“Hey, I found something I think you’ll like,” He jumps up and heads into the trees. When he returns, he’s holding a bright red flower with five, large petals and a prominent stamen. He holds the flower out for me to examine, and I stroke the delicate petals, admiring the vivid color.
“I found a hibiscus bush full of these.” He slides the flower behind my ear and smiles at me. “Almost as beautiful as you,” he whispers.
He climbs in the life raft and wraps his arm around me, pulling me close. His other hand runs a soothing path down my hair, over my shoulder, and along the line of my body. His touch stirs my groin, and I scoot closer to him, pressing my aching flesh up against him.
When I lift my face towards his, he is staring at me, eyes the color of the sky gazing into mine. I reach out a hand and gently trace the contours of his face. No male has ever held me like this before, only Avery. Would I feel the same hum of pleasure if this was my wedding nest and he was Kai?
I never had these feelings before, this burning ache, the flutter in my belly, and the pounding beat of my heart in my chest. I never longed to have someone touch me like I do with Avery. But it’s not just him. I feel that way around all the humans. Some of them have kept their distance more than others, but that has only made me desire them more. Is it normal for a mermaid to feel this way around humans? I know my siren nature is supposed to be irresistible to them, but are they supposed to have the same effect on me? I never expected that.
I was betrothed to Kai for as long as I can remember, so I was never allowed to date other mermen, but I know plenty of other mermaids do. They go from one merman to another, looking for their perfect match. I always envied their freedom. Do I have the same freedom now?
If I do decide to stay on land and mate with one of them, how could I ever choose? I’d like to know more about them, but I don’t know how to ask. Do they have parents? Siblings? Lovers?
I want to be able to communicate with them. I need to be able to ask them questions and not just rely on reading the thoughts that flit through their minds. That means I’ll have to be brave enough to try speaking. They seemed pleased when I said their names, maybe they’ll like it if I try talking. But what if I make a fool of myself?
My stomach rumbles, and I know where to start. I lift my head and lay a hand on my empty stomach. “Avery?”
He pops his head up and looks at me, and I rub my hand over my stomach. “Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?”
His mind conjures an image of a fish, and I nod eagerly. “Okay, stay put. I’ll go find something for you to eat.”
I follow him with my eyes, but soon he veers off out of my line of sight. I can hear the others behind me, as well. I wish I could see them, but I’m in too much pain to move.
When Avery returns a few moments later, it’s with a coconut in his hands instead of a fish. “We’re not as good at catching fish as you are. In fact, we’re kind of terrible at it.” He chuckles, replaying their last attempt in his mind. “But we found a few more coconuts. Let’s see if I can manage to crack this open.”
He takes the knife and gouges a few slits in the outer hull then tears off the rest of it with his hands, revealing the dark brown sphere underneath. He wedges the coconut between his knees and positions the knife at one of the small circles on the top then pounds it with a rock till it breaks through the shell.
“Yay, I did it!” He hands me the coconut, beaming. “Want a drink?”
I take it and hold it up to my lips, gulping down the sweet water. The rough, stringy husk tickles my mouth, but the liquid inside coats my belly. When I pull it away, I feel energized enough to try speaking.
“Co-cuh-nuh?” I manage to wrap my tongue around the word, holding it out to Avery.
His mouth falls open as he takes it from me, then his whole face lifts in a smile. “That’s right — coconut.”
He takes a sip and hands it back to me. “More?”
I nod eagerly. “More.” I can’t resist downing the rest of it. I wipe my mouth with the back of my arm before handing it back.
“Let’s see if I can get inside this thing now.” Avery pounds at it some more with the knife and rock, and soon the hull cracks open. “All right!” He pumps his fist in the air.
“What’s all the excitement over here?” Jude saunters up to the life raft and plops down beside it, flinging an arm over the edge.
I look at him and smile and try out my new vocabulary. “Coconut?”
Jude laughs and slaps the raft with his hand, jiggling it. “Well, I’ll be damned. The princess learned a new word, huh?”
