Again she sent him a look from over her shoulder before turning back to look straight ahead at the water as they rushed toward their destination. "That's not exactly the truth, Lev."

She really was becoming adept at telepathy; he'd have to be more careful about guarding his thoughts. He knew she was there, but she was becoming familiar, a part of him already, as if they'd somehow absorbed each other.

"Yes, it is. You're well worth the risk."

She sent him a small grin, her eyes velvet soft. "Silly. Of course I am. Not that part. Who you are is the same. This has always been who you really are, you just never let yourself feel anything. You were a child when they took and trained you. You're a good man, Lev, whether you believe it or not. I'm inside your head and I see who you are. You've always been good."

He watched the shoreline as they followed it, occasionally looking up at the sky to the birds, even as he turned her words over and over in his mind. He didn't know the truth anymore, and really, did it matter? He'd been given a second chance and he was grabbing it with both fists.

They stayed silent, enjoying the morning sun beaming down on the water. From the vantage point of a boat, the view was very different than from on shore. He saw holes worn through large rock masses, the sea stacks where every type of bird made their home or rested and nested. Birds plunged into the sea to fish, and seals occasionally poked their heads up or rested on their backs, watching the Sea Gypsy curiously.

Something big moved alongside of them, cutting easily through the water, and he saw Rikki smile and glance down. A geyser of water erupted beside the boat, raining drops on them. She laughed out loud. "He just gave us an invitation to play."

His eyebrow shot up. "Invitation to play? With that?" He looked at the massive, streamlined body moving fluidly through the water. The gray whale had to be a good forty-five feet long and weighed approximately thirty to forty tons. The fluke rose out of the water. It was ten to twelve feet and deeply notched in the center.

The whale disappeared beneath the water again. He spotted more shadows in the water. Rikki slowed the boat and then allowed it to idle while she bent down toward the water, dipping her cupped hand in it and shooting the liquid in a long arc over the surface. As she did, she began to sing softly, so that the water droplets hovered in the air, forming a long chain.

Lev held his breath, aware he was about to witness something probably no one other than Rikki had ever seen. He felt energy building beneath them. The boat rocked. He reached out to touch her, laying his hand gently on the nape of her neck, wanting the physical connection even as he thrust his mind into hers.

The intimate connection, so deep, so strong, shook him-the sensation every bit as pleasurable as making love to her. Her warmth surrounded him, feminine and soft, with no hard edges. Merging wasn't quite the same thing as reading her thoughts. Being inside of her, sharing her mind, brought a hard ache and a need that just kept growing stronger. For a moment his breath burned in his lungs and his heart pounded. Erotic images played through their shared mind and he allowed the waves of pleasure to wash over him.

All the while, he kept his gaze fixed on that chain of water held about a foot above the surface of the sea. Without warning, flukes shot up out of the water, slapping at the chain. Laughing, Rikki danced it out of reach. He could feel the way she anticipated the whale's movements by the strength of the energy pouring up from below them. She didn't cheat, keeping the chain the same distance from the surface. Lev spotted several whales spy-hopping their narrow, tapered heads up out of the water, looking to him as if they were smiling. Gray and white blotches covered their darker skin along with white barnacles. The whales were huge, graceful creatures, migrating down the Pacific coast from arctic waters to the Baja lagoons where their mating and breeding grounds were.

He watched as several in the pod played the game, trying to be the first to slap the chain of water with their flukes. He could hear Rikki's delighted laugh, but more, he felt the exact same pleasure, merged as he was with her. The connection to the sea was so deep in her veins that he could swear her blood was ebbing and flowing with the rhythm of the waves. Joy burst through him, a foreign concept so alien, at first he had no idea what the indescribable feeling was. She gave him that-the gift of happiness.

He watched a big male coming in and knew, just as Rikki did, that he was going to hit that chain of water, slapping it hard with his fluke so that water burst into the air, thousands of crystal droplets raining over them. Satisfied, the pod moved on, disappearing beneath the surface once more.

"That was incredible."

