Part 8 (1/2)

Alex regarded Liam with admiration. ”As they say, yougo , girl!” ”The dayI am a girl is the day you can bury me, as well. Into the portal, Alex. It will take you to where you should be. Dylan's side. Are you prepared?”

Squaring his shoulders, Alex nodded. ”Just about ready, mostly willing, and possibly able.”

Liam sighed. ”Good enough.” He shoved Alex hard in the small of his back, forcing him forward into the opening. Alex's last sight was of Liam grinning at him, wicked as a little devil.

Then it was shrieking-rush time again, almost like plummeting down a unbelievably steep rollercoaster in the dark. In the wild void, Alex focused his mind on Dylan, only Dylan, and found that he did regret acting like such a child, after all.

”Grow up!” he shouted at himself, his voice silent and yet carried away by the nothingness.

Then the portal closed and deposited him in a vast room that smelled of sunny summer afternoons spent by the briny ocean.

Well, d.a.m.n. I'm definitely not inKansasanymore, am I?Alex took a step forward, slipped in a shallow pool of water, and landed on his a.s.s.One more time ... d.a.m.n!

This had better be worth the effort.

Chapter Seven.

The first thing Alex heard was laughter, soft and low, like a peal of thunder off in the distance. He shook his head to clear away the lingering aftereffects of traveling by portal, and turned in the direction of what looked like an Olympic-sized pool ... in the middle of a freakin' forest.

”d.a.m.n. Amour Magique should be fined for defying the laws of time and s.p.a.ce,” he grumbled. ”Who's making fun of me?”

”Look to your left, and you'll know,” a familiar voice said.

Alex stood up, shaking water off his already ruined pants, and pivoted to face the speaker. His heart positively went pit-a-pat and his loins started to throb. Dylan was in the pool, arms propped on one cement, faux-woodsy edge, looking at him in a way that made his liver quiver. Part anger, part pure amus.e.m.e.nt, and all s.e.x.

”You can't say I don't know how to make an entrance,” Alex announced, striking a pose with one hand on his hip. ”Dylan. How have you been?”

”Working off some tension. I don't use the seal skin anymore, but I love swimming. Lucky for me Amour Magique has this big pool. They use it for when the mermen decide to come by, or even for other outcast selkies, but when it's wide open ... then I swim.” Dylan propelled himself away from the edge and began doing a fast b.r.e.a.s.t.stroke to the opposite side of the pool.

Alex watched him go. His hands curled into fists out of pure nerves, then uncurled. Dylan might soundgood-natured, but only a fool would think the man wasn't still majorly p.i.s.sed at him.

And much as it pained him to admit, Dylan had every right.

With a sigh, Alex rolled up the legs of his pants and sat down on the wet edge of the concrete, dangling his feet in the water. The liquid felt cool and soft, no sharp chemical edges. Curious, he dipped a finger in and tasted.

Salt. Of course.

Watching Dylan flash in and out of the water, quick as a -- well, aseal -- was a sight to behold. Alex shook his head. What in the h.e.l.l had possessed him to be such a devil-may-care fool? This was a big, strong, powerful guy, every inch a man, and not one to be pushed around. Alex knew he'd let his urge to play get the better of him.

Well, he saw it now. The question was -- could he convince Dylan of how sorry he'd become?

At the far edge of the pool, Dylan turned around and began the lap back. Alex's heart sped up even as Dylan swam a little slower, as if he, too, were dreading the coming confrontation ... but he did keep coming, drawing closer and closer.

When he reached a spot about five feet away from where Alex was seated, he pulled to a stop, treading water. ”So, you have something to say?”

”I did. Now, I'm not sure that anything I have on my mind is going to cut it. Especially when I realize what a natural you are in the water. But then, you were born to it.”

”Decades before you ever took your first step,” Dylan rumbled in that edible voice of his. ”While I lived in the skin, I didn't age like humans do. I've put on a few years since I decided to go ash.o.r.e.”

Alex bit back his curiosity. ”I won't ask why.”

”Really?” Dylan made a face. ”And here I thought you were going to be just full of questions. Why this and why that.”

”I don't want you to be more angry at me than you already are.”

”It's a little late for that, Alex. I should get out of the water and take a portal back to my room, lock the door, and sleep until you're gone.” Dylan paused. ”I don't know why I'm not.”

Alex hesitated. ”Maybe because you feel what I do?”

”And what would that be?”

”A link. A tie.” Alex put his hand to his heart. ”I don't know how or why, because this most definitely has never happened to me, but I keep sensing there's a connection between us.”

”Body shots will do that to a man.”

”Bulls.h.i.+t. I've had men licking more than creme liqueur off my body before; we kissed in the morning and never saw one another again.” Alex bit his lip. ”I don't want that to be the way things go betweenyou and me.”

”Is that a fact?” Dylan paddled nearer. ”So tell me more about this 'tie.' Is it striped or paisley? After all, you're the valet.”

”Not fair. I could ask you if the water tasted like your margaritas.”

”What?” Dylan was apparently surprised into a laugh. ”You really don't do well when you're backed into a corner, do you?”

Alex raised one shoulder with a half-laugh. ”I'm trying my best here, Dylan. This isn't something I'm used to. Want to cut me a piece of slack?”

”I can bet this isn't part of your routine. Love 'em and leave 'em.”

”Or part by mutual agreement.”

”You're not used to actually making a connection to someone that goes beyond d.i.c.k into a.s.s ...” Dylan paddled a few inches closer still. ”Am I right?”

Alex sighed. ”No, I'm not. And this scares the ever-loving s.h.i.+t out of me, okay? I don't like feeling vulnerable, and you make me ten kinds of uncertain. This bond freaks me out, even if it does feel right. It did when I was back in your room, and saw the pictures on the walls.”

”You looked at my pictures, too? What did you see?”

Dylan didn't seem angry, only curious, so Alex figured it was safe to answer. ”Weird things. One was a picture of a seal sunning itself on the beach. I looked at the painting, and it turned into one of those Magic Eye things. Sucked me right in like a portal, and there I was on the sand with you.”

”Those paintings aren't what you might call ordinary.” Dylan was almost up against the side of the pool now. ”What happened?”

”Well, we didn't exactly whip out a silver cart and have a high tea, if that's what you're wondering.”

”I don't know. You made a pretty good meal earlier.”

A glimmer of hope flickered to life in Alex's chest. ”I don't think I've ever enjoyed fine food more,” he admitted. ”And we both know it's not the first time someone's eaten off my body.”

”What made it different?”