Dark Tide (A Mated by Magic Novel) Read Online Free Page B

clear skies.
    “Just a sec. I’ll come with you.” No doubt forgetting, he grabbed her arm.
    This time she jumped back.
    His brows furrowed, but he didn’t release her.
    “I should explain.” He held her there, in the small foyer, breathing hard, nose to nose.
    “Let me go.” Despite her protest, her voice was weak.
    Slowly, his fingers unraveled and dropped to his side.
    “ I know that you know what this is.”
    “Dunno what you mean, mate.” She turned on her heels and headed down to the beach, hoping the boat would still be there.
    He caught up, walked beside her, and took her hand. “I know we might be a perfect match.”
    She stopped and stared where their flesh met.
    Flashes of heat whipped through her senses. She couldn’t imagine how much more it would be during solstice.
    “So?” She looked up at him, ignoring the desire that built within her, and daring him to say more.
    He let go.
    “I just don’t want you to have any expectations. Maybe if we’d met years ago, it’d be different. I’d be different.”
    Hadn’t she heard this speech before? It’s not you, it’s me? She wasn’t enough eye candy for Chris or for the Yank. Probably not for anyone.
    Not trusting herself to speak, she just snorted, then climbed up and over a new sand dune the storm had created. She kicked the driftwood and seaweed off the dock.
    Built into a cove, the beach had survived well. Her hoist, just a bit bent, had moved a couple dozen feet, but her boat looked as if it had survived without any real damage.
    He shadowed behind her.
    Why wouldn’t he just leave her alone? She hadn’t asked for an explanation, nor did she need one.
    “Don’t be mad, Maya. I’m broken. My wife–” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “It was bad between us. I loved her. Never got over her, even as she slept around. Then she died before I had a chance to make it right. I’m not someone you’d want to be shackled to for the rest of your life. If we are a perfect match, it’s not like we can get a divorce. You’d be stuck with me. Believe me. You don’t want that.”
    “You’re assuming a lot, don’t you think?” She didn’t look at him, just continued to inspect the boat.
    “I want you to know where I stand.”
    She placed her hands on her hips and glared up at him. “Where you’re standing is in my way.”
    He stepped back, so that she could move past him without touching.
    The waterline on the pilings indicated that the surge had come up to the house, but not past the first steps. They’d lucked out. No doubt the other side of the island had not fared as well.
    Silent, he followed her up the stairs to the house, Willy tagging behind.
    “Give me a hand, will you?” She grabbed a screwdriver from the kitchen, then started to release the latches and pull the shutters back into their stored positions.
    “Can you get the rest?”
    He nodded looking sad and miserable.
    Damn it. What did he have to feel bad about? He wasn’t the one rejected, here.
    She moved the grill out of the storage area to get at her toolbox. Time to check what happened to the generator. Behind the house, she climbed the extension ladder and opened the door to the waterproof box.
    The house ran mostly on solar energy, some turbine, with a gasoline backup. The gas gauge showed empty. That was odd. She pulled down on the main latch, killing all the power to the house, and checked the continuity from the lines from the roof panels. A short. Damn it. She climbed up onto the roof and found the offending panel. After a few tries, she cut the wires, pulled the bad one out of the grid, and connected the rest. Then, she checked the short was gone. Convinced all was well, she returned power to the house.
    The outside lights came on and she grinned. Fixing things always gave her a sense of empowerment. 
    From her height on the roof, she counted the downed trees and made a mental estimate of the cost to clear the area. All in all, the property had