Whittaker hadn’t gone to his own place either. Hands shoved deeply into his pocket, he stood at the edge of the pool, contemplating its clear blue depth. Area lights positioned around the edge of the patio and within the pool itself offered an intimate and inviting illumination.
She frowned. It was no secret Blake had a fear of the water. No way he’d be stripping off and taking a dip.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t.
Slipping out of the chair, Gwen reached for the button at the top of her blouse. A little smile played on her lips as she fumbled with the small pearly bead beneath her fingers.
Chapter 13
B
lake couldn’t figure out what the hell he’d just done. He’d either made the stupidest move a man could make, or he made the smartest. He wasn’t sure.
He knew what he was supposed to be doing. He even knew how to do it. Normally he wouldn’t have a problem with the idea. He wasn’t an innocent, and had engaged in his share of one-night stands. And it was exactly what the agency wanted him to do.
Yet somehow the idea of bedding Gwen Lonike had taken an oddly personal turn. When she’d indicated she was open to an affair without emotional attachments, the words hit him in all the wrong ways.
Even though he knew why in the back of his mind, Blake wasn’t quite ready to recognize it. There had been a time in his life when casual sex was all he believed he needed from a woman. But watching his son growing up through the years had begun to change his point of view.
Blake stared into the depths of the pool. The full moon was reflected on the glassy surface. The clear water rippled, gently lapping at the edges.
Gwen had everything he liked in a woman, a fantastic combination of beauty and brains. He didn’t want to enter into this lightly and cut off any possibility of a real relationship in the future.
But part of his assignment was to get information. He’d been ordered, in so many words, to seduce Gwen. Considering the idea, a strong tug stirred him below. No reservations there. He wouldn’t mind making love to her.
What he didn’t like was the idea that he’d have to deceive her.
Doubt had never bothered him before. Now it hovered at the shadowy corners of his brain like a small fanged beast, taking bite after bite out of his conscience. Misleading Gwen about his true motives, using her in any way, just felt wrong.
Such confusion and uncertainty wasn’t the way he normally operated. Usually, he knew what he wanted and he went after it, with no hesitation. He knew he wanted Gwen, wanted to sleep with her. He just didn’t want to have to lie to her about his motives.
He briefly toyed with the idea of contacting Frances Fletcher, telling her that he just couldn’t handle it. Truth be told, she was putting him in the middle of a gray area, that of duty versus the government’s need to know.
Blake’s jaw tightened. He already knew he wouldn’t be making that call to his superior. If he couldn’t perform as expected, he’d be replaced—or worse.
Pulling a hand out of his pocket, Blake rubbed his burning eyes. He was tired, having passed exhaustion hours ago. Right now he was powered on pure adrenaline. Without the ability to think straight, he’d make mistakes.
Maybe it was a good idea to put some distance between himself and Gwen until he managed to screw his head on straight. A good night’s sleep would go a long way toward restoring his sanity. Right now it seemed to be slipping through his fingers like tiny granules of sand.
Just as he’d made up his mind to go to his own place, he heard the door sliding across its metal track, a soft, barely audible whoosh. The sound of heels clicking on the patio tile followed. He didn’t have to turn around. He knew it was Gwen.
“Nice evening.” Her melodic voice wafted from behind.
A series of warm prickles raced over his skin.
Damn. Now wasn’t the best time to see her. Not when he had too much to sort through. Later. Later would be better.
Shaking off the heavy mantle of exhaustion, Blake squared his shoulders. He turned, determined to be friendly and agreeable. “Yeah, it is.”
Gwen smiled. “Great pool they’ve got here.”
Warm prickles turned to gooseflesh.
Blake forced himself to kill his frown. “I suppose it’s nice enough if you like to swim.”
Gwen smiled. “Matter of fact, I was just thinking about that.” She slowly began to unbutton her blouse.
Suddenly Blake didn’t feel so tired or confused after all. His eyes widened as he watched her undo each little pearly button. Oh, man, surely she wasn’t about to strip.
Yes, it definitely looked like she was.
