32. Heat Lightning
Heat Lightning
S imone’s island, Daylily Isle, was named so for the cherry red and sunny yellow daylilies that grew just where the soft, sandy beach met the plush, verdant grass. They bloomed year-round along the perimeters of the island because of the constant sun and perfect weather. Usually, as soon as we teleported onto the dock leading to the vacation house, the sight of them was a stunning sunset against the blues of the clear sky and ocean surrounding the island. It would make my heart leap with excitement.
Unfortunately, today, the beauty of the daylilies were painted over with vomit once we arrived.
“I told you to wait to eat those burritos,” Simone said, rubbing Cole’s back as he was bent over the dock. Cooper was on the other side doing the same.
“How aren’t y’all nauseous?” Cody asked, his face green next to Maisie as he tried his best to hold it in.
“Well, the three of us have made this trip so much that we are used to it. We also have teleported enough to know you never eat beforehand.” Maisie rolled her eyes while I nodded.
Cody pointed to Nat and Quinn as he groaned. “And you two? What’s your excuse?”
“I would definitely feel worse if I hadn’t listened to the girls, but I’m fine. And Natassa is a functioning alcoholic so nausea is par for the course, I’m sure,” Quinn answered, making Nat flick her off.
“Besides, Aunt Addie wrapped burritos up in foil for us in a heated bag. But nooooo , you three are ‘big strong men who can handle it.’” Natassa used her fingers to emphasize the air quotes around the very words the boys had said along with a strong roll of her eyes.
“Aunt Addie’s burritos just taste better—” Cody paused to groan around a wave of nausea. “Fresh.”
“Yeah, but how do they taste the second time?” Quinn said. With that, Cody couldn’t hold it any longer and turned to follow his brothers’ lead with Maisie shaking her head in disappointment.
As I was trying and failing to swallow my laughter, a large amount of water surged from within the house nearby with a tray of drinks and a bowl. Upon reaching us, the tide materialized into a handsome tanned twenty-something man with a body and face like a Greek sculpture and longish dark hair. The tray sat in one hand and the other notched behind him. Dorian gave us his best million-dollar smile.
“Good morning, everyone! I know how cumbersome teleporting can be, especially for first-timers, so I brought some ginger ale and crackers to help. They have been magicked to aid with teleportation sickness. I also made the cocktails you requested, Miss Simone.”
“Thank you so much, Dorian! You’re the best as always!” Simone said, taking a cocktail for herself and a cup of ginger ale on ice for Cole.
“Thank you, Dorian!” Maisie and Nat both said at the same time, batting their eyelashes.
“Welcome back, Miss Maisie,” Dorian winked at her before making eye contact with Nat and smiling wider. “Oh, and Daylily Isle always loves new guests.”
While Maisie and Nat swooned and got some drinks, Quinn raised her eyebrows my way. “So, Maisie has fucked him before, hasn’t she?”
“Oh, several times. Maisie has said he is easily in the Top Five of her hoe-rotation.”
“And Nat is obviously interested?”
“If you are asking if I think they are going to have some kind of a threesome, I would be shocked if they didn’t,” I snorted.
“Do you think that Nat and Maisie will jump his bones before Maisie and Cody do?”
“I forgot Cody was bi! My money is definitely on Cody and Maisie then.”
“You underestimate my sister. You’re on.” Quinn chuckled.
Once the boys’ tummies had stopped hurting, we made our way toward the house. Quinn and the guys carried most of our luggage, but Dorian helped with the rest they weren’t able to get. The house was definitely more of a luxurious Instagram-worthy mansion than anything else. It sat on a hill with a set of stairs leading down to the private beach that was its backyard. An infinity pool and extensive patio area overlooked the beach with a view of the ocean. Inside, it was all modern beachhouse with light-colored wood, bright beachy decor, top-of-the-line appliances, and floor-to-ceiling windows that doubled as doors to let the sea breeze in.
As the living room welcomed us inside, Quinn whistled in appreciation. “Wow, Simone! This place is gorgeous! It’s nicer than my place.”
“Thank you! There should be more than enough bedrooms for everyone, but we are free to double up if we want to! This house isn’t usually a resort. It’s normally kind of like a halfway house.”
“What do you mean?” Nat asked.
