by Starla Night
He waved her toward him.
She didn’t notice. Her heart thudded loud and fast. Her hands trembled. Her soul light blackened.
Had she lost him? Human vision truly was bad. Did she not hear the noises of the cave guardian?
He hooked her elbow and drew her to him.
She startled, wide-eyed.
But her soul light brightened. Her heart rate dropped. She kept both hands on him for the rest of the journey.
He flipped over, led her into the larger cavern, and ascended. Her bubbles tickled him with feathery promises.
Her soul light fluctuated. Fear, danger, anxiety.
“Almost there,” he coaxed.
“Grghl.”
In their two states, he couldn’t understand her and she couldn’t understand him.
He lifted her into the air bubble.
She removed her glass mask and spit her air hose. Shudders wracked her body. She hugged herself.
He rubbed her clammy arms. The slick fabric bunched. “You are cold?”
“Nightmares.” She shook her head. “Cave diving is the stuff of nightmares. It was much worse than I imagined. If you hadn’t been there…”
How brave she was to swim deep into the darkness. How had he not realized she felt scared and alone? He had seen but not understood. Curse his blindness.
She splayed the light cylinder around the space. “These are stairs. At the top is that … is that a bowl of Sea Opals?”
“Yes.”
Her soul light flared to the pinnacle of happiness.
“Woohoo.” She wiped more water off her face and then struggled with her garments.
He helped her unsnap and remove her puffy black vest and tank. They rested her equipment on the lowest, widest steps.
She was almost his bride. She would drink the elixir and heal her illness. He would claim her.
No one would stop him.
He led her up the narrowing steps to the dish at the top of the small dais.
She stared into the water.
Generations’ worth of mating jewels filled the deep dish. When they had steeped long enough, their powers leached into the water.
She squinted at the undisturbed stones as though trying to make out their shapes. “This is it? This will transform me?”
“Yes.”
She rested her fingers on the edge of the curved stone. Her other hand positioned the slender light.
“Drink,” he said.
As though his command broke her spell, a deep sadness darkened her soul light.
His belly dropped.
“If you hadn’t been there…” she repeated softly. “I wouldn’t have survived.”
Her soul dipped into darkness.
“Drink,” he insisted.
The elixir would fix her. It would fix everything.
Her shoulders drooped. She stared at the mating gems as though facing reality for the first time and realizing she didn’t want to mate a silent, un-expressive, not-dutiful warrior like him.
No. She wanted this. Their souls synced.
“Drink.”
“I’m so sorry.” She retreated to a lower step. “I just can’t.”
Chapter Nine
Uvim was silent.
The silence and darkness of the pitch-black cavern, barely illuminated by her weak diving flashlight and then hard to see with her fuzzy vision, pressed like a boulder on her chest.
Milly waited for his anger.
The recriminations.
How could you? We were counting on you. All we asked is one little thing. You can’t even do that right.
He said nothing.
She babbled. Explained. Justified.
“I want to do something important with my life. Something useful. I got a second chance. It has to mean something.”
He listened.
“After Elan — and Zara — saved me from my parents, I decided to become a marine biologist. She was taken and returned before mermen were revealed, so nobody believed my story — or, later, hers. So, I would prove mermen existed. Except then some kid with a GoPro captured them on video. And there was the incident with Lucy. Dragao Azul rebelled, Zara reconciled with Elan, and nobody needed a marine biologist anymore. I lost my purpose.”
“You have purpose.”
“As what? Of the fields I’ve tried — hospitality, translation, marine science — I realized that I have nothing special to offer. Other people are much more qualified.”
“A queen will defend our city.”
“Zara’s ten times stronger than I am. She’s been rescuing people since we were children. I’ve only been a victim.”
The hard truths cut, but that’s why they were hard truths. And now, at the moment she prepared to smash Uvim’s life, she had to handle those sharp corners before they both got hurt.
“So, I can’t trap you. I just can’t.”
“You do not trap me.”
“I’m not sick.”
His head jerked. In the dark, it was difficult to tell his expression, but he looked surprised. He had expected her to say something else.
“You are.”
“There’s not a thing wrong with me. I promise you.”
He seemed to choose his words. “Your soul is bright. Strong. You are capable of great love.”
Her chest tingled.
“Heal your rift. Embrace your power. Live without doubt. Surrounded by love.”
She wanted that. But it was too late.
“Drink the elixir. Heal.”
“I don’t want to.”
His mouth opened and closed. She’d stunned him.
She explained again. “I thought I could use you to get mermaid powers.”
“You can.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t be around you anymore. As soon as we return to the surface, I’ll never see you again.”
He remained silent.
But it wasn’t a “judgy” silence. There was a difference, and even though she could barely make out the fuzzy shadows on his hard face, Uvim was trying to understand a foreign concept.
Then, he moved.
His powerful thumb stroked her cheek. Gentle. Kind.
She closed her eyes and drew strength from his kindness. “You can’t do this.”
