Enthralled Read Online Free PDF

but
very poor. I grew up a little on the wild side, determined to be rich so that
my aunt could have a few of the finer things. When things began to go well, she
allowed me to move her into a brownstone, but she won't move again. She would
rather I get married and have children than provide her with a fur coat, car,
or any of the other luxuries she considers unimportant."
    "She sounds nice."
Teel smiled at Chazz and was surprised to see him suck in his breath.
    "Here we
are." His voice was ragged. He went over to a large tent and brought out
some equipment.
    "Do you think I could try
scuba diving too?" Teel asked, staring at a man near them who was sorting
through a pile of more sophisticated equipment.
    "No,"
Chazz exclaimed, glowering at her. "Scuba diving requires special training
and lots of practice. You're not to attempt it until I've had the chance to
teach you. Maybe in two or three weeks, when you're much stronger."
    "I won't be on the Deirdre that long," Teel
pointed out, wary and uncertain in the face of his sudden anger.
    "No?" Chazz snorted.
"We'll see."
    Teel was about to
ask him what he meant by that remark when he scooped up a mask from the blanket
and fitted it to her face. She gulped at the sudden lack of oxygen. But the
ringing in her ears subsided as she realized that she was in no danger. She
listened carefully as Chazz explained how to breathe and soon felt ready to
enter the water, but Chazz restrained her, insisting that she repeat his
instructions. She did as he told her, and at last he was satisfied. Then he
motioned for her to sit on the blanket and proceeded to fit the fins to her
feet.
    "I can do it
myself," she protested.
    He smiled, slipping on his own
fins with practiced ease, then waiting for her.
    "Oh." Teel sank down
on the blanket several times before she was able to rise to her feet. She
scowled at Chazz when he laughed.
    He seemed to have
no trouble walking to the edge of the water. To Teel it was like trudging
through miles of desert. Several times she staggered and almost fell. She
cursed Chazz for not telling her it would have been easier to carry the
flippers to the shore before putting them on.
    In the water Teel
followed Chazz's example by using a breast stroke. She was close behind him,
and when he pointed downward, she nodded and dove with him, remembering to blow
through the tube as he had shown her.
    The sparkling sea world awed
her so much that at first she almost forgot to surface partway to clear her
breathing tube. Then the motions became automatic. She delighted in the aquatic
panorama spread below her. She lost all sense of time passing as she cruised
through the sea grass and past crustacean life.
    When Chazz
motioned that it was time to rest, she shook her head and turned away, but
steel hands grabbed her waist, brooking no resistance.
    As they waded ashore, Teel
yanked the mask from her face and glared at Chazz, whose hand still gripped
her.
    "You've been
ill. It isn't wise to exhaust yourself," he explained, his voice bland.
    "I'm not tired,"
Teel declared, but she swayed dangerously and immediately his hand tightened at
her waist. She clutched his shoulders as he removed her flippers.
    "You're more tired than
you know," he warned her. "That's the seduction of the water world.
Haven't you heard of 'rapture of the deep,' the disorientation that deep divers
suffer from the combination of water pressure, lack of oxygen, and, of course,
the beauty of the ocean?
    You can lose your
inhibitions, your wariness, and all your good sense. Even while snorkeling a
mild effect of that same phenomenon can overtake you. You're particularly
susceptible, having been recently ill." "I see," Teel answered,
feeling chastened. "I didn't understand." She put her hands on
Chazz's arm as he rose with both pairs of flippers in his hand. "Thank you
for taking me," she added. "It was wonderful." She grinned.
"And you're right, I do feel a little slow and sleepy."
    She was taken
aback when he