AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His enigmatic question gave her pause. Was that meant to lead her into confessing her feelings for him? She refused, knowing the disastrous road love would lead her down. "I guess not."
Isabelle turned away from Dax and closed her eyes, forcing the deep breaths she knew would calm her rattled nerves. Her first instinct was to whirl around and beg him not to leave. But then what? They'd have one more night together and he'd be gone? No, it was better this way. End it clean, with no entanglements.
She dug the knife in as far as she could, wincing at the self-inflicted pain. "I guess if I see you before you leave, great. If not, good luck to you."
Before he could say anything else she stepped into the water, the waves carrying her out while she slipped on her fins. She swam as far out as she could, refusing to look back, knowing Dax stood on the beach watching her. Fighting back the tears that threatened to fog her mask, she dove down, hoping the job she had to do was enough to keep her mind from wandering to the man she'd just treated so carelessly.
Damn him for making her fall in love with him. And damn herself for not remembering what a disaster love could be.
Chapter Thirteen
By the time Isabelle returned to shore it was nearly dark. She half expected to see Dax still waiting there for her, but the beach was empty. Ignoring the surge of disappointment, she dropped her dive gear on the inside tile of her bungalow and stripped, heading straight for the shower.
Her muscles ached from the effort of holding the camera for so long. But she'd found the turtles and taken shot after shot of them nestled together, their huge bodies all lumped together like one, big rock. She'd guess they were ready to nest given the time of year and location, and she made a mental note to do a little searching tonight to see if she could find their nesting ground.
After that she'd catalogued their numbers, species, state of maturity, then moved on to the patch of coral and did the same thing, following up with photographs.
She put on her night vision goggles and went in search of the turtles' nesting area, rewarded with a find not too far into the forested area of the beach. With very little sand and lots of trees for cover, the turtles were busy brushing back the sandy loam and nestling inside the holes to bury their eggs. Isabelle shivered excitedly at the find, making a mental note to come back to the island and check on the hatchlings around the time they'd be breaking free of their eggs.
She'd also have to notify Morgan to string up a barrier around this area to keep tourists from damaging the incubating eggs.
By the time she crawled away from the now exhausted turtles, she was fairly wiped out herself. But thrilled that she'd managed to view the nesting process.
And besides, watching the turtles dig their nests had at least helped the time pass.
Might as well keep herself busy, since it seemed as if Dax had taken her words to heart and disappeared. She refused to go next door and see if he'd left the bungalow yet. If she saw him, fine, if not, then more the better.
Yeah, right. And there really were flying turtles named Pegasus.
How could one man have wiggled his way inside her heart in such a few short days? A mysterious man at that, if he were even a man at all. She wished she'd had the time to get answers to the questions that had plagued her since the moment they met.
After she cleaned up she dragged a lawn chair down to the beach to watch the moonlight rise. Its glow cast a silver beacon over the calm sea. She dug her toes into the cooling sand, wishing she could blanket herself with the gritty substance and forget she'd ever met Dax.
The night quiet unnerved her, whereas it never had before. She'd always enjoyed this part of the day, the peaceful feeling of being completely alone with nature. Now, she wanted to hear dark, husky laughter, feel a certain man's warm hands around her waist, touch her mouth against a living, breathing man who desired her as much as she desired him.
No sense in missing him. She'd told him to leave, brushed him off as if he'd meant nothing to her.
The problem was, he did mean something to her. She loved him. Yes, she'd admitted it before, but part of her held back. Acknowledging that she loved him didn't mean she wanted a future with him.
Now it was different. No matter what her mother had gone through, no matter the pain she'd known as a child watching her mother suffer because of the man she loved, none of that mattered to her.
Her heart opened and swelled with joy and a bittersweet agony brought about by the fact she'd lost the man she loved. And had no earthly idea how to find him.
Looking to the sea, it hit her like a punch to her middle, nearly toppling her over. Her heart beat frantically against her ribs and she broke out in a sweat.
She remembered! Everything. From that first night until yesterday.
When she'd had the stomach pain in the water the first night, it had been Dax who'd rescued her and brought her to shore. She even remembered the conversation he'd had with Ronan.
She remembered Ronan, the gorgeous god-like guardian of the sea people. Dax's laboratory, even Zeus, the talking dolphin.
