Chapter 60 #2
Angie ducked her head underwater, taking a deep breath. Shortly after her wedding, she learned another benefit of their union was eternal mer breath, something Kaden didn’t know. He no longer had to use up his lifeforce if they wanted to be undersea together.
Beside her, Jack eyed Hadrien and Libbi, who stared back at him in earnest. “Um, Your Majesty King Cyrus, can Princess Libbi give me breath?” Jack’s cheeks flushed crimson.
“How?” Libbi asked, turning to face her father, eyes open wide. “Hadrien, you do it.”
“I don’t mind,” Hadrien said with a half-grin. “But he asked you. If Father, and you are okay with it.”
“It’s up to Libbi.” Cyrus shot a glare at his son, and Hadrien rolled his lips between his teeth.
It was a marvel to Angie how much Hadrien looked like Adrielle, and Libbi was nearly a spitting image of Cyrus.
“Actually, it’s alright. I can get my diving gear.,” Jack muttered and swam back to the boat.
“I can give him breath. Jack!” Kaden called after him.
Libbi’s jasper eyes flickered back and forth between all of them. “Wait! Come back.” She paddled after him, and when she caught up, she turned with her curious gaze to Kaden and Cyrus. “What do I do?”
“You press your lips to him and exhale,” Kaden replied.
Libbi nodded with a smile, and turning back to Jack, she did as Kaden instructed.
“Oooh Jack, your first kiss,” Rosa said. “I didn’t get mine until last year.” She jolted with a happy laugh as Hadrien swam to her, and she leaned in so he could give her breath.
“Shut up,” Jack grunted. “It’s so I can breathe underwater, or whatever.”
“I’ll make sure your kids are back to you before the tides turn,” Cyrus called up to Mia.
“I’ll hold you to that.” Mia made the ‘I’m-watching-you’ gesture at him, but the happiness on her and Cyrus’ face was unmistakable. “Rosie, take care of your brother!”
“I will.” Rosa didn’t make another remark about being called her childhood name and ducked underwater with Cyrus and Hadrien.
“And Angie, I’ll see you whenever. Have fun with your husband.” Mia gave her a wink and a wave, and Angie’s face warmed. Beside Mia, she caught Bàba narrowing his eyes at her.
They descended, passing a polar bear who had plunged into the sea from a nearby ice shelf. Angie followed Kaden beneath the waves, swimming through a dense kelp forest.
“I missed you.” He pulled her in for a long kiss once they were alone.
Angie swatted his shoulder. “I saw you last night at my family’s barbecue.” She had pulled her boat ashore to meet her family last night, and they had invited the mer. Kaden visited with Cyrus, Adrielle, Libbi and Hadrien, and Adrielle had left shortly after to return to the queendom.
“True. I enjoyed it, never had it before.” Kaden licked his lips pensive. “I still haven’t gotten the taste of burnt pineapple out of my mouth.”
She snorted. “It’s your fault you ate the burned zucchini and pineapple.”
“I thought the charcoal would give it more flavor!” He threw up his hands, his eyes lighting up.
“Now you know. Don’t go for the black, gritty stuff next time.” Angie arched an eyebrow at him. “Well, next time might be in a couple days. I have to bring my family back to shore.”
“There will be a next time?” Kaden pretended to act surprised, one hand to his heart and a soft gasp leaving his lips.
“Of course! Your family seemed to enjoy it, especially Libbi and Hadrien. You all looked cute on the loungers. And my dad and sister love to barbecue.”
“The chairs need to be longer to fit our tails,” Kaden said through a happy grin.
“It’s all we have, so, it’s either that or you all can hang out on the sand.” Angie kissed his shoulder.
“I kid, I kid. I look forward to more sandy dinners, princess.”
Even though she had been married to him for ten years, an excited shiver still danced through her when he called her that.
“Let’s go this way.” Kaden tugged on her hand, keeping her close.
“Found another new spot?” Angie squeezed his fingers.
“Always. It’s a little far, so hold on.” Kaden tightened his grip around her, and Angie tensed, grabbing his wrist with her free hand.
And with a blast of magic, as she always did, she shrieked and wrapped her legs around his tail as they propelled through the seas on a massive rush of water, like they were in a watery tunnel, and then another.
“I wish I could do that,” Angie said with a laugh. She had mer breath, but she didn’t get their ability to manipulate water.
“But how would I keep impressing you?” Kaden flicked her legs with his tailfin once they were cutting through the sea again.
“Good point,” she said with a chuckle and a playful squeeze on his forearm.
