Waterlocked: An Elemental World Novella (9 page)

“That and tiny swimsuits, luv.” He reached down and gave her ass a pinch. “Can’t forget those.”

“Of course not.”

It was getting close to dawn, so they headed directly to their secured room under the boat. For the first time, entering the small outer hatch did not fill Gemma with dread. She simply closed her eyes and pressed her face into Terry’s chest until she could feel the air surrounding them. They both grabbed towels to dry themselves, neither bothering with clothes. They were both more than comfortable in their skins.

Gemma studied him as he readied the room, making sure the heater was turned on for her. She knew the cold didn’t bother him, but she was on the warmer end of the vampire spectrum, so cold did cause discomfort. He tossed another pillow on the low bed, then straightened the linens and grabbed another blanket from a built in chest.

“Do you want some blood before dawn?” he asked.

“No, thank you.” She didn’t really have to feed more than once every two weeks or so. Terry had to drink more.

She kept watching him, suddenly aware of his presence in a way she hadn’t been in years. His body was built for strength, with muscular legs and a trim waist. Broad shoulders that would never stoop with age or lose their strength. Terry ran a quick hand over the hair he’d always kept trimmed unfashionably short. He moved quickly, efficient in every movement; his eyes darted around the room, instinctually checking for any weakness or danger. It was the way he had always been.

Her husband wasn’t made for fine rooms and tailored suits. He had a body built for violence and the mind of a conman. It was exactly those qualities that had made his sire turn him. It was part of the reason she’d chosen him as her husband. And now he was hers.

Gemma’s eyes were drawn to the curve of muscle where his neck met his shoulder.

“Have you ever shared blood with anyone, Terry?”

He froze, his back to her. “No.”

“Oh.”

He paused. “Have you?”

“I…” She had dreamed about sharing that bond with her human husband, but it hadn't been possible. And she had taken his vein, but not often. He hadn’t enjoyed it. William had never been totally at ease with the creature she was. “No,” she said. “I haven’t.”

A heavy silence lay between them. He still had his back to her, tension evident in his shoulders.

“You know I’d never deny you anything in my power to give you, Gemma,” he said in a low voice. “But if you want something, you’ll have to ask. I’m done offering.”

Her fangs ran down when she heard his heart thump. He wanted her to bite him, wanted that intimacy between them. Her skin prickled in awareness, and Gemma realized she wanted him to bite her, too. She wanted it so badly her fangs ached in her mouth.

Too much!
Her mind rebelled.

She rose and went to him, wrapping her arms around him from behind, reveling the smooth expanse of his back under her mouth. She kissed along his spine as her hands splayed along his belly. For once, she wanted to be slow. She wanted to appreciate each moment with him. Gemma pressed her ear to his back, listening to the slow thump of his excited heart as his hands covered hers, holding her close.

“My Gemma,” he whispered.

Your Gemma.

She could give him that. Maybe she was no longer capable of love. She probably didn’t deserve her husband's. But if Terry wanted her, she could be his.

His energy reached out to the water that dotted her skin, fluttering over her body with tiny vibrations that caused her to gasp in pleasure. His amnis licked at her though not a single muscle flinched. Gemma closed her eyes and drunk it in. It was familiar and new all at once. The feel of his body under her hands. The same smell in her nose. The taste of his skin. The overwhelming raw energy of their touch ignited every nerve in her body.

For over fifteen years they had been lovers, and it had always been this way. Terry was her own familiar mystery. Each time she thought she had the puzzle solved, new pieces were thrown at her. She opened her eyes and saw the luxurious linens he’d brought onto the boat for her. The Egyptian cotton towels in the chest. The low whir of the heater that cut the natural chill of the water. For her.

“My husband takes good care of me,” she murmured.

She heard him give a low laugh. “He’d hear it if he didn’t.”

Gemma ducked under his arm and moved in front of him, drawing him down to the bed, covering herself with the solid feel of his body over hers. She pressed a lingering kiss to his lips. “I don’t need to be taken care of,” she murmured against his lips. “But I find that I do enjoy it.”

The corner of his mouth turned up in a crooked smile. “Good. I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.”

