"I did give her a ring," Aleksandr said and brought Abigail's fingers to his mouth.
She snatched her hand away and put it behind her back as she glared at him. "You have an oral fixation." She turned back to Inez with a smile. "I think we have everything, Inez. Maybe a couple of your famous mochas to keep us warm while we're at the cove?"
Inez smiled for the first time since they'd entered the store. "You Drakes with your men." She shook her head as she began to make the mochas for them. "Carol's giving Reginald a terrible time. She has the poor man dancing through hoops for her. He's shaved and cut his hair and is wearing very nice clothes."
"Did you know they were engaged at one time?" Abigail asked over the sound of the espresso machine.
"Of course. It was a dreadful scandal at the time. Reginald was so heartbroken and over time, he withdrew so much he wouldn't allow us to remain close friends. He became very solitary. I told Carol to be very careful with his heart this time. I don't think he could take rejection a second time from her."
"I had no idea," Abigail said. She took the two mochas as Aleksandr picked up the small bag of groceries. "Thanks, Inez. I'll see you soon."
Aleksandr put his hand on Abigail's shoulder before she could walk out the front of the store. "Inez, would you mind if we went out the back?"
The older woman looked up alertly, but nodded without asking questions.
"Do you really think this is necessary?" Abigail asked as she followed him through the store toward the back.
"Until we catch Ignatev, yes, it's necessary. Jonas may think he's gone, but I know better. I have no doubt this recent turn of events not only cost him a great deal of money, but got him in trouble with his terrorists friends, and he'll want vengeance. I've interfered with his plans too many times for him to just let this go. And unlike Nikitin, who's probably long gone now, Ignatev likes to do his own killing when he can."
Abigail shivered as she watched him put their purchases on the back seat of the car. "At least we'll be safe in the cove."
He shook his head. "The harbor's dangerous, too many buildings and boats. We're vulnerable there. We should be safer in the cove. If we're in the middle of it, a shooter, even a marksman, would have trouble hitting us from that distance."
"Is he a marksman like Jackson?"
"Abigail..."
She yanked open the driver door. "What do you want me to do? Stay in the house all the time?" He barely had his seat belt on before she started the car and turned onto the main highway.
"Yes, if you want the truth. It would be safer until I find him."
"I'm sure it would, but it won't help my dolphin and I doubt if you'd be hiding in the house with me. You'd be running around trying to draw him away from me like some hero in a novel."
He leaned over to nibble on her neck. "I am your hero."
She pushed at him, but it was halfhearted. "You're going to make us wreck." She fended him off for the rest of the short drive to the harbor and was laughing by the time she parked the car.
As they loaded the food and drinks and Abigail's equipment into the boat, she realized he was shielding her body with his own. "Are you going to keep this up the entire time we're out at sea?"
"No. Just when we're in the harbor."
Abigail shook her head over his stubbornness. It was impossible to argue with him when he was set on something so she just stowed her gear and took the boat slowly out of the harbor, ignoring the way he hovered over her. Once they were out in open sea, he relaxed and leaned back, drinking his mocha and staring at their surroundings through his dark glasses. She felt the familiar peace of the ocean began to steal into her and hoped it was affecting him the same way.
"So how soon can we get married in your country?"
Abigail dropped her mocha. He snatched the cup off the floor of the boat before the liquid leaked through the lid. "That's not funny, Sasha."
"I wasn't being funny. I'm very serious. I'm not going to take any chances this time around. Your sisters are planning this elaborate wedding that looks as if it's going to take place a year from now and I don't want to wait that long."
Her eyebrow shot up. "Really? How long do you want to wait?"
"Not at all. Do we have to have a huge wedding? Can't we get married quietly and skip all the fuss?"
She increased the speed so the boat bumped rather viciously over a couple of waves and shot his mocha over his thighs. "Fuss? You think a wedding ceremony is fuss?"
He poured the rest of the drink into the sea and crumpled the cup, shoving it into a small bucket. "I think the only thing that matters is making you officially my wife. And you're damned lucky that coffee had cooled off."
