Waterdreamer (The Emerald Series Book 2)

by Kimberly James

  “You should do it then. You should go for it.” It seemed so easy to make decisions when I was talking about someone else’s life.

  “It’s expensive and I don’t know if I’m cut out for that many years of school.”

  “But it would be worth it,” I said, watching for Noah but he was nowhere to be seen. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course.” Jeb popped open another beer.

  “I don’t want to break any kind of bro code you and Noah might have.” I knew they were more like brothers than friends, but Jeb and I were friends too. I liked his balanced way of looking at things and something had been on my mind since Noah came into the shop.

  “If you’re asking if I run and tell Noah everything, the answer is no. We’re dudes, not sisters.”

  I laughed and heat flushed my cheeks. “It’s a little embarrassing.”

  “Are we going to talk about sex? If so, put your mind at ease. There’s absolutely nothing you can say that will embarrass me,” he assured me, having misinterpreted my blush.

  “It’s not about sex, not exactly.”

  “Way to get my hopes up.” He flashed me a smile. I recognized it now. It was the same one he used to melt middle-aged women’s panties. “Seriously Caris, what is it?”

  “It’s this.” Moving one of the pizza boxes out of the way, I stretched my arm out on the table. “Noah’s pearl. I feel it sometimes, like it’s heating up. At first, I thought it was just my imagination, but the longer I wear it, the more I notice it. Like tonight he came into the shop and there was a man there, another breather, and Noah instantly goes all territorial and it gets all hot. I’ve noticed it too, when we’re… you know.” I shrugged

  “When you’re doing the sex stuff.” His expression brightened with interest.

  “Is that normal? Is that a thing that’s supposed to happen?”

  Jeb took another sip of his beer, watching me as he did. He put the bottle on the table. Angling his body toward me, he took my arm and held it in his open palm, his eyes studying the pearl on my wrist. His hand was so big it engulfed my whole arm from wrist to elbow.

  “When my dad was sick, I remember being in the kitchen with my mom. Hospitals aren’t always good places for us. Too many germs, so even though he was sick, he was home. She was standing over the counter, fixing me something to eat. I don’t remember what. I just remember she froze all of a sudden. All the blood drained from her face. She closed her eyes and her whole her body shuddered. She reached up and clutched the pearl of his that she wore around her neck, crying out when she did. Then she ran down the hall to the room he was in. He was dead. Later she told me she knew the second it happened. The pearl went cold like she felt his life leave.”

  I sat quiet for a few seconds, my eyes, like his, focused on the pearl as though it were some kind of crystal ball. “That’s so beautiful and so sad.”

  “Yeah, but it doesn’t really answer your question does it?”

  “It kind of does.” I looked up to find him staring at me.

  “Noah cares about you. And if you hadn’t noticed there’s not an overabundance of females around here at the moment. I’d be a little territorial, too, if you were mine. We do have some more animalistic qualities than our human counterparts.”

  “I’m just not sure I like it, you know. A life dictated by magic, at the whim of the Deep. I mean, do you believe in all that stuff?”

  “I would be dumb to disrespect the Deep and what she gives us, but I’m not willing to chalk it all up to magic or some kind of spirit doling out gifts at random. Magic is the easy answer, not necessarily the right one.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, feeling a little more hopeful.

  “Take your siren Song. Why assume that’s magic and not physiological? There’re all kinds of animals that communicate on a different frequency. Dolphins. Whales. Dogs hear stuff we don’t. Bats. And when a species is endangered, as we are, nature tends to fight back in aggressive ways. We want to survive. It could be she just wanted to make sure you found a mate. Procreation is the basis of survival for most species.”

  “But that would be like I was destined to fall in love with Noah. Like we are at the whim of fate.” That idea didn’t sit well with me. It was a conversation Noah and I had before. The idea of fate and choices and whether we had any. I wanted to think I fell in love with Noah, well, because I fell in love with Noah.

  “Who said anything about love? I’m talking about sex. Why do girls always bring up love in the context of sex?” He rolled his eyes heavenward and sat back, releasing my arm. I picked a shrimp off a half-eaten piece of pizza and threw it at his face. He caught it in his mouth.

