Richard's Reign (Book 6): Enthrall Novella #3 (Enthrall Sessions) (14 page)

Her expression was pure delight. “I’m scared to walk on it.”

“It’s extremely sturdy.” I arched a brow. “Obviously.”

To our left was an entire wall of glass, ocean life swimming by.

“I’d be happy to just stay in here,” she said.

“Then you’ll miss all the fun.” I closed the door. “Take off your clothes.”

She placed her tongue between her teeth and bit it playfully.

“Later,” I said.

We undressed and Andrea was wearing her bikini just as I’d told her too. We took our time shimmying in to our diving suites. I helped her zip hers up.

Andrea lifted one of the two Neptune Space G masks and examined the sleek design. “This is nice. Looks high-tech.”

“It is.”

The full face mask looked more like something a fighter pilot might wear, with its streamlined visor and molded silicon rubber to fit snuggly over the face.

I took it from her and turned it over to show her. “See this? We can talk to each other while we’re down there and communicate with Isaac, too.”

“I love that!”

I drew closer to her. “I suppose now’s the right time to ask.”

“Ask what?”

“Are you menstruating?”

She flashed a smile. “Oh no, is this some kind of kinky activity?”

“You mean fucking under water?”

She blushed. “Yes.”

“No.”

“Why would you ask me—” Her eyes dropped to the glass floor. “No, I’m not. Richard? Tell me there aren’t sharks down there.”

“Welcome aboard the UCLA official shark research lab. Here they track, tag, and monitor the great white shark.”

She glanced down at her wetsuit.

“We’ll be in a cage, Andrea.”

“Hell no.”

“That blip you saw. Her name’s Pearl. She’s only twelve feet.”

“Pearl?” Andrea stared down and her eyes swept the water.

“All we have to do is sit tight, chum, and wait.”

She swallowed hard. “You want me to get in a cage?”

“Actually, it’s glass. Better view.”

“Don’t need a great view.” She looked pale. “Won’t it be hard to tell…?”

“Yes, it will seem as though we’re right in front of her.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“No more than crossing the street.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go have some fun.”

With a firm grip on Andrea’s arm, I led her up to the bow where Isaac and Todd were waiting for us. Isaac helped Andrea with her mask and secured her oxygen tank to her back, and slid the weights into her belt. Todd helped me with mine.

After a minute of breathing through the mask again it felt natural and I admired the 360 degree view of the wide visor. I moved slower now, the weights strapped around my waist compromising my movement, the slight restriction of the suit.

Within ten minutes we were good to go.

“Checking the comms,” I said. “Andrea, how’s that for you?”

“I can hear you,” she said, peering through her visor.

Isaac turned toward the bridge where he received a thumbs up from Rachel who was screening the sonar. “Comms loud and clear for us, too,” he said.

Andrea froze. “Richard, I can’t.”

I signaled for Rachel to turn off the sound so we could talk in private.

Taking Andrea’s hands in mine I stared into her eyes. “Fear is nothing more than an illusion. It doesn’t exist.”

“What I’m feeling is real.”

“Thoughts are not reality.”

She mulled over my words. “How can this possibly help me?”

“The answer lies down there.” I pointed to the water. “It’s waiting for you.”

“What if that shark kills me?”

“Face her and you can face anything.”

She grazed her teeth over her lower lip. “I don’t see the connection.”

“Because you’re blinded by fear.”

“Fuck you for doing this. Fuck you for not warning me.”

“You wouldn’t have come.”

“It doesn’t seem right.”

“This is what it means to be alive.”

“I should never have asked you to help me. You have no idea what you’re doing.”

“I’ve swum with sharks so many times I’ve lost count. I know them well.”

“I’m not insured for stuff like this.”

“Take a breath.”

She gave an unconvincing nod.

“You knew I could help you,” I said. “Trust it. Trust me.”

“Okay.” She shook her head.

I signaled to Rachel to turn the comms back on. “I’ll go first.”

“She’s a beauty,” said Isaac. “You’re one lucky lady.”

“You are all completely mad,” she said.

The top of the glass cage bobbed above the surface. I sat on the edge of the boat and tugged on my fins.

Andrea sat beside me and tugged on hers. “I’m not going in.”

