Nikki and the Lone Wolf (9 page)

‘You'll get seasick.'

There was a thought. Hmm.

She'd been on a couple of cruises with her parents. One with Jon. ‘I don't get seasick.' Or sometimes, just a little.

‘We're going around reefs, checking pots in rough water. Have you ever been on a small boat in rough water?'

‘I don't care,' she burst out. ‘It's you who's being stubborn and ridiculous and a totally dumb, masochistic male. Your call. If you go out, you take me with you, seasick or not.'

‘Fine,' he said and shifted the wheel so instead of pointing to the jetty at the harbour mouth they were pointing to the open sea.

Um…what had she done?

She kept her arms crossed and felt stupid.

The sea breeze wasn't all that warm.

They hit cross waves at the harbour entrance and she had to uncross her arms to hold on. Whoa, cruise liners never rocked like this.

‘Nikki?'

‘What?' She was glowering. Trying to stay righteous and purposeful.

‘Put these on.' They were clear of the harbour mouth and he'd left the wheel for a moment. He took the couple of steps to where she stood and handed her a coat even more disgusting than his.

‘I'm not sure…'

‘Put it on,' he growled. ‘And the life jacket with it. There's a packet of seasick pills on the bench below. Take one. Then tie a safety line to Horse. Then you can watch for signs of concussion all you want, as long as you stay out of my way.'

 

It took half an hour to reach the reef where he'd set the cray-pots. For all that time Nikki sat in the bow, holding onto Horse.

She was right in his line of vision, a slight figure in a battered coat way too big for her, with Horse draped over her knees. Both of them were gazing into the wind. Horse's ears flopped about in the breeze.

Nikki's hair practically had a life of its own.

She had a pert bob, cut to sculptural perfection. It was smooth and glossy and lovely—or it had been until the first burst of spray flew over the bow.

Her hair sort of forgot about being smooth. It kinked a bit.

He watched, fascinated, as the spray and the wind did their worst. By the time they were halfway to their destination her hair was a mass of curls. She no longer looked like a smooth, professional city woman. She was enveloped in a coat liberally embellished with fish scales, her hair was a riot and she was draped in a huge dog.

She hadn't succumbed to seasickness. On the contrary, once she'd settled, once she'd forgotten to glower, she almost looked as if she was enjoying herself. When she was hit by spray she turned her face into it, even laughed. She hugged her dog, and Horse looked pretty happy, too.

She'd forgotten she was checking him for concussion, or
maybe she figured as long as the boat was on course she didn't need to. She was simply enjoying the ride and Gabe, who'd practically kidnapped her, felt a pang of…

Of something he didn't know how to handle. He'd brought her with him because he was frustrated and angry and he'd wanted to teach her a lesson.
Stay out of my life.

Now she was in his life even more, and it was making him feel…

He didn't know how it was making him feel. As if he wanted to turn the boat round and head back for harbour, dump her and run?

Yeah, as if that was a sensible thing to do.

Her hair was amazing.

‘Gabe!'

She was on her feet, yelling to him. ‘Gabe!'

He pulled back the throttle, alarmed, and swung out of the wheelhouse to see.

Seals.

He'd been too busy watching her, watching her crazy hair, to notice, and he didn't look for seals anyway. It wasn't that he didn't like seeing them—he did, apart from when they were after his fish—but there was a massive seal colony on a rocky island a couple of miles south of Banksia Bay, and seals were simply part and parcel of his life.

They weren't part and parcel of Nikki's life. She was gazing down at them in awe.

They were riding his bow wave.

They truly were wonderful, he conceded, trying to see them as Nikki must be seeing them. These were pups, half grown, still mostly fed by their parents so they were here to have fun. The bow wave and the wake made by the
Lady Nell
were just right for them to surf. There were dozens of them, streaming in and out of the waves, riding alongside the boat, surging ahead and slipping behind. Leaping up, leaping over each other, sim
ply having fun. Nikki was holding the rail and gasping with pleasure.