She gently pushed his shoulders back and rolled on top, kissing down his chest as she slid onto him. He arched up in pleasure, groaning out her name. Gemma closed her eyes and focused on the familiar push and pull of their bodies together, memorizing his breath, pressing his hands closer when they stroked over her favorite spots.

Gemma tortured them both with slow pleasure, touching the edge over and over, only to pull back and focus on her lover until he grew mad with her teasing. Finally losing patience, Terry sat up, grabbing the hair at the nape of her neck and pulling her in for a bruising kiss as he took control.

“My turn, luv.”

Her breath caught as he drove them harder. He tugged her hair again, forcing her eyes to his.

“I want to see you.”

“Terry…”

“Gemma.” He breathed out her name like a prayer and she felt her body coiling with tension, seconds away from breaking free. She couldn’t take her eyes from him. His mouth was set in a stubborn line as he drove her to the edge of release. Closer. Closer… Suddenly, his lips softened as he whispered, “I love you, Gemma.”

She shattered.

Chapter Seven

“Terry.” He was groggy from his day rest when he heard her voice. “Terry.”

He reached for her instinctively, only to feel her grab his wrist and bend it back. He frowned, his eyes still closed.

“Terry.” Her quiet voice was a little more urgent.

“Early, luv,” he mumbled.

“I knew this was going to be a problem with a younger man.”

“I ‘ave to be…” He somehow managed to shake off the ache in his wrist and pull Gemma closer. “Keep up with you.”

“You’re not making sense. And you need to wake up now.”

“No.” He was comfortable. And Gemma was right next to him where she belonged. “Why… don’ you share my room when we get home, Gem? Be nice, you know…”

“Terrance, wake up. There are five humans and two vampires on this vessel.”

Th-thunk.
His heart gave a quick lurch and he opened his eyes.
Th-thunk.

He held out his hand. “Blood. Now.” He felt her put the cold packet in his hand and he brought it to his mouth, biting through the plastic and draining it quickly. He sat up. Gemma was wearing a pair of black leggings and a bikini top.

“What else do you need to wake up?”

Terry dragged her mouth to his, nicking her bottom lip with his fang and sucking hard as she let out a barely audible whimper.

“Terry—”

“More later.” He could feel the heady energy filling him. It was more than the few drops he’d tasted by accident in the past. He’d taken a solid swallow of Gemma’s powerful blood and could already feel the effects. His limbs prickled with awareness, the fog began to lift from his mind, and his senses went on alert. He was also hard as a rock, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. Damn.

“The humans arrived during the daylight, but obviously, I couldn’t do much. The two vampires just arrived.”

“Any sense of them?”

“Not much. I don’t recognize any voices. The humans have been bashing around in the back of the stateroom for over an hour.” As if to demonstrate, Terry heard a solid thump on the other side of the wall separating the day chamber from the interior cabin.

“Bloody humans on my boat,” he muttered, curling his lip. “Fucking vampires. Kill every last one of them, just for disturbing my honeymoon. Dammit, Gem. Can we get a single week to ourselves?”

She was looking around the wooden chamber of the Conquest with wide eyes. “There’s only one way out of this chamber. I don’t like this.”

“They’d have to have a battering ram to get in.”

“How did they find us? I thought you said that Carl and Roger were the only ones who knew about this boat.”

He felt his brain pick up her train of thought. The realization brought a pang of unexpected grief. “Then Carl is dead.”

“Roger?”

“Not likely. Carl was human. We have to assume it was Carl.” Amnis or torture? It could be either, but for his assistant's sake, he hoped it was the former. Terry pushed a button in the wall and heard the hiss of the pneumatics as the wooden panel lifted to reveal a few small monitors. He squinted, making sure not to get too close so he didn’t short out the equipment.

“I know that one.” Gemma pointed to one monitor, which immediately went fuzzy. Terry batted her hand away.

“Look, don’t touch. Which one? The shorter one?” He glanced at the humans; two were stumbling around on deck and the other three were still searching the cabin for some kind of trap door.

“Yes.” She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “He’s Leonor’s.”