She swam upward and over a hissing hydrothermal vent, the steam grazing her bare legs, and they passed over a slew of undersea memorials.
It reminded her of celebrating Varin’s life at the Central Queendom shortly after she and Kaden married, and it brought a fresh wave of sadness.
Kaden told her it was as if he were watching his own mother lifeless and pale on that smooth rock slab.
But his own grief paled in comparison to Cassia’s.
Cassia had been a shaking wreck, while Calora tried to console her mother at the funeral.
“I almost forgot to tell you, but Aiereka and Narea returned from their travels at low suntide.”
“How are they?” Angie brightened. “Feels like I haven’t seen them in forever.”
“They’re happy, adopted a merling recently.”
She grinned. Adrielle had asked Aiereka to work with them at the palace once it was rebuilt. She remembered when, six years ago, she went for a family dinner with Kaden and Cyrus and their cousins, and Aiereka was talking excitedly about planning their wedding.
“Let me know when you’re meeting them again. I’d love to join.”
“I will. I’m sure they want to see you, too.” Kaden squeezed her forearm.
“Have you heard from Calora lately? How are she and her lifemate doing?” Angie thought of Kaden’s other cousin. She had bonded with a Mer-Prince from the Southern Queendom years ago, who now ruled at her side at the Central Queendom’s throne.
“Busy, but they’re well. We can pay them a visit sometime,” Kaden replied. Angie gave him a nod of agreement.”
They broke the surface, facing a small inlet surrounded by open sea on three sides with a backbone of snow-capped mountains and tall tundra cliffs on the fourth side.
Angie climbed onto the sandy inlet first and pulled on Kaden’s hands as he used his tail to nudge himself ashore.
As soon as they were both on dry land, he pulled her into a deep kiss, sliding one hand under her swimsuit strap.
He slid her swimsuit down her body, and she parted her legs for him to slide one hand down her thighs.
She sucked in a sharp breath as he touched her, readying her, never breaking their kiss. His tail was pressed to the side of one leg, the thickened part of his scales between his pelvic fins straining against her bare skin.
He was ready, and so was she, and she wove her fingers through his hair, squeezing his forearm tight with her other hand.
Their breaths calmed in tandem. “It will never get old seeing, and feeling your climax,” Kaden whispered, placing one hand on her shoulder and lowering her onto her back.
Before she laid down, she stopped him. “No, let me.”
“Huh?”
Angie straddled him, her knees digging into the soft, packed sand. “I’m not getting sand all over me.”
“Oh, so it’s okay if it’s all over me?” Kaden raised his brows, but his eyes and expression were radiant.
“You can jump into the sea and wash it all off.” She lowered herself, stopping before he entered her.
“You can too when we swim back to your boat.”
She shook her head and leaned in to kiss his closed gills, and he sucked in a sharp breath, his grip tightening around her thigh. “Just lie back.”
He did as she asked, gripping at her waist, and let out a pleasured sigh as she settled atop him.
The bottom of his tail came up to line her back, contracting and giving her a gentle nudge forward, and she fell into his arms. Kaden’s lips caught hers in a zealous kiss, and Angie drowned herself in him.
The sun still shone brightly when Angie donned her swimsuit again, and she drew her knees to her chest. He was propped on his elbows, but reached one arm around her shoulders, and held her.
How long had they been at it? With Alaskan summers, she could never tell what time it was without her phone or a watch handy. And now, she had neither.
“You know, I’m so lucky you almost killed me the first time we met.” Kaden flipped his tailfins, shaking sand off.
Angie jerked back in disbelief. “Is that what you were thinking of?”
“Yes, only expressing my gratitude we met at all.”
“We turned out alright.” Angie twirled the ring he gave her the day he proposed.
Quiet settled over them. A flock of puffins coasted along the water’s surface, hunting fish.
Two of them broke off from the group, a smaller one following a larger one. Not for the first time, Angie thought about Celia, and if she had been reunited with Eva. She found herself watching paired animals and people in the past years. Wishing they were reincarnated, together, and happy again.
“You know, I could be here every day with you, and never get sick of it,” she remarked.
“Well, tomorrow, we can. And the tidesday after, and the tidesday after that.” Kaden rested his chin on top of her head.
“I like the sound of that.” Angie ran a hand down the length of his tail, as far as she could reach without moving.
His next words left her feeling as if she were walking on air, or more aptly, over the surface of the infinite sea.
“And from now, until we’ve lived endless lifetimes together.”