He smirked and said, "I don't believe my offer included you having me. But we can negotiate on that part."
Isabelle's face heated uncomfortably at Dax's gaze scanning her body. "That's not what I meant. I meant if you want to dive with me then you need to know it's going to be strictly business between us."
"If that's what you want."
"It's what I want." Despite the fact his eyes burned through her, as if he could see into the deep recesses of her heart. Something about Dax Seagrove was familiar, and it nagged at her. Certainly he was gorgeous and charming in a boyish way. She'd seen a face like his on countless fashion magazines and in hunk-of-the-week movies. But there was something else about him that she couldn't put her finger on. A sense of deja vu, as if she'd met him before.
"Would you like to get started or did you want to stare at me awhile longer?"
Would the embarrassment never end? Gawking like a teenager. Hell, she hadn't gawked at a guy when she was a teenager. So, why now, and why him? "Yes, let's get started. There's plenty of daylight left and I have to catalogue some coral anyway."
"Great. I'll help you."
She grabbed her gear and they headed outside, but she stopped him before they reached the water. "You know how to catalogue coral?"
"Yes."
"How? You're not a marine biologist."
"I'm familiar with coral."
"Tell me what you know about the coral indigenous to this area, then," she asked, determined to expose him as the fraud she knew he was.
"I'm assuming you don't want a running list of every species in this area, so I'll limit the number of descriptions. Fire coral is orange-yellow in color and appears to not have any pores which is a typical coral characteristic. Mountainous star coral has no specific coloring but is considered to be an important reef-former in this area. It does have one distinguishing characteristic in that its cups rise above the coral surface. Now the pillar coral is fuzzy and looks like giant fingers. Or there's the--"
"That's enough." So he did know his coral. Didn't mean he wasn't a fraud in other areas.
"Did I pass the test?" he asked with a wink.
"For now. Okay, Mr. Expert, let's go." She'd see if he really knew one end of the ocean from the other. Then she'd decide if she'd let him come along on any further dives.
She threw on her gear and grabbed her camera and notepad, then waited for Dax to fetch his tank and fins from his bungalow.
But he didn't. He just stood there.
"Don't you need to get your stuff?"
He frowned. "What stuff?"
"Your dive gear." And he was an expert? Who the hell was this guy, anyway? She began to doubt her instincts. For all she knew he could be a drifter.
"I don't use dive gear."
She looked at him, hands on her hips. "No dive gear. You dive without an oxygen tank?"
His grin irritated the hell out of her. "Yeah. I can handle it. Trust me. You ready to go?"
"Fine, but if you drown don't expect me to save you." She trudged into the water, her fins slapping at the waves. Refusing to look back at Dax, she dove under, fully expecting to do this dive alone.
He was completely full of shit and she'd called his bluff. Treasure hunter, Pegasus, diver her ass.
Determined to ignore the irritating Dax Seagrove, she dismissed him from her thoughts and concentrated instead on the coral samples she was to catalogue. Her blood pressure leveled off as soon as she nestled among the beautiful creatures under the sea.
It had always seemed kind of strange to her, but she felt the life force of these creatures. All the sea creatures. They weren't mindless objects that swam aimlessly or clung to the sea floor. They were intelligent beings and they called to her in a way that even she couldn't understand.
Which was why she spent most of her time alone. Mentioning her feelings about sea life to any of her colleagues would make her the laughingstock of the Institute. So she kept her opinions and her feelings to herself and went about her business.
Alone. Just the way she liked it.
She quickly turned when something brushed against her shoulder. Her heart pounded a staccato beat at the thought of the shark she'd encountered earlier. But this time, it wasn't a shark.
It was Dax. Sure enough, no dive gear. She shook her head and motioned with her thumb upward, hoping he'd hightail it to the surface before he ran out of air. No such luck. He merely shook his head and smiled.
What a fucking lunatic! He was going to drown. She tried again to signal him to surface, but he waved her off and pointed to the coral.
