Chapter 5

"Aaaaaaaaaahh!"

"Calm down! You're safe now, I've got you."

Samantha stopped her histrionics and glanced up to see Sinclair held her in his arms and that she'd come close enough to shore to stand again. She turned around and cast a fearful look behind her, but the water teased her with its emptiness.

"There wa-was something in the wa-water," she stammered, her body trembling with fright.

"Yes, I thought I saw something following you, which is very surprising. The entire island is encased in a sort of bubble because of the curse. Nothing up until your arrival has been able to get in or out. But the creature swimming after you was definitely new. Whatever it was, it's gone now. Come," he said coaxing her gently like a skittish colt towards the beach. "Let's get you dried off and back to the castle. We'll have to warn Kaar so he can tell the rest of the villagers to be on the lookout for whatever that was."

With an arm wrapped around her waist, Sinclair walked her back through the water to the beach. Samantha's heart finally started to slow down and she felt a little foolish now for panicking. Sinclair acted so cool and calm about the whole thing which meant she'd never been in any real danger. Probably just a big fish. She hoped.

When the water lapped at her thighs Samantha looked down and unfortunately groaned out loud causing Sinclair to glance at her. Her cheeks flamed bright red. The chemise she'd decided to swim in had turned see-through. It clung to her lush body, outlining all of her curves and her dark nipples showed prominently through the light cloth. His eyes smoldered as he stared at her almost nude body and Samantha felt that warm, coiling in her tummy again.

To her mortification, her nipples hardened, their aroused state obvious through the wet, clinging fabric. She ducked her head in embarrassment, looking for her gown to cover herself with and was surprised when she felt Sinclair wrap his arms around her. Tilting her chin up, he smiled at her wickedly, his eyes twinkling.

"I am beginning to wonder if you are a sea nymph since this is the third time now I've seen you wet."

He doesn't know how wet. A shocking thought, but as she was coming to realize, when it came to Sinclair, her body had a mind of its own.

"This could become a nice habit." he said before lowering his head.

Samantha closed her eyes waiting for his kiss, but it never happened. A loud chittering from behind them made him drop his arms and turn around.

Are you freaking kidding me? Samantha opened her eyes, disappointed. So close! Almost kissed by the hunkiest man ever. Was she nuts? What had happened to her decision to be friends only and keep her heart out of it? I guess my hormones didn't get the message.

Grabbing her dress, she quickly shrugged it on and plunked her glasses firmly on her nose, her armor once again intact. When Sinclair turned and saw her dressed, he just quirked his brow and gave her a mischievous smile.

"It would seem Jrag over there saw the fin too, so the warning will be spread," he said as he took her hand and began leading her to the castle path.

"Did he know what it was?" she asked. Please say, harmless, toothless, plant eating fish. Or a dolphin.

Sinclair appeared distracted and his tone reflected it. "What? No, no idea. Don't worry, the Undines will find out what it is and take care of it. In the meantime though, no swimming alone."

Samantha frowned. Was he telling her the truth? She didn't know him well enough to know if he fibbed, but why would he lie? Shrugging it off, she walked quietly alongside him, enjoying the firm grasp of his hand around hers. When she winced at a sharp stone that bit into her bare foot, without a word, he swung her up into his arms. She couldn't resist snuggling against his chest. But she behaved. She didn't lick the skin that tempted her, or rub her cheek against it. She behaved and didn't do any of the things running through her suddenly dirty mind. Samantha Jones, you are turning into a brazen hussy. She quite liked it. Now if only she had the courage to do more than imagine.

"Did you at least enjoy your swim before your scare?" he asked after he'd carried her a while in silence.

"Oh, that was marvelous. I'd never swum in an ocean before and I have to say that was a lot more fun that an indoor pool with all its chlorine."

"Your side of the Boundary sounds very different from what I grew up with. As a child, I vacationed many a time with my family by the seaside. I've always loved the ocean so at least my exile hasn't been as bad as it could have been."

