He pulled his hand away. “You’re shaking. Are you okay?”
He was backlit by the lamp, and concern filled his eyes.
“I’m fine, just cold,” she lied.
Luke wrapped her in his arms and she rested her cheek against his chest, letting the rise and fall of his breath calm her.
He rubbed her back. “I’m sorry if I came on too strong. It’s just... I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since that first morning at the Saltwater Bar.”
Minnow knew the feeling. “Don’t apologize.”
“But I—”
She held a finger up to his lips and led him toward the bed. She sat down on the edge and he knelt in front of her. Her legs parted and she still felt a tremor in them. She wanted him to squelch the fear. Luke leaned in with both hands high on her thighs. He kissed her again. This time, soft as feather boa kelp. She ran her hands down his chest, then traced the indentations of his abdomen. His wholebody tensed up when she got to the top of his pareo, which was slung low on his waist, but she stopped there.
Whatever this was, it seemed like so much more than plain old physical longing. Minnow felt bound to him inextricably, like he was a mooring and she a boat. Tied on and floating around him but never quite touching.
The rain came down even harder now, but the thunder and lightning had moved off a ways. Luke kneaded her thighs with rising force, then stood and swept her legs onto the bed and lay her down. He lay next to her on his side, propped up on his elbow. Shadows flicked around his face, and one side of his mouth curved up in a smile that went straight to her core.
“It feels like a dream, doesn’t it?” he said, motioning around them. “This. You.”
He seemed so happy, it made her feel bad.
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” she said.
The words slipped out on their own accord, and the minute she spoke them, she regretted it. The thought of not seeing him again turned her heart dark, but she couldn’t hold it in any longer.
Luke went rigid. “What?”
“Well, tomorrow or the next day. Before the weekend. As soon as I can. I can’t be here for the hunt,” she said, looking out at the falling rain.
He let out a long breath while Minnow held hers, waiting for him to say something. A new heaviness surrounded them and she knew that bringing him in here had been a mistake.
“So you’re running away. I guess I had you pegged wrong,” he said, sitting up and running his hands through his hair.
His words hit a nerve, and Minnow slid out of the bed. “I came here on a dime and have poured my soul into trying to figure out what’s happening and stop a mass culling. I’ve done everything I could to prevent mass hysteria. But why are you here, Luke? There’s something you haven’t told me—I can feel it loud and clear.”
Luke stood up and his pareo slid off his hip, exposing his bone-white skin. He tugged it back up. “You wouldn’t understand. Any of it.”
He went to the sliding door and stared out at the dark ocean, running his hands through his hair and tugging at it. Minnow got the feeling he was weighing his options: reveal whatever it was he was holding on to or make a run for it. The rush of rain on the roof had lightened, but it was still coming down with a steady hiss.
“Try me,” she said.
“You’re leaving. It doesn’t matter.”
She pressed him. “Itdoesmatter. I’m so confused, Luke. You obviously know a lot about marine life and you care about orcas and turtles. But what about sharks? Are they somehow different?”
“No. They aren’t different,” he said, quietly.
“Then what?”
For the first time, she saw his shoulders sag, like someone let all his air out, and she felt bad for a few heartbeats, but then he turned and said, “I’m not the man you think I am. I should probably go. I’m sorry, Minnow. I really am.”
He made a run for it.
Minnow stumbled back onto the bed.
The shivers started up again.