  “What about you?” I raised an eyebrow, teasingly. “Why don’t you wear any of your pearls?”

  “I don’t have one,” he said matter of fact, taking another sip from his bottle.

  “What? You’ve never cried?” I asked, disbelievingly.

  “I’m sure I did as a kid, but you don’t get one of those from spilled milk or skinned knees.”

  “Not even when your parents died?” The second I asked, I wanted to take the words back. His eyes lost some of their brilliance and the smile that usually defined his face slipped.

  “Not even then.” Jeb’s mouth tightened in a cynical line.

  Before I could say anything else, Noah’s hands closed over my shoulders. Water dripped from his hair onto my sweatshirt.

  “So, have y’all figured out the meaning of life yet? Jeb can’t drink one beer without getting all philosophical.” Noah nodded to Jeb’s ever-growing line of empty beer bottles.

  “Actually, smartass, we were discussing the difference between love and sex. Caris seems to think there isn’t one.”

  “Is there?” Noah pressed his cool lips into my cheek.

  “Exactly. I’m out of here.” Jeb unfolded from the chair and picked up the empty boxes. “I assume you’re staying.”

  “Leave it, Jeb. I’ll get it,” I said.

  “My mom won’t care if you stay at the house without me,” Noah said. “You know that.”

  “I know, man. It just feels weird.”

  I listened to their curious exchange. I knew Jeb stayed at Noah’s a lot. Honestly, I thought he lived there.

  “You’re welcome to the couch,” Noah offered.

  “Yeah, right. Third wheel. No thanks.” Jeb eyed me mischievously. “Unless of course that’s an invitation.”

  Noah didn’t crack a smile.

  “Relax, man, I’m kidding. I’ll catch you later.” Jeb gave Noah a fist bump.

  “Thanks again for the help,” I said as he passed my chair, his hand running over my hair.

  As soon as Jeb took the path leading to the beach, I turned to Noah. “What was that all about?”

  “Technically, Jeb’s homeless.” Noah picked up my hand and pulled me from the chair. “His parents had a lot of debt. Their house was sold to pay for it. He stays with us a lot of the time, but mostly he’s just around.”

  “Where do you think he’s going?” My eyes searched the dark empty beach. I wished now I’d asked him to stay.

  “You know how many vacation houses sit empty this time of year? Hundreds. And Jeb has about a dozen he rotates between when he needs to.”

  “That’s so sad. You should have made him stay.”

  “Jeb is a big boy. He can take care of himself. And like he said, tonight three would definitely be a crowd.”

  “Still,” I mused.

  “Don’t go feeling sorry for him. He’d hate that. He’s fine. And I’ve been waiting all afternoon to go swimming with you.” He traced the U and K on my sweatshirt before he pulled it over my head. “Do you miss Kentucky?”

  “Sometimes.” I kissed his jaw and shivered next to his damp skin. “It’s cold.”

  “The water. Now.” His mouth moved at my ear, his warm breath a promise. “I’ll warm you up.”

  * * *

  Later that night, Noah sat with his back pre
ssed into the pillows up against my headboard. I faced him, my legs straddling his lap. The waves lapped quietly outside the open door, a whisper so light I had to strain to hear it. The lamp was off, but with the sky so clear, the white sand offered enough illumination, I could see Noah’s face. The outline of his cheeks and jaw. His mane of hair hanging around his shoulders, mused where I’d run my fingers through it over and over. His hands had been on me for hours, and still I wasn’t tired of it. His fingertips trailed down my arms, fingers twining with mine.

  “So are you going to tell me about it, or do I have to torture it out of you?” His darkened eyes fixed on my face.

  “What do you mean?” I asked innocently enough, but it was impossible to fool him. He usually knew something was bothering me before I did.

  His hands retraced the path up my arms, over my shoulders, and up the side of my neck. He cupped my jaw and brought my face down to his so our foreheads touched. He tapped his forehead lightly against mine. “You’re still here. In my head. Your Song. Not like before, but I know you have nightmares. I feel it.”

