Sea Bride- Children of the Waves (4 page)

“Sorry, lady, but you better
get inside. That siren is a warning.”

“Warning? For what?”

“Rough seas ahead, so please
take the next exit and get off the deck. Rains are picking up and it may not be
safe to be out and about. Where’s your cabin?”

She told him.

He nodded his head at her.
“It’s not far. There’s an entrance to that level, just past the salon, right
around the second bend. There’s a green door that says to Level 4 Cabins C-E.”

Already, the wind blew
stronger, whipping her hair around her face, and the rain fell harder against
her skin, raising goose bumps along her arms. Soon, she’d be soaked. “Okay,
thank you.”

The siren sounded again and the
man ran off. A few other people were out, as well, but rushing to find shelter
and headed in the opposite direction.

She put her head down and
walked in the direction the man had sent her. Raising her head, she saw a door,
but when she tried to open it, it wouldn’t budge. She needed her key card,
which she realized Des carried for them. Groaning she turned around to find
another entrance, or someone who could open the door for her. If she didn’t get
help, she would have to go back to the lounge and find Des. And maybe talk some
more with Xavior…not a hardship at all.

Lightning struck directly over
her head. Gazing up, she watched it momentarily turn the darken sky to day. The
rain slapped her face, coming down harder, and the air cooled with each step.
Her sleeveless blouse was now drenched and ruined. “Shit!” she cried, hurrying
forward to retrace her steps. The boat rocked and she lost her footing,
slipping on the wet deck. The railing stopped her momentum, but not before her
head connected with a pole. Dazed, she clung to the railing, trying to remember
not to look down into the churning water below, and—failing.

Xavior returned to their seats to
discover her gone. Des had given him the room key to give to Cori, but she
already left. He went to her cabin, thinking he might catch up to her, but she
hadn’t been there. He knocked on the door, not expecting anyone to answer, and
no one did. Maybe, she realized Des still had the key and headed back toward
the lounge.

Some instinct made him walk
outside. The rage of the sea stirred up by the storm called to him. The rocking
of the boat became more pronounced. Something about the storm raised the fine
hairs at the base of his neck. He remembered the dolphin’s warning. All of his
kind were sensitive to the elements, and some could control them to a degree.
Someone or something manipulated this storm. Only one would dare put a storm in
his path.

A flash of emerald caught his
attention. Cori wore a shimmering emerald top. The ship tilted and the wind
kicked up to gale force, all directed toward one lone woman, hanging on to the
railing for dear life…a life the wind seemed determined to take.

The scene unfolded before him
in small increments, and in spite of his great speed, time resisted and
continued to propel him slowly across the deck. He would be too late to stop
what was about to happen. For a fleeting moment, he regretted never mastering
the elements.

A gale force ripped Cori away
from her anchor; it pitched her over the side and tumbled her into the sea.

Xavior didn’t hesitate. Kicking
off his shoes, he followed her over the side and into the familiar embrace of
the liquid existence. As a child of the sea, he had no trouble finding an
unconscious Cori within its depths. He kicked them both to the surface, then
placed his mouth over hers to give her the breath she couldn’t take underwater.
The boat moved past them, pushed forward by the movement of the ocean along
with its own momentum. The sirens continued to blare, a different sound now,
indicating someone had gone overboard.

No way for him to get her back
on the boat or for help to get to them, not in this weather.

Xavior called out to the
closest denizen in the water. A reply wasn’t long in coming. While he held no
control over the elements, he communicated with and controlled most things
living in the sea. A manta ray, as wide as his arm, approached them, but
instinct made him spin around. Behind them, he saw a long shadow coming fast,
churning the water in its wake, and heading right for them. Placing his
precious burden on the ray’s back, he gave it a one-word command,
Protect
, and it swam out of the way.

He turned to face the real
threat, calling forth his trident. The three-pronged bronze trident appeared in
his right hand, just as the first tendrils of the sea demon reached for him.
With a quick swipe, he cut off its thick flesh with the sharpened tips. Thick
blue-black ink coated the water. Turning the prongs toward the dark weltering
body, he used the power of the trident. The tips glowed red, and energy roared
through his body, fueling the trident, blasting the beast back to the dark
waters from whence it came.

He held no power over this
creature. Another commanded this one and he knew who summoned it. The white
witch would do anything to stop his union from bringing peace to their people.
She could not kill him, but until Cori became his mate, she would be fair game.
His bride was now marked for death.

Once the waters stopped
churning, the stingray returned to his side. He stayed above the surface, the
precious burden on its back—thankfully still unconscious. Xavior sighed
in relief. Cori remained safe. He held her hand, his touch granting her the
ability to breathe underwater. The stingray took them down to the ocean depth,
leading them to a nearby underwater cave.

The cave, nothing more than a
pocket cut out of the ocean, would provide shelter. There were many such places
if you knew where to look. Like bubbles shaped from rock, containing oxygen
created by moss growing upon its rocks.

Xavior took her inside the
place, about the size of a small human bedroom. Wide enough to lie comfortably
on its rocky ledge without having to touch the pool of water at the cave’s
entrance. Plus, the glowing sea worms provided warm light to see by. At least
they would be out of the water and on dry rock.

