by Starla Night
It was a problem. He was not allowed to claim a bride.
But Milly was his bride. He could no more turn away from her than he could turn aside the incoming tide.
“You are my bride,” he repeated.
“But I can’t be.” She rubbed her glowing chest with one palm like she wanted to contain the light or hide it away from him. “You need a woman who will treasure you. Or, at least, your body.”
He shook his head.
A new fear flashed across her face. “You can’t accept me like this.”
He accepted her.
“You can’t. I will never give you, uh, satisfaction.”
He understood.
Panic raised her voice again. “You don’t understand.”
“Milly.”
She caught her breath. Her hands clasped in the echo of an ancient prayer. “Don’t say it. You don’t understand.”
He had said nothing aloud. She understood his intention with no words passing between them.
They connected.
And her fear for him was evidence of her kindness. Perhaps the Life Tree elixir would not cure her illness. Perhaps she would never heal. Perhaps she would endure as two people, body severed from soul. That horrible thought made a hard lump in his throat.
He could not accept that fate.
No, he must try to heal her. She deserved to know her own radiance. To experience wholeness.
Only the Life Tree could heal.
Uvim would take her as his bride even if she never in her whole life shared his body’s desire. Even if someday her soul turned against him and she darkened with hatred.
The elixir was her only chance.
“Accept my claim. Become my bride.”
She closed her eyes and mashed her fingers against her forehead. “You can’t live a life without intimacy.”
“Your kindness—”
“It’s not kindness. I’m trying to stop you from being victimized.”
“I am no victim.”
Her eyes snapped open. She fixed on him. Her gaze trailed across his bare torso, focused on his ready cock, and continued its perusal while her soul glowed with desire, need, acceptance.
But her voice was flinty. “You will be.”
She had explained her conditions. “I accept.”
“I’ll use you!” She slammed her hand to her chest. “I want mermaid powers more than anything. If you tell me I can have them scot-free, with no strings attached, it’s not going to be my fault if I take you up on it.”
He nodded.
She huffed with irritation. “Don’t you get it? We will never have sex. You’ll never have a ‘young fry.’ You’ll be one more merman who’s not contributing to your dwindling gene pool. The whole race will end and it will be my fault.” She wiggled her hand at him. “Save yourself for an undamaged woman.”
So even she recognized her soul’s injury.
He had to heal her.
“I will not touch,” he promised.
“Don’t.”
“Have your powers. ‘Scot-free.’”
She held up her hand. “No.”
“I accept, Milly.”
“Stop!” She clamped her hands over her ears. “I’ll use you to get those super powers and leave you with nothing.”
“Our souls—”
“You have to stop tempting me!” She pleaded. “You don’t know how much I want those powers.”
He stepped closer. “Accept.”
“You can’t sacrifice yourself. I won’t let you.”
“Binding my life to my love is no sacrifice.” He hooked her hand and meshed their fingers. Hers were soft and slender. “Our souls already entwine.”
She tore her worried gaze to their interlocked fingers. Her voice trembled. “You don’t deserve this. What crime did you commit?”
The knife twisted.
He sucked in a breath. See? Their souls were synced. She asked about his crimes. The shame that tortured him. Drove his blind obedience. Forced his strict observance of duty.
No longer.
Claiming a bride violated Dragao Azul’s law.
The stones he had placed around his heart would tumble and reveal the monster within.
His bride shunned his kiss? He risked an eternity unable to embrace the one he most desired?
Yes.
He deserved this.
Milly lifted their entwined hands. “You want me to become your bride even knowing I might never get closer to you than this?”
He nodded.
“All right.” She hardened. Square shoulders. Icy tone. “Where’s your Sea Opal?”
His heart leaped in his chest.
She accepted.
But there were new problems. “The mating gem is in my city.”
“Days’ journey away.” Her soul light brightened, and a relieved smile curved her lips. “Why are we talking about this now? You’ll recover, swim to your city, come to your senses, and by the time you get back, I’ll be long gone. Uh, I mean, we’ll both think things over and make the smart decision.”
She pulled her hand free and stretched her fingers.
Cold seeped into his empty hand.
And her soul light faltered. She did not enjoy this solution. She felt scared.
If separation scared her soul, he must keep her close. “There is another option.”
“What?”
“The sacred island.”
“Ilha Sagrada?” Her soul light fluctuated dangerously. She hugged an elbow. “There’s nothing left. Just a lonely island and an empty cave.”
“Beneath. There is a pool of elixir.”
“You’re serious.”
He nodded.
“God, I’ll regret this.” She pulled out her cell phone.
Her hand trembled.
“I will go to the island,” he vowed. “When I am recovered.”
“Why wait?” She clicked a button. Tinny ringing sounded in her phone. A harsh light shone in her eye. “Let’s go tonight.”
Chapter Five
Uvim wanted Milly for his bride. Even knowing they would share no intimacy.
He must have screwed up in a past life.
Milly waited for the call to connect.
