CHAPTER 8
GEARY WAS LAUGHING WITH TEDDY AND SCOTT WHEN she caught a shadow out of the corner of her eye. Thinking it was Kat come to join them, Geary turned her head to welcome her in. Until she saw Arik standing in the doorway-just as she'd imagined him earlier that day. A chill of deja vu washed over her as her humor fled. There was no denying the hunger in his light eyes as he watched her.
The predatory gleam. All he had to do was extend his hand toward her and it would be her dream all over again.
Was all of this a premonition?
Tory caught Geary's distraction and turned to look. Like Geary, she went mute, and as the rest of the crew noted the women's behavior, they followed suit. Suddenly their laughter and good cheer turned into a rigid and questioning silence.
Geary cleared her throat as she approached Arik, who didn't seem to be the least bit concerned or disturbed by their silence. "What are you doing here?" she asked in an emotionless tone.
Oblivious to the tenseness of the others, he shrugged. "I know how much this means to all of you, so I wanted to join in your celebration... that is, if you don't mind."
That seemed to soothe everyone in the room but her.
"Come on in," Teddy said, handing Arik a plastic cup of Cristal-yeah, it was a cheap way to serve the best, but they'd been saving the champagne for this particular event. Geary had two more bottles stashed for when they found hard-core proof of Atlantis's location. Then the real celebration would begin.
This was, Geary hoped, just the warm-up, with everyone drinking except the divers and Tory.
The team returned to their party.
Moving closer to her, Tory touched her gently on the arm. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said with a fake smile before she made her way from Tory to Arik.
Scott clanked a cup with Arik's. "Man, we can't thank you enough for getting those permits. You really have no idea what this means to all of us."
Arik inclined his head before he took a drink of champagne. As soon as it touched his tongue, he gasped and sputtered, then immediately started choking.
Scott pounded Arik on the back as Geary took the cup from his hand.
"Are you all right?" Teddy asked.
Coughing, Arik nodded. "I wasn't expecting it to be so..."-he curled his lips-"so strange tasting."
"Strange?" Teddy asked, gulping his. "This is the best shit to be had."
Geary remembered what Solin had said about Arik's sequestered upbringing. "Have you ever had champagne before?"
He shook his head.
Scott gaped. "Get out. Where you been living, under a rock?"
Arik cleared his throat. "Not exactly. But close."
Geary set his cup aside. "Arik was raised in the Greek countryside, away from civilization."
Scott shuddered. "Man, that sucks. I went up there once a couple of years ago and it was enough to convince me that I like American plumbing, if you know what I mean. And since you're from up there, I know you do."
Teddy and Scott exchanged a horrified look before Geary pulled Arik out of the room so that she could speak to him alone. Not that they had much privacy in the hallway, but at least they weren't in direct line of sight and hearing of the others.
She crossed her arms over her chest as she narrowed an agitated glare on him. "I thought you were going with Solin."
Arik looked less than apologetic. In fact, he was actually charming as he offered her a lopsided grin. "I don't want to be with Solin. I want to be with you, especially while you're happy."
On the one hand that was flattering, but on the other it made her nervous. She didn't like the feeling of being stalked by him... granted most of her discomfort was caused by the fact that she'd seen him in her dreams these last few months. That wasn't his fault, but still... "Thank you, and while I can appreciate that, I don't like clingy men. I've always needed my personal space, okay? I mean, really, I barely know you."
Arik nodded as a fierce pain settled in his chest from her words. It constricted his breathing and made him literally ache. What was this sensation? He'd never felt anything like it before. Strange emotions seemed to be gathering in his throat to choke him. It was a physical pain and yet there was no physical reason for it. He didn't understand.
"Please, Megeara. Don't be angry at me. I don't have a lot of time left and I don't want-"
Geary cocked her head at his offhand comment. "What do you mean you don't have a lot of time left?"
He tensed as if he'd let something slip he hadn't meant to. "I meant... It's nothing. Forget I said anything." He started past her.
Geary gently pulled at his arm to stop his retreat. "Wait a sec. Go back to the 'lot of time' comment.
What did you mean by that? Are you leaving to go back to the mountains?"
He was sheepish now. Not the man in charge who was on comfortable ground. Something about his demeanor reminded her of a little boy. "No."
"Are you going back to Solin's or your house?"
He shook his head.
"Then what exactly did you mean?"
He met her gaze and the anguish there actually made her heart ache for him. "I don't have a lot of time left here in this world. I'm going to have to leave it soon... very soon."
In the back of her mind that was what she'd suspected he meant, but having him say it out loud cut through her a lot more than it should. She'd lost so many people who were close to her that the thought of his dying so young tore her apart. "Are you telling me that you're dying?"
Arik hesitated. He didn't want to lie to her, but in a way it wasn't a lie. He would cease to exist as a human in two weeks and he would never again be here.
Ultimately, he settled on being completely honest. "My body was given an expiration date."
Geary covered her mouth with her hand as a wave of pity washed over her. He looked so healthy and prime. How could a man like this be dying? It didn't make sense. "Are you sure?"
He gave a light, nervous laugh. "Yeah. I couldn't be more positive."
"Oh, Arik, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. I'm just glad I have any time here at all."
Those words touched her deeply. That he could look at the positive at a time like this and not be angry or bitter over the injustice spoke volumes about his character. She couldn't imagine being told that she only had a finite time to live. How awful it would have to be.
"I don't understand why you'd help me get my permits when I'm sure you had a lot better things to do with your life."
His handsome features softened. "I wanted you to have your dream before I left."
She couldn't understand his altruism. People just weren't that kind. "Why?"
He reached out and cupped her face in his warm hand. "You live your life like it's a rare treasure to be savored. You take pleasure from the simplest of things and you never take them for granted. I saw the joy on your face and the life in your eyes when you cradled the permits to your chest. I've never seen anything lovelier. I actually thought you would cry just from the joy of touching them. I've been numb all my life, Megeara, but you... you feel on a level that I can't even imagine and for a little while I wanted to feel that, too."
And she felt like crying now at the thought of this gentle, considerate man dying. "How long do you have?"
Grief tainted the luster of his eyes. "Two weeks."
"Two weeks?" she repeated, her chest tightening even more. "Are you kidding?"
"No."
There was no mistaking the sincerity in his gaze. The man was really dying, or at least he believed it.
"Well, maybe your doctor's wrong. Have you gotten a second opinion?"
"I don't need one," he said with a bitter laugh. "You can trust me on thus. In two weeks, I won't be here, at least not with a human body."
And he had come to help her in his last days...
"Oh, Arik," she breathed before pulling him close and hugging him. "I'm so sorry."
Arik couldn't breathe as her breasts pressed fully against his chest. Heat coiled through him, making his entire body burn. His groin tightened and swelled as he thought of how many times they'd touched like this and yet he'd never really felt it.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Just be with me for a little while."