by AJ Merlin
Even Merric.
“I guess I should go,” the kitsune grumped, getting to his feet when my phone showed the time to be nearly one in the morning. “I still have to find something to wear for the gala, and it’s only three days away.”
“The gala?” I repeated. “I think my boss is going to that. How did you get an invitation?”
“She did too, I bet,” Merric accused, pointing at Yuna.
“But unlike you, I know what I’ll wear,” Yuna looked at me. “You aren’t going?”
“I wasn’t invited.”
They both traded a glance.
“Your vampire is going,” Yuna went on. “Along with the other two.”
Great. Now I really felt like the unimportant one.
Jealousy gnawed at my stomach, and I bit my lip. “How did you guys get an invitation?”
“You just…get one,” Merric shrugged. “The North American council sets the whole thing up, and they just invite people they want to invite. But don’t worry about it. Seriously, it won’t be any fun.”
“It’ll be awful,” Yuna agreed. “If they were having it somewhere other than here, I wouldn’t even go.”
“Same,” the kitsune agreed. “But the council informed me personally I had no reason not to.”
I really hated feeling so left out. At least I’d have Aveline, but this was one more thing to remind me just how dissimilar I was to my five friends.
“Don’t feel bad, George,” Merric insisted. “It really, really won’t be a good time. It’ll be hours of us trying to leave, I promise.”
“I don’t feel bad,” I lied. “I promise. I didn’t even know about it until the other day.”
And besides, I wasn’t invited.
“Then I’m going to go prepare for my outfit hunting,” Merric sighed heavily.
“I’ll see you–“ I glanced up, but Merric was already gone. Disappeared, as if he hadn’t really been here in the first place.
“He just likes it when he catches you off guard,” Yuna observed. “I hope you don’t blame him for what he said. He really can’t go against his nature.”
“But he does with me,” I pointed out, drawing my legs up under me.
Yuna shrugged one shoulder. “Guess you’re his special case.” She blinked, her gaze sliding from me to the water under us. Outside her glass doors, the balcony lay perched over the small inlet the houses shared. She’d told us her boat was under the floor where she and I sat now. “Are you afraid of the water?” Yuna asked suddenly.
“No,” I replied. “And if this is going into a tangent about being afraid of you–“
“He was right about one thing,” the cecaelia said, shifting on the dark blue chair she sat on. “I should take you to the water. You should know what I am too.”
“I know what you are,” I reminded her, scooting along the couch until I could sit beside her. I leaned on her, smiling at the black-haired woman. “Octo-mermaid-kinda, right? With a sword. And amazing powers in the water.”
Bright teal eyes blinked down at me. “Let’s go out on the lake,” she suggested.
“You want to go swimming at one in the morning?” I clarified. The night wasn’t cold, but I hadn’t been expecting her to want to go swimming.
“I want to go boating at one am,” she replied. “There’s a very radical difference.”
“Sure…okay?” I let her lead me downstairs, this time to the boat slip that lay under the balcony.
Even her boat was more impressive than I’d expected. She pulled the tarp off of it, unveiling a speedboat almost twenty-five feet long.
While most of it was painted a very shiny white, dark blue stripes had been painted on each side.
“Holy shit,” I announced, walking around on the floating dock that bobbed slightly under my feet and made my toes curl against the wood.
“Oh…” I glanced down, aware that I still wore my pajamas and no shoes. “Should I go get my shoes? Or…something?”
“We won’t be out that long,” Yuna promised. “If you get cold, I have blankets.” To demonstrate her point, she lifted the top on one of the storage boxes tucked against the inside of the boat. Sure enough, I saw the telltale fluffiness of a blanket there.
Letting my gaze drift as she settled into the driver’s seat, I was very tempted to lie on the prow of the speedboat like some weirdo in a movie.
But I wasn’t sure that was even safe, given my unfamiliarity with being on a boat.
Instead, I settled for sitting on the L-shaped bench behind both seats.
Yuna looked at me, bemused. “You can sit wherever you want.”
“Can I drape myself across the little railings on the front? And pose?” I asked with a grin.
She snorted. “I take it back. Stay right there.”
She flipped a few more switches, looking completely at ease with what she was doing and very comfortable in the vinyl seat.
But of course she was. Water was her thing, after all. She guided the boat out of the dock effortlessly, the motor smooth and quieter than I’d expected. I crossed my legs under me, thankful for the warm night as I watched the houses go by.
After only a few minutes, we were at the open water, and she pushed a lever upward slowly, increasing our speed.
The wind whistled in my ears, and I was very glad that my hair was up in a bun instead of loose. The last thing I needed tonight was hair in my eyes and mouth.
As always with the full moon, the light seemed to almost pulse against me, in the same way the heat from the sun would.
Only this was pure magic. I allowed myself to gaze up at the moon for a few minutes, eyes wide as I sat there, entranced.
You have better things to look at, George, I chided, dropping my gaze to Yuna again. The air seemed colder this far out, and I gave a small shiver.
Then I blinked, looking at our surroundings.
There was nothing. No islands, houses, or even the park. Only water, as far as I could see.
How far were we going?
