Sea Storm: Children of the Waves (4 page)

Aaron handed her a set of headphones.
The machine rose into the air and headed toward the sun, still hovering well
above the horizon.

She pulled out her shades and put them
on, glancing back and forth through the windows.

Aaron sat next to her and touched her
shoulder to point out something to her. She heard his voice through the
headphones. “That’s where we’re going.”

The view from above stunned her. Not a
cloud marred the color of the clear blue sky. She watched the horizon and it
seemed the sea rose up to kiss the sky. Des’ gaze moved to the direction they
headed, past the stretch of greenery as she strained to see the entire island.
She could make out the colorful roofs of several buildings on the small stretch
of land.

The largest building looked like a villa
with a red-tiled roof. They flew over the dock area with two motorboats and a
larger craft moored there. Then over the house, sitting on a slight incline,
and the helicopter landed on a helipad in a circular driveway, located at the
side of the house. The center of the landing pad appeared to be a motif of the
sun and separated the house from the mountains behind it.

Des could see the ocean in front of her
and also part of the mountain.

The engines came to a stop and Aaron took
off his headphones.

She followed his action

He got out first and helped her.

A tall dark-skinned man came running
toward them, dressed in shorts and a bright yellow t-shirt.

She blinked at the way the color competed
with the brightness of the sun.

“Aaron, good to see ya.” The young man
held out his hand.

Aaron shook it while with the other hand
he patted him on the back. “Hey, Jerry, didn’t know you were here. How’s
school?”

“Good. It’s spring break, so I thought
I’d come out to the island for a day or so to soak up some sun before I have to
go back.”

Aaron grinned and turned to her. “Des,
this is Jerry. His parents, Marta and Henry, are the ones who really run this
place. Jerry, Des.”

Jerry extended his hand toward her. “Nice
to meet you.”

“You, too.”

“Let me get the bags and I’ll take them
to your rooms. You have your usual, Aaron, and Ma’s put Des in the green room.”

Aaron turned with him, and they both
grabbed the bags from the back of the helicopter. Neither of the men would let
Des take anything, so she held onto her carryon already in her hand.

At first, Des watched the men, but motion
in her left peripheral vision caught her attention. She swung toward it. About
fifty yards from where they stood, the sea met the shore and something moved in
the water—an arm. She squinted behind her sunglasses. The sun cut the
horizon in half but suddenly, a form rose up from the waves and stood in
silhouette against the sun.

A
man?

He walked out of the ocean and Des stood
riveted to the ground. She could not take her eyes off him. The receding water
revealed more of his perfectly formed torso. As he got closer, she watched the
liquid trail down his body, and followed its path over a wide chest as it slithered
across well-defined abs, and disappeared at the waistband, riding low over lean
hips. Oh, how she wanted to peel those trunks down to continue the journey with
the water.

Slowly, she reversed the path her gaze
followed, taking in skin, bronzed from his time in the sun. Something glittered
around his neck, some sort of chain, but her gaze only skimmed it. Her eyes
momentarily arrested by the beautiful colorful tattoos, taking up the left side
of his well defined chest and shoulder, before continuing down his arm to his
elbow.

She took a step forward, wanting to get a
closer look at the patterns, but she stopped herself. Instead, allowing her
gaze to travel to the wild dark hair. Wet from his swim, long enough to caress
his collarbone and covering part of his perfect sculptured face.

Des kept staring until she gazed into
those eyes. Even from this distance. She froze.

Cyrus had already gone ahead, but Zek
hadn’t been quite ready to leave the peace of the ocean. The whirl of the
helicopter blades told him he’d stayed a little too long and would greet his
guest in his swimsuit. At least, he’d thought to put one on just in case. He
almost always swam nude. Good thing, cause Cyrus hadn’t been wearing one. He
wore a smile on his face, thinking of the shock Cori’s friend would’ve gotten
to see a naked man, or two of them, walking out of the ocean.

He blinked and wiped the water out of his
eyes before he focused on the figures, standing near the helicopter. His
eyesight even on land was better than most. He easily made out Aaron. While the
brown-skinned woman with him, immediately caught his attention. Average height,
she’d only reach his shoulder, but her figure of long legs, a tiny waist and
palm-sized breasts had the blood in his body flowing a little faster through
his veins.

While the others were still moving,
taking things out of the copter, she remained motionless staring at him. A
shiver ran through his body. The closer he got, the stronger the sensation.
Something about her…

“Hey, dude.”

He briefly turned his gaze away from the
female and saw Aaron. On one hand, Zek registered the greeting and the fact
Aaron moved in his direction to shake his hand. He automatically extended his
to connect with Aaron’s, but his gaze returned to where the rest of his senses
were all focused—on the woman before him. When Aaron released him, he
turned to her. This had to be Des. Zek’s hand rose to the necklace around his
neck, he noticed the woman’s gaze follow his movement.

“Des, this is Xavior’s brother, Ezekiel
Oceanus. Zek this is Desiree Holden, otherwise, Des.”

“Welcome to my home,” he said.

The woman couldn’t seem to find her voice
for a moment and he tried to rescue her. The minute he thought of rescuing her,
his heart beat faster. Electricity pumped through his blood and lightning
flashed above their heads.
He knew her.

At the first crackle of lightning, Des
glanced up at the clear blue sky.

