Chapter 39

Chapter

Thirty-Nine

A week passed, then two, before his siren returned to shore. Her grief was still there, and always would be, but her smiles came a little quicker and her laughter a little fuller. Not forgetting but moving forward.

Tucked behind him on his motorcycle, Reid brought Nireed to his favorite stretch of woods at twilight, the star-encrusted sky chasing away the last remnants of sunset. Where forest opened to the bay beyond, the ocean's glassy surface sparkled in the fading light. There was something he wanted to show her. Two somethings, but he was saving the second for later.

Beneath her helmet's face shield, she wore a black silk blindfold, to help him time the reveal just right, but if he was being perfectly honest with himself, he loved seeing her wrapped in silk. Pressed up against his back with her arms hugged around his waist, Nireed nuzzled into him, using him for warmth and stability. God, it was one of his favorite ways to feel her.

I love you.

Ever since The Seriphus , those three little words were a ball of fire in his chest, but he wanted the moment to be right when he told her. Someplace quiet, calm, and just the two of them. Nowhere poisoned by Nautic's evil touch.

His stomach was a fluttery mess of excitement and adrenaline when he parked his motorcycle in the empty grove and shut off the engine. So much so that his hands shook when he gently lifted the helmet from her head and withdrew the plugs from her ears. Taking her by the hand, he led her to the picnic table, seating her at the bench that faced both forest and water.

He climbed up behind her, sitting on top of the table so that she sat wedged between his knees. Smoothing his fingers over the silk and lightly brushing her skin, he asked softly, "You ready, Starfish?"

She nodded eagerly, vibrating with excited energy.

Tugging the tie loose, Reid slipped the blindfold from around her eyes.

Fireflies flitted in and out in between the trees, their flashing amber bodies dotting the approaching night in an ever-shifting constellation. The bioluminescence of his world.

She gasped, clawed hands clasping over her mouth. As she watched, he enfolded her in his arms, resting his chin on top of her head.

I love you.

But he didn't say it. Didn't want to interrupt.

When she twisted around, brow adorably creased by wonder, her eyes sparkled with their luminescent light. "It's beautiful."

He cupped her face with both hands and kissed her, taking his time, caressing her throat with his thumbs. Savoring the decadent push and pull of her lips, the way she grasped his wrists, holding him close. I adore you. I crave you. I want you to be mine. Always.

Releasing her with a smile, he said, "Go on. See if you can catch one."

A wicked grin twisted her lips, equal parts amused and baited by the challenge. Slipping from his arms, she walked toward the trees, shedding his spare leather jacket, letting it fall from her shoulders to the ground.

Lifting her arms in line with the horizon, palms facing up, the bioluminescent nodes along her arms flickered to life. She dimmed their glow and matched it to the fireflies' slow, lazy blinking. Drawn to her light, the fireflies flew in close, hovering, investigating.

One landed on her palm, and moving so carefully, each step unhurried, she spun to face him. "I only thought such light existed in the sea," she marveled, turning her hand as the glowing beetle crawled to the other side. "Glows just like me."

I love you.

Shrugging out of his leather jacket, he stood to join her.

"They only come out this time of year." He stopped just in front of her, the toes of his boots nudging hers. Smoothing his hand along her outstretched arm, he drew back the strap of her tank top and pressed a soft kiss to her bare shoulder. "Reminds me there's still magic left in the world."

She smiled, a sweet contrast to the fangs it revealed.

The firefly flew away, and she rose on her tiptoes to kiss him, her claws skimming his sides as she drew up his shirt. "Swim with me," she whispered against his mouth.

Heat prickled his skin, every inch pleading for her touch. Piece by piece, they shucked their clothes, leaving them in a heap on the ground. Reid paused only to pluck a condom from his wallet before taking her hand. Together, they picked their way over the boulders lining the shore, wading into the water.