“I know.” I beamed at her.

“Can sharks tell if you’re scared?”

“No.” I threw a glance at Isaac.

We both knew that should we cower down there, turn our backs on Pearl, or appear distressed, the shark would know. She’d evolved to detect animals in distress.

“I can do this.”Andrea’s breathy voice echoed in my earpiece.

“Yes, you can” I said. “Ready?”

She gave a nod.

I swung my legs over the edge, placed my hands on both sides of the cage and lowered myself down into it. The water was warm and welcoming and those weights felt lighter now, an easy swell around me. Turning, I raised my hands to Andrea and she gave a final nod of consent as she too used the glass side for leverage.

She lowered into my arms, her gaze catching the two large black floatation devices, the buoys needed to keep us afloat.

From above, Isaac worked the hydraulics and we were jolted out.

“We’ll check our equipment and then we’ll continue,” I told Andrea.

“Sounds good.” She gripped my forearm.

Beneath the surface we stared into each other’s eyes, both of us testing whether or not our masks were leak proof and our oxygen tanks were delivering the right amount of air.

“You’ve done this before,” I said. “You’re a natural.”

“Yes, but that was on vacation. Haven’t dived in years.”

“No ascending with your lungs full,” I warned.

“I remember.”

“So we’re good to go?”

“We’re good to go,” she said.

“Going down,” Isaac’s confident voice streamed in.

We descended slowly, staring at each other, doing a cautious final check to make sure there were no leaks in our masks. Buffered by the water, we could hear the sound of our own breathing.

Isaac’s voice came across, reassuring us that all checks up there were in order.

“Breathe normally,” I said.

“This is normal,” she said. “I always breathe like this when I’m shark bait.”

I chuckled. “This will be easier than facing those sharks back in Hollywood.”

“I want to believe you.” She gripped me. “Promise me this cage is built to withstand an attack? Perhaps I should have asked that before getting in?”

“It’s solid.”

“What if I pee?” Andrea burst out laughing. “Will the shark go for me?”

“The safest place is underwater. As long as we don’t look like wounded seals.” I gave her a sideways glance. She didn’t need to know that sharks would be curious once they caught sight of us.

A passing visual sweep revealed only a couple of yellowtail’s gliding by. Isaac would see Pearl first on the sonar, but we’d already decided not to tell Andrea when she was approaching, wanting to give her the chance to view the shark in the distance swimming majestically toward us.

We heard a splash above and the water became tinged red with blood. A dead fish head bobbed around.

“Chum,” I said. “We’re hailing our beauty.”

“How is this meant to help me?” whispered Andrea.

I turned her around to face the front of the glass and then slid in front of her, protecting her body with mine. She wrapped her arms around my chest and hugged me.

The water was calm, relaxing, and it felt easy to leave the world behind. The only sound was that of our breathing, the sensation of Andrea tight and trembling against my back.

“Do you come here often?” She giggled.

“As much as I can.”

Isaac’s voice sounded clear in my earpiece. “Your man here funds the boat, Andrea.”

“It’s one of the many charities our company oversees,” I said.

“And we’re eternally grateful,” said Isaac.

“I’m grateful for the work you do,” I said. “It’s changing the way people see sharks and enlightening them to how important they are. I’ve been away too long.”

“Don’t let that happen again,” said Isaac. “You know we love having you here.”

“Me too,” I said. “This is good work you’re doing. Sharks are vital to keep the ecosystem in order, Andrea. Without them this finely balanced structure will collapse.”

Isaac piped in, “Sharks have survived over 450 million years, and many species are threatened with extinction.”

“Here she is,” I said soothingly.

Out of the gloomy depths rose that familiar glide, all twelve feet of her, both old and new scars running down the side of her neck and that tag in her fin still secure.

“Pearl,” I said softly.

Andrea’s grip tightened. “Oh, my God.”

“Nice and calm.”

“It’s too big.”

The large grey shark loomed close, making a passing sweep, dark eyes surveying us as its nose nudged a piece of fish away. She whipped around fast, jaw gaping, serrated teeth up against the glass, and she turned again sharply, shying away, cautious, moving through the water with a flip of her long tale.

