by Iris Abbott
She casually glanced around the room as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Actually, she trembled all the way down to her black stiletto heels. Her stomach quivered, and her muscles twitched. She lifted up the faux fur trimmed wolf mask made of gold and securely tied the elastic band under her hair. She slowly circled the room oblivious to the stares and whispers that followed her every step.
****
Anticipation hung heavy in the air. Mitch walked around Russo’s castle, taking in every detail as he went. Darn those three witches anyway. Why did they have to throw such a big bash on Valentine’s Day of all days?
He scowled at an approaching lady who was intent on flirting with him and stormed off in the opposite direction. Scarlet should be at his side, and he hated the fact that she wasn’t with every fiber of his being. A hush fell over the room. Excited chatter immediately followed. Mitch, always alert, felt and instantly followed up on the change in atmosphere.
He followed the swelling tide of emotions until he caught a glimpse of the red-clad woman who was whipping the partygoers’ passions into a bubbling cauldron of intensity. He knew it was Scarlet as soon as he laid eyes on her. His heart swelled along with another unmentionable part of his anatomy. He couldn’t believe what the temptress dared wear or more like what she hadn’t worn.
Almost every curve of her body was on display. His wolf growled at him to publicly stake his claim right there in front of everyone. He walked so fast he glided across the room. Just before he reached Scarlet, she turned to face him, and he stopped dead in his tracks. She wore a mask that was unmistakable in its likeness to a wolf, and his mark was proudly displayed. He gave her a wolfish grin and opened his arms.
Scarlet stepped into his embrace without hesitation. “I love and accept all of you, including your wolf. I want to share your life and be your mate. That is if you still want me?”
Mitch buried one hand in the thick mass of hair at the nape of her neck and used the other to push her lower body even closer to his full-blown erection. “I’ve loved you since the first time we joined our bodies. I claim you now and forever as my mate. You’re the one woman meant to stand by my side from now to eternity.”
He was done talking. He’d publicly claimed his mate with words. Now there was one more thing to make it official, the mating kiss. The crowd around them faded into the background and then completely disappeared. The center of his world began and ended with Scarlet, and all his attention was focused on her.
He lowered his head closer to her, and Scarlet leaned into him. Their lips locked together in a scorching kiss. Mitch felt the heat all the way down to his toes. The caress seemed to go on and on with no end in sight. He probed her lips with his tongue, and she opened to allow him entrance.
He swept the organ inside her mouth, tasting all that he could. Lightheadedness assailed him. He slowly removed his tongue and released her lips. She uttered a moan of protest, but she quieted when he pulled her closer.
He nuzzled her neck in the same spot where he bit her before. He gave her a teasing nip right before he bit down hard. She gasped, and her body vibrated against his.
Mitch raised his head and glanced around the room at each member of the pack who was present. He strengthened the final message to them and everyone else. Scarlet was now and forever more his mate. His eyes locked with Alessandro, Phillip, and Logan. They would know that security was taken care of, but he was out of there.
He scooped Scarlet into his arms and rushed outside to his SUV. He was anxious to get her home and into his bed. He planned to still be making love to her well after the sun came up the next morning. And there was no better time to start the loving than right now!
****
Justin watched his brother and future sister-in-law exit the castle. Mitch looked happier than Justin had ever seen him. He was pleased for his brother, he really was. The alpha finding his mate would only make the pack stronger. There was only one problem.
Justin knew now that his brother was spoken for the busybodies in Enigma would be setting their matchmaking eyes on him. He could almost feel the invisible noose tightening around his neck. He unconsciously ran a finger between his neck and the collar of his shirt so he could breathe easier.
His earpiece crackled, and one of the security guards asked a question. Justin shook off his personal worries and concentrated on the task at hand. He was it, the one in charge since Mitch left the building. There’d be plenty of time to worry about potential mates later, much later as far as Justin was concerned! He loved the single life, and he was in no hurry to settle down!
OCEAN'S LOVING EMBRACE
Enigma, Maine Series
Book 6
Iris Abbott
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
OCEAN’S LOVING EMBRACE
Copyright © 2012 by Iris Abbott
First E-book publication: August 2012
Cover design by Iris Abbott
Photos obtained from bigstockphoto.com
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters in this book are fictitious and exist only in the imagination of the author. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
ONE
Adam Landis loved the ocean. He loved water period. He was a part of the sea, and it was a part of him. After all, he was a descendant of the legendary city of Atlantis. He was also royalty. Adam was considered the king of mermen by the other paranormal beings. Of course, he really wasn’t a merman. He didn’t have the tail of a fish, he just swam like one.
Atlantis was long gone, destroyed by tectonic activity on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. Even though Adam and several generations before him had taken to land, they always lived near the ocean. Adam made his home in Enigma, Maine. He enjoyed many swims in the Atlantic Ocean, which is what he was doing right now.
Adam, like his ancestors, had both lungs and gills. The partially hidden slits in the skin behind and below his ears looked like surgical scars to people who didn’t know any better. They served a purpose though. Whenever he was submerged underwater for more than two minutes, the gills opened allowing him to transition from an air-breathing being to one who could breathe underwater.