Xavior stripped out of his
clothes, save for his briefs, and took Cori’s top and skirt off. She wasn’t
wearing a bra, and it took all of his self-control not to stroke her small, yet
plump breasts. Instead, he grabbed their clothes and rung them as dry as he
could, then laid them on the rocks to help cushion the hardness of the ground.

During all of this, Cori
remained unmoving. He noticed a bruise on her forehead. She must have hit it on
something as she went overboard. He picked her up and laid her on their
clothing, hoping she’d be more comfortable. At least the cave itself held
plenty of warmth.

Stretching out beside her, he
spooned his body around hers, hoping his heat would help. The goose bumps on
her arms told him she might still be cold. He squeezed the water out of her
hair the best he could and rubbed his hands along her arms. His natural body
heat was higher than a human’s, so he didn’t feel the coolness of the cave.

After a while, the bumps on her
arms disappeared and her breathing appeared more normal, but she still hadn’t
awakened.

He brushed the hair away from
her face, then kissed her temple, confident she would wake up soon, and knowing
now that he had her—he would not take her back. “My bride,” he murmured
in wonder, shutting his eyes as he joined her in slumber.

Cold. Wet. Pain. A world
spiraling out of control. Tendrils reaching for her. Crushing her.
No air!
Then suddenly, she was free. Her
lungs expanded, taking in much needed oxygen with a sigh of relief. Surrounded
by warmth and a sense of peace and security, the dream changed. This one Cori
didn’t want to wake up from, and she gave herself over to it completely. The
man with her was the one she hadn’t even known she’d been waiting for.
Xavior.
Did she say his name out loud?
Call him to her?

His arm lay possessively around
her waist. He held her like the most precious thing in the world. His bare leg
lay across her own and they both barely wore any clothes. When he pushed his
hard core against her bottom, she could do nothing except push back. She
continued to rub against him, letting him know how much she welcomed his touch
and wanted an even more intimate one. When his hand moved from her stomach up,
higher, until he cupped her breast, she groaned.

“Mmm,” he murmured in her ear.

His tongue licked the lobe and
she shifted her head on her arm to give him better access. Heat rushed between
her legs. She yearned for his touch. Her female core pulsed, coated in
moisture, ready for him. His hand moved from circling her nipple back across
her flat stomach, past her shaved mound. She raised her leg to guide him where
she needed him most, until finally he cupped her core at the same time he
thrust his tongue into her ear. Stars flashed behind her closed eyes as his
thumb rubbed back and forth across her clit.

Xavior shifted his head, his
lips moving to her shoulder then suckling at her neck. Meanwhile, his hand
shifted the strip covering her and patted her opening gently, teasing her
before moving to her thigh. He straightened his body, raised his hips to take
his briefs off, and then removed her underwear.

She frowned, when he moved off
her, but then he was back, his body pressed to hers and she stopped thinking.
He took her leg and held it over his hip, opening her so his long hard shaft
could slide back and forth between her thighs, until it lay in a perfect
position. Reaching between their bodies, she grasped his thick flesh to help
guide him into her waiting chamber.

He pierced her slowly, fully,
completely. Pausing once, he lay nestled deep inside her and her inner muscles
quivered, only then he moved.

Cori’s eyes flew open. “Oh
God!”
Not a dream
. The thought
flashed through the neurons of her mind. She didn’t know what the hell she’d
been doing. She knew she should pull away and put her leg down. Maybe even say
something. But
he
moved his hand to
her hip, holding her fast, all the while continuing to take long deep strokes
in and out of her.

Xavior,
my God! It was Xavior.

Nerve endings took over,
directing her body. Her hips rose up to meet him, instead of away. Too late to
stop. She clung to the rock in front of her, to anchor the riot of emotions
swirling through her, and all the while, he kept driving deeper, binding them
together, taking them both under.
Yes!

Xavior moved his hand back to
her clit and stroked his thumb back and forth over it as his dick worked her.
She couldn’t have stopped him. If the world came to an end, this was the way to
go. She used her own hand to hold her leg up for him. What started out as a
beautiful dream turned into sensual reality. Nature took complete control. She
knew who held her and what she was doing. Most of all—she wanted this.

“Come for me,” he whispered,
holding her head up, so he could lick her lips before placing his mouth over
hers and mating their tongues. He asked as well as commanded. That’s all it
took for her to shatter. Her body seized in pure bliss.

But he wasn’t done…

Xavior released her lips and
withdrew his still-hard dick from inside her. She gave a sharp cry of denial.
But he rolled her to her back and covered her completely with his body, crafted
from steel. She spread her legs to welcome him. He slid smoothly into her,
taking her to the depths of pleasure once again. In his arms, she had no
control, no choice but to come apart, not really caring if she might ever be
put back together again. His sex filled her, pulsing against her walls, echoing
in every cell in her body, building the pressure within. He put her knees up
against his chest. He hit her nub with every caress of his sex. His forehead
touched hers and he spoke in a voice gruff with need. “Open your eyes. You are
not sleeping, neither am I. Yes, that’s it, look at me. Now, Cori, now. Come
with me. Make me come!”