Letting go of his hand, she dove in, slipping seamlessly into her mermaid form, silver scales shimmering in the moonlight. He set the foil packet on a rock near the water's edge, then dove in after her, letting the sea take him whole. A cold, but invigorating plunge.

He followed her into deeper water.

All his life he chased the sea. That desire, that draw was always there, living deep in his soul, from his first kicks in a pool to long summer days spent at the lake. His life's path was always bringing him here to this moment. To her .

She circled back, twisting around him in graceful, artful spirals, her tailfins caressing his skin with every pass.

Expelling the air from his lungs, he sank down to watch her and the mesmerizing ripple of amber starlight across her skin. She slowed, floating in front of him, waiting to see what he'd do. What wouldn't he do, for her, to her, with her?

He was going to take the job Lila offered him. Get his technical diving certification. And he was going to live on that research ship so he could see Nireed every single day for as long as she'd have him.

Taking her by the hips, he pushed himself down, staring up into her lambent predator's gaze as he pressed a kiss to belly, just below her navel. And there, he considered a what-if. No, a secret hope. A someday.

Would their kids have his dark brown eyes? Or would they be luminescent like hers? Would they be able to breathe underwater and shift between human and merfolk forms? Would they like human things, too, like shoulder rides? He hoped so. He could picture himself giving plenty of those. Little ankles clasped in his hands. Joyful giggles and squeals.

He hoped they'd get the very best of both worlds.

A burning in his lungs forced him up for air. He sucked in a deep lungful, heart hammering as Nireed bobbed to the surface beside him.

A loon called out into the night, its haunting melody echoing from the opposite shore, sending shivers down his spine. Another answered, and they both paused to listen, smiling softly as they drifted into each other's arms.

One of nature's best sounds this side of the world had to offer. And Nireed got to hear it.

"Thank you for bringing me here," she murmured, nuzzling his neck. "It's becoming my favorite place."

"I think the kelp forest is mine."

Pulled into the deep by his sea goddess, hers was the only light in that dark abyss. Ravished. Bespelled. Utterly ensnared. The memory brought a new surge of heat.

Her amber gaze flashed, smile turning wicked once again. "Which part?"

"All of it."

Clasping his hips, she dipped beneath the water, his heart racing at a million beats per minute as she kissed down his torso, his belly tensing beneath her lips. She nipped at the tender skin at his hip.

"Taste me," he pleaded, guiding one of her claws.

It was unhinged, asking a flesh-eating siren to swallow him, but fucking hell he wanted it and nicked himself anyway. Giving his hip a light squeeze, she took him in the smooth glide of her mouth, chasing away the sting of salt, her tongue worrying over the tender spot where he bled. He groaned, fingers curling in her hair. He knew from their second meeting that she could retract her fangs, and she had done so for this.

It had been a gamble, but if he could trust her at one hundred feet beneath the surface, he could trust her now.

She sucked him down further, far, far deeper than expected, and when her throat convulsed around his tip, he almost blacked out from the pleasure of it.

Releasing him, she popped back to the surface, staring at him with a self-satisfied smirk, knowing that trick alone had him seconds from coming. Wicked, wicked tease . He seized her in a hard, demanding kiss, pulling them both back to shore where he could get some goddammed leverage.

It was his turn to ravish her with the land at her back.

Splaying her out on a smooth, sandy patch—his legs entwined with her tail in water—he tore into the foil packet he'd left on shore with impatient ferocity and sheathed himself. He tossed the wrapper away from the leisurely lapping tide—something to grab on their way out—and plunged his tongue into the plush seam beneath her parted scales, attacking her clit.

"Reid!" She gasped, back arching off the shore as she grabbed onto his hair, bioluminescence a rapid, erratic flashing.

He worked her with punishing strokes of his tongue, making her quiver and sing his name some more. Each moan dragged from her lips took on an enchanting lilt, just as eerie and haunting as the loon song they'd heard, but this made his mind fuzzy with euphoria.

