Lost at Sea

Ch. 8

Sally felt like she'd been staring at the phone for an eternity.

"Why haven't they called yet?" she complained for the umpteenth time.

"They will," Poseidon reassured her. "The owners just haven't found her yet. They might not even find her today. But they'll know to look at the shelter soon enough. "

"But this isn't soon enough. This is taking forever. This is agony. All I want to know is that that poor little doggie is safe with her family and that I didn't make a terrible mistake by dropping her off at a shelter that's secretly run by dog-eating monsters or something."

"I'd like to think that, between the two of us, we'd have realized if there were any dog-eating monsters around."

"Look at you being all reasonable," Sally said with a smile, trying to cheer herself up.

"You need to distract yourself," Poseidon said, walking toward a small chest of drawers that stood next to the couch. "Gods are experts at finding distractions that can last decades or even centuries. But for our purposes, I think a few hours playing games will do." He withdrew a deck of cards from a drawer.

"Gods play cards?"

"Well, not always cards. But we do enjoy a good game. Ready to play?"

He tried to teach her poker, but Sally quickly took over and taught him Crazy 8s instead (which they both agreed was the superior game). They soon grew competitive with each other in a way they hadn't been since the night when they raced the hippocampi; she was up, three wins to two, and then he pulled out a surprise win for the tie. They decided the next round would be the final, winner take all. Cards flew, hands slapped, and more than a few curse words were used. It was getting down to the wire-- they each had one card left. Poseidon slapped his final card down, proclaiming victory, just as the phone went off.

Sally lunged toward it, taking it off its stand. "Hello? Yes, this is she. Mmhmm, yes." Silence. "Thank you so much for calling. You have a good night as well."

Poseidon looked at her in anticipation, still full of adrenaline from the card game.

"Her owners found her!" Sally exclaimed, and threw her arms around Poseidon in joy. "Apparently she belongs to a really nice family, with two kids, a boy and a girl. She dug under the fence while they weren't home, they think she was trying to chase the neighborhood cat, and then just got lost. They said she was so happy to see her family! She's going to be okay!" Poseidon laughed and hugged her back, her excitement infectious.

"You were right, Sally. Dogs are important. I'm happy we stopped to help her, even if she did make us spend an hour looking ridiculous doing it."

Sally slightly pulled back to smile up at him. "See? I told you. We'll make a dog person of you yet."

Their eyes met, and they stood still, their arms still wrapped around each other. The energy shifted. It didn't drain, or fade away. Just became something different. Sally was just about to turn away when Poseidon drew her into a kiss.

And suddenly it was like they were back in the depths of the ocean, surrounded by darkness and the soft glow of jelly fish, water pressing in on every side, enveloping them, keeping them safe. As safe as Sally always felt when she was around him. His arms tightened around her, and she drew her hands up to the back of his neck so that they brushed the bottom of his hair. His lips were firm and fervent against hers, making up for lost time.

Their lips broke apart as he trailed kisses across cheek, jawline and down her neck. "Poseidon," she just managed to whisper. "I thought you couldn't--"

"I don't care," he breathed. And kissed her lips. He pressed his forehead against hers and stared intently into her eyes, his own dark and stormy. "I would stop the tide for you, Sally Jackson. Let whatever may come, come."

And then they were too busy kissing to talk and Sally found herself being guided backward through the cabin and into the bedroom, where she'd never been before, and she was a little scared but mostly excited and more than anything wanting more.