“Your soul craves wholeness, Milly.”
“Well, too bad.” But she didn’t move. She wanted the sensual stroke of his thumb. The rough shape of callouses from gripping a deadly trident. The trim edge of his clean nail. “I realized I can’t afford it.”
Not if it makes me crave you.
His even breathing calmed her. The ocean was still and the air stuffy in the flashlight-lit dimness.
“Why?” he asked.
Maybe it would be easiest to explain.
She opened her eyes. “Because you’re here and I’m not afraid.”
He tilted his head.
“This cave is dark. Almost as dark as the engine room my parents locked me in for several weeks.”
He was silent. Respectful. Not put off. He wanted to make her fears stop. Release her from the horrors she’d endured.
Even though it was dangerous, she liked him. Against her will, she liked him.
And that was why she told him things she told nobody. Not even Brody.
“My aunt raised me too strictly. In my last year of high school, I reached out to my rich biological parents. They invited me to join them in the Azores. But, they didn’t see me as their long-lost daughter. Or even as a person. And their invitation wasn’t from a place of kindness.”
She stared into the pool of glittering Sea Opals. Ones that her parents and other greedy narcissists would do anything to possess.
“It’s embarrassing, but I didn’t realize what my parents were trying to do.” She gripped the flashlight. “I wanted to finish high school. They kept delaying my registration. Every night, they’d have these wild parties on their yacht. They’d tell me which of their creepy friends to talk to because ‘he would help w
ith my college tuition’ in the next year. And, they always pushed pills and wine.
“But I was seventeen. A ridiculously sheltered seventeen. Staying awake until nine was exciting.
“I never realized they were trying to drug me to have sex.”
She’d talked to a psychiatrist after Zara had gone undersea and before mermen had been revealed. Big mistake. Mermen stole her sister? Crazy talk. The psychiatrist had pushed anti-psychotic drugs. She’d refused. He’d threatened to commit her.
Everyone had thought she was unhinged. She’d started to fear they were right.
Uvim frowned. “A drug cannot increase resonance.”
“Oh, those creeps didn’t care about resonance.”
“Resonance produces young fry.”
“Most of them don’t care about ‘young fry’.”
“It is the purpose of joining,” he insisted.
How sweet.
Naive. Honest. And sweet.
“If all guys had your priorities — and honor — the world would be a better place,” she said.
He flinched.
Huh? But she was agreeing with him. “What?”
“No.” He shook himself. “You escaped?”
“I’ll skip ahead.” She took a deep breath and continued in her memory. “Once I figured out my parents’ intentions, the ‘nice’ mask slipped off. They took me prisoner.”
Sticky-sweet moisture beaded up on her clammy skin. Her swimsuit squeezed her like a snake. Her throat closed.
She swallowed.
“They took my passport.” Swallow. “Money. Phone. Clothes.”
Swallow again, acid burning the back of her throat.
“Everything. They locked me in a bare room in their yacht. Pitch dark. No electricity, no food, no windows. They would take me out every few days if I promised to ‘be good’ at their next wild party, which meant to tell no one what they were doing.
“But who would I have told? Their drunken friends wouldn’t have believed me.”
“You survived.”
She swerved away from the final memory. Her deepest shame. He didn’t need to know. She didn’t need to remember it.
“I mailed a letter to Zara. A week later my parents took me here. To Ilha Sagrada.” She smiled but her cheek muscles twitched. “You know what happened then.”
He darkened. “Milly. You survived.”
“Not all of me.” Her self-respect, her belief in herself, and her trust were damaged beyond repair. “Just now, the cave returned me to my nightmare.”
“You survived it.”
She glared at the powerful warrior. “It’s your fault.”
He blinked. “My?”
“I handled it because you were here.”
He took one of her fists and loosened it, threading his fingers with hers. “I will be. Always. By your side.”
“That’s the problem.” She tugged her hand free before she got too comfortable with his strength. “I hate asking for help.”
“You do not have to ask.”
“You say that now. Later, when helping me is inconvenient, you’ll regret your offer.”
He tilted his head the opposite direction from before. “No.”
“You will. You’ll be busy and then I’ll ask and—”
“No. Do not ask.” He placed his hand in the center of her chest. “I sense desire. You do not ask. Our resonance grows and I will know. Near or far. You will not ask.”
“But…” She swallowed. “I’ll never get stronger if I have to rely on you for my sanity.”
He moved her palm to the center of his chest. “Your soul dims. Fear. The elixir gives strength. Then, no fear will darken you again.”
Her resistance faded. She couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to be irrational and jumping at shadows for the rest of her life. She wanted to be whole.
Reliable.
Strong.
She wanted to have faith in humanity. And she wanted humanity to have faith in her.
“What if I’m never healed?” she pushed. “What if I’m always afraid?”
“I will never father a young fry.” I would rather spend eternity beside you, never touching, than any other fate.
He broke her heart.
But maybe, just maybe, there was a way out of this darkness. For them both.