A cold knot settled in his stomach. “You’re sure?” The Spanish noblewoman was almost as old as Gemma and known to be as ruthless as Terry. She’d controlled the Iberian peninsula and the Straight of Gibraltar through more regimes than Terry could count. She was not only powerful, but rich. All trade into the Mediterranean passed through her shipping lanes, owing her tribute. Leonor was a formidable opponent who he would have bet with confidence was an ally.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Gemma said, as if reading his mind. “This would be foolish of her. Why get rid of us? She doesn’t have the physical resources to take London, nor the ambition. This could be an internal problem that we were dragged into.”

“Or it could have to do with that bloody elixir, Gem.”

“Or that.”

They watched for a few more minutes. The two vampires were conferring on the deck. One grabbed a bottle of the blood wine from the cabinet, eyeing it with interest.

“Damn,” he muttered. “If he wasn’t dead before, he is now.” Terry wasn't willing to let them have their business secrets any more than the personal ones.

“Plan?”

“Did you hear any boats?”

“No.”

“Then it's likely humans brought them during the day while you were sleeping. Has to be at least one boat. Maybe more. No telling how many humans aboard.”

“They wouldn’t want to attract attention.”

Terry shrugged and stood up, debating whether to put on clothes. “It’s a big ocean. And we’re out in the middle of it.” With a grimace, he settled on a pair of black swim shorts. He may not have liked wearing clothes in the water, but neither did he plan on killing and maiming with his glory flapping in the breeze.

“Ah yes, out in the middle of the Atlantic. Have I told you what an excellent plan that was, darling?”

Terry grinned. She’d never called him ‘darling’ before. “Just look on the bright side, luv. No one will raise any questions when they hear the screams, now will they?”

“True,” she said just as he heard the splash. His eyes darted back to the monitor. Only one vampire was visible on the screens. “Vampire overboard.”

“He cannot find this chamber.” Terry’s eyes locked on Gemma’s. “If it’s compromised, we’ll have to reach land by dawn or rest very, very deep.”

He saw the battle lust fill her eyes and her fangs run out in her mouth. “Ready?” he asked.

“Of course.” She went to him eagerly, wrapping her arms around his waist as he opened the trap door and lay down in the narrow chamber. Her energy was jumping and he could feel the blood churning in her normally slow veins. “You’re excited about killing something, aren’t you?”

Gemma smiled, her fangs gleaming behind her rosebud lips. “I don't like being bored.”

“No, you don't.” He punched the button and let the hydraulic lever go to work, sealing them in, then the outer door released, flooding the small chamber with water.

Ah, yes.
His amnis reached out, immediately identifying the other immortal nearby. The door opened. With a quick twist, he shoved Gemma from his arms and she slipped under the keel to the opposite side of the Conquest. He spun to block the dagger that had been coming at his throat, twisting around, trying to lock his legs around his attacker to immobilize him.

No good. His opponent was a water vamp, just like him. The force of the current buffeted him before he could block it, then Terry heard a scraping sound and a splash as another body entered the water.

Terry couldn’t tell where it came from, and he had no time to look. He had to trust that Gemma would have enough control underwater that she could handle herself. The vampire had not stopped attacking, and Terry had no knife. He kept weapons, but none in his day chamber.

The immortal attacking him had dusky skin and long hair that kept drifting into his eyes as the water swirled around them. Terry bared his fangs. Amateur.

Not spending enough time in your element, are you?

Terry dove, darting deep into the black water, and he heard his opponent follow. The other man felt older than him in years, but he did not have the elemental control that Terry did. He let his amnis flow, reaching out with the current until he felt the thin thread of the other vampire’s energy. He tugged, but the man was still swimming in circles, trying to see him.

Foolish vampire.

Terry didn’t need to see him, his amnis already did. He carefully surrounded the vampire with coils of energy, wrapping him with ribbons of water invisible to the other man. Then, he pulled.

In the blink of an eye, the liquid ribbons turned to steel, constricting the other vampire and stilling his arms as the knife slipped from his fingers. Terry’s amnis scooped it up, bringing the knife to his palm as he grabbed the other man by his mop of dark hair.

He searched for her, following the chaotic sounds of splashing to the other boat, whose dark hull lay fifty meters away. As he approached, he sensed them.