Merman's Kiss (Merman's Kiss, Book 1)

by Dee J. Stone

  I tear my gaze away from the Ex. “Yeah. I’m cool.”

  As I dry off the rest of my body, I see Kyle headed our way. “Damn,” I mutter.

  He stops right before me. “Hey, Cass.”

  I continue wiping my legs. “Good morning, Kyle.” Anyone with half a brain could sense how stiff and cold my tone is.

  Kyle scans Damarian up and down. “Who’s this?”

  Keeping my eyes on my work, I say, “Why do you want to know?” Immature of me, yeah, but I’m not exactly liking the way he’s looking at my fishman.

  Kyle holds out his hand to Damarian. “Hey, I’m Kyle. Cassie and I used to be together.”

  My head springs up. Seriously?

  Damarian looks confused by Kyle’s outstretched hand, but he must remember Leah doing this, because he brings an uncertain hand to Kyle. Kyle shakes it hard, like to prove who’s more of a man or something. “What’s your name?” he asks.

  Damarian’s eyes meet mine. I nod to him, mouthing “Damian.” Damarian quickly nods. “I am Damian.”

  A small smirk captures his face. “Damian.” He steps back a bit and glances from me to Damarian. “Cute couple.”

  I throw my towel to the sand. “What do you want?”

  He circles Damarian, taking in every part of his body.

  “What the heck, Ky—”

  He claps Damarian on the shoulder. “Well, see you two around.”

  He winks to me, then takes off toward the ocean with his surfboard. I stare after him and feel Damarian do the same. When I bring my eyes to him, I see the puzzled look on his face. I shrug. “Yeah, we used to date.” I look back at the ocean and see him riding a wave like a pro, totally showing off. I roll my eyes and take my towel and surfboard. “Let’s go.”

  I lead him toward Misty’s Juice Bar, and we sit down at the counter. When Leah sees us, she waves and rushes over. “Hey, Cass.” She nods to Damarian. “Damian.”

  “Hello.”

  “So I’m thinking something wild for him,” I tell her.

  She nods. “I got just the thing.”

  As she turns toward the machine in the back, I say, “We met Kyle a few minutes ago.”

  She twists her head back. “Uh oh.”

  “Mhm. And he acted like a total jackass in front of Damar—I mean, Damian.”

  She lays Damarian’s smoothie on the counter and presses down a lid. “Jackass how?”

  “Checking him out. Poking fun. Calling us a cute couple. I even think he dissed Damian’s name.”

  Leah waves her hand. “He’s just jealous. Ignore him.”

  “Jealous how? I mean, he’s the one who broke up…” My mouth snaps shut as I catch Damarian studying me. “Never mind. We’ll talk about this another time. Sorry, Damian.” I rub my hand down my face. “That guy drives me insane.”

  “It is not a problem, Cassie.”

  Leah grins as her eyes move from between us. “You guys do make a cute couple, though.”

  I give her a face, my cheeks warming.

  Leah sticks a straw through the cup’s lid and slides it to Damarian. “Here ya go. Our bestseller this month.”

  “Thank you,” Damarian says. He eyes the cup for a bit before raising his confused eyes to me.

  Leaning closer to him, I whisper. “You put it in your mouth and drink.” I grab another straw and slide it in, demonstrating how to drink. Damarian nods and does the same.

  “Oh my God, he’s delicious,” Leah hisses.

  I scan the shop. A few girls have their eyes on him, some are whispering and pointing. For a few seconds, I feel threatened. I know how ruthless girls can be. But when Damarian lifts his head to me with that special look in his eyes, it disappears.

  “How’s the smoothie?” Leah asks Damarian.

  “Scrumptious.”

  “He’s a keeper,” she half-sings. “What do you want, Cassie?”

  I wave my hand. “I’m good.”

  “Would you like to share with me?” Damarian holds out the cup.

  Leah sighs in her “how cute” way.

  My hands tremble. Drinking from the same cup as him feels intimate. Yet, I want to do it. “Okay, thanks.”

