Chapter 3 #2
“I remember you saving me,” I confess. “I thought I was dying—that you were some entity sent to shepherd me to the afterlife.”
Raw emotion flickers in his gaze.
“As I said, you were in rough shape. I nearly hadn’t made it to you in time.”
“Seems as though good luck finally favored me.”
His gaze traces over my face.
“Mine as well.”
My skin prickles with awareness. I’ve always been good at avoiding attention. As a single woman, drawing too much scrutiny is never a good thing, especially in a town like Bluewater. However, I’m finding I don’t mind the way the merman stares at me.
My brush with death must’ve robbed me of my sanity.
“What caused all of this?” he asked. “Surely the people of Bluewater aren’t routinely tethering women to rocks in the middle of the sea as offerings to my father?”
I huff a humorless laugh.
“That’s true. The whole human-sacrifice-to-the-Kraken thing is relatively new.
Born out of starving people’s desperation.
” Taking a sip of water, I shake my head.
“Desperate people do not listen to reason. It was more logical to them to sacrifice me by believing the ravings of the mad pirate Blacktide than to find a more viable solution for the decrease in supplies at the market.”
The merman’s eyes widen.
“My father is not responsible for the poor luck of the sailors. The sea condemns those it chooses. Even my father is a servant to its will.” He waves a dismissive hand, eyes narrowing in on me.
“Forget all of that. No one tried to stop them? No one spoke up on your behalf? Surely your family tried to save you.”
I shake my head, and a familiar sting sensation pricks my eyes.
“I’d have to have one, but alas, it’s just me. No parents, no husband. It was easy for them to choose me. There’s no one in this world who cares if I live or die.” A small smile curves my lips. “Well, apart from you, it seems.”
The merman leans forward in his chair. I could drown in the depth of his gaze. His fin-like ears twitch slightly.
“I do care.”
The warmth inside me unfurls. It prickles along my arms and down my legs.
Kindling hidden spots within me. The longer I stare at him, the clearer his handsome face becomes.
The sturdy bridge of his nose, the fullness of his lips.
Heat covers me, the thin scrap of silk suddenly feels like it’s smothering me.
I rub my thighs together, trying to soothe the ache that’s building there.
None of this makes sense, and I suppose for now it doesn’t have to.
I let myself feel and lose myself in his gaze. The merman is very handsome. Scales and all.
He leans closer, and my body mirrors him. I can scent saltwater on his skin. The pale strands of his hair shimmer like crystals. What would those scales feel like against my fingers? My lips? My pulse pounds, and his eyes dip to my neck as if he can hear it.
“Are you afraid of me?”
I raise a brow.
“Should I be?”
“No. No harm will ever come to you from me.”
Biting my lip, I nod.
“I believe you,” I say, shrugging. “Besides, what choice do I really have?”
“All of them,” he responds quickly. “If you wish for me to leave you in peace, I will do so. Once you are healed, transportation will be arranged to take you anywhere you want to go. You have my word.”
Shock momentarily steals my voice. He makes it sound so easy, but I guess it is for someone like him. He’s not keeping me here. I’m free to go. I should accept his offer and never look back. So why am I hesitating?
“Or?”
He blinks. “Or?”
“Or,” I repeat. “You made it sound like there was going to be a second option.”
The merman grins, and my heart nearly pounds out of my chest. I bask in the warmth of his smile. I’ve never felt more alive.
“There is,” he confirms.
“Good, because I don’t want to be alone. Not right now.”
Not ever, I think, but I manage to keep the words in.
I’ve spent these last eight years floating through life without anchors.
I belonged to no one and nothing. I watched the years of my life trickle by in unending days of loneliness.
I had made peace with it—to live out my days in comfortable solitude.
That is still what I want.
However, I cannot deny the way the merman makes me feel.
When he looks at me the way he is now, it’s as if he sees me—truly sees me.
The only one who’s ever managed to glimpse my soul.
It is fast, and it is sudden, but from the moment I awoke here, it felt like I’ve been suspended in a beautiful dream.
One where anything is possible. One where I can let this fledgling desire inside of me run rampant.
I’ve stayed a virgin all these years mainly because I’ve never looked at another and wanted them the way I do this merman.
In this dream, the possibility of learning what his body will feel like alongside mine doesn’t seem out of reach.
I can give myself to another wholeheartedly.
The consequences of such action can’t touch me here in my perfect dream.
Tonight, and only tonight, can be everything I’ve ever wanted. Tomorrow I can return to my safe, solitary life on land and keep the memories of my time under the waves with me forever.
That’s the thing about dreams—even the most realistic ones—aren’t meant to last.
“What do you want from me, Astryd? What can I give you?”
His words pull me from my thoughts. My decision is made. One night of reckless abandon, anymore than that would be unwise. I was a fool before, and I will not be so again.
“Your name for one.”
The merman grins, sliding to his feet. Extending his hand, I lay mine against his massive palm. The feeling of his soft scales sliding against me makes goosebumps erupt on my flesh. He dips into a dramatic bow, his white hair flopping over his forehead.
“Qurill, my lady,” he announces. “Prince of the Darksea.”
His lips graze the back of my hand. Breath stills in my lungs as his eyes burn into mine. With some reluctance, he lets me go. I can feel the phantom press of his mouth as I settle my palm atop the silk.
“Qurill,” I say, delighting in the way he shivers at my voice. “I cannot return to Bluewater. The villagers would just sacrifice me again. Besides, with the way things are, I don’t have a job to go back to. If there was any way you could take me somewhere tomorrow—somewhere safe—I’d be grateful.”
The merman—Qurill—nods, taking a few steps back from the bed.
“It will be done. I’ve bothered you for long enough. Surely you’d like some rest before our journey tomorrow.”
Shaking my head, I slide off the bed. The cool title greets the naked soles of my feet.
With both of us on the ground, my head barely grazes the center of his chest. My thighs are the size of his upper arms. My mouth goes dry as I crane my neck back to stare at him. Dampness spreads along my inner thighs.
“I’ve done enough resting.” My hands grip the silk sheet to my chest. “I thought I was going to die today. I vowed to myself in those final moments that if I somehow made it out, I would live—truly live.”
Qurill nods. I can feel his stare going through me, glimpsing into my soul. Whatever he finds there makes his eyes dance like blue flames.
“Will you help me do that? Give me today and show me things no other human has seen before I return to reality tomorrow.”
As I spoke, our bodies drifted closer. His chest is barely an inch away from grazing my cheek.
I breathe in his scent of seawater and the faint traces of sandalwood.
I want to lick the salty droplets from his skin and feel his weight on top of me.
My body prickles with awareness, beyond desperate to feel his touch.
My nipples press against the silk sheet. Liquid arousal streams down my thighs as I clench them together. The ache there is building into a crescendo I won’t be able to ignore for much longer. Qurill’s own breathing has turned ragged. His nostrils and gills flex with each deep inhale.
I would let him take me—on this bed or on the floor, it matters little.
Whatever command he gave me, I would follow, if only to know what it meant to be close to another.
Only he will do. I’ve never wanted someone this much, and I know in my heart I never will again.
I want to celebrate being alive by giving myself over to the pleasures I’ve never experienced.
Tomorrow, I will return to the cautious woman who never takes risks, knowing it’s safer to remain alone and unseen. Tonight is all I have to revel in my desires—to shed my fears and silence the mind that begs me to be careful.
This evening, with Qurill’s help, I will be the one thing I’ve never been allowed: wild.
The Prince of the Darksea holds his palm out towards me, his eyes swirling like whirlpools.
“Come.”