An old bull seal pulled out of the wave, reared back, surged on ahead.

Gabe grinned. He knew this guy. Mostly the bull seals held themselves apart, but this old guy had lost his harem long since. Instead of moping alone, he'd decided to relive his youth.

He slipped back into the wheelhouse, pushed the throttle back to full power and went out again. The seals practically whooped with joy at the bigger bow wave.

‘They're tame,' Nikki whispered, awed.

‘Not them. They're wild and free. They know what they want from me, though. Decent surf.'

‘They're magnificent. Oh…' One of the young ones, smaller than the rest, surged up, leaped right out of the water ahead of the wave, then sank out of sight. If she'd reached out she could have touched him.

She was clutching Gabe's arm, gazing down with pure delight. ‘Oh…'

‘They eat my fish,' Gabe growled but his heart wasn't in it. He was watching her. Where was his sleek, perfectly groomed tenant now? She was in a battered, fishing sou'wester. Her hair was a mass of tangled curls, getting more and more wild as the spray soaked her. A sliver of mascara had smudged down her cheek.

He had this really strong urge…

A wave hit them broadside, not so big to worry him—he'd never have left the wheelhouse if there was a possibility of a big sea—but it was big enough to make Nikki stagger and clutch.

He let her clutch. His arm came round her waist and held—and she didn't appear to notice.

She was totally absorbed in the seals, in the antics of the pups. They were born clowns. It was as if they were putting
on their own personal show, with the old bull seal trying valiantly to keep up.

The pups were jumping the bull seal, darting round his massive body as if he was a rock and they were playing tag around him.

‘He's huge,' Nikki whispered.

‘Cecil. He's a local legend. He's the only seal in the known world who runs his own playgroup. Most bull seals when they're past their prime head for a lone rock and live out the rest of their lives sulking. Cecil thinks this is a great alternative.'

She chuckled, a lovely throaty chuckle that made something kick inside Gabe's gut. Something he wasn't sure how to handle.

His arm was still around her. She was nestled against him, watching the seals. Her eyes were alight with laughter, her body curved against him as if this was the most natural position in the world.

He wanted, quite badly, to kiss her.

Very badly.

Defences? Why would a man want defences?

‘Nikki…'

But right at that moment one of the pups leapt up and twisted right next to where they stood, so close it almost brushed Horse's nose.

Horse had been staring over the side with bemusement, not sure what he should do in this situation.

This, however, called for action. There were some things which a mature dog should not put up with, and cheeky pups taunting him was obviously one of them.

He crouched under the side rail so he was leaning right over the side and he barked, a massive, throaty bark that said,
Oi, enough—this is my territory; you guys know your place.

Nikki chuckled and stooped to hug him, and Gabe felt her leave his side with a wrench of loss.

Given the choice, he wouldn't have let her go.

‘Hey, it's okay, they're having fun,' Nikki told Horse, and Horse wagged his tail, practically beaming, and crouched again and went back to barking.

The seals backed away a little, darted out, darted back, started leaping again.

It seemed Horse was no threat.

Horse barked on, fit to wake the dead.

‘Tell him “No” or he'll deafen us,' Gabe said, half laughing himself, but still with that wrenching feeling of loss.

‘No!' Nikki said and then raised her voice. ‘No!'

Horse subsided.

Nikki looked smug.

He wanted to kiss her so badly…

Another wave hit them broadside and the boat rolled. He reached to steady Nikki but she'd already clutched the rail. She was fine.

They were nearing the reef; the waves were building. He needed to head back into the wheelhouse and leave Nikki to Horse and to her seals.

He did, but it was a wrench.

The desire to kiss her went with him.

 

He pulled up twenty cray-pots and felt as if he'd done a decent morning's work. The hold was now full of live crays. Good, big ones.

Maybe he'd cook one for dinner, invite Nikki over.

