SeaChange

by Cindy Spencer Pape

  “Wow.” Heidi could still barely manage Spanish after living in California for years, and her high-school French was decidedly rusty. “Did you study languages in college?”

  “I didn’t go to college. I guess it’s just a knack. I like to read and I’ve traveled a lot, picked up bits and pieces wherever I went.”

  He didn’t like to talk about himself—she’d picked up that much. She stuffed the last bite of her fajita into her mouth and chewed. Without any further conversation, they finished their dinner and worked side by side to clean it up.

  “Where’s your favorite place?” she asked him later as they sipped margaritas by the rail. Hers was stronger than she usually liked, and she wondered if he was trying to get her drunk. That didn’t make any sense though—she’d already slept with him, after all.

  The stars twinkled brightly in the deep indigo sky, setting off splashes of reflected flickers off the gently rolling waves.

  She gazed out over the endless expanse of ocean. “Now, come on, tell me. Of all the places you’ve been, which is your favorite?”

  “Home,” he replied immediately, as if no thought was required. Then he hesitated. “But that’s about people, not places. Anywhere on the ocean is my favorite, I guess. I don’t do well away from the sea.”

  “I know what you mean,” she agreed. “I could never go back to Minnesota, not for good, but that might be different if my folks were still alive. As it is, I think I’m just a throwback to my Viking ancestors, needing to feel the sun in my hair and the salt spray on my skin.”

  “That said, I like San Diego,” he added. “It’s as much of a home base as I have anymore.”

  “Me too,” she agreed. “Though I like San Francisco, and Hawaii is fabulous. And I’d love to dive the Great Barrier Reef someday.”

  “It’s worth the trip,” he agreed. Then he wound one arm loosely around her waist and chuckled. “Not Paris or Rome for you, huh?”

  She leaned into him, soaking up the warmth of his skin against her bare arm. “Oh, they’re on the list. I like history too. I’d love to see Stonehenge, the Coliseum, the pyramids. But if it comes down to first choices, I’ll always pick the sea.”

  “Until some lucky man sweeps you off your feet.”

  Her snort of laughter was probably anything but ladylike. “Oh, please. Can you really see me as the type to settle down and be anybody’s little woman? Baking cookies and driving a minivan to soccer practice?”

  He chuckled, and the vibration of his chest was almost a caress. “No, not that exactly. I imagine if anyone ever suggested it, you’d kick his ass.”

  “Damn straight.”

  “But there’s far too much warmth inside you to waste by spending your life alone. One of these days you’ll find the guy who’s smart enough to let you do your research and still come home when you’re done. And he’ll be one lucky S. O. B.”

  “Maybe. But right now, I’ve got a career to build. The sciences are still harder for a woman to make her way in, especially fieldwork. I need to focus on that, not on a relationship. So if all of this is a subtle way of warning me that you’re not the marrying kind, don’t worry, I get it.”

  He’d shifted so he was behind her and she leaned back into his chest, felt his erection pressing against her ass. “I don’t need happily-ever-after, Jake. Life is way too short to worry about forever. I’ll settle for happy tonight.”

  She deserved better. He knew that but he couldn’t deny the truth of her words. Heidi was human; her life would be regrettably short. His wouldn’t, but he still understood that it was the small moments of pleasure that made any existence worthwhile. And every moment with Heidi was a pleasure, that was for sure. He pulled her more tightly against him and bent his head to taste the side of her neck.

  “Ummm. That feels good.” She tipped her head to the side, giving him better access. Her arms looped up and back, wound around his neck, and she rubbed her ass against his engorged cock but didn’t turn, kept her face out to the open sea.

  This left her chest wide open. He slid his hands up under her top. She wasn’t wearing a bra and he’d been damn near drooling all through dinner, wanting to get his hands on her gorgeous breasts.

