She was transformed. He'd thought her beautiful there on the bed, soft skin offered up to him like a sacrifice, but here she was part of the sea, wild and free and very confident. As much as he loved Rikki for her inexperience and willingness to please him, he was intrigued by this side of her--so certain, from her fluid quick movements to her body language, to the rapt look on her face as she stared out over the water.
All he could think about was moving up behind her and taking her right there, while she took them out over the water. Next time, he'd have her wear a long skirt without any underwear so he could just lift up the hem and bury himself deep. They could move with the rise and fall of the boat, a gentle rhythm, or if they hit a little swell, hard and ...
She turned her head and looked at him over her shoulder, speculation in her eyes. "I'm not certain you're up to the task." Laughter spilled over before she turned back to look at the sea.
His heart clenched violently in his chest, his emotion for her so strong it was nearly painful. It was nice to know he wasn't part of the scenery and that she'd chosen to stay connected to his mind. He needed the intimacy, even if she didn't. She was bright and shiny, as if a light was inside of her, showing him the way out of shadows.
"I think that's a challenge," he managed to reply, but more than the physical cravings for her, was the knowledge of certainty in his decision. He was risking everything, throwing away everything he'd been, who he essentially was, and she was worth it.
Again she sent him a look from over her shoulder before turning back to look straight ahead at the water as they rushed toward their destination. "That's not exactly the truth, Lev."
She really was becoming adept at telepathy; he'd have to be more careful about guarding his thoughts. He knew she was there, but she was becoming familiar, a part of him already, as if they'd somehow absorbed each other.
"Yes, it is. You're well worth the risk."
She sent him a small grin, her eyes velvet soft. "Silly. Of course I am. Not that part. Who you are is the same. This has always been who you really are, you just never let yourself feel anything. You were a child when they took and trained you. You're a good man, Lev, whether you believe it or not. I'm inside your head and I see who you are. You've always been good."
He watched the shoreline as they followed it, occasionally looking up at the sky to the birds, even as he turned her words over and over in his mind. He didn't know the truth anymore, and really, did it matter? He'd been given a second chance and he was grabbing it with both fists.
They stayed silent, enjoying the morning sun beaming down on the water. From the vantage point of a boat, the view was very different than from on shore. He saw holes worn through large rock masses, the sea stacks where every type of bird made their home or rested and nested. Birds plunged into the sea to fish, and seals occasionally poked their heads up or rested on their backs, watching the Sea Gypsy curiously.
Something big moved alongside of them, cutting easily through the water, and he saw Rikki smile and glance down. A geyser of water erupted beside the boat, raining drops on them. She laughed out loud. "He just gave us an invitation to play."
His eyebrow shot up. "Invitation to play? With that?" He looked at the massive, streamlined body moving fluidly through the water. The gray whale had to be a good forty-five feet long and weighed approximately thirty to forty tons. The fluke rose out of the water. It was ten to twelve feet and deeply notched in the center.
The whale disappeared beneath the water again. He spotted more shadows in the water. Rikki slowed the boat and then allowed it to idle while she bent down toward the water, dipping her cupped hand in it and shooting the liquid in a long arc over the surface. As she did, she began to sing softly, so that the water droplets hovered in the air, forming a long chain.
Lev held his breath, aware he was about to witness something probably no one other than Rikki had ever seen. He felt energy building beneath them. The boat rocked. He reached out to touch her, laying his hand gently on the nape of her neck, wanting the physical connection even as he thrust his mind into hers.
The intimate connection, so deep, so strong, shook him--the sensation every bit as pleasurable as making love to her. Her warmth surrounded him, feminine and soft, with no hard edges. Merging wasn't quite the same thing as reading her thoughts. Being inside of her, sharing her mind, brought a hard ache and a need that just kept growing stronger. For a moment his breath burned in his lungs and his heart pounded. Erotic images played through their shared mind and he allowed the waves of pleasure to wash over him.