The waning moon was nothing but a tiny slither in the dark sky. On this particular night, it was mostly obscured by clouds. It provided the minimum amount of light possible, which is what Adam wanted when swimming.
If someone saw him, it would be hard to explain how he was able to swim so far from his anchored boat in the sixty-degree water. The chilly temperature wasn’t a problem for him. His body was physiologically able to stand temperatures as low as fifty-degrees for several hours.
A pod of dolphins swam by him. They were quiet and barely made a ripple in the water. Adam and his ancestors couldn’t actually communicate with sea creatures, but they were sensitive to their moods. He was familiar with the pod of dolphins and swam with them many times before. He could tell from their subdued greeting and mannerisms that something was wrong. He didn’t sense the urgency or overwhelming distress associated with injury or predators, but something wasn’t quite right.
Adam kicked his way to the surface. He looked in the direction the dolphins came from. In the distance, he could barely make out the shape of a medium-sized boat. It was flanked by two much smaller vessels. It looked suspicious to Adam, but he didn’t dare get any closer.
He was about to slip under the water and swim away when he saw movement on the deck of the boat. A sudden and large splash disrupted the water surface. A loud shriek spoiled the quiet of the night. Something or someone was pushed overboard. Adam needed to check it out. If the people on the ship were polluting the ocean, they had to be reported and stopped. He tried not to think of the other more devious explanation for t
he shriek and oversized splash.
Adam silently sank below the water and swam toward the sinking object. He felt the vibrations from the boats lessen. He knew they moved away from him at high speed. He swam faster at a downward angle, hoping to intercept whatever they discarded. He could feel a slight disturbance in the water ahead of him and thought maybe one of the dolphins followed him.
Suddenly, he realized the movement came from whatever was thrown overboard. He frantically stretched and grabbed with his hands. Finally, something silky smooth brushed across his leg. He reached down and closed his fists around the trailing strands of what could only be human hair.
Adam pulled on the hair with one hand and reached out with his other arm. He came in contact with wet clothes and cold skin. He kicked his way to the surface while keeping a tight hold on his find. He moved the heavy hair from the victim’s face. Her eyes were closed, and she wasn’t moving. She wasn’t conscious. Adam held on tight with one hand and used the other to feel for a pulse. It was faint, but it was there.
He turned the woman’s head to the side and waited for the excess water to leave her mouth and nose. He paused a few seconds, turned her head back to the center, pinched her nose, and blew four quick breaths into her mouth. Her chest rose and fell with his breathing.
A faint splutter slipped past her lips followed by a cough that quickly faded away. He expected a struggle, but the woman in his embrace became limp and unmoving once again. His eyes adjusted to the darkness enough for him to make out everything but the finest details. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew the victim.
Adam slid his hands down her body, feeling for any apparent injuries. He stilled when he got to her hands. A rough rope scratched his palm. Adam huffed out a puff of air. His life just got all kinds of complicated. Someone had thrown the woman overboard and deliberately left her to die.
A surge of protectiveness rushed to the surface. He always saw the protection of the ocean and its inhabitants as a duty and a responsibility. Evidently those feelings applied to women left for dead too.
He would find whoever did the heinous act, but the search would have to wait. Right now, he needed to make sure she survived. That meant getting her out of the cold water and to a doctor as soon as possible. A sense of urgency burned through his veins. It was almost as if his body knew something he didn’t. He wanted to curse himself for being this far from shore without a boat when he really needed one. Of course, he hadn’t expected to come across a victim of attempted murder either.
Something smooth brushed against his legs. The pod of dolphins must have joined him as soon as the boats departed. At least now, he knew why they had been spooked. The eight dolphins formed a circle around him and surfaced. They tossed their heads toward shore and babbled at him using clicks and squeaks. He was glad they were there because he really needed their help.
“I need a ride back to my boat,” he informed them. He knew they couldn’t understand what he said, but they liked it when he talked to them. He petted the two closest dolphins. He’d hitched rides with them on several occasions, so he knew the marine mammals knew what to do. He hooked the bound hands of the woman over the closest dolphin’s dorsal fin. He grabbed hold of the dorsal fin of another dolphin, gave a shrill whistle, and away they went.
The dolphins cut through the water at top speed. They swam right up to the ladder on the side of Adam’s anchored boat. He’d never been so glad to see Ocean’s Embrace! He took the time to rub both dolphins who aided him before grabbing hold of the woman. He removed her hands from around the dolphin’s dorsal fin and then trapped her body between his and the cold metal of the ladder.
“Thanks,” he said into the night to the dolphins who already started swimming away. Usually, they surfaced and followed in his wake for a while. They must have sensed the urgency of the situation and knew the woman’s presence meant he couldn’t tarry.
Adam clasped the woman around the waist with one hand and used the other to haul them out of the water and up the ladder. He was almost at the top when the body in his arms stiffened and started to struggle. She was finally conscious. Adam tightened his hold and dug deep for a burst of energy that allowed him to pull both of them off of the ladder and onto the deck of his boat.