  Apparently she liked what he was doing. She moaned, pushed her shoulders back, filling his hands. He rubbed and pinched, feeling her nipples harden to pebbles under his touch. Her breath hitched, and he nipped at the tendon on her neck, just hard enough to sting, at the same time as he clamped down on both nipples. She cried out and he felt the ripples of a mini-orgasm shudder through her. She was the hottest, most responsive woman he’d ever seen.

  Her hands unwound from his neck and she unbuttoned her shorts, shoving them down around her ankles. Then she turned and started on his.

  He didn’t need any more encouragement, and she didn’t need any more foreplay. He slid his hand between her legs, found her swollen and dripping wet, while her hands were shaping his cock, rubbing up and down the length of him. When he rammed two fingers inside her, she squealed, lifting one leg and wrapping it around his hips. Her fist squeezed and Jake saw stars as he fought to hold back his orgasm. He’d be damned if he was going to come before she did, before he even got inside her hot body. He lowered himself to the deck, keeping her legs spread so she straddled his hips.

  She kept one hand gripped around his shaft, used it to position him right at her entrance. The she shimmied her hips as she lowered herself onto him and Jake saw stars again. Her pussy was damn near as tight as her fist.

  He leaned his head up, caught one of her hanging nipples in his mouth. He sucked it deep, matching his rhythm to the motion of her hips as she rode him hard and fast. Then he slid one hand between their bellies to play with her clit. She was so wet that his fingers slipped easily through her blonde curls, finding that taut little bud and strumming, coating it with her own moisture. His other hand snaked around her back and played with the crack of her ass, penetrating the puckered hole with just the tip of one finger.

  The multiple sensations pushed her over the top, and she keened his name as she started to shake. She came in long, slow waves, cresting again and again when he kept up the onslaught. She squeezed her legs together, clamped down on his dick with her still-pulsing inner muscles, and Jake went over himself, spurting into her so hard he felt like the top of his head was blowing off.

  Eventually they both sank to their knees on the deck, bodies still entwined. Jake sat back on his heels while Heidi straddled his thighs and leaned her head against his shoulder. Both their bodies were slick with sweat and their lungs were heaving.

  “S-sorry,” he panted. He hadn’t meant to take her so crudely, right out in the open.

  But to his amazement, Heidi only laughed, the sound musical, rich, and sweet. “For what? The best orgasm of my life? Oh, honey, the only thing I regret is not having the energy to drag you off to bed and do it again.”

  That thought had him hardening all over again inside her. Without thinking, he pulsed his hips, gently moving in her tight heat.

  This time Heidi’s laugh was a low, seductive purr. “On the other hand, maybe I do.”

  * * * * *

  He waited to leave for as long as he could. Oh, he’d slipped out of bed the minute he was sure she was asleep, but then he stayed in the cabin for what was probably close to an hour, just watching her at rest. What he wouldn’t give to be able to stay with her and hold her in his arms while she slept. But he had three more nights of changing before the waning moon would allow him to sleep through until dawn.

  What was he thinking, letting himself get this deeply involved with a human? It wasn’t just dangerous emotionally; he was putting everything at risk, including the future of his entire species. Heidi was too intelligent to be fooled for long. If he let her stick around, she was bound to figure things out. Probably only her own disastrous situation had kept her distracted for this long. Jake was damn lucky he wasn’t already in a deep pile of shit.

  Finally the bedsid
e clock read 11:55, and the tingling beneath his skin grew too insistent to be ignored. With one last wistful glance at Heidi’s face, her strong features sweet and almost angelic in repose, Jake slipped out of the room, latching the door silently behind him. He hadn’t bothered to dress after their most recent bout of lovemaking, which had been slow and sweet in the bed, a poignant and romantic contrast to hard and hot on the deck. Since he didn’t need to pause and strip when he reached the deck, he hopped over the rail and dove directly into the briny depths.

  The moment he submerged, the change began, his body shifting and stretching into his native form. He surfaced to draw a deep breath, reveling in the feel of his longer, stronger muscles and the smooth thrust of his powerful tail flukes through the water. He filled the air sacs along his spine before diving deep below the choppy surface. The oxygen stored in those internal pockets would allow him twenty minutes or so of underwater swimming, though without the magical power inborn to his people, he couldn’t cast a light spell to see in the total darkness under the waves. His magic had been part of the price of the spell that allowed him to live on land.

