The downpour stopped as suddenly as it had started.
When her lids slid open to reveal the purest blue he"d ever seen, Gavin reckoned he could die a happy man. Limbs trembling with disbelief and love and wonder, he grinned.
Yileen, the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d, had known this would happen. That"s why he told Gavin to wait to make his decision.
Zoe-his Wyldling muse-had evolved into a Waeter Elemental.
Chapter Fifty.
Zoe was a dam on the verge of breaking. So much blue. So much love. So full.
She felt as if she were drowning in emotion, swept out to sea where she"d always belonged. Nothing aside from Gavin and the whales had ever felt so right.
"Gavin?" She lifted her hand and stared at it. "I think I"m-"
"-a Waeter Elemental." He tackled her into the dripping wall with his lips. Strong, wet hands pinned her arms to her sides. His hips pressed hard against hers, and an overdose of blue spilled from her center. New nerve endings pulsed at the erotic sensation of sharing her Element with him on a deep, intimate level. It was like s.e.x, magnified a million times-pure, complete, committed emotion.
As their lips, tongues, and teeth teased in a playful tug-of-war, the tide deepened and turned in her favor. Water flowed out of him and into her. She tentatively tapped into the Element he offered. It bled into her, fed her, energized her. She lapped it up, swallowed him down. G.o.d, his Water was the sweetest thing she"d ever tasted.
Tongue. Suck. Gulp.
She swooned, lost her balance. He held her up. Breath and reason floated out to sea. There was only Gavin.
More. She needed more.
She wriggled free of his grip, threw her arms around his neck, and hooked a leg around his thigh. His erection pressing hot against her made her even dizzier. Her mind reeled as life-giving coolness flooded her mouth, infused her with unimaginable strength. She couldn"t swallow fast enough. The high was indescribable. It was s.e.x and drugs and rock and roll. Whales and beauty and love.
More. She needed to quench this terrible thirst for more- She stepped up the kiss, ground against him as control spun out of reach. Gavin tensed, and she hit a speed b.u.mp. He broke free of her mouth. Desperate to grab hold of the Water again, she chased Gavin"s retreating lips, but he cut her off.
"Zed-"
A hurried breath of air shattered the buzz, and she came back to her senses.
"I"m...an Elemental," she said, her voice a bit raspy. Her chest heaved under the sopping shirt. Drenched hair clung to her shoulders.
"Yeah, you are." He wiped his mouth. His wet face had paled a little, but desire lurked behind his eyes. "And what a f.u.c.king spectacle that was to behold, love."
The dizziness wore off. Guilt settled in. She bit her lip. "I took too much of your Water. I"m sorry."
He smiled and shook his head. "I"m fine. It"s just going to take some getting used to. For both of us. Give yourself time to adjust. Once you stabilize, you"ll be able to control the hunger better."
Man, she sure hoped so. The thought of hurting him crushed her. But even as she worried for him, the blue inside him called to her. Primal thirst taunted her parched throat. She closed her eyes. Yeah, this would definitely be a challenge.
Eager for a distraction, she surveyed the waterlogged room with her strange, new vision. "I did all of...this?" As she moved across the carpet, testing her wobbly legs, water sucked at her feet. "s.h.i.t, this is gonna be h.e.l.l to clean up."
Gavin laughed. "Don"t worry about that now. How do you feel?"
"I feel...amazing. Free." She turned in a circle. Everything was beautifully strange. "Is this how you see the world? It"s so rich. I can see a million shades of blue." Something shimmered in her peripheral vision. "Is that...the Veil?" It looked different than it had in the Dreaming. She tentatively reached for it. Her fingers slipped through the glittery membrane. It tickled.
"Yep. That"s the Veil. Now that the Dreaming is open to Elementals, you can come and go as you please."
So much to learn. She glanced at him. He was staring.
"What?"
He grinned. "I don"t know how you managed it, but somehow you"re even more stunning than before."
She lowered her head. "Do I look that different?"