  I slide my straw inside and drink. Damarian bends and drinks, too. I feel the heat of his body jump onto my skin.

  When the liquid’s gone, I pay for the smoothie. Leah says, “Call me sometime, okay? I need to talk to you about something.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Just.” She wipes the counter with a rag. “My thing with Frankie is kinda…” She runs her index finger across her neck.

  “What? You guys are done?”

  She continues wiping the counter. “Yeah. It’s like whatever. We’ve never really gotten along that well, anyway. I mean, there’s more to a relationship besides sex, you know.”

  “Leah!” I hiss, my face scorching.

  “Sorry.” She holds out her hands in a what-can-I-say way.

  I can’t help but shake my head and laugh. “So, did any smokin’ hot dudes catch your eye?”

  Leah’s gaze drops to the counter, her face turning a light shade of red. I sit up. Leah hardly ever blushes. The last time I saw her blush was when… “The guy from the beach! The day we recused…” I look at Damarian. “Sorry.”

  “I am confused,” he says with furrowed eyebrows.

  “Sorry. This is what we call ‘girl talk.’”

  “Girl talk.”

  “Yeah. When girls get together and talk about guys and clothes and things that would drive a guy insane.”

  He nods as recognition enters his eyes. “I am familiar with this concept. My sister and her friends engage in this activity quite often.”

  I feel something inside me when I hear those words. I guess I love hearing how many similarities we have. It makes our…whatever we have, more possible.

  “Sister,” Leah breathes, her tone full of disbelief. I’m guessing she’s been hit with the reality that there are others like Damarian in the ocean. It’s hard to fathom.

  “Want to check out some sights?” I ask Damarian.

  He finds a sudden fascination with his pants pockets. “May we return to your residence?”

  “Okay. Sure.” I’m game with spending time alone with him. The thought sends my blood into a frenzy.

  “I’ll call you,” I tell Leah.

  “Uh uh. You spend time with your friend.” She raises her eyebrows suggestively.

  I give her a face before grabbing my surfboard and towel and leading Damarian out of the shop.

  He’s quiet as we walk home. Each step I take has a small bounce to it. I’m so excited for what awaits once we get to my place, but I’m also nervous as hell. I feel Damarian stripping away every bit of armor I built as an emotional shield. But I’m ready to shed it all—for him. The fact that I’m falling so hard and fast for a guy—well, a merman—makes me want to dig a hole in the ground and hide in there forever. But it also makes me want to jump onto a table and dance until the early hours of the morning.

  “Well, here we are.” I open the door to my house and we walk in. I chuck my towel on the floor and rest my board against the wall. “So what do you want to do? We can swim in the pool. Maybe watch a movie? I can show you the Net—”

  “I am afraid I must return to the sea.”

  My mouth snaps shut. I stare at him, feeling my heart crash to the floor. “W…what?” My voice is so low, I barely hear myself.

  He turns his back on me and sweeps his hair to the left. The sun peeking in through the window reflects off it, making it look even more golden than usual. I feel a pang in my chest and want to bang my head into the wall. That’s what I get for falling hard over someone I just met. Of course he’s going to go back to the sea. That’s his home. It’s where his family and friends are. It’s where his life is.

  But why did he come back in the first place, then? He must be running because he hated the kiss. No, it wasn’t the kiss. He’s not that shallow. But wh
at if it was the kiss?

  Damarian whirls around and drops down on his knees in front of me. He grabs both my hands, staring up at my face. “Cassie.”

  Where did he learn to do that? I shake my head. Tears enter my eyes. I quickly blink them back and bite down on my bottom lip. I’m not that pathetic to cry because a guy is leaving me. I’m stronger than that.

  But I’m not. Not really. In the few days that I’ve gotten to know him, I’ve grown so attached. He can’t just leave me like this. He can’t.

  His face changes. I guess he sees my tears. I yank my hand out of his and swipe them away. He gets to his feet and envelops me in his arms, hugging me close to his chest. His hand rubs the back of my head. I want to push him away, yell at him, accuse him of playing me, for making me fall for him. But I don’t. Because I want to stay in his arms forever.