  But the moon provided enough light for his merfolk eyes to watch the boat. He might be handicapped with regard to two-legged movement, but he could still keep watch over Heidi while she slept. His satellite phone was in a waterproof pouch around his neck and he knew Wen was standing by, probably not too far away. The CIA operative was the only living being who knew Jake’s story, including that he was vulnerable seven nights every month. Jake wondered idly if there was anyone alive who knew Wen’s secrets. Sometimes when Jake looked into Wen’s bottomless black gaze, he saw more darkness than any one being could handle and stay sane. He never knew whether to envy the other man or to pity him.

  Caught up in his thoughts, he didn’t hear the other swimmer approach until a high-pitched whistle split his eardrum. He spun and spotted the dolphin, while reminding himself that in the ocean, such inattention to his surroundings was a good way to get killed.

  Hello, friend! Jake chattered.

  It was the white-sided dolphin who had helped him rescue Heidi. The young bull was clearly happy to see Jake and chattered a cheerful reply.

  “Has the fast boat returned?” Jake knew the intelligent mammal would understand which boat he meant. “Any trouble?”

  No, the dolphin replied, with a whistle and a slap of his pectoral fins on the water. But just in case they return, the pod has moved out to safer waters.

  “Good,” Jake answered. “But you’ve stayed here to watch for trouble,” he surmised.

  The younger male agreed.

  “Have you seen any trace of the other swimmer?” Jake did his best to describe Brad Van Dorn in terms the dolphin would understand.

  No. The dolphin sent a wave of regret. He sent Jake a cheerful image of Heidi and her partner frolicking in the surf with the pod.

  “She’s fine.” Jake answered the bull’s next query, sending a vision of Heidi asleep in the cabin of Jake’s boat. His friend chirped a note of approval, followed by a suggestive chitter and a rather graphic description of what he thought Jake should be doing with Heidi instead of swimming with the dolphin.

  Jake laughed. “She’s resting,” he replied. “Worn out.” The two exchanged a moment of pure male satisfaction, and then Jake grinned.

  “I see,” he laughed. “You’ve got a little flippered hottie of your own, don’t you?”

  The dolphin laughed in agreement. A few. Dolphins were not monogamous by nature.

  “But they don’t mind waiting while you patrol, huh?”

  No, the young bull replied. They know I’m worth the wait.

  They chatted for a few more minutes while each watched the horizon for trouble. Though other marine life swam through the area and a couple of boats passed by in the distance, nothing threatening approached the boat.

  I almost forgot, the other dolphin chittered, as the time approached for Jake to return to human form. Someone was looking for you today.

  “What kind of someone?” Jake nearly shouted, almost forgetting the need to maintain a low profile. Heidi slept lightly.

  A dolphin, the bull replied. But not our kind. He described what humans called a common dolphin—the same kind Jake had met up with the previous night.

  “Did he say what he wanted?” Jake asked, though he was afraid he already knew.

  He said another like you wants to find you, the dolphin said. A pretty female with long copper hair. Part of your harem? He whistled a note of pure masculine approval.

  “That’s my sister,” Jake corrected him with a sigh. The last thing he needed was for Leta to get caught up in this whole drug-running mess. “I’d heard she was searching for me. If you see her, or any of her friends, tell her it isn’t safe. When this problem with the hunters is over, I’ll send her a message.”

  Pod needs to stay in safer waters, the young male agreed. If I see anyone, I’ll tell them so.

  Jake thanked his friend for the information and for the company. Before his vocal chords transformed, he also asked the dolphin to keep an eye out for Brad, alive or dead. The young bull agreed, then chirped a farewell to Jake before swimming off into the night. With too much on his mind, Jake swam slowly back to the boat, stretching his flukes and flippers one last time. He was almost there when the change occurred, but that slowed him only a little, as he’d spent plenty of time swimming in his human form as well. As soon as he reached the Siren, he hauled himself up onto the swim deck. He stood slowly, making sure his newly re-formed legs were steady as he shook the water out of his hair. Then taking the steps two at a time, he climbed to the main deck, for one last look around before joining Heidi in his bunk for the rest of the night.

