Chapter Forty-five — Aiden
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
_____________
AIDEN
“How do people walk in these?”
I rescued Trinity from falling headfirst into the sand as she tripped over her flippers. “You don’t. People usually put them on closer to the water.”
“But then how would I trick you into carrying me?”
“Don’t need a trick for that, violet.”
Every chance to touch Trinity was an opportunity I took. And right now? With the dark, jade green, partially mesh bikini she had on? I wanted my hands all over her.
I scanned the beach out of habit. Years of living in my family made me aware of my surroundings at all times. Children playing in the surf, balls being thrown around, sandcastles, and people simply soaking up the sun.
A group of men came down the beach, a bit out of place. Not in beach clothes, not taking in the scenery. One of them had a camera, and the other seemed to be filming on his phone. They might be the same men who were taking photos at the competition yesterday.
Probably nothing, but I would keep an eye on them the same way I was keeping an eye on the man with the metal detector I’d seen earlier.
Something was tingling in my memory, but I couldn’t quite place it.
“Aiden?”
“Yeah?”
Rin still stood in front of me, off balance because of the flippers, staring up with those eyes that matched her bathing suit. “You zoned out.”
“Sorry. You ready?”
“I am ready.”
The others were on the beach, but not snorkeling with us.
Trinity wanted to investigate this, and I got the impression she hadn’t told them what this case was about.
As soon as I saw what was on that flash drive, I set up crawlers to search for Trinity’s name and for anything that might be related to the possible pollution.
It was something that had the potential to be dangerous, but so far there were no pings anywhere to tell me that she’d alerted the wrong people.
I lifted the camera I’d rented, along with the waterproof casing, and slung it over my shoulder before lifting Trinity to carry her toward the little boat that would take us and far too many other passengers.
Ideally, we’d be alone on the boat. Where I could fuck her until she screamed loud enough to scare the fish.
“Maybe we’ll see an octopus,” she said. “Probably not. They’re pretty shy. But that would be cool.”
“I thought we were going to snoop.”
“We are,” she said, “but I am a complex individual and I can do more than one thing at a time.”
I chuckled and moved us to the back of the boat, keeping Rin on my lap.
“Are you ever going to tell me what you were checking earlier this morning?” Her eyes were narrowed, like she was trying to read my mind.
“You want me to tell you here?”
Other passengers were filling the boat. Not close enough to be a part of the conversation, but close enough to be careful.
“It’s not going to stop bugging me, so yes.”
I ran a finger down the line of her bathing suit bottom where it rose high over her hip. “I will tell you on one condition.”
“What?”
“You are not allowed to be embarrassed.”
Trinity’s eyes widened, and I saw her swallow, but she nodded once. “Okay.”
“I knew I was going to buy you a bathing suit.” I leaned forward and lowered my tone. “I also knew I didn’t want it to be the most modest.”
She gave me the same look she’d given me when I handed it to her. It was a blend of ‘are you fucking kidding me?’, ‘I can’t believe you’re making me do this’, and the expression that told me she was aroused by my choosing her clothes and what way I wanted to show her off.
“So,” I continued, “I needed to know how wide the bathing suit needed to be to cover your pubic hair, and whether I would need to trim and or shave you.”
Trinity’s mouth dropped open in shock. Her cheeks turned bright red, and her scent soured immediately. “Hey. Remember what I said?”
The glossy shine in her eyes wasn’t what I wanted to see. She swallowed again. “How am I supposed to not be embarrassed by that?”
“Because I’m not doing it to shame you.” I kept my voice low, turning her face back toward mine while she tried to pull away. “I’m not telling you that you need to shave. I like it.”
“Then why would—”
“Because I didn’t want you to be self-conscious if I chose something with a thinner cut. And I find the idea of shaving you really hot.”
The boat—which was shaped like a pirate ship—pulled away from the dock.
Rin hadn’t said anything yet, but her scent was softening.
She still sat on my lap. I didn’t push, letting her work through everything in her head.
My Omega needed time to fully process things.
Her first reactions were often instinctual and visceral, and I loved that because it was honest and a part of who she was. But in the aftermath, it took her time.
“You really don’t mind?”
“I don’t. And I volunteer to help with any maintenance because of my previous point. Honestly, I’ve never fully understood the aversion to body hair some men have. As if we don’t have hair everywhere too.”
The breeze picked up as the boat moved faster, the sound of the surf and wind disguising our words from everyone else. The hosts of the outing were circling with merchandise, and I already saw the drinks they were prepping for the ride back.
“I… shouldn’t have assumed it was something bad,” she said. “Sorry.”
I kissed the side of her head. “I understand. No apology needed. Just know that I will never intentionally humiliate you.”
She leaned on my shoulder. I turned us both so we could watch the horizon. “I know you won’t.”
The beach was no longer visible by the time the boat slowed to a stop. We sat through the safety lecture before they turned us loose. The water was still warm enough to be comfortable, but I felt the chill of the coming season lurking.
“What are we looking for?”
Trinity glanced around at everyone splashing. Fucking adorable in her giant mask. “Let’s get over to the reefs first.”
“All right.”
Beneath us, the new coral reefs rolled out onto the ocean floor. They were beautiful and worth saving. Did that mean they were worth more than Trinity’s safety? No.
Trinity swam toward the highest point, still a good fifteen feet below the surface. If you looked closely, you could vaguely see the shape of the mountain of defunct cars that formed the framework for the restoration project.
Once we were farther away from the rest of the happy swimmers—loud enough it was a miracle any fish stayed near them—I asked her again. “What exactly are we looking for?”
