A Whisker's Breadth, page 7
“Exactly what you’re doing,” Corvin said. “Trying to creep in where you’re not welcome. You know it’s bad manners to enter someone else’s mind without their permission.”
Reg glared. “And what are you doing?”
“Protecting myself.”
“You’re listening to my thoughts!”
“In my defense, you opened yourself up to me by trying to read mine.”
Reg grumbled and shook her head. “Why don’t you just tell me, then?”
“Why don’t you ask?”
“Where are we going? What do you have in mind?”
“I thought we would go to the marina. Watch the boats coming and going. They’re quite lovely with their lights on this time of night.”
She looked for an argument. If he’d suggested coffee or dessert, she would say she was full. If he suggested going back to her house for a visit, she would tell him he couldn’t come in. Watching the boats did sound like a pleasant pastime, but she wasn’t sure how things would progress with the two of them so close together with nothing to do.
He couldn’t be trusted.
Corvin looked at her briefly, then back at the road. “I told you we would have a nice night.”
“I know. But I also know you’re still trying to charm me.”
“No. It’s just a date. Just the two of us enjoying some time together.”
“You can’t deny that you’re trying to charm me.”
“Can’t I?”
“I can smell the roses. Feel the heat. I know you’re trying to magick me.”
“You’re wrong. I’m trying to keep myself under control. What my body does instinctively, I can’t help that. I’m doing my best to rein it in. But you might as well tell yourself not to get sweaty hands when you’re nervous. It’s not something you can consciously stop.”
Reg rubbed her palms on her skirt.
“I’ve heard this line before,” she reminded him. “The whole ‘I can’t help myself’ doesn’t fly with me.”
“You’re so lovely…”
“And if you can’t help yourself, you’d better take me back home, because I don’t want you to ‘slip’ and have an accident.”
“And you smell… so… enchanting.”
“Corvin.”
He put his arm on the back of the seat again. The hairs on Reg’s neck stood up. She felt her whole body reaching out toward him, longing for him. She fought off the desire to shift closer to him, to take his hand and put it on her neck. To snuggle into him.
“No.” Reg concentrated on her shield. She reflected the heat back to him, which she’d had success with in the past. Corvin loosened his tie, uncomfortable. He reached over and turned up the air conditioning.
“Would you close your window, please? The air conditioner does not work well with it open, and it’s getting… a little uncomfortable here.”
“Then maybe you should pull back on the heat. Maybe have a cold shower.”
“I’m not going home. We’re going to the marina.”
“I’m sure we could find a hose there.”
Reg thought that the air around her got a bit cooler. She shifted her position, trying to stretch out muscles that she’d been holding tense. Her whole body felt like one giant knot.
“How much farther?”
“Five minutes, if that.”
“Can we get out of the car?”
He didn’t answer right away. Then he nodded. “Certainly. Of course. Very romantic, sitting on the wall or walking down to the beach. We can take off our shoes. Let down our hair…”
Reg felt her braids, tied up in a knot on top of her head. She wasn’t going to start taking the pins out on the beach. She’d lose them and end up with half of her hair up and half down, like some mad woman. “Not literally,” she told him. “This took almost an hour to get arranged.”
Corvin chuckled. “Fine, then, you can leave your hair up. It’s not a requirement.”
Reg watched the horizon for the marina. In a couple of minutes, they were winding their way down to it. She could see the lights of the boats out in the water, winking and twinkling in the darkness, reflected up again by the black water.
“It’s so pretty!”
“I told you.”
Corvin drove around for a bit, looking for a good parking spot, and then settled on one. “It’s not as close as I would like. It’s going to be a bit of a walk to get down to the water. Are you okay with that?”
Reg took off her heels in the car. She didn’t want to wreck them or lose them in the sand.
“We have to walk a bit before we’re down to the beach,” Corvin warned. “You’ll want to keep those on for the first bit.”
“No. I’m just going to leave them in the car.”
He shrugged and shook his head. She knew, even though she couldn’t see them, that he was rolling his eyes at her stubbornness.
They each opened their doors. Reg put her bare feet down on the pavement. It still held a little of the heat of the day. She only took a step or two before she knew that Corvin was right. Gravel and glass on the pavement made it painful to walk on without shoes. She veered to the side where there were sand and clumps of grass—mixed with gravel and glass—and that was, at least, a little better. She winced as she walked. While she tried to pick out the safest path in the dark, she kept stubbing her toes on rocks, turning her ankle, and scraping and poking her feet with the gravel and debris mixed in with the black sand.
Corvin walked close to her, smiling to himself at what a fool she was. He offered her his arm, but Reg didn’t take it. It was hard enough to make her way down to the water without being distracted by the warm buzz she would get as soon as she touched him. He would happily sweep her off her feet, but she might never get grounded again.
“This is nice,” Reg said determinedly, trying to keep a casual conversation going to distract both of them from her troubles. Her feet were going to be red and raw by the time they got back to the car. The next time, she would need to take a pair of flip-flops along with her. They would allow her to get down to the water comfortably. And she could easily carry them if she wanted to walk barefoot and found a strip where she could do so without injuring herself. “Do you bring a lot of women here?”