Avery digs out a piece of the white flesh and hands it to me. I take a bite before holding it out to Jude. He nips the bite out of my fingers, his teeth grazing my flesh, sending shivers up and down my body.
Avery frowns but digs out another piece. “More?”
I nodded, grinning. “More.” I copy Jude’s move, wrapping my mouth around the piece of coconut between Avery’s fingers and dragging my lips against his skin as I pull it away. His eyes grow dark and hooded as he watches me, and I feel his desire blaze in my own belly.
“What else can you say, Coral?” Jude interrupts our moment. “Can you say my name?” I turn to look at him. “Can you say Jude?”
He picks up my hand and lays it on his chest, the flesh warm and soft under my fingers. “Jude.”
“Jude,” I say, and he turns up the corner of his lip.
He whistles. “Baby, your voice is sexy.”
“Sexy,” I repeat and try to make the whistling sound he made.
Jude cracks up laughing which draws the attention of Liam who wanders over to see what’s happening.
“What’s going on?” He kneels on the ground beside us, his green eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“I’m just teaching her a few helpful words.” Jude winks at me.
“Liam.” I turn my head and smile at him, and his face glows.
He runs a hand lightly over my bruises then bends his head closer to examine my sore ankle. He puts a hand under my calf and slowly slides it down my leg, lifting my foot off the raft. The movement hurts, and I wince and suck in a breath. Liam slows and looks at me for a second, then carefully takes my foot in one hand, supporting it just above the ankle with the other.
“Coral, I’m going to try to flex this to see if it’s broken, okay? I promise I’ll be careful.”
Ever so slowly, he moves my foot up and down. It hurts, but it’s not unbearable, so I just hiss and grit my teeth. Liam looks at me to make sure I’m okay before resuming then rotates my ankle from side to side, even more slowly and carefully. That hurts worse, and I cry out, but the pain stops as soon as Liam does. He probes the area around my ankle with his fingers, the pads pressing gingerly into the swollen, purple flesh. My heart pounds out a frantic rhythm, anticipating pain, but Liam is gentle, and soon he has finished his examination and lays my foot back on the raft.
“Is she okay?” A long shadow falls over us, and I glance up to see Gio hovering, his hands on his hips as he stares down at us, his jaw clenched. What emotion is he hiding behind his scowl?
“I don’t think it’s broken, just badly sprained. She’d be screaming if it was. It’s just going to take a few days to heal.”
Gio nods tersely. “We need to look for some food. We also need to start thinking about a shelter. If it storms, we’re going to be pretty miserable without one.”
The others nod and climb to their feet but glance at me like they don’t want to leave. A flutter of pleasure tickles my insides but is quickly squelched by my own memory. As much as I crave their attention, is it me that they’re attracted to, or just my siren? My happiness wilts as I realize I’ll never really know.
Once they’re gone, I lay back and think about the first time I recognized what love looks like — the first time I realized that Kai loved Meribel.
I am barely older than a merling, my breasts just starting to mound, when Meribel comes to our favorite s
pot on the reef, giddy with excitement. Kai and I are playing a game, seeing who could chase the most clown fish out of the anemones. It’s childish, but we still enjoy it.
Meribel rushes up to us, her tail flapping and her face bright. “Delphine just returned from the land. I saw her in the market, talking to her cousins. I couldn’t catch much because Mother was in a hurry, but she had a necklace on that a human had given her. It was something like pearls, but they were larger, and all different colors. All the mermaids were touching it. I don’t know what it was, but it was amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Meribel’s eyes gaze off into the distance, and her fingers stroke the bare skin above her breasts. “The human who gave it to her must have thought she was really special. I’ve never even had a pearl to wear. Maybe a human will give me one someday.”
Kai gets a strange look on his face, and he rushes off not long after, with no good explanation.
A little while later, Kai sneaks up behind us as we’re floating and wraps a necklace around Meribel’s neck. It isn’t a strand of pearls, just a tiny, little dolphin dangling from a gold strand, a human bauble, but Meribel’s face lights up as she lifts the charm to gape at it, and she whips around and embraces him.