She tried to look innocent but a slow smile tugged at her mouth until she was laughing. "You think that when I'm married to you, you'll have more control over me, don't you?" Her eyes sparkled at him. "Why on earth would you think that?"
He stretched his legs out in front of him and stared at her from behind his dark glasses, keeping his face expressionless. It would be impossible for her to miss the hard bulge in his jeans or the way his hand brushed suggestively over it.
Abigail tossed her head, her eyes dancing. Sunlight gleamed in her red hair and the wind pressed her clothes lovingly against her body as she drove the boat over the water. She was so sexy his body ached just looking at her. When she was teasing him, laughing the way she was, when the warmth in her was pouring over him, she was irresistible.
"I don't think so," she warned, but her breath caught in her throat and her gaze slid with evident interest over his groin. "Don't you get all amorous on me. I'm working. The only reason I brought you along was because you wanted to see what I do."
"I want to swim with your dolphins," he corrected as she slowed the boat and guided it into the middle of the cove. "You promised me the adventure of a lifetime. For me, that includes sex. Not just any sex. Wild, out-of-control sex."
She laughed again, just as he knew she would. He loved the way she threw her head back, exposing the beautiful line of her throat. In the sun she seemed to glow. At times, like now, he could barely conceive of his luck, that he could be with her. That she was willing to give herself to him. That she loved his company as much as he loved hers.
The sound of her laughter played over his skin like a caress. He felt her touch on his body, inside, deep, where he knew he could never get her out. He would never tire of talking to her. And he would never tire of making love to her.
"Not here!" Abigail shook her head adamantly. "I don't care if you're wearing dark glasses or not, I know that look in your eye." She held up a warning finger. "You are not going to touch me. I guarantee my sisters are out on the captain's walk right this minute watching over us. You've got them so worried about me that they haven't let me go anywhere by myself since you arrested Frank and we discovered Nikitin and Ignatev were missing. I haven't had a moment's peace."
"Neither have I." He stood up and reached for her, pulling her against his body, fitting her smaller frame tight up against his, his hand under her chin. "I at least get to kiss you."
Abigail opened her mouth to protest. There was no such thing as just kissing with Aleksandr. He would set her body on fire and she would lose all control. She would forget that they were standing in her boat in the middle of the cove and that her sisters could see every move they made. She'd forget everything but the mastery of his mouth, his taste and scent, the need that rose up like a craving.
He cradled her head in his hand with exquisite gentleness and lowered his lips very slowly toward hers. His hands were tender, intimate, and loving as he held her. His lips brushed hers, a slow sweep, back and forth, a touch only.
Abigail felt the tug of his teeth on her lower lip, the glide of his tongue on the seam of her mouth, the soft leisurely kisses at the corner of her mouth. He seemed to be everywhere, driving her mad with longing, yet never quite settling his mouth over hers.
She caught his face in her hands to still it
, rising up on her toes until she could take control, capturing his lips with hers, her tongue sweeping into the dark, velvet recesses. She closed her eyes and savored his taste. He moved, a subtle shift that brought her more completely against him, aligning their bodies as he took control of the kiss, deepening it, enfolding her into his arms.
The wind carried feminine laughter like strains of music fluttering around them. Aleksandr heard the sounds drifting around them, teasing at his ears, the wind touching his face and brushing his shoulders. He lifted his head. "I don't suppose teasing us will make your sisters so weak that they'll have to stop watching us, will it?"
"Not a chance." Abigail brushed another kiss over his tempting mouth. "But we have company anyway. Look." She pointed toward the mouth of the cove.
For a moment the sun sparkled over the water so he didn't see anything even with his dark glasses in place. Then he saw them, the dolphins rocketing beneath the water, mere blurs of mottled shadows as they sped toward the boat. They were only feet apart and swimming in formation, curving first one way and then the other at the same precise moment. His heart leapt. He peered over the side of the boat, gripping the rails.
"They're beautiful."
