A Man For Calli by Beth Sadler Copyright Beth Sadler 2012 Smashwords Edition Smashwords Edition Licence Notes Thank you for downloading this free book. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyright property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support. This book is written in Australian English Cover Copyright 2012 Beth Sadler Chapter 1 The early morning salt air breathed warm and gentle, over the tall, slender woman standing on the beach. She held herself motionless, revelling in the first bite of the sun on her soft, creamy skin, captured by the unveiling beauty before her. The sun rising over the horizon seemed to turn the sea to molten, blazing fire, as it ripped away black velvet night in a burst of glorious colour. As long as she lived, Calli would never forget this sunrise, her first day on the planet Earth, at long last, she was where she had worked and planned to be for the last fourteen years. Callianta Anderon was in charge of the Interplanetary Research Pod, Seeker 4. As Executon, it was her duty to direct the other members of her team, and co-ordinate the information they collected. It was also her responsibility to return them safely to their families once this tour of duty was completed. Everyone but Calli was ready to return home. The crew’s initial eagerness to explore had now turned to boredom and homesickness. They’d left their home planet of Teeron nearly twelve Earth months ago, all eager to see the worlds that they had only heard of up until then. But now, after trillions of miles of hyper- speed travel and this, their fourth planet to document, they’d had enough. Nine more earth days and then it was all systems go for home. Only nine days thought Calli, a nervous chill racing over her skin. Nine days to find her life- mate, or spend the rest of her days alone. That was her close held secret; that was the reason why she had joined the science co-operative and volunteered for every lousy, hair-brained tour of duty they’d cooked up in the last ten years. Callianta Anderon was famous for never having said no, no matter how gruelling the expedition; she had been the first to cheerfully put her hand up. She’d tested water forty feet below the surface of a planet covered in sand and constant dust storms. Eaten frozen rations on top of mountains bombarded by fierce blizzards, and stoically descended old sewers, to work out the diets of extinct civilisations. Yep! She’d built an enviable reputation all right, and all for one reason, and one only; to be able to head up a planetary tour of her choosing. Now this was it, finally, after ten long years of backbreaking work and thousands of hours of study at the Teeron Supreme Academy, she had been able to include the planet earth in this exploration. Somewhere on this planet was her life-mate; she had banked her whole life to this point on that premise. All of her friends were already bonded and happily producing little copies of themselves. They couldn’t understand why she had never felt the tingle, that exploded in the palm and ran up the arm when you met your life-mate. She was attractive to look at and had a pleasing personality; she should have met her mate years ago. It was a given fact that once they felt the tingle, the couple never thought to turn away from the future bonding, no matter how young. It was a happy fact that, Teeron’s once bonded in this way stayed together for life. But, it was also a sad fact that the bondings that had taken place without these phenomena were never happy. Ergo, it was safer to live alone than take the risk. How to explain to her friends and family, that the only time she had felt that tingle, she was fourteen and pouring over a map of Earth; just one more of the planets that the academy had specified that she studied. She was now a well-travelled twenty-eight, and pinning her future on the next few days. With a deep sigh she turned round and headed back up the beach. No matter her private hopes, first she must get the survey organised and settle her brood to their duties. The Science Co-operative wanted reports on how the other worlds were evolving. Her team would be waking; it was time to set them to work. Chapter 2 Walking into the ground floor unit of the beachfront apartments Calli quickly organised her thoughts; it wouldn’t do to fail the Co-Op at this point. If she didn’t find her mate, she would only have her reputation to keep her warm at night. When the Research Pod had left Teeron, it had been carrying two transporter vehicles. They were equipped to carry up to six passengers each and enough research tools to complete the necessary surveys. In addition they also carried some highly technologically advanced weapons; it was always the fervent hope that these would never have to be used. So far their prayers had been answered. One of these transporters would be used to carry the other six members of her team to other countries. Once settled there they would each work on their individual