She laughed and allowed him to help her up, moving against his body with a not so subtle signal. "Next time, I am wearing that skirt." She kissed his chin and turned back to throttle the boat forward. "If you keep watch, they'll probably come up in anywhere from three to five minutes. They'll blow in intervals of three to fifteen seconds before they raise their flukes and disappear. They'll often stay under longer, but if you pay attention, you'll notice a general pattern: '

"You just throw that out there about the skirt and then change the subject to whales?"

Her laughter teased his groin into a hard ache. He swore for a moment he could feel her fingers stroking him into a heavy erection. "We have work to do, my man."

He stepped up behind her, close, so his body was imprinted against hers, so she could feel him hard and thick, pressed tight against her. One arm circled her waist, and he rested his chin lightly on her shoulder. I like being your man. He couldn't say such hokey words aloud, but the emotion inside of him spilled into her mind.

She reached back with one arm to circle his head, turning hers so she could find his mouth. He kissed her long and deep, tasting love in the sweetness of her mouth. She broke away first, turning back to make certain they were on course. They were heading toward one of her favorite spots, just off Elk. She'd told him it was approximately nine miles away and she'd held off working there so she could get a good harvest.

The ride took about a half hour and she never asked him to move until they were coming up on the place.

"The cemetery is just up there," she said, gesturing with her chin, a frown of concentration on her face. "Sometimes I feel the spirits are looking out for me."

He no longer had her attention and he stepped back to give her room. "Is this dangerous?"

"Well, if you don't know what you're doing," she admitted. "You have to know how to maneuver in here. The floor beneath us is virtually a mountain range. You see there's not much rock showing here. There's a three-hundred-foot drop from the road up there. The rocks are real close to the edge but they extend out suddenly about a thousand feet into the ocean."

While she talked, she maneuvered the boat carefully along a hidden path. "The northern end of the mountain is totally under water."

He peered below them, and his heart leapt. He could see rocks on either side of the boat beneath the surface of the water. A few jutted out, but most seemed to be out of sight. As they moved closer, little islands appeared, nothing more than rocks protruding out of the sea.

"I'll go down about twenty feet, right off those rocks, but I have to come in bow to current, so I can go down the chain, otherwise the flow takes me and the urchins away from the boat. This way I can use the current to my advantage."

Each of the little coves formed shelters in the rocks. The stacks were dotted with seals basking along the low-tide rookies. The seals' spotted silvery gray and dark brown coats gleamed in the early sun as the mammals rested with their large bodies sprawled out on the rocks.

"Look at them all. They really are cute up this close, but bigger than I expected."

She laughed. "They're not so cute if you dive in one of their channels between the rocks. They don't like it and aren't shy about letting you know. All of a sudden they have teeth and claws, and you just get out of their way. Most of the time, they rocket past you when you're down there and you have to ignore them. Never share your catch or they won't leave you alone-they can get aggressive."

Lev studied the seals. They suddenly looked a lot larger than they had a couple of seconds earlier. "How big are they?"

She shrugged casually. "They reach five or six feet in length and can weigh up to three hundred pounds. Give them respect and you'll be fine." She gave him a small frown. "You aren't diving, Lev."

"I know that, but maybe you shouldn't dive here either. Aren't there urchins on the other side of those rocks, away from their territory?"

She nodded. "Actually, the front of the rock wall is covered with them. There's a drop of about one hundred and twenty feet, but you can only harvest that spot in three foot swells and no duration. You have to stay buoyant at around thirty to forty feet, but it's pretty dangerous, you can drop very quickly."

"Great. You're using that word 'dangerous' quite a bit."

She shook her head, smiling in reassurance at him. "Here we're protected from any big swells coming from the northwest. The big rocks there break up the string of swells. Of course, you have to contend with the current here. It's like diving in a river. You don't get the back and forth of the wave motion here."

She was so matter-of-fact, so completely confident, and more, she was eager to dive. He could feel her slipping away from him, her attention on her mistress. The sea was definitely calling to her. He knew she loved the water and diving was imperative to her well-being, but it suddenly seemed too dangerous to allow her to go alone. He'd never really experienced fear for anyone else before and it was damned uncomfortable.

