She bit at the side of her lip.
Can I? Wasn’t that exactly the problem that brought me here?
“I’ll try.”
27
They spent two days at the beach, surrounded by no one. A few permanent beach-goers remained, but they stuck to their decks or homes, leaving the entire beach space to the two of them.
Tripp called Ian and Emma, assured them he’d found Lexi and all plans should continue as instructed. Their responses included questions and groans since he still hadn’t explained all the details—only enough to keep them interested. To Lexi, he said even less.
Rather than spend two full days of the weekend in talks about Tripp’s ex-fiancée, the alignment of the stars or even the farmhouse, Tripp pushed it all aside and focused on Lexi’s happiness. The moment would come when he’d make his last request of her, and he hoped she’d trust him enough then to agree.
He sat on the deck, a beer in his hand, a wine cooler in hers.
“This is really nice,” he said. “We should come out here on a regular basis, get away from the whole rat race.”
Lexi laughed. “Rune and races have nothing in common. It’s southern territory, where five o’clock is the end of the day, and Friday means everyone leaves at three.”
“Hear, hear.” He held up his beer bottle until she clinked hers against it.
“Though, I guess I do have to go back.” Her tone wavered into saddness.
Tripp threaded his fingers through hers. “I’ve got some work I need to attend to, and I hope you’ll go with me.”
“But I have the business—”
“Which you and I both know Emma is more than capable of handling. I even thought of a way you could be involved from … anywhere.”
Lexi held interest in her eyes. “How?”
“Remember in Savannah, I showed you a picture of the documents, and it gave you enough to find them?”
“Yeah.” She sipped her over-sugared strawberry drink.
“Think you could do the same thing with an image of the people? I mean, if Emma asks them a few key questions, you could look at them, read their profile details and then dig into your system, or whatever it is, to find the right house?”
Lexi’s head bobbed to the sides. “I don’t know.”
“Be open to possibilities, Lex.”
“That sounds like a pickup line or the opening to a far greater request.”
Tripp nearly spit out his beer. He didn’t expect her to catch the nuance, though he had run the idea by Emma, and she thought it would work. “Okay, I’ll admit, it was pre-thought out, but I still think it’s something to think about.”
She sat back. “I’ll … consider it. But, why aren’t I going to be at my office to handle my own work?”
“Don’t know that you won’t but not in the next couple of days, at least. A week, maybe.”
She slid her feet off the chaise, faced him straight on. “Why?”
“That depends on you.”
“If it’s up to me, we stay right here. Sign me up for long-distance treasure hunting.”
Tripp took a pull from his bottle. “You like working with people and finding their homes, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s gotten—”
“Stale?”
“A bit.”
“But the human side. You like them—finding their next adventure in life and … whatever?”
Lexi nodded. “I do. I like making people happy, helping them down a path they aren’t planning and seeing where it leads.”
“Good. I want you to focus on that when I ask the next question.”
“So all this
was
a lead up?” Lexi moved to stand against the deck rail. The floodlights backlit her. Pinpoints, like stars, twinkled through her hair.
Tripp stood. “God, Lexi.”
“What?”
The innocence in her eyes lured him forward. “You’re beautiful.”
He tucked a strand behind her ear, fisted his hand around a bundle, and followed its line down to the middle of her back. He breathed in her scent, the same lavender he’d wanted so much more of only a few short weeks before.
“I love you, Lexi.”
She stiffened under his touch, relaxed a moment later. Her hand found his cheek, rubbed against stubble he hadn’t shaved in three days, and their noses tickled each other as his lips sought to taste.
“I love you, too, Tripp.”
“Will you help me with one last thing?”
“What do you mean one last thing?”
“I know how we get around the paradox.”
She jerked back. “I thought the journal and Marge and George being together means our gifts just keep on going, right? We just have to trust each other enough not to let it bother us.”
Tripp laid a kiss against her lips, so soft and pliable. “Yes, but there’s more.”
“But—”
He stopped her with another kiss. “I asked you to trust me, remember?”
“Yes, but—”
Her lips opened for his tongue as he teased. She shivered with what could only be erotic sensation as the air enveloped them in warmth.
“I want to make love to you, Lexi.”