My stomach did small, nervous flips as I sat up on my knees to watch the lake go by around us. Yuna didn’t falter and seemed to know exactly where she was headed.
Finally, when the need to ask overwhelmed me, I opened my mouth to call out the question to her of where in the world we were headed.
I didn’t get the chance. Yuna slowly eased the lever back down until the boat came to a relative stop. Now we drifted on the black water, listening to the sound of waves lapping against the sides.
“It’s very dark,” I commented, rising to sit on the back of the boat so I could see better. “Where are we?”
“We’re about six miles out or so from my house,” Yuna replied easily. “This lake isn’t that deep. Only fourteen feet or so, and that’s here, where it’s deepest.”
She turned to look at me with ocean-colored eyes that glowed as brightly as the moon.
“What are we doing out here?” My voice was eerily loud in the silence. It really was just her, me, the water, and the moon. Nothing else stirred, and the only light came from the sky.
She took a breath, then released it slowly. “I need to show you what I am, so you can decide for yourself if you want to continue with this,” she said slowly.
“Yuna…” I frowned, getting to my feet on the scratchy carpet. I stepped forward shakily on the rocking boat, reaching out to touch the taller woman's hip lightly. “I know what you are. It doesn’t bother me.”
She smiled ruefully. “There’s a difference in reading it on google and seeing it with your own eyes.” She tugged on my hand and stepped onto the prow, barefoot as well.
I followed, stepping up and onto the prow with her. “There’s no difference,” I assured her. “Short of you drowning me, I don’t care about whatever it is you think I’ll judge you for.” It was frustrating that she didn’t believe me, and I didn’t know how to prove that to her.
Her eyes found mine. Bright and almost too-intense. “All right,” she breathed. “If
you’re sure.”
Did that mean we were going back to her house? Was this all just for that statement?
“Do you trust me?”
Her question caught me off guard.
Did I?
Of course I did. She’d had time to kill me before. She’d saved me, and put her own life at risk. She’d been understanding of my other relationships, and had even encouraged them. She’d also never let me down thus far.
“I trust you,” I breathed, barely hesitating.
Her eyes not leaving mine, she stripped off her shirt and unbuttoned her jeans, leaving both in a pile on the prow. My heart did strange flips in my chest as my lips parted slightly.
We’d never gone past making out. This was certainly a big step I hadn’t been expecting.
And she didn’t stop there. The cecaelia continued to watch me as she slid her bra off of her shoulders, leaving it unceremoniously in the pile at our feet. I would’ve expected her to joke or tease or something, but it almost seemed hasty.
A second later, she stood in front of me completely naked.
“Oh wow–Goddess, I–“ I stammered, unsure of what to say. “Yuna, I’m….I’ve needed to tell you this for a bit, but I’ve never gone….this far with another woman.”
She leveled her gaze at me again, looking at me with something like deadpan surprise.
“Of course that’s where your mind goes,” Yuna sighed. She pressed her hands to her hips, and I fought not to stare.
“Well. Yeah,” I agreed. “Where else was it going to go? You just stripped.”
“Because I’m getting in the water,” the cecaelia explained. She stepped back, both feet balancing precariously on the railing. When I looked back up at her face, she was staring at me challengingly. “I hope you mean what you say,” Yuna murmured.
Then she fell backward into the water and out of my sight.
Chapter 12
After the ripples faded from where Yuna had dove into the water, everything was absolutely silent.
The moon still beat down on me like a silver sun, but I barely noticed it as my eyes stayed fixed on the inky blackness of the lake.
What in the world was I supposed to do now? Follow her into the lake?
I wasn’t a great swimmer, truth be told.
On the other hand, I didn’t want her to think I didn’t care. Or, worse, that I was afraid of her.
Thankfully, Yuna made the decision for me. She resurfaced, her hands gripping the prow as she lifted herself half onto the boat.
But she was different. My eyes caught the tips of needle-sharp fangs, making me draw in a breath. Her eyes, still the teal of the ocean, had taken on a bright glow. Even her porcelain skin struck me as being almost white.
Though, perhaps her ethereal look was in part due to the moonlight that painted her in a gorgeous and deadly light.
She was terrifying, and the sight of what was clearly a predator waiting to draw me into the depths should have terrified me.
But it didn’t. Not in the least.
I couldn’t see anything lower than her stomach, with her hands pressed to the floor of the boat to hold her up.
“Come over here,” she ordered, though the words weren’t as sure and brusque as normal. She sounded worried. Like she was afraid of my reaction.
I approached her without hesitation, kneeling down at the side of the boat and trying to see more of her body.
In the inky blackness of the lake, however, I couldn’t see more than movement.
“I still can’t really see you,” I told her, dropping down to my knees on the carpeted bottom of the boat. Where we sat, there was only a decorative railing a few inches off the floor of the boat, and beyond that was the open water and Yuna.
“I know,” she admitted, reaching up to push my hair back from my face.
“Then show me,” I whispered, reaching out and twining my fingers with hers before she pulled away. “I won’t run away, Yuna. I’m not afraid of you.”
But there was something in her face I’d never seen before.
She wasn’t sure. She didn’t know that I meant what I said and that she really couldn’t scare me away with whatever kind of shape she was hiding.