“Well, it’s kind of a long story, but the short version is that royal merfolk are given an island when they are seven years old—which is pure lunacy, might I add—and they can decide what they want to do with it. Most use their island as, like, a second house. But my siblings who aren’t immediate heirs, sparse, or thirds-in-line, and I decided to make our islands into more of a safe haven for aquatic beings in need. So, anyone displaced because of capitalism or global warming or who are struggling to make ends meet can apply to move to one of our islands. We pay for relocation, provide a place to live, help them find a job, and give them an opportunity to build a community and grow. They can stay until they get back on their feet and decide to go elsewhere, or they can live here permanently. But our islands are meant to give them the freedom to make that choice and not be forced to make it, you know? We just didn’t want our generational wealth to stay with us like we were hoarding it when our people need it more.
“So, this mansion is fully staffed with a chef, butlers, maids, and a manager who helps with things while also making bookings for us when we are here. We only book the place for a week. It’s a vacation for us, but it also gives me a chance to check in on how everything is going.”
“Holy shit, that is all so sweet, Simone,” Nat said. “I had no idea you were such a philanthropist.”
“Well, she is the best.” Cole brought her in close and kissed the top of her head. “I would kiss your lips, but I really should brush my teeth first after… well, you know.”
“I know, Coco. My poor big guy.” Simone patted his chest. “How about we all go upstairs and get ready? We can have a chill recovery day poolside and go out into town tomorrow! I’ll have Dorian make some cocktails and heat up the burritos and some snacks to serve at the pool!”
Cody groaned. “I will pass on the burritos, I think.”
“Speak for yourself, buddy, most of us won’t be tasting it for the third time today,” Nat teased.
Laughing as Cody’s face turned a concerning shade of green again, we all made our way upstairs with our luggage. There were over seven bedrooms upstairs with most having their own ensuite. Simone, Maisie, and I went to the rooms we always stayed in, three bedrooms right next to each other facing the ocean. Quinn followed behind me with my bags.
“Thank you so much for carrying my bags for me, pumpkin!”
“Of course! I wouldn’t have it any other way, sweets.” She winked, setting my bags down. “I will call dibs on the room right across the way, okay? Just in case you need me or need help tying your swimsuit.”
I laughed. “You’ll be the first one I call, babe.”
After she left, I grabbed my duffel bag with all of my swim stuff and made my way to Simone’s room, the largest bedroom in the house. Inside, Simone was already digging through her bags. When she saw me, her shoulders immediately relaxed in relief.
“Thank Poseidon below! I thought we were going to get dressed separately,” Simone pouted.
“Are you kidding? It’s a tradition!” I said, putting my bag on the bed to find my swimsuit. “Now, where is the third Musketeer?”
“Present!” Maisie emerged with her own bag on a bed of magic and a wave of her hand to close the door behind her with the same magic.
“What took you so long?” Simone asked.
“Do you really want to know?” Maisie asked with a raised eyebrow and cleaning one corner of her mouth.
“No,” Simone and I said at the same time. Maisie laughed.
After sifting through our bags and finding our swimsuits, Simone and Maisie started to get undressed. But I hesitated. I had always been comfortable being naked in front of my friends. They had never made me feel insecure about my body. In fact, they had always made me feel beautiful in my own skin, teaching me to love my stretch marks and curves. They uplifted me. So, I had never felt self-conscious or insecure about my body. Maybe at worst, when I was on my period, I only wanted to wear oversized clothes all day.
But things weren’t how they always had been for me.
Seeing my friends start to put on their swimsuits, I decided to bite the bullet and get things over with. I took off my shirt and pants and hurried to put on the black two-piece bikini I had been so excited to wear. With it on, I went over to the standing full-length mirror. When I had tried it on in Torrid, the two-piece had been too fucking sexy for me not to buy. The high-waisted bottom had hung on my hips in just the right places to show them off along with being flattering on my apron belly and making my ass gorgeously fat. The strappy bikini top made my boobs look stunning , bringing out the best of my cleavage. It was the perfect swimsuit for me, but the suit wasn’t so much the problem as the parts of my skin it didn’t hide.