****
Amber coughed and then coughed some more. Her eyes burned, her throat was raw, and her body vibrated with shivers. She leaned into the warmth of the person next to her tried to absorb as much heat as possible. Until her memory rushed back.
Startled, she screamed. Amber wasn’t going down without a fight. She thrashed to get away from whoever held her down. That’s when she realized her hands were still tied together.
“Get away from me,” she croaked out in a hoarse voice that sounded nothing like her own. She wildly swung her arms hoping to keep the stranger at bay. The last thing she remembered was being accosted by strangers, tied up, and thrown overboard. She didn’t know if this person was friend or foe.
“My name is Adam Landis,” her captor calmly stated. Amber instantly recognized the voice and the name. She stopped fighting.
“Dr. Landis?” Amber knew fate laughed at her expense. Of all the people who could have saved her, why did her rescuer have to be Adam Landis? She suffered through his chemistry class her junior year of college. Amber had the biggest crush on him all semester. She was way too shy and insecure back then to do anything about it. She went out of her way to make sure she never did anything to call attention to herself.
It must not have worked. He asked her out the day of the final exam. But fate stepped in, and Amber never made the date. She felt the body next to her stiffen. Two strong hands lightly grasped the sides of her face and tilted it up toward her rescuer.
“Yes, I’m Dr. Adam Landis,” the man replied through clenched teeth. “Lucky for you I happened to be out on my boat tonight. You almost drowned. I need to get you to the hospital and have you checked out by medical professionals.”
He dropped his hands from her face, scooped her into his arms, and stood up. “I need to carry you inside the cabin. I’ll use the boat’s radio to call 911, and I need light so I can cut through the rope on your hands without nicking you.”
Amber snuggled close to the welcoming warmth of his chest. Finally, his words penetrated the mental fog clouding her brain. “Wait! You can’t call 911. I think my sister and brother-in-law are working tonight. If they send out the helicopter, Hannah will panic.”
“You almost drowned. Even though you were only in the water for a short amount of time and I was able to revive you, it does not mean you’re out of the woods yet. Your body suffered a trauma, and fatal problems can develop several hours after rescue. I’m sorry, but you have to be checked out by someone other than me.”
Amber knew he was right. She didn’t argue. Instead, she quietly waited while he turned on the cabin lights and removed a wickedly sharp-looking dive knife from a sheath strapped to his thigh. “If that thing is as lethal as it looks, remind me to never get on your bad side,” she joked. Amber held out her hands and somehow found the inner strength to offer him a lopsided grin.
He stilled, and she guessed her identity finally clicked. “Amber Swanson? I didn’t know you still lived in Enigma. I figured you graduated and left town a long time ago.”
Amber was surprised he actually remembered her. A thousand students probably passed through his classroom doors since she was there. “Got it in one. I’m impressed. Thought for sure you’d have forgotten me by now.”
Adam raised an eyebrow and gave her a look full of disbelief. “You thought wrong then. You never missed class, always did well on tests, and have the most charming smile I’ve ever seen. Not to mention you have the dubious honor of being the first and only person ever to stand me up.”
Heat rushed up to her neck and face. She had a good reason for what she did. Now, however, was not the time to hash out the past.
“I can’t believe someone tried to kill you!” He slid the razor-s
harp blade through the rough restraints that bound Amber’s hands together. The rope fell to the floor. Adam slipped the knife back into its sheath. He lightly rubbed her wrists.
Blood flowed freely to her hands and fingers. She winced from the intense tingling. He rubbed harder, and the pain eased.
“I’m going to call 911 now. The Coast Guard needs to be notified of the incident as well.”
Amber’s gaze slid to his. The eyes that stared back at her were a blue-gray that reminded her of the storm-tossed Atlantic during a nor’easter. They glittered with anger and something else that Amber couldn’t define.
She suppressed a shiver. There was nothing to be afraid of for the time being. She was safe. Adam saved her from drowning. As soon as he got in touch with 911, her sister would fuss over her like a mother hen.
Adam dropped her wrists and took a step back. “Amber, I need to know why those men tried to kill you. And if you know their identities, I need names for the police and Coast Guard.”
Amber shook her head. “I don’t know who they were. They snuck onboard and overpowered me. I was alone and couldn’t do much to defend myself. They had on ski masks, so I didn’t see their faces. I heard them talking, but I didn’t recognize their voices.”
“What were you doing out at night by yourself anyway?” He ran a hand through his hair. “I know you don’t need a lecture, but I need the facts.
Amber’s voice trembled slightly as she answered his question. “I’m watching the boat for the summer. I wanted to earn a little extra cash while school’s out for the summer. I take the boat out at least twice a week. Unforeseen circumstances caused me to be behind schedule today. I didn’t want to neglect my job, so I decided to take the boat out tonight. Not my brightest idea, I guess.” She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. “I feel stupid now, but Enigma always felt safe to me.”