Heads or Tails (17 page)

He frowned at first, as though confused, but slowly, his  forehead smoothed out and his eyes widened. ‘Hang on…! You live on Ocean Avenue? With strict parents?’

Ivyanne paused, then nodded. ‘Yeah, why?’

He leaned forward. ‘And..you travel a lot... have to be home by two...insanely beautiful…’ he groaned, pushing his golden curls off his forehead and regarding her anxiously. ‘This might sound crazy little one-but you’re not Vana and Ash’s kid, are you?’

Ivyanne’s stomach hit the floor. ‘You know my parents?!’

He dropped his face into his hands and groaned more loudly than previous.‘Oh my god!’ He peeked at her between his fingers. ‘Please tell me I didn’t just hit on the god damned princess? The one I’m supposed to be officially meeting today?!’

The air whooshed out of Ivyanne’s lungs. ‘
You’re
the Loveridge boy?’

Trent turned his head and motioned to the tattoo on his neck. ‘The one and the same.’ He grinned, which was closer to a grimace, and extended his hand. ‘Tristan Loveridge.’

Ivyanne took his fingers, feeling dazed as she whispered. ‘Ivyanne Court.’

Tristan bowed his head. ‘Your majesty.’ He knelt on the floor, holding her hands, his eyes wide with earnest. ‘Please, princess-if your father knew that I actually tried to-’

Ivyanne held up her hand. ‘No-likewise. If they knew I was down here, I’d be deader than you.’

‘Oh how wrong you are!’

‘Okay, you might be right. I mean, they really need me alive so…’ Ivyanne suddenly saw how ridiculous the situation was, and a reflexive, half hysterical giggle bubbled out of her throat. ‘It’s funny, isn’t it?’

‘I’ll let you know when my heart starts beating again.’ Tristan got back onto his seat and shook his head woefully. ‘I’m mortified!’

‘Don’t be. It happens all the time.’ Ivyanne said quickly, blushing. The flush in his cheeks made him look even cuter, and knowing he was one of her own kind relaxed her to no end. ‘Which is precisely why I’m supposed to be at home bored, and not out here with predators lurking about.’

‘I can only imagine.’ Tristan rested his elbows on his knees again and stared at her, seemingly bewildered. ‘Unbelievable!’

‘That two mers just crossed paths and didn’t even realize?’

He laughed. ‘No. It’s just... well I heard you were pretty…. I just didn’t hear that you were…’ his cheeks colored. ‘Well!’ he cleared his throat. ‘This is awkward!’

Ivyanne was inclined to agree. She studied him with open curiosity, trying to recall everything she’d ever heard about Tristan Loveridge. She knew he was quite the girl-chaser, and very smart and sneaky about it, and was unpredictable-disappearing for years at a time, pursuing one ambition or another.

‘Why are you hanging out with a bunch of high school kids anyway?’ she asked. ‘I mean, aren’t you like, thirty?’

‘Twenty seven.’ Tristan said. ‘And the only high-schoolers I hang out with are the eighteen year olds, got it princess? Hence my shock a few minutes ago-I’m very careful who I, uh…’

‘Come onto?’ Ivyanne supplied, gleeful to have such a beautiful man stumbling all over himself without someone interrupting her fun.

‘You’re enjoying this!’ He accused her. The carriage swung as the wheel rotated.

‘A little.’ Ivyanne admitted. ‘I never get to have any fun.’

‘I can imagine that too.’ Tristan said. ‘And yes I graduated in the late eighties, but I’m doing my senior year over again, so I can brush up on computer knowledge and what-not. I want to do a course, overseas in a few years in engineering.’

Ivyanne frowned. ‘Can’t you just get the papers?’ she asked. ‘Mum does that all the time.’

Tristan smiled. ‘Yeah-but all I’d learn from that is how to get papers. I actually want to be good at this-and things have changed since my day.’ He shrugged. ‘Nothing’s worth getting if you don’t learn something along the way, is it?’

‘I wouldn’t know.’ Ivyanne stared out at the water, biting her lip, thinking of how it wonderful it would be to have the kind of freedom that led to the development of convictions, as he obviously enjoyed. ‘Thanks again for this. This view is stunning.’

‘I agree.’

Ivyanne felt his eyes on her. She glanced at him, thinking about her father’s warning, and blushed. ‘What?’

‘Enjoying the view. And thinking of how lucky Roan Fire is.’

Ivyanne’s heart began to pound once more. She knew she was playing with fire, but she was curious to see just what Tristan Loveridge had up his sleeve. ‘And why is that?’

‘Because I’m only a second son. He’d be in jeopardy if I were next in line-but alas, that’s my brother, Nigara.’

