Cataclysm (24 page)

“Hey!” Tyson yelled from the line-up he and the rest of their friends had formed a few yards out. “What’s the hold up? We surfin’ or not?”

Saved by the bell, or yell as it was, Dominic evaded Drew’s prodding question. Waving Tyson off, he turned to Kerrigan. “All right, let’s get this show on the road. You ready?”

She nodded, and he turned to Drew. “I guess I should let you lead this one since you’re supposed to know what the hell you’re doing. So... do your thing.” He looked at Kerrigan. “I’ll still be right by your side, Querida. I won’t let go,” he said, squeezing her hand.

“Close your eyes. Deep breaths in, slow on the exhale.” Drew mimicked the action himself while facing the wide expanse of ocean before them. It took everything in Dominic’s power to keep from commenting how Drew went from Yoda to Gandhi to Mr. Miyagi, but he managed to pull it off in the end.

“Once you feel your body relax, I want you to focus on the sound of the surf. Picture the ocean... endless and deep. The gentle rise and fall of the waves—let them set you adrift and lull you into relaxation.”

He could tell by the set of her shoulders and the way her breathing became slow and deep that she was in a meditative state. “You’re doing great, Kerrigan,” Drew whispered so as not to break her concentration. “Now, far off into the distance, there’s a wave building. Visualize it swelling... swelling... swelling... it’s growing, gathering up smaller waves in its path and adding to its size.”

While he continued to coach her, Dominic watched the horizon for any evidence that showed she was doing it. After a few moments, he saw a large wave rolling toward the beach. He smiled and squeezed her hand in encouragement. She never ceased to amaze him.

Talon’s movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention, and Dominic turned to see him paddling toward the wave. At the last moment, he turned on his board and headed toward the shore, rising from his stomach into a standing position. The wave wasn’t huge, but it was certainly much bigger than the beaches of Florida were accustomed to.

“You’re doing it, Querida,” he whispered to her, the smile on his face evident in his voice.

Talon crouched on his board and carved through the wave, his arm extended behind him and his right foot forward to balance himself. He let out a satisfied whoop of excitement while maneuvering left and then right, zigzagging along the length of the wave until it eventually petered out, and he dove off his board.

“Whoo-hoo!” Talon shook his head back and forth to fling off the excess water. “Dude, that was fucking epic righteousness!”

Having heard Talon’s enthusiastic shouts, Kerrigan’s face became a beacon of satisfaction. Dominic watched her in awe, amazed that she could be even more beautiful than he had ever seen her. The gift she possessed was a phenomenal thing to behold.

“Again,” Drew said from her other side.

Twice more she willed the waves to form, Sydney and Olivia taking their turns riding them. Olivia had a wicked wipeout, while Sydney rode her wave smooth as a knife cutting through butter. A crowd of people had gathered near the water, each confounded by the presence of the waves.

Feeling more confident, Kerrigan let go of Dominic’s hand and placed her palms out to her sides. She could feel the surge of wind at her back blowing against her palms and forcing tendrils of her ponytail to fly into her face. Stronger and stronger, the magnetic pull inside her grew. She felt light and weightless, like she could walk on air. She envisioned another large swell on the horizon and willed it to grow, pushing the wind at her back to build the wave’s momentum.

Just then, Drew placed his palm against hers. Every sensation in her body heightened and she gasped in surprise. Like a stellar explosion behind her eyes, bright white light shot toward the picture of the wave in her mind. It rose from the surface, bigger than any of the waves she alone had created before. This was something out of the movies—a big wave, the likes of which were usually only seen off the beaches of the North Shore.

“Fuck... me...” Dominic said from beside her. “Christ, that’s big. He’s going to get himself killed.”

Opening her eyes, Kerrigan saw a colossal wave folding in on itself, creating a barrel of water around a tiny form. Tyson was on his board, riding the wave with his hand cutting through the massive wall behind him. Talon and Colton were shouting cheers at him from the beach, while Sydney, Olivia, and Gabe remained silent with trepidation.

She flinched to pull her hand away from Drew’s to stop the wave, but he linked his fingers through hers. “Not yet,” he cautioned her. “If you release it now, it’ll come crashing down on him. Keep your mind clear. I’m going to try to pull it back a little.”

Kerrigan did as he said. She turned and focused on Dominic’s face instead of watching Tyson, for fear her emotions might make it impossible to keep her head clear.

Seeing the quiet pleading in her eyes, Dominic took her face in his hands. He moved in close, his gaze trained on hers, and his voice calm and reassuring. “I don’t give a shit what he says. Pull it back, Querida. You can do it.”

She closed her eyes and willed the wind to die down to a steady breeze. “That’s it. Keep going,” Dominic whispered. She could feel his cold breath against her lips, and then he kissed her. Soft, warm... inviting. His lips moved against hers tenderly, and the surge of power inside her dialed back until she felt peaceful surrender.

“Oh, thank God, thank God, thank God,” Olivia chanted.

Kerrigan released Drew’s hand to touch Dominic’s scruffy face. He pulled back and kissed her one last time before turning his attention toward the ocean. With a relieved sigh, he looked back at her. “See? All you needed was a little distraction.” His grin was teasing, albeit smug.

Needing to see it for herself, she scanned the ocean until she found Tyson running out of the water, the big, fat grin on his face a testament to his excitement.

“Now
that
was epic righteousness!” he bragged to his twin, and then they bumped chests before doing that weird manly handshake thing.

Dominic led Kerrigan back to their beach towel. “You showed your eyes. I don’t think anyone noticed them though.”

