“There’s nothing on land for me anyway. I have no family anymore. Rionne is my only friend, and I don’t even like her most of the time. You think I want to spend one more day at Breezes Resort’s front desk dealing with lunatics who claim to be mermen?”
Ray laughed, but started choking again. When he regained some control, he said, “You should know that your nightmare is the way I will change you.”
“What?” Crystal stopped kicking for a moment, but Ray kept their heads above water with his own sporadic kicking.
“You will drown, Crystal. Sky fire, or lightning as humans call it, will strike you, and you will be paralyzed. The sea will drag you under. You will cease to breathe until I give you the breath of Selecahnia. Then you will be one of us.”
“There’s no other way?” She didn’t like the panic in her voice or how hard her damn heart was pounding in her chest. Drown or die of a heart attack? Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.
“This is the way it’s been done for eons.”
“Well, it sucks.”
She braced for a huge wave heading their way. It crashed over them, and for a moment, she lost contact with Ray. He was no longer in her arms, and she couldn’t see him anywhere.
She was so alone and empty.
When his head resurfaced a few feet away, she nearly screamed. He swam toward her, looking stronger and…shimmery? His skin didn’t look human anymore.
“Do you want it?” he asked, his eyes looking like the sea glass her mother used to make into jewelry.
Another wave tried to swallow them as a zap of lightning split the sky in half.
“The nightmare won’t happen anymore if you come with me,” Ray said.
An image of herself with a gorgeous silvery-purple tailfin burst into her mind. Her brown hair was lush and shiny. Her blue eyes were piercing. In the vision, Ray was beside her, sexy as hell in full merman form. He was kissing her, holding her, loving her.
“It can be like that,” he yelled above the turbulent sea. “I will love you. I already do, my crystal ball.”
Was she seeing the future? Had she been all along with her nightmare? Did she always know this moment would come?
Ray took her hand and pulled her close to him.
Yes, she always knew.
“I want to go deeper,” she said.
The smile that stretched across Ray’s face made all her worries disappear. He dropped a kiss on her nose and backed away. “See you below, my love.”
He was gone, a splashing blue-green tailfin disappearing behind him. A snake of lightning slithered along the surface of the water toward Crystal. Unlike in her nightmare, she didn’t want it to miss her. She wanted it to hit its target, do its job.
Make her a mermaid.
When the bolt slammed into her, the paralysis came, but for the first time, she wasn’t afraid.
Chapter Three
“Her name is Crystal Bawle,” Ray told his father, King Delnis while his mother, Queen Farina sat by Crystal’s bedside inside Selecahnia’s royal palace. “She has the gift of sight, though it has not been a blessing to her for many years. She’s dreamed of the hydrelam night after night, causing her to go without sleep.”
The queen shuddered. “The poor dear. How horrible. Why was she not made known to us sooner?”
“That is not for us to question,” the king said. “It is as Poseidon has wished it to be. She is one of us now, but…”
“But what, Father?” Ray stole a quick look at Crystal as she made a small noise in her sleep. She’d been asleep for three hours. Would she be awake soon? He desperately wanted to show her everything about Selecahnia, her new home. He wanted her to love it.
To love him.
“You just surprise me, son. You have been so singularly focused on your mission to keep the seas healthy for our kind. We are eternally grateful and proud of you, but I never thought you’d find someone you wanted to call your own. Your mother and I were beginning to wonder if our line would end with you,” the king teased.
“Leave him be, Delnis.” Farina got up from her seat and took both of Ray’s hands in her own. “We are happy for you, Ray. She is breathtaking.”
“Thank you, Mother.” He leaned down and dropped a kiss on each of Farina’s cheeks.
“Come, Delnis,” Farina said. “We must see that the spectacle these two caused on that Bermuda beach has been cleaned up.”
“I’m sorry.” Ray knew that transforming a human was secret business, best done under the cover of night. He’d done it with an auditorium load of conference onlookers on a bright, sunny morning.
“You had no choice, dear. You weren’t well yourself.” Farina patted his arm. “We’re just glad to have you here, safe and sound.” She glanced at a stirring Crystal. “Both of you. We look forward to meeting her later.”
With a slight smile, she edged Delnis out of the room, leaving Ray alone with Crystal. When Crystal opened her eyes, his breath got caught in his throat.
Holy gods, she’s really here with me.
“You’re awake,” he said.
She sat up and stretched out her arms. “Yes. Does that mean I’ve been sleeping?”
“For three hours.”
“Three hours! In a row? No wonder I feel so wonderful.” She glanced down at herself and frowned as she wiggled her toes. “But where’s the tailfin I was promised and the scales? Where are yours for that matter?”