“That would be a terrible fate,” she whispered.
“I would endure any torture. Any exile. To remain with you.”
Her warrior — yes, she was thinking of him as hers, just because she’d knocked him out and then, while he was woozy, lured him to this sacred island — was sexy when he turned serious.
She set the flashlight on the small lip beside the pool and linked their hands. “Fine. I’m willing to try.”
“Try?”
“You’ll never make me ask for help? Prove it.” She looked up into his shadowed eyes. Terror and hope fluttered in her stomach at the same time. “What do I want from you right now?”
Chapter Ten
Kiss me.
Milly’s wish filled his chest. No words passed between them.
Flutters brushed Uvim’s stomach.
If he satisfied her, then she would accept his claim and become his bride.
Uvim leaned to claim her lips in a—
She jolted a step back and put a hand over his mouth. “Wait!”
Fear sliced into him.
He was wrong. She did not want him. Not a male with his dishonor.
He rocked back on his heels.
“You weren’t wrong. I do want to kiss you. But it’s my first one. I don’t want to scare myself. That would be the worst.” She laughed shakily. “Just give me a minute.”
He waited.
She splayed her fingers across his lips, stroking his jaw and cheeks. Soothing yet teasing. She spoke as though trying to calm herself. “You know my past. I could never tell anyone else. Not even Brody.”
He dipped his head. Keeping her fingers on him. This contact was important.
“Brody’s nice. He’s undemanding. You are less, uh, comfortable.”
Fear. Again, fear.
“You want to say something.” She slid her fingers along his jaw, releasing his mouth to speak.
“I will only make you comfortable.”
Her lips quirked. “I believe you, which is crazy because I didn’t believe anyone else. I thought I’d go my whole life as an aunt to Zain and I was okay with that, you know? Well, not okay, but resigned.”
“Our souls resonate.”
She touched his cheeks, strengthening their connection. Of all the humans, her light remained bright even as it fluctuated with her thoughts. She did not give way easily to sadness or depression.
He nuzzled her hand and nibbled her fingertips.
She rubbed her thighs together. “So, um, let me think. How to make sure I won’t feel trapped even for an instant…”
She felt trapped?
Uvim knelt on the step below hers and held out his hands, palms facing up.
She squinted.
Ah, the darkness of the chamber. So strange. He could see so well. He lifted his hands until his fingertips brushed hers.
She rested hers on his large palms.
Heat flared.
He closed around her, sealing in the heat. “Accept my claim and become my bride.”
Her soul light shone with brilliance.
She sat on the steps above him, placing herself at his eye level. “I’m willing to try.”
She accepted his claim.
Milly accepted his claim.
Even though she had survived a brutal imprisonment. Even though she had been betrayed.
And still she accepted.
Now, he must claim her.
She watched him, eyes wide and pupils dilated.
Kiss me.
“Let me.” She trailed her fingers along his neck to his shoulders. His muscles fascinated her. Or maybe it was his tattoos.
Her soul light reached for his. D
esire twined around his cock.
He hardened.
Her lips quirked again in her smile. “I just remembered. You’ve been naked this whole conversation.”
Was that funny?
She sucked in a nervous breath.
He remained still on his knees. He would not rush her. He promised with his posture, his gaze, his everything.
She rested her palms on his shoulders. Sucked in a breath. And leaned forward.
Soft hair brushed his chest.
His skin tingled.
Her lips brushed his. Warm, soft. Precious.
His destiny changed with her touch.
Their mouths met, touched, played. Exploring. Discovering. Learning each other. There was no rush. Even though his heart thundered and his cock demanded to possess her so none other could make a claim.
Calm.
She nibbled his lips.
He caught hers and slid the soft flesh between his gentle teeth.
She deepened the kiss, opening to taste.
The inner heat and wetness of her mouth teased him. Her flavor was sweet as jam and slick as honey. Hinting at secrets within.
He trembled to take her deeper.
Uvim clenched his hands into fists and pressed them into his thighs. His duty was to his bride. She led the kiss. He would not wrest that control away.
She broke the contact. A thrill of wonder warmed her tone. “You know? Actually, I’m okay.”
Okay? She was very okay. She was shining.
So why was she pulling away? Had he disappointed her?
“I never got this far with Brody.” She wiped her mouth as though swiping him away. “I — oh, no! You were wonderful. So, you don’t have to hold yourself back.”
Relief eased his heart.
He cupped her cheeks. Her skin was soft and warm beneath his thumb.
She rested her cheek against his hand.
He slid his thumb along her damp lips.
She teased his thumb with her small white teeth.
His cock filled with undeniable heat.
She was his destiny.
He drew her forward. Treasuring her. Loving her.
She watched him until the last moment and then she tilted her chin up, presenting her lush mouth, and closed her eyes.
They fit together. Nose to nose. Mouth to mouth.
Hot need swept aside his natural caution. He delved into her dark crevices, claiming her wet mouth for his own.