  “Cassie,” he whispers, running his hand up and down my back. “Do not fret. I shall return.”

  Wait. What?

  I pull out of his arms and look at him. “You’re not leaving for good?”

  He shakes his head. “No. I wish to visit the sea for some time before returning to you. I worry my family may be concerned of my whereabouts. I do not wish to cause them heartache.” He rubs the side of my face. “I cannot leave you, Cassie.”

  My heart swells. I feel like an idiot now. It might have been a good idea for him to have mentioned that little detail two minutes ago.

  Filled with relief, I find myself laughing. Damarian’s eyes fill with laughter, too. When he pulls me to his chest again, I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him close. “You’re driving me insane,” I say into his ear.

  “You drive me insane.” His soft breath tickles my cheek.

  Chapter Eleven

  It’s three AM and Damarian is all set to go. I hand him a baggie filled with gummy worms. “I hope you guys have dentists down there.”

  Munching on one, he says, “I believe Zarya will love this dearly.”

  I’m not sure if they will taste good down there, but Damarian is willing to risk it. I wish I could go with him, but I know that’s impossible, so I’m not even bringing it up. I’m pretty sure his dad and king would behead him. Not that they do that…as far as I know.

  I also wish I could meet Zarya. Damarian clearly has a lot of love for her, and I want to be part of that area in his life. But again, I know that’s impossible.

  “I am ready,” he says.

  Linking my hands through his, I lead him out the door and toward the beach. On the way, I squeeze it and give him a small smile. Unlike last time, I’m not surrounded in a black cloud. I know he’ll return.

  As soon as we enter the beach, I peer to my right and left to make sure no one’s around. I tighten my hold on his hand and race toward the rocks, lugging him along. He must not be used to running, because he trips over his feet and flies to the sand, bringing me down along with him. I topple onto his chest.

  We both laugh. The moon casts a soft glow on his face. I brush some hair away from his forehead and just stare at him, etching his features into my mind. There’s always a chance he won’t make it back. Anything could happen. I want to make sure I remember how he looks like for the rest of my life. Because I know I will never meet anyone like him.

  He takes hold of the back of my head and gently pulls me forward until our noses touch. “Every second we are apart, I shall miss you terribly.” Next, I feel his soft, warm lips on my temple.

  My voice above a whisper, I say, “I will miss you every second, too.”

  His arms come around me, enclose me, until our chests nearly fuse together. I bury my head in the space between his neck and shoulder, inhaling his exotic smell. We lie like this for what feels like an eternity, but is probably only a few minutes. Damarian worries we might run out of time, and we reluctantly get up and head to our spot by the rocks.

  It’s a bit windy today. Standing near the edge of the rocks, I hug my upper arms and stare down into the ocean. The waves seem violent. Maybe a storm is coming. I glance at Damarian. “Will it be safe for you?”

  He’s looking down at the waves, too. “I have swam in more dire conditions.”

  I hug myself even tighter.

  We stand here for a few minutes. I open my mouth a couple of times to say something, but shut it. I don’t want him to go, even though I know he needs to.

  After a little while, Damarian faces me. I don’t meet his eyes. I don’t want to. He said he’s coming back, but what if he doesn’t? I don’t want to look at him for the last time. Because I don’t want him to leave me.

  His thumb and index finger touch the bottom of my chin. He lifts it until I’m forced to meet his gaze. “I do not wish to go,” he says softly. “But I must.”

  I nod, my throat tight.

  “I shall return early the next morning,” he says. “Will you be here?”

  I caress his cheek with the back of my fingers. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

  He wraps his hands around my arms and pulls me to his chest. My arms come around him, and we’re clutching on to each other as if we want to merge into one person so we can spend every second of every minute of every hour together. “It may not be wise to do so, but it is what I wish to do.”

