Sea Haven 01 - Water Bound

turned her head enough to press a kiss into the small of his back before resting her cheek against his spine. “We can do this.”
    He smiled without turning his head. With that simple declaration, she had tied them together, made them one. When I marry you, I can’t use my given name. There was regret in his voice—in his heart. I want you to marry the real man, not the one I made up.
    She held him to her without hesitation. There was no shrinking away from him, not with her body or her mind. I will always have the real man, whatever name he chooses for us to live by. You’re real, Lev, not a shadow someone created.
    His smile widened. At last he understood the mysteries. Standing there on the porch with darkness surrounding them, listening to the chorus of the frogs, he knew what was inside all those houses across the world. He’d stood outside of them often, listening to the murmur of voices, the sound of children’s laughter, and wondered what they were feeling, why they chose one another, why they would risk everything.
    I was born Lev Prakenskii. Not everything about me is a lie, Rikki. I will never let you down. What I feel for you is real. It’s all encompassing, 255

    and it’s lasting. The things your sister said to you in there, they were things taught to me, survival techniques vital to a man cut off from all aid and hiding. I am not doing that with you. I can give you my real name, one we will never be able to use, but I want you to know it.
    She simply continued to press her body against his, allowing the night to enfold them. The sudden burst of rain she’d drawn from the clouds had become little more than mist without the pull of her energy. It shrouded the trees in a veil of smoky white, closing them off from the rest of the world.
    He enjoyed the silence, the sound of the frogs playing in the puddles after the heavy rain.
    Lev turned slightly and wrapped his arm around Rikki, bringing her from behind him, to his side, under his shoulder where he could keep her warm in the gathering mist.
    Blythe cleared her throat. “I’ve heated dinner. Come eat, you two.”
    Lev had been aware of her moving about the kitchen and it was impossible to ignore the smell of food. No matter that his world might come crumbling down in the next few hours, his body needed fuel. He turned his back on the night and, keeping Rikki beside him, went back into the house.
    He looked around the spacious kitchen. This was their home. Blythe had set the table with the dishware Rikki loved so much. He calmly picked up all three plates and restored them to the china hutch. “Rikki has a fondness for that set of dishes,” he explained as he substituted paper plates.
    “We’re going to find another set that doesn’t matter if we chip or break it.”
    Blythe took in his matter-of-fact words with a small shake of her head.
    “I see” was all she said.
    Lev pulled out Rikki’s chair and she seated herself, looking regal in her sweats.
    “You’re good for her,” Blythe said, watching Rikki pick up a fork, instead of protesting that all three of them were sitting down to a meal together in her kitchen.
    “She’s good for me,” Lev corrected, and sank into the chair beside Rikki.
    “She’s right here, listening to the conversation, and contrary to what appears to be the popular belief tonight, she’s got great hearing.” Rikki took her fork and began to move the green beans around on her plate.
    Lev burst out laughing. “She’s also a comedian,” he pointed out. “And she thinks we’re not going to notice that she isn’t actually eating.”
    “I’m studying these things. They look a little like great big green caterpillars.” She wrinkled her nose as she stared down at the offending vegetables.
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    Blythe laughed. “Green beans are good for you.”
    Rikki rolled her eyes. “You’re obsessed with all things green, Blythe.”
    She appealed to Lev. “Don’t you think they look a little fuzzy?” She pushed the beans around a little more on her plate, made a happy face out of them and then changed it to a frowning face.
    Lev felt an unexpected jolt of happiness in the region of his heart. He couldn’t help himself, he leaned over and brushed the pad of his thumb across her lips. Her little frown matched the one on her plate. “Try the potato, sweetheart. You’ll like that.”
    She made a face and touched the stuffed potato tentatively with her fork, as if it might explode on her. “It’s yellow