Saints and Assassins (The Sentinels) (7 page)

Since she loved to eat, she peeked into the refrigerator and
found
eggs, milk, bread, cheeses and wine among other things
.
Eve knew right where she woul
d be looking for a snack later. Finally heading back up top
, she went to stand on the bow of the boat. 

The warmth of the sun felt so good, especially compared to the
Chicago
temperatures that she had just left.  She held onto the railing just looking toward their destination and soaking in some rays. 
For those few
minutes,
Eve felt like she had become someone else. She had escaped her city life and didn’t care if she ever went back.
She had
also left behind her demons, at least for the next few hours.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at the crater.  Adam slowed the boat to a stop and lowered the anchor so they would keep position. There had to be thirty other
boats there
, yet
Adam had kept his distance enough that they were away from everyone else. 

Without a word, Adam
stepped down to where E
ve was and pulled his shirt off.
In complete a
we, she just stared at his body.
He looked even better without his shirt than she could have imagined.
H
e had r
ev
ealed the tattoo that
she had
only seen a glimpse of earlier. A black
dragonhead
curved up over his shoulder and
the
large
wings wrap
ped around his bicep while
the tail extended down over
his forearm. This just seemed to accentuate his
lean
muscles
.
As s
he scanned her eyes
lower,
she found several scars on his abdomen.

Another oddity
that she wondered about. B
ut lower still,
his s
wim trunks hung low on his hips and she bit her lip to stop the grin that wanted to beam.
The man’s body left her pulse racing.

Oh lord!

“Sunscreen?” Adam held up a bottle. Eve had forgotten to put some on. She would surely burn and come out of the water with a bright red lobster back.

“Ooo. Yes, please.” Eve took the bottle and started smearing the lotion on her arms and
face,
as did Adam.

“Here let me get your back.” Eve felt
a normal person might perceive the action of putting lotion on someone’s back as intimate
,
but Adam had been so abnormal with her that she didn’t think twice about it.

As she rubbed the lotion on his back, she couldn’t help but notice more scars. They varied in shape and size, too. The largest though ran down his side. It appeared to start under his arm and run all the way down below his waistband.

“Finished?” he asked.

“Yes, sorry.” She realized that she had slowed down the movement of her hand as she stared at the damage to his body
.

“I’ll get yours.” Adam turned to face her. He held his open palm up for her. She squeezed a quarter-sized amount of lotion in his hand.

“Whoa, we’ll have to report an oil slick if I put all of this on you.” Adam smirked. She
could not believe he had
genuinely smiled. Her heart pounded as he started to rub the lotion on her back. Slowly, he moved his large hand over her skin and Eve felt the electricity pass between them again. His fingers lingered at the base of her neck and out of
instinct,
she leaned her head down to enjoy the sensation.

Losing herself in the moment, she let out a small moan.

Adam cleared his throat. Eve snapped her head upright and turned to look at him.
Before she could even blink
Adam dove
into the water.
She couldn’t believe she had done that.

Eve
felt
embarrassed
and hoped he hadn’t noticed her practically drooling all over herself.
Quickly, she
distracted herself from
thoughts of his body
and his touch
with
all o
f the colors of the ocean again as she dove in
to the water
.  The bright combinations of blue, yellow, red, white and black captured her attention.
There were schools of fish swimming below them, it was so quiet under the water too, peaceful. They swam and swam, not talking of course, just watching. She noticed that Adam seemed to smile as she let the fish swim across her hands. The fish didn’t seem to mind the humans surrounding them it was as if they were just part of the ocean.  They had to have been
bobbing around
in the water for almost two hours when Adam pointed upward.  She surfaced with him and removed her mask.

“It’s getting late, are you ready to go?
” he asked.

Eve bit her
lip, looked toward the crater,
and then back to the boat.
She didn’t really want to leave, but she knew they couldn’t stay forever.

“Okay
,” she replied
. They boarded the boat and Adam went below to change before they took off.  He came back in a white t-shirt and tan pants.  Eve still
had on
her bikini and started
to feel
cool as the boat sped away fr
om the crater.  She thought
about changing when Adam slowed the boat down again to a stop. 

“This will be a good spot for dinner,
” he called out.

“Looks perfect to me
.” She
didn’t know they were having dinner
together, not that she minded though
, because
she
was enjoying his company
.
She smiled knowing that
she had wanted to strangle him the day before.