"I'd love to live somewhere like here," she said wistfully.

"What is your home like?"

"Small," she sighed. "Don't get me wrong. I mean I love it, but it's so small, it barely has room for me. And the apartment we had growing up was small too. Over here you have so much space and fresh air and rooms big enough for real beds. I love that bed in my room. It's so big I can flop around all I want without falling off."

He raised his eyebrow and smiled cheekily at her. "A lady easy to please, if all you want is a large bed to romp in."

Her cheeks heated. "Oh dear. I didn't mean it like that. It's just, growing up I had to share a bed with my mom cause we lived in a small, one room apartment. When she got sick, I got the floor, which was okay, of course. I mean I was young and she really needed the bed more. But when I got my own place, my dream was to have a huge bed all to myself," she finished, her eyes glazed with memories of the past. She sensed him looking at her, but awash in memories, some painful, she couldn't meet his eyes.

All too quickly they arrived at the castle and his arms tightened briefly around her before he set her gently down on the floor.

"Why don't you get changed and then meet me for supper."

Samantha, all too glad to escape, scampered up the stairs to her room to rinse off the salt in the tub and change. Her body still tingled from his nearness and she needed a few moments to collect herself. What an eventful afternoon. Chased by some overly large fish. Almost kissed. Wishing they'd not gotten interrupted because now she couldn't help but imagine it. And want it. So much for not falling for Sinclair. How could she ignore her burgeoning feelings for him, especially when he looked at her with those smoldering eyes? But is he really attracted to me or is he lonely and I'm just convenient? And even if he is attracted, how can I even think about getting involved knowing we have no future together? He belonged here. She didn't. The term worlds apart definitely applied.

But, she could stay if asked. If things changed. She had nothing to go back to. Her heart agreed, its excited thump seeming to whisper, take a chance, while her practical side said no, don't risk it. As usual her imagination, and secret longings got ahead of her. So what if he'd almost kissed her? It didn't mean he'd try again. With that thought, she went into her armoire to find something dry to wear. Once dressed, she happened to look at herself in the bathroom mirror and did a double take. Who was that beautiful woman with the sparkling eyes, auburn hair curling from dampness, and full lipped smile? It can't be me? Maybe it was some kind of magical carnival mirror, one that made plain things look pretty. Wouldn't that sell for a fortune back home?

Placing her glasses firmly in place, she skipped down the stairs and entered the dining room. Sinclair's eyes roved appreciatively over her as he seated her, and Samantha grew warm. Even if his attraction stemmed from loneliness, she couldn't help but bloom under his regard.

Dinner served as a distraction and she turned her attention to it, hoping the food would keep her mind off how tasty he appeared sitting there with his rumpled hair.

What a superb meal! A tasty vegetable soup with warm crusty bread to dip, followed by a tender fish entree served with marinated, grilled vegetables, and for dessert, some frothy fruit concoction. Samantha dug in with great relish, famished from her swim and almost swooned with delight when she ate the fluffy dessert. When she'd licked the last bite from her spoon she glanced up to see Sinclair watching her with a smile.

"I must say it is refreshing to see a woman enjoying a meal. Most of the women I know, including my mother, are forever on some kind of diet, obsessed with their weight."

"Yes, well, I probably should watch what I eat. I've got more than enough weight on these hips as it is." Samantha said ruefully.

"I think your hips look fine, actually more than fine," said Sinclair, his voice low and husky.

Samantha peeked at him expecting to see him mocking her, but his face had that serious, smoldering, intense look back. Unsure of a proper response, she pushed at her glasses, her cheeks slightly warm.

The house staff coming in to clear the dishes saved her from answering. Watching them at work, always so happy it seemed, she decided to ask for more information about the Undines, who seemed to mimic humans rather closely.

"I guess the Undines are stuck in the bubble too because of the curse. How do they feel about that?" A question, she should ask herself as well seeing as how she found herself stuck in the bubble too until the curse was broken. No hurry though, she wasn't ready yet to leave this island paradise or Sinclair. An even scarier realization came: I'm not sure I'll ever want to.

