by Zoe Chant
Laura was alarmed to see that the sky was beginning to tint red as the sun began its madcap decent for the ocean.
“What the tarnation?!” It was as close to swearing as Laura had heard from Tex, and she looked up from her successful retrieval of the phone to see a small whiskered face poking from the water between them, not even an arms length away.
The otter chittered at her anxiously while Laura backpedaled in alarm.
As quickly as it appeared, it dove down again out of sight, little tail flipping behind it on the choppy water.
It came up a stone’s throw away, chattered noisily, and then dove again, to reappear further out.
“It’s probably scared of us,” Laura guessed.
It scolded them, then made an unmistakable gesture with its diminutive paw, almost capsizing itself with the effort.
“It… wants us to follow it?”
Lacking any other guidance, Laura and Tex exchanged a helpless look and kicked out after it.
It led them unerringly to a chunk from the bow of the boat.
“I thought dolphins were the ones that were supposed to do deep sea saving,” Laura said. “I’ve never heard of otters doing anything like this.”
“I think we could sit on that,” Tex said, testing its buoyancy by pulling on the edge.
He helped Laura clamber aboard first, a strong hand on her rear nothing but professional.
Laura still found it incredibly sexy.
She moved carefully to the far side of the wreckage to balance it as Tex pulled himself up.
It was tippy and water sloshed up over it regularly, but they could huddle together near the center and catch their breath, at least. Tex’s strong arm around her helped Laura calm her racing heart and she let her head rest at his shoulder.
“Couldn’t ask for a more romantic view,” Tex said, in his dear drawl.
The sun was plunging for the water, and all of the waves around them were crimson and gold, glittering with a million facets in every direction. The sky above them was a tapestry of color, rich purple scattered with puffy orange and magenta clouds.
“I think I’d prefer the view from the beach,” Laura laughed, but she had to appreciate the incredible hues.
She was acutely aware that they had just survived something awful, that they were stranded on a shard of a boat that could tip them out into the unforgiving ocean at a moment’s notice, and that darkness was impending. But all she could think about was Tex’s warmth, and the feeling of his muscles through his soaked clothing. She tipped her head back to find that he was bending to kiss her, and captured his mouth with her own.
His hands slid over her salty skin, over her collarbones and down to cup her breasts and pull her closer. He nibbled her neck and caressed her back. If Laura hadn’t already been soaked to the skin, she would have become immediately wet.
Tex kissed her again, more demandingly, and one of his hands drifted down her thigh, touching her lightly between the legs.
Laura shifted, inviting him in, and the decking they were on plunged and rocked. Laura clutched at his arm, and fumbled her hard-won phone, pulling away with a squeak as she recovered it with a lucky catch.
Bless your reflexes, she told her wolf.
One of us has to be useful, her wolf responded, but it was tinged with affection.
“We should, ah, probably save this thought for later,” Laura said breathlessly. “For some time when a good orgasm won’t swamp our precarious boat and send us both into the salt.”
Tex agreed reluctantly, promising, “I’ll save knocking your socks off for when it won’t drown us.”
Then he noticed, “You have a phone? You brilliant angel!”
“Here’s hoping it works,” Laura said, touching the button. How she had hated that water proof case when she first put it on.
The screen was so bright it lit them up like a torch, making Laura aware of how quickly that darkness was descending.
“Come on, signal,” she said, biting her lip.
“There’s a bar! There’s a bar!” Tex squeezed her shoulders and they bounced in excitement until the slosh of cool saltwater reminded them how precarious their vessel was. “Can you call your friend at the resort? I don’t know the resort’s number by memory, but having Bastian come get us will be faster than trying to get the Civil Guard out here to find us. Bastian can tow us back.”
With shaking hands, Laura pulled Fred from the contacts and dialed.
It rang, while the sun finished its swandive and its last rays faded at last.