He'd certainly gone diving, numerous times, and was perfectly qualified, but she would balk. He was already getting a huge concession just to be on her boat. He wasn't so impatient that he'd lose everything by pushing her too fast. Rikki didn't like change. He'd brought about a lot of changes in her life and she was fragile. He knew the hold he had on her was every bit as fragile as her state of mind.

"Tell me what a tender does," he said. When she snapped him an impatient look, he tried a smile. "While you're getting your gear."

She indicated for him to sit out of her way while she checked her gear again. She'd done it the night before, had gone over it meticulously in the morning and now checked it a third time. He realized she really did take her safety seriously.

Rikki pinned him with her dark eyes. "Basically anything I say."

"Come on, lyubimaya moya." Deliberately he used his accent, his blue eyes drifting over her as she poured warm water into her diving suit. "Give me a few facts."

She sighed and shimmied out of her jeans, exposing her shapely legs and the raindrop tattoo he loved so much. She was very slender, all that working underwater and only peanut butter to sustain her. She needed high-energy foods and a balanced diet. Easy, he reminded himself. One change at a time, and only those things she needs to keep her healthy and safe.

Rikki sent him a peculiar look as if she'd caught part of his thoughts, although they were no longer connected telepathically. Maybe something about the water surrounding them amplified her talents. He didn't know enough about water elements, only that they were powerful in their own right. He had psychic gifts, but hers worked differently. She was bound to water, and water was bound to her.

"Rikki." He kept his voice even.

"You're working very hard at manipulating me," she pointed out.

He knew she was sharp. "Just give me the general idea."

"Tenders, as a general rule, do everything above water and the diver does everything below. The most important thing to remember is to slow down. There's no emergency unless I tell you. A tender does what's asked of him, nothing more. Don't make it up as you go along."

She poured baby shampoo into her hands and lathered her legs and hips and buttocks. She wasn't wearing much more than a thong. He tried not to be mesmerized by the sight of her hands flowing over all that skin.

"If everything above the water is my job, I should be doing that."

She blinked, as if coming out of a trance, and then she grinned. "You have a one-track mind. And it's important for me to keep to my routine. I can't deviate. For one thing, it throws me off and my mind goes into chaos, but more than that, it's a safety issue out here."

"Got it, no sex on the boat."

"I didn't say that, only don't interrupt my routine before I dive."

"So what do I do?"

"Absolutely nothing." Her smile faded and she stared directly into his eyes. "You can't touch one thing on this boat."

"Rikki." His voice was gentle. "That's just silly. Let me help you. I won't touch anything unless you tell me to. You trust me with your body, you can trust me with your things." He could see she was already becoming agitated, thrown off by the change in her routine. "Give me something to do. One thing. Diving is exhausting work. I can do the menial things."

She slipped into the bottom half of her wet suit while she thought it over. "I'll hook the bag to my hose and send it up. When it hits the surface, you can pull the bag in-slowly-which will pull me up as well. When the bag gets to the boat, secure the hook to the urchin bag and disconnect the hose. I'll either come aboard to rest and eat, or I'll want another bag. If I ask for a bag give it to me before you haul the uni aboard. Fill the urchin hole with the bags first. Once the urchin hole is full cover the bags on the deck with the silver tarp-silver side up."

"I can do that."

She dragged her T-shirt over her head and folded it as neatly as she had her jeans, uncaring that she was bare-breasted, the morning sun playing over her slender curves with a loving hand. She didn't seem to notice her state of undress, but he couldn't help himself, his gaze drifting possessively, drinking her in. She was his. This wild, independent woman was a mixture of vulnerability and courage. There would be few people in her life who appreciated her quick mind and bravery facing the challenges of a world she was born too sensitive to function in properly-yet she managed, carving out a life for herself against impossible odds.