"They weren't too happy at first, but thankfully didn't blame me. They believe life is too short to be angry about things they can't control. They tend to look on the brighter sides of things, something we should all learn to do. At least there is still a fair amount of ocean for them to swim in but they do miss the lengthy hunts they used to go on a few times a year. The winter solstice is tomorrow night and before the curse, the males of the tribe, as part of their solstice tradition, would leave the week before to go hunting the deeper parts of the ocean seeking a worthy aquatic foe. Once vanquished, they would bring the creature back and very ceremoniously offer it up to their god."

"The big fish in the village, right?" she asked.

"Yes. That is a representation of their god. After they give the offering, they feast on it for good luck and then dance and sing the night away. Three months later, there are usually quite a few little babies born. The years since they've been captive with me they've still had the ritual but their offering is not of the usual size and so they do worry that their god will become angry with them. If you like, when they celebrate the solstice tomorrow night, I'll take you down so you can watch."

"Really! That would so cool. I've never done anything like that before. We celebrate something in our world, too, right around now but it's called Christmas." At his interested look, she explained, "Christmas has its roots in a widely followed religion, but in the last few decades it's become more of a family holiday where people get together and exchange gifts. It's supposed to be a happy time, spreading of goodwill and cheer and all that. My mom and I used to have a little tree which we'd decorate and on Christmas morning we'd open our presents. Even when she was sick she never forgot to get me something special," she said, her eyes tearing up as she remembered. Mother might have had strict rules, but they'd still formed a tight family of two. How she still missed her.

"It sounds like your mother was a special woman."

"She was," said Samantha, trying hard not to cry as the memories flooded her. "I miss her a lot. You're so lucky to have a family, even if you're separated for the moment. I wish I had someone." Standing from the table, she prepared to flee before her emotions overwhelmed her.

Sensing her turmoil, Sinclair stood as well. Not saying a word he moved towards her and stopped in front of her, his dark eyes watching. She felt her stomach flutter as she stared back at him but couldn't hold his gaze for long as shyness grabbed a hold of her. Ducking her head, feeling self-conscious at his close perusal, her glasses of course slid down her nose. Taking a deep shuddering breath, she lifted her head as she jabbed them back into their spot.

"Why do you wear those awful lenses on your face? I can detect no magic about them so what possible use can they be? And do not tell me fashion because those things are not attractive at all. "

He seemed genuinely puzzled so Samantha didn't take offense, guessing he spoke about her glasses, but surely he'd seen some before.

"Those are my glasses. I need them to see stuff. Otherwise everything beyond a few feet away is just blurry."

His dumbfounded look told her he still didn't understand. He reached out and plucked them off her face, turning her glasses around and squinting through the lenses. "How do they work?"

"The lenses magnify objects so that my eyes can see them clearly."

"I still don't understand." Placing the glasses on the table he lifted a hand up to her temple and said, "Let me see."

Suddenly, Samantha felt a pressure inside her head and then an odd sense of disorientation as she looked around her, her blurry vision somehow amplified with his simple touch.

Taking his hand away, he stood back looking at her. "Why didn't your mother have your vision corrected when you were young? Surely even without magic your physicians should have been able to do something?"

"Really?" she drawled sarcastically. "Maybe in your world things like eyesight can be fixed but where I come from glasses are used to correct vision. Oh, you can get laser surgery nowadays, but on my meager salary, it'll take years before I can afford it." And forget contact lenses, her one encounter with them ended with her wearing an eye patch for several weeks.

He must have sensed he'd crossed a line, because his tone when he spoke again was soft. "Would you like to see without those lenses on your face?"

"Well of course I would but that isn't an option, is it?" she replied crossly. What a jerk! she stormed inwardly. Did he think she'd be wearing those ugly things if she didn't have to? She'd had to live with poor eyesight and the taunting that came along with it for a long time and just when she'd finally come to grips with it, here he was making her feel self-conscious again.

