by Anise Storm
“Well, yes, but that’s not the same kind of wet I was talking about,” she said.
He winked at her when she looked up at him. Her bright smile and those expressive eyes… Turning his head quickly, he looked over at the landscape beside them.
“There are a few tours that run every hour. Would you like for me to take you on one of them?” he asked, silently hoping she did. There would be many people and distractions, which was exactly what he needed right now.
“I’d love to go on one of those. I...” She paused mid-sentence, and he looked down at her.
He had no idea what had caused her to stop until he saw one of the resort employees standing in the middle of the walkway. “Mario?”
The man cleared his throat and then flashed an apologetic look at Calista before speaking. “There’s an emergency with one of the rooms, Mr. Rivera. Do you have a few minutes?”
Xavier sighed, mostly in relief, and then gripped Calista’s hand. “I’ll be right back.”
“Actually, this may take some time, Mr. Rivera. I’m sorry,” the man said.
“It’s okay, Xavier,” she told him. “Why don’t I take the shuttle that’s coming up the drive and go on the dive myself.”
“But I promised Zane I would look after you this afternoon,” he said, and she flashed him a glare.
It was one of the first signs of fire she’d displayed since they’d met, and Xavier had to admit that it was quite the turn on. He was about to continue when she placed her dainty hands onto her hips.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” she argued, and he cursed under his breath.
“That’s not what I meant,” Xavier said to Cali before turning to Mario. “Is this something that can wait? Or at least something that won’t take too long?”
“I’m afraid not. There’s been a water leak in the main restaurant and the floor is flooding.”
“Fuck,” Xavier cursed, this time loud enough that all three could hear. He knew he’d have to handle this issue before the entire damn building flooded. His string of resorts were his pride and joy, and the one thing in this world he loved above all else. “I’m sorry, Calista.”
“Don’t be sorry,” she said, placing her hand on his arm. “I can go on the excursion and then meet you and Zane back here this evening for dinner.”
“I’d hate for you to have to cancel your plans, but I have no idea how long this problem’s going to take to fix.”
“I know. That’s why you need to stay here and work and I’ll be okay. I have my scuba diving certification and everything. I’d hate to think that I’d gotten it for nothing.”
In that moment, Xavier finally realized what she’d given up when she’d agreed to spend all of her time with both him and Zane. She’d planned things for this trip and their selfishness had cost Cali a lot of wasted time. He couldn’t ruin this day for her. “Okay, but I want you to be careful, belleza.” He looked up as the shuttle pulled up out front. He held his hand up to the driver and then leaned in to kiss his woman. Their lips met briefly until he abruptly pulled away. “Go ahead, but be safe.”
“I will,” she said hurriedly and then grabbed her bag and headed toward the small van.
Xavier watched her get into the vehicle and then turned his full attention back to Mario. It would figure that something would go wrong at the Paradise Resort. Without fail, it always happened whether it was Rio de Janeiro, Bangkok, Sydney, Miami or here in Virgin Gorda. Every time he’d stayed at one of his places, something had always gone awry.
As the shuttle drove off in the direction of the sea, Xavier followed his maintenance man to the restaurant. He had the number for a local plumber and hoped he’d fix the leaking pipe before the dinner rush tonight. If not, it’d be a long night for sure.
Chapter 30
THE SHUTTLE PULLED UP out front of Wave Chaser Ltd, and Cali could see the small fleet of boats docked at the pier. She’d been looking forward to scuba diving since she’d booked this trip. The fact that she had to do it alone did bother her slightly, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t planned on when making reservations for this trip.
She’d never imagined meeting one person, much less two, and spending day and night with them. Cali had made preparations and plans, assuming she’d be alone. With her bag in hand, she walked inside the small building and up to the counter. An older woman, wearing a tropical sundress, smiled toothily at her. “Are you here to snorkel or dive, miss?”
