Chapter 17

Chapter

Seventeen

There was a naked woman in his bed.

There was a naked woman in his bed draped across his body, and yes, that was her bare breast smooshed between them, touching his bare skin.

What had Reid gotten himself into?

His mind and body were in complete opposition.

She was fierce, lethal, but vulnerable too. She'd just shared some seriously fucked up shit about her past, and here he was mentally begging his ill-timed erection to go down. This was not an appropriate time to quietly lust.

He'd seen the photos. The exposé had included graphic pictures of Nireed in captivity.

Now that he knew it was her, knew what to look for, there were traces of her in that mermaid. Things like the color of her hair and scales and fins, but apart from that, they were hardly recognizable. And it was a damn good thing. That version of Nireed had been dying. Her complexion was gray, her scales dull and flaking off. Her body was too thin, and her eyes dim.

There was none of her current vibrance and luster in those photos.

Now, here she was in his arms, risking everything to help her people. It was bravery in the truest sense of the word. She knew the consequences of getting caught. She knew exactly what would happen to her. Because she'd lived it .

And it haunted her.

Last night's nightmare had begun with a whimper. He was so used to living alone in this quiet space beside the sea, and so used to living on the edge of the next emergency, that even that soft sound had woken him. When he'd looked over at her sleeping form, her tail was twitching, and her shoulders occasionally gave a slight jerk, but when those little, hypnic movements turned into thrashing, the word "No" cried out on repeat, he'd launched from the couch to her side.

He shouldn't have tried to wake her. It was PTSD 101, and he'd remembered that too late. She'd already woken up in a blind panic, scrambling for safety, only to nearly drown when her injured muscles locked tight. "I'm sorry, Starfish," he murmured, pressing his cheek to the top of her head. "I won't make that mistake again."

Until she healed from her injuries, being around while she slept was going to be a repeat thing. It made his insides all weird and fluttery, like the moment before his stomach dropped on a rollercoaster ride.

He let out a heavy sigh, Nireed rising and falling with his chest. No hesitation, no shyness, she just latched onto him. Just like a…

Just like a little starfish. Fuck. She'd no right being this damn cute. He held her a little closer, and a little tighter, feeling like he'd just learned something deeply intimate. A vicious creature of the deep she may be, but she was also an indomitable snuggler, and he'd bet money she'd been that way her whole life.

Shrugging down into a more relaxed position, he closed his eyes, tuning in to the boat's gentle rocking motion and the waves lapping in steady rhythm against its hull. The sea breeze brought coolness and the ocean's signature, pungent salt and algae scent. The strip of forest on shore nearby was a chorus of crickets and tree frogs. And Nireed. She'd nuzzled her face into the groove where arm met pectoral, a fist bunched loosely on his chest, her soft breaths fanning out across his skin.

The ocean's soothing lullaby and Nireed's reassuring warmth lulled him into a deep sleep.

The next time Reid opened his eyes, night had fallen, and Nireed was right where he'd left her. Amber bioluminescence winked faintly in the dark, like clusters of fireflies had come to rest on her skin. Her tailfin flexed up, then down, twinkling.

They'd evidently slept through the entire day. And if they slept through his next two liberty days, it wouldn't be a bad thing. They sorely needed it.

A soft, hitched gasp escaped Nireed as she shifted her weight, her hips rolling into his thigh at the exact moment her hand slid dangerously close to his junk. Which was fantastically bad timing. He fell asleep hard but woke up even harder.

He tried to angle his hips away, but her hand was curled firmly at the juncture between hip and thigh, claws curving inward, and she held him in place, sighing contently. It didn't hurt, but he wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon.

While he tried to discreetly readjust himself without jostling her, she chose that moment of all moments to roll on top of him, blinking down at him sleepily with glowing amber eyes. Her body settled in the cradle of his hips, very much pinning his dick between them. Save for the tight, compression boxers he wore, there wasn't a stitch of clothing between them. And yet, his hands fell to her hips, his knees instinctively bent to brace her, framing her tail with his legs.

Like he was getting ready to start bucking up into her.

