Disclaimer—see Chapter One
A/N: Thank you so much to those of you that took the time to review—I don't know what I would do without you!! This chapter has a bit of angst and a bit of love, I hope you enjoy it!! Please let me know what you think—good or bad! Thank you!!
While All Was Still—Chapter Five
Eyes swept across the dusty horizon, watching the distant flickering of the retreating storm. Shalimar closed her eyes, resting her elbows on the slippery railing. She had not left the deck during the entire storm, and now welcomed the first returning rays of sun streaking through departing clouds. Brief, but strong, the storm had left her soaking wet, but yet she did not move. She knew she had overreacted to Brennan, he was right; she was the one who had agreed to this mission in the first place. And hadn't Brennan watched her at the pool yesterday with David? So why then was she feeling this way? She sighed heavily, turning her back to the railing and staring at the wet deck. A slight movement to her left caught her attention, and she saw a flash of black wave against the rail. Curious she moved down the rail and peered over the edge, seeing another flash of black whisk out and then disappear again from just beyond the bottom lip of the deck, out of her line of vision. She stretched on her toes, but still couldn't reach, so with a furtive glance in both directions, she ignored ship policy and stepped on the lower rung of the metal railing and draped her body over the edge, trying to see what was just beyond the floor edge. Toes stretched and arms reached, but still the object was beyond grasp. The ship dipped slightly in the waves, and she suddenly clung to the rail as she felt herself slip. Laughing shakily, she became aware of her precarious position, just as a ship alarm went off and strong arms snatched her from the edge. Her body was flung off the rail and over a shoulder before she knew what was happening. Bodies in uniform crowded around her and the blaring alarm rang in her ears; her head started to pound. A second later she was lowered to the wet deck and Brennan's worried face swarm before her eyes.
"Shal," he called, "Shalimar, talk to me. Are you alright?" He desperately cupped her cheeks, eyes wide with fear and alarm.
Confused, she looked back at him. "Brennan? What's going on?" She looked up, horrified to see crewmen hovering around Brennan, all watching her.
"Shal, there was a report of a woman going overboard off the middle deck—blonde hair and white blouse. I was terrified, I-I--" he voiced drained away. "You're really alright?"
She saw the fear still real in his eyes and sensed the barely controlled panic beneath the surface of him and reached her hands up to rest over his. "Brennan, I'm fine." She smiled reassuredly, "I think that report was a bit exaggerated. I wasn't falling."
"Thank God," Brennan's eyes dropped shut and he wrapped both arms around her, clutching at her for long moments before pulling back and kissing her forehead and each eyelid with palpable relief. Awareness came back slowly, and with it, remembrance of their cover. Brennan looked up and grimaced at the crowd of crewmen around them. He sheepishly shrugged and indicated to Shalimar as he helped her stand back up.
"She's my sister."
A short, bald crewman snickered and wrapped an exaggerated arm around the tall crewman next to him. "Sure she is, and he's my mother."
The two men laughed as the alarm was finally cut and the crowd drifted away. Only one man remained behind to write a report. Brennan removed his jacket and wrapped it around Shalimar as she gave her side of the story. He saw her shiver and interrupted the man's severe lecture.
"If you'll excuse us, I think we'll get her into something dry now." The man reluctantly nodded, and Brennan drew Shalimar away. They were silent as they walked back to her cabin. He closed the door and leaned against it, watching as she sank to the bed and wrapped both arms around herself, shivering.
"Here," he gently sat next to her and pulled his wet jacket off her shoulders. "You need to get out of these wet clothes."
She silently nodded and automatically raised her hands to her blouse, slowly unbuttoning it. Rising, Brennan dug through her dresser, looking for something warm. She had packed mostly summer wear, but he found a sweater at the bottom and pulled it out. Their eyes met and then she raised her arms, so he could slide it down her body. His hands caressed her, skimming under the sweater to stroke the cold skin of her back. Goosebumps rose, and she shivered delectably at his touch.
"Shalimar, when I thought you had gone overboard, I was scared," His voice broke, "I can't lose you, Shal."
"Shh-h," she covered his lips with her fingers. "No talking." She caught his lips in a frantic, incessant kiss. He felt her neediness and responded with a groan, lowering her to the bed and sinking on top of her. Her arms stole around his neck, and she buried her nose in his shoulder. He could feel the coldness of it through his shirt, reminding him of their earlier fight in the rain.
"Look at me."
"No," she dug in further with her nose. He could feel her breath against his neck.
"Shal, please look at me." He had to see her face, her eyes, touch her mouth with his.
"No," her muffled voice came again.
He sighed and stroked the back of her head. His own thudding heart finally slowed as she also eventually relaxed and grew still. His confusion from the morning had returned, but he forced himself to wait. When her fingers softened, releasing him from their tight grip, he whispered, "Shal, can we please talk now?"
She sighed heavily. "Bren, I'm sorry, I don't know why I got so mad earlier."
He pulled back, "What?" He hadn't expected that.
