Sea Haven 01 - Water Bound

in the puddle grew into waves.
    “I need to know what you saw out there,” Petr said, and snapped his fingers under her nose.
    Rikki’s rocking increased in strength. Her hands began to flap, fingers spinning and then she’d blow on the tips as if putting out a flame.
    “You have to ask her a yes or no question,” Jonas said. “And step back away from her.”
    “Did you see a man in the water that day? Someone alive?”
    Rikki shook her head violently. “A wave. Big wave.” She let herself slide away, down into the gleaming waters of the puddle where the ripples had come to life.
    There was a silence as Ivanov studied her growing agitation. He sighed.
    “I’m not going to get anything out of her. I have to see the house.”
    The flapping increased. So did the rocking.
    Jonas was extremely gentle. “Can we look around, Rikki? We won’t touch anything.”
    She rocked for a full minute then nodded, her eyes glued to the puddle.
    The Russian swore and pushed past her to the door of her kitchen. The moment he touched the door handle, she began to make a strangled sound in the back of her throat, her only protest. Jonas, clearly torn between Rikki and the Russian, followed him inside.
    “Don’t touch anything,” Jonas asserted. “She gave permission for you to look around, that’s all. She...” his voice faded, leaving her fully in her own mind.
    She didn’t see them leave. She was too far into her mind. She didn’t hear them anymore, only the sound of her own world where she retreated when the noise and pain became too much. The Russian could never find her there, and he couldn’t find Lev either. He couldn’t follow them into her mind, no matter what training he had. She could keep Lev safe until he came to get her. She didn’t like anyone to witness her “breakdowns” but this time, she allowed it to happen. It had been her choice and she wasn’t ashamed.
    Come back to me, laskovaya moya, Lev’s voice shimmered in her mind, penetrating the rippling waves. You kept me safe, but now I need you back with me.
    288

    It was a wrench to return to a place where the colors and detail seemed so dull at first, after the fascinating, mesmerizing underwater realm.
    “He won’t be back,” Lev greeted her, pulling her into his arms. “That was a very brave thing to do, and I won’t forget it. Not ever.”
    She smiled up at him, blinking, a little disoriented. “He’ll never believe that I would let you anywhere near me, my boat, or my house.”
    “Why did you?” Lev asked, and plucked her out of the hammock, to take her into the house. “Why did you choose me?”
    She traced his strong jaw beneath the smooth beard. “Your eyes. I see right into you, and I know you in a way I could never know anyone else.”
    They made love all afternoon. Jonas called asking af ter Rikki, obviously worried that they had pushed her too far. He assured her that she had convinced Petr Ivanov that his last hope that Lev was alive had faded.
    No one had seen a stranger. No one believed anyone could have survived in the cold water and there was no trace of a survivor. Ivanov had left for the San Francisco airport, to fly home.
    Lev cooked dinner, a careful preparation of salad, which she nibbled at as if she were a rabbit, picking through it to discard anything she thought looked scary; a baked potato, which she liked; and a small piece of a steak.
    He had to take every bit of fat off of it, and she pushed it around for a long time before she actually ate any of it, but she did eat it and he felt as if he’d scored a huge victory.
    Late at night, they lay on the bed together, lights off, his head in her lap while he brought up a subject he’d wanted to broach for a while. “You know, laskovaya moya, I’ve been thinking. We should plan our wedding. A little civil service right here. With just your sisters. Nothing fancy, just us.”
    Lev watched her face carefully. “I’m good at pushing paperwork through fast.”
    Her fingers stilled in his hair, her dark eyes going black. For a moment it was silent enough in the room that he could hear her heart pound. He took her arm, sliding his hand down to her wrist where her pulse beat into his palm.
    “Did I frighten you, lubov moya, because I didn’t mean to. We spoke of marriage.”
    “Speaking isn’t the same thing as planning.”
    “Why should we wait?”
    She moistened her lips. “You have to think about that, Lev. Really think about it. There’re so many