“Umm, dive,” she responded and grabbed the small plastic bag that held her diving certification and wallet. Cali handed her the piece of paper and then retrieved her photo identification and credit card. “Do you know how long the excursion usually takes?”
The woman compared the name from her driver’s license to the name on the certificate and once satisfied that she was who she claimed to be, rang up the ticket. “You’ll be out on the water for a few hours, but should be back by early evening. We provide the equipment, free of charge, but if you want to purchase any of the underwater photographs, there is a nominal fee for those.” She pointed to a wall of pictures and added, “You can browse through those when your dive is finished. Do you have any questions?”
Cali shook her head. She’d researched this type of activity and even watched numerous videos of others on their dives. Her instructor had prepared her well for what to expect, and she wished that Emily and Natalie could’ve been here with her. After all, they sat through the safety presentations and everything else with her.
“Well, Tony will be your dive guide and he is on the third boat. It’s the one called Rapture,” the woman said as she handed Cali her credit card back.
She stuffed it into her wallet and with her ticket in hand, walked toward the exit. On her way, she’d passed the gallery of pictures and hoped she’d actually look good in one of them because she planned to buy a few to show her friends. What better way to describe something than through a photograph? Smiling, she stepped back outside and walked down to the waiting boat. There were already some other people on board, testing out their equipment. She handed her ticket to Tony and then took her place on the boat.
Excitement filled her at the thought of diving deep down into the beautiful blue water lapping against the boat. She had no idea what kind of wildlife she was going to see, and while slightly fearful of sharks, almost anything else would be awesome. Once she had taken her seat, she was handed a box that contained a number of essential items such as wetsuits, fins, and masks. Adrenaline started to course through her veins at the realization that she was about to do this.
“Welcome to Wave Chasers,” a woman said loudly, interrupting her thoughts. “My name is Kay and I’ll be your co-guide today. If you haven’t already, please don your wetsuits and get your gear ready to test. We’re going to head to Dog Island, which is one of the most popular dive sites in all of the British Virgin Islands. There, you’ll be able to explore underwater sea mounts, huge coral canyons, a plane wreck, and with moderate waters today, an abundance of marine life.”
Cali removed her shorts and because of her petite size was able to easily find a wetsuit that fit. She had all of her other gear next to her and while waiting for further instructions, she continued to listen to Kay.
“Dog Island is about a fifteen to twenty-minute boat ride from our dive shop. The location is perfect for divers of all levels. The marine life you should expect to see includes turtles, stingrays, angel and trumpet fish, barracuda, and on occasion, a nurse shark or two.”
Someone in the boat gasped at the mention of a shark, but she hoped that she did see one. There was no way she wanted to be face to face with a great white, bull or tiger shark, but a smaller one from the nurse variety sounded exciting. Kay was still talking about other marine life common to this area, so she started to inspect her equipment. She’d been subjected to a two-hour video on the dangers of scuba diving, but wouldn’t let those freak occurrences stop her from having a good time. The only thing that would’ve made this excurs
ion better was the inclusion of Xavier and Zane, but she wouldn’t even allow their absence to put a damper on her high spirits.
When Kay finally stopped talking, Tony came by to check on the equipment and tell everyone how to put it on correctly. Calista thought she’d remembered everything her instructor in Boston had told her but forgot something about the regulator. It was a good thing he was here to help or else that could’ve been disastrous. Eventually, they’d reached their destination, and she noticed two other boats nearby. Hopefully there wouldn’t be too many people in the water. This would most likely be the only time she’d ever go scuba diving in her lifetime and didn’t relish the thought of having to share it with too many other swimmers.
“If everyone would take their places on the side of the boat,” Kay and Tony both told everyone, and Cali quickly followed their instructions. “We’re going to practice underwater breathing first. If you will, place your head in the water.”