“Anything weird. If they’re using the cars to dump chemicals, there has to be some evidence, right?”
“The flash drive has some videos of barrels.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Not that I would know. You five have kept me so busy I haven’t even had a chance to look at it.”
I shrugged without apology. “No regrets.”
“Well, let’s see what we can find.”
“It’s pretty deep,” I said, taking the camera and slinging it around my chest. “Can you hold your breath that long?”
She nodded. “I think so.”
I grabbed her hand, made sure she took a breath, and dove. The flippers helped us get down faster. Rainbows of fish hovered around the reefs, scattering when we got close. It really was beautiful.
One glance at Trinity told me she loved it. Her eyes were wide through the mask, taking everything in.
The conservation project my Omega was researching had done its job well. It didn’t really look like this entire thing was built on the bones of battered old cars. But if you were looking for those shapes, you could see them.
Trinity pulled her hand from mine and swam for the surface to take a breath. I had a bit longer.
I swam toward one of the topmost shapes, seeing a hole in the coral that looked suspiciously like a window.
The camera was right there, so I took a shot through the hole. Light flashed beneath the surface, startling the octopus who’d made the car his home. My apologies, sir.
Swimming to the surface, I took a breath and found Trinity waiting. “Anything?”
“Found what I think is a car. Might have traumatized an innocent octopus in the process.”
She gasped. “You saw one? Lucky. Hopefully he’ll forgive you.”
I laughed. “I’ll help you get down there.”
We dove together. This time I aimed for what might be the back of the car. I pointed when I saw the octopus fly out of the window hole and down the reef away from us. Rin lit up, losing some of her air in an exclamation. He’d come home once we left. We just needed to borrow it.
A high-pitched, excited noise came from Rin. She tugged my hand and pointed to a shadowy line that could be the trunk. Good call, violet.
There was definitely a space in there, but it was too small for the camera. I could barely get my fingers under the ridge. And now I needed to breathe.
We surfaced together. “Stay here,” I told Trinity. “I’ll have to break some coral to see inside, and as that’s illegal, I’ll do it.”
“Are you sure?”
“The only handcuffs you’re allowed to wear belong to us.”
I didn’t wait for her to respond and dove. Flippers made gaining leverage difficult, but I braced myself against the reef and pulled. Dust choked the water as the coral broke apart, the metal groaning even underwater. But it did move enough for me to see inside.
Holy shit.
There it was.
A metal barrel. The kind you saw on docks that contained oil, or, in this case, something much worse. I took the picture and a couple of extras. One was all the evidence Trinity needed. If this was all true, there would be more than one investigation, and it would be found.
I swam to the surface, dragging my hands up Trinity’s legs where she tread water. “Oh my god, don’t do that. You could have been a shark.”
“Had I been a shark, I would have bitten you before you even realized. Or, more likely, ignored you completely. Sharks are more scared of humans than you are of them.”
“I’m not sure that’s true.” She mumbled the words into my shoulder as I supported us both. “The big ones are really fucking scary.”
“I promise the big ones are nowhere near here.”
“Good.”
Making sure we were out of hearing distance of the other snorkelers, I grinned at her. “I got it.”
“The picture?”
“There’s a metal barrel in the trunk.”
Her mouth dropped open. It was so fucking adorable, I wanted to devour those lips and make them mine. “Really?”
“Really. Should be what you need.”
“Thank you.”
I gripped her hair firmly and spun so the sun wasn’t in our eyes.
“But you are going to be careful with this, Trinity. You are thinking about exposing billion-dollar companies for fraud and other crimes. There’s a reason your source was nervous and the flash drive was so heavily encrypted.
These people don’t care about one person’s life.
Especially with that kind of money on the line. ”
“It’ll be okay,” she said with a smile. “I’ve been reporting for a long time. I know what I’m doing.”
“I’m sure you do, and I have no doubt about your skills. But you will be careful with this. No more meeting sources alone, no putting yourself in harm’s way, and as little a digital trail as possible. Do you understand?”
She saw the look on my face. I wasn’t fucking around. Trinity swallowed. “I understand.”
“Good.”
A commotion came from the boat, one of the tour guides pointing behind us and shouting. We were too far away to hear them clearly, but the rest of the swimmers immediately started swimming in the direction the man pointed.
“What’s going on?”
“Let’s find out.”
We turned and ducked beneath the water—
Rays.
A giant school of rays swam in the near distance. Gargantuan and slow, the school was like a creature in itself. The rays migrated this time of year.
I grabbed Rin’s hand and lifted my head. “Want to get closer?”
“Yes.”
We swam.
My Omega was faster than I expected, using her flippers to propel herself nearly into the school of rays. I watched as she took a breath and pushed herself down. The rays paid her no mind. She reached out and ran her hand over the back of one, and another one brushed against her legs.
Her hair was loose now from me gripping it, floating in a pale halo around her head. With the sun coming through the water, surrounded by rays, Trinity looked otherworldly.
I grabbed the camera, took a picture, and kept taking them. This could be once in a lifetime. Even from here, I felt her smile.
Everything about Trinity was miraculous. Any number of things could have happened, and we never would have met. I would still be alone in the warehouse with my computers. Had I been used to it? Yes. Would my life have been full? No. Probably not.
Now there were moments like this and a lifetime in front of us for more. I took one more picture before Trinity returned to the surface, and me with her. When I reached her, I pulled her down with me once more into the vortex of rays.
I made sure she looked at me when I mouthed the words I love you. Kissed her when bubbles escaped her in shock. Turned the camera and took one of us, wrapped up in each other and surrounded by rays.
As long as I lived, I would remember this moment as perfect.