once, and then both paused. He smiled softly, almost afraid to hope she might be able to accept him. “Go on.”
She nodded and took a small sip of coffee. “This is all just too much, you know? These last few days… Nothing seems real anymore.”
“I understand.” His heart dropped into his gut with a practically audible clunk. So much for hope.
“I think my brain has just completely shut down, if you know what I mean. I want to finish sorting everything out, but I don’t think I can process any more. Not right now.”
“Understood. It’s late, and we’re both wiped. Why don’t you get some sleep?” He nodded toward the cabin. “I can crash in the hammock up on deck. Won’t be the first time.”
She nodded, sent him a shy, grateful smile. “I’m not mad at you, Jake. I understand why you couldn’t tell me. Especially since I’m a marine biologist. And I know I’m the one who started…things between us, so I can’t blame you for that either. I just need some time to sort things out.”
Her words were a balm, renewing his hope. What had he ever done to deserve even one night with this goddess of the sea? He stood, and then leaned across the table to give her a hug. “Sleep tight, Freya.” He brushed a kiss across her forehead before pulling away. “And for the record? I’ve never told anyone else the things I told you tonight. Ever. I trust you.” Oddly enough, he did. Even though she was a scientist, he knew she’d never betray him.
“Thank you, Jake. Or should I call you Che?”
“Good memory. It’s been Jake for the last decade or so. And there were other names in between. But you, goddess, can call me whatever you’d like.” The sound of his childhood name on her lips was almost too seductive to handle.
“Good night, Che.” She stood, hovered by the cabin door worrying her lower lip with her teeth. “Are you sure you’ll be all right on deck?”
“I’ll be fine.” He doubted he’d sleep, but that was nothing new either. “Don’t worry.”
“Okay.” She cast him one final soft look that he couldn’t decipher, then disappeared behind the bedroom door. Jake just stood there for a moment, his chest unaccountably tight, staring at the space where she’d stood.
* * * * *
There was no way in hell Heidi was going to be able to sleep.
The sight of Jake slicing through the water using his strong, tanned arms and thick gray flukes kept flashing in front of her eyes.
Jake was a merman.
How could she believe it?
How could she not?
Good lord, she’d slept with him!
And he wasn’t even human.
Well, he was sort of human. At least part of the time.
And his father had been a fisherman. So Jake was at least half-human. And that meant they were definitely biologically compatible, not that that was an issue.
She was confused and scared and yeah, a little bit pissed.
So why did she miss his warm bulk beside her in the bed?
She couldn’t possibly still want him. Could she?
Oh hell, of course she could.
Fully human or not, he’d not only saved her life, he’d given her a place to stay and a shoulder to cry on. He’d convinced the cops she hadn’t killed Brad, and he’d used all his considerable contacts to help her find him, and the men who’d shot at them. To top it all off, he’d given her the best sex of her entire life. Of course she missed him. And if she wasn’t careful, she was going to go and fall in love with him. And then where would she be? Old and gray while he was still floating around the ocean killing time. This was definitely a bad idea.
Yet she’d meant it when she’d told him she wasn’t looking for happily ever after. Oh, she wouldn’t mind it someday, but she wasn’t going to count on it. She’d seen enough tragedy to know that life was unpredictable. If you had a chance for happiness, no matter how brief, you were a fool to turn it away. And Heidi prided herself on not being stupid.
Throwing back the tangled flannel sheet, she stood and crossed the small cabin in long, purposeful strides. She didn’t let herself pause to think as she slipped through the galley and climbed the steps to the deck.
“Jake?”
“What’s wrong?”
She turned to the sound of his voice, her eyes adjusting quickly to the moonlit night. He hadn’t strung the hammock, she saw. He was sitting on the rail at the bow, staring out at the sea.
“Are you done swimming for tonight?”
“Yeah. It only lasts an hour.”
“Then come to bed, Jake.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, goddess.”
“Why not?” She loved it when he called her that. Just the caress of his voice raised goose bumps along her skin.
“Because regardless of species distinctions, I’m still just a guy. And you’re one hell of an appealing woman. If I’m anywhere near you and a bed, there’s only going to be one thing on my mind.”
“Is that a problem?” She tried to keep her voice light, hoping he was being noble and not trying to reject her gently.
“I thought you needed time to think.”