“Tonight?” His gaze smoldered. Keeping his distance made his green eyes snap and his hard jaw clench. “I cannot swim.”
“We’re not swimming.”
And her haste wasn’t eagerness.
His heat crossed the too-small kitchen. Her heart cartwheeled in her chest.
This was a dangerous plan.
Her warrior consented to keep his hands off her. How long would that last?
It took all her will not to tease him. Rub up against his body. Accidentally stumble into his arms and see his control crumble.
Allowing herself anywhere near this gorgeous male, who unleashed her suppressed hunger, was like pouring gasoline next to an open flame.
His addictive fumes filled the warm kitchen. She suffocated in need. Her lips begged for a taste of his mouth.
She must not give in.
“You know Ilha Sagrada?” His gaze smoldered. “It is secret.”
Her stomach panged. “Not—”
The phone connected.
“You better not call off.” Her boss Nicolette’s Australian accent twanged, making her threat sound cheerful. “Tomorrow’s the big meeting of the Sea Festival committee and I promised you’d pitch your ‘Snuba Like A Merman’ experience.”
Milly took a deep breath. “I’m calling off.”
“Milly!”
“And I need to charter your yacht.”
“This experience was your idea!”
“I know and I’m sorry.”
“You can’t make it up. We need this experience to promote the desperate plight of those sexy, tattooed mermen.”
“Want to meet a merman?”
Uvim stilled.
Yes, she offered him up on a plate for her boss. That’s what dating Milly would
cost him. He asked for this torture.
Maybe he’d wise up and reconsider.
Nicolette paused for a long beat. “At the Sea Festival?”
“As soon as you get to the harbor.”
“I’m still at the office and I can see the harbor out my window.”
“Okay, then as soon as we get to the harbor.”
She tsked. “Roberto’s expecting me for dinner.”
“I have leftover pecan-dijon crusted halibut with rosemary potatoes.”
Her boss laughed. “You have an answer for everything.”
“Only when I’m asking for a favor.”
“Okay. I’ll help.” Her boss worked out the conditions of the charter and hung up.
Uvim’s low voice carried a note of protest. “No humans.”
“You’re only exposing yourself to one human.” She dumped the rest of the dishes in the sink. “And it’s the price of our passage.”
His expression resisted, but he did not protest.
She gathered an overnight bag and closed up the house again. They drove to the harbor in silence. She fought the flutters in her stomach.
This was crazy. Utterly crazy.
She parked in her usual spot. The dive shop was dark; her boss’s yacht at its slip in the public marina was lit. The sun had long dipped beneath the horizon, the clouds had magically cleared, and stars glittered on the pale night sky.
Couples, mostly tourists, strolled the quiet cobblestone walks beneath the moth-spattered street lights.
Milly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door.
Uvim remained in his seat unmoving.
Silent protest.
She paused. “Now or never.”
“No humans.”
“Walking past a few people is the only way to go through with this terrible mistake. If you’ve changed your mind, great.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You have ten seconds before good sense reasserts itself and I call the whole thing off.”
He rested his fists on his knees. His knuckles turned white.
“Look. I asked my boss for help. I hate asking for help.” She pulled her leg back into the car and shut the door. The dome light went off, returning them to darkness. “What matters to you more? Duty or me?”
His silence was his answer.
Duty.
Disappointment captured the flutters in a “reality” net and dragged her down.
It was his fault she’d started to dream.
Not just for the offer of mermaid super powers.
Like her reactions to him meant she was ready to heal. Her past could stay there. Like, if she asked Uvim for help, he’d give it without strings attached, and he wouldn’t come after her later saying he’d made a mistake or she was wrong to have asked.
Like she could finally be free.
And that possibility was why she’d planned this sudden departure. Why she would terrify herself by returning to Ilha Sagrada. Why she was about to dredge the darkest hours of her past into her present.
It was why she pushed him now. Even though good sense said she should drive right back to her house and acknowledge it was the merman concussion talking.
“You can stay in the car. I’m going to chat with my boss. This is your last chance.”
She exited, pulled her bag from the back seat, and ambled to the darkened dive shop.
Her passenger door clicked. Uvim emerged.
The tension in her chest eased. Whew. She’d almost felt small and helpless.
Never again.
Once she transformed, she would always take charge.
He closed the door and followed her down the docks to her boss’s yacht, the Sunny Adelaide.
Chapter Six
Uvim trailed his bride across the narrow, bobbing slats of wood constructed over the still ocean.
Other humans strolled past.
Their gazes flayed his skin.
Many humans walked here. His orange covering did not disguise him well.
He padded barefoot. His torso was bare. His skin and tattoos, his bearing and his broad height, set him apart like a flounder in a school of herring.
Every muscle in his body tightened in protest.
Milly stopped beside a large white boat. “Here we are. Get ready to pay the price.”
He had not already paid it? Uvim braced.
