Master of the Deep (11 page)

Her thoughts swung back to Thomas, and she wondered if he was still stalking her hotel, looking for her, driving the staff crazy. She hoped not. If there was any sense of fairness in the universe, he would already be on a jet back to New York.
 

“When we were in high school, we used to jump out of planes,” Spencer said.

“This is going to shock Koenraad,” Monroe said, “but I’ve never been skydiving.”

Spencer laughed, and Koenraad’s fingers tightened around hers as he twisted in his seat to look at her. “It wasn’t exactly skydiving,” he said.
 

“Nope. We’d just jump out, then shift shark right before hitting the water.”

“You’re… joking.” She thought about it. “Actually, I guess if I could turn into a shark, I’d do it. Why not?”

“If you don’t hit the water just right, it’s painful,” Koenraad said, but he didn’t sound like he had any regrets.

The plane dipped to the left, changing course and making Monroe’s stomach rise. She clamped her fingers tighter on Koenraad’s shoulder until the plane was flying straight again.

“Your Koenraad used to be the biggest daredevil of us all. You should ask him how he got the scars sometime,” Spencer said.

“He said a propeller. From a plane?”

“No, from a boat.” He glanced at Koenraad. “Can I tell her?”

“I’d rather you didn’t.” He turned to look at her. “It’s not top secret or anything. I was stupid, engaging in the kind of behavior that would send a wise woman running in the opposite direction.”

Monroe gestured with her free hand. “I think we’ve established that I’m not one for jumping out of planes. Nowhere for me to run…”

“Not stupid. Heroic!” Spencer practically squirmed with excitement. “I’m gonna tell her.”

“Spencer—”

“The woman isn’t going anywhere. And it’s a good story.”

“I’ll tell her later,” Koenraad said tersely.

“It’s fine,” she said. A little suspicion told her there might have been a girl involved. Hard to imagine that, though; Koenraad didn’t seem to much care what others thought. But then, she couldn’t imagine him as a daredevil, either. Something had changed him. She wondered what.

She spotted land not far away, and she asked what they were flying over.

“Curaçao,” Spencer said. “Have you ever visited?”

“This is my first trip to the Caribbean. If Koenraad has time, we’ll explore some other islands.”

“They’re all worth checking out,” Spencer said. “Whatever you don’t see on this trip, you’ll have to explore during your next visit.”

Koenraad squeezed her hand, and Monroe’s stomach felt like the plane had dropped out of the sky. He already knew he wanted her to come back.

At least, that’s what she
thought
it meant. Though she was pretty sure.

“I was hoping Koenraad would come up to New York next,” she said. “I figure it’s an island, so that’s a good start.”
 

That got her another hand squeeze. Definitely a good sign.
 

“I just have to figure out some terrifying things to make him do,” she said.
 

After a landing that wasn’t half as awful as she’d have predicted, Spencer flew off again. A chauffeured car drove them to the garage where Koenraad had left his car.
 

“To the hotel?” Koenraad asked as he backed out of the space.

Monroe nodded, but nervousness twisted in her stomach as they got closer to the resort area. She hadn’t been trying to hide Thomas’s arrival from Koenraad, but if she brought it up now, that would look awfully suspicious.

“Maybe I should go in alone,” she said. She couldn’t think of a good justification to add to her proposal. Not unless she wanted to out-and-out lie. Though she couldn’t think of a good lie, either.

“No problem,” Koenraad said, and she realized she didn’t need a reason. He trusted her judgement. “I need to check my post office box. I’ll be back here in ten or fifteen minutes, but take your time.”

And then he smiled, one of those megawatt dazzlers that made her nervous and excited and convinced she was dreaming the whole thing. It also made her want to scrap the whole dinner idea and go back to his place. Who needed food?

He brought the car to a stop in front of the hotel. “Thanks for coming with me today. I know it wasn’t the most exciting way to spend a day of vacation, but I had fun.”

“Are you kidding? If that’s your idea of not exciting, I’m requesting we only do really boring things for the rest of my week.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You’re hot when you’re exaggerating.”