specialties. The second transporter would remain with Calli, in a local hanger, so that she could commute with the Research Pod daily. The Pod was well hidden in the Gold Coast Hinterland bush, cloaked in a magnetic shield that guaranteed its safety from inquisitive eyes. Calli needed to collate all of the data sent in by the others and forward it on to Teeron. It promised to be a hectic nine days and nights. Entering the kitchen Calli was struck, not for the first time, by the genetic similarity of her crew. All were over six- foot, men and women, and all had black hair, blue eyes and pale skin. It was probably a good thing that they were rarely all seen together in one place. It was entirely too obvious that they were different from the genetic pool here on Earth. At the moment they were gathered around the tiny table, loudly chattering and laughing, while they eagerly consuming the food that they had picked up as they flew in late last night. Their last fresh meal had been six weeks ago on the planet Zaron, definitely not famous for its food. Clapping her hands sharply together she called for attention. “OK, friends listen up.” Stealing a quick glance at the multi-purpose communicator on her wrist, she made a rapid decision. “We need to start work in thirty minutes. That’s thirty Earth minutes, people, from now on we speak only the language of the country we’re working in, except when reporting to the Pod, or me.” Calli smiled reassuringly at the six pairs of eyes watching her obediently. They were a damn fine crew, by Hera, and she was honoured to command them. “I know you’re all looking forward to the end of this tour, you’ve done a brilliant job so far, so let’s finish it off in style.” Their eyes, brilliant with laughter, the four men and two women sitting at the table, gave a mighty cheer, and toasted her with their milk glasses. Her second in command, Callem, stood and kissed her hand. “You are without doubt, a champion Executon; we salute you, Oh Mighty One and hope like Hera that the next few days pass quickly and successfully.” The resulting laughter faded as the crew quickly spread through the small unit, finding places to set up their communicators and settle to work. By tonight they would have monitored the world’s news channels and be ready to slip away under cover of darkness to the countries that held the information they needed. Using the transporters, which were parked at Coolangatta Airport in a private hanger, they could reach any point on the globe in two hours. Calli had selected the Queensland Gold Coast for two reasons. One, Coolangatta Airport was just down the road, and the transporters could blend in with the air traffic easily. They resembled twin engine jets and could pass muster as private company planes. As long as it was dark there was little chance of them being picked out by the naked eye, and it was impossible for Radar to track them. The second reason was more important; this was where the environmental conference was to take place, Calli’s own area of expertise. As Executon she had to work during the day on her own project and at night commute to the Pod to co-ordinate the information sent in by the rest of the team. It only made sense to base herself near the Pod and her objective; otherwise she would never have any time to sleep. The day flew by, with every member of the team finding an important lead to his or her research. Soon it would be time for them to leave. The Co-Op wanted an update on how human life on Earth was progressing. The last check had been a hundred years ago and at that point there had been no threat to their existence. Now they had discovered space flight, nuclear power, and pollution. It was time to see if they were going to blow up their planet, or perhaps be ready to accept help from Teeron. Calli checked her crew’s findings. Once again they had worked well and had everything well planned. Three teams of two would establish themselves by morning, in the accommodations they had just arranged over the Internet. This was one technological breakthrough on Earth that simplified their job. Callem’s team would attend a Nuclear Summit in Helsinki, taking over the jobs of two of the translators. The original translators would have no memory of not attending; it would all be accomplished quite easily, without causing any harm. Their mandate was to monitor modern weapons, and the will of humans to use them. The second team would hit Silicon Valley in America, and find out just where their technology was going. They should blend in easily there; after all, the place was crawling with odd bods. The third team had, possibly, the most difficult and complex mandate of them all, they had to determine where the human Race was heading socially. It was imperative to find out if this Race worked together towards a common goal. Lately the media signals picked up on Teeron had been worrying; it didn’t appear as if co-operation was a key word here on Earth. They would attend a