Ivyanne’s heart was flopping all over the place. Being up there, trapped with such a fantastic looking creature-it was hard to forget that she was just a kid and he a man, sixteen years her senior with a bad reputation. She had to hold herself together.

‘That’s... inappropriate.’ She said finally, parroting her father’s words.

‘Is it now?’ Tristan asked lightly. ‘How so?’

‘Roan Fire is a terrific boy, and my only match. I look forward to marrying him, and don’t need the mischievous branch of the Loveridge tree threatening him.’

‘Mischievous?’ Tristan cracked up. ‘You’re the one who snuck out, little girl! And I wouldn’t have come over at all if you hadn’t been looking at me like that!’

‘Like what?’ Ivyanne demanded sharply.

Tristan leaned forward. ‘Like
you
were the predator.’

Ivyanne blushed to the roots of her hair. ‘I wasn’t thinking that! I was thinking-’

‘What?’

She shrugged. ‘I was kind of thinking that you didn’t look... uh, human.’

Tristan grinned. ‘And why would that be?’

Because you’re as beautiful as people usually say I am, and no human looks like you do.
She thought silently. But she couldn’t say that-by the look on his face, she could tell he already knew that. ‘You’re cocky.’ She said instead.

‘Yeah? Well you’re snotty.’ Tristan leaned back on the seat. ‘I’m starting to pity Roan now, so thanks for the perspective.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Ivyanne demanded, insulted.

Tristan sighed and looked out at the water. ‘Just that you’re going to be a handful for whatever man ends up stuck in your claws.’

Ivyanne scowled and looked away. They finished the rest of the ride in silence. When it was done-he walked her home, ten minutes before her parents came through the door. It was never spoken of again.

9.

If she doesn’t talk to me soon, I’m going to explode!
Tristan thought, darting glances at Ivyanne. It was his first shift, a ‘trial weekend’ for the guard. He’d been up since midnight Friday and so far, Ivyanne hadn’t said a word to him.

It was late Saturday morning and he’d been posted in the living room downstairs while everyone but Camus, Ivyanne, Lachlan and Garridan went for a swim, a fact that made him
incredibly
jealous. He couldn’t remember the last time that his will hadn’t been his own, and it made him feel for Ivyanne and the life she’d been leading-always watched, always checking in with someone. Never free to just come and go or
be
.

But there was a bright side to being left out of the group splash-Tristan had been posted by Ivyanne’s side while she wrote e-mails to families who had sought her help in one way or another at the kitchen bench. Lachlan was on the roof, watching the perimeter and the swimming mermaids, and Garridan and Camus were moving from front to back, fine tweaking the new security system.

It was nice to be so near to Ivyanne, but the fact that she went out of her way to avoid him, busy typing away at her computer or on the phone, drove him crazy.

‘Psst,’ he eventually said, leaning against the doorjamb, keeping his back to her. ‘Ivyanne… psst.’

‘What is it Tristan?’ she asked, her tone weary.

He glanced over his shoulder. ‘Just checking to see if you were still mad... but it’s okay... I got it…’

She flipped her cascade of curls over her shoulder, obscuring her profile. ‘Oh. Okay, good.’

Tristan wanted to run the tips of his fingers down her cloud of hair, knowing it would feel like silk. ‘Naw come on babe-it was one silly kiss-I was just proving a point. I know you’re jealous but-’

Ivyanne’s head snapped up, curls bouncing with indignation. ‘I’m not jealous. I’m vindicated. You’ve never been one for going alone for long, have you?’

Tristan rolled his eyes. ‘I’m not attracted to her. I knew damn well that
you
were watching with those aptly destined green eyes.’

This response was met with silence and a hostile glare.

Tristan crossed his arms. ‘If you’re not jealous about the kiss-then why
are
you mad?’

Ivyanne exhaled through her nose and said nothing, dropping her gaze again.

He smiled. ‘There was no tongue-in case you were wondering.’

She still didn’t look at him. ‘Tristan, when I’m through being mad, I’ll talk to you, okay? Just don’t push your luck for now. I have a lot to do.’

Tristan smiled. ‘Okay. But first...can you tell me if you like the tattoo? You never actually said if you did or didn’t you know.’

Ivyanne went back to typing, her keystrokes louder than before. ‘I know.’

She loved it. How could she not? Of that, Tristan was certain. She probably saw it as a manipulative gesture, but it wasn’t about that for him. It symbolized the impact she’d had on his life, and served a purpose- covering the scar left by Ardhi in a way he knew would make his nemesis
livid
. Win or lose, Ivyanne had changed him-marked him in a way that was permanent, and had nothing to do with their bloodlines.