Cali had gone through this during her certification, and this time remembered the regulator, and as the group practiced clearing water from the masks and attachable parts, both her nervousness and excitement grew. She was actually about to jump into the middle of the ocean. Holy fuck! She forced herself to remain calm, repeating the actions over and over until the guides were certain that everyone had the breathing techniques down.
Finally, they were given the all clear, and she lowered herself into the water. What was always described as the silent underwater world was anything but that when she was fully submerged in the sea. She could hear the loud bubbling sounds of her own breaths but once she calmed herself down, could focus on the small schools of tropical fish swimming by. Unable to resist temptation, she reached out and touched the fins of a yellow and purple one, causing it to dart off. She giggled and once again was greeted by a loud gurgling sound.
Despite her surroundings, she was calm and followed her guides and the other passengers as they descended to a lower depth. Almost immediately. Cali could see the various bright colors of the coral and multitude of fish darting in and out of every available crevice. The reef itself stretched as far as she could see from left to right. It was truly a magical experience. Wanting to get closer, she simply swam down. Her body felt light and provided the same sort of weightless sensation she felt the night before when suspended by rope in the Dominants’ villa.
She continued to swim alongside the others, careful not to touch the coral, and time seemed to stand still. By the time Kay and Tony had pointed up in instruction for everyone to return to the boat, she’d also seen a few eels, reef squid, crabs, and even an octopus. This was truly an experience she’d always remember. As everyone ascended toward the surface of the water, she finally saw what looked like a nurse shark swimming a few feet below them. It was completely unfazed by their presence, not even showing the slightest curiosity as to who the masked intruders were, before it disappeared.
And just like that, it was over. She broke the surface of the water at the same time as everyone else, and they all scrambled onto the boat. The other vessels that were there when they’d first arrived were now gone and it was only the Rapture bobbing in the small waves. She removed her scuba gear and had to peel the wetsuit off. When all the equipment was placed back into the plastic crates, she watched as Kay did a head count. It appeared that everyone had made it back to the boat, so Tony gave the captain the all clear.
Cali expected the motor to roar to life but nothing happened. After the afternoon she’d just had, the first thing she wanted to do was get back to the resort and tell Xavier and Zane all about it. She looked expectantly at Kay, who by this time had a worried expression on her face. The two guides were talking amongst each other, using hand motions to emphasize key points in whatever they were talking about. While they handled the situation, she grabbed her towel from her bag and began to dry herself off. The sun from above was still warm and helped in that endeavor. She’d finished with the task and then placed her towel back inside her bag as Kay approached the small group of them.
“We’re having mechanical issues with the boat right now. We’ve called the dive shop and asked that another be sent out here to us,” she explained. It was unfortunate, but Cali still didn’t get why she was still so upset. It sounded like the crisis was averted, unless there was something else that she hadn’t mentioned.
Before Cali could even think up other doomsday scenarios, a loud rumble of thunder sounded from above, and she now knew what had caused the panic in the other woman’s face.
“There’s a patch of rough weather expected, so we’d like to go over the safety instructions once again.” Kay continued to ramble on about life preservers and emergency rafts, but Cali was more focused on the rapidly darkening skies.
The thunder continued to rumble and flashes of lightning streaked across the sky. Great! So much for a magical afternoon. The waves picked up in intensity, causing the boat to rock. She remembered Kay telling them that Dog Island was about fifteen to twenty minutes from the dive shop, so hopefully the rescue boat would be here soon. Another loud clap sounded above her and then the skies opened up. Large, heavy raindrops pelted the entire group. When everyone else grabbed a life jacket, Cali did too.
She quickly put it on, hoping that she wouldn’t have to go into the water because the boat had capsized or sunk. Tony told everyone to huddle together, so she scooted down her seat to join the rest. The rain was cold, and the speed in which it fell felt like small darts bouncing off her skin. This would be the perfect weather to have when lying in bed, reading a book. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t in bed, she was in the middle of the fucking ocean in a thirty-nine-foot boat that had broken down. Larger waves crashed against the still vessel, occasionally splashing the group with their spray.