world conference in Dehli on World Aid and Freedom from hunger. Not a perfect forum for judging social intentions but, definitely a key piece of information. Finally there was Calli’s conference here on the Gold Coast on World environment and pollution problems. Calli would correlate all the information every night, and beam it forward to the Co-Op on Teeron. This was it then; the time had come for the hardest part for all of them, separation. The first night on a new and strange planet, away from the rest of the crew was always stressful. Calli knew now was when she was most needed, with a cheerful smile she slapped Callem on the back and ushered them all out the door, into the warm, dark night. “OK friend’s time to hit the road, remember I’m always with you via the wrist communicators. Anything goes wrong and I’ll be in my transporter and with you in two hours.” Looking around at her crew, she saw swiftly hidden signs of relief. They had needed that last piece of reassurance. Amongst moral boosting laughter and quivering excitement, they walked swiftly to the hired vehicle in the parking area. Happily squashing in they prepared to make the trip to the hanger and the waiting transporters. Chapter 3 Calli watched the transporter vanish before it had cleared the hanger. Callem was flying, and had used the cloaking device as soon as everyone was on board. They would all be in position in the next four hours, until then Calli was free to relax. Returning to the car she headed back to the unit, a fast run on the beach was what she needed. Months on board the Pod didn’t allow for much in the way of true exercise, and Calli enjoyed stretching her body to its limit. Changing into shorts, she headed out the front door and down to the hard packed sand at the edge of the sea. Her palm tingled pleasantly, as she passed the empty ground floor unit next to the one she had rented. Not strongly, as if her life–mate were near, but as if he was somewhere close. Perhaps, she thought happily, he would be at the conference tomorrow. Feeling optimistic for the first time since they had landed, she joyfully stretched her legs into a ground-covering stride that swiftly carried her down the five miles of beach. She did it in less time than the average human would take to get to the local bus stop. Teeron’s differed not at all to human physiology, but for some reason they had evolved into supremely healthy beings. That was one of the questions the Co-Op wanted answering and an important part of the research. If the people of Earth were inadvertently corrupting their bodies, Teeron needed to be wary of not going down that same road. Several hours later Calli was sitting at the controls of the Research Pod with a feeling of relief, all members of the crew were in place and everything had gone smoothly. Now she only had to beam forward the personal messages from the crew to their respective relatives, then she could return home for some much needed rest. She’d better include a message to her mother Theela this time or, she would be in massive trouble. Her mother was constantly anxious about her daughter’s single state and her habit of running off to far away worlds. Calli simply couldn’t confess her secret hopes to her; she’d probably send her off for a psych evaluation. Her father, Dalon Anderon, was head of a massive solar fuel conglomerate and didn’t have time to worry too much about what his only daughter was up to. Teeron’s twin suns provided endless amounts of clean power, and her father’s company was in constant demand to provide it. He loved her, but was willing to let her develop her career and life as she saw fit. She smiled reminiscently to herself, he was always proud of her achievements. Shutting down the programs she’d been using, she put the Pod back into self- monitoring mode. Time to get home and grab some sleep; tomorrow was a whole new, exciting day. Chapter 4 Daniel Smith was pissed. His new tenant had disturbed his sleep two nights in a row. First, she’d arrived two hours late, and woken him to get the unit key. It sounded like she’d brought a hoard of excitable friends with her too, to judge by all the noise and laughing. He’d shoved the key under his door and told them to look after themselves. What the hell, he’d already been paid for the two weeks hire over the net; let her leave if she didn’t like it. Then, last night she’d been in and out until two o’clock in the morning, waking him every time the screen door slammed. Of course, it was his fault the door banged, he’d meant to fix the spring but just hadn’t gotten around to it. He was deep into his final renovation, a few more days and this unit would be finished and then his life would be his own again. He’d bought this old, run down, fifties style unit complex, three years ago. It had been cheap but needed a lot of work to get it up to scratch. That was fine with him; he’d got nothing better to do with his life. He was a carpenter by trade and a dreamer by nature; this