Page 75 of The Mating Quest
Damn he hated that method of travel. Finally he lookedaround.
The house was two stories tall, with a wraparound balcony on the second floor, and a lanai on the first. The bedroom had a wall of sliding glass doors opening onto the balcony and overlooking the white beach. Turquoise and white walls, beach decorations and white furniture added to the seashoretheme.
Ethan ran a hand through his hair. His pack sat off to the side. He lifted it. Empty. Opening a drawer, he found his personal items already put away. Terrific. Unless he wanted to look like a bastard and pack up and leave, he wasstuck.
WithIlana.
He couldn’t afford to get close. They had a mission ahead of them. No distractions. Rest,yeah.
Sex with a gorgeous, kick ass woman whom he couldn’t stop thinking about?Nope.
From his vantage point he could see miles of green water. Gulf of Mexico. Not the east coast and the Atlantic. Far enough from his pack so he couldn’t dart home, check on things. Ethan had to hand it to Drust. The wizard wassmart.
The Gulf looked peaceful and the flat sand invited miles of walking on the beach. Tension gradually fled. How long had it been since he had a vacation? He couldn’t remember. With the pack to look after, always concerned with his people, he seldom took abreak.
Suddenly he didn’t want to remain here. The air conditioning was cold and it looked hot outside, but the water was an inviting sea green and beckoned to him. Ethan fished through the dresser, found a pair of blue swim trunks. He undressed, put them on and grabbed a beach towel from the bathroom and went downstairs. On the lanai two sets of flip flops, a women’s set in pink and his size in tan. He slipped on the shoes and headed down the stone pathway winding down to thebeach.
The sun felt warm on his bare upper body, but a breeze drifted from the east. Ethan dropped the towel, kicked off his flip flops and waded into the surf. He stirred sand with his feet, knowing stingrays liked to lie buried beneath the sand. Finally he was chest deep. He began to swim, deeper still. No one around, which was odd. Florida was always crowded with beachgoers. Maybe Drust arranged for all of them to go to Disney. Hegrinned.
Then he flopped over on his back and drifted, content to laze in the sun and treadwater.
Something nudged him. Not worried, he ignored it. Then something nudged him hard, nearly dumping him over on his side. Ethan straightened, tread water. No sharks, they feared him. Nothingnormal…
A head popped out of the water. Dark hair, green eyes filled with mischief. Bare chested. Ethan rolled hiseyes.
“Can’t a guy get alone time outhere?”
“Not if you’re Other, like me.” The man cocked his head. “Shifter, right? And somethingelse.”
“Finfolk, right?” Ethan narrowed his gaze. “What are you doinghere?”
“Checking out the competition.” The male frowned. “Not muchcompetition.”
He laughed. “I’m here to rest, fishman. That’sall.”
“Good. Then the nice looking female Mage who was here an hour ago is fair game.” The male smacked his lips. “Bet she’s never had sex in the water. Not like the type Ideliver.”
A low growl rumbled from Ethan, and his territorial instincts kicked in. “A Mage with long black hair, blueeyes?”
“That’s the one. Real tough, she acts, but women like her want a man to dominate them in bed. Or the water.” The finfolk splashed water with histail.
“Stay away fromher.”
The male rolled his eyes. “I’m not scared of you,Lupine.”
Yeah. Watchthis.
Ethan shifted into great white shark, dove down and nipped at the finfolk’s tail. The merman blew out a stream of startled bubbles, and swam away as if demons pursuedhim.
Shifting back to Skin, Ethan grinned. He’d scared the finfolksufficiently.
“You’re supposed to be resting your magick, not wasting it on macho mermen,” a disembodied voice said inamusement.
Ethan whipped his head around. “Tristan?”
The Silver Wizard materialized in the water next to him. Tristan flung back his long, dark hair. Ethangroaned.
“I was hoping for a quiet swim.Alone.”
