Body of Water Ch. 01

Then nothing.

****

"God, your alarm is deadly." Harlowe's deep voice startled me awake in the morning.

For a moment, I was furious with him for invading my privacy in such a way. Then the memory of his familiar love-making washed over me and I recalled that we'd fallen asleep together. It didn't happen often; in fact, Angela and I were more likely to sleep together than me and Harlowe.

"Good morning, Nerina." He rolled over and curved his body behind mine as I reached for the 'off' button on my alarm.

I rubbed my eyes. "Good morning."

I liked that he was one of the few people to call me by my full name. Most everyone else I knew called me 'Rina.' Neither bothered me, but it was just one more example of what a gentleman Harlowe was.

From the way he was moving his hand up my side, I guessed that his thoughts were less than gentlemanly at the moment. I smiled and reached for him.

Fireworks or not, he was there and so was I.

****

It turned out that I wasn't all that late for work. Harlowe felt bad when I showered and raced from the house at half past eight. I didn't have an appointment until after nine that day and I called home later to tell him it was fine.

The rest of the week was uneventful. Although Harlowe didn't work another double, he was gone for the evenings the rest of the week and I didn't see him again. Angela was around for dinner every night and every night, she reminded me about how we were going to go out on Saturday. On Friday night I relented, just so she'd let me get back to my book.

Soon enough, it was Saturday night. Angela refused to even let me wear jeans. She forced me into a small black skirt and a silky, very tight, electric red top that revealed far too much skin. My opinion mattered little to Angela, as she ignored my protests and continued shellacking my hair into place.

As I stood in front of the mirror with her, studying my appearance, I couldn't help but be impressed. My chocolate brown hair had been tamed and styled in one of those messy-on-purpose looks; like I'd just rolled out of bed. She'd done something to my eyes, making them look even more green than their usual dull brownish-green. They looked smoky and alluring. She'd even sprinkled some kind of sparkly dust on my bare skin, making it look like I shimmered as I moved.

"You look fantastic!" Angela threw her arm around my shoulders.

I touched a fingertip to my dark red lips. "I don't even look like me." I pulled the finger away and looked at it; not a speck of lipstick on it. Whatever Angela had done, my face and hair weren't going to move all night, I bet.

"That's the idea."

"What? Looking like someone else all night?"

"Yes! Stepping outside the box. Being different, living dangerously."

I snorted and turned away from the mirror, unable to continue looking at our side-by-side reflections.

Angela was the gorgeous, dangerous-looking one, and she didn't have to put as much effort into it. She was tall to my short, willowy to my voluptuous, and devilishly witty to my dull shyness. Tonight, she'd put on black faux-leather pants that made her legs look a mile long, a rich lavender halter top that stopped just over her bellybutton, showing off her fantastic abdomen. Her hair, being as short as it was, took little effort. She'd rubbed some sculpting mousse into it, making the ends stand up all over in patches. The sparkly dust she'd sprinkled on me, she'd applied to herself, including her hair. Together, we looked like the odd couple of pixies.

"Come on."

I followed her out of my room, grabbing my small clutch purse from my dresser as I passed by. We went downstairs and picked shoes out from the overflowing closet. Of course, most of them belonged to Angela. A couple were mine, and thankfully, I had a pair of black heels that I'd worn to my last work Christmas party. It was now mid-June and I hadn't worn anything but flats since.

This is going to be an interesting night, I thought as I teetered out of the house behind Angela.

She'd called a cab earlier to pick us up, meaning she wanted to drink a boatload tonight. She chattered away at the cab driver, who smiled and nodded along while I just sat back, shaking my head. It was amazing to me how Angela was able to make friends with anyone and everyone. By the time we got downtown to the Firehall - an old fire station that had been converted to a dance club - the cabbie was going to call Angela about family dinner next week.

A slight breeze slipped over us as we left the cab and I shivered, wishing we'd brought more than just our skin to keep warm. Then Angela slid her arm through the crook in mine and we walked up to the night club doors.

The giant bouncer gave us a once-over, making me feel objectified and incredibly sexy all at once, then he nodded, letting us pass. Angela squealed with excitement and hauled me inside.

Here I go.