Was he out of his mind?

But a man could think about it. Resolutions were made to be broken. How long since he'd invited a woman out?

She was his tenant. It was asking for trouble.

She was adorable.

That was asking for more trouble.

She'd insisted on helping and, to his astonishment, she really could help. He explained the winch system once, and she
got it straight away. It was hard winching in cray-pots by himself. The pots were set in shallow water at the back of a low-lying reef. The boat had to be held steady or they'd end up on the rocks. If he'd been working by himself it was a matter of watching the sea, then heading in during a glimmer of calm, hooking the pot and winching it up from back in the wheelhouse while he could watch the sea as it came up. Then get back to safe water before he could swing the pot over the side.

But Nikki got it. She watched him do one, she demanded to try, she hooked the second on the third run—not bad for an amateur—and she hauled the pot in by herself.

Horse objected to the weird crustaceans in the traps but he only barked once. ‘No,' Nikki said and the big dog subsided and watched.

He had a crew, he thought. A woman and a dog.

He thought of the morning he'd have had if she hadn't come, and he thought why had he not wanted to take her? She lit his day.

There was a dangerous thought.

Why was it dangerous?

With the last pot was lifted he headed back from the dangerous waters of the reef,

The water out here was calm. Nikki had untied Horse—they'd needed Horse's spot to stack the pots while they worked and he seemed settled. With the pots all emptied, woman and dog were back to watching the seal pups. Nikki was hugging Horse. She was smiling at Horse. She was smiling at the pups.

She was smiling at him.

It felt…

Dangerous.

Insidious in its sweetness.

Why was he so nervous?

Because his gut said this was a woman who had the power to mess with his equanimity.

Was equanimity such a big deal anyway?

All his life he'd been a loner, except…

Yeah, except for his mother. She'd loved him. She'd held him, cuddled him, stood between him and his brute of a father.

Left him. Not her fault, though. There was no word bad enough to describe cancer.

Lisbette. Held him, loved him, ripped him off for everything he was worth.

He'd thought he was in love. How did a man recover trust in his judgement after that?

He didn't. Why should he? Was it worth the risk?

Jem. Dogs.

Back in the wheelhouse, he glanced out at Horse and Nikki, and he thought big dogs and short lifespans. Nikki was giving her heart to a dog, and in a few short years she'd have the heart ripped out of her.

She was laughing now, watching Horse watch a couple of gulls swooping overhead. Horse was trying to figure whether they were a threat. Putting his paws over his head in case they were.

When she lost Horse she'd stop laughing.

He could be there…

Where was he going with this?

Back to port. He gunned the motor, pushing the revs, deciding he needed to be back on dry land fast. Thinking he needed to get his head together fast. Then he noticed a boat on the horizon, coming fast. Much faster than his boat.

It was a pleasure craft, he saw, as the distance between them grew smaller. A couple of yahoo guys were speeding for the sake of it, gunning their flimsy fibreglass craft to the limit. Using gas for the sake of it. Thrill-seeking. They wouldn't even see the seals, he thought, or anything else. They were only intent on speed.

They veered nearer, stupidly close, probably trying to catch his bow wave to give them a more exciting ride. They yelled and waved and veered in and out of his wake. They did a three-
sixty degree turn—and then they were gone, speeding into the distance.

And before he realised what was happening…

Horse gave a long, low howl, he lurched out of Nikki's arms, out of her hold and he headed over the side of the boat and after them.

N
O
.

‘Horse!' Nikki screamed, hauled off her sou'wester, kicked off her shoes and, before Gabe could react, she was over the side and after him.

No!

They were in seal territory. Pup's playground.

Shark country.

His heart hit his boots as he hauled the boat around, headed out on deck, threw lifebuoys. His gut reaction was to jump straight in after them but a fat lot of use that would be. Three of them in the water while the boat drifted to the reef… He needed to manoeuvre his way to them fast.

