He opened a utility closet she hadn’t noticed before and activated an antigrav container, which floated into the middle of the room. “Let me stash your things in here,” he said, suiting action to words and scooping up her bulging bag with no visible effort and placing it in the box. “Anything else we should take?”
“The resort supplies beach towels,” she said, head tilted as she considered her needs. “I’ll need snacks.”
“The kitchenette is fully stocked.” He walked to the other side of the room and threw open the cabinets with a flourish. “Your selection awaits, my lady.”
Laughing, she joined him and picked out a few items and then they were on their way.
The others were waiting for them beside a line of six beach chairs with big, colorful umbrellas unfurled. Treylon insisted on making sure she was completely settled and comfortable before he joined the rest of the group in the ocean. Rosalie picked up her book but didn’t open it yet. She wanted to see if she could tell whether Treylon was getting princely treatment from the other Ardannans. The men obviously were close friends of long standing, with shared jokes, easy banter and a relaxed manner in the way they played and teased but as the afternoon wore on she thought she could see a bit of reserve there, like a line no one wanted to cross when it came to Treylon, although they shortened his name to Trey more often than not.
Trey was up for everything. He surfed, he did the hang gliding, he swam and played games with the others that looked to Rosalie as if they were trying to kill each other but the participants were gleefully having a rowdy time. The other women came and went, dipping into the ocean a bit and returning to the chairs to sit and talk or lie out, even though tanning had been declared a bad thing for centuries. People still did it. Two of the girls joined in on the watersports and seemed quite good at it.
Treylon checked in with Rosalie periodically to make sure she wasn’t bored. She appreciated the gesture but bit her lip rather than confess how hot she was getting watching him display all his muscles and other attributes in the skimpy swimsuit he wore. The man was a feast for the eyes and occasionally she had to shift a bit on her chair to relieve the ache at her core. Really, would a fling in the bedroom be so awful, if she kept firmly in mind the fact this was a one-time thing and not the start of a relationship? A girl had needs and she hadn’t given in to hers in a long time, not since her last loser boyfriend two years ago. But she was kidding herself to say feelings wouldn’t follow a fling with Treylon.
He tried to convince her to come into the water with him but she confessed she’d never learned to swim.
“It’s just like antigrav,” he said next.
“I’ve never been on anything but a basic antigravlift either,” she said, shaking her head. She wasn’t going to explain about her childhood, her addicted mother, absent father and there being no money for food some days, let alone for luxuries like swimming lessons. If it hadn’t been for a kind music teacher at school, she wouldn’t have had musical training either.
Eventually she was coaxed into playing beach volleyball with him because otherwise the numbers were off. At first she was clumsy and clueless but after the first round she caught on to the rules and how to pass, block and spike. Her serve was killer, which she joked a bit self consciously was probably because she worked as a waitress and had strong arms.
The afternoon was winding down and Rosalie was tired but had enjoyed herself more than she’d expected to. She finally let Treylon lead her into the edge of the water and next thing she knew she was riding his shoulders, wielding a blue pool noodle and doing her best to knock Corilly off her partner’s shoulders while being battered in turn. Treylon was like a rock in the waves and kept her firmly in place so Rosalie vanquished one ‘enemy’ but then Damnian and Ysilda got behind her and she flew out of Treylon’s hold and into the water. Trying not to panic, she got her feet under her and managed to stand up, only to be knocked over by the next wave. She was further out than she’d realized. The water wasn’t over her head but was getting deeper as the waves kept coming.
Treylon was making his way to her hastily so all she had to do was keep her feet but then a lance of hot pain shot through her leg and she lost all feeling in the limb, crashing into the water and getting a mouthful of the salty brine. The pain was excruciating and she couldn’t breathe and now she did panic.
He scooped her up in his strong arms, calling her name as Rosalie drifted in and out of consciousness. She vaguely understood she was on the beach now, retching up water as Treylon and the lifeguards surrounded her. She heard a voice say she’d been stung by spiny gellifish and then she lost consciousness even as Treylon begged her to stay with him.
* * *
When Rosalie woke the next time she was lying in a medbay bed, with machines beeping softly all around her. Her leg wasn’t as painful but when she tried to sit up to check on the wound, her head swam and the monitors shrieked. Treylon was there, bracing her back with his arm and helping her lay back.
“Easy, easy, they’re treating you for the venom but you’re still pretty weak,” he said. “I was so worried. This is all my fault.”
“You didn’t put whatever it was in the ocean,” she protested weakly. “It could have stung any one of us.”
A doctor walked in, carrying his complicated handheld. “Glad to see you back with us, Ms. Lenox. Readings are trending in the right direction and the swelling is coming down. Do you know what happened to you?”
She glanced at Treylon and shook her head. “I was stung? I think I remember hearing the lifeguard talking about a spiny fish.”
“The spotted spiny gellifish, yes.” The doctor shook his head. “It’s indigenous to these waters but the resort has sonic screens meant to keep them out. I guess the one you met up with evaded the barrier somehow. At any rate, the venom isn’t usually more than a nuisance but in your case you appear to be quite sensitive to it. Possibly allergic. Lucky your date got you here so quickly.”
“I wasn’t going to wait for the damn ambulance,” Treylon said, a muscle in his jaw betraying the depth of his anger.
“What did you do?” Rosalie asked.
“Commandeered one of the resorts all-purpose runabout vehicles, had one of my men hold you and drove like the damn thing had lightspeed. Corilly came with us too.” His grin was satisfied. “I learned combat driving a long time ago, never so glad about it as I was today.”
“You and your doctor friend probably saved her life and certainly her leg,” the attending physician said with respect.
“I was going to lose my leg?” Rosalie could barely form the words because the news was so shocking.
The doctor patted her arm. “Not to worry, we keep the antivenom on hand here and we’re filtering your blood as we speak to ensure all your numbers will be back to normal in a few hours. The swelling is considerably reduced. You’ll be strutting in your high heels again by the day after tomorrow.”
“You’re keeping her here then?” Treylon asked, making it sound more like an order than a question.
“Until the blood filtration is done and the leg is normal size, yes. She’ll need to stay off of it tomorrow and see me again in the afternoon.” After making a few notes, the doctor left.
“My ship is in orbit,” Treylon said as the door closed. “Say the word and I’ll call for my shuttle to get us up there. We have a fully equipped combat level medbay and a staff of medical personnel. If you’re not satisfied with the care you’re getting here?—”
