31.Alin
Alin
I wake up, realizing I’ve fallen asleep again after all the intensity with Luca.
This time, I think he needed the release more than I did.
I look to the other side of the bed, but there’s no sign of him.
I stretch, look at my phone, and see it’s late afternoon already, and I have many missed calls and five new messages.
I furrow my brow, thinking about all the hours I slept, feeling swollen from sleep but relieved that the sharp headache is gone.
I read the three messages Luca sent me.
Everything okay? You better not have run off again!
03:00 PM
Abert updated me.
03:03 PM
I look at the screen and laugh to myself, even he doesn’t understand how I managed to sleep so long. I reply to him quickly.
The Little Mermaid has woken up. Looks like the morning’s satisfaction exhausted her too much. What’s happening at 5?
04:05 PM
The phone immediately vibrates again, and I smile widely at his response.
More like Sleeping Beauty. Your prince will be there soon to wake you with a surprise.
04:17 PM
I laugh at the charming mix of fairy tales he created for me. A mermaid and a criminal, we could definitely write a new adult fairytale about that. Who would believe it?
I quickly step into the shower, washing my face while standing, but in my excitement, I momentarily forget about my tail.
I slip and fall hard onto the small step next to the toilet, where the toilet brush sits in its ceramic holder.
The ceramic holder wobbles and falls, shattering into shards that cut my back upon impact.
I groan in pain, but instead of crying, my laughter cuts through the air, wondering how excited I must be to forget such an important detail. I’ve gotten too used to life on land.
I stretch my back carefully, avoiding leaning my hands on the broken ceramic pieces.
“Are you okay? I heard a loud noise!” I hear Abert pounding on the door. Panicking, I reach for the towel rack on the sink wall, fearing yet another man in my life discovering my tail.
I respond immediately, before he breaks down the bathroom door, “Yes, clumsy me, I slipped on the water in the shower. I’m fine.
” The pounding stops, and for a moment, I’m almost sure I heard Abert chuckles as he walked away from the door.
I sigh in relief and finally reach my towel on the rack, pulling it toward me.
I dry my face and reach for the sink. The water turns on instantly, and with its help, I knock down my toothbrush and paste from the edge of the sink, starting to brush my teeth.
Simultaneously, I draw the water from the sink and wash myself thoroughly, applying the soap that’s on the shower floor. I feel a stinging in my back but ignore it.
I could get used to this; there’s enough room for my tail on the floor. I may be short in human form, but my tail is very long, even in the bathtub it curls almost up to my head, creating a kind of circle in the air.
I laugh, remembering the first time I got into the bathtub in my previous apartment. It took me so long to find a comfortable position.
I finish washing myself, raising my hand once more, and all the water on the floor gathers into one big soapy water ball that floats in the air. I send it straight into the bathtub and release it.
Drying my body, I transform my tail back into legs and wrap myself in my soft towel robe before heading back to the room.
I check my phone to see the time and realize it’s already ten to five.
I quickly pull out a light blue summer dress from the closet that falls just past my butt and accentuates my chest.
I know these dresses drive Luca crazy, so I decide not to turn today into another battlefield and put on a pair of white shorts under the dress, pairing them with white summer sandals with tiny heels.
I hop downstairs excitedly, and Abert looks at me, still chuckling to himself. He must be imagining some epic fall I had in the shower.
I turn to my right, feeling Luca’s familiar, warm gaze on me. He smiles mischievously, and I immediately feel I made the right choice with the shorts.
Abert suddenly contorts his face and asks me to turn around. “Alin, you’re bleeding,” he says, and Luca immediately runs to me, grabbing my hand and turning my back toward him.
“Why are you bleeding?” he touches my back, his expression hardening, and I immediately flinch, suddenly feeling the sharp, burning pain his touch caused.
“I slipped in the shower,” I say, looking into Luca’s hard gaze, adding in a whisper, “Sometimes I forget I have a tail,” and I giggle in embarrassment.
Luca teases me and pulls me toward the large kitchen in the apartment. I am surprised to see his cook isn’t there working on dinner and wonder if he’s taking me out to eat. I watch him pull a first aid kit from one of the tall black cabinets in the kitchen.