“No.” Corvin was standing far too close to her. “Just you.”
“Why? What made you choose this?”
“I don’t know… I just tried to think of what you would like to do. It was more intuitive than reasoned… you just seemed like… someone who would enjoy the water.”
“Are there a lot of people around here who don’t like the water?” Reg laughed. “I can’t imagine living here if you didn’t.”
“People can’t choose where to be born. And often don’t have a lot of choice over where they can find work, or where they get transferred. We have a lot of retirees who come here just because of the water, of course, but… you’d be surprised at how many people there are in Florida who don’t like the water or don’t know how to swim.”
Reg pondered that as they walked. Either the sand was getting softer, or she was growing more accustomed to it.
Reg had always enjoyed swimming. She didn’t do well at very many things, but she was actually a very good swimmer. She loved the feeling of the water around her, the sensation of weightlessness, the way her muscles worked together. Even the breathing came naturally, and she didn’t need to come up for air very often. Water was her element.
Corvin reached for her hand and, this time, Reg let him take it. She flinched at the initial electrical charge, but held on to him firmly, and it subsided into a background buzz. Corvin’s hands were smooth and strong, his grip firm and protective. He was so warm.
Reg took in a deep breath and let it out again. She no longer found it necessary to hold herself tense to be wary of him. She was aware of every little thing that he did, but didn’t feel threatened by him. She felt his charms, felt the heat and smelled the scent of roses in the wind that blew past her face, but she was stronger than some roses. She was stronger than anything he could use on her.
She had to remind herself firmly about the Witch Doctor and the amount of magic Corvin had stolen from him and the smuggled artifacts in the warehouse. Corvin had a lot of power, if he chose to use it. And if he had mastered it. Harrison had said that he hadn’t mastered his powers yet. That was why it had taken more than just him to overcome Weston.
Reg looked out over the black water. She felt so at home there. She remembered a picture from Sunday School years ago, when she had gone to church with one of her foster families. Moses, in a little basket woven from reeds, floating on the river. She could picture herself floating on top of the sea, rising and falling with the waves rocking her to sleep. She loved the smell of the salt in the air and the rhythmic waves lapping at the beach. There were others there, teenagers laughing and drinking, other couples walking hand in hand, solitary figures coming and going in the darkness. Even though there were other people there, Reg felt like they were alone in their own little bubble. Separated from everything else. She was in her own little pocket of paradise.
Corvin slipped his hand away from hers and put his arm around her waist instead, pulling her closer to him. Reg knew it was a dangerous move, and that she should be alarmed, but she wasn’t. She was comfortable there, with his arm around her. She felt perfectly safe. Corvin leaned in toward her. She could feel the heat he exuded and the delicious smell. He kissed her neck lightly and she let him, still alert to every movement, even the beating of his heart, and yet not afraid.
“Come closer to the water,” she urged.
Corvin didn’t object. They walked closer. Reg felt the pull of the sea. She had always liked living close to the ocean. Even in the north where the water was cold, she always liked to be near the ocean.
They reached the packed wet sand where the tide had gone down. It was easier to walk on. The temperature of the water when it lapped up at their feet from time to time was delicious. Like a bathtub. Her own huge, endless bathtub. She stepped down the beach so that the water was over her feet. Corvin had removed his shoes and socks by then and carefully rolled up the bottom few inches of his suit pants. Reg’s long skirt was getting wet and clinging to her legs, but she didn’t care.
It felt right.
It all felt just right.
Chapter Fourteen
Reg took a few steps into deeper water. Above her ankles. Partway up her calves. Corvin resisted.
“Let’s just walk at the edge.”
“No.” Reg’s voice was firm. “I want to be in the water.”
“Well, no farther,” Corvin negotiated. “I’m not up for a midnight swim.”
“You chose the place. Don’t I get to choose what we do here?” She took another step deeper.
Corvin pulled away from her, staying where he was. “Regina.”
“No.” Reg used her index finger to hook Corvin’s belt and tried to pull him deeper into the water. “Come with me.”
“Reg.” Corvin pulled back harder. His eyes were getting big and round. Reg’s eyes had adjusted to the dark and she could see every detail. “Reg, no.”
She pulled harder, forcing him to take a small step farther into the water, even though he didn’t want to.
“Regina.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and went in for a kiss. Corvin was startled for a minute, still trying to pull back, but not wanting to pull away from the embrace or her inviting lips. Reg held herself to him. “Come,” she murmured. She pulled him toward her. Another step or two into the water. She was up to her knees. Corvin pulled back from the kiss. His expression was alarmed.
“No. Reg. Release me. No!”
He had shared his hunger with her once. A deep well of need, a gaping hole that had to be filled. Hunger so deep that it hurt. What Reg was feeling was hunger of a different sort. Not one that would be sated by taking Corvin’s powers, but by taking him. She wanted him with her, deep in the water, filling all of her needs. She tightened her arms around his neck, even though he was fighting back in earnest. He pushed and twisted and tried to pull away.
