by Jaci Burton
Morgan laughed. "Of course you are! I didn't think otherwise. But I'm also a little worried that maybe you've been drugged."
"Drugged? What do you mean?"
Tapping a long fingernail on the lacquered table, Morgan said, "You know, those drugs they give women sometimes to make them forget."
"You mean date rape drugs?"
"Yes."
Isabelle laughed at that. "I didn't even have anything to drink before the dive yesterday. And I was alone in the bungalow. So that's just not possible."
"What about after the dive?"
"I don't remember anything after the dive. I don't remember anything past finding some sleeping sea turtles on the bottom of the ocean floor." Hell, for all she knew Morgan could be right. She could have come to the resort and had cocktails after the dive and just didn't remember it.
"Well, it's doubtful you were around here last night. Tony and I had dinner here and I'd have remembered seeing you."
So much for that theory. "I think it's more stress and fatigue than anything out of the ordinary, Morgan. But I do appreciate your concern."
Morgan reached out and squeezed Isabelle's hand. "I like to take care of my guests. And with you being almost completely alone on the other side of the island, I can't help but worry."
"That's because you're a mother at heart, gorgeous."
Isabelle looked up to see Morgan's husband, Tony, standing at the table and smiling warmly at his wife.
"I am not," Morgan replied with a blush.
"Well, soon you will be."
Isabelle looked to Morgan. "A baby?"
She nodded and grinned. "Yes. Hadn't planned on it happening so soon, but we're very happy."
Tony leaned over and brushed his lips over his wife's, then squeezed her hand. "So soon? I wanted to get you pregnant from the first moment I saw you."
"Well it was damn close to that," Morgan said.
Tony shrugged and grinned. "What can I say? I'm a stud."
Isabelle laughed. "Congratulations to both of you. You must be thrilled."
"Thank you, we are," Morgan replied, wrapping her fingers around Tony's. "Hard to keep my Italian Stallion here from wanting to use me as a brood mare. He's made up some ludicrous number of children he'd like to have. How many kids were we suppose to have?"
Tony arched a brow. "Six, I think."
Morgan snorted and caressed Tony's cheek. "Only if you're going to birth at least three of them yourself."
The love and affection between the two of them was obvious. They hung out with her for awhile, then Morgan excused herself to attend to some resort details and Tony followed, saying he had a writing deadline to meet. She watched them walk away, hand in hand. Tony stopped in the lobby and pulled his wife into a passionate embrace that even had Isabelle's heart pounding.
So that was love. Real love. The kind she'd never witnessed growing up, the kind she'd never experienced herself.
Funny, she'd never thought that love, a husband and family were things she wanted. In fact, she'd purposely lived her life with her career coming first and no intention of ever wanting or needing that elusive thing called love.
Then why, after watching the way Morgan and Tony were together did her heart ache so badly? Why did she feel a craving so strong it made her entire body tremble and tears well in her eyes? Why did she suddenly think she wanted to be loved by someone? Why did the thought of children running about fill her with a longing she'd never felt before?
Why? Why? Why? The whys of her life were driving her crazy lately.
Probably lack of sleep and the weird dreams she'd had. Plus the loss of a part of yesterday that frustrated her beyond belief. Stress like that would make anyone act irrationally. And wanting love and marriage was about as irrational as she could get.
Her life had been happy before she'd arrived at Paradise Resort. But the past few days she'd begun to question her so-called-satisfying life, had begun to feel that maybe something integral was missing, but she couldn't put her finger on what that missing piece was.
It sure as hell wasn't love. Love was for the foolish, for people who didn't know the disastrous consequences of giving your heart blindly to someone. She wasn't like that. She knew better.
This was all Dax's fault. His mysterious ways, her inability to get her questions answered, all of it had led to her infatuation with him. He was a mystery and she loved mysteries. Which didn't mean she loved Dax.