He headed back to the wheel. Tried to see.

Horse was a hundred yards from the boat already. Nikki was half the distance but she was heading after him, swimming strongly.

At least she could swim.

She had a life vest on, two bars across her shoulders to be inflated with the pull of a cord. He should be grateful she hadn't pulled it off with her jacket.

She hadn't pulled the cord. She was intent on reaching the dog—who was intent on reaching the speedboat.

Which was now practically out of sight.

‘Nikki, head for the lifebuoy,' he yelled, his voice hoarse with panic, but she was still heading for the dog.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Panic would achieve nothing. Stay cool. Think.

He gunned the boat, heading after her. He cut her off from the dog and hit neutral.

‘I can reach him,' she yelled, changing direction to go round the boat.

‘
We
can reach him,' he yelled back. ‘Get back in the boat. Now!' He hauled one of the buoys back into the boat and threw it again so it was just in front of her. ‘Hold on and I'll pull.'

‘Let me go. I can…'

‘Get back in the boat or I'll cosh you with the gaff and drag you in.' And he meant it.

They were in seal pup territory. Great White Sharks fed round here, cruising the waters for easy pickings. Pickings like injured seals. The locals knew never to dive near the seal colony. A human in the water, creating a splash, looked just like an injured seal.

He knew the dangers. She didn't. She had to get out of there.

‘Horse…' she yelled, sounding desperate. Not as desperate as him.

‘We'll get him.' He couldn't manoeuvre the boat closer. It was too big; he risked her being sucked under the propeller. ‘Grab the buoy. Now! I mean it, Nikki. Get back on the boat.'

She cast him a look that was half fearful, half angry—and grabbed the buoy.

He hauled her to the side in seconds. Reached down and pulled.

Tugging a grown woman from the sea was no easy task—he'd had guys go overboard before and he'd had to use a harness. Not Nikki. They said women could lift the weight of a car if their child was trapped underneath—that was what this felt like. He lifted her straight up, clinging to the lifebuoy, and he didn't even feel her weight.

He felt nothing until she was on the deck, all of her, whole, fine, safe.

‘Horse…' For a nanosecond she clung but she was already pulling away, swivelling to search. ‘Horse…'

She was in love already, he thought. She loved the great mangy mutt who was swimming steadily to the horizon.

How…?

‘We use the lifeboat,' he snapped. ‘There's no way he'll cling to a lifebuoy and we won't be able to grab and lift him from this height. I'm gunning the boat to cut him off. Get up on top of the wheelhouse, haul the ties off and slide the lifeboat down to the foredeck. Go!'

He was back at the wheel, hauling the boat round so he was heading out past Horse. Veering round him in a wide arc. Heading to a spot between the dog and where the speedboat had headed.

So Horse would be forced to swim past.

The sick feeling in his gut was growing with every moment. He knew the odds. He'd seen sharks here before. Often. Please…

At least Nikki was safe.

She wouldn't thank him if he didn't get the stupid dog.

Only the dog wasn't stupid, he conceded, as he manoeuvred the boat into position and hit the winch controlling the anchor. The dog was crazily devoted, still loyal to the low-life who'd abandoned him. He was somehow associating the speedboat, the thrill-riding idiots, with his previous owner. He was desperate to find those he'd given his heart to.

Giving your heart… It was the way to destroy yourself.

The lifeboat slipped down over the glass in front of him onto the deck. Nikki clambered down after, water streaming from her soaked clothes, her dripping hair. She seemed almost calm, carefully, sensibly, avoiding blocking his view as she clambered down. She steadied the life-raft on the deck and started unhooking the cleats of the metal stays that formed the side rails.

Woman with sense. Woman who'd just jumped into the midst of a seal colony. Where White Pointers fed…

Any minute…any minute…

He had the boat in position. The dog was swimming towards them now, starting to veer because the
Lady Nell
was in his path.

Drop the anchor.