“If you want to change
in one of the staterooms
I’
ll start getting the food ready.
”
H
e
stepped
down to where she
sat
and
Eve nodded and
followed
him as he went below.  He stopped at the galley and started gettin
g food out while she went
by
him
. 
Once she
had
dressed
in her t-shirt and shorts
she
returned to the galley
and
found Adam with a tray of crackers, cheeses, fruits and vegetables. 

“That looks
so
good.”
She could feel her stomach begin to rumble
.

“I’m glad you approve, would you c
arry the wine?”
H
e
nodded
toward the bottle and two glasses on the counter.  She grabbed them up and followed him back up the stairs to the dining table. Eve sat down as Adam opened the bottle of wine and poured for them both.  She took a
sip and knew that this w
as no cheap wine
. 

“
Thank you for inviting me today.
”
Eve took a bit of cheese and quickly followed it by another gulp of wine.

“You’re very welcome,
and
thank you for coming with me. I’m sure going out on a boat with a
complete stranger was
a risk f
or you.” His
tone sounded gentler now, especially compared to their previous short and abrupt conversations.
If he didn’t watch it he might actually be civil with her.

“It is a bit odd don’t you think that we’re neighbors now and we ended up here together?”

“It must have been fate,” he said laughing. A chill ran down her spine at that v
ery moment.
Michael
had said those same words
to her right before he died. He said it must have been fate that brought them together and fate that would take them away from each other.  She choked on the drink of wine that she had just gulped.  Coughing for a moment as the emotions ran through her min
d about those last words from her
husband, she tried to keep the tears away but they
would not
stay back.

“Are you
all right
?” Adam asked. His eyes widened and he
reached for her
but she couldn’t stay sitting. 

“Please excus
e me for a minute.” She stood
and walked quickly to the bathroom telling herself that it was okay.  He didn’t know.
She felt certain that h
e wouldn’t have said that if he had only known.  She dried her tears
as she regained
her composure and went back to the table.

Adam’s eyes were wide and if she didn’t know better she would think that he might actually be worried.
“Was it something I said?”

She sighed deeply.  She stared at him
for
just a moment
.
H
s perfect face seemed somber to her
and she felt that she owed him an explanation since she had been the one to dart away.

“I’m
s
orry
about that
. I
t
’
s
just that
my husband said
that exact phrase
to me right before he died.  I haven’t heard anyone
say it
since then.  It just caught me off guard
that’s all.
” She sat back down and tried to be nonchalant about the situation.
His mouth turned downward into a frown and then suddenly he tightened his lips and his eyes narrowed slightly. He appeared angry to her now.

“I truly am sorry, I didn’t know,” he replied gently
.
 

“How could you? It’s
all right
, really.” She tried to assure him, but something told her that there was more to the scowl
on his face than he let
on. She swal
lowed a rather large gulp
of the wine
, hoping that it might have
a relaxing effect on her
quickly
. Adam didn’t say anything.

“He died
in a car crash. T
he damage to his body was so extensive that there was not
hing that they could do for him.
”
Eve cited the even
ts as if she hadn’t been there, but i
t was the only way she could separate herself from the situation so that she didn’t have to relive the scene in her mind all over again. 

“You don’t have to talk about it. I’m sure it’s painful. Again my apologies for dredging u
p the past,” h
e said softly
.

“I don’t mind talking about it,” She shrugged her shoulders and downed another piece of fruit.
She had regained her composure and decided she wanted him to know.

“
How long were you married?” he asked.

“Almost six
years. We married our second
year of college and Michael was a forensic accountant.
”  That was their life summed up into just a few sentences, kind of depressing really.

“What about you? Do you work?” Adam asked.

“I
was
a nurse.  I loved helping people.
” The wine had taken its effect and Eve found
herself wanting to talk. It had been so long since she’d had a
normal conversatio
n with someone.

“
I worked in the ER a
t Michael Reese Hospital and was on duty
when my husband was brought in
.
I didn’t even recognize him at first.
” She paused and pushed on.
 

“
Anyway enough about that, I took a leave of absence and then found myself not wanting to do anything.  I spent a cou
ple of
months
in the house
.
It is pathetic I know.
” She paused and couldn’t help but notice that Adam listened to her intently. For some reason she felt herself wanting to tell him exactly how she felt during that time of her life.

“
Eventually
,
I managed to get up each day and then
to get out of my house
too. I sold our town home, gave away most of our furniture and things and moved into the apartment that I now live in.” She took another drink of
wine, which was already her third glass,
and she hadn’t eaten much.
The wine took its effect and
Eve
started
to feel
even more
relaxed.