It disconnected without giving Laura a chance to leave a voicemail, and she looked in distress at the low battery warning that popped up. “Let me text him,” she said desperately, putting the phone into battery saving mode.
She stalled, looking at the text window. “Lost at sea,” she finally typed. “Boat exploded. Contact Bastian.”
Her life had certainly taken a surreal turn.
After a moment of thought, she added, “He’s the lifeguard.” She added the emoticon of a dragon impulsively.
The phone registered them as sent, then viewed, and Laura waited, tensely, for the reply.
Nothing happened.
The bar of signal flickered out and then returned.
She let the screen go to sleep to save the battery life, and settled into Tex’s careful embrace. The dark water lapped around them, and the bow of the boat dipped and ebbed in the swells that even Laura’s night vision could barely make out.
Chapter 24
As far as being lost at sea went, Tex thought that things could have been worse.
It was a warm night, and they seemed fairly stable on the shard of decking that had survived the explosion. After a short time, the moon, half full, rose to cast a silver-blue sheen over everything.
“I don’t think Fred is going to answer,” Laura said, puzzled. “I… guess I should call the… what are they called here? Is it 9-1-1?”
“It’s 9-1-1,” Tex assured her. “And they have an English support line. It’s the Civil Guard, they have a coast guard division. Are you sure he saw it? The Mr. Shifter final awards are tonight, so maybe he didn’t hear the phone ring.”
Laura shrugged under his arm. “The phone says he did. I don’t know why it would say he had, if he hadn’t.” She opened the phone to show him, and nearly dropped it as the sliver of boat took an unexpected lurch.
She squeaked and grabbed it hard, and Tex watched the line of texts spin backwards as her finger slid across the touchscreen. She started to scroll forward again, and slowed down, reading the backchat.
“What is it?” Tex asked, feeling her stiffen.
“This… this conversation. Fred and Jenny.” Laura’s voice caught in her throat.
Tex tried to guess why it was making her sound so strangled. “Were they having an affair?”
“Ew, no! He was a friend of our dad’s! But…”
She let her breath out in a rush and sucked it back in. “He knew that Jenny was planning to use my car, and that she wouldn’t be at work that morning. She texted and let him know, and even said he’d be by to pick up a package before she left. I slept through all that… but… he knew. He knew I wasn’t Jenny. This whole time, he’s known I wasn’t Jenny.”
“That’s a little… odd,” Tex agreed.
“He could have tampered with my car,” Laura said softly. “He’s good with electronics, I bet he could have done something to make it go off that curve and look like an accident. He could have rigged at bomb on my laptop, too. And the boat.”
Tex had to unclench his fists, consumed with protective rage. “Why would he want you dead?”
Laura gave a hiccup of laughter and shrugged. “He’s the closest thing to family we have. Had. I thought we could trust him. I was this close to telling him who I was, about a hundred times on this trip. The only reason I hadn’t is that I was afraid he would be terrible about keeping a secret, he’s so trusting and honest.” She snorted. “I guess he was better
at keeping secrets than I gave him credit for.”
She went rigid again. “My parents… my parents died in a car crash. He was up for the partnership my dad got just a few weeks earlier. You don’t think he could have done that?” She sounded shaken to the core.
“I’ll find out, if I have to rip off his face to make him talk,” Tex snarled, hearing how ridiculous it sounded.
Laura’s answering laugh was strained. “Right now, I will settle for solid land under my feet again,” she said plaintively. “Gory revenge can wait.”
The phone, even though it declared a few percent battery remaining, gave a chirp of protest and shut down. The sudden darkness was stark.
Laura shivered, and Tex wrapped his arms around her, willing more of his warmth into her. He couldn’t imagine how it felt, finding out someone she’d trusted had betrayed her.
“I wonder where the otter went,” Laura said softly.
“I guess it figured it had done its duty by saving us,” Tex shrugged.
There was a streak of light at the horizon, and just as Tex was wondering if he’d imagined it, a star of light exploded in the sky above it, followed by a distant boom.