Cali shivered and pulled the strap of her life jacket tighter. She also sent up a few silent prayers all the while cursing her assurances to Xavier earlier that morning. She wasn’t all right and with every passing second, she became more scared. Mentally backspacing her thought, she realized that ‘scared’ wasn’t quite the right word. When another loud crack of thunder boomed followed by a deadly streak of light, she realized that ‘fucking terrified’ fit much better.
Chapter 31
SHUTTING DOWN HIS LAPTOP, Zane listened to the sound of the storm outside. He hoped wherever Xavier and Calista were, they were safe. He’d gotten the most pressing design issues taken care of for Devin Sheffield and could finally enjoy the last few days he had left with his angel. Grinning as he tapped the top of the desk, he still couldn’t believe that he wasn’t breaking out in hives at the thought of seeing her again after this trip was over.
He was lost in thoughts until he heard the door open. They were back. When he turned toward it, he only saw Xavier. “Where’s Calista? I thought the two of you were going to see the island today?”
Xavier looked at him strangely before taking a deep breath. The man took a few steps toward him and began to talk. “A plumbing emergency came up and I sent Calista on without me. She hasn’t come back yet?”
“You what?” Zane couldn’t believe his fucking ears. Jumping out of his seat, he lunged toward Xavier, pinning the man against the wall. “You sent her where?”
Xavier’s hazel eyes darkened and then Zane saw something flash within them. “Let me go, asshole.”
“Not until you tell me where the fuck she went,” Zane countered back, pressing him even harder into the wall. He knew he could outmuscle Xavier any day of the week, simply because of his size.
Xavier growled, trying to shake him off, but he applied more pressure with his forearm. When he first said that he had let Cali go on without him, Zane felt as if he had been punched in the chest. Knowing that the majority of the excursions on this island involved the water, his blood went cold. Visions of a night so many months ago came rushing back with a vengeance.
He staggered at the memory of Elena floating lifeless on top of the water. It was as if fate had repeated his wo
rst nightmare, and this time using a woman he’d fallen helplessly in love with. His grip on Xavier loosened and he stepped back, shell-shocked but hopeful that his friend would tell him that she’d simply gone shopping and most likely took refuge in one of the small shops until the storm passed.
“Calm the fuck down, Rhodes,” Xavier said, rubbing the redness on his throat. “She wanted to go scuba diving, so I…” It was then that he paused, realizing what this meant.
It was the one place Zane hoped she hadn’t gone. It had taken the better part of the last few days to finally come to terms with his feelings for Cali. He couldn’t and wouldn’t accept not ever seeing her again. Moisture building in his eyes, he turned and grabbed a vase off the small side table, pitching it across the room. The rage that had been simmering reached its boiling point and before he even knew what he was doing, Zane lunged toward Xavier once again. This time he swung at the man. His closed fist collided with his best friend’s jaw and Zane had to force himself not to choke the life out of him. Instead, he swung at him again before pinning him back up against the wall.
“You better hope we find her because if anything has happened to her, I’ll end you. If one fucking hair on her pretty little head is harmed, I will kill you.”
Xavier chose that moment to push him off, growling at Zane, but he didn’t give a damn. The two squared off, standing nose to nose. Neither one was willing to back down. He saw fury in the man’s hazel eyes and turned his attention to his friend’s balled up fist, watching as he clenched and unclenched it.
“I know I fucked up. I don’t need your lectures or sanctimonious shit right now. We have to find Cali. That’s all that matters.”
Scrubbing a hand over his face, Zane had to admit that the bastard was right. He wanted to believe this was just a cruel twist of fate. Suddenly, he remembered Xavier’s reluctance to even take her out today. He knew his friend was running scared where his feelings for Cali were concerned and now because of him she could be hurt or worse. “So you got what you wanted after all, Rivera.”