Sea Haven 01 - Water Bound

down the hall, and he pushed open a door to find the laundry room. Water ran in the washing machine. He turned that off, spotted his neatly folded clothes sitting on the dryer and pulled on his jeans, hastily buttoning a couple of the buttons as he made his way into the kitchen.
    The floor was flooded and water cascaded from the sink—the faucet was on full blast. He turned it off and went outside. Overhead, the skies had opened and poured water down, the main concentration on the house and 77

    yard. He looked out over the surrounding trees and saw it was raining, but not with the same force as around the house—around Rikki.
    Sound asleep, she was curled up in a hammock swing, a blanket around her, expressions of fear crossing her face as she cried imploringly, palms upward toward the water. His little sea urchin diver was definitely bound to an element—and a strong one at that.
    “Come here, lyubimaya moya .” He reached for her. She was so slight that even in his weakened state, he doubted if he’d have trouble carrying her.
    He gathered her against his bare chest, whispering to her when she began to struggle. “I’m bringing you in. You can bring the rain with you if you like, but it isn’t doing your house much good.”
    Her lashes lifted and there she was. He felt the jolt through his entire body, the sensation of drowning in a sensual sea. He smiled at her. “I’m taking you inside. If you keep wiggling around, we’re both going to end up on the ground.”
    “I don’t like anyone touching me.”
    “I know.” He made no move to put her down. Already the rain was lessening in intensity. He carried her into the house and kicked the door closed behind him, noting that her bare feet were covered in burn scars that obviously went up under the hem of her jeans. “Are you worried that someone might set your house on fire?”
    She studied his face for so long, he didn’t think she’d answer him.
    “Yes.”
    The word came out reluctantly, and for the first time, her gaze shifted from his. He carried her carefully through the kitchen. The floor was wet and needed to be mopped. She didn’t notice. She was too busy trying not to touch his bare chest or struggle so hard he fell. He pretended not to notice her dilemma, choosing instead to figure out what she wasn’t telling him.
    Whatever it was, it was important.
    He put her on the bed and sank down beside her, deliberately leaning his weight against her. He didn’t have to fake weakness. His legs were rubbery and his palm—damn—it hurt like a son of a bitch. He pressed his thumb deep into the center, but before he could use healing energy, she reached out and took his wrist, drawing his hand to her. She had that little frown he found so endearing on her face.
    “Is your hand hurting?” She rubbed the pad of her thumb over his palm, tracing imaginary circles there. “I dreamt that your hand was hurting.”
    The pain was gone the instant her thumb stroked over his skin. He was used to strange occurrences—he was gifted psychically in many different ways—but he’d never had a connection to another human being, at least he 78

    didn’t think so. He’d hit his head pretty hard, and he wasn’t remembering a whole hell of a lot about his life. Only images of violence, a gut instinct telling him someone wanted him dead, and yet he was fairly certain he would have remembered something like this.
    His strange reactions to her felt completely foreign—but right. He knew it didn’t make sense, but at the moment, nothing did. He needed to be with her. He needed to take the fear from her eyes. He . . . needed .
    “You dreamt the house was on fire. This house.” He’d get into the water aspect later. Right now he could give her peace. He closed his eyes and centered himself, allowing his mind to expand, to stretch, to seek the energy of others. He couldn’t find anyone close to her home. If someone had been close, they’d left no trace of themselves behind, which was difficult to do. “We’re alone, Rikki. I can’t tell you how I know, but I do. Just like the way you manipulate water, I know if someone is close.”
    His revelation should have made her feel more secure, but instead she looked haunted. Just for a moment. He caught a flash of terror in her eyes, and then her expression went blank, distant, as if she’d wiped her mind clean like a slate. He heard her breathing change, just for a moment, a quick inhale and then she exhaled, a