15. Vanessa

Chapter 15

I'd passed out.

Me, who could look at blood and not feel a twinge. Who could probably gut a deer in a pinch and eat the heart raw. Who could clean up cat puke along with the best of them . . . had passed out.

Thankfully, I roused quickly because a clear crystal puffer fish the size of a small house and with sharp spikes jutting off its body and long clear fangs had erupted from beneath the water and was roaring toward us.

I leaped to my feet and yanked on Aizor's arm, trying to drag him away from the approaching beast. Was he stunned by the creature's appearance, or had it somehow lulled him? I'd seen no evidence of what I'd call magic in this world, but I'd only been here about twenty-four hours.

"Come on," I shouted. "We've gotta run."

When he just blinked down at me, looking puzzled, I jumped and grabbed the hilt of his sword, wrangling it out of the sheath.

The mean daddy puffer slammed against the shore and skidded toward us . . .

I thrust myself between it and Aizor and growled, baring my teeth and struggling to lift the very heavy sword. Just try to bite me or my mate, and I'll . . .

Aizor plucked the sword from my hands and quickly returned it to the sheath. He swept me up, tucking me beneath his arm and rattled on about who knows what all in what I took as a chiding voice.

While I flailed and bellowed for him to put me down, he strode toward the puffer.

Its mouth opened.

Oh, shit. He'd decided to get rid of me. He was going to chuck me into the mouth and wash his hands of me, so to speak. He'd plea to his gods for them to send him a new, improved mate. One who could not only understand his language but who swooned on the bed furs.

When he patted me on the head and murmured something even I, in my wildly uncontrolled panic, could only take as reassurance, I stopped struggling.

While I gaped and cringed, he walked down the shore and stepped inside the creature's open mouth. He continued along the throat—please don't swallow! —until he reached what must be the stomach. Murky liquid sloshed at the bottom, and I didn't want to know what the floating blobs might be.

He slid me around and perched me on his waist with an arm around my back like I was an unruly toddler. Then he chattered away in a soothing voice while the mouth of the creature closed.

It wiggled, backing into the water, and sunk.

I yelped and clung to Aizor while he patted my back, pressing my face against his shoulder.

When the creatures jostling smoothed, I cracked one eye to peek. We were floating below the surface inside a freaking alien puffer fish.

I sucked in a breath that oddly tasted sweet—definitely not examining that closely while partly digested gook sloshed around not far from my feet. I had no interest in asking him to put me down, but oh how I stared around in wonder.

Our puffer ride had clear flesh.

Fish of every imaginable color of purple zipped here and there, schools of them swarming in one direction then another. Some took one look at the puffer and bolted with a flick of their tails while others hung in one place, cocking one of many eyes our way. Spiky plants coated the bottom in various shades of pink, green, and purple, and tinier glassy fish darted around the strands.

The puffer undulated through the water, and I assumed it was taking us to the island.

The wonder of this place never ceased to amaze me.

I looked up to find Aizor grinning. He said something that sounded kind, ending it withfook eff. That got me laughing, and he joined it.

When his smile grew wider, my breathing came to a halt. Damn, he was gorgeous when he grinned. Even more handsome when he laughed. The skin around his Caribbean blue eyes crinkled, and his whole face glowed.

And when he leaned over and gave me a kiss, I melted.

Caught up in the wonderful feeling, I tightened my legs around him and stroked his face, opening his mouth to his tongue.

Everything inside me pounded as a mixture of lust and affection galloped through me. I clung to him, stroking his face, and tilted my head to give him better access to my mouth.

His tongue swirled across mine, and when he lifted his head, he stared at me with a look I could only describe as love. Like, he adored me for who I was and who I might be in the future. As if he couldn't imagine a world without me in it.

The same feeling crashed through me, and it scared the wits out of me.

I dragged my gaze from his, pressing my face against his shoulder, struggling to regain control.

Why was I thinking of my jerk of an ex and how he used to tell me I meant everything to him while checking out whatever woman happened to be walking by?

I bet Aizor wouldn't even notice if someone passed us as long as I was there with him.

Comparing him to a jerk only made him more appealing, and that scared me too.

"I—"

The puffer fish grounded on something hard, jolting us forward, though Aizor barely shifted his feet in the yuck.

I bit back whatever I was going to say as the fish slowly turned to face our destination. Its great maw stretched wide, and Aizor walked up the throat slope and out into pure sunshine.

As the fish slid back into the lake, he walked into the water up to his knees, where he was swarmed by tiny fish who licked off every bit of the gook coating his gorgeous blue skin.

With a grunt, he walked back up onto the shore and placed me on my feet.

"There, my pretty mate," he said. "Wasn't that a pleasant journey?"