Since the first time we saw Talli, my skin had started to peel. It began as skin tags on my fingers that would come away in long strips up my hands and wrists. However, it grew to massive patches the size of a textbook on my legs, arms, and stomach. Picking it away revealed patches of strange new skin. At first, I couldn’t place them, but then I realized they looked just like the purple and yellow patches on Simone’s knees, ankles, and feet.
Scales.
They were scales.
Scales that were growing not just on my thighs, knees, ankles, and feet, but also on my hands, wrists, elbows, arms, stomach, and neck. They were holographic. With a white base, they shimmered pastel purples, pinks, and blues even without direct light on them. They were so pretty along with my light brown skin and especially with my black swimsuit. I couldn’t deny it. When I felt them, they were so soft and smooth just like my skin. Touching them though sent a buzz through me. How could I have scales? What was everyone else going to think and say when they saw me?
Yet again, I found myself asking: what was happening to me?
I was about to grab my coverup when Simone noticed me as she adjusted the straps of her beautiful teal swim top beside me. Her eyes widened. “Oh, my gods! First of all, I’m obsessed with that swimsuit. But are those scales? Like your scales?”
I resisted the urge to try to cover up my scales with my hands. Instead, I wrapped my arms around myself, and I nodded.
Simone’s eyebrows furrowed as she came up beside me. “When did you get these? Was it recently, like, in the past couple of weeks?”
I nodded again. My throat was clogged as I was overwhelmed with so many emotions.
“Oh, Bee, are you okay?” Simone placed a hand on my arm as a sign of reassurance. It was the same spot where my tattoo of a doe and her baby fawn for my mother was, but also where a new patch of scales was. Her touch made me pull back. A shiver passed through me, and I felt overstimulated all the sudden. What had just happened?
Simone immediately pulled her hand back. Somehow, her eyes found a way to widen even more. “Holy fuck, they are sensitive, aren’t they? Oh, my gods, you really do have scales then!”
“Wait, what do you mean by sensitive?” I was finally able to ask through my growing anxiety.
“Well… if your scales are anything like mine—which they seem to be—they are very responsive to touch. If the wrong person touches them, it’s like your space has been invaded, even if they mean well. But if the right person touches them—say, your partner—they are a ridiculous erogenous zone.”
“Woah, so Byrd grew a few new horny spots that you have actually always had?!” Maisie asked, approaching us as she tied her swimsuit top around her.
“Maisie!” Simone and I cried out.
“Sorry! What does it mean that Bee has sexy scales now?”
“I literally will drown you in this pool today is what it means,” I said, glaring at Maisie. “Do not call them that.”
“Well, it certainly narrows down the list of shifters Byrd could be.” Simone answered.
“What does it narrow it down to?”
Simone’s glossy lips set into a straight line in thought at my question. “Given the pattern of your scales growing all over, you aren’t a mermaid. Our scales only grow on our lower limbs. You have never been a strong swimmer, so everything aquatic is actually out. So, the list is actually narrowed down to… Well, I have no idea.”
“Ah, so the starting point?”
“It’s not all hopeless, Bee! This is something I can actually help with!” Simone went to her bag and returned with a bottle of what looked like lotion. When I read the label, I realized it was actually scale moisturizer. “I usually don’t need this for my scales while I’m here, but I always bring some, just in case! You never know when they could dry out, so rather be safe than sorry! All you have to do is rub it on your scales like lotion. Oh, you know what? I bet this was why your skin was so itchy and irritated. Your scales were coming in! Gods, molting is so annoying that way.”
My head was starting to spin. I had molted before? I had scales now? I had no idea how to care for them, and I was still no closer to actually knowing what I was at all.
“Hey, Bydie, I know that look. Don’t you panic-attack on us.” Maisie snapped her fingers in front of my face to bring me back to the present.
“We know this is a lot, Bee. I have no idea what you are going through right now. Maisie has some idea given the whole fitch thing, but her body isn’t changing like yours. I know nothing makes sense right now, but we’ll figure it out. Don’t we always?”
Tears tickled my eyes. “Of course, we do, but… but what if…” I struggled to voice my fear, what oddly and maybe stupidly scared me the most.
“But what?” Simone encouraged.
“But what if Quinn doesn’t like your scales?” When Simone and I turned to give her incredulous looks, she simply shrugged. “Byrd is a hopeless romantic. She isn’t exactly the Rosetta Stone to figure out. No offense, babes.”