Inside, the club was full, but not packed. People lined the bars, filled the open areas and writhed on the dance floor. I looked around, taking in the sights and acknowledging that we were dressed no different than the rest of the women. It gave me a small measure of relief, this dissolving back into anonymity. I hadn't realized until that moment how exposed I'd felt.

"Come on." Angela tugged on my arm. "I'll buy the first round."

We made our way through the crowd to a bar along the back wall and Angela wedged herself between two scantily clad women. I stood back, my eyes scanning the people lining the bar. I fingered the metal clasp of my small purse and felt awkward as I waited behind Angela.

The club was large, with a high ceiling. There was a second level, a loft that overlooked the main part of the bar and I knew pool tables filled the loft area. It was quieter up there, allowing for more conversation or game playing. There was even the old fire pole in place near the balcony; inaccessible by the public, of course. The bar we were at was the largest, stretching almost the entire length of the back wall. At the far end of the bar were the restrooms and down two steps in the center of everything was the dance floor. Around the open space were tall tables, chairs and stools lining a half bar along another wall. Lights flashed at the dance floor and around, catching me right in the eye every time I looked over, it seemed.

As I squinted and tried to blink away the spots from the latest flash of lights, I felt a tingling start at the base of my spine. I straightened, and looked around myself, certain someone was watching me. The people at the bar alongside Angela were talking, laughing and trying to get the bartenders' attention. Those behind them all waited for an opening along the bar to get their own drinks. The dance floor was a jumping, sliding mass of bodies, made eerie by the silver strobe lights.

Still, the tingling persisted and I felt sweat bead between my shoulder blades. It made me nervous, this sensation, and the sweat. I hardly ever sweated. My body temperature always seemed to run cooler than everyone else, somehow without making me feel cold. I swung my head back and forth, my eyes darting from head to head and as I started to lift my face to the second floor balcony, Angela bumped my left elbow.

"Here's your drink." She handed me a highball glass filled with electric blue liquid.

"Oh, for the love of God." I eyed the drink suspiciously, distracted from the tingling feeling. "What the hell is this?"

"It's an Electric Popsicle." Angela held up something similar in her left hand. Then she held up her right hand, clutching a bottle of Kokanee.

I quirked an eyebrow at her. "Double-fisting it tonight?"

"Hey, you only live once, right?"

Do we? The thought came unbidden and I blinked, my smile slipping. Then the tingling was back and I felt more sweat gather on my back. I looked around again, still finding no one even looking in our direction.

What is that?

"You all right, Rina?"

I nodded just as we were jostled by someone trying to get to the bar. Angela sent the man a dirty look before closing her hand around my elbow. She guided me away from the cluster in front of the bar and we moved to the railing surrounding the sunken dance floor.

"Well, here's to another week won." Angela held her blue drink towards me.

"Won? Was there a victory this week?"

"Every time I make it out of the hospital with my sanity intact, it's a victory." As she said this, I noticed some of the light fade from her perpetually sunny face.

I admit, I don't often give Angela credit for her life choices. She had a difficult job, working as a nurse in the burn unit at the Foothills Hospital and I know there must be days when she just wanted to pull her hair out.

"You're a wonderful person, Ang."

Instead of returning the compliment with something more flattering, she just nodded and clinked her glass against mine. "Thanks, Rina."

I grinned and lifted the blue drink to my lips. As I threw it back, I glimpsed movement on the second level. My eyes stayed up as I swallowed the tart alcoholic drink and I watched a dark shape move through the bodies along the balcony. Then he disappeared into the crowd. Just like that, the tingling sensation was gone.

"Wow, I'd forgotten how tart those drinks are." Angela pursed her lips as I dropped my eyes.

"Yeah." I made a face. In truth, I hadn't even tasted it. I smacked my lips together and ran my tongue over my bottom lip, trying to taste the remnants but it was already gone. I must have looked disappointed because Angela laughed and lifted the glass from my hand.

"I'll get you another one!"

"No, Ang, it's fine!" I tried to stop her but she was gone, weaving her way through the crowd to the busy bar.