Damn difficult trying to communicate under the ocean.
No, it's not. Just listen, Isabelle. Can you hear me speaking to you?
What the hell? There was that whispering voice again, the one she'd heard earlier, the one she was convinced didn't exist. She turned to Dax to see if he showed any reaction. He hung suspended in the water, that goofy smile plastered to his face.
Moron. She hoped he'd drown soon.
And she was not hallucinating! She'd heard someone talking to her, almost in answer to her silent musings about the lack of communication under water.
She gave up. She was slowly losing her mind. There was no way in hell that someone could be speaking to her underwater. People didn't talk underwater.
People didn't. Humans didn't. But what about something else? Some other kind of being? Maybe she'd discover more than just a Pegasus Turtle on this expedition. Maybe, there was intelligent life in the sea that could communicate with humans.
Then again, maybe she just needed a nap.
She immersed herself in the coral review, throwing the other odd thoughts out of her head. She'd completely lost track of time until Dax tapped on her wrist and pointed to an unusual species of blue coral.
By then she was way more interested in him than she was the coral. Dax had been holding his breath and hovering next to her for more than five minutes. By rights he should have lost consciousness and drowned by now.
He wasn't dead and he was still smiling. Why wasn't he dead? What the hell, or who the hell was fucking with her?
Dax. He was the one screwing with her head. Everything in her neat and orderly world had fallen apart from the moment she met him. True, maybe even before she'd met him, but how did she know it hadn't been him before?
Are you gonna finish that job or just hang out here and wax existential the rest of the day?
There it was again. Thoughts. Not words spoken aloud, but thoughts. Someone else's thoughts, yet she heard them as if they'd been spoken. Goosebumps broke out on her skin and she flushed hot at the same time.
She looked at Dax, and made the connection.
Dax?
Yeah.
You're speaking to me. Or thinking to me.
I know.
Under water.
Yes.
It's really you? Despite the fact this could not be happening, she already knew the answer. It was the same whispering voice she'd heard in her dreams last night, the same one that had warned her about the shark this morning. Not like his regular speaking voice at all, this one was soft, like a caress near her ear.
How are you speaking to me? How are you breathing under water? What the hell is going on here?
It's a long story.
I've got time. I'm the one with the oxygen tank.
Later. Finish your work and we'll talk topside.
Before she could utter another word...or thought, he swam away so lightning quick her eyes barely registered his departure. Other than a wake of bubbles, there was no sign of him.
Stunned didn't even begin to explain her mindset right now. Unbelievable, unfathomable, couldn't possibly happen.
She'd just dreamed this whole episode. Dax had never even dived with her. She was hallucinating and needed some kind of psychiatric help.
That, at least, would be easier to accept than the fact that Dax could breathe underwater and think his thoughts to her. But the bottom line was, s
he was a scientist and as a scientist sometimes the unbelievable had to be taken at face value.
Cataloguing coral no more than a distant memory, she quickly made the trek toward the water's surface, her thoughts filled with Dax and the wondrous magic he'd just revealed to her.
What was he? Who was he? Why was he here and how could he be communicating telepathically with her?
The questions raced through her, too numerous to list. But the one question first and foremost on her mind had already been answered.
No way in hell was Dax Seagrove human.
Chapter Four
By the time Isabelle surfaced from the water, Dax was nowhere to be found.
Dammit! Curiosity ran rampant through her, forcing all other thoughts aside. Who the hell was he? She had to know.
She walked over to his bungalow and rapped on the door.
No answer.
A quick turn toward the ocean showed no sign of him.
He had to have surfaced. He told her, or rather he sent his thoughts to her that they'd talk after she surfaced.
Well, she had surfaced, dammit! Where was he?
After hanging outside for several minutes, she gave up, figuring this whole episode was just another case of bad indigestion or some kind of screw-with-her-brain plant life she'd rubbed up against in the forest. The way she'd imagined the weird things happening to her lately, Dax probably hadn't even been down there with her. She'd just hallucinated the entire episode.