Lev found himself with his mouth dry and his heart pounding. The light spun around her, turning her skin to soft cream and making her enormous eyes appear even blacker and more mysterious and exotic than ever. She had the adorable little frown on her face he'd come to know meant she was concentrating, wrestling with her inability to cope with change in her routine. He liked that he was one of the few people she trusted into her life, and he loved that he was the only one she would allow on her boat or in her bed. She belonged to him exclusively, and there was satisfaction and even pride in that.

"Slowly," he agreed when he could find his voice. "I pull the bag in slowly. Urchins in the hold first and then if they're on deck cover them with the silver tarp, silver side up. Nothing more, nothing less, and take my time."

She rubbed baby shampoo over her upper body, her fingers gliding over her skin, her breasts, her small, tucked-in waist. It was more erotic than anything he'd ever seen.

"It's possible someone will see us here, Fish and Game, and they'll check your license. A tender makes certain other boats stay out of a diver's territory. Keep track of where your diver has gone so other divers don't enter my territory."

Smirking, he glanced at the sky. That part would be easy enough. No one was getting near his diver.

"And stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you're about to eat me."

Now his smirk was all for her. "I could, you know. Every morning for breakfast. Right here on the boat. Doesn't matter. I could be as addicted to your taste as you are to peanut butter."

She sent him a look from under her lashes that made him want to kiss her. He folded his arms and regarded her steadily as she pulled on her tight shirt and then hooked her belt around her waist. Her eyes had gone bedroom sexy. She liked the idea as much as he did.

"You're just a little perverted, you know that, don't you?" she said.

He shrugged, unrepentant. "Fortunately you like me this way."

Her answering smile was slow, but it came. "All right," she conceded, "maybe that's true. I've got to go to work."

"You like this, don't you?"

Rikki nodded. "This is my world, Lev."

She didn't look at him again, engrossed in her routine, meticulously going over every piece of equipment. He watched her prepare for her dive, each separate step, committing it to memory, so that he would be able to anticipate anything she might need if she ever allowed a partnership between them. He noted her hoses were wrapped in a loop, each length of the circle exact. Her rake had a knife welded to it, but she didn't carry any other weapon on her person, a concept completely foreign to his nature.

Once again he could see he was completely forgotten. He imagined most men's egos would take a beating when they realized that she simply put them out of her head as if they no longer existed. She was very focused as she checked her lifeline, the air compressor, her hose and her bailout tank, which she wore on her back. She had her instruments strapped to her wrist and her gear on when she suddenly looked up at him and smiled. For him.

His heart jumped again. He'd never been so affected by anyone in his life. "Have a good time, Rikki."

She turned toward the side of the boat and then hesitated. "You'll be all right?"

He stepped up to her and took her face in his hands, kissing her long and deep. "Don't worry about me. I have plenty to do."

She frowned at him, kissed him again and slipped from his arms, making her way to the edge of the boat. She went into the water and caught the anchor chain, using it to make her way down to the depth she wanted to go. Otherwise, the flow of the current would have taken her away.

Lev watched her disappear, his heart in his throat. He shoved his hand through his thick hair and peered down into the water where she'd disappeared. He was going to be one of those obnoxious men who refused to leave his wife's side. He wanted to be down there with her, with spears and knives and maybe a torpedo or two, just in case. Who knew he would be like this?

He studied the terrain around them. It was beautiful, the air crisp, the sight unbelievable. The cliffs were high, and the long expanse of rock, pointing like a finger from the land, seemed to run straight back to the highway. He found himself settling. This was what he wanted. This place. This woman. Diving with her in the environment she was most comfortable in.

He had money, enough that neither of them would have to work again, but she would never accept that, and he loved that about her. He was already committed, his mind, his heart, definitely his body. She was his life now.

So how was he going to stop the inevitable questions? Levi Hammond had a past. He had created an entire life for himself, adding an extensive diving hobby. Hammond's parents were no longer alive, but they'd left him money, plenty of it, and that had been the most difficult part of building a fake life. Money could be traced. He'd had to come up with plausible ways his parents could have left him an inheritance that if looked into, would appear solid.