“I found this a while ago, and I was saving it for a special occasion, but I thought you might like to have it.” His eyes dart towards me as he speaks, and I realize he had planned to give the necklace to me, probably at the official announcement of our engagement.
“You don’t need a human to tell you you’re special, Meribel.” He leans his forehead against hers, his voice husky, and wraps his arms around her.
Although I never felt any special spark between Kai and me, I did care about him, and I knew he cared for me. I always assumed that we would fall in love eventually, when we were older, when it was time. But when Kai gave Meribel that necklace, I suddenly realized that Kai was already in love — just not with me.
Will I ever know what true love feels like? Will anyone ever love me for who I am, not what I am? And what does it even feel like to be in love? The feelings I have for the humans are different from anything I’ve ever felt before, but I feel the same stirring inside me no matter which of them I’m with. I can’t be in love with all of them, can I? There must be something about humans that’s just as attractive to mermaids as we are to them. I sigh, wishing for something I can’t explain.
When the guys start to return, the sun has dropped below the sea, and I’m shivering, wishing I was closer to the fire.
Chapter 10
“Hey Princess, you okay?” Gio leans down over me, and I look up at him, wishing I knew the words to tell him what I need.
“Are you cold?” His mind reflects an image of me shivering, and I nod.
“Cold,” I repeat, and Gio tilts his head at me then glances at Liam.
“She’s been saying a lot of words today,” Liam says, poking at the fire. He tosses a few more logs on, and it starts to blaze again.
Just then, Jude crashes through the bush holding one of the eel-like creatures high, and I flinch. “Look who just caught dinner for us tonight!” He bows at the waist, keeping the hand with the creature above his head.
Gio ignores him and bends down, sliding his arms under me. “Jude, I’m gonna pick up Coral and carry her over to the fire. Bring the life raft, will you?”
Jude frowns but grabs the handle of the life raft and follows Gio. My limbs dangle from his strong arms, and I tuck my head against his body, seeking his warmth.
“Geez, you are cold, aren’t you?” A shiver runs through Gio’s body as my chilled flesh presses against him.
Jude puts the raft as close to the fire as possible, and Gio gently lowers my body back onto it. I cling to him, not wanting him to go. “You want me to stay and warm you up a bit, Princess?”
I nod at the image in his mind, and Gio quirks his lip in a small smile. He climbs into the raft beside me carefully, trying not to jostle me, then wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. I nuzzle into him, savoring the warmth of his touch.
Jude and Liam flick their eyes our way, and Avery frowns when he emerges from the forest and sees us, but no one says anything, and I can’t quite understand their thoughts.
Gio’s bronze skin glimmers in the fire light, and my eyes flick from his bare chest, down to the muscular arm wrapped around my middle, and up to his strong jaw. I curl into him and lay a hand on his stomach. The curved ridges tempt me, and I lightly stroke them, the firm muscles bunching in response.
Gio chuckles and whispers, “You like those, huh Princess? Why don’t you scoot that hand a little lower, see how you like what’s down there?”
The pictures in his mind are vivid, and I tense. Does he really want me to touch him there? Is that a normal thing for humans to do?
It seems forward to me, but what do I know about human mating rituals? I want to make Gio happy — he’s done so much for me — so I slide my hand under the waistband of his shorts.
“Holy shit, Coral!” Gio jolts up and grabs my hand, yanking it out of his pants, and the others gasp and stare at us.
I bite my lip and drop my head to hide the burn in my cheeks. I thought that was what he wanted? The picture in his head was so clear. Gio climbs out of the raft, his chest heaving, and wipes his face with his hands.
“Did she just stick her hand down your pants?” Jude gapes, and Gio nods.
Jude crosses his arms and pouts. “Man, why do girls always go for you badass, tattooed, muscly guys and never give us average guys a chance?”