And she still had no answers, but at this point she wasn't sure she even cared. She'd gotten too wrapped up with him too quickly and it was beginning to affect her reasoning. Paradise Resort was like a fairytale wonderland and she'd allowed herself to get caught up in the fantasy and romance of the place. Clearly it was distorting her vision and her goals. She needed to get her head on straight and focus on her job.
Starting right now. She waved the waiter off, signed the check for her meal and headed back to the bungalow, determined to keep her distance from Dax and concentrate only on work for the remainder of her time at the resort.
Isabelle's resolve lasted as long as it took to drive back to the other side of the island, where she found Dax waiting on the beach for her. His blue shorts matched the turquoise of his eyes, his tanned body glittering with sweat as he stood out in the open sun.
He smiled and her heart skipped a beat. She ignored the pulsing awareness of him and calmly exited the golf cart and swept past him to her bungalow to change for a dive.
Dax followed her inside. "Hey, beautiful. I've been looking for you."
"I was at the resort having lunch." She busied herself gathering her gear, camera and notebook, then went into her bathroom to change in to her swimsuit, making sure she closed and locked the door. The last thing she needed was Dax coming in and making her forget her new resolve. Taking a few minutes to catch her breath and calm her emotions, she came out, smiled politely at Dax then walked toward the beach. Dax walked with her, as silent as she was.
She couldn't look at him, afraid she'd melt if she glanced into his eyes. Her body was completely in tune to him--his clean, crisp scent, the husky tone to his voice, the way he smiled at her, touched her, kissed her--no! Not this time, not ever again.
Quickly fastening her dive gear, she headed toward the water. Dax grabbed her arm but she looked straight ahead, focusing on the sun glinting off the ocean's waves.
"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing. I'm just behind schedule."
"You going for a dive?"
"Yes."
"Still cataloguing turtles and coral?"
"Yes."
"I'll go with you."
"No!" She chanced a look in his direction, only to catch his confused frown. She quickly averted her gaze and stared out over the water. "I mean, I'm really busy here, Dax. I need to get down there and finish notating the sea life in this area. My time is almost up and if you don't mind I'd like to finish this alone."
"Why alone? I can help you and you'll get it finished faster."
She had to do it, despite the fact she knew it was going to cause pain, both to herself and to him. "I appreciate the offer, Dax, but no. Having you along is really a distraction that I can't afford right now."
Dax clenched his jaw, but she saw the pain on his face. An ache like she'd never felt before enveloped her heart. She knew she'd hurt him, but couldn't help it. It was either that or she'd lose herself in him completely, and she couldn't, wouldn't allow herself to become like her mother. Because Dax would leave her eventually, that much she already knew. Better now than later when she wasn't certain she'd survive it.
"I see," he said, his voice softening to a near whisper.
She bent down to grab her flippers, thankful for menial tasks that prevented her from looking at him. "Good. I'll catch you later, then?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. I've got some work of my own to do and I need to be leaving soon."
A sharp pain stabbed her stomach and spread out, nearly paralyzing her. "Okay. When
are you leaving?"
"Now, I guess. There's really nothing to keep me here anymore, is there?"
His enigmatic question gave her pause. Was that meant to lead her into confessing her feelings for him? She refused, knowing the disastrous road love would lead her down. "I guess not."
Isabelle turned away from Dax and closed her eyes, forcing the deep breaths she knew would calm her rattled nerves. Her first instinct was to whirl around and beg him not to leave. But then what? They'd have one more night together and he'd be gone? No, it was better this way. End it clean, with no entanglements.
She dug the knife in as far as she could, wincing at the self-inflicted pain. "I guess if I see you before you leave, great. If not, good luck to you."
Before he could say anything else she stepped into the water, the waves carrying her out while she slipped on her fins. She swam as far out as she could, refusing to look back, knowing Dax stood on the beach watching her. Fighting back the tears that threatened to fog her mask, she dove down, hoping the job she had to do was enough to keep her mind from wandering to the man she'd just treated so carelessly.
