Water Bound (43 page)
Authors: Christine Feehan
Her nipple hardened into his palm and he transferred his attention to her breast, rolling and tugging and then bending to draw the silky flesh into his mouth. She cradled his head to her, holding him, the tremors rocking her, the small little whimpers enveloping him in her music. He pressed his forehead against hers and inhaled, taking her feminine fragrance into his lungs.
“You’re so beautiful, Rikki.”
“Actually, I’m pretty thin,” she said matter-of-factly. “I don’t have a lot of curves.”
He couldn’t help but smile. She wasn’t fishing for compliments, she meant it literally. He’d not only meant her outside, but her inside as well.
“You have enough for me. And we’ll work on the thin part. I’m a good cook. You just have to learn to eat something other than peanut butter.” He pulled away from her before he was lost again. “You’re also a terrible distraction.”
He caressed her bare bottom as he slipped past and made his way to the kitchen. The drive teed and went into a circle. Rikki, as well as her family, always used the parking at the back. There was more room and the drive circled right back to the main road. He didn’t turn on lights, but waited in the gathering darkness as a car he recognized as Blythe’s made its way to park beside Rikki’s truck. She sat for a moment, staring at the house, obviously disturbed by something, before she opened her door and got out. As soon as he saw that she was alone and bringing dinner, he went out to help her.
“Blythe, good to see you,” he greeted, taking the containers from her. “I really can cook now. I do appreciate all of you keeping me from starving to death, but we’re going shopping tomorrow and I’ll cook. We’ll do a little trial and error, and see if we can find other things Rikki can comfortably eat.”
Blythe followed him up the stairs to the porch, but stopped at the door. “You have to go slow with her, Levi.”
He nodded. “I’m learning that. It’s a good journey though. Come on in.”
Blythe shook her head. “I don’t know how she manages to accept you in her house, but she gets very distressed when we all come in. She barely held it together when we had to enter the house the other day.”
“But not because of her autism,” Lev said. “She’s afraid for you. If you don’t stop that now, it’s going to become part of her routine and she’ll lose the ability to have guests in her home. That’s too limiting for her. Her home is her safe haven. Her refuge. She has to be comfortable with her family in it. Come in and just act natural.”
Blythe moistened her lips nervously, but she stepped into the kitchen, looking at him with speculative eyes. Lev knew his hair was damp and his shirt open. She knew he was more than a man passing through Rikki’s life. He also knew she was worried. He couldn’t blame her. Her sisters had read him accurately, but he was going to stay. Blythe would have to learn that Rikki was his world and she was safe in his hands. He put the dinner on the table and padded barefoot on through to the living room, Blythe following reluctantly.
“It’s Blythe, Rikki. She brought dinner,” he called.
“Oh, good. I wanted to see her,” Rikki called back. “I was going to tell her what a great hunter you are, almost bringing us back a huge lingcod.” Laughing, she emerged from the bedroom, her hair disheveled and still damp, her eyes bright with laughter, hands still buttoning her shirt.
The smile faded from her face the moment she saw her sister standing in her living room. “Oh.” She pushed her hand through the wet strands of her hair in agitation. “I thought you’d be waiting outside on the porch for me.”
“It’s a little cool out there to be comfortable,” Lev said smoothly. “I asked her in. I knew you’d want her to stay warm.”
Rikki opened her mouth twice to say something and closed it, swallowing hard. Her frown was back, dark brows drawn together. She turned in a circle, looking helpless and vulnerable.
Lev wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him, dropping his chin on the top of her head. “You aren’t worried about your stalker, are you, sweetheart ? I’ve got a good warning system. He can’t sneak up on us. Your sister is safe.”
Her fingers plucked nervously at his shirt. “Are you certain?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I would never put your sister’s life in danger.”
“He manages to hurt or kill everyone I care about,” she said.
“Not this time, honey.”
Laskovaya moya, trust me. I am beginning to know him and his days will be numbered. He will not be allowed to harm you.
