“I need more facts,” Bridget said.
Aidan jumped at the sound of her voice, spinning with his hand over his chest. “You’re awake.”
“I want proof that this is Deep Ocean. How do I know we’re not just a mile down from the surface? I want someone to take me out in the water and show me. I want solid, scientific proof.”
“You’re a stubborn one, aren’t you? Can’t you just accept it and move on?” Aidan turned back to his text, waving his quill as he spoke. “We’re surrounded by merfolk. I’m over a hundred years old. I’ll dig up my old journals and prove it to you if you’d like.” He turned back to look at her. “Not to mention the fact that you survived your shipwreck and are wearing strange clothing and eating strange food. You look lovely all dolled up, incidentally.”
Bridget arched a brow at his words. Dolled up? She refused to get sidetracked.
“Merfolk could easily be just an anomaly of nature,” she reasoned, “or more than likely a government experiment. You could be lying to me, and the journal could be faked. I’ve seen stranger clothing in New York City during Fashion Week. As for the food, well, yes it is harder to explain, but maybe someone has discovered a way to genetically alter sea life. Or maybe you’ve found how to fish the Deep Ocean waters. Or Deep Ocean creatures are rising up from the Abyss to feed, due to some ecological shift, and you’re catching them that way. There are any number of logical explanations. So, I say again, I want proof.”
“You have an answer for everything, don’t you?” Aidan shook his head. “Why is this so hard for you to accept? Even you must admit that your logic is farfetched.”
“No more farfetched than living underwater in a bio-dome created by Poseidon, the god of the sea. To accept your explanation, I’d have to accept that some sort of supernatural, unearthly, god-like magic exists. But, having been a scientist, I know that what I suggest is more probable. Yes, it is farfetched, but it is probable as well as possible, more so than a magical curse and an underwater city.”
“Point taken.” Aidan grinned. He glanced back at his text, appearing torn between debating with her and continuing his work.
“Please help me. I just want to take a quick swim.” Bridget took a step forward.
“You want proof? Or you want to get out there in the water as a scientist?” Aidan asked knowingly.
Bridget bit her lip, fidgeting. “Both.”
“They won’t let you out into the water,” he insisted. “You’ll never survive. Besides, it’s very dark out there and with your eyes you won’t be able to see a thing. You’ll probably be eaten within the first few minutes if the temperature doesn’t kill you.”
“I want to see it,” She insisted. “Isn’t there a way I can see for myself? Please. If what you are telling me is true, then I’ve waited my whole life for this chance. I want to see Deep Ocean. I want to learn. I need to know that it’s there. That this is real.”
Aidan took a deep breath, contemplating for a moment. Quietly, he said, “What you seek is in the borderlands. There you will know for sure that this place is real and see more of Deep Ocean than you ever wanted to. It’s the best I can do. I can’t help you get into the water. The only way out is the Crystal Caves, which they are constantly guarded, and for good reason.”
“The borderlands?” Bridget repeated, feeling a tingle of excitement. “How do I get there?”
“Just start walking in any direction and you’ll get there eventually.” Aidan chuckled. “Lord Caderyn should be able to take you. All the hunters have homes around in the borderlands. He’s supposed to be hunting, but after that trick you pulled with the knife, the king’s ordered him to stay out of the water until you are settled.”
Bridget felt a twinge of guilt. She ignored it. “How far is it?”
“Not terribly if you head in the right direction.” Aidan smiled kindly at her, in his distracted way.
“Which direction is the right direction?”
“The forest is no place for a woman to be on her own. Some say a tribe of wild women roam the woods. Just make sure you take your husband with you. Caderyn will keep you safe. He will know the way.”
Bridget’s world came to a screeching halt. Husband? Closing her eyes, she moaned, “How could I forget that?”
She’d been so preoccupied trying to get over the shame of practically forcing Caderyn into her bed that she’d forgotten all about the little episode in the dining hall.