All the while, he kept his gaze fixed on that chain of water held about a foot above the surface of the sea. Without warning, flukes shot up out of the water, slapping at the chain. Laughing, Rikki danced it out of reach. He could feel the way she anticipated the whale's movements by the strength of the energy pouring up from below them. She didn't cheat, keeping the chain the same distance from the surface. Lev spotted several whales spy-hopping their narrow, tapered heads up out of the water, looking to him as if they were smiling. Gray and white blotches covered their darker skin along with white barnacles. The whales were huge, graceful creatures, migrating down the Pacific coast from arctic waters to the Baja lagoons where their mating and breeding grounds were.
He watched as several in the pod played the game, trying to be the first to slap the chain of water with their flukes. He could hear Rikki's delighted laugh, but more, he felt the exact same pleasure, merged as he was with her. The connection to the sea was so deep in her veins that he could swear her blood was ebbing and flowing with the rhythm of the waves. Joy burst through him, a foreign concept so alien, at first he had no idea what the indescribable feeling was. She gave him that--the gift of happiness.
He watched a big male coming in and knew, just as Rikki did, that he was going to hit that chain of water, slapping it hard with his fluke so that water burst into the air, thousands of crystal droplets raining over them. Satisfied, the pod moved on, disappearing beneath the surface once more.
"That was incredible."
She laughed and allowed him to help her up, moving against his body with a not so subtle signal. "Next time, I am wearing that skirt." She kissed his chin and turned back to throttle the boat forward. "If you keep watch, they'll probably come up in anywhere from three to five minutes. They'll blow in intervals of three to fifteen seconds before they raise their flukes and disappear. They'll often stay under longer, but if you pay attention, you'll notice a general pattern: '
"You just throw that out there about the skirt and then change the subject to whales?"
Her laughter teased his groin into a hard ache. He swore for a moment he could feel her fingers stroking him into a heavy erection. "We have work to do, my man."
He stepped up behind her, close, so his body was imprinted against hers, so she could feel him hard and thick, pressed tight against her. One arm circled her waist, and he rested his chin lightly on her shoulder. I like being your man. He couldn't say such hokey words aloud, but the emotion inside of him spilled into her mind.
She reached back with one arm to circle his head, turning hers so she could find his mouth. He kissed her long and deep, tasting love in the sweetness of her mouth. She broke away first, turning back to make certain they were on course. They were heading toward one of her favorite spots, just off Elk. She'd told him it was approximately nine miles away and she'd held off working there so she could get a good harvest.
The ride took about a half hour and she never asked him to move until they were coming up on the place.
"The cemetery is just up there," she said, gesturing with her chin, a frown of concentration on her face. "Sometimes I feel the spirits are looking out for me."
He no longer had her attention and he stepped back to give her room. "Is this dangerous?"
"Well, if you don't know what you're doing," she admitted. "You have to know how to maneuver in here. The floor beneath us is virtually a mountain range. You see there's
not much rock showing here. There's a three-hundred-foot drop from the road up there. The rocks are real close to the edge but they extend out suddenly about a thousand feet into the ocean."
While she talked, she maneuvered the boat carefully along a hidden path. "The northern end of the mountain is totally under water."
He peered below them, and his heart leapt. He could see rocks on either side of the boat beneath the surface of the water. A few jutted out, but most seemed to be out of sight. As they moved closer, little islands appeared, nothing more than rocks protruding out of the sea.
"I'll go down about twenty feet, right off those rocks, but I have to come in bow to current, so I can go down the chain, otherwise the flow takes me and the urchins away from the boat. This way I can use the current to my advantage."
Each of the little coves formed shelters in the rocks. The stacks were dotted with seals basking along the low-tide rookies. The seals' spotted silvery gray and dark brown coats gleamed in the early sun as the mammals rested with their large bodies sprawled out on the rocks.
"Look at them all. They really are cute up this close, but bigger than I expected."
