Sea Haven 01 - Water Bound

two get some sleep, you both look exhausted. And watch that wound, Rikki, you don’t want an infection. ”
    Lev held out his hand to Jonas. “Thanks.”
    “It’s what I do,” Jonas said, shaking Lev’s hand before turning away.
    Lev lifted Rikki into his arms and carried her into their house.
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Chapter 20
    RIKKI woke up humming. Lev lay for a moment, listening to the joy in her voice. The night before she’d pored over her tide book and double-checked the weather. She rolled over and looked at him. His breath slammed out of his lungs. He ran his hand over her head, stroking down that thick, wild, silky-soft hair, allowing the wash of love to swamp him.
    She smiled. His heart jumped.
    “It’s going to be a perfect day today. A dive day.”
    The joy in her voice sang in his veins. She kissed him and jumped out of bed. “We’ll need a high-calorie lunch packed. And a big breakfast.”
    She was already in the bathroom, a flash of bare skin, all curves. He could see the marks of his possession on her and it gave him a strange, primal satisfaction. She wore only the shimmering raindrops falling down her shapely leg and his ring, a plain gold band. They’d been married in a quiet ceremony with only her sisters attending. Blythe and Judith had been their witnesses. It had been cold and windy, but they’d bundled up and had the wedding outdoors where Rikki felt safest. He cared nothing about the where, only that it was done and that Rikki was permanently his.
    He lay on the bed, fingers linked behind his head, staring up at the ceiling, remembering the night before their wedding, when he’d finally summoned the courage to tell her what Lev Prakenskii had been doing aboard that yacht and just who Stavros was. He told her he believed Ilya Prakenskii was his brother and that Ilya was married to a Drake. He had confessed that he’d been present when Elle Drake had been kidnapped and brutally abused by Stavros, and that he hadn’t freed her in order to carry out his orders. He’d been undercover, working his way into Stavros’s confidence, slowly gaining his trust, so he would lead Lev to his partner, and ultimately, the leak in the government.
    He’d told her everything he could, there in the dark, wishing for the sound of the rain to soothe both of them. She’d been silent, her breathing even and soft against his shoulder. Once, she’d slipped her hand into his, closing her fingers around his, as though to give him courage. And it had 297

    taken courage, every ounce he possessed, to risk losing her by telling her the truth, letting her know what kind of man he’d been, and that if she remained with him, if she married him, she might very well become an outcast in Sea Haven when Elle Drake returned.
    Rikki’s reaction was total Rikki. She merely wrapped her arms around him and held him. He would never forget her response. She meant what she’d said when she’d first committed to him. He could break apart, spill every dirty secret, and she would pick up the pieces and put him back together. She had kissed his mouth, murmured that she loved him and snuggled close to him, holding him to her as she fell asleep. He had no idea how he’d held it together until he heard her even breathing and then he had cried for the first time that he could remember since he’d been a boy. He just lay there in the dark, holding her, his face buried in her dark hair, so filled with love he was afraid he might really shatter.
    She stuck her head around the door, breaking his reflection. “Get a move on. We want to get out there early. And peanut butter is definitely on the menu.”
    Lev scrubbed his hands over his face, shaken at the memory, knowing he always would be. Shaken that someone could really love him that much.
    “You’re going to get fired before you ever get started in this job,” she warned.
    He laughed and sat up, hearing the water go on. He hadn’t heard joy in her voice in a while. The aftermath of finding out Gerald Pratt had targeted her family to die because of a car accident none of them had had any control over had been upsetting to her. In a way, he supposed, it would have been easier for her to think she’d somehow offended someone with one of her outbursts as a child. At least it would have made more sense to her.
    In the days that followed she’d lost too much weight and seemed fragile. A series of storms had prevented her from diving. Even their wedding hadn’t removed the shadows from