He escorted her to the hall mirror and stood behind her, admiring her reflection. "You"re f.u.c.king gorgeous."
The first things she noticed were her eyes, which were impossibly blue. Her skin still held a tinge of it, too, but the color had already faded since the transformation. Her stance seemed bigger, fuller. The woman before her radiated confidence the old Zoe didn"t. She liked that. And perhaps for the first time in her life, she felt it, too. With this man at her side, she could take on the world. h.e.l.l, they already had.
Gavin scattered hot kisses along the column of her neck. Man, her skin was super sensitive. She laughed.
Hunger filled his eyes as he swept his gaze down her reflection. He bound his colorful tattooed arms across her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and rested his chin on her shoulder. Her stomach constricted. Thirsty again.
She turned her head up and lunged for his lips. This time she concentrated on feeling him instead of eating him. Much better.
Turning in his arms, she lapped gently at his tongue, and he returned the gesture. The metal ring through his lip wiggled, and her nipples tightened under her clingy wet shirt. "G.o.d, I love that thing." She bit the hoop and coaxed another kiss from him.
The thirst roared again, demanding another drink. Better back off. She released his lips before she got carried away.
He propped his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. "I"m so f.u.c.king proud of you, Zed. You"re amazing."
"I have an amazing support network." She took his hand and guided him back to the living room, marveling along the way at the blue light refracted on his skin. Imagine what s.e.x with him would be like now. Her salivary glands went into full production mode. She swallowed the building antic.i.p.ation. Soon.
Zoe stroked his arm where humpbacks swam and mermaids frolicked in blaring colors. She made his tattoos light up like that. She did!
"I can"t believe I"m an Elemental. My mind is just-blown. What am I supposed to do now? Will I have to t.i.the? How does everything...work?"
He slipped his thumbs through her belt loops and tugged her hips to his. "Let me help you figure it all out. Let me nurture your Water. Let me feed you. I have plenty to share."
Her thoughts raced with the possibilities. Just touching him made her high. Sharing Water every day? G.o.d, that would be pure bliss.
As if to prove his point, he laid another kiss on her lips. His breath tickled her skin, and she folded herself into his arms. With him, she was whole.
The front door opened, and Adriene hobbled inside on her crutches. "Okay, love bugs, enough with the smoochy-smoochies." Her jaw dropped as she looked around. "What the h.e.l.l happened up in here?"
Oh, s.h.i.t.
Gavin waved his hand. "Uh, nothing. Just had a...water pipe blow. Everything"s fine."
"You gotta be f.u.c.king kidding me-"
"Seriously, Adriene, it"s all good. Trust me on this one." Zoe winked. She"d have a lot of explaining to do later.
Adriene paused, gave her a funny look, and did a double take. "Did you get new contacts? d.a.m.n, girl, your eyes are blue."
Zoe shrugged off the comment, pulled Adriene over, and hugged her. A different kind of Water flowed between them. The comforting, friend kind. Zoe was surrounded by her Element. Yeah, she could really get used to this.
"I thought you went back to America," Gavin said.
"h.e.l.l, no. I just ran Dani and Elizabeth to the airport. My best friend and I have new jobs with Oceania Whale Trust here in Australia. I"m not going anywhere." Adriene grinned and studied her fingernails.
"What do you mean, "new jobs"?" Gavin faced Zoe.
"It took a little convincing, but Adriene talked me into giving Catherine Marchand a call," she said. "Turns out, they"ve been so busy at OWT, Catherine needs a co-researcher and another a.s.sistant for their humpback whale project in Hervey Bay. It"s not a Vice President position, but I can keep my whales and my Gavin." Zoe smiled. "Plus, I got to tell Randy to take his job and shove it. You have no idea how good that felt."
Gavin lifted a brow and grinned.
"Don"t let her fool you, Gavin. She"d never leave you. The s.e.x is too good." Adriene winked and high-fived him.
Zoe swatted her a.s.s. "Adriene wasn"t going to leave either. She"s got a thing for Mike."