She laughed. "They're not so cute if you dive in one of their channels between the rocks. They don't like it and aren't shy about letting you know. All of a sudden they have teeth and claws, and you just get out of their way. Most of the time, they rocket past you when you're down there and you have to ignore them. Never share your catch or they won't leave you alone--they can get aggressive."
Lev studied the seals. They suddenly looked a lot larger than they had a couple of seconds earlier. "How big are they?"
She shrugged casually. "They reach five or six feet in length and can weigh up to three hundred pounds. Give them respect and you'll be fine." She gave him a small frown. "You aren't diving, Lev."
"I know that, but maybe you shouldn't dive here either. Aren't there urchins on the other side of those rocks, away from their territory?"
She nodded. "Actually, the front of the rock wall is covered with them. There's a drop of about one hundred and twenty feet, but you can only harvest that spot in three foot swells and no duration. You have to stay buoyant at around thirty to forty feet, but it's pretty dangerous, you can drop very quickly."
"Great. You're using that word 'dangerous' quite a bit."
She shook her head, smiling in reassurance at him. "Here we're protected from any big swells coming from the northwest. The big rocks there break up the string of swells. Of course, you have to contend with the current here. It's like diving in a river. You don't get the back and forth of the wave motion here."
She was so matter-of-fact, so completely confident, and more, she was eager to dive. He could feel her slipping away from him, her attention on her mistress. The sea was definitely calling to her. He knew she loved the water and diving was imperative to her well-being, but it suddenly seemed too dangerous to allow her to go alone. He'd never really experienced fear for anyone else before and it was damned uncomfortable.
He'd certainly gone diving, numerous times, and was perfectly qualified, but she would balk. He was already getting a huge concession just to be on her boat. He wasn't so impatient that he'd lose everything by pushing her too fast. Rikki didn't like change. He'd brought about a lot of changes in her life and she was fragile. He knew the hold he had on her was every bit as fragile as her state of mind.
"Tell me what a tender does," he said. When she snapped him an impatient look, he tried a smile. "While you're getting your gear."
She indicated for him to sit out of her way while she checked her gear again. She'd done it the night before, had gone over it meticulously in the morning and now checked it a third time. He realized she really did take her safety seriously.
Rikki pinned him with her dark eyes. "Basically anything I say."
"Come on, lyubimaya moya." Deliberately he used his accent, his blue eyes drifting over her as she poured warm water into her diving suit. "Give me a few facts."
She sighed and shimmied out of her jeans, exposing her shapely legs and the raindrop tattoo he loved so much. She was very slender, all that working underwater and only peanut butter to sustain her. She needed high-energy foods and a balanced diet. Easy, he reminded himself. One change at a time, and only those things she needs to keep her healthy and safe.
Rikki sent him a peculiar look as if she'd caught part of his thoughts, although they were no longer connected telepathically. Maybe something about the water surrounding them amplified her talents. He didn't know enough about water elements, only that they were powerful in their own right. He had psychic gifts, but hers worked differently. She was bound to water, and water was bound to her.
"Rikki." He kept his voice even.
"You're working very hard at manipulating me," she pointed out.
He knew she was sharp. "Just give me the general idea."
"Tenders, as a general rule, do everything above water and the diver does everything below. The most important thing to remember is to slow down. There's no emergency unless I tell you. A tender does what's asked of him, nothing more. Don't make it up as you go along."
She poured baby shampoo into her hands and lathered her legs and hips and buttocks. She wasn't wearing much more than a thong. He tried not to be mesmerized by the sight of her hands flowing over all that skin.
"If everything above the water is my job, I should be doing that."
She blinked, as if coming out of a trance, and then she grinned. "You have a one-track mind. And it's important for me to keep to my routine. I can't deviate. For one thing, it throws me off and my mind goes into chaos, but more than that, it's a safety issue out here."
"Got it, no sex on the boat."
"I didn't say that, only don't interrupt my routine before I dive."
"So what do I do?"