I watched her go and shook my head with a smile. I turned around and leaned my forearms on the railing as I watched the dancers below. The beat was infectious and I started to sway my hips in time with the music. It had been so long since I'd last been to a club that I didn't recognize the music. Dance music was always fundamentally the same; deep bass, even beats and soaring vocals or high-pitched synthesized noise.

It was nice to know that some things would never change.

Zing!

There was that tingling, back even stronger than before and my spine snapped upright.

What is that?

I scanned the blurry faces on the dance floor. I was sweating again, the moisture beading between my shoulder blades and sliding over my skin as I shifted from foot-to-foot. I licked my lips, tasting the salty tang of sweat on my upper lip. Without thinking, I lifted my clutch and started to fan my face with it.

I felt the presence of someone at my right elbow before I turned and the tingling became an almost unbearable jolt. A sound must have escaped my lips because a woman on my left side looked over. Her eyes widened as they slid past my face and I turned my head, thinking it was Angela, back with our drinks. She was the stunning one after all.

It wasn't Angela.

He was someone I'd never seen before in my life. As the tingling up and down my spine intensified, I had the oddest feeling that I'd been waiting to see him; that I already knew him, somehow.

He absolutely towered over me, probably standing six-foot three. He was broad shouldered and the hand he wrapped around the railing in front of me was large enough to circle my neck. I registered his body's dimensions without looking away from his face. His eyes were intent on mine and I looked back and forth between their shimmering golden brown irises. His hair appeared dark under the lights but I knew that he had light, reddish-brown hair. It was cut short but not short enough to hide a natural wave. A single curl tickled his forehead and I knew without touching him that it curled over the collar of his shirt as well.

"I've been waiting for you." His voice was as deep and as intense as his eyes. It crackled through me, raising the hair at the back of my neck. I was sweating there too, a trickle dripping from my nape to my shoulders.

I felt parched and felt like I could have downed a gallon of water without taking a single breath. "Have we met?"

He cocked his head to one side, his eyes at last moving away from mine. I sucked in a breath, unaware until then that I hadn't been breathing. The sensation at my spine was no longer contained. As his golden eyes slid over the contours of my face, I felt the tingling turn to trembling and I couldn't stand still. The trembling turned to a vibration that I felt to the soles of my feet.

"Calm down." He shifted closer. I felt his hot breath on my cheek and I gasped as sweat beaded on my forehead. "Please, you must calm down."

"I...I'm f-fine."

As I stared, his lips parted and I felt the hot wash of his breath against my skin again.

"You're not. You must control yourself, please. For me."

At his words, my eyes snapped back to his. He was running those golden eyes over my forehead and down my cheek where I felt a bead of sweat trickle from my hairline to my chin.

Gasping, I lifted a hand to wipe at my skin and my fingers came away covered with concealer and sparkles. "I don't...what's happening to me?"

His eyes met mine again and he looked upset. Very upset, like I'd just told him something terrible and life-altering, like he was an orphan.

"Please, Ryujin."

The strange word broke through my muddled thoughts and I frowned. "That's not my name."

He blinked, taken aback by my sharp tone. Then he smiled and I felt my knees begin to shake.

Oh, how many women have fallen prey to that smile? I wondered and tightened my grip on the railing to hold myself upright.

"Nar?"

My frown deepened, some of the vibrations in my body dimming. I shook my head, somehow knowing he was still trying to guess my name, even though it didn't sound like any name I'd ever heard before.

"Sedna? Atlana? Naunet?"

As I shook my head, he paused and pursed his lips, considering. His eyes bored into mine and I swallowed, uneasy with his perusal. His eyes moved from mine, looking up at my hair again, all along the contours of my face and down to the revealing neckline of my top. As he exhaled, he lifted a hand and his palm hovered over my shoulder.

The vibration returned full force and I knew my knees were about to give out.

I didn't fall. I did almost faint from the searing heat that coursed through my body as this man slid an arm around my waist. I could feel the sweat soaking through my top and dampening my underwear.

Oh! I gasped and met his gaze again. That's not sweat, is it?

That dangerous smile spread across his lips and I felt the pulse deep in my gut. I recognized it this time. It was the same feeling I got whenever Harlowe made love to me. Only intensified about a hundred times over.

This is how it's supposed to feel?

