Stormfront (Undertow Book 2) (33 page)

I could feel the cold swea
t
leeching through the back of Eila’s tank top as she sat on my lap, her chest pressed to mine. She was breathing hard and shaking from Kian’s third attempt to lift her dislocated shoulder.

She rested her head against my shoulder and I could feel her warm breath curling over my neck.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

The fact that she was in such pain and I was trying to keep her from moving while Kian hurt her further, was killing me.

She had separated her shoulder when she fell on the stairs, and every time Kian moved her arm, her entire body tensed, making it impossible to push her shoulder back into place.

“It’s okay. Let’s just, take a break, okay? Let’s just sit here for a second,” I said to her, kissing her damp forehead. If we tortured her much longer, her body would start to head into shock.

Ana and MJ came up from the lower deck, both covered in grime. “How you doing, Eila?” asked Ana, sitting herself on a chair next to mine. Ana had been slaving with MJ, trying to get Cerberus back up and running. We needed to get the hell out of here.

“Not great,” replied E, softly, not moving.

Kian draped a throw blanket over Eila’s back, trying to warm her up and Ana looked at him. “Don’t we have anything stronger than just regular pain meds onboard?”

Kian shook his head.

Ana sat down next to me, watching Eila. She scooted closer, “Eila? I might be able to block your pain. Can I try?”

“Ana – what are you talking about?” I asked, glancing over
Eila’s head as Ana got to her feet.

She shrugged, “It’s worth a shot. Technically pain is only what the mind translates. If I can block her mind from translating what she feels into pain, I might be able to help her.”

“Do it,” whispered Eila.

Ana glanced to Kian and he gave a nod. “You tell me when, Pix,” he said, coming to stand next to
Eila’s side again.

Ana placed her hands to
Eila’s forehead and back, closing her eyes. Eila’s tense body slowly began to soften in my arms and her breathing began to even. Ana’s face was one of complete concentration, her eyes pinched shut, her jaw hard.

After a minute she gave the smallest nod and Kian carefully touched
Eila’s hanging arm. Eila took a shorter breath and Kian paused, looking at me. Ana hadn’t moved, her face tense and focused. I felt Eila relax again and I mouthed the word
go
to him.

Kian lifted
Eila’s arm, rotated it forward, then up and back to her side. I could feel the slight pop travel through her shoulder blade as Kian successfully reset her arm. He didn’t let go however, holding her arm against her side.

I stroked
Eila’s dark hair, “You okay?”

“Yeah, thank god. You rock
, Ana,” breathed Eila, slowly easing herself back from me while Kian still kept her arm steady. MJ looped a make-shift sling over her neck and Kian slid her arm inside. Her accelerated healing would repair her shoulder completely within a day, but the sling would help speed the process.

Ana finally let her
go and blinked a few times, swaying slightly on her feet. I began to understand why Rillin called her kind Sway. I reached out and quickly grabbed her by the hip to steady her. “Damn – I feel like I rode the carousel for too long,” she said, rubbing her face. Her fingers left grease spots on her forehead.

“Are you okay
, Pix? You look a bit drunk,” said Kian, trying to make her smile, but clearly concerned.

Ana gave him
a thumbs up and steadied herself, her dizziness passing. Eila looked up to her friend, “I owe you, woman.”

“
Pfft – you
always
owe me,” replied Ana with a smile. “In fact, I think everyone owes me, because I am pretty sure I fixed the engine.”

“Uh, technically you messed it up in the first place, though,” said MJ, who dodged a throw pillow when she flung it at his head.

Our three friends began making preparations to get underway and head for Polaris. We had planned to go to one more island before heading to Christian’s, but between the pirates, Eila’s shoulder, and the forecast of a stormfront moving in, our semi-vacation needed to be over.

Eila remained on my lap, studying my face.

She was paler than normal from her injury, but the pink was slowly returning to her fair skin. When Kian and I had finally gotten to Cerberus, one look at the destruction inside the boat told us that the girls and MJ put up one hell of a fight.

Eila had told me she had used what I had taught her to defend
herself and I was proud of her. But when I learned that she had been bound and her mouth duct taped, I only wanted vicious revenge.

We had argued over her attacker’s fate -- she wanted him to live, but I want
ed him chopped into fish chum.

Ana’s Babe Ruth swing
, however, had settled his fate for us. The clean strike she had delivered to his jaw and temple, had caused a fatal injury inside his brain, and by the time I checked on him, he had died. We had dumped both bodies overboard, knowing their blood would soon attract the sharks.

Sadly,
neither of the pirates were Garrett’s nephew, and with Garret having lost his head, I was concerned the nephew might seek revenge. Rillin’s idea of us all carrying weapons now seemed like a much better plan.