“Oh, God. I forgot. I just wanted to see so badly.”

“It’s cool, Querida. Like I said, I don’t think anyone noticed. That was amazing, by the way. What happened at the end there?”

Drew answered the question for her. “I took her hand.”

“You did what? Why the hell would you do something like that?” Dominic was more than a little irritated. “Ty could have been seriously hurt, or worse.”

“I assure you that was never my intention. I didn’t realize how powerful Kerrigan had become. I merely wanted to show her what a surplus of power can do. It can be hard to control.”

He turned to Kerrigan. “You’re quite extraordinary, Miss Cruz. It took several lessons for me to learn to use my gift without going to my sanctuary. However, as you just witnessed for yourself, too much of a good thing can be just as dangerous as not having enough.” He gave her a knowing look and then glanced back toward Dominic.

“Well, this has been quite enough excitement for one day. I think I’ll retire to my hotel and try to get some rest.” He gathered his things. “Kerrigan, if you’d like, we can resume your training tomorrow afternoon. I should be well rested by then.”

She nodded, feeling a tinge of guilt for assuming she could wield so much power without consequences. Nevertheless, she was determined that when the time came, she would be well versed in how to use just the right amount of the energy she gained from her own Light mixed with Drew’s to save the man she loved. If Drew was trying to dissuade her from her goal, he had failed.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she said.

The look on his face said that he couldn’t believe she was willing to proceed, but admired her tenacity. He threw his bag over his shoulder, gave Dominic a nod, and went over to the rest of their friends to bid them farewell.

“What’s he talking about?” Dominic asked once Drew was out of earshot.

She shook her head and brought her attention away from their circle of friends, all fawning over their latest edition. “Nothing. It’s not important.”

Their bodies moved together like the gentle rock of the ocean. Separate bodies like ripples joining to form one wave. Mutual passion drove them until the wave swelled to unimaginable heights and then crashed against the shore only to recede back into the blackened depths of the sea to rebuild its momentum. Dominic’s mouth left a fiery trail as he devoured his lover, gorging himself on her flesh. He couldn’t get enough—would never get enough of her.

Kerrigan moaned as she clutched him to her body, her fingertips leaving marks in the tawny skin of his sinewy back. His muscles flexed beneath her hands as he surged into her, going deeper and deeper.

Not a word passed between them, just the sounds of their lovemaking. Working toward a common goal, they were enraptured by the sensations invoked by their shared passion. Muscular limbs tangled with soft extremities and their bodies, coated in a thin sheen of sweat, slid against one another.

Dominic broke the silence, but spoke only in a hushed whisper. “You feel so good, Querida. The way you move, the way you moan, the way you just can’t get enough. You were made para mi cuerpo. So... perfecto.”

Kerrigan arched into him and wrapped her legs around his waist, holding him to her as she undulated beneath him. Reaching between their bodies to the place where they were joined, her eyes closed, and her breaths became more labored.

He shuddered when he felt her slender fingers around him. “Jesus, Querida. That’s it.” His lips fell to the spot just below her ear, and his cold breath ghosted across her flesh. “Te siento, Querida. I feel you. Feel me... feel us. The way we move together is unlike anything I’ve ever known.”

She swept her tongue over the mark on his shoulder, and he shook with the intense feeling that always resulted.

Dominic hooked her thigh over his hip and rolled his pelvis against her. She rocked against him, her moans intensifying when she bit down on her bottom lip. It was the telltale sign that Dominic knew all too well, and it was always followed closely by a mind-blowing orgasm.

“Dominic... I...”

“Let go, Querida. Let it take you under,” he whispered into her ear. His thrusts became more purposeful, and he said the words he knew would push her over the edge. “I promise... I’ll catch you.”

Slow and in time to their ragged breaths, he moved inside her while grinding his hips, giving her what she sought. Then with one deep, hard thrust, Kerrigan’s body seized and her thighs became like a vise around his hips. She clamped her mouth closed to keep quiet, squeezing her eyes shut and digging her nails into his biceps. He willed her to open her eyes again. He wanted to see it, and she did not disappoint.

She opened her eyes, and the luminescence that shone through shook him to the core. The Light was strong within her. She had become so proficient at controlling her gift that she could summon it any time she wished. It just so happened that when she did it while making love to him, it intensified the sensation for each of them.

As Dominic gazed upon her, he knew that no matter how many times he witnessed the beauty of Kerrigan Cruz finding her pleasure in his arms, it would never cease to amaze him. She was more than he deserved, but she was his nonetheless. And she forever would be.

With a broken rhythm, he pushed into her erratically, feeling all his blood rush to a central location. A tightening in his lower abdomen started the domino effect of his unraveling. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and his release spread through every nerve ending. With a final grunt, he thrust as deep as he could and held still, his seed pulsing into the only woman he could ever desire in this way. She had awakened the lustful beast inside of him that had lain dormant for so long, and he would never tire of bringing her the same unspeakable pleasures that she gifted to him time and time again.

Satiated and unable to hold himself up any longer, he collapsed on top of her. She always told him how much she loved the weight of him on top of her. She had said it made her feel safe, secure... like she was as close as she could possibly get to crawling inside of his chest. If he could, he would open up the cage around his heart and tuck her away there, because that was where she belonged.

Kerrigan wound her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. He could feel her heart thumping against her chest, or it could have just been his own. Despite the sweat she had worked up, she still smelled as she always did—like sunshine and home. He inhaled deeply, savoring it as contentment settled in his bones.