After all, humans did not breathe and talk under water. None of that had happened.
Disgusted with her tenuous grip on reality, she grabbed her gear and went into her bungalow to shower. Then she threw on a sundress and decided to check for Dax at the hotel.
But thoughts of the mystery man who dove without an oxygen tank remained prominent in her mind. Despite knowing it couldn't have really happened, she couldn't shake the memories of what she'd seen and heard.
She'd find Dax and get at the truth. Either he was some kind of non-human species who could breathe and talk underwater, or she was having a really bad hallucinatory episode and needed therapy. Either way, she'd get some answers from Dax.
It was dinner time and the guests were mingling about in the lounge and dining area. Isabelle searched both rooms for Dax, but didn't find him.
Tired of standing around wringing her hands, she stepped up to the bar and ordered a cocktail to settle her nerves. Then she took a seat at one of the tables and observed the couples occupying the lounge.
Human behavior had always fascinated her, especially the biological aspects of sexuality. Granted, this venue went beyond the ordinary, but she still enjoyed watching the interplay between the sexes.
There was plenty of interplay going on. Couples whispering, holding hands, kissing and even the not-so-accidental touching of asses and breasts.. She was no voyeur, but watching the intimate foreplay occur right out in the open had her breasts tingling with excitement. Her nipples hardened and she immediately wished she'd taken the time to put on a bra. She shifted in her chair as the ache between her legs became more prominent.
Not that anyone would notice. Couples were paired off in twos like the animals on Noah's ark. There were even groups of four or six...orgy gatherings, maybe? And there she sat, all alone at her little table. She couldn't help but feel like a wallflower. Which was ridiculous considering she wasn't on this island to partake of the sexual adventures, anyway.
Still, it was difficult not to think about sex when it permeated the entire room.
How long had it been since she'd had sex? Too long to remember, that much was certain. And at that she hadn't had great sex in...well, never.
The earth had never moved for her in bed. She knew the basic biology, knew how to get herself off, and yet when coupled with a guy the results had been disappointing. Then again maybe she'd have to actually feel something for a man before she could get that great sex she'd always read about.
She'd had sex, that was for sure. But she'd never been in love.
Maybe that's what was missing in her life. Her soul mate, if such a person even existed. Her career had always come first. That, and the fear that she'd end up like her mother some day. Both were reason enough to shy away from any deep emotional entanglement with a man.
When the gentle, swaying lilt of an island beat started up from the band in the lounge, Isabelle wished she had someone to dance with. She'd loved dancing as a child. Her mother would always have music playing and grab her to swirl her around the kitchen. She'd even taken several years of dancing lessons and had become rather adept at it.
Too bad she'd been so immersed in books in high school that she'd never had the chance to show off her dancing prowess to a boy. Not that any of them would have noticed her anyway. Always more interested in books and research than in the social activities at school, the kids had nicknamed her Isabore.
She'd missed so much. And not once in all those years had she thought about what she hadn't experienced.
Until now. Right now she wanted to get up on that dance floor more than she wanted anything.
"Would you like to dance?"
She looked up at the sound of Dax's voice. Her heart slammed against her ribs at the sight of his tall, lean body dressed in swim shorts and a tank top like one of those surfer boys in a catalog. With his dark tan and sea green eyes he stood out as the most handsome man in the room. But what really got to her was his smile. Wickedly sexy, a little lopsided, but full of sensual promise. She sensed some talent in those full lips, and her body went on alert as images of what he could do to her with his mouth flooded her mind.
In an instant she was drenched between her legs, her cotton panties clinging to her damp pussy. How could the mere sight of him excite her that way?
"Where have you been?" she asked. "When I surfaced I couldn't find you and then you said you'd meet me topside but you weren't anywhere around."