“I heard the healing can unsettle the mind. Though, since you were ah… asleep… for nearly a week I figured you were past the confusion.” Aidan grinned.
“A week?” Bridget gasped. She touched her side, feeling the scar through her clothing. No wonder she had so many memories of sex. There were way too many times to be from one night. Great, so she basically spent the week sleeping, eating and fucking her new husband. Had she been anyone else besides her, it would’ve been the perfect honeymoon. She wanted to die.
“You haven’t talked to Lord Caderyn yet, have you?” Aidan’s smile fell. “He doesn’t know you’re awake, does he?”
Her look must have answered for her because he sighed and set down his quill.
“You stabbed yourself and he healed you,” Aidan said. “You’re better, but it’s a good thing he did it. You must’ve really been hurt. But, I’d say you nearly drained his energies dry. Poor man could hardly sit upright, and he was walking kind of funny each time I saw him come from your home.”
Drained him dry? Bridget wanted to die. Done it to him good? Before she could stop the words, she blurted, “He told you we had sex?”
Aidan choked, knocking over the inkpot. It spilled onto the floor, ruining his pants. Red faced, he leaned down to clean up his mess. “I meant you drained him of his life force when he healed you. I didn’t mean that you drained him of his…his… Good gods in heaven!”
Bridget turned and ran in mortification. She didn’t stay to hear the rest.
Chapter 15
Bridget’s feet thundered over the ground as she ran through town. A bundle of food bounced heavily on her shoulder. She’d stolen it from the empty banquet hall. It had been on a cart, just sitting there.
The city blocks had to end sometime, didn’t they? She’d seen a forest just past the valley. If she could just make it to the forest she’d be okay. Aidan had told her the forest was dangerous, but surely that was just his old-fashioned upbringing coming through. She wasn’t a helpless woman. She could take care of herself. She had taken a self-defense class one time.
Running away was a stupid idea to begin with, and she wasn’t surprised when Caderyn caught up to her near the town square. Still, when she heard him growl, ‘Bridget, what do you think you’re doing?’ she had to make a run for it.
She was too mortified to face him. Just hearing his voice made her heart leap in her chest and moisture pool between her thighs. What would happen when she looked at him? Touched him? Would she throw herself at him like a wanton sex fiend again?
Hearing his footsteps gaining on her, she ran harder, dropping the food. It was too heavy and was only slowing her down. She heard Caderyn trip on the bag but didn’t stop to look.
“Bridget!” he ordered. “Halt!”
She ran faster. Her arms pumped. Sweat beaded her forehead.
“Bridget! Wait!”
Her heart pounded so hard that her chest hurt, and her throat stung from gasping the cold air. The trees were there. So close. If she could only make it the last few feet.
“By all the gods, woman. Halt at once!”
Bridget felt her body flying through the air as he caught up to her. She screamed, ready to be smashed under his weight. Instead, he turned in the air, taking the brunt of the fall. They rolled a few times, stopping with her body tangled on top of his.
“Hold, woman!” He growled, gripping her arms tight when she struggled to get up. His harsh breath mingled with hers. Even now she wanted him. She felt his strong body along hers, felt the beginning press of an arousal
. If not for all the stares they were receiving from the townsfolk, she might have done it.
“Let…me…go,” she managed through gasps.
“What is this?” he demanded, rolling up to his feet in one graceful movement, taking her with him. Bridget was so stunned by his strength and grace that for a moment she forgot to protest. He pulled her like a rag doll into the forest. When they were alone, he stopped but didn’t let go. “Are you mad?”
“Yes, I’m mad,” she answered. “Of course I’m mad!”
“You’re not right in the head?” Caderyn frowned, moving to look her over. He reached to cup the side of her face. “Have you an injury? What happened? Do I need to take you to the healer?”
“I’m mad. Angry-mad,” she screeched. “I want you to stay away from me.”
“What did I do?” The man looked shocked and she was sorry for it.
“You,” Bridget hesitated. She couldn’t believe she was about to say it. “You took advantage of me. You drugged me with your life force, energy stuff.”