I looked at Eila and swept a damp piece of her hair back from her face. “Can I get you to bed? You need to rest.”

A smile played over her beautiful lips, “Yes you can, as long as you come to bed with me. I mean, I know it is such a burden to share your bed with a blanket hog like me, but do you think you could tough it out?”

“Sleeping with you is mighty hard, you know?”

She pouted. “Oh dear. We can’t have that. I guess I’ll just bunk in with Ana tonight. I can’t have my guard being tortured,” she sighed. “ANA! Can I sleep in your b—,”

I quickly covered her mouth with my hand and a devious smile curled onto her pink lips, sending sparks through my fingertips. I let my hand slowly drop, and trace along her jaw as I pulled her in, mindful of her shoulder as I kissed her.

“I’m thinking you don’t mind the torture?” she asked with a brilliant smile.

Nope –
I didn’t mind at all.

Polaris was a strip of emeral
d
in a sea of blue.

Like its namesake, the lush island seemed to be the most magnificent point in the Caribbean, with Christian
’s home standing proudly atop a hill near the private docks.

We had arrived just as the sun climbed over the ocean, having cruised through the night ahead of the coming storm. The sky now burned red and tumultuous, as a wayward raindrop would randomly fall, braving the way for its friends to follow.

“I could stay here forever,” said Ana with a sigh, looking out over the breathtaking landscape from the second floor balcony.

I reached out and touched the fragrant vines that clung to the balcony, sliding my finger along the purple petals of a flower I couldn’t identify. Ana was right – I could stay here forever, in Ch
ristian’s stunning, New Orleans-styled home. That was the biggest surprise for me when I first saw the house – that it wasn’t some elaborate fortress or a modern castle, but an antebellum estate. It was
Gone with the Wind
and Bourbon Street.

Massive white pillars towered from the lush grounds to the shingled roof thre
e stories up. Two full balconies ran the entire circumference of the home.

My bedroom, complete with canopy bed, private marble bathroom, and two sets of French doors, overlooked the ocean and the southernmost part of the island’s rolling hills. Ana’s room connected to mine, and I could see us sitting out on these covered balconies late into the night, stargazing and dreaming. Raef, Kian, and MJ all had rooms on the third floor, directly above us. With a dozen bedrooms and nearly 8,000 square feet of sprawling
deep south elegance, the Polaris house was simply magnificent.

The home was constructed as a massive, squared-off U, with the back half open to a huge, outdoor living space with lounging beds, fire pits, and a pool that seemed to tumble off into the
ocean beyond. My room and Ana’s were located on the innermost part of the U, and our view stretched out over the pool to the ocean beyond, and Cerberus, now docked in her own private harbor.

I watched our faithful yacht and she barely moved in the now rougher seas. MJ walked along her fine lines, checking her ropes to make sure she would weather the storm, while Raef and Kian unloaded some things from her. She would need some small repairs from our encounter with the pirates, but overall, she was a tough seagoing siren.

“Ana? Eila?” called Rillin, in his deep, gruff voice from below us. He stepped out into the open-air room and looked up to where we stood. His face was completely fuzz-free, which caused me to blink a few times in surprise.

“Why
, look! It’s Thor! And he ditched his beard! How fancy!” said Ana, with a chuckle.

Rillin
crossed his arms. “I thought I’d show you two where the kitchen was. You know – so you can make yourselves some breakfast. I’m assuming you didn’t grab something on the yacht just now.”

Nope. Sure didn’t, especially since I was busy snuggling in bed with Raef up until we pulled into Polaris. I will admit that I slept like
a rock last night, but Raef informed me that he preferred to stay up and watch me sleep. It was both creepy and outrageously sexy.

“Excuse me
, but are you saying that our stay at Casa de Christian doesn’t include maid service and a private chef? What type of cheap, two-star establishment is this anyway?” asked Ana, acting disgusted.

“She’s joking
, right?” replied Rillin.

I smiled, “With her you can never quite tell, but I am happy to cook.” I knew
Rillin, Kian and Raef would not be eating, but MJ, Ana, and I needed some real food. Christian had made sure the home would be stocked when we arrived, and for his thoughtfulness, I was grateful. He was still in Barbados with Mae . . . and Collette. He would arrive in a few hours, but Mae wouldn’t be here for days, and I suspected we would see some major fireworks once Kian’s ex descended on us.

A warm gust of wind ruffled the leaves of the tall palms lining the pool, forcing them to fold over, a sure sign that the storm was fast approaching.

“Meet me at the bottom of the stairs and I will show you to the kitchen,” said Rillin as he disappeared back under our feet. The rain became more persistent as Ana and I headed back inside through my bedroom.