His smile dipped and a line appeared between his eyebrows. As is he could hear my thoughts, he nodded. His fingers moved against my body, over the silky fabric of my red top and I was terrified that he was going to touch my skin. I didn't think I could handle the contact.

"Undine?" he whispered.

I shook my head.

He blew out a soft breath and I realized then how close his face was to mine. If I were to lift onto my tiptoes and tilt my chin up, we'd be kissing. The thought made me smile. Then he smiled in response and I sucked in a sharp breath when he shifted closer. I hadn't thought there was any more space to lose between us but I was wrong.

I felt him then, long and lean from knees all the way to where our chests touched. I was very hot.

"Talise?" His eyes flickering from my eyes to scan my hair and features again, as if my appearance would tell him what my name was. I had nondescript dark hair and dull eyes, made up for the night, but even under the sparkles and glaring strobe lights, my skin was slightly olive in color. Like a permanent tan, as Angela, the snow white princess, often lamented.

"No," I whispered. "My name is-"

"Nerina."

I gasped. "How did you know?"

"It's not one you've had before."

His eyes kept moving over my face. I felt his gaze like a current of electricity. Everywhere his eyes touched, I tingled.

I shook my head, confused by his words, unsettled by his nearness. I was aware of the sweat soaking through my shirt where he clutched me and I was embarrassed by the different moisture soaking through my panties.

"Don't."

I felt his cheek, bristly with whiskers, against mine and his hot breath stirred the hair hanging over my left ear.

"Don't what?" I tried to sound less confused than I was.

"Don't be embarrassed. This is how we are."

I shook my head, shuddering as his whiskers scratched my overly sensitive skin. Sweat trickled down my back and I knew that there'd be a terrible wet spot on my shirt when he released me.

"Then I won't release you."

I laughed, a weak, breathless sound. "Stop that."

"I can't help it. Neither can you."

"I can't help letting you read my mind?"

This is ridiculous! I added silently and realized I was only on my feet by the strength of his arm.

"No. Nor can I keep you from mine."

I shook my head. "I can't read your mind"

He moved then and I no longer felt his whiskers against my skin. Our eyes met and he smiled.

My lovely. It's been too long.

"How has it been too long?" I wasn't surprised that his lips hadn't moved. "We've just met."

He shook his head, never taking his eyes from mine. I became aware then of the club surrounding us, the slow pulse of bodies shifting and the low hum of music and voices. It all seemed distant and slow.

"Nerina." As he whispered my name he lowered his head. When he spoke my name again, I felt his kiss, the barest contact of our lips.

A moan escaped my throat and I sagged against him, the heat overwhelming me. I blinked my eyes, looking over his shoulder and could have sworn I saw steam rising from his back.

"I can't stay," he whispered.

"Why?" I thought I sounded upset.

His smile was brilliant, turning up the vibrations in my body to an almost painful degree. "We'll see each other again, Nerina."

God help me, but I loved how he said my name. He had some kind of accent that I couldn't place and it turned the syllables of my name into a caress. I had the distant thought that my underwear would dissolve if this kept up.

His smile turned wicked and he chuckled. Since he still held me plastered against his body, I felt that laugh everywhere. I sucked in a breath, feeling far too hot.

"Tell me I didn't say that out loud." My cheeks burned with a different kind of heat now.

"You didn't." You didn't have to.

I shuddered and squeezed my eyes shut. I felt his breath whisper over my lips and there was contact a second later. Then I felt his hold loosening and the music and noise of the club started to intrude on our bubble.

"No." I clutched his arms. "Don't."

"I have to."

His reply was gentle and his hand gone from my back. He held me at the waist, his touch still scorching.

"Promise me I'll see you again." So help me, I didn't care about begging at this point.

I promise. The words were firm and the look in his eyes hardened. I knew he meant it.

Then his hand fell from my side and the rest of the club came back into focus. In the space of a breath, he moved so that we were no longer touching anywhere. A cool breeze wafted over me and I inhaled. The sweat cooled against my skin and I was no longer overheated. I kept my eyes on his face as he took another deliberate step away from me.

I couldn't be sure, but the look on his face was almost one of pain. He smiled and it was heartbreaking.

It is painful, I heard inside my head. And my heart aches. It has been too long.