Stormfront (Undertow Book 2)

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Stormfront (Undertow Book 2) Page 28

by K. R. Conway


  But last night, all I thought of was Eila.

  Of how I should physically love her, of where to touch her, and how to stay connected with her mind and her emotion. Something in me shifted last night as I slowly explored her body and listened to her breathe. My own burning demands fell away and suddenly my ability to please her was all I desired. Bringing her body into a rush of sensation felt phenomenal to me. Better than anything I had ever experienced in my lifetime.

  At times I led her and other times, I followed. We gave and took in equal, thinking of one another, rather than ourselves. We were unhurried as we discovered what made each other ignite. And at one point I changed her body forever. It was the hardest thing I had ever done, for I knew I caused her pain when she gasped and held me tighter. I had asked her if she was all right and she responded by kissing me slowly, and in that one moment, the fibers of my heart unraveled.

  I felt her stir next to me and she stretched her body, her hand sliding easily up my chest to my jaw. Then her fingers traveled over my face, as if she were a blind man identifying a friend. Though her eyes were still tightly shut, a beautiful smile spread on her blushing face, and she giggled.

  I was cooked. Done. Permanently filleted.

  This one unlikely girl, designed as my enemy, set my heart on fire. I leaned down next to her and kissed her soft, pink lips as my hand ventured out of her hair and trailed down her back. Her giggling turned into a soft moan as I ran my fingers along the edge of the sheet near her tailbone. She opened her wide, brown eyes and smiled at me in a way that no one ever had, and I was lost.

  “Good morning Mr. Paris,” she said, her voice rough with sleep. I laid my head on her pillow so I was eye to eye with my mermaid and pulled her closer to me.

  “Good morning Ms. Walker,” I replied, bringing my hand up to her cheek and softly pushing her dark hair back from her face. “How are you feeling this morning?”

  She drew a sweet, soft sigh. “Adored,” she answered, letting her fingers play over my bottom lip. “Different.”

  I smiled at her and she rose up and pushed me onto my back, sliding her body on top of mine. I could feel the tingle of my markings begin to surface on my face, revealing my desire. Her finger ran along my brow, no doubt tracing the markings, and a wicked smile curled on her lips. “Hmmm, what are you thinking about, Mr. Paris?”

  I didn’t beat around the bush, and I ran my hands down her ribs, “Making love to you again. Right now.” The contrast between the hard lines of my body and the softness of her curves was a graceful concoction of Yin and Yang. I inventoried every one of those gentle curves that pressed against me, burning them into my memory.

  She ran her cool, small hand down from my face and along my side, though her hand stayed in neutral territory. She was far more timid about touching me than I was with her, and her uncertainty I found beautiful.

  She rolled her hips slightly and I couldn’t help but growl. Yes, I wanted to make love to her again, instantly. But last night she gave her virginity to me, and knowing Eila, she wouldn’t admit to being sore. Using all my willpower, I gently stilled her hips and rolled her off me. “As much as I want to, I think we should wait and give your body a chance to recover.”

  She huffed and crossed her arms over her breasts and her scar, “Fine. Half hour, then?”

  “Uh, I meant a little longer,” I laughed.

  “Picky, picky. Forty-five minutes?”

  I was about to reply when someone banged on the door. “Eila! Are you awake?” demanded Kian from the hallway. “I think Raef may have gone ashore to hunt and we need to get under way. I need to go and track down his sorry ass. EILA! Are you in there?”

  Eila started to rise from the bed, but there was no way I was letting her naked body go anywhere near that door. I pulled her gently back down onto the mattress and covered her with the blanket. “I’ll get it,” I whispered, kissing her lips. She gave me a sweet smile as she tousled my hair.

  I pulled on my pants and padded over to the door. Kian was now demanding that he do something insidious to me because I had apparently jumped ship without notifying the captain. “Eila! Woman! Get your fine assssss –.”

  I whipped open the door before he could complete his appraisal of Eila’s rear and his words stalled on his lips. He looked at me, stunned into silence for a second. Then a knowing smirk rose on his face, “Jeez, Eila. You need more beauty sleep. You look like crap.”