“I saved you from your own foolishness. You stabbed yourself with a knife.” A deep crease wrinkled his forehead and his eyes narrowed. He looked angry.
“You drugged me. Twice.” Bridget pulled harder to be free, but he wouldn’t let go. His grip tightened. “Now, get away before you euphoria me again. That’s what King Lucius called it, wasn’t it? He said my euphoria wore off. This is the first day I’ve been able to think clearly since I came here.”
With a low growl, he let her go. Bridget stumbled, tripping on her own feet. Landing hard on her butt, she grunted. Caderyn crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at her in irritation. “Everyone who comes here has euphoria. It happened on the dive down, when I saved your life. Euphoria is a time when we can explain what is happening without the hysterics of emotion. By the time your senses come back, it’s hoped that the realization of what this place is, and who we are, has sunk in and will be easier to accept.”
Bridget bit her lip. Damn him. That explanation actually made sense. She took a deep breath, not wanting to face the real issue driving her anger—her complete and utter embarrassment over her wanton behavior with him.
“Oh, and it wasn’t to hurry and get me married off before I knew any better?” she quipped.
“You chose me.” His tone was harder than she’d ever heard it.
“No, I said I didn’t want you to be my guardian.”
“Same thing.”
“By what logic?” Bridget finally caught her breath enough to be able to push up off the ground. It was hard to meet his beautiful purple eyes. They were so unnatural a color, so damned sexy. “And by what right did you...?”
“Did I what?” He prompted when words failed her.
“When you, you know,” Bridget felt her cheeks flaming and prayed he’d think she was flushed from running. “You had sex with me.”
His lids lowered over his sultry eyes, and he gave her a small, sexy grin. A strange expression crossed his features as he looked at her knowingly. Did he realize why she was protesting? Did he know she was ashamed of herself? Oh, gawd! And what did he think of her? His opinion of her had to be low.
“No,” he said at leisure, “you made love with me. In truth, you demanded to make love with me. Your body was healing and seemed to like draining my life force from me. In fact, I believe you said you liked draining my seed from me as well. You demanded it several times every night for a week. It got to the point where I had to leave the house to recover.”
“I did not! And even if I did, it’s your fault. You could’ve said no. You knew what was going on with me. I didn’t ask for it. It was all your doing.” Bridget crossed her arms over her chest, matching his hard stance. He arched a brow, and she got a flash of being over his naked body, pinning him down as she took her pleasure. “I didn’t want it.”
Okay, that was a boldfaced lie. However, she was keeping a straight face while saying it. Wasn’t she?
“Hum,” Caderyn reached for her and pulled her tight to his body. Before she realized what he was up to, he had her back pressed into a tree and was kissing her. It felt wonderful, so wonderful that a moan tried to pass her lips. She swallowed it back. After his tongue had plundered her mouth and left her breathlessly wanting more, he said, “Tell me you didn’t enjoy that. Tell me you don’t want me to do it again.”
Stubborn pride made her say, “I didn’t enjoy it and I want you to let me go this instant.”
Bridget didn’t mean it. She wanted him to kiss her again, to lift her up against the tree. She wanted to know what it would be like to sleep with him when she was fully aware and could control what she was saying and doing. Her body burned with desire, and she was so wet and achy.
“Very well.” Caderyn didn’t look pleased as he let her go. Bridget forced herself to walk away from him. “Where do you think you are going?”
“The borderlands. I want proof that this place is what you say it is,” Bridget rubbed her arms to keep them from reaching out. She had to prove a point—that the wanton sex fiend wasn’t really her, that she wasn’t just some insatiable whore who did all those things with him. What he must think of her?
Oh, could she just get swallowed up into the ground already? Why make her face this mortification?
“My word and the word of everyone else here isn’t good enough for you?” he asked, his gaze shaded. The anger was back in his tone, and he looked as if he wanted nothing more than to shake her until she passed out.