Heat boiled beneath the surface of his skin. He grabbed his tie, loosening it a little. Its grip around his neck was getting to be too tight for comfort. “Is that right?” was all he could manage to say.
Inwardly wincing, he immediately gave himself a swift mental kick. Shit. Was that the best he could manage? Some freaking master of seduction he was.
Smooth move.
Gwen laughed and spread her blouse open, letting it slip from her slender shoulders. “That’s right.” She let the plain cotton top slide from the tips of her fingers onto a nearby deck chair. Stepping out of her low-heeled pumps, she slowly unzipped her slacks and then pushed them over her hips and down the length of her endless legs. A moment later, she stood clothed only in bra and panties.
Blake’s heart beat rapidly in his chest. Her lingerie was the plain, white, sensible kind, with no extra frills or ruffles. Didn’t matter a bit, either. With such a smoking-hot body, Gwen Lonike didn’t need anything to enhance her natural beauty. The heat in his groin was growing, threatening to take things to a more physical level. Given another few minutes to gawk and he’d definitely have something to show her. Something very hard, and eager.
“Guess that will do for a swimsuit.” He struggled to push the words out over the lump in his throat.
She shook her head. “Oh, I’m not going to swim in this.” Reaching between her breasts, she undid the clasp. The plain white cups fell away, revealing the curves of two lovely breasts topped with nipples the shade of ripe cherries.
Blake’s mouth went Sahara dry. Just looking at her threatened to short-circuit every cell in his body. His pulse picked up speed, doubling its rhythm. Things were about to get very uncomfortable. His clothing felt like it was shrinking down around him, instantly going two sizes too small. He couldn’t mistake the signals his loins were sending to his head. He wanted her.
Bad.
Gwen continued her agonizing tease, wriggling out of her panties. She let them dangle on the tip of her index finger, giving them a sexy little spin before tossing them in the pile of discarded clothing.
And then she wore nothing. Nothing at all except that teasing little smile.
The sight was enough to make a grown man fall to his knees and beg like a dog.
Eyes drifting over her curves, Blake fought to keep control of his trembling knees when his gaze dipped below her waist. He sucked in a startled breath. She’d recently had a Brazilian wax, which exposed every last delicious inch of her mons.
More fascinating than her naked self was the pattern etched into her skin. Like her sisters, Gwen’s began at her wrists, coiling up her arms, around her shoulders and down her back and abdomen. A sexy swirl around her hips continued all the way down to her ankles.
She took a deep breath. “I’ve never been fully undressed in front of anyone before,” she confessed in a breathy voice. “You’re the first human to see me like this.”
Pulling his wits together, Blake fought to find his voice. “I—I’m honored,” he stammered before a smile crept onto his lips. “And delighted.”
A little blush crept into her cheeks. The flash of white teeth revealed two cute dimples hovering at the corners of her mouth. “There’s also something else I want to show you.”
With a delicate step that lent her hips a sexy swaying motion, she walked toward the swimming pool. Coming to its edge, she paused briefly. Then she took a deep breath and dived. She cut through the water cleanly, barely adding a ripple to the surface.
Though he held no desire to go in after her, Blake stepped closer to the edge. The pool was lit, giving him an excellent view of her naked body as she swam beneath the surface. Without coming up for air, she made a few graceful glides and turns.
And then it happened.
Like a rose blossoming into its full bloom, a series of bright sparks raced across her skin, grabbing and twisting her legs together. A long, graceful tail unfurled, shimmering with iridescent color. It happened so fast he almost couldn’t process the change.
Surfacing, Gwen swam to the edge of the pool. Settling her elbows on the tiled surface, she propped her chin on one damp palm. “Come on in,” she invited. “The pool’s heated.”
Shaking his head, Blake took a step back. Desire fled before the uneasy sensation spread through him like a deadening disease.
Wishing for a good numbing shot of whiskey, he licked dry lips. There was nothing he’d love more than to strip off and dive in, pulling her slippery naked form against his own eager body. But it wasn’t going to happen, except in his imagination.
He gritted his teeth. “I can’t swim,” he said.