Once he'd covered his financial tracks, he considered he was relatively safe-but for Ralph. Ralph was a problem and today, when they brought the urchins to the dock where the processing plant would pick them up, Lev would have to make the final decision on how he was going to start his new life. Risk everything and let the man live, or find a way for an accident to happen. He didn't like either alternative, and he didn't want to go to Rikki with blood on his hands, not the blood of an innocent man.

15.

RIKKI felt the cool relief of the water enfolding her body. It had been too long. Every cell seemed to soak up the moisture, she was so thirsty she seemed to drink with every part of her body. She felt the familiar stillness, the calming in her mind, as if, down here in this world of water, everything was synced and perfect. There was no noise to fill her head and pound and stab. She didn't have to watch everything she said and did, as if at any moment she would somehow be stepping on someone's "normal." She could just be.

Massive schools of codfish, mottled blue and black, swam in a flashing wave. Starfish in bright, fiery oranges and deep purples clung to the rocks, rock and spider crabs dappled the walls, living decorations. And the urchin were plentiful. She looked up and the water shimmered in layers of pearlescent color, vivid blue, gray and near the surface an emerald glow. A few jellyfish floated free, tentacles searching. She continued down, just enjoying the view along the way. Orange sea cucumbers and red abalone adorned several of the rocks. Visibility was good and she made out more starfish, anemones and sponges in a variety of shapes and colors. On the bottom there was a brilliant purple pincushion guarding several lemon nudis.

The contour of the underground range was just like aboveground, peaks and valleys and ravines. She was very familiar with the area, it was one of her favorites places to dive. Her life had changed dramatically in the last few weeks, but the ocean was the same, always constant, always beautiful and always very treacherous if one didn't pay close attention to her.

She had to be careful to focus on work rather than on the beauty of the sea life around her. The colorful anemones and starfish always captured her attention. One could easily get lost in the vivid world and forget the passage of time, always crucial underwater when one needed air to breathe.

She began raking sea urchins into her net, losing herself in the rhythm of her work. Curious fish drifted around her, but nothing disturbed her and she was able to get her net filled quickly. The current seemed stronger than usual, but the series of storms had prevented her from diving for a couple of weeks and the rivers had filled and were dumping into the sea.

By the time she'd filled her first net and hooked it and was working on the second, she was getting tired. Out of shape. Or maybe she was exhausted from making love so often. Lev and she had been holed up in their house for days. Each evening one of her sisters brought dinner by, but that was the only time they saw anyone else. They spent each day together doing the silliest things and then making love. Talking and making love. Exploring the house and making love. They'd had sex in every single room a dozen times.

Lev was insidious. He just sort of snaked his way into her world and had already become a part of it. And somehow, he'd managed to wheedle his way onto her boat. She'd lived with that reminder for almost a week. Now he was up there, probably touching her equipment. She raked faster, her arms aching.

She sent the first bag to the surface and hooked the second one, allowing it to float up as well. She followed at a more leisurely pace. Lev had been paying attention when she'd given him instructions because he was slowly pulling in the hose, and her with it. After working alone for so long, it was an odd sensation to have someone else helping. She wasn't positive she liked it. Relying on herself was easier and safer. If she depended on someone else, eventually, in a crisis she might hesitate, and seconds counted under water.

When she'd worked with Daniel, he'd owned the boat. They'd dived together, and they'd done cleanup together. They'd been diving buddies, but Daniel, because the boat was his, had been the captain. He shared the work with her and they never had so much as a squabble. But when she was diving, even with him, she'd totally relied on herself. The few times she'd tried working with a tender, her need for an exact routine had always made it impossible.

Nearing the surface, she caught a glimpse of something exploding out of the rock as if shot from a gun, rocketing toward her through the water. A huge lingcod with a mouthful of wickedly sharp teeth had emerged from a dark crevasse in the rock and charged straight at her. It came right between her legs and she rolled over in an effort to get away. The mottled fish had to be a good fifty inches in length and weigh in at sixty pounds. With eighteen large teeth coming at her, she whipped around to keep a wary eye on it.