“We’re missing the fireworks!” Laura said with a little laugh.
“You kidding?” Tex said, determined to maintain morale. “We have the best seats in the house. From the resort, there’d be palm trees marring up the view. Everyone fighting over the best chairs.”
“Jessica Linn would be drunk and bitchy,” Laura chuckled. “I’d be sorely tempted to tip her into the pool.”
“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Tex agreed. “Wish I thought of it sooner.”
The first fireworks were swiftly followed by more. It was a great show, with swirling white candles, and trailing golden globes. A series of red crackers looked a little like a dragon before fading into smoke.
“They’ll be having a bonfire on the beach now,” Laura said wistfully. “It must be past midnight.”
“I’d be set up at the beach bar,” Tex said. “And no one would be able to understand that no, I don’t have anything on tap there. And no, I didn’t haul down the entire collection of single malt scotches. Bastian is probably already out of tiny umbrellas.”
“Who do you think won the Mr. World Shifter competition?”
“Mr. Brazil,” Tex guessed. “He took the Mr. Speed contest without trouble, and his speech was lovely.”
“Nah,” Laura said. “He just didn’t have the same charisma as some of the others. And Mr. India was a better speaker.”
A green shower of sparkles lit up the water in reflections, followed by a rainbow of explosions and a coil of white, sizzling lights.
“Mr. Ireland got the most popular votes,” Tex said thoughtfully.
“That will get him the Mr. Internet title, but it won’t win him the Mr. Shifter title,” Laura said decisively. “His speech went over on the time, so he probably lost points for it. I desperately hope Mr. Canada goes away without placing. I can’t believe he won the swimsuit portion.”
An amethyst waterfall of spinning lights sparkled off of the waves.
“I wouldn’t discount Mr. South Africa,” Tex said. “He was in second for the race.”
“You were keeping pretty close tabs on these standings,” Laura observed wryly.
“It was a little hard to miss what was going on, even if I was being distracted by the hottest thing I’d ever seen in life,” Tex told her.
Laura waited a beat, then teased, “You mean Mr. Brazil, right?”
“I mean, you, you sexy vixen,” Tex told her, managing to goose her with one quick arm.
She squeaked and giggled, nearly capsizing them.
They stilled, watching the fireworks continue to dazzle the sky, and Laura poked Tex. “Why haven’t you ever sung to me?”
Tex blinked. “Sung to you?”
“Everyone tells me you’re a great singer and guitar player, but you’ve never played me anything.” Tex could tell that the whine to her voice was for mostly for show, but he wondered if there wasn’t a little real hurt down underneath it.
“I thought you didn’t like country music,” he said, not entirely truthfully. Really, he cared what she thought, and didn’t want to be a disappointment to her.
She poked him. “So sing me something that doesn’t have stolen pickups and run-over dogs in it.”
Tex cleared his throat, feeling suddenly vulnerable. It was odd not to have his guitar under his fingers. He wracked his brain for an appropriate song, something not too sad or depressing, then chuckled and set a beat on the fiberglass beneath them with his fingers.
“Love is a burnin' thing
And it makes a fiery ring
Bound by wild desire
I fell into a ring of fire…”
Laura joined him for the chorus, and fireworks continued to light the sky. She had a husky voice, not trained, but it was a good mix for Tex’s.
“I fell into a burnin' ring of fire
I went down, down, down
And the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns
The ring of fire, the ring of fire…”
They may not ever be contenders for a reality talent show, Tex thought, but after the Mr. World Shifter contest, he wasn’t sure he’d ever do that kind of thing anyway.
For the moment, this was perfect, singing only for his mate. Laura was finally relaxed next to him, and Tex was singing the last few repeats of the ring of fire, not wanting to break the spell, before he recognized that one of the blaze of fireworks… wasn’t fireworks at all.
“That’s Bastian,” he said, with sudden relief, pointing.