‘Fine. Play it that way then. Time will tell what you refuse to so...’ He stared back out at the pool, smiling stupidly just because she’d acknowledged him. And now that she had, he couldn’t take another minute of the silent treatment. He didn’t look at her when he said: ‘I just can’t
believe
you’re still mad at me. I mean, a few weeks ago you thought I was
dead
and-’

The sound of a chair scraping against the floor made him turn. He watched, his hopes fading as Ivyanne moved to the other end of the table, plugged a set of headphones into her iPhone, and then placed them over her ears, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

Tristan sighed and turned back to face outside, shaking his head ruefully. Ivyanne liked to preach about how emotionally hardy mers were, but
she
could sure hold a grudge!

*

‘Hey Sahori!’ Lincoln trotted eagerly down the deck on Saturday night, tapping his shift-partner on the shoulder. ‘Grubs up. Your turn.’

‘Grub?’ Sahori asked, not taking her eyes from the dark water before her. She was sitting on the edge of the dock with ramrod straight posture, keeping vigil as Ivyanne swam.

Lincoln couldn’t see him through the inkiness of the night, but he knew Garridan was posted on the edge of the rocky outcropping fifty meters to the right where the coast dipped in to form the tip of Funnel Bay. Despite his six-man guard, Garridan insisted on chaperoning Ivyanne’s every swim.

‘Yeah grub...dinner. Sushi-Pintang’s special kind. You get fifteen minutes, and then you need to go swap with Lachy on the roof so he can eat too.’

‘Okay.’ Sahori asked no more questions. She got to her feet, holstering her little silver handgun and motioned for Lincoln to take her spot. ‘Her majesty has already stretched her limbs with and is fluttering about with a school of fish around the yacht. There has been no sign of Ardhi.’ She strode away, her long black braid glinting under the dock light. Even her walk was efficient and eerily silent against the timber dock.

Lincoln shook his head as he sat and dangled his own legs over the edge, shivering as cool, fresh water licked the soles of his aching feet. He removed his gun and rested it on the dock beside him as he scanned the silhouette of the hillside to his right for signs of movement. There were none. So he turned and studied the bay in a similar fashion, using all of his senses-his eyes, searching for scales or limbs in the distance that should not have been there, his ears, waiting for a slap of fluke against the sea that didn’t belong. Even his nose played a part-testing the air for Ardhi, who had a scent as fresh and crisp as ozone, contrasting with his dark character. But there was nothing.

Wet hands wrapped around his ankles and tugged at that exact moment but Lincoln tensed, resisting the gentle pull, his heart rate accelerating, but not from fear. A moment later Ivyanne surfaced, pouting.

‘Boo?’ She ventured.

He shook his head at her and smiled. ‘Sorry honey. I’m not as jumpy now as I used to be.’

‘Damn.’ Ivyanne curled the fingers of one hand over the timber edge and ran the other from her forehead to the back of her crown, smoothing her sodden cloak of hair back from her face and over the opposite shoulder. ‘I liked you vulnerable.’

‘You’re going to like me invulnerable a hell of a lot more.’

‘So it seems.’ Ivyanne smiled. ‘You’re doing great, Link. I’m enjoying watching your progress. And I swear you’ve shot up two inches!’

‘Somedays I feel it.’ He admitted. ‘Though the height thing is really a strength thing-I’m standing taller now, is all.’

‘Ahh. That make sense.’ She cocked an eyebrow. ‘I’m not the only one noticing either. Grace is pretending that she doesn’t-but she’s checking you out every time she thinks I’m not watching her. Which is at least three hundred times a day.’ She whistled between her teeth. ‘That’s some crush Grey! It seems like your energy intoxicates the Londeree’s, doesn’t it?’

He cringed, thinking of the reference of Bane’s dream. ‘Yeah well, if you’d kindly refrain from bringing that up publicly again…’

Ivyanne giggled-intoxicating
him
in an instant. He loved the way the sound started as low and throaty and quickly bubbled up the scale and ended with a quick intake of breath.

‘Sorry. But he had it coming.’ She frowned. ‘Marcus took it a little better than I would have liked though..’

‘Ugh! Let’s just not okay? Grace included on the conversational boycott. Crush or not, she’s not speaking to me at the moment and I intend for it to stay that way until the sight of me repulses her.’

‘Not going to happen…’ Ivyanne sang. But then, she cocked her head. ‘I noticed the silent treatment thing. Why is she mad?’

Lincoln reached out and pushed Ivyanne’s hair off her forehead. ‘Why do you think?’ He asked softly. ‘I’m in love with someone else and she doesn’t have a shot in hell. I figured it was kinder to say it, then play along.’

‘Oh.’ Ivyanne bit her lip. ‘Poor kid.’