“Oh, Byrdie. Have you seen how Quinn looks at you? You could grow a second head and she would still love you.”
“Hey, we haven’t said that yet,” I said, sniffling a little.
“Yeah, emphasis on ’yet.’” Maisie pointed out. “You two are one more date and a U-Haul from moving in and getting a third pet together to complete your blended family.”
“Have I told you lately how much I hate you?” I said, but I laughed at her quip.
“There we go, bestie! Feel better? I know you have a lot happening, but we are going to have a blast on this trip! It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience!” Simone cheered.
I nodded. She was right. I did feel better. My besties always knew just what I needed to hear. This was going to be the trip of a lifetime and a much needed getaway. It was time to get it started.
No more tears. No more questions. No more worrying.
Just fun with my friends and my girlfriend.
As the girls finished getting ready, I applied Simone’s moisturizer to my scales, watching myself in the mirror. As soon as I put some on one set of my scales, they glittered and shined brilliantly. Their vibrance made my skin sparkle like I had just put highlighter all over it. It was all gorgeous, like a combination of Maisie’s body glitter and Simone’s mermaid scales. Seeing the holographic effect of them in the light, I felt an insane sense of pride. Sure, I didn’t know what having those scales meant for what I was, but there was beauty in them. They were so unique; I had never seen anything like them before. The more I looked at them, the more I fell in love with them.
They are yours. They are beautiful. They are who you are. Take pride in them. That voice purred within me, giving me a comforting vibration. It had been a while since I had heard her, at least since my birthday. But I couldn’t agree more.
A knock sounded on the door followed by Quinn’s voice. “You girls almost ready?”
I looked over at my girls to see where they were at. Maisie was finishing up tying her hair into a tiny ponytail in her sultry red two piece tied all around her to show off her neck-to-toe tattoos. Simone was taking a selfie in her teal bralette, swim bottom, and matching see-through sarong that went so well with her green curls in their long braid and accentuated her curves almost as good as my own swimsuit did.
Oh, yeah, we looked fine as fuck.
I finished putting on my platform sandals that made me average height and made my way to the door. As soon as I opened it, there stood Quinn. I didn’t think it was possible for her to get more fine , but there she was doing just that. She wore a burnt orange sports bra-style swim top and matching board shorts. The outfit revealed so much more of her rosy tan skin that I think my brain was short-circuiting. Her thick tattooed biceps. Her broad shoulders. Her ample cleavage. The packed muscles under her stomach that I just wanted to lay on as she breathed. Her thick thighs and strong legs that I would love to be in between. Her long curls loose and free, in a stunning soft pillowy mane that I both wanted to lay in and pull. Gods, this girl… By the hot darkness of her hazel eyes, I could tell that I was having the same effect on her that she was having on me.
Oh, yeah, fuck that cover up for sure.
“ Hostia puta, tu eres una hechicera, ” Quinn said under her breath, just loud enough for me to hear, her voice husky and deep.
“What she said,” Cole remarked, drooling over Simone behind me. Cody stood beside him gawking, too. Even Nat had her eyebrows raised at our outfits in admiration. I hadn’t even noticed the others behind Quinn until Cole said something.
“You look fucking gorgeous, Byrd,” Quinn said.
“Oh, thank you! You like it?” I posed for her, only showing her the front. I had a feeling she would spontaneously combust once she saw the back.
“I love it. You have no idea.”
“If you love this one, I can’t wait for you to see the other ones. This one is just the beginning.”
“Oh, y’all are so fucked,” Nat said, shaking her head with a snicker.
Soon, we were all making our way down the stairs and out the door to the pool. Dorian was already outside with cocktails waiting for us. We each grabbed one and made our way to the lounge area. The triplets wasted no time taking their shirts and shoes off, backing up toward the house, and doing a running start to cannonball into the pool. We laughed as they resurfaced.
“Are you going to get in the water, babe?” Quinn asked, taking off her sandals.
I nodded. “I’m not a super strong swimmer, so I will probably just lounge on the edge or in the shallow end.”
“It’s a good thing I’m a strong water baby, then.” Quinn smiled.