A petite woman crossed a plank to their dock. “G’day, how ya going mate? I’m Milly’s boss Nicolette.” Her short, gray-streaked hair bobbed as she smiled. “Will you do the foot there?”
Foot there?
Milly nudged him. “Change your foot. You know.” She flexed one foot up and down.
Shifting.
His gut clenched.
Yes, the modern world knew of mermen. Yes, Dragao Azul no longer followed the ancient covenant restricting mermen to secrecy.
But little had changed. Even Queen Zara, the ultimate rebel, had ordered them to remain hidden.
Milly would not accept his claim unless he paid this price.
His heart thudded. Sharp air scratched his throat.
He lifted his right foot and flexed. His toes elongated and spread. The skin between his toes stretched tight, transforming his stubby human toes into a large mer fin.
“Ta. That’s convenient.” She aimed her cell phone on his fin. “Now, stand next to my ship and smile.”
She darted to touch his side.
He stumbled sideways away from the woman.
She hesitated. Her smile died. “Huhhh.”
He had offended her.
But she must understand — she must know — he must not touch—
“He can’t touch another man’s wife,” Milly told Nicolette. “It’s a warrior thing.”
“Why? I won’t shrivel.”
“He’d expect your husband to cut his hand off.”
She rocked back onto her flat foot coverings. “Ew. He’s touching you.”
“I’m not married.”
“Bugger! I’ll stand on your unmarried side.” The petite woman cozied up to Milly and lifted her cell phone. It reflected their faces. “Cheers!”
The image froze.
She reviewed it, froze a few more images, and then touched many buttons.
“That’s going on the blog,” Milly said under her breath.
“Blog?”
“Er, never mind.” She led Uvim across the plank onto the bobbing boat.
Milly’s boss picked up the plank. She and Milly untied ropes. The boat rumbled and moved backward, cutting across the quiet harbor. She twisted a wheel. The boat pointed toward the opening in the sea wall to the more violent surf.
“How about doing a meet-and-greet at the Sea Festival?” the petite woman called to him. “You’d be the highlight of the show. Offer a selfie station. Thousands would take your picture. You’d be famous.”
Nausea roiled in his belly.
He pursued a bride out of turn and exposed himself to many humans. Exposure to thousands? Nightmare.
Milly touched his forehead. Concern filled her eyes. “You’re unwell. Why don’t you lie down?”
Nausea welled higher.
Milly did not know of his shame. She had agreed to become his bride. He was not worthy.
When she knew, she would not be so kind.
The boat rocked.
He gripped the rail.
“Are you all right?” The petite woman looked over at him. Her face was lit from below. “Is a merman going to be seasick?”
He shook his head.
“Is this your first time on a boat?”
He nodded.
“What?”
“Yes,” Milly translated. “It’s his first time.”
“Take it easy!”
“Come on,” Milly insisted. She put her arms around his shoulders.
The boat dipped, rolling him into her.
She led him down steps inside the body of the boat to a small chamber. The growl of the boat vibrated in his bones
and the air tasted strange. She eased him onto a bunk — soft — and helped him lie down, then rested a thin fabric over his body.
“Feel better soon.” She pinched his big toe. Her lips curved into a teasing smile. “Your fame awaits.”
“Queen Zara...”
“I’m working on Zara now.”
He shook his head.
Queen Zara said the undersea world was too deadly for new brides. War endangered them. The mer must safeguard their city and avoid exposure.
She focused on the brides of the past. Brides who understood their world and their risks. Brides who possessed untapped powers.
After the old brides returned, the mer could forge new relationships on the surface.
Even though it had been a year and the city had not seen any brides, old or new, join them.
Milly spoke with the authority of her sisterhood with Queen Zara. “The Sea Festival celebrates the relationship of the Azores islanders with the sea. They want to honor our new friendship.”
“Our ancient covenant … connected us to Ilha Sagrada.”
“In the past.” She rested both hands on his ankles. A bright fire burned in her soul. The energy matched her clear brown eyes. “Make a new connection.”
He shook his head again.
She shrugged and withdrew her hand. “If you won’t show yourself, then when I’m a bride, I will.”
“Do not expose yourself.”
“I’ll wear clothes.”
“That … is not—”
“I know, I know. I’m teasing.” Her amusement changed to firmness. “You’re fighting an underwater war with a dwindling population. You need all the friends you can get.”
He understood her point.
She leaned back. “A hands-off bride like me won’t do you any good.”
“Milly.” He rested his big hand on her small one. “You do much good.”
Her soul light flared.
He enfolded her cool fingers in his warmth.
Her lips trembled. “I wish I could believe you.”
“The Life Tree will heal … your illness.”
“What illness?”
“Doubt.”
She blinked. “Wait. My doubts are an ‘illness’?” Her soul light darkened. She jerked her hand back. “I’m not sick.”
She was sick, but he did not mean to hurt her. Uvim rose.
“Stay down.” She stood and backed away, her gaze focused on anything but him. “Rest. We’ll talk in the morning.”