"Hurry. Let's get ready," Abigail advised. "They won't stay long."
Aleksandr went down into the small cabin and donned his wetsuit. He'd heard Abigail tell stories of her dives with dolphins, but he'd never had the experience of actually swimming with them himself. Just seeing them in the water, so many, leaping and spinning, joyful in their exuberance, was an adrenaline rush. He couldn't wait to get into the water. He shared a long, slow smile of anticipation with Abigail. She was obviously pleased by his reaction.
"Remember everything I told you about swimming with them, Sasha. Never, and I mean never, approach a dolphin broadside or at a right angle. You have to let them approach you and keep an oblique angle. Be smooth about it, nothing sharp. Head butts are very aggressive behavior, so any headfirst approach toward them is a threat."
"I've got it. And I won't give in to the temptation of touching them," he added before she could repeat the warning.
They'd discussed possibly swimming with dolphins, but he hadn't really considered how it would feel to be surrounded by the creatures. "You're giving me an incredible gift few people ever receive in their lifetime."
She grinned at him, her eyes sparkling. "We're working; just remember that so you can tell me your observations when we come back to the surface."
He slipped into the water, exhilarated by the wild dolphins zooming through the blue water, flashing by so fast he could barely make out anything but a blur. They sliced through the sea at tremendous speeds, making him feel bulky and awkward. Abigail joined him, a large video recorder in her hands, and swam into the midst of nearly a dozen dolphins.
Up so close, Aleksandr could see how big the beautiful creatures were, weighing close to or over a thousand pounds. They were strong and powerful and looked threatening beside Abigail's more fragile body. His heart accelerated. He had never really considered that she might be in danger from the dolphins. Sharks maybe, but not the dolphins. Why had he always considered them joyful, fun creatures? He'd heard her stories, knew orcas were really a genus of the dolphin family. He swam toward Abigail, intending to signal to her to rise to the surface, but one of the larger dolphins swam past him, coming in at an oblique side angle, which Abigail had stressed continually was the proper way to swim with dolphins.
The dolphin nearest Aleksandr seemed to be issuing an invitation. It dove down, a slow performance rather than the earlier, much more threatening fast speed, and came up below him so they were belly to belly. He glanced to his right and another dolphin had joined them. A third approached from his left. He swam in a large loop, amazed at how close they were to him and to each other. The dolphins matched his speed as he curved around. He could see their round, dark eyes, intelligence plain as they watched him.
Aleksandr glanced toward Abigail. She was following one dolphin, obviously recording his every move with her video camera while others surrounded her, swimming in long sinuous circles. The dolphins seemed much more intimate with her, touching and vocalizing, always approaching in slow slanting angles, occasionally emitting what she had referred to as a "click train." The dolphins, rather than feeling threatening as he had first perceived them, now seemed playful and social; curious, intelligent creatures studying him as much as he was observing them.
Elation filled him as the dolphins swirled around him and Abigail, keeping the two humans in their group as if they were accepted members. Abigail was focused on her filming, leading a long curving circle while Aleksandr deliberately changed directions to see if his contingent would follow him. They did and the two trails of dolphins moved in slow opposite circles.
Abigail jerked her thumb toward the surface. He shook his head, unwilling to leave the amazing creatures. She pointed to her watch and when he glanced at his own, he was startled to find that, although the strange ballet with the dolphins seemed to have lasted only a few short minutes, in truth, it was far longer than he realized. Several of the dolphins were breaking their formation and beginning the ascent. He nodded his agreement to Abigail.
Humans and dolphins rose together to the surface. Aleksandr nearly leapt out of the water, unable to stop grinning. He caught Abigail around the waist and kissed her, leaning in over the top of her video recorder. "That was--indescribable!" He put his hand over his heart. "Thank you, lyubof maya. What an incredible feeling!" He spun around to watch as the dolphins took a breath and dove deep, one after another, two sliding in close to Abigail as if inviting her for another round of dancing.