  “Very funny,” I replied, not amused. “I did not jump ship.”

  Kian narrowed his eyes, “This is not your room during this trip. Did you and Little Miss Lite Brite discuss politics . . . or play doctor?”

  Because she never did follow directions, Eila slid up next to me, thankfully wrapped up in the blanket. Kian’s eyes widened and all sense of humor fell from his face. He glanced at me, darkness on his face, then back to Eila. “Are you hurt?”

  “No. Of course not,” she replied, confused.

  He stepped forward to me, pointing an angry finger at my chest. “You are reckless. Reckless and stupid!” While I didn’t think Kian would be high-fiving me, I was taken aback by his level of hostility. I didn’t understand where it was coming from.

  “I don’t have to explain myself to you,” I growled back, defensive. I was pissed that he thought I would ever hurt Eila. “She was never in danger with me. I was in control.”

  Kian stared at me for a long time before he spoke, “Control is an illusion. You, my friend, were just plain lucky.” He stepped back from the doorframe, his jaw set in a hard line. Slowly he seemed to regain his composure. “We’re leaving. Get upstairs and help out.”

  I was about to ask what was going on, but Kian just strode away towards the galley. Eila looked up at me and I wrapped my arm around her.

  “What was that all about?” she asked.

  “I have no idea,” I replied.

  48 Eila

  Kian didn’t talk to Raef all day as we sailed from Bimini to our next stop in Freeport. I hung out with Ana on the aft deck lounge, creating a few necklaces with the beautiful pieces of the ocean we had taken from the island, and a bracelet for Mae. I kept trying to figure out what happened this morning with Kian, but I couldn’t wrap my head around his reaction.

  The way Raef looked at me and brushed against me, meant so much more now. A hidden understanding and deeper connection than I ever thought possible existed between us. If his eyes didn’t remind me of a few hours ago, the gentle ache throughout my body did. It was a good ache, but he was right – I need a chance to recover.

  I had been so caught up in the moment last night that I completely forgot about protection, but Raef didn’t. Apparently certain things come standard in the Sail Away kits from the yacht club, including shampoo, razors, and well, safe sex items. My mind kept wandering back to last night, replaying bits and pieces of what we had done together, making me about as useful as a zombie.

  “Quit zoning,” demanded Ana, bouncing a shell off my shoulder.

  I blushed. “Sorry,” I replied, focusing back on a necklace I was making for Raef. It was a simple design of braided cotton with a small shark tooth hanging from the middle. It was an awesome find from yesterday, and I knew it belonged on my soul shark’s neck.

  I pictured him wearing it, and not much else.

  Crud – I was going to get NOTHING done.

  Ana was faster than I was at making the pieces into necklaces, probably because she wasn’t daydreaming about Kian. She had made MJ one already with a piece of twisted beach metal she had found, and he had been wearing it all day. If either of them could tell that I was different, they hadn’t said a word.

  In some ways, I really wanted girl-time with Ana, to discuss what I had done last night. At the same time however, she believed a soul thief would never make love to a human. A few months ago, I would have been in complete agreement, but after all that had happened to us, combined with how gentle Raef was last night, I knew we had been wrong. If she found out about Raef and m
e, would it make her question Kian’s excuse for not sleeping with her the summer they met?

  I glanced at her as she finished off a sea glass necklace for herself. “I can make one for Kian. All the boys should have one,” I offered, trying to deviously test her mind as it related to the boy she once loved.

  She picked up another piece of sea glass, this one slightly larger but the same color as the one that now hung on her neck. “I’ll make him one,” she replied, and I glanced up to the flybridge above us. MJ and Kian were hanging out by the ship’s wheel, but Kian glanced down at the two of us, no doubt having heard his name with his superior hearing. Why was he so angry this morning?

  Kian’s eyes connected with mine and he said something to MJ, who nodded in response, taking the wheel. Then Kian made his way down from the flybridge and into the parlor, not saying a word to Ana or me.

  Screw the silent treatment. I was ticked that he had acted like a moron this morning and we needed to have a chat.