As I reached down to take off my sandals, Quinn took my calf and sat my foot on her ankle. Since Quinn saw me upstairs, she hadn’t been able to keep her hands off of me, either holding my hand or touching my lower back. Her strong hand against my bare skin now and holding me so gently definitely did things for me, especially as her rough hand came ever so close to a patch of scales on my calf. She started unbuckling my sandal.
“You spoil me, starlight. I’m a big girl who can take my own shoes off, you know?”
“Oh, I know. But I will always take any opportunity I can to touch you, especially when you are looking like this in that swimsuit.” Quinn winked. My face heated under the smolder that hadn’t left since she saw me upstairs. She finished taking off my sandals and sat them beside the chair.
“Are you girls ever going to get into the water?” Cody called out.
“Gods forbid we relax, huh?” Maisie snarked, downing her cocktail and grabbing another one from Dorian with a smile his way.
“You already know I am. I just need my third cocktail-wind before I dive in,” Nat said, sipping her drink. “I would have thought that the Mermaid Princess would have dived in with the Waterboys, though.”
“When you live most of your life in water, you become not so eager to dive back into it.” Simone shrugged.
“Well, it’s not like your dive is as good as ours, anyway, princess!” Cody said, doing a backstroke.
“Excuse me?” Simone raised her eyebrows, sitting up on the lounge chair to look at Cody over her sunglasses. “Be so for real right now, Cody Collier, are you challenging a mermaid to a dive contest?”
“You said yourself you don’t dive. Part fish or not, I bet I could smoke you in a dive contest.”
“I said I’m not eager to dive in, not that I don’t, but now I have to prove a point,” Simone said, taking off her sandals.
“Oh, you are in for it now, you silly fool,” Cole laughed, splashing him.
“It’s hilarious because he’s talking the most shit as the worst diver here,” Nat said.
Disses and jokes were traded back and forth until a straight-up diving competition was started with Maisie, Cooper, and I as judges sitting on the pool’s edge. The others lined up behind the diving board to take turns doing their best stylized dive.
The first few times everyone did their dives, it was a serious contest. Simone showed off her finest flips and turns in the air as she dived. It was as if the air was just an extension of the water for her. She was so graceful and majestic up there. It was art in motion. Cole was good, but without the finesse and beauty of Simone. I tried to be as unbiased as possible, but my Queenie was a freaking daredevil on the board, doing backflips and handstands and spinning cannonballs. I cheered loudly when she would land a move, and she would surface to see me applauding her. Her face was full of such pride and elation I thought my heart would melt from the cuteness. Even Natassa had some decent moves, despite having to hold her nose when she dived. Hilariously, Cody didn’t even come close to the grace of Simone and the hardcore badassery of Quinn. His moves were closer to belly flops than anything, but he won the award for making me laugh the hardest, at least.
As Cole climbed the ladder for another dive, with Simone rooting for him, Cooper leaned toward me from where he sat next to me. His voice was deep, cutting, yet low enough that only I could hear through the laughter, jokes, and splashes of the others.“You know, I have never noticed those on you before.”
“I’m sorry what?” I asked, turning to face him as Cole attempted a backflip.
Cooper’s eyes were sharp knives of blue on me. I felt like a cornered animal or one about to be dissected. He motioned to a set of scales on my knee. “Those. Have you always had them?”
“Oh,” I swallowed. “They are… new.”
“Like, a new makeup trend you are trying or something? I see they are all over you, and they look waterproof. Are they a new growth on you?”
I shifted in my seat. There was something in his tone and his use of words that I didn’t like, but I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly. Regardless, talking to Cooper was always uncomfortable. The guy was just intense for what felt like no reason, and of all the cousins, I had spent the least amount of time with him one-on-one. “I mean, they are new. They appeared a week or so ago. Why are you asking?”
“I just find it interesting. Your friend is obviously a mermaid, so that explains her scales, but you? You are obviously something else.”
What the fuck?
“These scales and what happened to you at Universal, too? Very few people encounter an energy vampire like that and live to tell about it. Even fewer have blood and energy that would attract one to that degree and send them into a frenzy. Oh, and you didn’t seem like you were incredibly affected by its venom.”
What in the absolute fuck?
“What are you getting at exactly, Cooper?” I asked harshly, despite the large pit of anxiety in my stomach. Something in me growled, making my black nails sharpen and claw at the pavement. He was asking the same questions I was, but there was something about him asking them, something about my instincts telling me not to get too comfortable around him, that made me hate that he was trying to connect dots like me. It wasn’t any of his fucking business.