She chuckled as he tormented both her and himself. Tripp brushed around to her ear, bit at her lobe. She laughed as he licked his way along the nape of her neck.
“On the beach.”
“In the sand?” She turned as if to look out into the dark.
He grabbed her hand, tugged her forward. “Yes.”
• • •
Lexi followed Tripp past the dune to the water’s edge. “The ocean’s cold, Tripp.”
“We’re not going in, just staying close by.” He wrapped his arms around her.
Lexi leaned her head to one side as he nibbled his way down her neck. His hand swept away her hair as hers slid over his chest. She feathered muscles taut under her touch, thankful he walked out without his shirt.
Tripp hung on to her upper arms as he battered her lips with his. A gentle tug, a kick of his foot behind hers, and she found herself lowered to the beach—him hovering above her. She gave him her trust, remaining relaxed as he laid her against the soft sand.
His hands found her shirt, undoing each button until her breasts hid only within lace he’d already unclasped on their walk down.
Lexi’s fingers teased in his hair as he kissed the skin at the swell of her breasts and tugged her shirt off.
Tripp propped himself up on one elbow. Lexi’s fingers slipped to his waist. She flicked the button open, unzipped. Her hand slid against soft flesh. She taunted with movement up and down. Encouraged by his groans and more forceful nips to her flesh, she adjusted her grip while kicking off her shorts in a final bid for freedom.
A gentle caress elicited moans of pleasure, so she added more.
Their lips continued to tease each other, his moving up and down her body—a lazy trail of desire burning to her center.
His fingers tickled as they toyed with her, teasing until the pressure within prepared to burst free.
Sand coated his hand and hers. The roughness edged into pleasure as he lay above her, his rock of a chest against hers—a connection Lexi craved.
She arched up to him again, shifted her hips forward and back until he wandered lower. Lexi groaned as he slipped within her, nibbling along her neck the entire time.
Around them, the ocean roared. A wave crashed so close Lexi expected it to cover them. Pier lights danced like the stars above.
She closed her eyes to the world around her, breathed in his scent and committed the moment to memory. If ever they separated, she wanted to remember.
His thrusts began in earnest, deep and slow with long drawn-out movements. Lexi pressed her lips to his, matching his rhythm to the mesmerizing beat of the ocean.
She opened her eyes.
The stars brightened as if the night sky had darkened only the pinpoints of the light remained. Canis Major and Minor—an outline of the fox, and the dog with the hunter—formed in her mind as Tripp staked his claim upon her—one she willingly gave to him.
His breath grew ragged as did hers.
She nudged her lips to the side. “You said … it … before.” Through the barrage of sensation, she forced the words out. “With me,” she whispered. “With me, Tripp.” Lexi bit at his bottom lip as she brought up her knees, let him push as far as possible within her.
“With me,” he said.
Their bodies constricted in a double show of passion that made the night sky brighten like in a flash of light. An observer might think it a dying star.
Lexi took it to be the besting of the gods.
Tripp slowed as a rogue wave hit their side, making them both jump as frigid water coated them. He still thrust within her, perhaps as undeterred as she.
Lexi ran a light hand down his back, unwilling to change their position. “You know that’s three times together, right?”
Tripp continued to slip and slide. “And you know that never, well,
almost
never happens, right?”
Lexi nibbled at his ear, trailed south and traced his star with her tongue. “Think our moments will always be that way?”
“If it is, then … well … hot damn.” He smiled against her cheek as Lexi laughed.
Another freezing wave hit them.
“I think the tide’s about to reach us,” she said.
Tripp nipped at her chin. “I think it hit us a long time ago, you’re just now feeling the effects.”
Lexi twisted underneath him, though his hips still beat against hers. The sand around them sank in as it fully engulfed by water.
She turned back to Tripp. “So we just made love in the ocean?”
“Sort of. Sand. Sea. Salt. Under the stars.” He twisted to look up. “It suits us, don’t you think?”
Lexi nodded. “I do. Completely. Wanna do it again?”
“I can if you can.”
“Oh, is that a challenge I hear?” She grinned, biting at his jawline with playfulness.
“Maybe this time we’ll float out to sea, meet a few mermaids and get a few pointers on sex from the masters.”
