Cataclysm (23 page)

He studied the atrocity. “Come to think of it, those back tires do look unusually large and round. Is he seriously using seaweed for pubic hair?”

Kerrigan laughed, and buried her face in the crook of his neck, causing him to lose his balance and fall flat on his back. Dominic wrapped her up in his arms and rolled until their positions were reversed, and he was hovering over her. Looking down into her eyes, he smirked. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Do what?”

“Attack me on a public beach in broad daylight.” His brow arched in challenge.

She laughed. “I did not attack you, Dominic Grayson! I was laughing.”

His gaze traveled down the length of her body as he shrugged a shoulder in nonchalance. “Potayto, potahto.” He ran his fingers over her thigh. Then he licked his lips and tore his attention away from the scrap of fabric between her legs to look back at her face. “All I’m saying is that’s a pretty skimpy bikini you’ve got on there. It would take no more than a flick of the wrist to have those bottoms discarded and my cock lodged deep inside you.”

Kerrigan lifted her head just enough to whisper into his ear. “I think I may have just cum a little.”

Caught off guard, Dominic burst out laughing. “Did you really just say that?” It was so unlike her to say naughty things.

She pushed him away, crossing her arms over her chest and pouted.

Her childish behavior only caused him to laugh more, but to his credit, he really was trying to get it under control. “Aw, come on, Querida.”

“You laughed at me,” she whined, refusing to look at him.

“I just didn’t expect you to say that.” He took her chin in his hand and forced her eyes to meet his. “It was sexy as hell, though, and I really,
really
hope you’ll consider saying things like that more often. Seriously, it was hot.”

“Really?” she asked, still pouting.

Dominic nodded, but mocked her tone. “Really.” When she rolled her eyes, he took a page out of her book and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I am so fucking hard for you right now, it’s almost painful.”

He rolled over just enough for Kerrigan to see the truth of his words for herself. Dominic never wore swimming trunks to the beach. In fact, he never went anywhere without his button-fly jeans, and the hard-on he was sporting made them look about two sizes too small.

“See? I told ya. Fucking hot.”

She gave him a satisfied grin that was so beautiful Dominic had to kiss her. He took his time and slowly dipped his head to take her bottom lip between his. When she deepened the kiss of her own accord, it was all he could do to stave off the itch to hitch her leg over his hip and grind into her. But there was no way he was going to make his girl look like a trashy slut on a public beach, so a kiss was as far as he would allow them to go.

“Is this spot taken?” a British voice asked from just over Dominic’s shoulder. Annoyed with the Brit’s impeccable timing, he rolled off of his girlfriend with a heavy sigh.

“Hey, Drew!” Kerrigan greeted her fellow Guardian with a bright smile.

“Miss Cruz, you are positively glowing this afternoon.” He meant it quite literally. The offered energy she had taken from him the day before had most certainly kicked her Light voltage up a notch or two. Her skin was so radiant he could see it sparkle even with his sunglasses on. “Dominic,” he greeted with a nod. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”

“You are,” Dominic said dryly, earning an elbow to the ribs.

“’Ello, ’ello, ’ello... what’s all this then?” Tyson asked in an exaggerated British accent as he and the rest of their friends came to meet the newcomer.

Kerrigan got to her feet to make the introductions and a disgruntled Dominic followed. “Everyone, meet Drew Dickens. Drew, you already know Gabe and Colton. These two beautiful women are my dear friends, Olivia and Sydney.” She motioned toward the pair of swooning women. “And the twins, Tyson and Talon, are their boyfriends.”

“I’m Talon, the normal one.” Talon staked his surfboard in the sand to shake Drew’s hand.

“The big-headed one is Tyson,” Sydney said. A stranger who didn’t know any better might have thought she didn’t care much for her boyfriend’s brother, but in truth, he was one of her dearest friends. They liked to get each other all riled up.

“I say, pip pip, Cheerios, and all that rot, old chap,” Tyson greeted him, even using a cereal name in place of the colloquialism.