Gio runs a hand over his hair. “I thought she was into Avery—”
Avery interrupts him, scowling. “So did I, so why are you cuddled up with her like she’s yours? Haven’t you ever heard of the bro code?”
Gio lifts up his hands. “She was cold, okay? I carried her over to the fire, and she didn’t want me to let go. I was just trying to warm her up.”
“I’m sure the fire would’ve done the job.” Avery glares at him.
Liam sneers. “She doesn’t belong to you, Avery. None of us have any business trying to claim her. What do you plan to do, take her home with you? We don’t know anything about her, and we can’t even communicate with her.”
Gio squats down and looks at me. “The thing is, I told her to do it. I mean, I was just joking, but she did exactly what I said.”
Jude rolls his eyes at Gio. “Well, you were making googly eyes at her and cuddling her. She could probably figure out what you wanted by the bulge in your pants.”
“But it’s not just this. I swear to God, she understands what we’re saying most of the time, even if she can’t speak English.”
Liam nods his head towards Jude. “Jude’s right. She’s probably just picking up on the tone of our voice and the situation.”
Gio shakes his head. “Earlier I asked her if she was cold, and she nodded and said, ‘cold.’ And remember the other day? Jude asked her if she was gonna catch a fish for him, and right away she gets up and finds him a fish. And what about the thing with the rocks? How’d she know what we were looking for?”
Jude furrows his brow and puts his hands on his hips. “Well, we could always ask her stuff to see how much she understands.”
“Okay, sure. Why not?” Gio comes over and sits beside the raft. “Coral, I’m hungry. Can you get me a fish?”
I scrunch my face in confusion. I don’t understand what’s going on between them, but I can feel the tension, and I know it’s about me. I want to make them happy, all of them, but I don’t know how. Gio wants a fish, but it hurts too much to move, and besides, I can’t go in the water while they’re watching. I shake my head at him.
Avery frowns at him. “She can barely walk right now, Gio, let alone go catch a fish.”
“I got one; let me try.” Jude pushes his way between them to get closer and smiles at me. “Coral, which one of us do you like the best?”
I don’t understand his question, but when I gla
nce around at the others they’re just rolling their eyes. Jude puts his hand on his chest.
“Jude,” I say, still not sure what he’s asking but hoping that’s what he wants me to say.
Jude’s face cracks in a wide smile, and he puffs up his chest. I guess that was the right answer. “Yup, I think you’re right, Gio. She totally understands us.”
“She only said your name because you put your hand on your chest, and that’s how we taught her our names.” Liam glowers at him, his black eyebrows tilting towards each other.
“Okay, fine.” Jude bugs out his eyes at Liam then turns back to me. “Coral, which one of us is a know-it-all smartass?”
I know he’s asking me another question, but again, I’m not quite sure what he means. I just stare at him, hoping his thoughts will fill in the blanks. Liam’s name floats through his mind, so I blurt that out, and Jude cracks up laughing.
“Oh, that is rich!” He slaps Liam on the back, and Liam scowls at him. “What? She said it, not me!”
“You were probably making eyes towards me and she saw that,” Liam says, frowning.
Jude holds up his hands and shakes his head, his curls wiggling. “Nope. I just asked the question. I might have been screaming your name in my mind, but I didn’t do anything to lead her on.”
“Do you think she can understand our thoughts?” Avery asks, glancing towards me with a concerned look on his face.
“If she could, she probably would’ve slapped me a half dozen times by now.” Jude winks, but Avery frowns and rubs his chin.
“Mind reading? Really, Avery?” Liam rolls his eyes.
“I think these questions are too vague. Maybe she just knows basic words.” Gio looks at me. “Coral, can you raise your hand?”
That one is easy. I smile and lift up my right hand.
“See? There’s no way that’s a coincidence.” Gio holds out his arm towards me and looks at the guys.
Liam puckers his brow and moves closer. “Coral, can you touch your face?”
I lay a hand on my cheek, and Liam smiles. “You might be on to something, Gio. But how on earth does she understand English but not know how to speak it?”
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