“I’m a quick study.” She took several steps toward him, but stopped a few feet away. “You know that tomorrow I’m going to have a thousand questions.”
He chuckled, a soft, low rumble from his chest. “At least.”
“And we still have to find Brad.”
“Of course.”
“And the drug dealers.”
“Lose the ‘we’ on that one, Valkyrie. You don’t go anywhere near those guys.”
She ignored his macho posturing, though it was really kind of sweet. Nobody ever, ever called her little. “You shocked the hell out of me tonight, you know.”
“I kind of figured.” His dry raspy chuckle turned her on even more. She loved his wicked, self-deprecating sense of humor.
“But nothing’s really changed, Jake.”
That seemed to surprise him. He just raised one eyebrow and kept staring ‘til she continued.
“We’d agreed that whatever this is between us, it was only temporary. We’d already decided to keep things in the here and now. Now I know some of your reasons, that’s all.”
“So?”
“So for tonight, we’re still here, together. And even if we’re not exactly the same species, my body sure seems to think we’re compatible.”
“No freaking kidding.” His voice sounded sort of strangled, like he was struggling for control. Good.
“So do you see any reason to waste a perfectly good bed by sitting out here?”
“No, I guess I can’t say that I do.”
She held out one hand. “Then come to bed, Che.”
He nodded and hopped down off the rail, still moving slowly, as if he was afraid to startle her, afraid she’d cut and run.
She stopped him when he would have wrapped his arms around her, and took his hand. Side by side, they walked down the stairs. Once they stood next to the bed, Heidi stopped and pulled the T-shirt slowly over her head. Jake watched her intently, like a starving man eyeing a feast.
“Am I the only one getting naked?” She paused in just her thong and crossed her arms over her breasts.
“No ma’am,” Jake replied, quickly shedding his own shirt and shorts. He was hard already, and she licked her lips at the sight of his long, thick cock bobbing under its own weight. Her pussy clenched and creamed in anticipation. Oh yeah! No matter what her brain decided, her body knew they were good together.
As soon as he was naked, he paused and stood still while she stripped off her thong. When she put one knee up on the bed, he moved faster than her visio
n could follow, standing behind her with his hands on her hips. His penis nudged at her ass, and she pulled up the other knee to balance on the edge of the bed, keeping her legs wide so he could tuck between, rubbing and teasing the damp curls.
Jake leaned over and nipped at the junction of her neck and shoulder. Bless the man, he’d already figured out it was one of her favorite spots. She arched her back, bringing her neck up to his mouth, and rubbing her slit along his cock. Then she clenched her thighs together, trapping him between and squeezing tight. Judging by his harsh groan, the pressure felt good. Maybe almost as good as when he bit down on the tendon at her neck.
One of his hands held her hip in a grip so tight it would probably leave bruises, and the other came around her, started kneading her breast. The intensity of it was almost enough to get her off then and there.
“What have you done to me, you little witch? I can barely look at you without getting hard, and as soon as I’ve had you, I want you all over again.” His breath, hot on her ear was another caress that only added to the overall stimulation. He let go of her hips to position himself, then thrust into her, slow and deep.
“I don’t know,” she gasped as he filled her. “You’re the magical one. You tell me.”
“Freya, whatever the hell is going on between us is no magic I’ve ever encountered.”
Then neither of them spoke as he began to move, mastering her in the most primal of ways. Heidi cried out as her orgasm approached hard and fast like a fireball going off in her core, sending shockwaves out to her fingers, toes and even her scalp. Jake followed close behind, bellowing out his own release as he poured himself into her, hot and fast.
Time hung suspended for a while until Heidi’s arms gave out, dropping her face down onto the bed. Jake nearly collapsed as well, but he managed to withdraw and fall to the side, still panting like a racehorse.
“So we’re okay, then?” He reached out to smooth a lock of the dyed hair away from her face.
“We’re fine. Go to sleep.” She’d thought women were the ones who supposedly wanted to cuddle and talk after sex. Where did they find the energy? She was whipped.
“We’re only half on the bed,” he reminded her.
“Picky, picky, picky.” Grumbling, she let him tug her up to the pillows and pull the covers over them both. But she didn’t grumble a bit when his arms went around her, holding her close to his big, warm body as she drifted off to sleep.
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