Lexi slapped his rump. “Or we’ll finish off the pizza, get into bed and sleep the night away.”
Tripp kissed her with a sweetness that had her heart flipping. “And by sleep, you mean—”
“Whatever you want.”
• • •
Tripp stood in the frame of the open sliding glass door, glancing from Lexi’s form to the beach and back. Outside, seagulls cawed as they swooped onto the sand, picking up what Tripp assumed to be their breakfast.
He turned back just as Lexi rolled over. “Good morning, sleepy head.”
She shifted toward her clock. “It’s only eight. Why are you up?” Her hair fell around her shoulders, covering one eye.
Tripp crossed to her as he considered the best way to explain. He’d waited to ask her the question he’d skipped out on the previous night.
“Let’s go sit on the deck a minute.” He held out a hand.
She slipped from the covers in the same clothes they wore to bed: none. “Let me get a robe.”
“Uh, no.”
“I’m not going out there naked.” She grabbed the blanket from the bed, wrapping it around herself but following along with him.
As Tripp took a seat, she fell into his lap. “Lexi.” He placed his hands at the sides of her neck, tugged her down and added a kiss to start their morning.
She responded with fingers in his hair. The blanket slipped, leaving her breasts uncovered.
As much as he wanted outdoor fun, he had only so long to find Jill’s future husband, convince him to meet her and marry her.
“I can feel you thinking, Tripp. What’s going on?”
He dropped his forehead to hers. “Remember when I asked you if you liked working with people?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever searched for a person?”
Shaking her head, she said, “I refuse—”
“I know. I’ve heard. But why?”
“Because I’ll never know the outcome—good or bad, but mostly on the bad side. I couldn’t live with myself if I was too late to find someone and they ended up dead.”
“But you could separate what you look for, right?”
“No. Because then I’d feel guilty only using it for some people and not others. It’s too risky.”
“What about for love?”
“People should find each other on their own.” She twisted in his lap. “And what if I were wrong? I mean, it’s not fair to use magic for that if I’m not willing to use it to the benefit of others—specifically people who’d need it more.” On a sigh, she added, “People need the right place, right time, not me interfering with fate.”
He agreed, somewhat, though her hesitation suggested he could perhaps sway her. “What if your help is critical to my ability to father children?”
Her eyes grew wide. “What the hell does that mean?”
Tripp hid his smile with a kiss to her hair. “I went back to New York to make sure Jill knew we were over.” He held tight when she flinched as he said ‘Jill’.
Her shoulders slumped.
“I went back a second time, too.”
“You what?” She pushed back and away, her face reflecting hurt and confusion. “Why?”
“To apologize—”
“You
are
going to marry her … after all this?”
Tripp grabbed Lexi’s wrists, pulling her into him. “Listen for a minute, and stop jumping to conclusions. I’m about to ask you to break your rules, and I want you to know why.”
She dropped her chin to her chest. “Go on.”
“I figured out that all Jill ever wanted was to get married—”
“A woman in her position could have anyone—”
“She doesn’t want just anyone. She wants the one who she thinks is her soul mate.”
“But—”
He waved Lexi silent. “While I was getting the first painting, she dropped the engagement ring she bought into a box. She didn’t even cancel any of the plans she’d made.”
“She saw you?” She sat back up.
Tripp smirked. “Hell, no. I saw her, though. So it kind of hit me.” He tucked a hair behind Lexi’s ear. “Anyway, when I apologized, I made her a deal.”
“A deal?”
“Yes. She knows I’m good at finding things, which has really always been Ian’s part in our partnership. My part—”
“Was getting it. Gotcha.”
“So I told her to keep the wedding plans, and I’d find the guy she was really supposed to marry.”
Lexi slapped her hands on his chest. “You did not.”
“Uh. Yeah.”
“Why in the hell would you do that?” Despite the words, her tone didn’t bite.
“To make her father stop his rampage on me, and because it was the nice thing to do.”
“Nice?” She slapped her thighs. “Nice?” The second iteration came out with a frustrated whine far worse than where he’d thought she might have been going—emotionally. “To a woman who wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, who sends her father after you in a child-like hissy fit, and you wanted to be nice?”