As I walked by a set of double doors that centered the far side of my room, I caught a glimpse of something glittery inside. I stopped short and
Ana nearly collided with me. “What the heck?” she muttered as I turned and headed for the shimmering object.

I pulled the doors open and before me hung rows of stunning dresses, jeans, shirts, and nightgowns. “Oh. My. God.” I whispered, walking into the biggest closet I had ever seen.

Ana followed, whistling as she ran her hand along all the beautiful clothing. I pulled the sparkling evening dress that had caught my eye from the rack, holding it up. It was pewter colored, with a devastating slit up the leg and a back covered in metallic-toned lace. Everything looked as though it would fit me.

I knew of only one person on the planet that could make something so beautiful and who knew my specific clothing size. “Collette,” I said turning to Ana, but she was holding up what looked like shredded red yarn, wrapped around another hanger.
“What is that?” I asked.

“A bikini
, I think.” Ana eyed the scrap of fabric as if it was a poisonous snake.

“That’s not a bathing suit! That’s floss with a couple of napkins attached! I’m NOT wearing that!”

“You’re right. If you wore this by the pool, Raef would have a heart attack.” She winked at me.

The woman was the devil, but her evil ways were rubbing off on me. I narrowed my eyes, snatching the floss from her. “I saw a hot tub not far from that pool. I think my shoulder could use a good, long soak, don’t you think?” I asked, wiggling my nearly healed arm that was still in its sling.

Ana smiled in that bad-girl way that I had come to love.

“You know . . . if my room has a fully stocked closet . . .” I started, but Ana’s eyes sparkled and she tore out of my room, heading
to her own couture oasis. We might be tomboys, but free clothing like this was way too fun to pass up. Breakfast could wait.

“Rillinasked where your scar was
?
But we don’t have scars. What the hell did he mean?” asked Kian, walking up to Christian’s house. I pulled the huge front door open as MJ and Kian walked through, their arms filled with some of the girls’ things.

“I have no clue what he meant. I was hoping you could come up with some insight,” I said, stepping into the home’s massive entrance. A towering, circular staircase spun upwards to the left, while the right was open to a billiard room, complete with massive fireplace. Chandeliers and pieces of history were everywhere, including paintings and maritime relics. Christian did nothing
subtly.

Rillin
came around the corner and gave us all a nod, shaking each of our hands in turn. “How was your trip?” he asked.

MJ dropped one of the bags by his feet. “Except for the pirates? Oh
, it was fabulous.”

“Pirates? What happened?” asked
Rillin, his face hard. “Is that why Eila has a sling?”

I nodded. “Those two from your Blacklist had ties to the pirating community. They tried to hijack Cerberus while Kian and I were off hunting. The girls and MJ managed to take the yacht back, however.”

Rillin looked surprised. “I’m . . . impressed.”

“Why does everyone seem so shocked that I can hold my own in my human form? I’m starting to get a complex, damn it!” protested MJ.

Kian was about to reply, but then we caught a glimpse of Eila and Ana through the back wall of glass. They were walking past a massive pool and testing the heat of the hot tub with their feet. Eila bit her lip as her toe inched into the water, her arm still in a sling, her torso wrapped in an array of red ribbons that seemed to flow outward from an obscenely hot bikini.

Her scar was easily visible as it plunged down the center of her chest, and one part of me was proud that she was no longer hiding it. The other part of me, however, wanted to force everyone from the building so I could see how long it would take me to unwrap the suit from her breathtaking curves.

I suspected Kian had the same thoughts about Ana, who was in a white bikini, but hers had a web-like strip of fabric that ran from the bottom piece up to the top, covering her stomach. Barely.

Rillin
turned to see what we were staring at and caught a glimpse of both Ana and Eila talking and laughing as they lowered themselves into the steaming tub. He cleared his throat, turning back to us. “Collette stocked everyone’s rooms with a full wardrobe, bathing suits and training apparel included.”

“Obviously,” muttered Kian.

I continued to watch Eila, and she eased the sling off her arm and sank lower into the hot tub, resting her head back against the granite edge, her face skyward. The tiny raindrops landed along her cheeks and she closed her eyes as they slid down her face, like tears. “I need to cool off in the pool,” I said to no one in particular.

“Me too,” replied Kian.

“Absolutely,” said MJ.

Kian and I turned to look at him, shock on our faces.

“What? I may be just a friend to them, but I’m still a guy. Sheesh.” MJ stomped off, heading in the direction that Rillin specified, no doubt to grab a suit and cool off for multiple reasons.

Kian turned to me, a calm expression on his face. “I just want you to know that if those suits are any indication of what Collette has left for them to wear on a daily basis, then I will be dead inside of a week.”

“That makes two of us,” I replied, heading for my room and my own suit, which was hopefully NOT a Speedo.