Oh fucking no.

She rubbed her throat, her voice harsh and rasping. "It's dry in here."

Oh, is that all? God help him.

"Want a glass of water?" The question came out sounding a little bit strangled even to his own ears.

She shook her head. "Need to swim." She pushed off him, his breath whooshing out in a quiet "oof" as she slunk to the floor. "Come with me. Make sure I don't almost drown again."

Either she somehow hadn't noticed his hard-on, or she was politely ignoring it.

Tucking his dick into the waistband of his boxers, he swung his legs off the bed. He should see how her wound was healing, make sure infection wasn't setting in. "Let me swap out your bandages first."

First responder mode would get his body back under control.

Huffing impatiently, Nireed rolled onto her back, propping herself up on her elbows.

He swallowed thickly, reaching for his EMS kit with a shaky hand.

Her long, dark brown hair had fallen back, giving him an eyeful, as she splayed out along his floor, not a stitch of clothing on her, looking like a goddamn feast.

Using the kit to hide himself, he knelt on the floor next to her. But the cramped quarters meant he couldn't do so without some part of him touching some part of her. He desperately tried not to think about how his thigh pressed snugly against her cool scales and warm skin as he worked a corner loose on the old bandage. "How's it feel?"

"A little sore. Kind of itchy."

He peeled back the bandage and sucked in a surprised breath.

"What?" She looked down. "It looks fine."

That was just it. Not only did the injury look fine, it looked mostly healed. What had been a gaping wound less than twelve hours ago was now a deep pink scar. He'd used dissolvable sutures, and in most places, they were gone. At this stage in healing, there wasn't any reason to rebandage it.

"You heal fast," he marveled, running a thumb beneath the spot.

"Have to. Blood attracts sharks."

Shuffling back, he examined her tailfin, taking the flowing, piscine material into his hands. It shimmered as he sifted through the folds, checking on the sutures he'd stitched. The healing was patchier here. In some places, the membrane had fused back together; in others, it was still red and raw, but even those spots didn't look inflamed. Her fin was healing well, just not as rapidly as her flesh.

"Does it hurt?" He applied antiseptic ointment to the reddest areas. Even if it all washed off in five minutes during her swim, with how fast her body healed, maybe it would absorb this quickly, too. Anything, even if just a little, to help the process along couldn't hurt.

"Not much. Not a lot of feeling there, remember?"

He did remember, but it was a part of his training to ask, and he was going through the motions in a feeble attempt to keep his lust in check.

When he finished up her tail, he returned to her side, applying scar cream this time.

"Thank you, Reid," she said softly. "For taking care of me."

"Always." He looked up into her awaiting eyes. "I'm really glad you're healing this well. I don't like seeing you hurt."

It wasn't until she rested her hand on top of his that he realized two things. One, he hadn't stopped touching her. And two, not only was he still touching her, he'd gone and laid his hand across her belly.

"Come swim with me?" Something that looked a lot like hope sparked in her eyes. How could he say no to that? Especially not after stealing that light with an almost kiss he'd been too chicken to follow through with.

He nodded. "Go on. Just need to put this away first."

Reid waited for her to clear the door before readjusting himself and following her.

The air was cool when he stepped out onto the diving platform, a thick tapestry of stars overhead. He placed his hands on his hips, gazing up. He never tired of that view.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Nireed was looking up, too, from the water, her tail fanning beneath in long, easy strokes. The mystifying translucent quality of her skin and muscles had returned, hints of her skeletal structure glowing from within, and she twinkled like starlight, a mini universe under her skin.

Reid wanted nothing more than to be in her orbit. "It's breathtaking."

She smiled up at the sky, and despite that smile's sharp edges, it didn't look malicious. Just serene.

Not wanting to ruin this tranquility, he lowered himself into the water—which was fucking cold—but he wasn't going to undercut the moment by complaining. He swam beside her.

When she turned that smile on him, his breath caught in his throat.

How cold it was no longer mattered. How scared and unsure he'd been, a distant memory. When she smiled at him like that, looked at him like he brought her peace, he knew.