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood in front of Ray. He wanted nothing more than to fold his arms around her and never let go.
“You’re in the palace. You don’t need fins in here. There’s no water.”
“Oh.” Her bottom lip puckered in disappointment, but all Ray could think about was how delicious that lip looked. “I have a lot to learn about this place and lifestyle, don’t I?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll teach you, and the fin comes back once you hit the water.” He lowered so his forehead touched hers. “And your fin is truly beautiful. Just like the rest of you.”
The smile Crystal rewarded him made his heart soar.
“Can we go swimming? Now?” She leaned against him, excitement leaping off her in waves.
“Of course. We can do whatever you want.” He laughed when she clapped her hands.
“Okay, first a tour of this place.”
“As you wish.”
Ray led her through room after room in the palace. She loved the sand-textured walls, the stone-lined windows, the seashell mosaic floors.
“Oh, Ray! It’s exactly how I pictured it right before my transformation. Your world is magnificent.” She threw herself into his arms and caught his lips in a heated kiss.
“It is now.” He returned the kiss and held her for a long moment. “Will you help me keep this world magnificent?”
“Definitely.” Her eyebrows lowered. “You missed your conference, your chance at speaking to all those important people.”
“There will be other conferences, and now I have a sidekick.”
“You have a partner is what you meant to say.” She wagged a finger at him.
“Partner, yes. That’s what I meant.”
“And don’t you forget it.”
They reached the huge coral doors of the palace. Crystal ran her fingers along the seam where the two doors met.
“How does this work?”
“Same as any other doors.”
“Isn’t water going to rush in?”
Ray pointed to the drains in the floor. “Yes, but it’ll go into these and get recycled back out.”
“Well, what are we waiting for then?” She hopped on one foot then the other while tugging Ray’s arm toward the doors.
“My, you’re frisky when you’re fully rested.”
“Don’t complain. It’s your fault. You let me sleep, but you also woke me up from the piece of crap life I was living, Ray. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“I have a few ideas on how you can show your gratitude.” He caught her a
round the waist and squeezed her close. Kissing a trail down her neck, he nudged aside the shoulder straps on the dress one of his kin had loaned him for Crystal. “You won’t need this when we swim…or later.”
He let the dress drop to her feet. He absolutely loved when Crystal untied the belt around his princely robe and kicked it and her dress away.
“Let’s go, Dr. Fish. The sooner we go for a swim, the sooner we can get to those other ideas of yours.”
She put her hand on the seashell doorknob and looked to Ray. He nodded, and she pulled open the door. Water immediately came gushing in. As soon as it touched him, Ray felt the familiar tingle of his tailfin forming.
“Holy shit!” Crystal yelled. “This is wild!”
Her own fin, all silvery-purple, appeared, and she was off like a dart through the water. Ray swam after her, but gave her some space to explore. He was delighted when she beckoned to him with her hand.
What is it? He didn’t have to say the words aloud.
Crystal’s eyes widened. You were in my head at the hotel too, weren’t you? Her voice echoed in his ears.
One of my people’s abilities. It’s handy for underwater communication.
She swam closer and caressed his cheek. It’s also handy for telling mermen that you love them. I know we just met, but I feel as if I’ve known you my entire life. Or at least I’ve been waiting for you that long. Crystal pressed a watery kiss to his lips.
I love you too. He grabbed her hand and turned her in a few whirlpool-like twists. Love had been the last thing on his mind when he was on land.
Until he’d seen Crystal at the front desk.
Want to go deeper? There’s so much more I want to show you. He was as eager as a child.
I want to go wherever you’re going. Always.
That’s all he needed to hear. Ray dashed down into the depths, a firm grip on this gorgeous mermaid’s hand. A hand he forever wanted to hold.
He would spend a lifetime—and merfolk’s were extra long—loving Crystal Bawle as deeply as he could. They would spend their days fighting for the seas and their nights sleeping, nightmare free, in each other’s arms. That would be their purpose.
That’s what I see too. Crystal smiled before playfully flicking her tailfin at him.
Ray wasn’t one to doubt a crystal ball, especially his own.
SNEAK PEAK AT HIGHER, Book Two in the Elemental Series
Chapter One
Rionne D’Agestine could not believe the ocean had swallowed her friend. Well, friend was a strong word. Too strong. Crystal Bawle had been a coworker at Breezes Resort in Horseshoe Bay, Bermuda and someone she could have a few drinks with now and then. For the most part though, the girl was always too tired to really get to know. She’d perked up a bit when that weird doctor checked in for the Marine Wellness Conference, but who wouldn’t perk up after getting an eyeful of him? He’d been gorgeous with that dark hair and those sea-green eyes.