  I got up, making an excuse to get us some drinks, and followed Kian into the parlor. He was by the bar and I came up behind him, giving him a small shove. “What the heck was that all about this morning?” I asked, truly aggravated. I was grateful Raef was in the shower, so I could talk to Kian alone.

  He didn’t turn to me. “Nothing,” he said, rummaging around in the cabinet for something.

  “You were mad. Why would you have been mad? That makes no sense to me!”

  Kian yanked a pair of binoculars from the cabinet and spun on me. “He could have killed you, all right? What the hell is the point of protecting you if he goes and does something so stupid as that.”

  “So sleeping with me is stupid?” I asked, now offended.

  “Yes! No – I mean. Damn it, Eila – it’s dangerous for our kind to sleep with a human. It’s always a gamble and a lot of the time the human doesn’t fair so well, trust me.” Kian was getting angry, but it didn’t seem to be aimed at me. The way he spoke made it seem like . . . oh, hell.

  “You’ve slept with a human, haven’t you? But Ana said that you wouldn’t with her. If it wasn’t Ana, then who --?”

  “My fiancée.”

  My eyes went wide. “You were getting married? When?”

  Kian’s shoulders dropped as he let out a sigh and placed the binoculars on the counter. “When I was still human, I was engaged to a girl named Mary. But a few days after I was turned, I went to her house. She let me in, because she loved me and I was the man she was going to marry, have children with, and grow old with. God help me, she trusted me to take care of her, but I wasn’t the same man. I no longer loved her, just lusted for her, and I took what I wanted that night.”

  I had stopped breathing and Kian shook his head, his eyes to the floor and his hand curling into a fist. “Her family found her body in her bedroom the next day.”

  Good god. I forced away the chill that climbed over my skin as I stepped forward, covering Kian’s clenched hand with my own. “Kian, it’s not the same. You’re not the same,” I whispered, so terribly sorry for him and poor Mary.

  He pulled his hand away from mine and picked up the binoculars. As he pushed past me, he looked down into my eyes, his face hard. “That’s your biggest mistake, Eila. Raef and I are still Mortis. We survive on the lives of others. We are killers and there is no changing that.”

  He started leaving the room, but I called after him. “Kian – you didn’t mean to do it,” I pleaded, trying to ease his grief.

  He stopped just before the glass doors and he looked at Ana who was holding up her necklace, examining her handiwork. Finally he turned back at me. “Yeah, I did, Sparky,” he replied sadly and walked outside.

  I watched as Ana said something to him and held up the necklace she had made him. He leaned down to her and she tied it around his neck, turning it so it sat perfectly against his flawless skin. She gave a proud smile and he returned it easily, saying something that earned him a jab in his side from Ana, who laughed.

  He loved her fiercely, and despite her reluctance to let him in, Ana loved him as well. Ana wasn’t Mary – not even close. Kian had to know that, somewhere deep down and past all the fear. He glanced back at me as he headed for the flydeck and his smile faded.

  As he disappeared above me, I realized Kian failed to understand two critical facts: Ana wasn’t afraid of him . . . and I, too, was a killer.

  49 Raef

  I watched, entranced, as Eila swayed in perfect unison to Bob Marley’s song in the middle of the dance floor. MJ had stolen her from my side, and he turned her about in the open air restaurant, among the other yacht owners and vacationers. The pale gray of her sundress dipped into a midnight black, and it slid along her legs as she danced barefoot, a single pink seashell hanging from her neck. I reached up and touched the shark tooth she had tied to my neck when we were getting ready to leave the yacht for an evening of music and dancing.

  I remembered how I pressed her against the wall in my room, kissing her deeply as she tried to concentrate on knotting the gift at my neck. I smiled, recalling how her body vibrated as she giggled when I turned my lips to a spot on her neck that was ticklish.

  Not far from them, Kian danced with Ana, her lips silently singing the song as she twirled. He smiled as he held her and pulled an exotic flower from her hair, sticking it in his own and she laughed.

  “Let me guess. Something to do with the Internet or cell phones, right?” asked a low voice next to me. I turned and saw an elderly man leaning against the bar not far from me.

  “I’m sorry?” I asked, my brow falling.