Her attention settled on his face, intense and focused. She was watching his every move, gauging his every reaction, physical and otherwise. “Not even the shallow end?” she asked.
A tremor rippled through him. Instead of feeling big and bad when he contemplated the pool, he felt small and weak and absolutely terrified. “Nope. If it’s water and it’s above my ankles, I don’t go into it.”
Disappointment tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Is there a reason why?” She’d clearly had other plans.
Tension tightened Blake’s shoulders. Like Gwen, he had his own dirty little secrets to hide. Wiping a hand across his brow, he hedged. “There is, but now isn’t the time or place to swap childhood tales.”
Eyeing him from head to foot, she cocked her head. “So what happened? Did some nasty little brat push you in and hold you under?”
Involuntarily, he took another step back. “Something like that,” he mumbled, more than a little taken aback by her perceptive words.
She nodded. “I sensed that in you when Lucky took us across the bay. It must have been terrifying.”
Blake shook his head to clear it of past fears and phantoms. “It was a long time ago, and best forgotten.” He paused a beat, giving himself time to recover his composure. “Besides, I’m enjoying looking at you.”
Drawing a breath, she met his gaze. A smile twitched at her lips. “Well, this is me. Wearing my tail.” Lifting the tip out of the water, she wriggled the unwieldy appendage, giving a flash of pretty blues and pinks etched with black. “Are you freaked-out yet?”
Exhaling the breath he’d forgotten he was holding, Blake immediately dropped onto his haunches. Whatever exhaustion he’d felt a few minutes ago had definitely vanished. He was totally and utterly snared in the magic of a mermaid.
“Freaked-out?” he repeated. “My God, no. It’s gorgeous. You’re gorgeous.”
Biting her lower lip, she peeked out from beneath lashes at least an inch long. “You don’t think I’m an abomination against nature?” she asked quietly.
He cleared his throat. “Hell, no. I think it’s amazing you can do what you do. It just proves there are still wonderful things in this world yet to be discovered.”
Gwen’s smile vanished. “Yeah,
things
.” She pushed away from the edge, bobbing in the depth. “That’s all people see us as. Things to look at, the way you’d look at an animal in a zoo.”
He lifted his hands in protest. “That’s not the same at all.”
She flicked her head in a defiant gesture. “Sure it is. Admit it. In the back of your mind you think we’re some kind of mutants. Now that you’ve got us here, all you want to do is poke and prod us, study us under microscopes to find out what makes us different.”
Blake shook his head. “That’s just part of science,” he countered, using logic to support his argument. “Part of the process of discovery.”
Though he didn’t say it out loud, he did have to agree with her. If the general public actually knew about mermaids, what would they want to do? Put them in a tank so they could look at them the way they did anything else that was strange or unusual. But that was an inborn part of human nature. People had the desire to look at, admire, and yes, even study things they didn’t understand.
But caging a lion in a zoo or a dolphin in a tank was an acceptable practice. Those were animals, seemingly without the ability to think or rationalize about their state of captivity. The Mer were creatures with an intelligence comparable to that of humans. But they also possessed abilities many people would find alien, and therefore frightening.
Frowning, Gwen pouted. “What if we don’t want to be discovered?”
He shrugged. “I don’t guess you’ve got any say in the matter.”
Swimming to the steps leading out of the pool, Gwen shifted. Rivulets of water ran off her skin as she left the depths behind. “What if I don’t want to be exposed?” she asked in a plaintive voice. “What if I want to be human, just like everybody else?”
Blake slowly walked around the pool, giving the edge a wide berth. He didn’t stop until he was within touching distance. Intimate touching distance. Her hair, soaking wet, clung to the curves of her face like a second skin. He reached out, brushing a few damp locks off her forehead and cheeks. “Don’t settle for ordinary,” he told her. “There’s already too damn much of that going around. Be what you really are, Gwen. Be extraordinary. Hiding who you are, what you really are, is no way to go through life.”
Gwen’s gaze locked with his. Her compelling green eyes glimmered with the rise of tears. “Will anyone accept what I really am?” she asked softly.