Damn him for making her fall in love with him. And damn herself for not remembering what a disaster love could be.
Chapter Thirteen
By the time Isabelle returned to shore it was nearly dark. She half expected to see Dax still waiting there for her, but the beach was empty. Ignoring the surge of disappointment, she dropped her dive gear on the inside tile of her bungalow and stripped, heading straight for the shower.
Her muscles ached from the effort of holding the camera for so long. But she'd found the turtles and taken shot after shot of them nestled together, their huge bodies all lumped together like one, big rock. She'd guess they were ready to nest given the time of year and location, and she made a mental note to do a little searching tonight to see if she could find their nesting ground.
After that she'd catalogued their numbers, species, state of maturity, then moved on to the patch of coral and did the same thing, following up with photographs.
She put on her night vision goggles and went in search of the turtles' nesting area, rewarded with a find not too far into the forested area of the beach. With very little sand and lots of trees for cover, the turtles were busy brushing back the sandy loam and nestling inside the holes to bury their eggs. Isabelle shivered excitedly at the find, making a mental note to come back to the island and check on the hatchlings around the time they'd be breaking free of their eggs.
She'd also have to notify Morgan to string up a barrier around this area to keep tourists from damaging the incubating eggs.
By the time she crawled away from the now exhausted turtles, she was fairly wiped out herself. But thrilled that she'd managed to view the nesting process.
And besides, watching the turtles dig their nests had at least helped the time pass.
Might as well keep herself busy, since it seemed as if Dax had taken her words to heart and disappeared. She refused to go next door and see if he'd left the bungalow yet. If she saw him, fine, if not, then more the better.
Yeah, right. And there really were flying turtles named Pegasus.
How could one man have wiggled his way inside her heart in such a few short days? A mysterious man at that, if he were even a man at all. She wished she'd had the time to get answers to the questions that had plagued her since the moment they met.
After she cleaned up she dragged a lawn chair down to the beach to watch the moonlight rise. Its glow cast a silver beacon over the calm sea. She dug her toes into the cooling sand, wishing she could blanket herself with the gritty substance and forget she'd ever met Dax.
The night quiet unnerved her, whereas it never had before. She'd always enjoyed this part of the day, the peaceful feeling of being completely alone with nature. Now, she wanted to hear dark, husky laughter, feel a certain man's warm hands around her waist, touch her mouth against a living, breathing man who desired her as much as she desired him.
No sense in missing him. She'd told him to leave, brushed him off as if he'd meant nothing to her.
The problem was, he did mean something to her. She loved him. Yes, she'd admitted it before, but part of her held back. Acknowledging that she loved him didn't mean she wanted a future with him.
Now it was different. No matter what her mother had gone through, no matter the pain she'd known as a child watching her mother suffer because of the man she loved, none of that mattered to her.
Her heart opened and swelled with joy and a bittersweet agony brought about by the fact she'd lost the man she loved. And had no earthly idea how to find him.
Looking to the sea, it hit her like a punch to her middle, nearly toppling her over. Her heart beat frantically against her ribs and she broke out in a sweat.
She remembered! Everything. From that first night until yesterday.
When she'd had the stomach pain in the water the first night, it had been Dax who'd rescued her and brought her to shore. She even remembered the conversation he'd had with Ronan.
She remembered Ronan, the gorgeous god-like guardian of the sea people. Dax's laboratory, even Zeus, the talking dolphin.
Most importantly, she remembered what Dax had said before she'd lost consciousness last night. He'd told Ronan that he loved her!
None of it had been a dream, it had all been real. Hadn't it? Or was she so wrapped up in hope that she was manufacturing reality where it didn't exist? Maybe it had been a dream, after all.
The only person who could verify that for her was Dax.
She jumped out of the chair, searching the ocean's surface, hoping against hope he'd show up if she willed it hard enough.
