DEEPER
Book One of the Elemental Series
By Christine DePetrillo
Copyright 2012 Christine DePetrillo
Cover Art by Calista Taylor
www.coversbycali.com
All Rights Reserved
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the copyright owners except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, events, business establishments or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
SNEAK PEAK AT HIGHER, Book Two in the Elemental Series
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
OTHER TITLES
Dedication
To all who have thought they’ve seen “something”
out there in the ocean
Chapter One
Crystal Bawle yawned for the billionth time. Her fist barely supported her chin while she leaned against the front desk of Breezes Resort in Horseshoe Bay, Bermuda. If she had another sleepless night, another night packed with nightmares, she would rent a boat, sail directly to the center of the Bermuda Triangle, and let the mysterious zone swallow her. She swore she’d do it this time.
“You look like shit, Crys,” Rionne D’Agestine, Breezes Resort’s Perkiest Employee announced. Funny thing was Crystal had been out with Rionne a few times. Perky was so not the word to describe her. Pessimistic, perturbed, pissed. Yep, all those fit. Perky? No. The only thing perky about Rionne were her boobs, their overinflated glory bound and boosted to add some allure to her otherwise bitchy demeanor. Day after day, male customers changed lines to be serviced by Rionne at the front desk instead of Crystal, whose own boobs were less than perky. Less than plump, less than protruding, less than perfect.
“Did you hear me?” Rionne tapped her pen on Crystal’s forearm. “You look like death.”
“What happened to looking like shit?” Crystal took a step away from the front desk, but could hardly manage to move her gaze to Rionne’s face. Her eyes felt as if someone had removed them, used them as beach balls for the afternoon, then put them back full of sand. A lovely side effect of not sleeping a damn wink.
Ever.
“I had to downgrade for the sickly gray bags under your eyes. I mean, you always look somewhat zombie-esque, but it’s really bad today. Totally not attractive.” Rionne flipped her straight blond hair off her sun-tanned shoulder, her full, pink lips turned down in disapproval.
Crystal opened her mouth to reply, but another yawn overtook her.
“You’ve got to ease off on the partying, mon amie.” Rionne perched herself on one of the stools behind the front desk and crossed her impossibly long legs. Allowing her sandal, one with complicated straps and a cork heel, to dangle from her toes, she said, “Tell me it’s wild sex keeping you up at night. Your appearance would be worth it if the sex was mind blowing.”
Sex? Ha! I barely have enough energy to bathe myself, never mind have sex. Besides, who the hell would be my partner? Rionne reels in all the cute ones.
Crystal shook her head and immediately regretted it. With no sleep came whopping headaches. She was used to no sleep. Hadn’t been dozing productively since she was a teenager, but her teenage body hadn’t cared. It could still keep up. She’d fudged her way through her twenties with lots of energy drinks. Now that she’d turned thirty, however, and all she had to show for her life was a stupid Breezes Resort name tag, her body just couldn’t manage on so little sleep anymore. She didn’t even dream of a full eight hours either. She’d give her right arm for just twenty minutes of peaceful slumber. Twenty minutes. Was that too much to ask?
“Do I really look that bad?” Crystal squinted at her reflection in the black granite covering the front desk. While she couldn’t see the color of the bags Rionne had so graciously pointed out, she could definitely see their size. And a trio of nasty pimples on her chin. And a few wild strands of long, wavy brown hair that had escaped from her ponytail. Actually escaped wasn’t the right word. That would mean she’d attempted to get those strands into the ponytail in the first place, which she hadn’t. Why bother?
Rionne’s face came into view in the granite. She looked so…alive. So I-slept-like-a-baby-and-always-do.
Oh how Crystal longed to punch that well-rested face.
Instead, she let out a groan and rested her forehead on the cool granite. “You want to dig a hole tonight, drop me into it, and bury me?” She pressed her cheek into the desk and closed her dry, scratchy eyes. Maybe she would find some sleep six feet under the ground. It’d be worth suffocating just to try.
“Nope. I have a date tonight, and I’m too busy to play in the dirt for your sorry ass, Crys. Go see a doctor or something.”
A doctor. Now there was an idea. Only the last quack she went to pumped her full of medication that made her feel a hundred times worse. The one before that told her to meditate before going to bed. The one before that had suggested exercising more so her body would be tired.
Her body was tired, dammit. So tired, but it refused to grant her sweet repose.
The nightmare was always the same.
Water. Everywhere. All around her.
One moment the Bermuda sun beamed down on her face, warm and bright. The water lapped gently against her skin. Her legs kicked rhythmically keeping her afloat. She bobbed like a happy rubber ducky.
Then the blue sky turned stormy black and lightning zapped down to the water’s tumultuous surface, sending waves of electricity directly into her. The violent jolts stole her breath away. Paralyzed her limbs. Sucked her under the dark depths of the ocean. She tried to swim, tried to break through the surface, but her body was useless and the water would not allow her. It wanted her. It intended to keep her. Locked in the great blue abyss.
Forever.