Adriene"s eyes nearly popped. "I do not!"
"Mike is made of Grade A, undiluted trouble," Gavin said. He opened his arms and hugged Adriene, too.
"Exactly why she wants him." Zoe laughed.
A wistful sigh snuck out of Adriene"s mouth. "That boy is a fool. A beautiful, blond fool..."
Gavin shook his head. "Oh, h.e.l.l. You"re f.u.c.ked."
Zoe squeezed him and Adriene, then let go and gestured to the waterlogged boxes. "Jack called and said he had to leave town on emergency business, but he"s planning to come back to Oz when things settle-hopefully a couple weeks from now. I gotta admit, my dad is nothing like I expected, but I can"t imagine life without him."
"Yeah, he"s something else." Happiness poured off Gavin in great waves and rippled into her. Bliss.
The rumble of a car engine averted Zoe"s attention to the window. Mike.
Adriene lifted her chin. "Looks like my ride"s here. I"ll catch you two tomorrow." She gestured to the soggy carpet. "Get this place cleaned up."
Zoe snickered. "Will do."
"For Chrissakes, be sure you use condoms, Adriene. G.o.d knows where Mike"s been." Gavin opened the door for her.
When she got to the threshold, Adriene faced Zoe. "You made the right decision. I love you, my girl."
Zoe smiled. "We both did. And I love you more."
Mike jumped out of the car and waved. "Got your party hat, love?" he said to Adriene.
"h.e.l.l, yes!" She blew Zoe a kiss and hopped down the drive to the car.
Gavin shut the door and sauntered over, all lady-killer, swaggering bad boy on the prowl for a hook-up. The hunger in his eyes was unmistakable. Zoe"s Water bubbled.
"I don"t believe it."
She skated her hands up his chest and curled them around his shoulders. "Don"t believe what?"
"We"re finally alone." He pushed some wet hair from her face and palmed her hips. She repositioned his hands on her b.u.t.t.
"What about it?" Zoe lifted the hem of her tee up and over her head, then tossed the shirt to the floor with a slop. She unbuckled his belt.
"We"re gonna have a h.e.l.l of a lot of fun experimenting with all this Water." His finger traced the borders of her bra.
"I think we should start with shower s.e.x. Lots of shower s.e.x."
He laughed. "I fully support that plan."
A slow grin spread across his mouth as he unhooked the bra. He slipped it off and tossed it over his shoulder. He plotted a line of kisses from her neck down to her breast. "When does the new job start?"
His gorgeous blues narrowed, and he breathed against her skin.
She inhaled hard, accidentally-on-purpose poking a nipple in front of his mouth in the process. Her lids fluttered shut when he took the bait and licked. She moaned. "Two days."
"Good. I"ll need at least that long." He yanked her shorts down and stroked her core.
Jesus, she"d never even considered what the Water would do for her there.
He grinned and latched onto the nipple again.
"Sounds like I might need a few days to recover..." She lowered his zipper with calculated, agonizing slowness and pushed everything south of his waist to the carpet. Shaft in hand, she stroked. "But you will, too."
"G.o.d, I hope so." He stepped out of the tangle of clothing, tore off his shirt and tackle-grabbed her around the waist. He hefted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his b.u.t.t. "Know what the best part is?"
With a subtle twist of the hips, she teased his erection. "What?" came her ragged reply.
"Since you won"t dream anymore, tomorrow morning, I get to wake up beside you and start all over again."
"Does that mean you"re going to keep being a Sentinel? Because there"s always room in my life for a hero."
He stared earnestly into her eyes. "Only if you"re cool with it, love."
"Man, I so am. Looks like you"re stuck with me now," Zoe whispered against his lips as he trudged down the hall to the bedroom, grinning like a man who"d won the billion-dollar lottery.
"No place I"d rather be stuck than inside-er, with you, Dr. Morgan."
His Water peaked and joined with hers in a full-blown tidal wave of love-laced antic.i.p.ation.