Samantha started to walk away, but he grabbed her arm and looking into her eyes again, reached his hand up toward them. Instinctively, she shut them, just in time as he pressed his fingers to her eyelids. A warmth, that turned into an almost searing heat, spread from his fingertips to her eyelids. Her eyes began to itch and burn. Not painfully, but it was sure as hell uncomfortable.

"Ow. What are you doing? Stop it." She would have moved away, but her limbs wouldn't obey and the heated feeling intensified as he pressed down firmly on her eyelids. If he didn't ease up soon, wizard or not, she'd kick him in the shins.

"Only a moment longer," he murmured. After what seemed an eternity, but was actually only a couple of minutes, the warmth and thankfully the itchy feeling started to fade and he withdrew his fingers from her face. "Open them."

Blinking her eyes, she staggered for a moment. His hands steadied her.

He whispered, "Tell me, Samantha, what do you see?"

Dumbstruck, Samantha couldn't speak, not when she experienced a miracle. Her eyes widened, taking in all the details around her that she'd never noted before and without her glasses!

He fixed my vision!

Years of being called four-eyes and stumbling around when she misplaced her glasses and now, suddenly, she could see. Her heart swelled with joy as she greedily drank in the details around her. Even when she wore her glasses, objects had never appeared so clear. Why, she could even see a cobweb up in the far corner, a fat spider sitting in its center.

A brilliant smile burst to her lips and she laughed, a true laugh, the kind that was felt through one's entire being and whose sound rang out, filling the lonely castle. A powerfully pure sound that made even the magically woven lattice around the island ripple. Not that she was aware of it. But others noticed. . .

Samantha beamed up at Sinclair - this man, this sweet, adorable man who had given her something she'd always wanted. How could she ever repay him?

Sinclair, who still held her, looked down at her in seeming bemusement, as if baffled at her unadulterated joy. And to think he'd caused it. His eyes darkened as he continued to look at her and she licked her full lips, a flick of her tongue that fascinated him. A rumble shook him as if he fought an inner battle. One he won, or lost, she couldn't tell and didn't care as he dipped his head down and finally kissed her with a passion she'd imagined but never experienced.

Samantha's eyes widened for a moment at the sweet shock - oh sweet God - then closed, as she savored the feel of his lips, caressing and nibbling her own. She pressed herself tightly against him, his hard body felt so good against hers. His fingers twined into her hair bending her head back so he could plunder her mouth more deeply, his tongue darting between her lips, sending a shock down to her toes. Her body grew feverish as she embraced him back without reservation. She'd never imagined being kissed like this! The few paltry pecks she'd received in the past had elicited nothing compared to the fire consuming her now.

When his hands slid down her back to cup her buttocks and press her firmly against him, she gasped because she could feel the evidence of his arousal pressing against her belly. His mouth left hers with a final suck of her bottom lip and started sliding down her neck towards her cleavage. Her knees buckled as she melted, awash in pleasurable sensations. God, it felt good. Better than good. Great. Incredible. She wanted to feel his lips on her skin, his naked body pressed against hers and. . .

Suddenly, common sense prevailed. What on earth am I doing? She pulled away from Sinclair and took a few steps away from him, trying to regain her composure. Lips swollen, her body aflame, her sex aching, she ignored it all because she knew she had to stop. Her mother hadn't raised a hussy.

Samantha tried to slow her breathing but when she spoke her voice still came out more high pitched than she would have liked. "Um, so, uh, thank you for fixing my eyes. I really appreciate that." Oh God, that sounded lame.

He just quirked his brow at her and her cheeks burned. What a stupid thing to say. Samantha wanted to sink through the floor and disappear until she could regain control of her body and think of something witty to say.

"Well," he drawled, a mischievous look in his eye, "if that's how you say thank you for something simple like that, then I can't wait to see what happens if I do something big."

