Aquatic Attraction (4 page)
Chapter Seven
Carlye had done as she’d promised. She’d loaded the clip of two creatures fighting on YouTube under a heavily encrypted IP address to hide her identity. She’d spent the next three days pouring over the maps of the oil-drilling area until she figured out a way to stop preparations for good.
The dark spots she’d noticed nearly two weeks ago were magma pockets. Most were small, making them easy to avoid, but there was no telling what was farther down out of the range of the satellite feeds. Even if Niall and his friends had never shown up, the drilling still would have been stopped and she wouldn’t have this ache in her heart that she didn’t want to dwell on.
“Hey, are you okay?”
She glanced up from the printouts she was working on and forced a smile she didn’t feel. “Yeah. Just finishing up before heading home.”
Deb took a seat across from her desk and leaned forward. “You’ve been moping around for the past week and a half. Want to talk about it?”
Shaking her head, Carlye grimaced. “I think I made a mistake that I can’t fix. I’ll get over it.”
Even as she said the words, she wondered if they were true. It had been ten days, nineteen hours and twelve minutes since she’d seen Niall. And she still pined for him as if it was still that afternoon on the beach. Walking away from him had been the hardest thing she’d ever done. The pain and sorrow in his deep blue eyes as she turned away had called for her to turn around and run back to him. But she hadn’t. Niall had come on land to stop the oil drilling. With his task done, he’d need to return to the sea. Sure, he may have stayed for a few more days of fun with her, but in the end, he was still a prince, and his place was with his people. A place she couldn’t go. Shoving the thoughts away, she lifted her gaze to Deb and took in her knowing look.
“This is about a man, isn’t it?”
Carlye sighed. “Yeah. Do you believe in love at first sight?” Oops! Did she really say that out loud? By the way Deb’s brows lifted, she must have.
“Not really, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Didn’t he feel the same?”
Carlye shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t give him a chance.” Now that her thoughts had turned to Niall, a deep sadness and longing filled her, almost to the point of pain. Knowing she wouldn’t accomplish any more work, she let out a deep sigh and closed her files. “I’m going to go,” she murmured, rising from her chair.
Deb stood, too. “How about I bring over pizza and ice cream? You can tell me all about it.”
She almost said
no
, but then nodded. “That would be really nice, Deb. As long as you don’t mind if I bawl on your shoulder, cause I can guarantee that I will.”
“Hey,” Deb murmured, reaching out and touching her arm. “That’s what friends are for. I’ll grab my stuff, make a quick stop, and be at your place in less than an hour.”
Forty-five minutes later, Carlye heard the doorbell ring. She’d already pulled her hair into a ponytail, changed into her comfiest sweats and t-shirt, making herself ready for a girl’s night of commiserating men and bad decisions. She pulled open the door and her jaw dropped. Her breathing quickened as a masculine hand reached toward her and closed her mouth before sliding along her skin to cup her jaw.
She backed a step, but Niall followed her, not letting her break the contact. He turned her and pressed her against the wall before claiming her mouth in a hot, possessive kiss. She felt all his pent up need and anguish as he explored her mouth, teased her tongue, and nipped her lips.
When he finally lifted his head, they were both panting. “I am not allowing you to walk away from me again, my
Adelfi Psychi
. I will not live without you.”
“B-but you can’t live here,” she murmured, hardly believing that she found herself once more in Niall’s arms. But she couldn’t deny the feel of his hard body pressed snuggly against her’s.
“Why not?” Niall asked. “Drew does. You are my
Adelfi Psychi
. I would do anything to be with you, Carlye.”
“What does that mean?”
“Soul mate. You are my soul mate, Carlye. My other half. I realized it the first time I kissed you.
Briny Nix
recognize them by taste.”
“By taste?”
“Yes. I told you that you weren’t just a job to me, my mate, but you didn’t believe me. If it takes a hundred years, I will prove it to you. It almost killed me when you walked away. Don’t ever leave me again. I love you.”
She saw the pain and desperation in his troubled blue eyes. Niall truly believed what he said. “You love me?”
“With all my heart,” he whispered.
“I love you, too,” she admitted, reaching up to touch his face.
The change was nearly instantaneous. A relieved smile eased the lines of tension from his lips. His eyes lightened from the stormy gray-blue to a brilliant deep blue, like the ocean after a storm. He kissed her again, this one a quick brush of lips.
Lifting his head, he grinned. “I’ve already worked it out so I can live here. For security reasons, we’ll have to stay with Drew and Branson, but when we decide to have a family, there’s enough property to build a wing just for us. We can…”
“Carlye?”
They both turned their heads at the interruption. A confused Deb stood on the doorstep. A plastic bag in one hand and a pizza box in the other.
A blush crept over Carlye’s face as she realized they hadn’t even bothered to shut the door. “Hi, Deb. Um… this is Niall. Niall Karson.”
“Is he the…” Deb let her sentence hang, uncertainty filling her face.
“Yeah. He’s the one.” Carlye looked back at Niall and smiled. “I guess he felt it was love at first sight, too.”
Niall cupped her face and kissed her gently. After breaking it, he smiled, the move reaching his eyes. She could clearly see the love he felt for her displayed on his face, and knew anyone else looking could see it, too.
“I certainly did. And this time I’m not letting you get away, sweetness.”
Before he could kiss her again, Deb cleared her throat. “Then here is a pizza to celebrate, and I expect a phone call later, Carlye, so you can tell me all about it.”
Carlye took the pizza and laughed as her friend flounced down the sidewalk, tossing a sassy wave over her shoulder.
“She’s nice,” Niall murmured into her ear. “We’ll have to have her over some time.” He reached past her and closed the door before turning her back to face him. “Now where were we?”
“You were telling me about how many kids you want,” she whispered, holding back a laugh.
“That might be getting ahead of ourselves.” Niall chuckled. “I would love for you to have my children, but right now, let’s enjoy each other.”
“That sounds fantastic, Niall,” she murmured, kissing him gently. “We’ll have pizza and champagne, and toast to aquatic attraction.”
Niall grinned, taking the pizza box from her and wrapping the other arm around her waist. “That sounds like a marvelous plan,
Adelfi Psychi
.”
W
atch for
the Briny Nix series
coming to eXtasy Books
About the Author
Charlie lives on a mini ranchette in Utah with her supportive husband. She enjoys spending time playing with her furry, four-legged children; horses, dogs, and cats. When she’s not training to compete in jumper competitions with her boys, Apache and Tucson, she can be found curled up with her laptop, creating a sexy hero to pair with an adventurous heroine… or maybe with another hero.
She can be reached at
[email protected]
Or visit her at www.charlie-richards.com
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