She made a face and was about to throw down a witty comeback, but then his lips were on hers. Hot, eager, demanding.
 

She moaned as she returned his kiss. His hands slid up to her face. His fingers tangled in her hair, and he tilted her head back. Slowly, he grazed his lips down her neck. She loved when he kissed her there, but he kept teasing. Within seconds, she felt like she was going to explode, like her skin had gotten too blistering hot.
 

Koenraad pulled away to say, “I have half a mind to take you behind those bushes.”
 

“And do what?”

He slanted his mouth over hers and made it clear that his intentions had nothing to do with horticulture.

She was panting by the time he let her go. “You’re distracting.”

“I try.”
 

She grabbed her bag and got out of the car, her movements flustered because all the blood in her body seemed to have rushed low in her belly. She throbbed with needing him.

By the time she stepped into the lobby, she’d learned something new about herself. It wasn’t easy to walk when she was that turned on. The tiny vibrations of her thighs rubbing together were like fuel on a fire. She had to stand just inside the doorway and wait for her hormones to calm down.

Wow. She had never been
that
turned on by anyone before Koenraad. For all she knew, this was something that happened to most women. She’d have to ask Tara. Who would act horrified but would be secretly thrilled to talk about it. Or better yet, ask Nya. Nya would definitely know.

A quick glance confirmed that Thomas wasn’t in the lobby, and she heaved a sigh of relief. The clerk on duty was the bald man with the dyed mustache who’d given her several messages when she was staying in the hotel. He was busy typing.

“Might I use your phone?” she asked when he glanced her way.

“Still Monroe?” he asked.

She smiled.
 

“You know, there was a gentleman looking for you earlier today.”

Monroe grimaced. “He’s not my friend.”

The clerk didn’t seem the least bit surprised to hear that. Thomas must have done something to make a spectacle of himself.
 

The clerk set the phone on the counter, and she dialed Tara’s room. While it rang, she stared out in the direction of the pool. Only two people out there that she could see. Before, it was usually packed unless it was closed. She bet it had something to do with the drowning.
 

Tara didn’t answer. Neither did Nya or Linda. Reluctantly, Monroe pushed the phone back toward the clerk. “Did you see my friends? One is a short girl with blonde hair, and her husband is—”

The clerk looked embarrassed. “Oh, yes. I should have realized… it’s been a busy day. Your friends went out about twenty minutes ago.” He scratched his chin. “Dressed for dinner, not the beach.”

Damn.
But twenty minutes wasn’t so long. They could still be waiting for a table, depending where they’d gone. “Any idea which restaurant?”

The man shook his head, and Monroe was about to leave when a question popped into her mind. “Have there ever been three drownings in a day before?”

“Let’s just say that tomorrow, all the local beaches will be closed and it will be advised to stay out of the sea.”

“Why?”

The man glanced quickly left and right, and as there was no one else in the vicinity, he said, “You didn’t hear this from me, but there have been a lot of accidents, and on some of the other islands as well. It’s like the ocean has gone crazy.”

Monroe wrapped her arms around herself. “Do you know why?”

He shook his head. “There are theories, of course, but it’s anybody’s guess. Between us, the government needs to take stronger measures, but this is high season. The busiest time of the year. They don’t want to risk the bad publicity.”

Monroe nodded, thanked him, and went outside.
 

It was too soon for Koenraad to be back. Might as well check out Club Carrib, she thought. It was only a couple of blocks away.

The restaurant had seemed nearly comatose when she was there before, but the dining room was quite busy now.

Unfortunately, her friends weren’t anywhere in sight. She walked across the patio, making sure, but it wasn’t like a group their size would be easily overlooked. And her friends tended to be loud. Doubly so after a few drinks.

There was another restaurant just next door, a Tex-Mex place. Nothing. One more restaurant at the end of the block. Looked fancy. She went in, and since there was no one at the hostess’s station, she ducked into the dining room.

Nope. They’d been eating near the hotel for several days and had probably gotten bored with all these places. After all, they’d arrived a day earlier than Monroe, and they hadn’t had a sexy local to take them to the good restaurants.