Laskovaya moya, trust me. I am beginning to know him and his days will be numbered. He will not be allowed to harm you.
Lev kissed her neck and then waved Blythe to a chair. “Rikki threw a fish at me today. One with gigantic teeth.”
He forced a small grin. Rikki was still tense. He was definitely pushing her comfort zone by having Blythe in the house with them. He causally crossed to the door and opened it, leaving the screen in place, but allowing Rikki to see that they had a clear escape should a fire start.
“She threw a fish at you?” Blythe settled into a chair with an encouraging smile. “Did you really, Rikki?”
Rikki dropped into her favorite chair and glanced uneasily at the kitchen door. Lev obligingly went through to the kitchen to open it for her.
“He’s always complaining about my peanut butter so I thought I might help him out with dinner.”
“The fish was possessed,” Lev picked up the story. “It was snapping and flopping and trying to chew my leg off, and she’s in the water laughing.”
Rikki’s laughter was genuine and the tension in him unraveled.
“He looked like he was doing a wild rain dance. And he was going to bail, give up my boat to the fish.”
“I was not.” Lev couldn’t take his eyes from her face. He loved watching her expressions. Maybe he’d never looked at people before. They meant nothing to him. He could never see their pain and suffering. He couldn’t let it touch him or he would fail in his mission. The mission mattered, the ultimate goal, not the individual. Laughter was never heard. If you allowed yourself to hear or feel amusement, you would hear and feel pain.
As if she was reading his thoughts, Rikki took his left hand in both of hers. “He definitely was, Blythe. He was going to abandon ship.”
The pad of her thumb slid over the center of his palm. He felt her caress, not on his skin but deep in his body, an intimacy that connected them beyond all expectations. Stay. She’d whispered that to him. Given him a choice. She didn’t want him in the cold—in the shadows. She saw beyond the ghost to the man and somehow gave him substance. She’d given him a home, a refuge. And now she’d given him this—intimacy beyond imagining.
He wanted to take her into his arms all over again, bury his body in hers and merge them together until they were sharing the same skin. He didn’t think it was possible to love a woman, to love anyone, the way he loved her. He felt Blythe’s gaze on him and he forced himself to look away from Rikki. Instincts honed by years of survival kept him from showing his feelings. Rikki made him vulnerable, and his feelings for her made her the perfect target if anyone wanted to get to him.
Lev cleared his throat. “If I want to hear gossip, where’s the best place to go?”
“Inez at the grocery store,” Rikki and Blythe said simultaneously. They looked at each other and laughed.
“Everyone talks to her. She knows everyone and sooner or later, everyone spills their guts to her,” Rikki added.
“But I don’t want to paint her as just a gossip,” Blythe clarified. “She’s not like that. She’s genuinely interested in people’s lives and cares about them. She doesn’t disclose anything confidential and she protects the people in the village. The Drakes, one of our most prominent families, are very close to her. Joley is a star in the music industry and Hannah was a supermodel. Kate writes novels and they’re bestsellers, so often, reporters come into the village, especially for those tatty little gossip rags.”
“Blythe is a first cousin to the Drakes,” Rikki volunteered. “Her mother’s name is Blythe as well. It’s a huge family. I swear, there’re so many cousins they could take over the town.”
Blythe nodded, her gaze fixed on Lev. “We probably could. And recently there was quite a wedding.”
“Your family sounds interesting. I didn’t have any siblings so I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have a large family.”
“Noisy,” Blythe said. “And happy. I have a lot of cousins, but no siblings. My mother managed to have me, but no others. She had six sisters. She was third to the oldest and quite talented in her way. I could never lie to her.” She laughed softly. “It wasn’t so easy during my teenage years, but all the get-togethers with my cousins were fun. Holidays were the best”
“So you’re close to your cousins?”
She nodded. “I see them often. That’s why I came here, to be close to family. I found this great piece of property. Most of the farm was already developed.”
“Why didn’t your family go in with you on it?” Lev asked.