Abigail swam to the boat and started to muscle her camera onto the deck. Aleksandr took it from her and set it carefully aside. "Are we through?" There was disappointment welling, but it couldn't stop the excitement of the experience or the grin on his face.
"The indication was, they were heading out to sea, but sometimes when I swim to the boat, they come back. Particularly Kiwi and Boscoe." She shoved her goggles onto her head and threw her head back, laughing with joy.
"Which ones are Kiwi and Boscoe?" He wanted to drag her to him and kiss her until neither of them could breathe. She was beautiful. The day was beautiful.
"They're two of the largest males. Kiwi was the dolphin that was injured and he's used to me handling him. That's what I was doing that day in the cove when we were shot at." She wiped droplets of water from her face. "I checked him the other day and he's fine again."
"What are those scars on some of them?" He was scanning the water, hoping for another encounter.
"Those are called rakes. The distinctive scars actually help us identify individuals. When dolphins are aggressive with one another they "jaw," or bite without grinding down, and they leave a rake mark. Almost all of the dolphins have them. The less serious rakes will heal in time and disappear, but many times the injury is deep enough to cause a permanent scar."
"Let's go back down and see if any of them will come back," Aleksandr suggested. He was reluctant to leave the cove when he might never get such a chance again.
She laughed softly and touched his cheek. "I'm so pleased you love my world. Just don't be disappointed if they're already gone."
"Nothing can make me disappointed. That was truly wonderful."
They dove together, seeking the darker depths, hoping for another encounter. Abigail hung back and let Aleksandr take the lead. She wanted to cry she was so happy. She'd never seen that particular expression on his face, as if she'd given him a gift beyond measure. He had given her one by embracing her world with the same love and excitement and joy she felt every time she encountered the wild dolphins.
As she swam behind Aleksandr, the water around her unexpectedly erupted, churning and bubbling, coming up from the ocean floor like a great geyser. The water boiled into a frenzy of white froth, cutting off her vision of Aleksandr for a few seconds, but the bubbles were icy cold, as if s
he'd entered an underwater stream that rose upward. She knew immediately her sisters were warning her of impending danger.
Abigail swam out of the bubbles, using fast hard kicks to fight her way through the water toward Aleksandr. To her horror a darker shadow rose up out of the kelp bed, falling in behind Aleksandr, gliding through the water straight at him. If she could have screamed a warning to Aleksandr, she would have, but he was too far ahead of her and they were underwater. She could only watch in horror, her heart in her mouth, as the diver lifted a speargun.
The warning bubbles burst around Aleksandr just as the spear was triggered. Aleksandr jerked to a halt, half turning back toward Abigail as the cold froth enveloped him in warning. The spear sliced through the water and slammed through the back of his shoulder, driving him forward. The white froth around him ruptured into a volcano of red. Pain and fear for Abigail mixed together, as Aleksandr recognized Leonid Ignatev.
With sure, powerful strokes, Abigail closed the distance between her and Ignatev. She could see him fitting another spear into his gun with calm precision, his attention centered on Aleksandr.
As if he knew she was no threat to him.
Her heart thudded in alarm. She whirled around just as the blade of a knife slid past her. A second diver plowed into her. She caught his wrist with both hands and brought up her foot, kicking with all her strength at her assailant's groin. He doubled over and the momentum carried her backward, giving her time to reach for the knife in her belt. She went around him, slicing at his air hoses and pushing off of him to put distance between them as he swung around.
The man came at her again, his face twisted with determination. Fish, thousands of them in a tight school, swam between them, another barrier thrown up by her sisters to protect her as the man slashed wildly with his knife. Abigail's assailant was running out of air and he was forced to begin his ascent to the surface. She fought her way through the screen of fish toward Ignatev, the knife clutched in her hand.
Through a haze of pain, Aleksandr used his legs, kicking hard and fast in an effort to rush Ignatev. The sharp point of the spearhead had gone completely through his muscle and stuck out the front of his shoulder. His arm was useless and it was awkward trying to swim, but he kept using his legs, kicking powerfully as he tried to reach Ignatev before the man could trigger a second spear.