As she was finishing her tour of the dining room, she noticed a gorgeous woman with an unfair amount of dark, wavy hair scowling in front of the hostess’s station. Her arms were folded across her chest—and it was a definite chest, the kind men dreamed about. A tight black catsuit stretched over her otherwise slender curves. The V-neck was perilously deep. Monroe hoped the woman was wearing a bikini or something underneath, but she didn’t notice any telltale lines. Black stiletto sandals complemented toned calves that Monroe would have killed for. Actually, the woman’s entire body was perfect.
 

Large sunglasses covered the woman’s eyes, and while Monroe couldn’t be sure, she got the impression that the woman was glaring at her. But of course that made no sense.

Monroe’s steps faltered as she drew closer. The entry wasn’t quite large enough for two people.
 

“Excuse me,” she said, feeling intimidated. “Can I just squeeze by you?”

The woman’s chin came up, her nose wrinkled like she’d smelled something putrid, and Monroe thought she might not move. But then she took a graceful step backward.
 

Dancer,
Monroe thought. Maybe a pop star. Rich and famous and entitled.
 

After she walked out, she threw a glance over her shoulder and saw that the woman had turned around to watch. The disgust on her face had morphed into something far darker.

When Monroe was out of the woman’s sight, she looked down at herself, half expecting to see that her dress had disappeared or something. But no, she looked normal. Maybe she had something on her face.
 

But she’d walked past a ton of people, and no one else had given her a second look.
 

She pushed it firmly out of her mind and headed back to the hotel, where Koenraad was surely waiting.

Chapter 10

Damn, she was stunning. Watching Monroe walk toward him, the setting sun making a spectacular backdrop behind her, was one of the most erotic things he’d ever seen.

He loved that dress. The rocking of her full hips made it flow around her curvy thighs. It was spectacular. Though Monroe would look great in anything. He’d seen her naked. He knew.

He’d been so busy staring that he forgot to get the door for her. He started to get out, but Monroe waved him off before swinging into the car.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I can’t find them,” she said. “The clerk said they went off to dinner, but they’re not eating in any of the closest restaurants. Everything go fine at the post office?”

“It was very stimulating,” he said. “So it’s just the two of us tonight. I propose that we either take out a boat—”

“Think I’ve had enough boats for today,” she said with a delicate and almost imperceptible little shiver. “The clerk said there’s something wrong with the ocean. Is it related to our trip to the lab this afternoon?”

There was no point in keeping it from her. “Possibly. The water is affecting shifters, dolphins most of all. It hasn’t seemed to bother humans, and I hope that’s not what’s going on.”

“Has anything like this happened before?”

“Not that I know of. I’m going to spend a lot of time dealing with this, but I’m off tonight.” He smiled. “Either I’ll cook for you, or we can go out again. Your choice.”

He felt her lovely brown eyes on him as he pulled into the light evening traffic. All the tourists who had taken Vespas for the day were heading back to the rental centers clustered near the hotels. The tourists were cutting it close, like always.

He smiled. Now there was something he could do with Monroe. It’d be fun to teach her to ride one. He already knew she’d say she didn’t want to do it, but then she would jump into it, just like she had with everything else he’d thrown at her so far.

He was starting to think there was an adventuress lurking inside her. And not very deeply hidden, either. He remembered the way she’d initiated sex with him the first time, and his cock began to stiffen.

She’d just slid a leg over his lap and sat on him. She hadn’t been wearing anything underneath her short dress, and when he’d felt her bare sex silkily sliding over his cock, he’d nearly lost his mind.

Perhaps she hadn’t intended to land on his cock, but a woman who would slide her bare pussy over a man’s stomach wasn’t a shrinking violet.

Yeah, they needed to take out the Vespas. That’s what they’d do tomorrow…

“Shit,” he muttered. He’d forgotten that he was stuck wasting at least half the day keeping up the charade with Victoria. Add in patrol duties and his time was accounted for.

Monroe stiffened beside him. “What happened?”

“I was thinking about what we could do tomorrow, and I remembered I’ve got something else to take care of.”