project had fit him like a glove. He’d started renovating the two story building with its eight units, as soon as the contracts were signed. Living in whichever one he was renovating, he’d rented out the others. He was now on the last unit and had finished paying off the bank loan. According to his friends he was on top of the world. Hah! They were the ones with the world at their feet. Most of his friends were now happily married or in long term relationships. He had beach units, big deal, he also had the ugliest mug ever blessed on a male. He’d only to look in the cracked mirror over the bathroom sink to see who the lucky one was, and it sure as hell wasn’t him, a pleasantly ugly face stared back at him. The best that could be said of his large nose was that it worked. It’d been broken twice by surf-boards hitting him in the head and now twisted its way across his face like a mad ski run. His eyebrows and eyelashes were so pale they appeared non-existent, and he had more lines on his big, square, craggy face than a road map. The result of squinting into the sun too much; he never could hang on to a pair of sunglasses. But, perhaps the feature that drove him most to distraction was his shock of thick, bright yellow, curly hair. Not silver blonde and elegant, not golden blonde and sexy. Nope! Yellow. He figured the unruly blonde locks had just missed out on being red, he wasn’t sure if he should thank God for the lack of freckles or hit the dye bottle and end his misery. There was only one thing he could do with it; sheer it as short as possible, so that he didn’t look too much like that clown out of the three stooges. His one redeeming feature was the most gorgeous green eyes. They were the eyes of a dreamer and held incredible kindness, a fact many had taken advantage of in the past. Unfortunately, he was completely unaware of their beauty. To top off this list of natural disasters was his frame. He stood six foot eight in his stocking feet and was blessed with a set of massive shoulders. Now, that should have been a plus but, combined with his face, women just about broke the four-minute mile in their stiletto heels getting away from him. His friends affectionately called him stretch. He was thirty- five years old and had only had two serious girlfriends in his life, both had moved on without a backward look when Mr. Right had turned up. If pushed he would admit he hadn’t been sorry, he hadn’t thought they were right for him either, it had just felt good to have someone to call and share time with. With a sigh he finished shaving and mentally planned his day. He’d work on putting in the new kitchen this morning, then, come what may, he was finding time to fix that damn flyscreen next door. Still grumbling under his breath, he walked into the kitchen and switched on the jug; coffee was the first order of the day. While he was waiting for the jug to boil he heard the screen door bang next door. He cringed and cursed, lack of sleep was certainly souring his attitude. He supposed he’d better go out and introduce himself, and apologise for his lack of welcome when she arrived. Moving over to the sliding door that overlooked the beach, he pulled back a corner of the curtain, just in time to see his latest tenant pass the window and head down to the water’s edge. His heart stopped beating and his lungs starved for air, he forgot to breathe. He just stood, hanging onto the curtain for support, all thought of going out to meet her forgotten; he couldn’t have moved if the unit was on fire. The most glorious creature in the world had just moved away from him, and, typically, she was already running. He watched, as endlessly long, perfect legs, started to eat up the miles of beach. Her blue-black hair streamed out behind her like a silk banner, reaching past her waist. High, round breasts pushed against a top that tucked into shorts spanning the narrowest hips, and slimmest waist Dan had ever seen. And let’s face it thought Dan; he’d seen plenty of female bodies on this beach. Just because he couldn’t face anymore rejections didn’t mean he hadn’t been looking. Her face was in profile to him, but he thought her nose looked just about as perfect as a nose could get. Damn, damn, damn, and he’d blown her off through his door. One thing was absolutely certain; her screen was not getting fixed just yet. He wanted to know when she was home. Maybe, just maybe, he could work up the courage to talk to her before her two weeks were up. He had a strong feeling that his future depended on finding that courage. Chapter 5 Calli despaired of these speakers at the conference ever agreeing on anything. The world environmental conference in Surfers Paradise was well into its first day and already she could tell that very little progress was going to be made on the pollution problem. It had been an easy task to forge an invitation and an even easier one to be accepted; after all she did know her subject pretty well. The devil of it was they were