  I don’t get what he means, until he raises me a few inches off the ground and swallows my lips with his. I wrap my legs around his waist and tangle my fingers through his hair as I kiss him. What begins as a slow and gentle kiss deepens with the desperate longing that hangs between us, leaving my chest heaving from its intensity. As we push ourselves even closer, our lips melding into each other, Damarian wobbles. In the back of my mind, a little voice tells me to be careful, that we’re standing on rocks and we can fall and hurt ourselves. But the voice is muffled by a pulse going through every inch of me, focusing deep in my stomach.

  When Damarian sways again, my eyes pop open and my lips unlatch from his. I lower my legs to the ground and take a step back. My chest rises and falls heavily, and his does, too. I can’t see his face clearly, but I don’t need to. I know the fire burning in his eyes, the yearning conquering every cell in his body. The heat between us is so thick, I can feel it.

  “Wow,” I mutter. Those are the mind-blowing kisses everyone always talks about. I’ve exchanged passionate kisses with Kyle, but not like this. I want to haul Damarian back to me and plant my lips on his again, to spend the rest of the night in his strong, protective arms, and feel what he feels for me through his tender and wild kisses.

  “I am afraid we must part, Cassie,” he says.

  A lump forms in my throat. I nod because I can’t speak.

  He sets the bag of gummy worms on the rocks before unzipping his khaki pants and pulling them off. I look away as his underwear comes next. Then his T-shirt. I gather them in my arms and hug them close, inhaling his unique Damarian scent. The smell won’t fade, not for a while. Holding them in my arms will give me comfort, will make me miss him less.

  Knowing he’s naked makes it that much harder to look away. But I do. Until he tucks his fingers under my chin again and lifts it upward. He bends forward and pecks my lips. “I shall see you early the following morning.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  He picks up the bag of worms and turns to the ocean. But then he faces me, like he can’t bring himself to dive in.

  “I wish I could come with you,” I say.

  He doesn’t say anything. I see the pain in his eyes, the worry and doubt. Is this how we’re going to live? To part and say goodbye? Is he going to travel between both our worlds forever? There’s no witch who can give me a tail. And even if there was, I wouldn’t give up being a human. I’d never ask him to give up his merman life.

  He places both hands on the sides of my chin. “Let us not be concerned over what shall or shall not happen.” He runs his lips across my cheek. “When I sleep tonight, my dreams will be filled with the beautiful human girl I long to hold in my arms.”

  I’ve
been trying so hard to hold in my tears, but I feel them sliding down my cheeks. Damarian rubs them away with his thumbs.

  “It’s getting late,” I say as I notice the sky growing lighter. “I don’t want anyone to see you.”

  He nods. Then he moves closer to the edge of the rocks, staring down. He looks back at me. I wave with a trembling hand. He gives me a quick nod before diving into the ocean.

  I fall onto my knees and bend forward, tears blurring my vision. The waves hit the bottom of the rocks more violently, and then his sapphire tail shoots up in the air. A second later, it’s replaced with his head.

  “Cassie.” His voice drifts over the waves in a soft whisper that caresses every centimeter of my skin. Then he dives back into the ocean.

  “Damarian,” I whisper.

  Chapter Twelve

  Leah and I are huddled together on the sand, wrapped in towels. It started to drizzle a while ago. We stopped by early to go for a surf, but it looks like the rain will get heavier soon. I might cancel my class today and head home, but I need to first get the details on Leah and her new crush.

  I shiver. “We should go somewhere warm.”

  “Yeah, we should.”

  Except, we’re both too lazy to get up. The rain plops on Leah’s wavy, dark brown hair, and for a few seconds, I’m filled with a drop of jealousy. I’ve always wished to have hair like her. As a kid, I used to imagine that she was Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I’d get jealous that she was the prettiest girl in town, and that she got to break the spell on the beast and help him return to being a handsome prince. And of course I envied the gorgeous golden gown she danced in.

  I finger my hair. It reminds me of Damarian. He’s the only guy to call my hair beautiful. Thinking about him creates a black hole in my stomach. It’s sucking in all my energy. He’s only been gone for a few hours, but I feel like half my soul ran off with him. That just shows how attached I’ve grown to him. It scares me to feel so dependent on a guy. But yet, it makes me feel really good, too.