“No, it isn’t. Not in this. I need facts. I need to see it with my own eyes to believe it,” Bridget said. It was partly the truth. If she considered the facts, this place being Ataran, lost island of Atlantis, made the most sense. All the facts pointed to it, but she wanted to see. Besides, how else would she get them to show her Deep Ocean? Aidan had told her that her scientific expertise wasn’t needed down here. Would Caderyn let her poke around anyway? Seeing his hard face and knowing what historically men like him thought of a ‘wife’s place’, she highly doubted it.
The fear that she’d be expected to sit around like a housewife raged within her. She did not want to spend eternity rubbing his feet, cleaning his home and sewing his clothes. The fiery pits of hell had more appeal to her than that.
“Maybe it’s because you don’t want to believe it,” he countered. “Not everything that’s real can be touched and seen.”
“Like what?”
“Emotion,” he answered. His hands balled into fists, and he set them on his hips in controlled rage.
“Emotions are just chemicals released into the brain,” Bridget told him, not believing her own words. “That’s all.”
“I see,” he stated. His mouth drew into a harsh line. “You people. You’ve harnessed light. You’ve created power. I’ve seen these things on your ships. But, if you are any indication of where this has brought your kind, then I think it’s sad. You seemed to have forgotten to trust your gut instincts, to feel things for what they are. Some things just are because you know they are, you have faith that they are. You should believe Ataran is what it is, because your gut tells you that you can believe me.” He took a step forward and stopped. “You can believe me.”
“Why should I believe you?” Bridget tossed up her arms, waving them to the side to encompass the forest. “I have no reason to. Every time I turn around you’re drugging my senses so I don’t have any reasoning or logic in my actions.”
“The euphoria of my life force does not drug you!” His voice rose so that he was yelling at her. A shiver worked its way over his muscular form and she knew that she’d made him mad. “It makes you act without inhibitions, without fear. It does not make you act abnormally. If you want something, you say you want it. I cannot help that I gave it to you. I saved your life in the water and you were euphoric. I saved your life from the knife wound and you were euphoric—more so because it required much of my energy to heal such a horrendous wound. I cannot help this. I did not mean to drug you.
I meant to save you.”
“Caderyn…” Bridget’s voice softened and she didn’t move. What could she say to that?
“You have to be the most frustrating woman I’ve ever heard of. I will not tolerate this…” He waved his hand at her, as if he couldn’t even finish the thought due to his extreme exasperation.
Bridget took a deep breath and then another. His words about saving her life affected her deeply, but she couldn’t think of the right way to respond without sounding anymore shrewish than she already had. It wasn’t completely his fault that she was scared and lost, or that she wanted him even now and didn’t know how to deal with her desire for him.
She tried to lessen his irritation with her tone, even as she requested what she must. “I want to see the borderlands and I want to see Cassandra. I want to know that she’s all right. Please take me.”
For a long moment he didn’t move. Then, finally, Caderyn bowed his head at her. “Very well, my lady, we’ll go to the borderlands. You will see the boundaries for yourself. Maybe then you’ll be able to trust me.”
“And Cassie?” she insisted. “Please, Caderyn. I know you think I’m being unreasonable, but I need to see that she’s all right. You ask me to believe so much on blind faith and I just can’t.”
“You will see her in time. We must look to her health as well as yours, my lady. If she survives, you will meet her again.”
Chapter 16
Caderyn felt as though Bridget had ripped out his heart and stomped on it. She didn’t want to be married to him. Their marriage was something that couldn’t be taken back. Witnesses had heard her say the words. The king had blessed the union. It was done. Forever or until the unlikelihood of death, it was done.
He wasn’t sure what was worse—the fact that she didn’t want to be married to him, or the fact that she didn’t want him to make love to her. The last week of his life had been the happiest he could remember in a long time. Granted, his wife had been a little out of her mind and he’d been so drained he could barely walk straight, but she’d wanted him. He wasn’t alone. The eternity didn’t seem so bleak a prospect. He wasn’t alone.
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