The anchor struck and held. But it wasn't deep enough for safety; the waves were short and sharp and threatening to break.

‘Nikki,' he yelled. ‘Come here!'

She cast him a fearful glance, not wanting to let go of the life-raft.

‘Here!' he yelled in a voice that matched her dog training voice, and she abandoned the life-raft and headed to the wheel.

‘Anchor chain,' he snapped, pointing to the lever that attached to the control. ‘Gears. Throttle. Watch the sea.'

‘I'm going after…'

‘You don't know how to manage the motor on the life-raft and you don't have the strength to haul a dog up. You watch the sea. Every moment. Not me. Not the dog. The sea. I mean it, Nikki, all our lives depend on it. Watch from the east. You see any big sea coming, anything at all, you haul the chain up, wait five seconds, no longer, just so the anchor's clear, then shove her into first gear like this, and turn her nose into the wave. You take action before you need to. Any suspicion of a decent wave, you turn her. Ride the wave, then drop back into neutral, drop the anchor again.'

‘Should I just keep her in first gear?'

‘No.' Because she couldn't watch the depth sounder, watch the dog, watch the sea all at once, and he didn't want to end up on the rocks. Lowering and raising the anchor was the best way to keep her in position. But he didn't have time to say it. He was already out on deck, lowering the life-raft and slipping down into it.

 

She saw him slip over the side and then she turned to watch the sea. The waves were coming from the far side of the
Lady Nell
to where Gabe was steering the little boat towards Horse.

Watch the sea. Do not watch Gabe.

She could just glance. Tiny glances in between fierce concentration. A wave was building; she saw the swell further out.

Up with the anchor, into first gear, nose into the wave.

Up and over.

The sea calmed again. Neutral. Drop the anchor.

Another glance.

He was almost there, almost to Horse. The swells were pushing Horse inshore; he was almost to the reef. Gabe was manoeuvring at the back of waves that were threatening to flip his tiny craft.

Watch the sea.

Gabe. Horse.

She'd forgotten to breathe.

 

The seals had disappeared. Dear God, the seals were gone.

He knew what that meant.

He was closing in on Horse but the dog was veering away, sensing that Gabe was intent on stopping him.

‘Horse!' He cut the motor so it hardly purred, keeping just enough revs to hold the little craft on course. He was calling in a voice he was struggling to keep calm. ‘Come on, boy.'

The dog veered sharply away.

A wave hit broadside. Gabe did a one-eighty, the wave almost tipped—and boat and dog collided.

He had his hand under the dog's collar before they were down the other side of the wave; before Horse could realise what was happening.

Now pull.

The life-raft was soft sided, industrial strength rubber. If Horse fought… He could tear the craft apart.

Where were the seals? What was happening under the surface?

Don't think. Just do.

He grabbed the collar with both hands, leaned backward so that if the dog came he'd end up full length on the floor rather than lurching out of the other side.

Pulled with all his strength.

The dog hauled back. Fought him.

Where were the seals?

He flicked a glance sideways. Nothing. Calm water. Not a seal.

‘Come,' he yelled, and he roared the word, a deep, harsh yell that sounded out over the reef to the land beyond. It startled the dog into stillness.

He had an instant only. He hauled as he'd never hauled before.

And the dog came, lurching up and sliding in, toppling over the top of him so he was lying full length in the back of the life-raft with a mass of quivering, sodden dog on top of him.

 

He had him. He was in the boat!

Look back to the sea, Nikki told herself. Concentrate on the sea.

She sniffed.

Stupid salt water. How did it get to be streaming down her face when she was in the wheelhouse?

 

It wasn't over yet.

Luckily, once Gabe had him, Horse ceased to struggle. Maybe it was because the speedboat was out of sight and he knew it wasn't worth it. Or maybe it was because Gabe's hand on his collar was implacable.

‘You want to be shark meat? You want me to have to explain that to Nikki?'