all so close to solving the problems, they just lacked co-operation. Well, tomorrow was a new day, and she had high hopes for the reforesting projects around the world, that did seem to be a problem they were hard at work on. She would monitor their progress as was demanded by the Co-Op and hope they arrived at some good solutions. On a personal front, she hadn’t felt one darn tingle. If her mate was going to turn up at the conference, he’d better put in an appearance soon, or she would end up an old maid. There hadn’t been a lot of time to think of the prospect of failure before; she’d been so positive that her mate was here on Earth, just waiting for her to arrive. Now a chill was creeping up her spine, if she didn’t find him soon then she would finally have to face the fact that she was never to be bonded. Misery was a lousy passenger as she drove back to the unit, her first day completed and no mate had shown up, only eight more days on earth. She needed to empty her mind of worry; she would run for a few miles on the beach before leaving for the Pod. But first she’d stop and get a burger; comfort food but, what the Hera, they didn’t have burgers like these on Teeron. Dan was desperate; he hadn’t managed to bump into Ms. C. Anderon all day. He’d found time to get her name off the credit card receipt; he wondered what the C stood for? Carol seemed a bit tame, and Christine didn’t seem to fit either. Ah well! Time would tell. He’d worked like a demon all day, madly trying to finish the unit ahead of time. He needed to free his time up so he could accidentally, on purpose, bump into his new tenant. He didn’t want to risk knocking on her door and inviting her out, he didn’t think his heart could stand the pain if she rejected him. But, wouldn’t you know it, every time she went out the door he was under a bench or inside a cupboard. Bummer! Now it was dark and he’d heard her leave a few minutes ago, it was going to kill him if she was meeting a man somewhere and bringing him home. He just might set fire to the place and smoke him out, after all, he thought grimly, he was a carpenter, and he could always fix the place up again. Calli felt a tingle as she walked to the car, it was only faint, but it gave her hope. Was her mate running on the beach close by, or maybe driving past? If it weren’t so important that she report in at the Pod, she’d take the time to look around. Being responsible was putting a crimp in her future love life but, at least she now knew that he was somewhere near. With a lighter heart Calli pulled out of the driveway and headed for the transporter, somehow she no longer felt tired. Dan was lying awake when he heard her return, slipping quietly out of bed, he made it to the window in time to see that she was alone. But, where had she been all this time? Was she meeting someone? He crept back between the sheets, anxiety resting like a lead weight on his chest. Tomorrow he had to meet her and find out if she had a man in her life. If she had, he figured a good hypnotist might make her forget him. Chapter 6 Calli rose early, and gazed longingly out of her bedroom window at the sea. She’d love to dive in and feel the silky, warm water glide over her skin, to push through the waves, stretching her muscles to the limit. But it couldn’t be. She owed it to her crew to keep herself safe and swimming alone in the ocean wasn’t the way to do that. Turning her back on the view she pulled on her shorts, a run would have to do, at least she would be able to smell the salt air and pull it down deep into her lungs as she ran. Calli was ten minutes into her run when she felt a tingle zap up her arm, joy exploded in her chest, almost stopping her breath. Hail Hera, her mate must be near. Putting on a burst of speed she covered the next two miles in record time, but, no one else was on the beach and the tingle swiftly waned. Depressed, but not beaten, Calli decided to jog back along the roadway. Perhaps he was having coffee at one of the little cafes, it wouldn’t hurt to take a look. There was still plenty of time before she had to leave for the conference. Dan slammed back into his kitchen in a foul mood; it was fast becoming his only mood. He’d waited five minutes after hearing the screen door bang this morning, then, full of hope, had swiftly followed the fading footsteps. His plan had been to introduce himself and then offer to run with her; for her safety of course. He’d thought it a brilliant plan. That was until he’d hit the beach and saw she was already half a mile away. Damn, that woman could run. At first he’d put on a burst of speed and narrowed the gap between them. Just as she was almost in hailing distance, she’d appeared to pause for a heart-beat then, incredibly, had shot away as if he was standing still. Resigned, he decided to go to plan B. Hitting the surf just out the front of the units he figured to be casually exiting the water as she returned. It might even work better than the run idea. Good humour