Fatal Tide - Iris Johansen [48]
“Stop fretting. I've done everything you've told me about making it safe for them. After we board those dolphins on the plane tomorrow, they're going to be more comfortable than we are. They're going to be okay, Melis. I promise you.”
“It's just . . . they're helpless. They trust me.”
“And they should. You're a woman to trust.”
She looked at him in surprise.
“If you're a dolphin,” he amended with a faint smile.
“I didn't think you'd commit to a statement like that without qualification.”
“Hell, no.” He sat down beside her and dangled his feet in the water. “Then you'd think I'd gone soft.”
“No way.” In these last days she'd found that he was dynamic and forceful but not inflexible if he could be shown he was wrong. “You're too stubborn to change.”
“The pot calling the kettle . . .” He took a fish out of the bucket on the lanai and threw it to Susie. “She hasn't lost her appetite.” He threw another fish to Pete. The male tossed his tail and ignored it. “We may have problems with him.”
“He can't be bribed.” Her gaze was on his hands, now lying on his knees. Beautiful, tanned, strong hands with long, capable fingers. She had always been fascinated by hands. Kelby's were exceptional. She could imagine them either at hard labor or playing a piano. He was very tactile. She had noticed the tips of his fingers brushing over the lip of a glass, fingering the rattan on the arm of the lounge chair. He obviously liked to touch, caress, explore. . . .
“Well, is he?”
She jerked her gaze back up to his face. What had he asked? Something about Pete. “He's a male, and they're usually more aggressive. But Pete has always been gentler than the norm. It's probably because he hasn't had the opportunity to travel with a male group as most dolphins do.”
“They don't stay with the band?”
“No, the females generally stay with a female pod and the males go off and join a male pod. Males usually bond with another male as a buddy, and the relationship sometimes lasts for life. That's why the relationship between Pete and Susie is so unique. As I said, Pete's unusual.”
“And you've made a pet of him.”
“I've not made a pet of him. I've made sure they could both survive on their own. But I hope I've made them my friends.”
“Shades of Flipper?”
“No, it's a mistake to think of dolphins as being like us. They're not like us. They live in an alien world where we couldn't survive. Their senses are different. Their brain is different. We should accept them as they are.”
“But can they be friends with humans?”
“For thousands of years there have been stories of dolphins and humans interacting. Dolphins saving human lives. Dolphins helping fishermen with their catch. Yes, I believe there can be friendship. We just have to accept them the way they are and not try to see them in our image.”
“Interesting.” Kelby threw Susie another fish. “Are they brother and sister? Or can we expect little dolphins to appear on the horizon?”
“They're not brother and sister. I had DNA taken when I first got them to the island. And they're not sexually mature yet.”
“And they're over eight?”
“Dolphins live long lives. Forty, fifty years. They sometimes don't mature sexually until they're twelve or even thirteen, but eight or nine isn't that uncommon. So it shouldn't be long for Pete and Susie.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Now they seem caught in a sort of jubilant childhood. Things will change.”
“And you think I'd mind?” Her lips tightened. “I'm not a cripple. I've dealt with dolphins and their sexual urges for years. Dolphins are a very highly sexed species. By the way Pete plays with his toys, I'd judge he's going to be particularly sexual. There's nothing obscene about sex in nature. I'd be glad to see the dolphins' lives sexually fulfilled.”
“I don't think of you as crippled,” he said quietly. “You're stronger than any woman I know. You survived something that would have broken most people. Hell, you even keep your scars hidden most of the time.”
“Because no one wants to think about anything