"Absolutely nothing." Her smile faded and she stared directly into his eyes. "You can't touch one thing on this boat."
"Rikki." His voice was gentle. "That's just silly. Let me help you. I won't touch anything unless you tell me to. You trust me with your body, you can trust me with your things." He could see she was already becoming agitated, thrown off by the change in her routine. "Give me something to do. One thing. Diving is exhausting work. I can do the menial things."
She slipped into the bottom half of her wet suit while she thought it over. "I'll hook the bag to my hose and send it up. When it hits the surface, you can pull the bag in--slowly--which will pull me up as well. When the bag gets to the boat, secure the hook to the urchin bag and disconnect the hose. I'll either come aboard to rest and eat, or I'll want another bag. If I ask for a bag give it to me before you haul the uni aboard. Fill the urchin hole with the bags first. Once the urchin hole is full cover the bags on the deck with the silver tarp--silver side up."
"I can do that."
She dragged her T-shirt over her head and folded it as neatly as she had her jeans, uncaring that she was bare-breasted, the morning sun playing over her slender curves with a loving hand. She didn't seem to notice her state of undress, but he couldn't help himself, his gaze drifting possessively, drinking her in. She was his. This wild, independent woman was a mixture of vulnerability and courage. There would be few people in her life who appreciated her quick mind and bravery facing the challenges of a world she was born too sensitive to function in properly--yet she managed, carving out a life for herself against impossible odds.
Lev found himself with his mouth dry and his heart pounding. The light spun around her, turning her skin to soft cream and making her enormous eyes appear even blacker and more mysterious and exotic than ever. She had the adorable little frown on her face he'd come to know meant she was concentrating, wrestling with her inability to cope with change in her routine. He liked that he was one of the few people she trusted into her life, and he loved that he was the only one she would allow on her boat or in her bed. She belonged to him exclusively, and there was satisfaction and even pride in that.
"Slowly," he agreed when he could find his voice. "I pull the bag in slowly. Urchins in the hold first and then if they're on deck cover them with the silver tarp, silver side up. Nothing more, nothing less, and take my time."
She rubbed baby shampoo over her upper body, her fingers gliding over her skin, her breasts, her small, tucked-in waist. It was more erotic than anything he'd ever seen.
"It's possible someone will see us here, Fish and Game, and they'll check your license. A tender makes certain other boats stay out of a diver's territory. Keep track of where your diver has gone so other divers don't enter my territory."
Smirking, he glanced at the sky. That part would be easy enough. No one was getting near his diver.
"And stop looking at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like you're about to eat me."
Now his smirk was all for her. "I could, you know. Every morning for breakfast. Right here on the boat. Doesn't matter. I could be as addicted to your taste as you are to peanut butter."
She sent him a look from under her lashes that made him want to kiss her. He folded his arms and regarded her steadily as she pulled on her tight shirt and then hooked her belt around her waist. Her eyes had gone bedroom sexy. She liked the idea as much as he did.
"You're just a little perverted, you know that, don't you?" she said.
He shrugged, unrepentant. "Fortunately you like me this way."
Her answering smile was slow, but it came. "All right," she conceded, "maybe that's true. I've got to go to work."
"You like this, don't you?"
Rikki nodded. "This is my world, Lev."
She didn't look at him again, engrossed in her routine, meticulously going over every piece of equipment. He watched her prepare for her dive, each separate step, committing it to memory, so that he would be able to anticipate anything she might need if she ever allowed a partnership between them. He noted her hoses were wrapped in a loop, each length of the circle exact. Her rake had a knife welded to it, but she didn't carry any other weapon on her person, a concept completely foreign to his nature.
Once again he could see he was completely forgotten. He imagined most men's egos would take a beating when they realized that she simply put them out of her head as if they no longer existed. She was very focused as she checked her lifeline, the air compressor, her hose and her bailout tank, which she wore on her back. She had her instruments strapped to her wrist and her gear on when she suddenly looked up at him and smiled. For him.