Samantha's face flamed even brighter as she fled the dining room, the sound of his throaty chuckle following her as she raced up the stairs to her room.

Once inside with the door firmly shut, she paced. The situation had become complicated and Samantha found herself at a loss as to what she should do. A lifetime of reading hadn't prepared her for magic books that teleported, curses, little green creatures with big teeth and oh, let's not forget a hunky wizard who could make her forget her own name when he kissed her.

Stripping down to her chemise, she crawled into the large bed and pulled up the covers. As she lay there staring at the stone ceiling, she wondered, why did he kiss me? After all, it's not like I'm the type of girl who sends guys into spasms of lust, not with these hips. He must have been feeling lonely and made a rash decision to kiss me, a decision he'll probably regret in the morning. But oh, how she'd enjoyed that kiss. The feel of his body against hers, his lips awakening a burning desire that she never even knew existed. . .

Too restless to sleep, she threw back the covers and walked over to the window. Leaning on the sill, she looked up at the night sky where stars twinkled and the moon hung at a quarter. Movement below had her easing open the swinging window and leaning out.

Sinclair stood in the clearing below, shoulders slumped. As if he sensed her watching he turned and looked right up at her. Even from that distance she could feel the heat of his gaze. She stared at him, unable to move and she could hear him in the still night air as he chuckled, a masculine self-satisfied sound that had her running for the bed and hiding under the covers.

*

Sinclair stood looking up at her now empty window for several minutes after she disappeared. His body still throbbed from the kiss and he loosed a soft but heartfelt groan. It might have been years since he'd last had a woman but that didn't explain the strong reaction he'd experienced when embracing Samantha.

When he'd fixed her eyes and she'd smiled at him, he couldn't control himself. He'd had to kiss her and now, having had one sweet taste, he craved more. It had taken all his will power not to follow her up to her room and finish what they'd begun. He still wanted to.

She was a puzzle to him. Ever since she'd shown up on the island the day before, he found himself unable to stop thinking about her. And it wasn't like she intentionally drew attention to herself. No, she had to be the most deprecating woman he'd ever met and he couldn't see why.

She possessed a beautiful body. He'd seen that when he'd surprised her in the bath, soft and curvy with a full bosom he itched to fondle. Her complexion glowed, a perfect ivory and her long auburn hair looked so soft and silky he had to fight an urge to bury his face in it whenever she came near. And then there was her smile. . . she hadn't seemed beautiful at first, but when she'd smiled that first time at him in the library after he'd asked her to do some research, her whole face lit right up. Now he couldn't remember why he hadn't found her beautiful right from the moment he'd first seen her.

Thank the Higher Powers I managed to get those awful lenses off her. They'd magnified her eyes so that they seemed huge and when she blinked, she resembled a pet owl he'd had when he was a child. Without them, though. . .

Sinclair found himself in an awkward position. On the one hand he wanted to protect her sweet innocence, but on the other he really had to fight the urge to ravish her lush body. He was glad he'd managed to find something for her to do so that she could feel useful, even if he couldn't see how she could possibly help him. Her unexpected arrival and story hadn't given him any new insights, and while he spoke truthfully when he said she was somehow the key to his curse, he couldn't for the life of him figure out how she could help. What games were the Higher Powers playing? What were their parts in this drama they were obviously manipulating?

Something odd was definitely afoot though, first with the chandelier which he'd lied about. It hadn't fallen by accident. Then there was that trace of magic he'd sensed when she flew out the library yesterday looking as if she'd seen a ghost. And now their new ocean denizen.

Yes, something was definitely awry and he would figure it out. He just hoped he hadn't misjudged Samantha like he had Melisante. Could her innocent demeanor mask a plot? Was Melisante still playing games with him?

Taking one last look up at her window, a part of him hoping she would peek out again, Sinclair wandered down to the beach for a long, very long, cool evening swim. Maybe if he tired himself out he'd be able to sleep tonight. If not, perhaps he would visit Samantha and see where another kiss might lead.