“Don’t,” Reg ordered. “Just come! I’m not going to hurt you.”
But even though she told him that, she was aware that she was squeezing his neck more tightly, looking for the warm pulse point. If she squeezed that then, in a few seconds, he would be out like a light, and she could take him with her into the water.
Corvin writhed. Reg used her connection with him to drain his strength. His physical strength was greater than hers, but she knew how to pull it from him for her own use. Just as she had done before when she needed his power.
Corvin swore. He tried to shove her away. He put up psychic blocks, but Reg’s psychic gift was her strongest, and she knocked down his barriers as fast as he could put them up. Reg laughed.
“Quit playing games! You brought me here!”
“Regina!” His voice was desperate. “Think about what you are doing! This isn’t you. This isn’t what you are like. You don’t want this.”
“Yes. I do.”
“You want to be like your mother? You want to give in to Norma Jean’s nature?”
The name cut Reg like a knife. She snapped her teeth at him, furious that Corvin would say the siren’s name. Norma Jean had no place in Reg’s territory. She had no business laying claim to Reg’s chosen one.
The physical contact between them was broken. Reg advanced on Corvin, trying to touch him again.
She would force him into the water.
That was where they both belonged.
Chapter Fifteen
It was like Reg was watching herself. Watching her body do something that she would never have chosen to do. Something else had taken over her brain. An instinct. A hunger. A need.
Corvin avoided her grasp as Reg advanced on him, trying to get him under her control once more. It was almost comical, the smaller woman chasing the strong, powerful warlock. But she had seen Corvin brought under the power of another woman before. Her mother, Norma Jean, when her siren instinct had taken control.
Reg had been disgusted, glad that she hadn’t inherited that nature from her biological mother. That would have been too much.
But had it been buried there all the time, just waiting for her to mature enough and to go back to the ocean, where she could overcome her prey and take him under the water?
Corvin was several yards away from her, still watching, careful that she couldn’t launch herself at him and get him under her control again.
“Reg!”
“I don’t want to do this!” Reg resisted the pull as much as she could. But the water tugging around her legs fed the hunger and need. “Stay away from the water,” she told Corvin. “I think it’s something in the water.”
“I don’t think it’s going to affect me,” Corvin said in a voice that attempted to be calm and reassuring. “It’s just you. Maybe you should come out of the water.”
“No. No, I need to…” Reg looked up and down the beach, following the water in each direction. Maybe there was someone else. Someone who was close to the water’s edge who would go in with her without asking the reason. Who needed a reason? She was just following her heart.
“Reg, just come toward me. Out of the water. Come this way…”
He beckoned to her, inviting her to come out. His movement wafted his scent closer to her, driving her mad.
“Corvin!”
He took another step away. Reg needed him to step closer, not farther away. She needed to stop him.
She dashed at him, hoping to catch him off guard. She could knock him off balance, maybe even hit him in the head, and then in his confused state, he would be easy to pull back to the water.
But her run toward him took her out of the water, past the packed wet sand, into the loose, dry sand that was harder to walk or run through. Corvin took a couple of steps back, leading her on through the dry sand mixed with gravel that cut her feet.
“Let’s go home, Reg. It’s getting cold. You’re getting tired.”
She was angry with him for walking away. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. She’d had him in the water. She’d been that close.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to the car. We can sit and talk there.”
“No! No, I don’t want…” She couldn’t think of what it was she wanted. Her brain was muddled.
“Come on.” He continued to walk back toward the car. Reg, stumbling and clumsy, tried to match his pace or to catch up so she could take him back to the water.
She was mincing by the time they got back to the car, her feet in exquisite pain. She wanted to go back to the soothing water and smooth, wet sand.
Corvin used his key fob to unlock the car. Its lights flashed. Corvin got in on his side. He didn’t hold Reg’s door for her.
Reg opened the passenger door and slid into her seat, angry and frustrated.
For a few moments, they just sat there, both breathing heavily, pondering what had happened.
“Well. That was unexpected,” Corvin said dryly.
Reg breathed out. “What just happened?”
“I think you know the answer to that.”
“No. I don’t get it. Nothing like that has ever happened before. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“If Norma Jean was part siren, then it makes perfect sense. You’re her daughter.”
Reg shook her head adamantly. “No. There’s something in the water here. Or a spell. It enchanted me.”
Corvin was watching her carefully. “I won’t say that’s impossible, but I think it’s unlikely. No one else was affected. Only you.”
“But if I had any kind of… siren instincts…” Reg rolled her eyes at the idea. “Then they would have shown up before now. Why would I not be affected by them until now?”
“Maybe it was just the right combination of circumstances. After dark, walking on the beach, a… suitable target at hand.”
“I’ve been swimming lots of times. I’ve never had anything happen. It wouldn’t be the first time I took a late-night dip in the ocean. Though, up north, the water was never as warm as it is here.”