restored, he’d grabbed his board from the laundry and spent the next hour surfing and watching the beach. He’d swallowed half the ocean when he saw her dressed and heading for her car. His frustration so great, the massive wave that took him off his board could have had ringing bells on it and he still wouldn’t have noticed. Calli diligently recorded the day’s session at the convention. It all appeared to be going well, and she had to admit, Earth was not in nearly as much trouble as had been thought back on Teeron. These humans had a huge population and many different cultures so, a lot of the time they didn’t agree. But, eventually, they seemed to arrive at workable solutions to their problems. Teeron had only one race and a small population. On a planet roughly the size of Earth it made for very little conflict, which in turn provided the right environment for technological growth. That was why the Co-Op sent out regular research pods to the other galaxies; they were fond of peace and wanted to keep it that way. Any signs of extreme warfare on a planet and Teeron would make sure it was crossed off the list of possible friends. Earth had been one of those questionable planets. Calli didn’t linger after the last member had given his speech, rushing out to her car and peeling out of the car park. She was bubbling over with excitement after overhearing a conversation between a travel agent and the speaker from Germany. She’d found out that there were glow worn caves in the nearby hinterland and she was eager to see this strange phenomena. Nothing like that existed on Teeron. Great Hera! Thought Calli thirty minutes later, where was the logical, methodical brain that she’d been born with? Here it was only six thirty in the evening and not a chance of seeing the glow worms before eight, when the sun set. Ah well! She would just hike the sign-posted trail and get a good look at this Queensland Bush; a pleasant memory and tale to take home to her friends. Unfortunately, it was going to mean that by the time she finished here, then went out to the Pod, it was going to be midnight before she could wrap her stomach around a hamburger. Calli had developed a distinct taste for burgers. With an inward smile, she thought of her plans to take that little culinary specialty home with her. Dan heard the door slam and repeated his actions of the night before, slipping quietly over to the window; he checked that she was alone. Yep! So far so good, but, she was starting to look a bit tired. Her shoulders were drooping and her beautiful face looked a little sad and worried. Had some jerk just dumped her, he’d mangle him, tear him into little bitty strips and feed him to the sharks, dangle him by the toes over a cliff. Hang on, hang on, where was he storing his brains these days? If she’d been dumped, wasn’t he ready and only too willing to comfort her? Surprisingly, the answer was not a whole-hearted, yes. Sure he wanted a chance with her, but not just because she was feeling down. No, he wanted her to take one look at his ugly mug and intimidating physique, and love him anyway. A tight band squeezed his chest painfully, he was asking the impossible, and he knew it. His introspective mood wouldn’t let him sleep, so he sat for an hour on his tiny balcony and watched the stars. He’d always found comfort in gazing at the endless sea of lights. Maybe somewhere out there, there was a woman who wouldn’t find him too repulsive. All he had to do was live till he was three or four hundred years old, until space flight became common and other worlds were found. Dan liked to think it would all be possible some day. Yeah! He thought with a disgusted snort, just not in time for him to pass on any of his genes. Calli tossed and turned, sleep a hopeless cause; worry making her heart race and her head pound. She felt desperate for someone to talk to, to share the worry with, but there was no one. She was the Executon, and she, would have to decide what to do. Callem’s team hadn’t reported in. Oh! It happened from time to time, a broken communicator, a storm that interfered with the signals. But still she worried. Tomorrow she would slip out of the conference early and man the Pod all night. If it meant that she would miss meeting her mate, then so be it. Calli would put her crew’s wellbeing before any personal interests. Chapter 7 Dan was miserable. She’d been gone nearly twenty-four hours; obviously someone was taking up her time. He gazed out at the beach, trying to decide whether to surf the dawn waves or wallow in misery. Surfing won out and he headed for the beach. Young Jamie had been told not to go into the water without his father. But how was a ten year old guy, with a brand new surfboard, supposed to ignore these great waves? He’d figured on a quick set, then back to the unit before his parents woke up. Now he sat, quivering on his board in the early morning breeze, watching the fin circle him and praying for a wave to take him into shore. Dan