He smiled and took her hand, casually sliding his thumb along the inside of her wrist as he pulled her to the dance floor. Idly she wondered if he could feel her thumping pulse. She shivered when he pulled her body close to his, her breasts brushing his hard chest. If he noticed her distended nipples poking his chest he didn't say anything.
They fit well together. If she lay her head against him it would rest nicely against his collarbone. He splayed his palm against her bare back and she bit her lip, fighting back the urge to grab him by the hair and kiss him.
He hadn't acknowledged her comment about talking to him underwater. Did that mean it had actually happened and he didn't want to talk about it yet, or did it mean he had no earthly idea what she was talking about?
Where was the calm and cool Dr. Isabelle King? Why hadn't she dragged him out of there and barraged him with question after question on his origin and how he managed to breathe without an oxygen tank and talk to her underwater? Where had the scientist in her gone?
She must have left that part of her personality back at her bungalow because for the life of her she couldn't come up with a single non-sexual thought. Her body tuned into him and nothing else could interfere.
Since it didn't appear he was going anywhere any time soon, she relaxed. When she did, he pulled her tighter against him and she decided to go for it. She rested her head against his shoulder, inhaling the crisp, clean scent of him. His skin was soft and yet muscular and the way his hand constantly moved against her back drove her crazy.
He could dance, too, his body moving in perfect time with the slow, sexy island beat. His pelvis brushed against hers and she lifted her head, her gaze shooting to his. He was hard. Long and hard and rubbing against her mound in a way that made her hot and wet.
Reacting like this wasn't in her nature. Sex wasn't first and foremost on her mind...ever. Yet Dax clearly had a physical reaction to their close proximity and she couldn't deny her own response.
"You have the most beautiful hair," he murmured, tucking her head against his shoulder and petting her hair, follow
ing the trail of tresses down her back with his hand.
She shivered and inhaled his scent, her hands instinctively clutching him closer as she wound her arm around his neck. "Thank you."
"And you smell like summer. Like peaches. I love peaches, did you know that?"
Swallowing past the huge lump in her throat, she said, "No."
"They're soft, pliant, juicy and ripe with flavor that bursts into your mouth and makes you desperate for another taste. Are you ripe with flavor, Isabelle?"
Oh God. She couldn't answer. What would she say, anyway? Her mind flooded with visions of Dax's tongue swiping over her clit and pussy. She desperately wanted to grind her mound against his hard cock and beg him to fuck her right here.
No. That wasn't her. She didn't act that way. Forcing her thoughts to the myriad of questions she had about this mysterious man, she said, "We have a lot to talk about."
"Mmm hmm." He slowly stroked her back from shoulder blade almost to her rear, pressing in at her lower back. When he rocked his hard-on against her, her body quivered.
"This isn't the place or the time for sex," she managed to blurt out.
He leaned back and arched a brow. "We're not having sex. We're dancing."
Why couldn't she think? "There's a lot more than dancing going on here."
"So I noticed. You'd think some of these couples were going to drop to the floor and do it right here, wouldn't you?"
Other couples? What other couples? She'd been so focused on Dax she'd forgotten there were other people around. As she glanced around she noticed a half dozen or so other couples on the dance floor, kissing and touching in an intimate fashion. Way more intimate than Dax had touched her. "I...I hadn't noticed."
"Mind occupied elsewhere?"
Flames of embarrassment licked at her neck. "Yes, I have a lot on my mind."
"Am I one of the things on your mind?" He brushed his knuckles against her cheek.
Did he have to touch her like that? How could she think when the mere swipe of his skin against hers sent her reeling? "Yes, you're first and foremost, but not for the reasons you think."
"Is that right?"
"Yes. I have so many questions, Dax. Who are you, what are you, where are you from? How can you--"
He pressed a finger to her lips. "There's plenty of time for answering questions later. Right now I just want to hold you, touch you and do the one thing I've been dying to do since I first saw you standing on the beach."