“She’s injured,” whispered Andrea.

“You mean the scars on her gills?” I said.

“Yes, look, she’s been attacked.”

“What you’re seeing is very natural,” I said. “Those are sustained during sex. They’re from where her mate bit onto her to hold her still.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Looks painful.”

“It heals.”

Andrea pressed her fingertips into my ribs; perhaps a silent hint at her surprise at the roughness of the species.

“See how brave she is?” I said.

“She doesn’t seem to have an issue with being brave.”

Pearl pulled back away from us, reacting to something unseen, and dived, disappearing into the murky depths.

“Oh, thank God,” said Andrea.

A jolt of adrenaline surged through my veins. “How far away?” I asked Isaac.

“She’s at nine o’clock,” he replied.

“I see her.”

The shark was at least eighteen feet long and there was no surprise that she’d threatened Pearl and caused her to swim away, with her grey and white body mass startlingly big - a gigantic heart-stopping sea creature.

My gust twisted in knots as she approached. A wave of exhilaration flooded over me.

This number one predator made a sweep around our cage, her eyes on us; large gills rippling, enormous tale flicking.

Andrea was silent.

“You okay back there?”

“No.”

The shark circled, her two thousand pounds threatening to crush the cage should she swing her body around violently toward us. Her prowling proved she was hunting.

God, she was spectacular. A breathtaking wonder.

Andrea’s chin rested on my shoulder and I sensed she’d surrendered, fighting was useless, our vulnerability startling.

“Her name’s Joy,” I whispered.

“Lovely.”

“Isn’t she gorgeous?”

“I’d bite you if I didn’t have this thing on.”

Isaac’s chuckle came from my earpiece.

The shark’s jaw gape exposed row upon row of triangular serrated teeth, a mouth that could swallow a man whole; she gnawed the corner of the glass causing us to rock.

She flipped away and circled the cage. Water buffered us.

With a powerful lunge she struck out - her teeth embedded in one of the two floats above and it became nothing but hissing punctured material in her mouth as she shook it.

Our refuge rocked to and fro as we were jolted about.

“Richard!” Andrea snapped.

“We’re fine,” I said. “As long as she doesn’t—”

As though in slow motion we watched Joy flip her tale and explore above us. That floating bloody chum was too close to the second float. She caught that black rubber buoy between her serrated teeth.

And crushed it.

I spun around and hugged Andrea into me. “Hang on. I’ve got you.”

From within our glass cage we descended into the murky depths.

CHAPTER 16

THE SWIRL OF the ocean enveloped us during our slow fall, bubbles surrounding us as the cage rocked.

My ears were popping from the pressure.

Andrea’s frantic breathing filled my earpiece.

“Andrea,” I said firmly. “Do exactly as I say, understand?”

“Yes,” she burst out, her body crushed against mine, her arms flailing.

“Focus and trust me.” I brought her arms to her sides. “I need you to stay still.”

I didn’t want her to look like a seal.

“Oh, my God,” she said.

“Stay calm.”

She gripped my forearms. “Yes.”

Our fall slowed even more and I stared up to see that the chain above us remained secure.

Isaac’s voice sounded eerily quiet. “Are you both okay?” Any injuries?”

“We’re fine.”

Andrea’s eyes were filled with terror.

A jolt let us know we’d stopped falling.

I took a quick glance around us. “See, told you it’d be fun.”

Adrenaline set my veins alight, my focus fusing together time and space, calculating; those well-practiced drills kicking in.

“Richard, what are we going to do?”

I pressed my mask against Andrea’s and stared into her deep brown eyes. “I’ve got this. We’ll be on the surface in no time.”

“Really?”

“Sure. Look down.”

“Will I see a shark?”

“Our way out.”

She tilted her head and blinked into the murkiness. A few feet below us sat another cage, its metal bars sturdy.

“We’re going to switch cages?” she said.

“Yes,” I said. “It’s a walk in the park. Isaac, can you lower us any further?”

“That’s as far as I can get you,” he said. “We’re working on the hydraulics of the metal cage.”

“What’s holding us up?”

“Technical hitch,” he said. “We’re working on it.”

“See,” I reassured her. “This is just like any other day. Like shopping at the mall during the sales.”