He smiled. “I’m sorry to greet you in
such a wet state. And please call me Zek.” He took the hand not holding the
carryon bag in a tight grip and raised it. Lowering his head to her palm, but
without taking his eyes off her, he pressed his lips against her soft flesh and
felt her shiver. Her eyes opened wide. After he lowered her hand, he didn’t
release it. “I told you we’d meet again.”

“You know each other?” Aaron asked.

“Huh?” she mumbled.

“I’m sorry, Aaron, but I’ve met Des
before,” he stated.

“Sorry—I’m….” She shook her head.
“I don’t think so.” But her gaze drifted to the necklace around his neck, and
she couldn’t hide the slight tremble again in her hand.

He released her to raise the pendant on
the necklace for her to see. “I think we have.”

She couldn’t hide the gasp or the
expression of shock filling her soulful eyes.

Then, he saw something else there
too—fear. He frowned.

Jerry already went into the house with
the bags, and Aaron glanced back and forth between them perplexed.

“Come, it’s been a long trip and you must
be exhausted.” Zek grasped her elbow. He couldn’t stop touching her, but
neither did she try to move away from him. He led the way into the house and
through the great room. “I’ll show you to your room.” She’d been placed in his
wing of the house.

The main house consisted of only one
level but with four connecting wings. The great room, office and kitchen were
at the center of the structure with the wings like half points of a star. But
all the hallways connected, and each bedroom had some ocean view. The green
room sat right next to his. “Aaron, I believe you’re in your usual. Let me take
a shower and give you all a chance to rest a bit. Then, we can meet in the
great room in an hour.”

Aaron nodded and went off down another
hallway.

Zek turned and still holding onto her
arm, led Des to her room. Stopping in front of her open door, he spied the
suitcase at the foot of the bed Jerry must have placed there. He didn’t dare
enter the bedroom. He might not leave it anytime soon. Reluctantly, he released
her arm. “Here you are. I’ll see you in a bit and then we’ll talk.”

“Thank you.” She walked into the room and
shut the door.

He thought she’d say more but she didn’t.
Only then, did he release the breath he’d been holding.
He found her!
He also thought he understood why she might be
afraid.

Chapter
Five

Des shut the door on Zek and sank down on
the bed. She couldn’t dwell on the beauty of her surroundings right then. Her
thoughts flashed back to a time she’d tried hard to forget, but terror again
gripped her mind.
That man.
Zek.
It couldn’t be. It’s impossible.
But what happened that day seemed impossible. When the boat exploded, they’d
all been thrown overboard. Weird lightning shot out of the sky and struck at
the sharks.

A young man and dolphins saved the lives
of her and her family that day. Could the boy be this man? They had the same
coloring, same look. She’d never forget those eyes. Xav’s eyes were similar in
color but Zek’s held the same vibrancy as her teenage hero from long ago.
Something else about the man seemed familiar. He drew her to him as the boy had
drawn her. Enough for her to give him her favorite necklace.

The same one Zek wore around his neck.
Could it be?

The boy she remembered had no markings on
his body, not so for the man. She’d gotten a look at them and wanted nothing
more than to trace his ink with her finger, followed by her tongue. Works of
art adorned this man’s body in the form of colorful and intricate tattoos. The
one over his left pec reminded her of Greek letters, but she had no idea what
it meant. The beauty of the red and green design running across his chest of a
rose wrapped in barbed wire stunned her. She wondered what it meant, but seeing
the sketch of the red Impala with a black wave across the side, running down
his arm made sense.

She smiled, but then shook her head. What
was she doing, drooling over the man? A stranger. And yet…

Des had so many questions. But even if he
had been her rescuer, could she tell him the truth? A dozen years had gone by
but she couldn’t take the risk, not hers to take. Her father and her family
were still under the witness protection program. She’d never put her family at
risk. Des made up her mind. She couldn’t let Zek know the truth.
Hali is dead.
She died that day on the
boat along with her family. The official reports made it so and saved her
family all these years. She’d not do anything to put them in harm’s way. Not
even her best friend, Cori, knew the truth about her life. While it hurt Des to
lie to Cori, it hurt her even more knowing she’d have to continue her lie with
Ezekiel.

After washing up and changing into
another sundress and sandals, she opened the door to her room and retraced her
steps. She turned right and followed the hallway but it branched off and she
couldn’t remember which way to go. From what she’d seen of the place, the walls
had very similar artwork of sunsets over water. The sounds of masculine
laughter drew her to the right again to find the source. She walked through an
open arch back into the room she’d been in earlier.

The house was very open, tall ceilings
and lots of windows and light colors. The view in the kitchen area of a vista
of the ocean beyond beckoned you outside. She found it hard to take her gaze
away, but she marveled upon realizing the house appeared built beside a cliff.
One side faced the beach and the water beyond, the other also faced the sea but
a rockier expanse lay between the house and its access.

“There you are,” Aaron called to her.

She glanced over in the direction the
greeting came from.

Aaron and Ezekiel sat around the center
island of the kitchen. The great room flowed directly into the kitchen, the
décor the only thing separating the areas. Seashells embedded in the cement
walls made up one part of the room, creating a mural of a pod of dolphins.
While the kitchen area had white ceramic tiles with pictures of shells and
seaweed on a few of the tiles. But her gaze kept drifting back to the center
island.