Lincoln pushed the sight of Grace’s heart-achingly broken expression from his mind and said softly: ‘Yeah…I know.’

Ivyanne glanced towards the house, which looked beautiful and festive when lit from within. Soft jazz music-Joyce’s choice-was filtering out into the night. Over that, Lincoln could hear the animated conversation of the dwellers within as they gathered around the outdoor table, some standing, some sitting,
all
digging into Pintang’s fare.

‘Well if you’re here then it must be chow time for Sahori, and I must admit, my appetite is coming back.’ Ivyanne said. ‘I always feel so
hungry
after a swim-don’t you?’

‘Actually no.’ Lincoln thought of all the occasions when he’d swum, collecting his emotions afterwards like shells in a basket and examining them. ‘I feel...perfect. Aligned.’

Ivyanne shrugged. ‘Just wait...if you ever get to spend the majority of the day in the water for months on end, as I did growing up, you’ll see how it changes. It’s like coffee-the more you have, the more you need. Swimming can cure me of hunger and lust and irritation, but if I don’t stay in long enough it can make it worse.’

‘Yes well…’ Lincoln couldn’t help himself. ‘Nothing is going to curb my lust so long as you’re around, your highness, so I’m grateful that swimming at least takes care of my hunger and caffeine addiction or I’d be a nervous wreck.’

Ivyanne laughed. ‘Sorry. But you
know
you’re not in that boat alone.’ She nodded to the dock behind him. ‘Can you pass me a towel please so I can get out?’

Lincoln glanced over his shoulder and saw a thick cream towel folded neatly on the boards. He was about to reach for it when he noted her words: ‘So I can get out.’ He turned back slowly, risking a peek towards the dark water which he suddenly realized was lapping against her collarbone. Her neck, under her hair, was bare.

‘Are you...not wearing a swimsuit?’ He asked, shocked and  instantly overheating.

Ivyanne blushed and mumbled: ‘Look….Sahori was on duty...Garridan was way out..it’s dark…’ She made a face and moved her hands together, as though she’d be able to cover her naked form with delicate forearms. ‘Can you just pass me the damn towel please?’

Lincoln got to his feet and stood, not taking his eyes off hers. ‘No.’

Ivyanne’s jaw fell open. ‘Excuse you?’

Lincoln smiled. ‘No.’ He gestured to her. ‘What do you think hiding your body from me now is going to do when I have every inch memorized already?’

Ivyanne looked flustered. ‘Lincoln...please-’

‘
No
.’ He repeated. ‘We were engaged Ivyanne. We were lovers. If you think putting on a towel now will stop me from violating you in my sleep every night in my own dreams, then you’re insane.’

Ivyanne’s lashes lowered to veil her eyes. Water beaded on her shoulders and knuckles. ‘I’m just trying to make the temptation more bearable Lincoln. For both of us.’

‘I’m on fire, no matter what you do or wear or attempt to hide.’ He whispered. ‘The least you can do is give me a glimpse to tide me over.’

Ivyanne looked up at his hand, her conflicting feelings evident. ‘If I get out of here naked, you’re going to kiss me,’ she whispered. ‘And I’m going to kiss you back. But if I stay here and wait for you to get your senses back, I won’t toss and turn tonight, knowing I let temptation lead me astray again.’ She stroked backwards, opening the gap between them. ‘So I’m going to stay right here where I’m
safe
.’

Lincoln uttered a low moan. Ivyanne had moved out of the shadows, unwittingly providing him with the view he’d been anticipating through water now made translucent by the glow from the dock light. Her submerged breasts were buoyant and bleached ivory in contrast to her shoulders and face, and the shadow between her gently cycling legs was all too provocative for his body to ignore. He grew hard instantly at the sight, knowing why men had leapt to their deaths for such a view.

‘Wrong.’ He said, his muscles coiling.

‘About what?’ She asked, looking confused.

‘For thinking distance solves anything for me when it comes to you.’ Lincoln launched himself over the edge of the jetty and slid, feet-first into the water, sinking at first and then resurfacing against her slender body before she’d had the chance to react. He circled and arm around her waist and spun until she was up against the pole driven into the sea bed that supported the private jetty. ‘You can break my heart a million times, my love, but one kiss is all I’ll ever need to heal it.’

Ivyanne’s head turned to his, her expression desolate and desperate. ‘Baby I-’

Lincoln kissed her, because there was no other option. But his tongue only had brushed against the sweetness of hers, when reality fractured the moment.

‘Well!’ A sardonic voice from above announced his rival’s arrival. ‘This is nice. Good to see you taking your responsibility so seriously Lincoln, and
you
fighting him off as always, my queen. I was coming to see if you were hungry but it looks like you’re about to devour the fish you’ve hooked.’