Her expression closed down. “I didn’t ask them. I felt it was very necessary to be on my own.” She indicated Rikki with her chin. “I’m glad I did. I never had younger sisters and this farm has allowed me to have a big family of my own.”
Rikki smiled. “And I’m very glad you did as well.”
Blythe studied Lev’s face. She seemed to be staring at his eyes. He knew his facial hair hid a great deal. He had scars on his arms and hands, and he was certain she’d noticed them but she hadn’t asked any questions.
“You remind me of Joley’s husband just a little bit. Something around the eyes, or maybe it’s the way you watch people. You’re very still like he is. He’s Russian and worked for some sort of government agency. I’m not really certain which. His last name is Prakenskii.”
Prakenskii.
He didn’t even blink. Survival took over. His body remained relaxed and he appeared mildly interested, no more. Had someone taken his pulse, it would have been rock steady.
He didn’t even blink. Survival took over. His body remained relaxed and he appeared mildly interested, no more. Had someone taken his pulse, it would have been rock steady.
Do not look at me, Rikki.
Rikki rocked gently in her chair and idly picked up the handheld kaleidoscope Judith had made especially for her. Lev could see it was beautiful, the exterior blues and aquas shimmered as if one was underwater looking up toward the surface to palm trees overlooking the ocean.
Keep looking into your kaleidoscope. She is fishing and we can give nothing away. It would put her life in danger.
Aloud, he spoke to Blythe, not even glancing at Rikki to see if she understood. He had to trust her to handle this inquiry without hesitation.
Lev looked Blythe straight in the eye and gave a casual shrug. “Must be my Russian mother. Well, half Russian. Her mother married a contractor who had consulted with a huge building project there. She was a translator. Maybe she gave me Russian eyes.”
“Were you aware,” Blythe asked, “that although the yacht that went down was a Greek vessel, one of those lost aboard was a Russian? I’ve heard someone’s been in Inez’s store asking around about survivors, particularly the Russian.”
Rikki took a breath and held out the kaleidoscope, as if the conversation was an idle one and didn’t concern her in the least. “You have to look at this, Levi.”
“Really?” he said to Blythe as he took the proffered scope. “I thought it was confirmed that everyone was dead. I haven’t been keeping up with the news.”
Blythe nodded. “Judith told me he showed her a picture of the man he was looking for. He was about your height and weight.”
Lev smiled at her. “I suppose you’re implying that I might be this man?”
“It’s plausible. You turned up around the same time.”
He put the kaleidoscope to his eye and looked down the tube. The liquid-filled cell captured the image and feel of being both in the water and under the water simultaneously. Judith was clearly remarkable when it came to design. The kaleidoscope was perfect for Rikki—the effect, calm and soothing, gave one the feeling of being at home in the sea. The cell contained a variety of ocean colors—aqua, turquoise, various shades of greens, coral, natural shell colors, pearly finishes, cool silvers and warm golds. Inside he found many objects including fish, shells, sea horses, kelp forms, bubbles, wave shapes and crystals that suggested the sparkle of the sun on the water.
“This is beautiful, Rikki,” he said, his voice tender, handing the scope back to her and brushing a kiss on top of her head. “Your Judith is a genius.” He turned his attention once more to Blythe, giving her an easy smile as only Levi Hammond could do. “If you’re worried that I might be this lost Russian, it’s easy enough to check me out. I’m sure you know people.”
She kept her eyes on his. “There are quite a few people in law enforcement in the family.”
Rikki put down the kaleidoscope and frowned at Blythe. “Are you accusing Levi of something, Blythe? What’s wrong with you? I thought we were past that.”
Lev could have kissed her. She had the right touch of outrage, her eyes accusing. When he touched her mind, he realized she wasn’t playing a part. As far as she was concerned, her family had indicated they accepted Lev, so their loyalty should extend to him.
It doesn’t work that way, Rikki. She loves you not only as a sister, but as the child she never had. Whatever she heard made her feel the need to protect you, and we are, in fact, lying to her. It’s possible she senses that and it makes her uneasy.
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