  As he stepped onto the main deck, he heard a noise, like the clearing of a throat. He stopped and pivoted, only to find a towel thrust in front of his nose.

  Heidi. Oh, shit! Heidi!

  Chapter Seven

  “Heidi?” He wasn’t proud of the fact that his voice broke.

  “Jake.” Hers sounded gravelly, and none too steady, either. But she wasn’t screaming, and she hadn’t locked herself in the cabin with his gun. Those were probably the best signs he could hope for right about now.

  He dried himself off, then wrapped the towel around his waist before stepping the rest of the way onto the deck. Only then did he look up at Heidi. She was leaning against the rail, wearing nothing but one of his T-shirts and an itty-bitty pair of panties. Somehow, he was pretty sure that this wasn’t the right time to be noticing that.

  “How long have you been up?” Translated to how much did you see?

  “About an hour.” Translation: everything. Shit!

  He moved to sit on a bench, gestured for Heidi to have a seat across from him. She did, which he figured boded well. At least she was willing to talk. And her expression was more pissed than frightened, another good sign.

  But how did you tell the woman you might be falling in love with that you weren’t exactly human? Jake opened his mouth, but no sound emerged. He just didn’t know where to start.

  Heidi rubbed her eyes, and with his better-than-human night vision, Jake could see the lines of strain and fatigue on her face. She’d had a rough few days, and he felt guilty as hell for adding to it.

  “You were talking to that dolphin.”

  Okay, so that’s where she wanted to begin. He could work with that. “Yeah.”

  “Not just like I might talk to my dog, if I had one, but actually conversing.”

  “Yeah.” That was him, Mr. Articulate.

  “What did he have to say?”

  Jake tilted his head, eyes wide. That wasn’t where he’d expected her to go. But it was her ballgame at the moment, so he answered. “The drug runners haven’t been back, but the pod has moved out to safer waters, just in case.”

  “He was here the other night?”

  “Yeah. He’s the one who told me you needed help.”

  She nodded, her lips pr
essed together in a thin white line. “Tell him thanks, next time you see him. He’s a white-sided, one of the pod we were studying, right?”

  “Right. Young adult bull. Long white propeller scar on his back.”

  “Ah. Tough Guy.” She smiled for a moment. “We swam with him the day before. We were in the water and he came up and joined us with a couple of juvenile males. It was awesome.”

  “The name suits him.” Since dolphin names were squeals that didn’t translate into human speech, the name was as good as any for Jake’s flippered friend. “He liked you too, by the way.” He decided not to mention that the dolphin thought she was hot, for a human. Or what he’d thought Jake and Heidi should be doing right about now.

  Heidi shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Cool, I guess.” Then her expression hardened. “Did you ask if he’s seen Brad? Does he know what happened to him?”

  “Of course I asked him.” He tried not to sound defensive, but really, how could she think that wouldn’t have been the first thing he’d asked? “He helped me search that night. He hasn’t seen him, but he’s going to keep looking, ask any other dolphins he runs into.”

  “O—kay.” She exhaled slowly. “Wow.”

  “And he saved your life, by the way. He was holding you up out of the water when I found you.”

  “Ummm—tell him thanks, if you talk to him again.”

  There was a long moment of silence before Jake said, “I know it’s a lot to absorb in one night. Would you rather wait and finish this in the morning?”

  She shot him a sardonic glance. “Nice try, but I don’t think so.”

  He shrugged. “A guy can hope.”

  “Yeah.” She dragged in a deep breath, and Jake had to fight to ignore the way her delectable breasts pressed against the thin cotton of her shirt. “So you wanna tell me how you do it? I saw the flukes, Jake.”