Something big had changed in the time between the night they met and now, something cataclysmic. And he had a choice to make. Nireed was a bright, shining beacon in a fathomless sea, and he was standing on the continental shelf, peering down into the deep, dark unknown. Once he dove in, he could never turn back.

Beneath the water, he slid his hand into hers, her fins swaying, and his legs fluttering to the same easy beat. Warmth radiated from her body, chasing away the ocean's cold caress.

"I made a mistake earlier today," he said, holding her gaze. Nodes of light dotted her face in biologically strategic clusters—at her temples, down the bridge of her nose, and one singular dot below her chin—illuminating just enough of her face in the dark that he could see expression. "And I'd like to make up for it, if you'll let me."

Her gaze dipped to his lips before meeting his eyes once more, uncertainty writ in the pinch of her brows. "What was your mistake?" She clutched his hand a little tighter, waiting for his response. For all she knew, whatever he said next could break her heart, and yet, she still sought him for comfort.

He pulled her closer, pressing his forehead to hers.

Ever so carefully, she threaded her claws through his hair. "Among my people, this," she gently bumped her forehead to his, "means listen closely. I'm listening, Reid."

"I should have kissed you." He threaded an arm around her waist, pulling their bodies flush.

Her bioluminescence pulsed. "Why didn't you?"

"You were hurt." That was part of it, but if he was honest, it wasn't the only reason. "And I was scared, too, of what I'm feeling for you."

"What I am, where I come from, it won't be easy."

Leagues of ocean stood between them. His demanding work schedule, too, and her obligations to her people. But a strange sort of certainty aligned within him. Something about swimming beneath the stars made the impossible feel possible. Or maybe it was her, and some unspoken, unknowable thing between them, telling him they could make this work.

"Maybe not, but I think it'll be worth it. Can I kiss you, Starfish?"

A bright, pretty smile ticked up the corners of her mouth, and she nodded, angling in.

Slotting his lips over hers, Reid captured their softness and laid claim to that joy. The thought of razor-sharp teeth pricking his lip crossed his mind, but it was that smile he leaned into. They went slowly, carefully. Her taking as much, if not more, care than him. This kiss was aware of the danger, but not hindered by it.

Lifting their hands, he brought hers to his hip, then cupped her cheek, seeking, searching, molding his mouth to the shape of hers. The taste of salt gave way to sweet, and a surprised gasp escaped her when he deepened the kiss, delving past parted lips and sharp teeth to caress his tongue to hers, an intrepid explorer boldly diving into the unknown.

Reid embraced Nireed like he had the ocean, fully and without fear.

Nireed arched into him, holding back a tempest, wanting to possess his mouth, part his lips further and pour in her desire, but if she took too much too soon, he would flee. He liked her well enough to initiate a kiss, but how much would he like her if she accidentally bit him? Drew blood?

A guilty thrill raced up her spine, wondering how he'd taste.

"I can take it," he broke away to say, stroking a thumb across her cheek. "Can feel you holding back. Don't."

"Reid, I need you to listen to me." She bowed her forehead to his. "If I cut you, if you bleed, I'm going to like the taste. Will you be all right with that?"

He paused. "Does the thought of tasting me turn you on?" There was a little trepidation in his voice, but his cock twitched, too, the press of her body keeping him warm. But this was different from the night they first met. Tonight, the scent of his interest was stronger than his fear.

"It does," she answered truthfully. "But how you feel is more important."

"I think I'd like to try."

An idea struck. This didn't have to be one-sided.

"Taste me first. It's only fair." She lifted a claw to her lower lip, nicking it down the center. Blood welled, then beaded.

His heartbeat sped up, but he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, and leaned in. She thought he'd give a quick lick and be done with it, but no. He dragged his tongue across her lower lip, lingering and laving, before sucking it into his mouth and savoring her taste like one might a rare delicacy.

A soft moan escaped her, her scales beginning to part. Reid seized her hips with both hands, pressing her to his rock-hard length.