Maybe the dog understood. Maybe he didn't. Either way,
he submitted as Gabe reached the
Lady Nell
, roped the dinghy to the side, tried to figure how to get him up.

Figured he couldn't. Not here.

Nikki was still watching the sea. He'd half expected her to emerge from the wheelhouse as he approached but she had the sense to stay where she was.

She was, it seemed, calm in a crisis. Apart from jumping into shark-infested water.

‘Anchor up, into first gear, nose her out into deep water. Head straight into the waves rather than broadside,' he yelled. ‘Slow and steady, because we're tied to the side.'

And she did it, amazingly well for a landlubber, nosing the big boat carefully out, heading into the swells, changing course so no waves caught her broadside, which might have risked jerking the lifeboat, tossing him and Horse into the sea.

Still he saw no seals. He knew what that meant. There was no use telling Nikki that, though. She had enough to think about.

And finally they were out past the sharp inshore swells, to where the sea flattened into long, low rolls.

‘Enough?' she yelled.

‘Great. Anchor and help me.' He couldn't climb aboard to get what he needed, because he didn't trust Horse not to lurch over the side again and head for the horizon.

But Nikki was there, following instructions. He roped Horse, looping stays under his midriff, rear and aft, tying his collar, using rope work to fashion a sling.

Once secured, he swung himself up on board the
Lady Nell
, hooked the sling to the cray-pot winch, put the gears into motion.

Instead of a cray-pot being hauled up, a dog.

Nikki caught Horse's head as he reached the top, he looped his arms around the dog's back legs and they hauled him over the side, kneeling, tugging backwards, ending up a tangle of man, woman, dog and sea water.

And laughter. Nikki was laughing. Crying a little too, but hugging her dog as if he was the most wonderful thing she'd ever seen.

And then, because they were lying flat on the deck, side by side, under the dog, she was suddenly hugging him. Tight.

‘Oh, Gabe…thank you. You were wonderful. Just wonderful.'

She turned, just a little so she could see him, but he moved at the same time, not intentionally, he'd swear, but it didn't matter because they were nose to nose. She was holding him, her eyes were inches from his, her mouth was just…there…

He kissed her. Of course he kissed her; a man would have to be inhuman not to.

She was streaming sea water. Her curls were dripping and wild. She looked like a drowned rat, only of course it was a ridiculous analogy because her eyes were huge and glowing, and her mouth was soft and full, and…and…

His mouth met hers and the world stilled.

She was cold and shivery and shocked.

She was warm and yielding and wonderful.

She'd been laughing, and for a moment the kiss was an extension of that laughter. An extension of the joy. He felt it blaze between them—shared triumph, awe of what they'd achieved, an extension of drama, shock, fear.

But only for a moment because, as his mouth met hers, things changed. Dissolved. Turned to something else entirely in the power of the link between them.

Heat.

It was like an electric current jolting between them, forging a link, surging with a power so great it threatened to overwhelm him. Her lips were full and tender and yielding, and they felt as if they were melting to him, fire to fire, merging to be part of him, a part he hadn't known was missing until this moment. A part of his whole.

She'd turned to hug him and her arms were around him,
holding him close. They were lying almost full length on the deck. Horse was draped over their legs, soaking them. The boat was riding up and down at anchor and all he could feel, all he could sense, all he could focus on, was her lips.

Her mouth.

Nikki.

His arms came around her, tugging her to him as naturally as joining two pieces of a puzzle, setting two pieces where they belonged and feeling the rightness of it.

She was wearing a light sweater. The fabric seemed to have almost disappeared in the wet; he could feel the wonder of her body underneath, the soft, luscious contours of her breasts, the way her body yielded, melted, crushed against him.

Against his sou'wester. Against his fishing gear. He was holding a woman who wore almost nothing and he was dressed for wet weather. He hardly noticed except he wanted her closer, closer and his clothes were getting in the way.