Heaving in a deep breath now, Crystal rocked her head back and forth, not looking forward to the nightmare’s encore performance the moment she crawled into bed tonight. Why she attempted to sleep anymore was a huge question mark. The moment her eyes closed, she’d be drowning all over again. Hence her constant state of unquenchable drowsiness. She’d tried moving to Vermont, a state not bordered by water, but that didn’t change a thing, besides give her chapped lips and dry skin during the freeze-your-ass-off winters they had up there.
No thanks.
“Excuse me,” a rich male voice said.
Crystal was semi-comfortable slouched on her stool, so she didn’t raise her head. Rich male voices usually meant Rionne would take this customer anyway.
“Bonjour, welcome to Breezes Resort,” Mademoiselle Perky said right on cue.
“Is she okay?”
God, that was some voice. Crystal felt its vibration deep down in her core. Still, she didn’t have the energy to lift her head. Besides, Rionne was already handling Mr. Sexy Voice.
“No, she’s not okay,” Rionne said, “but you’re not here to discuss my associate, are you, Mister…” She dragged out the word, waiting for the guest to fill in the blank.
“Doctor Ray Taimen.” The voice caressed Crystal’s insides and she nearly sighed. “And I think I would like to at least see your associate if not discuss her exactly.”
Interesting.
A sharp jab to Crystal’s side had her sitting upright before she had decided to reveal herself. “Rionne! Ouch.”
It took a moment for her battered eyes to adjust to the blazing sunshine backlighting the man, revealing only his tall, shadowy outline. When the details of Doctor Ray Taimen came into focus
, Crystal suddenly felt completely awake.
“You’re beautiful.”
His sea-green eyes glittered like sun reflecting off water. His jet-black hair hung to his slightly bearded jaw, giving him a roguish pirate ambiance as he chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Crystal asked, blinking to try to take in more of him.
“You think I’m beautiful.” He set his bags down then leaned against the front desk on well-muscled arms. He smelled like sea air and warm sand.
“Shit,” Crystal whispered. “Did I say that out loud?” Lack of sleep was turning her into a moron.
“You did.”
“Well, I take it back.” Crystal shook off her fatigue, smoothed out her tacky, flowered uniform shirt, and woke her computer. “Here to check in?”
“No, you can’t take it back, and yes, I’m here to check in.” His words were music, soothing all the tension out of Crystal’s shoulders and neck. All the tension from being awake night after night.
She rolled her shoulders, marveling over the looseness of them. “I can take it back. I said it, and I can un-say it.”
He shook his head. “It already reached here.” He pointed to his left ear, where a simply fantastic scar bolted artistically down toward his jaw. “Can’t be erased.”
“Fine.” Crystal opened the check-in program. “What was your name again?”
“Doctor Ray Taimen.” He squinted those amazing eyes at her name tag. “Tell me your last name is not pronounced how I think it is.”
“Afraid so, Doctor Ray Taimen.”
“Your name is Crystal Bawle, like crystal ball?”
“Her parents were stoned when she was born. For sure.” Rionne’s attempt to insert herself into the conversation did not work. Doctor Beautiful didn’t take his eyes off Crystal.
“My parents probably were stoned.” That would certainly explain her messed up psyche. “I don’t see the future if that’s your next question.” Though a sweet vision of him naked filled her head. His entire body was as toned as his arms, and Crystal had to bite back a sigh. In the vision, he looked truly delighted to touch her.
If only…
“You sure about not seeing the future?” He smiled wickedly as if he’d seen her vision, and Crystal fumbled with the credit card he’d handed her to pay for his room.
She swiped it through the computer, resisting the urge to leap over the front desk and throw herself at him. “I’m sure.”
“We’ll see.” He accepted the room keycard, picked up his bags, and sauntered off toward the elevators. His black pants highlighted a phenomenal backside and two long, sturdy legs. The plain white dress shirt he wore untucked hung off broad shoulders that Crystal wanted to massage.
“He was weird.” Rionne settled back on her stool, adjusting her uniform shirt so her cleavage was at maximum perk.
He was something all right. Crystal wasn’t sure what just yet.
****
The hotel room was as he’d expected. Lots of framed pictures of beach scenes. Tropical flowers on the bedspread. Seashell decorations all over the bathroom. None of that concerned Doctor Ray Taimen. The only thing that mattered was how close the room was to the water.
He set his bags down, opened the French doors, and stepped onto the balcony. Filling his lungs with sea air, he scanned the sprawling ocean before him. He would have preferred a first floor room with direct access to the water, but the third floor wasn’t bad. The stairs down to the beach were close. He could get to the water quickly.
Already he felt pulled toward it. The moment he set foot on land, his body craved the salt, the liquid embrace, the cool depths of the ocean. His skin itched like crazy. It always did whenever he spent extended time in human form. He didn’t mind being amongst them. They were fascinating creatures after all, but life beneath the sea was his true destiny. He’d do anything to keep his home, Selecahnia, his underwater kingdom, safe.
Even if that meant ignoring the curious female at the hotel’s front desk.