Didn't matter that he'd pinned her to the sand, demanded dominance, one word, and he was hers to command. Anything she wanted. She'd always bewitched him, had him wrapped around her pretty little claws, but this was something new, and he never wanted to escape her thrall.

"You singing for me?" He rolled his tongue where she liked it best, nice and slow.

"Yes," she said, with a heavy-lidded nod. "Do you like it?"

"I love it."

Her song began as a low hum, one he felt in his skin, his marrow, his very soul, thrumming in time to his beating heart. Building, building, until a soft crooning fell from her lips, dreamy as a lullaby, and yet seductive in its deeper, richer pitch. He loved watching her pretty throat work to make the sound as her body quaked for him.

A hard, well-placed suck made her song falter. "Keep singing," he whispered to her slick flesh.

Her brow pinched, his name a breathy plea, the sweetest note.

I know, sweetheart. Almost there.

But she sang, even though her voice trembled. She sang just for him.

A little more pressure and Nireed came with a sharp, melodic cry. He stroked his fingers over her lips, down her throat, watching her face fall into bliss. Such a perfect sound.

When her breathing evened, she opened her eyes with a sleepy blink. "I want more."

"Good. Not done with you yet." With a quick kiss to her cheek, he slotted himself in place. She was tight, having just come, but she spread her seam, and nodded for him to continue.

"You sure?"

"You won't hurt me."

He pushed in slowly, carefully, her channel slick but squeezing him something fierce. And all the while, he watched her expression for any sign of discomfort. None came.

A soft, contented sigh escaped her lips.

Nothing felt so perfect as this night. Above, tree limbs heavy with needles swayed, their silhouettes visible against the backdrop of the starry night sky. Below, water lapped at her tail, and the man she loved took her where land met sea.

Reid's arms were braced to either side of her, fingers curling in her hair, face turned into her neck. And there he kissed her skin, smoothed his tongue over her gills, teasing the folds. He quickly learned that they were sensitive—each stroke shot a lovely electric jolt to her tail, her pleasure a continuous tide coating them both—and he had been lavishing them with attention ever since.

Sliding her claws up Reid's thighs and over the round of his backside, Nireed pressed him into her, urging his hips on, now flying at a furious pace.

His breath came out in harsh pants, the finish close. Then, when he punched into her for one final thrust, his forehead fell to hers, their skin sticky with sweat. Lying here, their bodies locked together between land and sea, Reid whispered, "I love you, Starfish. I love you so damn much, and I've been meaning to say it all night."

She pulled back, staring into his eyes, and knowing she'd seen that look many times before, but had never known what it meant. Now she did. All this time, he loved her.

She was smiling so hard it hurt.

"You love me, Coast Warrior?"

"I love the ever-loving shit out of you."

It was an odd phrase, but it must be Surface Dweller for the deepest sort of love there was, if his beaming smile was anything to go by. Hugging him tight, she said, "I love the ever-loving shit out of you too."

A joyful scent was rolling off Reid in waves. He planted a kiss on her cheek, her lips. "What do merfolk do to make this official?"

"Official?" she repeated back, confused.

"Yeah, do I ask you to become my mate? Or is girlfriend more appropriate?"

Her heart skipped a beat. His mate.

He was always hers, her one and only, but she had kept that tucked away in her heart, secret and safe, waiting for him to know it and want it too. And now he was asking, eyes bright with hope, and the promise of new beginnings. A life of happiness and devotion.

"The first one," she whispered. "The second, whichever. Both."

He laughed, nuzzling her nose. "Will you make me the luckiest Surface Dweller on this planet and be my mate? My girlfriend too?"

"I'll be both." She sealed the promise with a kiss.

When she pulled away, he tapped the tip of her nose. "I've another surprise for you."

"Another?" A giddy, bubbly feeling filled her chest.

"Yes, another. I wanted this to be a night to remember."

It already was. What more could there be?

When Reid brought her back to his houseboat and pulled away the tarp draped over the side, she saw it, painted in big blue letters across the hull.

Starfish .

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