“You weren’t far off when you started comparing me to Ursula.” As I watched, an appendage like an octopus’s arm lifted from the water behind her, then another. They fell back gently, her lower body a velvety black even in the moonlight.
“Will you sing to me too? And steal my voice?” I teased, my stomach unclenching considerably. By the way she played it up, I had thought it would be something much harder to swallow.
But octopus arms? I could more than live with that.
“I might steal your breath,” Yuna shrugged. Her eyes darkened just enough that I could see. “Lean over. Look again. I want you to really understand, not just see a little and think you understand the sum of me.”
“You can’t scare me away,” I repeated, crawling towards her until my knees found the edge of the boat.. I did as she bid, leaning as far out as I dared to see her lower half. “Show me again. This railing hurts like a bitch–“
The cecaelia surged upward against the side of the boat, wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing her lips urgently to mine.
I gasped, giving her the opportunity to slide her tongue past mine.
When I tried to return the gesture, her sharp fangs pricked my lips and my tongue, making me shiver at the coppery tang that spread over my tongue.
Then, she was pulling gently at my shoulders, urging me further and further over until–
“Wait!” I gasped into her mouth, already too far over to save myself. My muscles clenched, and I grabbed at her arms. “Yuna, wait–“
“Trust me,” she breathed, and promptly dragged me under the water.
It was cold. So very, very cold. Her arms kept me pressed against her, and as soon as we were under-and going lower-her mouth began to devour mine in earnest, pressed so hard to me that no water could seep into our kiss. My legs brushed against her lower body, her new limbs wrapping around my calves to keep me from struggling.
Would she drown me?
No. I couldn’t-wouldn’t believe she’d do that. Why wait so long, if that was her plan all along.
But my arms trembled, and my lungs had started to burn.
“Just breathe,” Yuna murmured in my ear, her voice containing an eerie quality under the water.
I wasn’t a fish. I couldn’t breathe while submerged.
“Breathe, George,” she urged.
Like an idiot, I opened my mouth and gasped, if only to do something about my burning lungs.
And, to my utter surprise, did not begin to drown.
My eyes snapped open as I sucked in…air? Water filled my mouth, cold on my tongue and against my skin, but when I inhaled, I got pure oxygen.
And I could see.
Not the dark, blurred shapes of what under the water normally looked like. No, now I saw the landscape of the lake bottom illuminated, as if everything here glowed with an inner light.
“Wow…” I breathed, twisting in Yuna’s embrace to look around us. My voice held the same quality as hers when she’d spoken. As if our words were almost distorted by the water. “This is amazing. You’re doing this, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” she said. “It’ll only last a few minutes or so, but I would never let you drown.”
I refocused on Yuna, pulling myself closer to her. She barely moved in the water, and somehow we were mostly still, hovering a few feet or so above the lake bed. “I told you I wouldn’t freak out,” Minus, of course, that split-second I’d thought I was drowning.
“No one has ever come through with their word,” she said matter-of-factly, as if she didn’t care. “Not even the other water folk care to be around a cecaelia like me.”
“There are no cecaelia like you,” I argued, a small smile on my face. “Because you’re perfect.”
Her eyes lit up with surprise. “I should dra
g you underwater more often,” she said with a small hint of a smirk. “It makes me like you more when you’re in my territory, and in my embrace.”
“I won’t complain,” I told her, aware that the brightness of the lake was beginning to dim and the water in my mouth was feeling a bit less welcome. A touch of fear interrupted my enjoyment. Along with one of sadness. I’d never be able to stay here like she could. My time was limited in her world. “But Yuna…”
“I know.” She sighed, then surged upward in one smooth motion.
We broke the surface of the water and I gasped, my lungs grateful for less confusing oxygen than what I got at the bottom of the lake. We were beside the boat again, thankfully, and I reached out to press a hand against it, fumbling for the railing.
When I found it, I started to lever myself upward, hands slipping on the edge of the boat. Yuna caught me, easily helping me up and onto it. She followed a second later, managing to make it look graceful.
Only now, she was completely human, and completely naked.
My embarrassment from before came back threefold and Yuna turned in my direction as if she could sense it. Her eyes ran over my face, her grin turning wicked.
“You know, I could swear I heard you say something interesting before I went overboard,” the cecaelia breathed, pulling me to my feet.
“I’m sure you didn’t,” I denied with a nervous laugh. “I’m sure I didn’t say anything worth remembering.”
“Oh…I think you did. I think you said that you’d never gone this far with another woman, George.” She pulled me close, her arms encircling my neck as my body pressed lightly against hers.
With only my wet t-shirt and shorts on, the heat of her skin seemed to burn in a very delightful way that went straight to the apex of my thighs. I bit my lip, and her smile widened.
“I’m going to change that,” the cecaelia promised, and something about that statement and her tone of absolute certainty had me ready to pull off my clothes right in the middle of the lake.
I shivered, and unfortunately, it was only partially from arousal.
Her smile dropped slightly, a look of guilt replacing it. “You’re cold,” Yuna observed with a sigh. “I should’ve realized. Well, it can wait until we get back.”