Chapter 22 #3
“No, I’m not falling for him,” I told a hermit crab passing by.
I didn’t think it believed me, what with the insecurity in my voice, so I repeated myself and added a hysterical giggle for emphasis.
If the crab could have laughed back at me, it probably would have.
“Not after what his kind did to me. I’d never fall for him. ”
But Reiven wasn’t his kind. Neither was Ashkade, Lyneca, or Captain Larsel.
People like Ipheri and Gatelo, pirates like Vaetrik—they were the enemy, not the man I’d gotten to know and care for.
The man who caught me and tried to pull me up during our sword fight, who I had been callous enough to slash at.
The cursed man who carried so much pain with him.
I had to stop thinking, or I might lose my mind. Right as I decided to get back to work, a deep, wonderful voice calling my name made me pause and smile.
“Don’t tell me you gave me a hard time about taking a break, then took one yourself?” Rei’s shadow fell over me as he came to stand at my side.
I let him pull me to my feet, unable to wipe the pure happiness off my face. “Break time’s already over? Did you manage to nap?”
“Couldn’t without you.”
A breeze flowed past us, a languid, whispering voice. It rustled the white flower he held in his hand, a kind I’d seen blooming on vines outside the treeline. He tucked it behind my ear with no explanation, just an uncharacteristically soft smile.
“Reiven—”
“This place is beautiful. Could you imagine living here? I bet Ash would like it. He could while away the hours fiddling with his time rings in the shade while you swim and I keep the fire going.” He rolled his trousers up above his knees and took my hands again, walking backwards as he pulled me into the shallows.
It warmed my heart to see a man who didn’t like the ocean put aside that distaste so willingly—for me.
My feet squished in the sand as he kept talking.
“I wouldn’t mind swimming with you, but I’ll admit, I don’t like how my clothes get all itchy when the saltwater dries on them. Chafes like nobody’s business.”
I giggled and brushed my hand against his shirt, and the brownish bloodstains embedded in the black fabric. “Maybe we can wash your clothes in the stream tomorrow. Scrubbing them with rocks might get these stains and the salt out.”
“How kind of you, Siren.” Sun rays reflected off the water between us as we came to a halt an arm’s length apart. “Hey, do you remember when I pushed you into that fountain when we first met?”
My smile melted into a scowl, but he just laughed.
“Thought I was such a clever asshole, and while I regretted ruining your makeup and dress…I couldn’t help but think you looked even more stunning with your hair wet.
I never apologized for that—I haven’t apologized for any of the petty ways I pissed you off…
Truthfully, I think I wanted your eyes on me and me alone, but I just ended up making a fool of myself. Forgive me?”
Yes, he was being sweet now. But he had reminded me just how humiliating it had been when he shoved me into the fountain in front of all those people, and revenge jumped to the forefront of my mind.
“Aw, Reiven…I appreciate your apology.”
The smile I gave him was utterly fake, and judging from how he blanched and started to back away, he knew it. But I was too quick.
Reiven got a face full of water as I smacked him with a Siren-made wave, leaving him gasping as it retreated. I roared with laughter. Seeing him stunned, dripping wet, would never get old. “I wouldn’t miss a second time.”
Reiven shook his soaked hair out of his eyes and lunged for me, and my laughter devolved into a cry of protest. He curled his arms around my waist and hoisted me into the air with no effort, holding me tightly against him. “Something tells me I shouldn’t challenge a Siren in the ocean.”
“Listen to your gut, Rei.”
His response was only to brush his nose against mine before muttering, “Alright. I surrender. Do your worst.”
My feet hit the mushy sand as he waited—for more punishment, maybe?
I shoved my hands out at my sides, willing the ocean water to gather into an enormous bubble that surrounded us, before releasing it into a shower over our heads.
I giggled like a child, spinning around to let every drop land on my skin and in my hair.
Rei chuckled again. “I love seeing you so happy.”
My heart tugged and twisted and melted all at the same time. I couldn’t breathe, but I didn’t even want to.
You love seeing me happy…Do you love me, Reiven? I can’t actually ask that, can I?
I settled for giving him a smile and a peck on his cheek.
His skin tasted of salt and coconut water, sun-warmed and delicious.
Those dimples I loved appeared in his cheeks as he lifted me into his arms like I was his bride, keeping his face close to mine so that I could pepper him with more butterfly kisses.
I got a bit too eager and ended up making him laugh and fall back into the water, but he refused to let me go as he sat amongst the waves.
“Zephra,” he said softly. He nudged my cheek with his nose and smiled. “Let’s stay here forever.”
My Siren blood should have screamed at the thought. But I nodded and wrapped my arms around him in an embrace that I never wanted to end.