“I’m simply curious about you?—”
“Sweetness? Are you okay?” Quinn’s voice immediately calmed my bristling as I turned to see her quickly swim over to me. Her hazel eyes never left me, and as she came up between my legs, I could see the worry dripping from her eyes like the water droplets from her eyelashes. I instinctively wrapped my legs around her torso, sending enough jolts of electricity through me that I was surprised that the water wasn’t a conduit of power. It was reassuring and grounding.
Before I could respond, Cooper cut in. “We were just talking, Quinn. No reason for you to come over and try to mark your territory.”
Quinn gripped my thighs possessively as the concern in her eyes heated into rage that she turned onto her cousin. “What the fuck did you just say?”
“He was asking me about my scales and what happened on my birthday,” I explained, watching as Quinn’s eyes turned molten. It reminded me of the breakfast after the party where we had first met, her body taking on that same tension and her face taking on that same lethal quality like a lioness ready to pounce on its prey.
Cooper squinted, his eyes becoming calculating as he locked onto where Quinn gripped my thighs tight enough to leave a mark. A distant part of me that clearly didn’t know how to read the room and situation hoped she did.
Quinn’s voice was deep, menacing when she spoke. “I would love to know why the fuck you were looking so hard, Cooper.”
“I suggest you take some of that bass out of your voice. I wasn’t looking at your girl like that , Quinn. I was simply asking some questions?—”
“That have fuck all to do with you and are none of your business.”
“They were just questions. Shit, you would think that this girl is your fated mate or something.”
I turned my head immediately to Cooper. Fated mates? They couldn’t have fated mates…? In the supernatural community, you didn’t even joke about fated mates because it was that sacred. So, he couldn’t be serious. That would mean that they could have?—
“Doesn’t matter if we are or not, she’s my girlfriend and you shouldn’t ask her fucking questions that make her uncomfortable.”
“Quinn—”
“Hey, what’s going on?” Cole asked, swimming over to us along with Simone and the others.
“Quinn is—” Cooper started before Quinn stopped him.
“Cooper was simply fucking off,” She practically snarled at him. Her eyes were so hot that I feared she would actually melt Cooper by looking at him. With his mouth set into a thin line, Cooper got up and walked away back to the house.
“Byrdie, are you okay? What happened?” Simone asked.
“He was just asking a lot of questions and being a prick,” I answered.
“Oh, Bee, I’m so sorry,” Maisie said. “I was sitting here the whole time; I had no idea. I didn’t hear anything.”
“Yeah, he was talking super low for that reason, I think.” I looked over at Quinn, who was still looking at where Cooper had walked away. “How did you know?”
Quinn’s hot, golden eyes cooled as she met my gaze. “I had done a dive, and I noticed you weren’t looking. I was going to think nothing of it, but you just had this look… I just knew something was wrong, so I came right over. I’m so sorry he’s such a dick, baby girl. Are you okay?”
I rubbed Quinn from her hands up to her shoulders. “I’m much better thanks to my super heroine over here.”
Quinn smirked, squeezing my thighs. “Anything for you, mi tesoro .”
After a bit more reassurance, Maisie, Simone, and the others went to do their own things. After the drama with Cooper, the moment of group fun passed for now. As everyone went their separate ways, Quinn shifted her hands closer to where my thighs met my butt. With ease, she lifted me from the pool’s edge into the water. I wrapped my legs tighter around her, while my arms encircled her neck. She kept her hands on my thighs as she swam us over to the edge of the infinity pool that overlooked the dock we had teleported to along with the beach and ocean blue. There, she sat on the bench, making me straddle her wide hips. Her fingertips grazed where my thighs met my ass, and I wanted them to go higher, to grip my cheeks, to squeeze them even harder than she had my thighs earlier?—
“Is this okay, sweetness?” Quinn asked.
“Oh, this is fantastic,” I answered, kissing the tip of her nose. “Thank you so much for coming to my rescue.”
“Of course! I’m so sorry. He has been acting so strange the past week or so, especially with me. I don’t know why. I really came close to asking him not to come on this trip. He’s been annoying the fuck out of me.” Quinn shook her head.