  I dipped my chin so I stared at the center of his chest. I had hoped to avoid this conversation. He would see this as a personal failure on his part. My Song triggered an instinctual response in him. Protect. Defend at all costs. Though I’d learned to control it for the most part, intense emotion trumped any on/off buttons I’d mastered. I couldn’t stop my Song during those times anymore than I could keep myself from blinking. Kind of like the way his pearl seemed to react to his feelings.

  “Do you know how hard it is to stay away when I can feel your distress? It hurts to ignore it. Is it more than that? Did something happen? Is it Derrick?” He worked to keep his voice calm and on an even keel.

  “No.” I batted his nose with mine, knowing what happened the other night wouldn’t reassure him. He’d feel guilty for not being here for me, even though his assignment was important, more important than babysitting me through a few bad dreams. “It’s not like that. You don’t get to beat up anyone.”

  “That’s disappointing.” He relaxed, the lines around his mouth easing a bit. He leaned forward and kissed me lightly, not like his kisses of earlier. The urgency was gone, his lips soft and pliant. This kiss was patient, an affirmation of all we’d done earlier. I never knew there could be so many types of kisses, and I loved learning about each one with Noah.

  I tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, running my fingers over the ends. It hung over his collarbone. “I’ve been dreaming of storms. Big ones. The other night I was swimming in my dream, only it wasn’t a dream. It was real. And there were sharks and before I knew what was going on, one of them bit me. If Sol hadn’t come…” My voice trailed off, leaving him to fill in the rest. Those were moments I didn’t want to relive. They were too fresh, the possibility of what could have happened a shadow that stalked me. The bite of teeth still haunted my arm and thigh. My skin crawled just thinking about it. What else was there to say? I was here. Safe and sound in the bed with him.

  Noah’s whole body grew rigid underneath me. He closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling on a series of concentrated breaths. When he opened them again, they slowly roamed my face as if to reassure himself I was still here. He lifted my hand, spreading my fingers, then placed it on the left side of his chest. His skin was so warm, the muscle underneath unyielding.

  “Do you feel that?”

  I did. His heart boomed under my hand. I thought I felt the bed shake with the force of each beat. It seemed to travel right through my hand and straight up my arm until mine beat just as hard and my breath came just as quick and heavy.

  “That’s what you do to me. Since that first day I heard your Song. It’s like you’ve got my heart in your hand. I swear it feels like if your heart stopped mine would too. I’d never get over it if something happened to you.”

  I put my finger to his lips. We’d known each other a total of four months. Not nearly long enough to be using the word love but we both had, more than once. Not nearly long enough to be so wrapped up in each other that I simply could not get enough of him. I was so achingly familiar with every inch of his body and he mine. When he reached for me, my whole body tingled with anticipation. His hands circled my wrists, the touch less than gentle, his grip grinding the pearl I wore into bone. He flipped me onto my back, pinning my hands on either side of my head, his hips demanding their place between my legs. Yes, he was angry. It simmered just below the surface of his calm facade, flared in the depths of his eyes. I felt the heat of it in his skin, in the pearl on my wrist.

  “Why is it I’m never there for you?” He seemed truly baffled. As if the universe had set some kind of puzzle in front of him that he couldn’t figure out. I knew he would take it personally, as if somehow he’d failed me, when nothing could be further from the truth. “I’m off saving total strangers at the risk of the one person I care about the most. I’m the one that gets to fight for you. It should be me. Not Sol. Not your father.”

  “You are here for me.” I lifted my head and kissed him, straining into his hold, wanting nothing more than to erase the haunted look in his eyes, the ghosts of what he might have lost. “You have been since the very first day when you didn’t even know my name.”

  Noah wouldn’t be pacified. “I’ve seen it before, you know. One of us getting ripped apart by sharks until there was nothing left but bits and pieces and a cloud of blood.” He shuddered, staring down at me with eyes like jade.

  “Don’t think about it. I’m here. Sol made sure of that.”

  “Yeah, and now I owe him for that, too. I need you to understand the dangers and take them seriously. Promise me, next time something like that happens…” He touched his forehead to mine and kept it there. His hair fell over my face, soft as fine silk on the warmth gathering in my cheeks. “You’ll use this. You’ll call me. That’s all I’m asking.”