Most importantly, she remembered what Dax had said before she'd lost consciousness last night. He'd told Ronan that he loved her!
None of it had been a dream, it had all been real. Hadn't it? Or was she so wrapped up in hope that she was manufacturing reality where it didn't exist? Maybe it had been a dream, after all.
The only person who could verify that for her was Dax.
She jumped out of the chair, searching the ocean's surface, hoping against hope he'd show up if she willed it hard enough.
Back and forth she paced along the shoreline. A half hour, an hour, sending mental signals to Dax to come out of the water and talk to her. A week ago she'd have thought herself insane for even thinking someone lived in the sea. Now, she believed it to be true, hoped for it to be true.
There! She saw a spot in the water. A dolphin, probably. She refused to get her hopes up until she was certain.
Dax, please, I need you.
Over and over and over again she repeated the mantra. The tide was rising, water rushing over her feet, then her ankles, higher and higher each length of beach she paced.
There it was again! This time, she was certain it had to be him. She ran inside and threw on a swimsuit, nearly stumbling in the sand in her haste to get to the water. She dove in and swam quickly, keeping her eyes focused on the spot where she'd seen him. She had to talk to him, had to know if what she remembered had really happened.
By the time she'd reached the spot she thought she'd seen him, he was nowhere to be found. And she was exhausted. Stupidly, she'd gone too far out and further lung power was nearly nonexistent. She'd never make it back to shore. Taking a chance, she fought for breath and dove down, knowing somehow he'd see her and make contact.
The sea was dark, nothing like what she remembered. Tears filled her eyes at the effort she expended to hold her breath, and still she kept diving, spurred on by faith that he was close, that he wouldn't let anything happen to her.
It wasn't a dream, she was convinced of it. Everything she'd remembered had been real. It had happened.
But she was running out of air, and still she dove further, knowing she'd never be able to hold her breath long enough to get back to the surface. Would she die for him? Would she die here because she was as foolish as her mother?
She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the panic, the feeling that she'd just made a fatal error in judgment. And now she was going to drown.
Just as she was about to let go, a hand snaked out and pulled her against a warm, living, human body. Water rushed into her lungs, but instead of a clawing panic she could breathe. Relief soared through her.
Light flickered against her tightly shut lids and she opened her eyes. Dax smiled at her.
With a whoop of joy she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him long and hard.
He returned the kiss with fervor, his mouth devouring hers, his tongue plunging inside her the same way she wanted his cock to do. His erection bobbed between her legs. She shifted, wrapping her legs around his waist. Not wanting to take time to remove her swimsuit, she yanked it to the side and guided his shaft inside her.
"God, you feel good," he whispered as he entered her, lightly biting the tender flesh of her neck.
He moved quickly against her, their bodies rising and falling together, an electricity surrounding them as they clashed like a fierce storm. Isabelle clawed at Dax's back, unable to assuage the fierce hunger that made her desperate for each thrust of his shaft.
She panted in his ear, he licked her neck, his heart pounding against her breast. It was fast and furious and heart rendering. This could very well be the last time she felt this connection to Dax, and she wanted it to last an eternity.
Unfortunately, her body had other ideas. Intense pleasure rose up to meet her and she threw her head back, screaming out an orgasm so filled with emotion it made her cry.
Dax clutched her to him and groaned his release, spilling his seed deep into her core.
Breathless, she clung to him, not wanting to let go, not yet ready for reality to intrude on this ultimate fantasy she'd created with him. For it was a fantasy, and she finally realized it. Unless...
She kissed him lightly and smiled. "It's all true. I wasn't dreaming."
He nodded. "You remembered it all. You even fought through the memory spell Ronan gave you. No one has ever done that before. That makes you one strong woman, Isabelle."
She didn't feel strong. She felt weak, helpless and thoroughly overjoyed to find him. She didn't care if he didn't want to be with her past this week, she only knew she couldn't leave things the way she'd left them with him earlier.
"I'm sorry about today," she said. "I didn't know how to handle my feelings for you."
"And what are your feelings for me?"
"I..." She started to tell him she loved him, but something in his face, some hesitation tensing his body, stopped her. "I care about you, Dax. I didn't want to leave without letting you know that. Without telling you that I remembered everything. I wanted to thank you for showing me your world, even though there's so much of it I don't understand."