He tugged at her lip before releasing it, and the self-assured grin that followed wrecked her insides. "You liked that?"

"Yeah," she said, a little breathless. "You?"

"Mhm." He ensnared her mouth in another kiss, more forceful and searching than the last, urging her to finally give him her all. It was a frenzy of entangled lips, and hungry, lashing tongues. A fearless kiss that consumed them both, and when he inevitably cut himself on her teeth, rather than pull away, he slid his hands up her bare back, tangling them in her hair, utterly unyielding.

And he tasted good. So blissfully good, her head spun. This wasn't just acceptance of what she was. This was craving it, and the possibilities that came with that made her dizzy.

Brushing her hair over her shoulders, Reid broke their kiss, drinking her in with a heavy-lidded gaze. When she invited him to touch her, he filled his hand with her breast, pushing and tenderly squeezing the soft flesh. When she begged for more, he bent, sucking a nipple into his mouth, pulling pleasure straight up from her core.

A shared moan filled the quiet night, harmonized by the lapping waves.

Reaching between them, his fingers ghosted along her tail. "Part your pretty scales for me."

Her heart thudded wildly against her chest.

She knew he wanted her the moment she woke up and rolled over to find his erection pressing insistently between them. That, and the air had been ripe with his need. But as much as she'd wanted to answer that call right then and there, she wanted him to be sure more.

And he was plenty sure now.

Taking his hand, she guided him in stroking her front, along the section of scales not yet parted—down, but not up. She was smooth in one direction, abrasive the other, and she didn't want him cutting himself. He was an attentive student, and soon she opened wide for him, presenting the flesh of her seam, dewy and luminescent.

Reid sucked in a breath. He met her eyes a moment before looking between them, running the pad of his finger lightly along her swell. "Is this okay?"

"Yes," she breathed, threading her arms around his neck. "Touch me."

She watched as he dipped two fingers into her glowing amber seam, wetting himself on her moisture. One by one, he eased them in with gentle, measured strokes. Taking his hand again, she guided him where her sensitive pearl hid, just on the upper-inside lip of her seam.

"Right here?" He rubbed circles around the spot with his thumb.

"Right there." She gasped, clutching him.

Wrapping his arm around her waist for support, he pumped his fingers in and out, sending pleasure rippling throughout her body, her luminescence winking in time to his ministrations.

"God, that's beautiful," he murmured against the corner of her mouth. "You're iridescent."

She rocked her tail into his hand, craving the release he could give. "You're good at this."

But it was more than that. This felt right . This was what she'd held out for. What she longed for.

When arguing with Aersila and Undine about duties to the pod, and who she should or shouldn't mate with, she hadn't known yet if Reid and she had a future together. But locked here with him in this intimate embrace, she knew. This was her mate. Her one and only. And nothing, not her sister, not Undine, and not the distance between them, would keep her from him.

He bumped his nose affectionately to hers. "Getting feedback in real-time is encouraging."

"You like praise too?"

"Yeah, Starfish. I do." He increased his pace, fingers hitting up to the knuckle. "You gonna tell me I'm a good boy?"

From the top of her head to her tingling tailfins, her body tremored, a wave of slick coating his fingers. "A very good boy."

A curse fell from his lips, and he bowed his head, burying his face in her neck. "This water's damn cold, but I don't feel it. I'm burning up inside."

Maybe he was made for these waters, after all.

Carefully, oh so carefully, she dragged a claw down the center of his chest to the flat of his stomach, pausing only to tease the fabric that covered him.

"I think you can make me come without touching me," he began to say, but she nipped delicately at his lower lip, easing the fabric down his hips, his length springing free.

"But I want to touch you," she said, gliding a hand over him, loving the feel of him in her palm. Back and forth, back and forth. "So very much."

He let out a ragged breath, his gaze meeting hers. In the dark, his brown eyes were two shining pools as black as the abyss. "Nireed, I need…"

She squeezed him lightly, drawing out a groan.

A song as old as the oceans thrummed through her veins. A need for what he gave and what more he could give tumbled from her lips in a breathless plea, "Mate with me."