Olivia smacked his arm. “Ty! Stop being rude.”

“Poppycock! That’s right good, that is. I’m just speaking the bloke’s language, I am. How is that being rude, love? A chap comes over from across the pond, makes him feel better when someone understands his language.”

Sydney rolled her eyes. “He’s from England, douchewad! Which means he speaks... oh, I don’t know... English?”

Olivia gave Drew an apologetic look. “His all-time favorite movie is
Mary Poppins
. He sort of has a thing for Julie Andrews.”

Tyson beamed. “She’s practically perfect in every way.”

“I’d be jealous if she wasn’t like eighty.”

“Seventy-five, babe. Well, actually, she’s seventy-four. We’re celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the day the most talented person on the face of this planet was born in October this year with a tea party on the ceiling. I’m sure we’ll have a gay old time.”

Gabe giggled. “I know I sure as hell will.”

“It’s for Julie Andrews, not Dick ’an’ Dyke.” Dominic purposely left off the V in the name of Julie’s famous counterpart.

Everyone, except Gabe, laughed. He failed to see the humor in what his housemate said, although, judging by the look on his face, he was more than aware of the meaning behind the joke. Luckily for Dominic, Gabe wasn’t offended when his friends made jokes at his expense. Lord knew he didn’t miss a beat when he was given a wide-open invitation to do the same.

“Hardy-har-har.” Gabe shot daggers at him with his eyes.

Sydney lightly punched Dominic in the shoulder, impressed by the zinger. “Look at you. Mr. Moody McBroody actually made a funny.”

Tyson clapped him on the back. “Jolly good show, mate.”

Dominic flipped them all off, with the exception of Kerrigan of course. He didn’t think he had been that bad with his mood swings. Maybe he should have made a conscious effort to be more upbeat. It wasn’t like he had much to be happy about, but he was still alive—for the moment—and he still had Kerrigan to warm his bed.

Having taken in all the bantering, Drew laughed. “The lot of you are quite entertaining. I imagine there isn’t a dull moment about when you’re all together.”

“He said he thinks we’re funny, and not boring.” Tyson had a look of concentration on his face as he translated, even though it wasn’t needed.

There wasn’t a person present that didn’t look at him like he was a complete idiot. Tyson winked at Drew and teetered back and forth on his heels. “We Brits have to stick together.”

“Oh? You’re British then, are you?” Drew just barely contained his amusement. It was quite obvious that neither Tyson nor Talon were British in the traditional sense.

Tyson puffed out his chest. “We Swails hail from Swallow Hill, near Barnsley County, Yorks.”

Sydney snapped her head toward him with her brows pinched together in confusion. “What...
the hell
are you talking about?”

He shrugged. “Genealogy fascinates me. I’m a man of many talents. I also crochet.”

“Genealogy? Crochet?” Olivia was taken aback. “Why have I never known about this?”

Tyson pushed his shoulders back and lifted his chin haughtily. “You never asked. Perhaps you should be more concerned with getting to know the man I really am instead of viewing me as a sexual object. If you took the time to look under the hunk of burning love that women perceive me to be, you’d know there’s more to this man you see before you.”

In unison, all seven faces, stunned and speechless, turned their attention away from Tyson, deciding not to even bother, and focused on Drew again.

“So, hey man, do you surf?” Talon asked.

“Well, London isn’t exactly known for its prime surfing conditions.”

“Yeah, well neither is St. Augustine.” Talon nodded toward the smallish waves breaking just offshore.

“Kerrigan could fix that for you,” Drew offered with a glance in her direction.

Kerrigan was thrown for a loop. “What?”

“It would be a fantastic training exercise. The more you use your gift, the stronger it becomes.”

“But, I can’t—”

“Why have we not thought of this before?” Tyson still used the silly accent. “You just do your little mind trick thing, and then, Robert’s your mother’s brother... bitchin’ waves.”