She raised her head from his shoulder, and lovingly he touched her face with the backs of his fingers, feeling the silkiness of her skin against his knuckles. She leaned into his touch, kissing his fingers. "It was silly, I knew it all along. But I couldn't stop. When I saw her, I just I-I…I felt unsure, and I'm not used to feeling that way." She searched his face. "Last night, you passed right by me, but you didn't see me. And then I waited, but you didn't come. And I don't know why I let that bother me, I don't why I feel this way."
Gently he brought her face to meet his, and for a long time each tried to read the other's eyes. Finally he kissed each of her eyes and she closed them under his lips, leaning close. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Shh-h," he whispered, as she tilted her head to accept his kisses. "It's fine." He brushed her hair from her cheek and smoothed her wrinkled brow with tender fingers. The scent of salt and sea breeze was strong in her hair, and he rested his chin over the top of her head.
"I did see you, Shal," he spoke at last. "I saw your shirt blow up and you running like a carefree child in the wind." He smiled against her hair. "I wanted to run after you, to catch you, but Laura was there, and she was opening up to me, I couldn't break the moment. I couldn't break her trust in me."
She smiled, running her fingers along his chest. "You have a trust-worthy face."
"I don't know about that," he chuckled, "but she did seem to be drawn to me. We spent a long time talking, and when I finally got away, it was so late, I didn't want to wake you."
Shalimar's eyes dropped shut in embarrassed relief. "As simple as that, huh?"
"Yeah," Brennan agreed, "As simple as that."
She squinted one eye open at him. "Forgive a foolish woman?"
He laughed, hugging her tight. "Always."
She dropped a kiss on his shoulder, arching up to reach his neck, and then ear. She felt him shiver, and she rolled them over, resting on top of him. His arms rose up to circle around her, rubbing up and down her back as she continued to rain tiny kisses over his face.
"Just one other thing," Brennan whispered between kisses, "What in the world were you doing up on the railing anyway?"
He felt her shoulders shake as she shook her head, laughing. "Nothing! I saw something blowing under the edge of the deck and was just trying to see what it was. I was never falling."
Brennan rolled his eyes. "Whoever called in that alarm scared about five years off me."
"Only five?" she quirked an eyebrow at him.
He waggled his finger at him; she captured it and entangled their fingers together. He grinned and rolled them over again, and right off the bed they fell with a large thump. He shot up in shocked surprise.
"Shal? You ok?"
"Yeah," she rubbed the back of her head. "These beds leave a lot to be desired."
"Tell me about it," he held out a hand to help her up. For the first time she got a good look at him and started to laugh. His hair had dried in spiky clumps that stuck straight up all over his head. He looks like he shocked himself, she thought in amusement. Without a word he swung her around to the mirror hanging over the dresser, and the laughter died in her throat as she got a look at her own wild head of hair. His image in the mirror smirked at her, and she nudged him with her elbow.
'Hey," he protested with a smile as he strolled across the room to the tiny bathroom, poking his head in and turning on the shower. Kicking his shoes off, he pulled his damp shirt over his head. She waggled her brows at him and followed suit, pulling her sweater over her head and sliding up to him. He caught her in a hug as she brought her hands up to stroke his muscled back before wandering down to unbuckle his pants. He groaned at her touch and dropped his head to capture her lips. Her stomach dropped, and she moved to deepen the kiss as they stumbled backwards towards the bathroom. They landed with a thump against the front door instead, and he bent down to pick her up as she wrapped both legs around his waist. Mist from the shower floated out the bathroom door and steamed the tiny room, coating them both with a fine sheen of sweat.
His head banged against the back of the door as she pushed against him, threading both hands into his spiky hair, but he didn't even feel it. The sound registered faintly in Shalimar's ears, but she was too driven to care. She was drunk on the taste of him, drowning in sensory awareness. Another faint banging finally broke through her haze, and she winced. "Sorry," she mumbled, seeking his lips again.
"For what?" he murmured back, dropping down to nibble on her ear. She arched her neck to allow him better access even as the sound came to her ears again. Suddenly she tensed in awareness.
"Brenanan!" she hissed in horror.
"Humm," he continued his exploration, and she moaned in helpless arousal even as she tugged desperately on his shoulders.
"Brennan, Brennan, stop." She whimpered as the banging resumed again.
Her words registered in his mind a split second before the banging did, and he suddenly froze, eyes staring wide back at her. Someone was knocking on the door.
She clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Y—Yes," she squeaked out. She cleared her throat, trying again. "Who's there?"
"Shalimar? It's David."
She turned panicked eyes on Brennan, "I forgot to meet him," she gasped in realization.
His eyes darted around the room looking for a hiding place even as she realized they had hardly any clothes on.
"Shalimar?" David called through the door again. "Is everything alright?"
"Uh, yeah," she yelled back, staring at Brennan, "I ah got caught in the rain, so was just about to take a shower." She paused as Brennan tried to gesture something to her without dropping her. She saw him pointing at his watch and understood. "Yeah," she raised her voice again, "Can you give me a few minutes?" Brennan frantically gestured again. She hastily corrected herself, "Uh, an hour?"
"Sure." After a tense moment his footsteps faded away, and they slid to the floor giggling.
Footsteps were heard walking past Shalimar's door and then slowing down in front of Brennan's room. A moment later a knock was heard through the wall.
"Brennan?" A feminine voice inquired.
Simultaneously, they groaned. Not again.