  “I will.” At my words he let go of my wrists and, once free, my hands fingered their way through his hair. People made a big deal of first kisses and first touches as though every kiss and touch after the first somehow diminished, lost its potency. I hadn’t found that to be true. Each new kiss, each new touch only made me fall more in love with him. Maybe every kiss was a first kiss when it was your first love. It sure felt like it when his mouth finally came down on mine. Like I’d never been kissed before. Our bodies moved in tandem with our mouths, slow and leisurely, strolling through every touch, every caress.

  When my body lay in a blissfully contented heap, Noah whispered in my ear, “You need to go see him.”

  “I know.” Sleepily, I tucked his hand under my cheek. I had wanted to deal with Athen on my own terms, in my own time. The excuse of not rocking the boat with my dad was just that, an excuse.

  I sighed and let my eyes close. “Just don’t let me get out of bed. Don’t let me go.”

  “I won’t.” His warm breath blew over the back of my ear, sinking me farther into oblivion. “Ever.”

  Five

  Since my dad was still in Atlanta, Noah agreed to let me borrow the Bronco. It was a stick shift, and though I had some experience with a manual transmission vehicle, it was going to take more than a few trips up and down my street to re-master the skill. I took pity on Noah after about fifteen minutes of him shifting uncomfortably in the passenger seat, his teeth grinding along with the gears, and suggested he drive me. He’d jumped all over that. Of course the logical thing for me to do was simply swim, but logic eluded me when my father was involved.

  Now we were here, sitting in the parking lot across the street from the marina where my father kept his boat moored. I glanced in the rearview mirror. Face free of make-up. My hair was a mess. Too short to secure in a ponytail, it had been left at the mercy of the wind. I patted it down best I could, opened the door, and slid my feet to the ground, my knees giving a bit when I landed.

  “You want me to wait?” Noah asked. “Or I can come back.”

  “No, thanks. I can get ba
ck.” I hadn’t thought beyond the next thirty minutes or hour. Honestly, I had no idea how long this would take. I had no precedent whatsoever for learning the fine art of climate control.

  “I’ll keep my phone on me just in case, or you can always…”

  “I’ll be fine, Noah,” I said, stringing my new purse over my shoulder. It had been a gift from Quinn. A small waterproof purse just big enough to hold a few essentials. Cell phone, lip balm, a few bills. The thin strap crossed diagonally over my body and the pocket sat right above my hip. Noah still clung to the mostly anachronistic idea of just not carrying a cell phone.

  “I know you will,” he said. “Just don’t hurt him.”

  I looked down the row of slips where I knew Athen kept his boat. I could just make out the stern of the boat I thought was his. It had been a risk coming unannounced, but I hadn’t seen a way around it. I certainly didn’t have a contact for him in my phone. We always seemed to find each other regardless. Didn’t matter anyway. He was here. Strangely, I could feel him.

  “Caris,” Noah called as I started to walk away. I turned around, my heart sputtering a few beats. Noah sat behind the steering wheel, his bare chest gleaming under the afternoon sun. His hair was even more wind blown than mine. The wildness of it framed his green eyes. He wouldn’t have looked out of place at the helm of a Viking ship.

  “What?” Somehow just looking at him quieted my nerves, the easy confidence he had in me quelling my fears.

  His lips quirked in that smile he had that was both sly and shy at the same time. A combination that basically left me tongue-tied. “You look really pretty.”

  I turned around and started walking before I jumped back in the Bronco with him and asked him to take me anywhere but here. But this was a walk I was destined to take. Just like the day I’d jumped off that bridge and laid claim to my heritage. Too dramatic? Maybe. But this moment felt that big.

  I stopped to buy a raspberry shaved ice at a small stand where the asphalt ended and the wharf began. My hands needed something to do with all the nervous energy. A girl sat inside the shack-like structure. I thought it would be hard-pressed to withstand a strong wind. She smiled when she put her book down and hopped off her stool like she was relieved to finally have something to do.