photographs and data to
analyze from the various monitoring stations he had set up at spots along the
reef. It would take some time to start the generator, boot up the computer and
download the data from the wireless stations.
Time for him to go and get some work done.
He went top side and hauled himself up onto the platform on the
back of the boat. His arm and shoulder protested the movement, sending shards of
pain throughout his upper body. He released his mouthpiece and pulled off his
mask, his teeth gritting against the hurt. All along his arm and shoulder, the
scarred skin pulled tightly against more pliant flesh as he bent to remove his
fins and tossed them onboard. He sucked in a breath then, taking a moment to
fight back the discomfort. When he did, awareness of the fin slicing through the
water just a few feet away registered.
The sickle-shaped, charcoal-grey fin cut through the water as
the shark approached, and this time fear won the battle. He surged to his feet,
the harness digging into his body from the weight of the tanks and adding to his
distress.
Fearlessly the shark came right up to the dive platform on the
boat, that seemingly knowing gaze looking up as if analyzing him. Then she swam
away, and he finally released the harness to remove the tanks. Relief swept
through him as he slipped off the tanks and their weight no longer pulled
against his damaged body.
He rubbed at his injured shoulder and arm, the scarred skin
rough beneath his palm. Slowly his muscles relaxed, and he rotated his shoulder
to work out the pain as he watched the shark swim away but then circle back once
more.
He crouched, wanting to get a closer look.
Wanting to touch her again.
As she neared, he reached out and stroked the length of her
from snout to dorsal fin, her flesh rasping along his fingertips. The power in
those muscles was a reminder of the strength he had once possessed before his
injuries.
With a sharp swipe of her tail, which banged against the boat
with a loud thud, the shark rushed away this time and sank beneath the
surface.
Victor eased himself onto the deck of the dive boat. Securing
his tanks and other equipment, he started the engine for the short trip back to
shore, but as he did so, he looked back and caught sight of her fin again,
almost as if waving goodbye.
* * *
She who was called Nali by the local Kuna people
listened to the vibrations of the engine carrying him away from her.
His touch still lingered on her body, a reminder of how long it
had been since she’d been human. Since she’d experienced the pleasure of warm,
soft skin and the rush of desire.
Too long, she thought, swimming along the surface for just a
moment before diving down to rejoin her brethren along the edges of the reefs.
Not that she was truly like them.
She was of a different kind, one of the last of her race in
this area. Over the centuries the others had been taken by fishermen greedy
either to claim so large a prize or to rid the ocean of a feared predator.
It was why she usually avoided contact with the humans, but
this one had intrigued her over the last few weeks as she watched him from the
deeper waters near the reef. He’d had no fear of her cousin sharks, swimming
among them, taking pictures. Returning time and time again until she’d been
drawn closer and had seen him. Seen the scars on his body that she recognized as
burns.
More than once a sailor from a doomed ship had drifted down
into her waters with wounds such as his, so she was familiar with them.
Understood the pain like she’d seen today on his face as he’d left the waters.
His ocean-blue eyes could not hide the distress as they’d met hers when she swam
by and he’d touched her again.
A shiver of anticipation worked through her body. How she
longed for that touch. For the feel of his nearly perfect body along hers. For
the chance to wake to the sight of that masculine face and those intense eyes in
the morning light.
She drove away those
analyze from the various monitoring stations he had set up at spots along the
reef. It would take some time to start the generator, boot up the computer and
download the data from the wireless stations.
Time for him to go and get some work done.
He went top side and hauled himself up onto the platform on the
back of the boat. His arm and shoulder protested the movement, sending shards of
pain throughout his upper body. He released his mouthpiece and pulled off his
mask, his teeth gritting against the hurt. All along his arm and shoulder, the
scarred skin pulled tightly against more pliant flesh as he bent to remove his
fins and tossed them onboard. He sucked in a breath then, taking a moment to
fight back the discomfort. When he did, awareness of the fin slicing through the
water just a few feet away registered.
The sickle-shaped, charcoal-grey fin cut through the water as
the shark approached, and this time fear won the battle. He surged to his feet,
the harness digging into his body from the weight of the tanks and adding to his
distress.
Fearlessly the shark came right up to the dive platform on the
boat, that seemingly knowing gaze looking up as if analyzing him. Then she swam
away, and he finally released the harness to remove the tanks. Relief swept
through him as he slipped off the tanks and their weight no longer pulled
against his damaged body.
He rubbed at his injured shoulder and arm, the scarred skin
rough beneath his palm. Slowly his muscles relaxed, and he rotated his shoulder
to work out the pain as he watched the shark swim away but then circle back once
more.
He crouched, wanting to get a closer look.
Wanting to touch her again.
As she neared, he reached out and stroked the length of her
from snout to dorsal fin, her flesh rasping along his fingertips. The power in
those muscles was a reminder of the strength he had once possessed before his
injuries.
With a sharp swipe of her tail, which banged against the boat
with a loud thud, the shark rushed away this time and sank beneath the
surface.
Victor eased himself onto the deck of the dive boat. Securing
his tanks and other equipment, he started the engine for the short trip back to
shore, but as he did so, he looked back and caught sight of her fin again,
almost as if waving goodbye.
* * *
She who was called Nali by the local Kuna people
listened to the vibrations of the engine carrying him away from her.
His touch still lingered on her body, a reminder of how long it
had been since she’d been human. Since she’d experienced the pleasure of warm,
soft skin and the rush of desire.
Too long, she thought, swimming along the surface for just a
moment before diving down to rejoin her brethren along the edges of the reefs.
Not that she was truly like them.
She was of a different kind, one of the last of her race in
this area. Over the centuries the others had been taken by fishermen greedy
either to claim so large a prize or to rid the ocean of a feared predator.
It was why she usually avoided contact with the humans, but
this one had intrigued her over the last few weeks as she watched him from the
deeper waters near the reef. He’d had no fear of her cousin sharks, swimming
among them, taking pictures. Returning time and time again until she’d been
drawn closer and had seen him. Seen the scars on his body that she recognized as
burns.
More than once a sailor from a doomed ship had drifted down
into her waters with wounds such as his, so she was familiar with them.
Understood the pain like she’d seen today on his face as he’d left the waters.
His ocean-blue eyes could not hide the distress as they’d met hers when she swam
by and he’d touched her again.
A shiver of anticipation worked through her body. How she
longed for that touch. For the feel of his nearly perfect body along hers. For
the chance to wake to the sight of that masculine face and those intense eyes in
the morning light.
She drove away those
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