It had been fun engaging in playful banter with Miss Crystal Bawle. It was even more entertaining realizing she wanted him naked, but he had work to do. He hadn’t spent all this time on land attending different marine conferences and speaking about keeping the oceans healthy only to lose his momentum. Although that vision of hers had painted an incredible scenario. She’d been ravishing in it with her chestnut hair flowing in long waves about her shoulders, her eyes a bright sapphire, and her skin simply glowing. Ray could tell that woman existed underneath the exhausted version he’d met at the front desk.
What was keeping poor Crystal Bawle from sleeping? So unfortunate that his mind reading wasn’t all encompassing. The ability was limited to what people were subconsciously willing to share. If he could determine the source of her sleeplessness…
“No. You don’t have time to solve her problems. Everyone is counting on you.”
Squaring his shoulders, Ray walked back into his room and hauled out his presentation to review. The Marine Wellness Conference here in Bermuda would be the biggest audience he’d lectured so far. He was so close to getting policy makers to pass stricter hazardous waste guidelines for ocean vessels and seaside businesses. He’d already lost too many of his kin to human carelessness when it came to the water. He would lose no more. He refused to look upon his people covered in oil, poisoned by factory chemicals, or injured by the items humans discarded. Selecahnia, his treasured home under the sea, had been around since Earth’s beginnings. Ray would do whatever it took to guarantee it and his people would be around forever.
You could mate with Crystal Bawle and create new generations. That would help the cause.
He pushed that thought away. Though it was true he could turn any human into a Selecahe, a mermaid, or a Selecahi, a merman, doing so for one evening of physical pleasure was not acceptable.
And mating? He certainly didn’t have time for that.
“There is something about her though.” He had seen countless human females in his journeys on land, but their faces quickly faded from his memory. Crystal’s delicate features and eyes that reminded him of home, however, were burned into his mind, coming into view each time he blinked.
“Work. Focus on work.”
He changed out of his traveling clothes into a pair of gray cotton shorts. For the next three hours, Ray tweaked his presentation, prepared his materials, and rehearsed. When he finally took a breath, he was surprised to find a blue-green patch of scales on his abdomen.
“Damn.”
He’d gone too long out of the water. If he wasn’t careful, he’d morph back to full merman and literally be a fish out of water. Fortunately, the sun had gone down and a lovely night bloomed on the beach outside. After putting his presentation away so it’d be ready for the morning, Ray slipped on swimming trunks—purely for appearances—and grabbed a towel.
When he arrived at the shore, he was pleased to find it quiet. Most of the hotel guests were at the conference dinner party. A dinner party he was supposed to be at as well. Just a quick swim to rejuvenate and he’d make an appearance at the party to chat up his initiatives with other presenters.
After a quick glimpse around, he dropped his towel and swimming trunks on the nearest beach chair then ran for the water before anyone could see he was naked. He didn’t stop until the water covered him completely.
So good.
The rush of water caressing his body from all sides caused the rest of his scales to blossom from under his ribs all the way to his tailfin. With powerful thrusts of his fin, he burrowed ever deeper until schools of small fish joined him. Two dusky sharks flanked either side of him, sending vibrations of greeting. He felt so connected to them, to everything. He’d be glad when his time on land was done. Between attending human school to get a doctorate in marine biology, so he’d be taken seriously, and traveling the globe spreading his messages of marine health, he’d been away from Selecahnia for too long. Making only pit stops to check in with his father, king of hi
s people, Ray hadn’t been afforded a chance to soak up his true lifestyle in years. It was taking a toll on him physically. He’d noticed he needed more frequent swims to keep his human form, and sometimes he found it difficult to breathe on land. With this conference, however, he should be able to wrap things up and return home for good.
Until the next time his people needed him. He’d sworn to protect them, and he’d honor that promise.
After swimming until the moon hung solidly overhead, Ray broke through to the surface. As he reached the shallower shore, he stood on reformed human legs and his scales retreated with the water that rolled off him. When his feet touched sand, that patch of scales on his abdomen below his ribs remained.
“What in Hades?” That hadn’t happened before. Usually he emerged from a swim completely human in appearance. What did this patch mean? Thank Poseidon he was almost done with his work on land.
“What is that? And why are you naked?”
The voice startled him. There hadn’t been anyone on the beach when he’d walked out of the water, but now Crystal stood there, her hotel uniform replaced by a killer bikini the same blue-green as his scales. A small, glittery hoop pierced her belly button, decorating a sublime navel, all smooth and fit. Ray’s gaze combed the length of her and though her eyes still looked tired, the rest of her lean body was amazing.
“Why are you out here?” His voice was harsh. Too harsh. Why did his towel have to be behind her?
“Can’t sleep, per usual.” She shrugged her right shoulder, one Ray wanted to run a finger along as she looked over his naked body, lingering first on the scales then on his other equipment.
“So you’re going to swim instead?” He put his hands just above his hips hoping to both hide the scales and look as if he were impatient for her answer. Nothing he could do to conceal his other exposed…pieces.
At this question, Crystal took a few steps back enough to be behind the beach chair now. He whipped out a hand and wrapped the towel around his torso so it covered the scales and anything else he didn’t wish to advertise.
Deeper (Elemental Series) Page 1