  He gestured with his drink to my companions on the dance floor. “I saw you kids pull in on a sweet cruiser. I’m figuring if you guys are that young to be sailing here alone on such a beauty, there is wealth involved. It has gotta be the tech industry.”

  Dealing with nosy, rich men was never my strong suit. “Something along those lines,” I replied, hoping to end the conversation. The reality was, our wealth came from years of hard work, careful buying of stocks, and purchasing land wisely. Kian, however, did invest early in a certain tech company whose logo was a tree-borne fruit, while I favored a start-up known as Google.

  “You guys going to be part of the fishing tourney tomorrow?” asked Mr. Nosey.

  “We’re just passing through,” I replied, catching sight of Eila and MJ headed my way.

  Eila slid up next to me and I wrapped my arm around her. The heat from her body emanated through the sheer fabric of her dress and sweat had dampened her dark hair around her face. “Did you see me?” she asked, beaming and breathless as she kissed my cheek.

  “I did – you guys looked great,” I replied, handing her a glass of ice tea.

  “Damn straight we looked great!” said MJ, planting a kiss on Eila’s forehead. Jealousy stirred subtly inside me, but I knew MJ’s affection for Eila was that of a big brother and nothing more.

  Eila turned to my chatty barmate. She extended her hand, “Hi. I’m Eila.”

  Mr. Nosey took her hand and kissed her knuckles. I wanted to snap his lips off. “Pleasure to meet you. I’m Mr. Garrett, owner of this delightful establishment.”

  “You own this place?” I asked, surprised. This guy dressed like a tourist, complete with garish tropical shirt and cargo shorts.

  “That I do. It does me a world of good to see you young folks enjoying the evening here. It can be pretty hard to compete with the fancier places up the coast, but I am glad that I still somehow appeal to kids like you.”

  With its thatched roof, basic wooden tables, and sand-dusted floors, The Pink Crab wasn’t anywhere near five-stars, but it was 100% true to the essence of the island. It also was fairly far off the beaten path, making our likelihood of running into another Mortis pretty remote.

  “I think it is just fabulous, Mr. Garrett. Even better is the whole ‘footwear optional’ thing,” said Eila with a laugh, holding up her heeled sandals. She had rid herself of her shoes within five minutes of entering the
small bar.

  Mr. Garrett smiled at her and pulled a hibiscus bloom from a large bush that was leaning into the bar. He held the flower out to Eila, “For such a beautiful compliment, and an even more beautiful lady.” Eila took the flower, tucking the red bloom into her wild ponytail.

  “Thank you,” she said, but I felt her hand rub my side. She knew I was uneasy with anyone coming near her, my guard instincts relentless.

  Mr. Garrett eased his wide frame from the barstool. “Well, you kids enjoy yourselves. And I wish you safe sailing, wherever you are headed. I’ve got to see to some business, but have a great evening.” Eila gave him a wave as he left.

  Kian and Ana were still on the dance floor and I looked down to Eila. “So, do you have enough spark left to dance with me?” I asked, tucking one wayward strand of hair behind her ear.

  “Hmmm . . . that wasn’t much of a request,” she replied, fingering my necklace. I pulled her in tighter to me, bringing my lips dangerously close to hers. “Dance with me,” I whispered. “Dance with me now, or I may lose my mind and drag you back to the yacht instantly.”

  “Is that a promise or a threat?” asked E, hooking her finger into my necklace and pulling me so close that our noses touched.

  “Both,” I whispered back to her.

  “Good answer,” she replied.

  50 Raef

  “Are you sure?” I asked Kian as I stared down at the photo of Mr. Garrett on his laptop.

  “Look man, this is Rillin’s area of expertise. If he says this dude is on the Blacklist for drugs, then he is. I don’t know about you, but I could use the hit,” said Kian, pulling on a blue, long sleeve shirt.

  I had laid with Eila in my arms until she drifted into a deep sleep and then I slipped away from her warm body, not wanting her to know I was about to go kill a man. Ana, however, was aware of what we were up to. She seemed to accept that we were hunting humans, though I was sure the fact that they were criminals eased her mind.

 

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