“He’s kind of always been weird to me, but I feel like it has increased by a thousand percent or something. Cooper is the only one in your family who seems like he doesn’t like me.”
“Well, it’s a good thing that he doesn’t matter then. I couldn’t care less about his opinion.” Quinn started to absentmindedly run a finger up and down my spine. “To be honest, only my mom’s opinion of anyone I’m with means anything to me.”
“Speaking of…” I readjusted in her lap. “I was not expecting to meet your mom today.”
“Yeah…” Quinn ran her hand through her wet curls that were already starting to dry enough to increase in volume again. “I hate that I sprung that on you like that. I wasn’t expecting her at all. Otherwise, I would have given you some time to prepare mentally. She came home hella early this morning after one of her work trips ended sooner than expected. So, she’s home now for a few months at least. The rest of the Trinity should be home soon, too, along with my Dad.”
“The Trinity?”
“That’s what we call my aunts and my mom,” Quinn chuckled. “Everyone tries to come around for the holidays, even if they are just taking a break between assignments or if we have to have our dinners a day or two before or after.”
“So, I might be meeting everyone else soon? That isn’t terrifying at all. Especially with Cooper’s tomfoolery.”
“Oh, Aunt CK is… a lot in her own right. But my mom is all that matters to me. You don’t have to worry about anyone else, so no reason to be nervous. Besides,” Quinn leaned up and gave me a kiss on my cheek. “My mom fucking loves you.”
My heart fluttered. “Really?!”
Quinn smiled. “Yes! She only talks like that with people she likes, and I can just tell that she loves you so much already. She is going to try to smother you to high heaven, you have no idea.”
“I honestly cannot wait. I’m kind of excited for it. Do you want to know something crazy?”
“Always.”
“As soon as she hugged me, I just felt… I felt like a mother’s love, you know? It just felt so right and like home. I think that’s why I don’t mind calling her Mama. It feels right in a weird way.”
“It isn’t weird at all. It makes perfect sense. I was so scared that my mom was saying that was going to bother you or step on your toes. I never want to infringe on your mom and her memory.” Quinn’s hand not tracing up and down my spine came up to play with my locs in their ponytail. She twirled one around her fingers. “It kills that you lost her how you did; that it affects you like it does. I wish she was still here. I wish I got to meet her. I wish I got to see you two together and understand how much of you came from her. I’m so sorry. I know my mama could never replace your mom, and she would never want to. She’s one-of-a-kind. But Mama just wants to cook you good food, go shopping with you, come in unannounced to binge watch trash television together, and fold our laundry to help us get our lives together. If she can do that, she’s happy.”
I chuckled, my tears starting to sting my eyes as they spilled over. “I would love that.”
Quinn lightly wiped away my tears. “Good.”
Quinn’s finger stayed on my cheek, hovering there for a moment longer than maybe it needed to. Her eyes went from mine down to my lips. I watched the bronze glow in her eyes darken to that smoldering ember that I loved, that set a low flame alive within me.
Quinn leaned up the same time I leaned down, and our lips collided. The warm softness melted away what happened with Cooper, my questions, my anxiety. It was only this moment and the taste of her. We were in our own bubble, and even the water seemed to quiet itself as it lapped at the glass edge of the pool and our bodies. My hands tangled into her damp curls. One of Quinn’s hands was on my back, trying impossibly to pull me even closer. The other hand touched the side of my neck?—
Grazing a patch of scales there.
As soon as her fingertips made contact with my scales, a bolt of electricity shot from my neck and down my spine. It made me rock my hips by accident in her lap and deepen the kiss, but I couldn’t hide my moan or my grip tightening in her hair. I suddenly wanted to taste her more, to feel her more, to be consumed by her and have her consume me. I wanted to have her take me here and now all of a sudden. Where the hell had this come from?
I wasn’t the only one who had noticed. Quinn leaned back a little, breaking our kiss. Her slitted eyebrow was raised as she breathlessly asked. “ ? Que demonios acaba de pasar? What was that? What just happened?”
“Uh… it’s my scales, I think? Simone said they are kind of sensitive. I just didn’t realize how much until just now.”
“Oh, and here I thought they were just beautiful.” Quinn’s eyes sparked as her smirk became devilish. “Now, I know they can be fun, too.”