Paradise Discovery (Passion in Paradise 3)

With an angry toss the pillow went sailing across the bed.

No, this wasn't what she wanted. But it was the life she'd chosen. Dax was long gone and she wouldn't go after him again. She'd hurt him already, told him without words that she didn't care enough about him to stay. If she changed her mind now, he'd just think she was flighty, like she really didn't know what she wanted. And honestly, she didn't know.

There just weren't enough guarantees.

With a resigned sigh she finished her packing and placed her luggage in the golf cart. Knowing she shouldn't but unable to resist, she took one last walk to the ocean's edge, digging her toes into the surf.

The wind whipped around her legs. She glanced up at the gray clouds marching quickly along the sky.

Another storm was coming in.

She took one long, last look at the turquoise water, wishing for sunlight, wishing for that glint off the surface, wishing for...

For what? For Dax to magically appear, tell her he loved her and that he'd live in her world? That he'd make all her dreams come true by sacrificing his way of life for hers?

Yeah, right.

"I'm sorry, Dax," she whispered to the water. "Sorry I don't have enough faith in love to make the choice to live in your world. But I do love you. I have since the moment I met you, and I always will."

On a shaky sigh, she blew a kiss out onto the water, feeling silly and yet loath to turn away and leave.

For a brief moment the sun peeked through the thickening clouds, casting its rays across the ocean's surface. Something crossed her line of vision.

Isabelle blinked, then closed her eyes, refusing to believe she'd seen a spot on the water.

No. You did not see anything. Wishful thinking. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Turn away, don't look back.

She looked again, and saw an object bobbing out on the water, too far away to make out what it was. Her heart stopped beating and her fingers curled into tight balls of tension at her side.

It couldn't be.

The object moved toward the shore. Toward her. Blond hair glinted in the sunlight, strong arms sweeping in and out of the water.

She clutched her chest, her heart pounding so hard she could hear the roar of her blood in her ears.

Frozen to the sand, she couldn't move, unable to believe what she saw.

Move, damn you. Go to him. Tell him how you feel. You've been given a second chance, don't screw this up.

Fear held her in place and she fought against it. Her life turned before her eyes. What did she want?

Dax. Dammit to hell, she wanted Dax. And screw anything that would get in her way. She wasn't her mother. She was stronger, much stronger, and she loved. By God, she loved this man and she'd fight to be with him. Fight herself and her own doubts, if she had to.

The fear anchoring her in place dissolved in the water lapping at her feet. She jumped into the surf, heedless of the dress now soaked and clinging to her body.

Propelled as if by motor she soared through the water, closing the distance between them.

This wasn't happening fast enough. Her body ached for his touch and she couldn't wait to get her hands on him, her mouth on him. She had so much to tell him, so many things to declare, the first thing being her love for him.

The clouds hovered overhead, obliterating the sun. Rain fell in sheets, the sudden storm whipping at her, preventing her from making any progress in the churning water.

But Dax could. She finally stopped and treaded, gulping in mouthfuls of salty sea as she struggled to stay afloat.

Her eyes widened as she watched him sail through the water as if he had a motor attached to his feet. No one could swim that fast! In seconds he was by her side, his arms snaking around her waist and pulling her underneath.

She opened her mouth and took the ocean into her lungs. In seconds, she could breathe again.

Before she could utter a word Dax's lips closed over hers in a searing kiss that finally cracked the shell she'd constructed around her heart. She pulled away to tell him everything she'd been dying to tell him, but before she could utter the words, he spoke first.

"I love you, Isabelle. I need you. My life isn't complete without you."

Then came the tears again. "I love you too, Dax. I want to--"

"Wait. Let me," he interrupted.

She nodded, near to bursting with the words she'd longed to say to him.

"I'm leaving the ocean," he said.

His words at first not registering, she blurted, "I need to tell you ...what? What did you just say?"

He drew her hand in his, kissing her knuckles, then turned his gaze to hers. "I'm leaving the ocean. I don't want to be separated again."

"You can't leave the ocean, Dax."

"Sure I can," he replied with a grin. "I do it all the time."

"Not permanently. What about your work, what you do down here?"

"Doesn't matter. I love you too much to lose you."

Could it be possible? Could she have found a man willing to give up his life to be with her? She heard his words and believed them to be true, and yet couldn't fathom he could love her enough to leave his world for hers.

She thought this was what she wanted. To have Dax living in her world. But now that he'd made the offer, she realized it wasn't what she wanted at all.

Yes, she wanted to be with him, but not like this.

"No, Dax."

His brows knitted in confusion. "No? What do you mean no?"

"You can't live on land with me."

"Why not?"

She smiled at his wary expression. Her heart soared as she made the decision she knew in her heart was the right one. The one she wanted. "Because I want to live in the sea with you."

His jaw dropped. "You do?"

"Yes, I do. I love you, I want to be with you and the ocean has always been my home. I can't think of a better place to spend the rest of my life."

He caressed her shoulders and her body responded to his touch by warming, opening like a flower on a spring morning.

"What about your family? Your work?"

She shrugged. "My mother and I don't even connect on the same level. We rarely even speak to each other, let

alone visit."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's okay. I can't live my life the way she did, anyway. She's been frozen in time, living in the past for over twenty years, wanting something she couldn't have. But maybe I can visit her now and then?"

Dax frowned. "I told you that's not possible. You can't go from living your life in the ocean to popping up on land. We don't allow it. Too much risk...too much opportunity for you to tell someone about your life down here. I know it's too much to ask of you, but maybe we can find a way to work it out so you can visit."

They'd work out the details on that later, she knew. If she wanted something badly enough, she'd fight for it no matter who this League was and how determined they were to tell her what to do. "And as far as my work, I'll quit my job. I've always wanted to be closer to the sea to do my research. How much closer can I get than right in the middle of it?" She finished with a hopeful smile.

He cupped her neck with his palm, his thumb grazing her jaw line. Isabelle shivered at his touch.

"I first saw you when you were a young girl."

Her heart skidded to a halt. "What?"

"You were on the beach in Puerto Rico, standing there with your mother. I'd guess you were maybe thirteen or fourteen, just beginning to grow into young womanhood."

Propelled back in time by the memories, she couldn't believe the destiny she'd caught a glimpse of back then. "That was you."

He nodded. "Yes."

"I remember. I saw you, and smiled at you. When I told my mother about it she said it was a figment of my imagination, but I never forgot about it. You were the reason I fell in love with the magic of the sea."

"I've loved you since that first moment, Isabelle."

She realized suddenly that she had, too. She'd waited her entire life for the mystery of the ocean to unfold before her, and now it had. Not only had the sea given her the career she loved, it had also given her the man she was destined to love.

"I really want you to think long and hard about this. It's a lot to ask of you to give your life up for me."

She shook her head, the realization making her giddy. "It's not too much to ask at all. It's what I want, Dax."

"But what about--"