“I don’t get it, with all the powers you have, how are you still so delicate?” he chuckles as he applies disinfectant with a cotton swab over the two cuts on my back.
I flinch again and bite my lip. “Luca, it burns!” I whine, and he feigns a frustrated sigh. “Now you’re complaining too,” he says, kissing my neck gently.
My blood heats with excitement, hoping my cheeks don’t betray me.
He might think I’m a nympho, with my body reacting to him even when he’s treating my injuries.
I feel his glance widen on my neck. Damn.
He reads me. I sigh audibly, and he laughs, placing a small square bandage over each cut while I bite my lower lip at the sting of the disinfectant again.
I run up to the guest room, changing out of the blood-stained blue dress into a white summer dress. I notice its transparency reveals my chest too much.
I put on a white top bra underneath, cursing softly as it presses on the wounds on my back. I assure myself I’ll treat the cuts with water when we get back home.
I return to Luca, who leads me to the car. My curiosity growing.
“Where are we going?” I push for any hint but to no avail; he remains silent. It seems he’s set on keeping today a surprise.
The drive takes about fifty minutes, and Luca and I enjoy Latin music that I play through his car’s Bluetooth from my phone, just like Cora always does. I start singing along with the music.
Suddenly Luca’s phone rings loudly, interrupting my song, and I quietly curse as he answers Graham’s call.
“I’m behind you. Abert went to take care of what you asked for,” Graham informs Luca, who hangs up after confirming.
I quickly glance at the side mirror and recognize Graham’s car behind us.
Isn’t today supposed to be just for Luca and me?
Why does he need Graham for a romantic dinner?
I wonder but know I won’t get any answers, so I turn the music back up and return to my car karaoke as Luca’s laughter echoes while he drives into an unfamiliar parking area, stopping the car.
I look out the window and see nothing but greenery — trees, grass, and a grand entrance made of large black marble circles set into the green lawn, forming the driveway to the massive villa in front of me.
I excitedly hop out of the car and onto the marble path outside. “What is this place?” I ask, and suddenly the smell of sea breeze mingles with the strong scent of grass.
My excitement rises, and I run to the impressive tall black doors at the entrance of the vila.
I look back at Luca with a questioning glance. He nods approvingly, and I quickly open the doors, which swing open like the entrance to a grand castle. I step inside.
The first floor is open and spacious, with light gray walls and glossy cream-colored marble floors, all illuminated by the colors of the sunset streaming through the glass wall opposite me, serving as a sliding door to the outside.
I ignore the rest of the house as my gaze lands on the breathtaking waves crashing on the beach visible beyond the glass door.
I quickly run to the door, sliding it opens easily, and realize where the sea breeze is coming from. It’s a private beach!
My feet step outside, and my small-heeled sandals sink into the warm sand now wrapping around my feet.
A blend of excitement and an inexplicable feeling of freedom washes over me. I feel like I could float on air with happiness.
I look back at Luca, whose satisfied expression shows he was waiting for this exact reaction.
He approaches me, and I feel like my heart is about to burst in my chest, wanting to scream and run with him into the calling waters.
“I tried to send you back to your world because I thought I couldn’t be the one to conquer it for you. But I can’t breathe even a minute without you. I can’t cast you out of my world, even if I try with all my might. You’re my weakness and my strength,” he says, and my heart aches with every word.
“And now, I understand you and your secret, I know I’m not ready to give you up. And if we need to merge our two worlds to succeed, that’s what we’ll do,” he finishes, wiping away a small tear that escaped down my cheek without me even noticing. He wants to prove to me that I can trust him now.
He lifts his hand in front of my face, revealing the villa keys, and places them in my hand.
I jump on him in an excited hug, and he grabs my face, kissing me with passion—not with his usual aggression, but with a deep kiss filled with the emotional release of what we’ve been through, proving to me what I already knew: I love this man in such a dangerous and frightening way.
A few more tears escape down my face as he breaks the kiss and looks at me, while Graham approaches us from the villa.
“Can you stop crying? I know you control water, but the amount of tears you’ve shed lately is just ridiculous,” he whispers, so Graham won’t hear, and wipes my tears with a smirk, setting me back on the sand.
“You’re lucky Graham is behind us, or I’d strip you right here on the sand,” he whispers closer to my ear now, and I glance at him slyly.