“It’s Bob’s your uncle, you idiot,” Sydney corrected him. “And have you lost your mind? The beach is crawling with people today. You can’t ask her to do something like that.”

Dominic put his hand to the small of Kerrigan’s back and turned her to look at him. “Actually, nobody’s looking. If you keep your eyes closed, no one will even notice. As much as it pains me to say it, I think Drew has a point. You have to hone your skills, Querida.”

“Please, Mary Poppins, please!” Tyson begged in a childlike voice.

Sydney turned to Talon. “Seriously, how many times did you say your mother dropped him on his head?”

Dominic ignored them and pulled Kerrigan to the side. “You remember our first training session?” She nodded. “We came right here to this beach, and you pushed the surf back with your mind. So much has happened since then, and I’ve seen you do some pretty amazing things. This is nothing. I know you can do this.”

Kerrigan wasn’t quite as convinced as Dominic, but she felt a surge of power pump through her veins, a weird sort of magnetic pull that seemed to carry indecipherable words to her brain. Maybe she was going crazy, but somehow she knew she could do anything she set her mind to in that moment.

“I’ll try. But you have to promise me you’ll be there with me. I can’t do this without you.”

“I’m always there, Querida.”

She nodded again, and they went back to join their friends. Dominic clapped his hands together in front of him. “Hop on your boards, boys and girls. Surf’s up!”

“Hell yeah!” Tyson yelled, his fake British accent forgotten in his excitement.

The twins and the girls grabbed their boards, while Colton and Gabe copped a squat next to their pornographic sand creation. Colton apparently realized what his partner in crime had done and scolded him. “This is a family beach!” Then he destroyed it—despite his coartist’s protests.

Dominic took Kerrigan’s hand and walked her down to the edge of the water. Drew followed closely behind, but stood off to the side. He didn’t want to intrude, but he wanted to be close should she need him. His female counterpart turned to look at him, and he gave her a simple nod and smile of encouragement.

“Do you have any last-minute advice?”

“Ah, Miss Cruz... you seem to forget that you have a surplus of Light running through your system right now. You don’t need any help from me, but might I suggest you attempt to accomplish the task without going to your sanctuary?” When he saw her confused expression, he qualified his statement. “Making something that is already there bigger doesn’t require a lot of power. You have only to will it, and it will be. It takes but a flicker of thought. Have faith in yourself and the gift with which you have been entrusted.”

Didn’t that sound exactly like a very Availia Cruz type of thing to say? How could she not believe him when the one person she trusted above everyone else had, in fact, said nearly the exact same words?

“He sounds like fucking Yoda,” Dominic whispered into her ear with a quiet chuckle.

Kerrigan ignored him the best she could. “Anything else?”

“Yes, I think this will work best if we walk into the water. You need to feel it ebb and flow against your skin. Take it inside you, and become one with it.”

“That’s what he said,” Dominic muttered under a cough meant to camouflage his words. “Scratch Yoda. I think the freak is channeling Gandhi now.”

A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of Kerrigan’s mouth, but she didn’t want to encourage her boyfriend’s childish behavior, even if it was sort of cute. “Dominic, this is serious. You’re the one who said I should do it.”

“I’m sorry, Querida,” he apologized without even the slightest hint of sincerity. “He just left himself wide open, and I couldn’t pass it up.”

They took a few steps farther until they were wading shin-deep into the ocean. Kerrigan looked down when she felt something brush against her leg. A school of tiny minnows had gathered around their feet, but instead of scattering, they almost seemed to be sitting in wait of something.

She looked at Dominic, seeing that he was just as puzzled as she was. “You got me. I’ve never seen anything like this shit.”

“It’s our Light,” Drew said from beside her. “Light is that one missing factor scientists will never find to explain the creation of the universe. One simple spark created all that we see around us, and you and I carry it within us. Such a splendid gift. Although, I am curious as to why the fish seem to be just as interested in you, Dominic.”