But there’d been something…off…about him. Something Rionne couldn’t quite put a finger on. Turns out her intuition had been right on the mark. Crystal had drowned along with that doctor only a week ago. No bodies. No explanations. No nothing.
A shiver worked its way up Rionne’s spine as she sat at the resort’s front desk. She’d learned a lesson from what had happened to Crystal. Don’t trust every beautiful face that walked into Breezes Resort. An important lesson to learn, because she generally tried to experience the buffet of gorgeous men that traipsed in and out of the hotel as either guests or employees.
She looked down at her ample cleavage held back only by lace and Lycra under her stupid, flowered uniform shirt. Maybe it’s time to keep the girls behind the scenes. No sense in attracting attention if there were lunatics around bent on drowning innocent women.
Another shiver rippled through Rionne’s body and she glanced at the clock. 1:00 PM. Quitting time. She tapped a hot pink fingernail on the granite top of the front desk as she scanned the few people in the lobby area.
Where is Janice? That girl was always late, and being late meant Rionne couldn’t leave her post until coverage showed up. Not being able to leave the front desk meant the peak rays of sunshine outside were going to waste as Rionne’s tan cried for rejuvenation. There was a lounge chair on the beach with her name on it. One of the few perks of working at Breezes Resort, and she didn’t want to underuse it.
“OMG, I’m like, so sorry, Ri.” Janice stumbled into the area behind the front desk. “My alarm clock failed me.”
“Again?” Rionne rolled her eyes. “You do know how to set an alarm clock, don’t you?” She slid off her stool and straightened her red mini-skirt.
“Yeah. I know how.” Janice smiled. “I just don’t know how to get up when it goes off.” She nudged Rionne with a dagger-like elbow and let out a laugh that ended with a nasally snort. “Where are you off to?” Janice hopped up onto the stool Rionne had vacated.
“Beach.”
Rionne didn’t hang around for any more small talk. She found Janice to be a complete bore and again, the sun was all fired up and waiting.
In the staff room where employees kept their personal items, Rionne used the small bathroom to change into her swimsuit—a silver bikini that had caused three retail associates in the boutique where she’d bought the suit to ooh and ahh in envious approval. Looking in the mirror along the wall above the sink, Rionne had to agree the bikini highlighted the girls, showcased her derriere, and amplified her mile-long legs. A guy once told her he’d sell his soul to the devil to touch those legs. And why not? She worked on keeping her legs and the rest of her thirty-year old body in top form. Running, yoga, swimming, though seeing Crystal go down in the waves had put a little damper on that last one.
Gathering her long blond hair into a high ponytail, Rionne grabbed her sunglasses, a cheesy romance novel Janice had passed to her, and a resort towel. She gave two cute waiters at the hotel’s bistro a little wave as she sashayed out the door toward the beach. With any luck, their shifts ended soon and they’d be out to find her.
So much for cutting back on the man buffet.
She couldn’t help it. She liked men. Craved them. All different kinds. In all different positions. At all different places. Besides, she wasn’t desperate for dates like Crystal had probably been. She wouldn’t saddle up with a lunatic just to get some attention. Rionne always had choices. Always. And if hanging out with a different guy every night sometimes got old, she could overlook it. Now was the time to have fun. Most nights it even seemed like fun.
Some nights she could almost forget how she’d trusted certain men and they’d let her down. Monumentally.
Finding her favorite spot right in the epicenter of the resort’s private beach, she was pleased to see a chair free. She took a moment to peruse the crowd, and not sniffing out any particular hotties, she sunk into the chair to seriously update her tan. The sun was all toasty warm, and Rionne felt positively feline as she soaked in the rays.
Until a shadow fell across her.
To read more of HIGHER, download it today!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christine DePetrillo tried not being a writer. She attempted to ignore the voices in her head, but they would not stop. The only way she could achieve peace and quiet was to write the stories the voices demanded. Today, she writes tales meant to make you laugh, maybe make you sweat, and definitely make you believe in the power of love.
She lives in Rhode Island and occasionally Vermont with her husband, two cats, a big, black German Shepherd, and a lizard.
Find Christine’s other titles on Amazon.com and at christinedepetrillo.weebly.com. Connect on Facebook, on Twitter at @cdepetrillo, at nighteternal.weebly.com (where she writes poems as Drake, the vampire), and at rosesofprose.blogspot.com on the 4th and 14th of every month.
OTHER TITLES
HIGHER
(Book Two of the Elemental Series)
KISSES TO REMEMBER
ALASKA HEART
; FIREFLY MOUNTAIN
ABRA CADAVER
LAZULI MOON
Deeper (Elemental Series) Page 3