Back and forth she paced along the shoreline. A half hour, an hour, sending mental signals to Dax to come out of the water and talk to her. A week ago she'd have thought herself insane for even thinking someone lived in the sea. Now, she believed it to be true, hoped for it to be true.
There! She saw a spot in the water. A dolphin, probably. She refused to get her hopes up until she was certain.
Dax, please, I need you.
Over and over and over again she repeated the mantra. The tide was rising, water rushing over her feet, then her ankles, higher and higher each length of beach she paced.
There it was again! This time, she was certain it had to be him. She ran inside and threw on a swimsuit, nearly stumbling in the sand in her haste to get to the water. She dove in and swam quickly, keeping her eyes focused on the spot where she'd seen him. She had to talk to him, had to know if what she remembered had really happened.
By the time she'd reached the spot she thought she'd seen him, he was nowhere to be found. And she was exhausted. Stupidly, she'd gone too far out and further lung power was nearly nonexistent. She'd never make it back to shore. Taking a chance, she fought for breath and dove down, knowing somehow he'd see her and make contact.
The sea was dark, nothing like what she remembered. Tears filled her eyes at the effort she expended to hold her breath, and still she kept diving, spurred on by faith that he was close, that he wouldn't let anything happen to her.
It wasn't a dream, she was convinced of it. Everything she'd remembered had been real. It had happened.
But she was running out of air, and still she dove further, knowing she'd never be able to hold her breath long enough to get back to the surface. Would she die for him? Would she die here because she was as foolish as her mother?
She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the panic, the feeling that she'd just made a fatal error in judgment. And now she was going to drown.
Just as she was about to let go, a hand snaked out and pulled her against a warm, living, human body. Water rushed into her lungs, but instead of a clawing panic she could breathe. Relief soared through her.
Light flickered against her tightly shut lids and she opened her eyes. Dax smiled at her.
With a whoop of joy she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him long and hard.
<
br /> He returned the kiss with fervor, his mouth devouring hers, his tongue plunging inside her the same way she wanted his cock to do. His erection bobbed between her legs. She shifted, wrapping her legs around his waist. Not wanting to take time to remove her swimsuit, she yanked it to the side and guided his shaft inside her.
"God, you feel good," he whispered as he entered her, lightly biting the tender flesh of her neck.
He moved quickly against her, their bodies rising and falling together, an electricity surrounding them as they clashed like a fierce storm. Isabelle clawed at Dax's back, unable to assuage the fierce hunger that made her desperate for each thrust of his shaft.
She panted in his ear, he licked her neck, his heart pounding against her breast. It was fast and furious and heart rendering. This could very well be the last time she felt this connection to Dax, and she wanted it to last an eternity.
Unfortunately, her body had other ideas. Intense pleasure rose up to meet her and she threw her head back, screaming out an orgasm so filled with emotion it made her cry.
Dax clutched her to him and groaned his release, spilling his seed deep into her core.
Breathless, she clung to him, not wanting to let go, not yet ready for reality to intrude on this ultimate fantasy she'd created with him. For it was a fantasy, and she finally realized it. Unless...
She kissed him lightly and smiled. "It's all true. I wasn't dreaming."
He nodded. "You remembered it all. You even fought through the memory spell Ronan gave you. No one has ever done that before. That makes you one strong woman, Isabelle."
She didn't feel strong. She felt weak, helpless and thoroughly overjoyed to find him. She didn't care if he didn't want to be with her past this week, she only knew she couldn't leave things the way she'd left them with him earlier.
"I'm sorry about today," she said. "I didn't know how to handle my feelings for you."
"And what are your feelings for me?"
"I..." She started to tell him she loved him, but something in his face, some hesitation tensing his body, stopped her. "I care about you, Dax. I didn't want to leave without letting you know that. Without telling you that I remembered everything. I wanted to thank you for showing me your world, even though there's so much of it I don't understand."