Something dark was flying near the surface of the water, periodically lighting the area with flame. The finale of the fireworks, a chaotic, brilliant, flower garden of light, lit up the top of its wings. It was obviously a dragon, skimming just above the water in a search pattern.
Chapter 25
She was adrift on an unsteady piece of a blown-up boat, in a dark ocean with non-sequitur fireworks exploding overhead and Tex was singing Johnny Cash to her. Laura felt like she was caught up in a crazy analogy of her own crazy life.
When Tex stood up, waving his hands and shouting to attract Bastian’s attention, the shard of boat jerked alarmingly, and Laura squeaked and tried to flatten herself further, stabilizing their makeshift craft. Warm water splashed over the surface of the decking, soaking parts of her clothing that had only just gotten dry.
But it worked. Within a few moments, Bastian caught sight of Tex, or heard his ridiculous cowboy yodeling, and circled around to fly straight for them. He dove into the water just in front of their craft and came out of the water in human form, pulling himself partway up and asking flippantly, “Hey, you guys need some help?”
Swamped in the water that rushed up over the decking due to his extra weight, Laura could only laugh weakly. “I’d love a drink.”
Bastian tsked. “What kind of bartender are you, Tex, coming out all this way on a romantic excursion with no drinks?”
Tex, crouching again to keep them from capsizing, mock laughed. “Very funny, Bastian. All the booze sank with the boat. Can you tow us home?”
Bastian was already inspecting what was left of the railing, and nodded in approval. “Shouldn’t be a problem.” He had a little coil of rope unclipped from his belt and began tying a sturdy knot. “The real problem,” he added, “is what Scarlet it going to say when she sees what you did to her boat.”
“It won’t compare to what she’ll say when she realizes the entire shipment of wine is at the bottom of the drink,” Tex said.
“How did you know to come looking for us?” Laura had to ask. “Did Fred tell you?” Something was very wrong with the entire situation with Fred, and she had a bone-deep need to understand it, as badly as she didn’t want to believe it.
“Fred? That balding fellow with the nervous twitch? No, he hasn’t had anything to say beyond asking for
more drinks at the bar. Which by the way, Tex, I don’t think Scarlet is ever going to let you leave again. No one can keep the natives from getting restless like you can. No, it was an otter that clued me in.”
“An otter?” said Tex and Laura together in astonishment.
“We were just talking about whether I should go out after you when it came right up on the beach looking utterly wiped out, dragging what was left of your hat. Must have swum it’s little heart out, poor thing.”
Twice that otter had saved them, Laura realized, and she felt unsettled.
“Now, speaking of swimming a heart out, you two hold on. I can move a little faster than an otter.”
Bastian shifted as he dove back into the water, jeweled scales cutting through the waves in the pale moonlight like diamonds. He had the other end of the rope in his mouth, and Laura was glad that she’d taken his advice to heart and wrapped both arms around a piece of railing.
The rope went taut with a jerk, and they were gliding across the water like a poor attempt at a water skate, every other wave cresting over and drenching them. Laura was pathetically grateful when Tex wiggled his way over to her and reached around so he was cradling her between his arms as he held them both on.
She even felt safe enough to take some enjoyment out of the wild ride; the water seemed to be going past as fast as it did on the boat, but they were down at the surface of it. It felt like they were part of it, like they were somehow connected to the ocean’s fierce energy.
It was difficult to look up, as that meant a faceful of water periodically, but glances showed Laura first a glimmer of light on the horizon, then it resolved into the familiar terraces of Shifting Sands, the pool deck lit like a beacon. There was a dying bonfire on the beach.
Over the reef, the water was suddenly much more still, and Laura could look up and see all the gorgeous levels of the resort. It felt like home, and she suspected that not all of the saltwater on her face was from the ocean.
Bastian remained in dragon shape as they got to the beach, and pulled the boat fragment far up onto the sand. A few remaining guests and tired staff reached hands to help them up from the fiberglass shard.