immediately saw the problem as he hit the first wave, diving under it he powered out to the boy, not giving a second thought to his own safety. Calli had decided to take a walk on the beach before she went inside to change. She’d spent another fruitless night, worrying and waiting for a signal that never came; she would have to make a decision today. Breathing deep of the salt laden air, she lifted her head to enjoy the sunrise and clear her mind. That’s when she saw the boy’s danger and the powerful figure racing to his rescue. They would need the repeller attached to her wrist communicator; she dived into the water, and narrowed the gap between them in record time. Only a few strokes behind the boy’s rescuer, she watched, stunned, when he dived under the surfboard and aimed straight for the shark. Calli had never seen anything so brave. Pounding the water right under the shark’s nose, Dan managed to stop its circling. With a silver flash of its tail, it turned and disappeared into the depths of the ocean. Dan headed for the surface in a burst of pure adrenalin; nothing like surviving to brighten your day. Calli had reached the boy and was holding his shivering body on the board in front of her as she paddled back to shore. Casting a quick look over her shoulder, she was in time to see a sun-god burst from the sea. Never would she forget her first sight of Dan. As he erupted out of the ocean, the sun rising at his back turned his body to gold and placed a halo around his gorgeous hair. Water showered off his outstretched arms, sparkling like diamonds, his victorious grin blinding in its radiance. A powerful tingle enfolded her whole body. With a beaming smile, she joyfully held out her free arm to him. Hail Hera, her mate had arrived. Dan couldn’t believe his good luck, his dream woman here and in time to watch him be heroic. Someone upstairs definitely loved him. On top of that, she was looking at him like he was the most handsome man in the world. Grabbing her hand, he slipped onto the board behind woman and boy, and working his powerful arms, easily took them in to shore. Dragging the board high above the water line, Dan turned to give the boy a damn good lecture; then didn’t have the heart when he saw his pale face and huge, shocked eyes. “Don’t suppose I have to tell you not to do that again, huh?” Jamie shivered, even though the air was warm. “No sir”. He gulped, and whispered through blue, cold lips. “I’ll never swim without my dad again.” Dan took pity on him. “Come on up to my unit, I’ll make us all a cup of hot chocolate.” As he spoke he carefully shepherded the boy and Calli towards home. Gazing over the boy’s head he stared at a fully clothed, dripping wet Calli. “You’re my downstairs tenant aren’t you? Why not get changed and come straight over. You’ve had a fright too; a warm mug of chocolate will fix us all up.” Calli couldn’t believe her ears. “You mean you’re the man I spoke to the night I arrived, you’ve been here all the time?” Dan looked bewildered at her obvious chagrin, but smiled easily. “Sure, you just haven’t been around much for me to introduce myself.” Calli cursed under her breath. “Oh! I’ve been working ever since I got here for the conference in Surfers.” That explained the days, thought Dan, but what about the nights? Calli was dressing, when her wrist communicator buzzed. Swiftly checking; she went weak with relief to see it was Callem. Hail Hera, whatever had gone wrong; he was now at least back in contact and able to send his report. With a lighter heart she crossed the hall and knocked on her landlord’s door. Dan felt frozen to the spot when he opened the door, and found the same admiring gaze on her face. This beautiful, wonderful woman seemed to find nothing wrong with his looks. “Hi! Come in the chocolate’s ready. Young Jamie has gone home, a warm drink and he was back on top of the world. I’m Dan by the way.” Calli looked into his rugged face, only inches above her six foot one, and thought it a perfect name for such a magnificent man. “I’m Callianta, but everyone calls me Calli.” Dan was pretty sure he’d never heard a more perfect name. “I’ll call you Callianta, if you don’t mind, a perfect name for a perfect woman.” Calli laughed. “Not perfect, but I’m glad you think so, because I’ve never met a braver more handsome man than you.” Dan looked down into her beautiful, silver blue eyes and completely lost his heart and all sense of caution. “I don’t suppose you want to get married do you.” Calli gazed back into his warm, loving green eyes and answered confidently. “Of course, who else would I bond to? I really hope you like to travel though.” Dan vaguely wondered where she wanted to go. But it didn’t matter; he’d go to the ends of the earth for this woman. Teeron was a good bit further, but, in all the many years that followed, Dan never even considered complaining. The End Other titles by Beth Sadler Twisted Dreams Freedom Visit Beth on Facebook www.facebook.com/bethsadlernovels.