Chapter 7

7

“Choosing is impossible!” I shouted, and stormed down to the living room where Grant, Jong-min, and Jong-hyun watched television.

Packing my suitcase for the trip was frustrating me because I couldn’t decide what to bring.

“Are you sure I can’t be transported on the plane in my tank?” I asked as I sat on Jong-hyun’s lap.

He stroked my hair and purred softly. “Sorry, love, but you cannot bring your tank. Plus, it would be really expensive to take it since we would have to ship you on a cargo plane instead of a normal one. Plus, it could break during transport to and from and then you wouldn’t have a tank here and you’d have to save up to buy a new one again. Do you really want to be on a cargo plane in your tank instead of with us?”

“Can you help me pack? I can’t decide on clothes,” I whispered and leaned my head back against his shoulder.

He kissed my cheek and nodded. “Of course. Do you want to eat first before we tackle it?”

“What time is it?” I asked and realized I had left my cell phone in my bedroom.

“Six o’clock,” Jong-min answered.

I jumped up. “Oh no! I have my date with Reed in thirty minutes and I’m not ready!”

Rushing upstairs, I quickly got dressed, did my hair and makeup, and ran back down.

“Don’t wait up!” I called as I ran outside.

Luckily, we were meeting at a restaurant nearby, so I didn’t have to worry about getting a ride. And, we had made a reservation, even though we were regulars and they likely would have seated us quickly even without one.

A block to the restaurant, I slowed and took deep breaths to calm my heart. It wouldn’t do to show up huffing and puffing for our date. He didn’t need to know I was almost late.

When I opened the door to the restaurant, it was to find three men with guns aimed at the patrons.

One of them spun and aimed it at me. “Don’t move!” he shouted.

I put my hands up and froze, the door hit me in the back since I was partially in the doorway.

“Walk slowly into the restaurant,” one of them ordered.

Guns usually meant one thing … humans. Why were humans in a restaurant with weapons?

“I don’t have any money or jewelry,” I told them. “So, I’ll just back out.”

I took all of two steps before one of them shot me.

Women in the restaurant screamed and everyone cowered on the ground with hands over their heads.

Looking down slowly, I stared at the spot the bullet had hit, tearing a hole in my dress, but not able to penetrate my shark scales. “This is my favorite dress!” I snapped as fury consumed me.

“What the fuck are you?” the one who had shot me squeaked.

“I am vengeance,” I said in a deep voice. Drawing on my power, I let out more of my scales to protect from the additional bullets they were likely going to shoot at me. Springing forward, I grabbed the gun from the one who had shot me and swung it like a bat to hit him in the head. Bone crunched, blood sprayed, and he fell to the ground.

The other two snapped out of their surprise and started shooting. Some humans were stupid and these two seemed really stupid, so I ran between them. Just as expected, they continued firing, aiming at me, and ended up shooting each other as I ran between them.

Both men fell and the restaurant became silent.

“Kass!” Reed yelled as he ran inside, likely having heard the gunfire from outside. He jumped over the dead human and grabbed my arms. “Are you okay?”

My teeth ached to tear into flesh. Killing them in this way wasn’t satisfying at all. I should have bitten their heads off while they screamed and begged for mercy. I should have torn an arm off or …

“Kass,” Reed said again and set his hand on my cheek.

Shaking my head to clear the bloodlust, I let my body shift back to human and dropped my head against his shoulder. “They shot a hole in my favorite dress.”

He pushed me back and examined the hole on my stomach and pressed down, likely looking for blood.

“No injuries,” I said. “Just upset.” I looked around the room at the patrons starting to get to their feet. “Is everyone else okay?”

I hadn’t realized that the same bachelorette group was here and they immediately rushed over to me, crying. “Thank you for saving us,” the bachelorette cried. “I thought I was going to die before I ever got married!”

I patted her head awkwardly. “You’re okay now.”

“Thank you,” the others in her party chorused and took turns hugging me.

Reed smiled as he watched my awkwardness and embarrassment. I was never the savior or the one praised. I was the villain or seen as evil in most situations. It was … weird.

“We have to close for tonight, but please come back tomorrow and your food will be on the house,” the restaurant manager said, teary-eyed, as he shook my hand vigorously.

“Okay,” I agreed, not one to turn down free food.

The police came a short while later, took everyone’s statements, and the surveillance videos for proof.

“Well, since this place isn’t open now, where else would you like to eat?” Reed asked, his arm around my waist.

“Tacos,” I said. “I want tacos.”

He nodded. “Okay, let’s get tacos.” We walked in silence a bit as we headed to our favorite taco place and I finally felt the bloodlust fully dissipate. “Are you really okay?” he asked. “I’m sorry I was late. I should have been there sooner.”

“If you’d been there sooner, you might have gotten shot instead of me and you don’t have bulletproof skin, Reed. I’m really okay.”

He shook his head and growled. “I’m sorry.”

I set my hand on his forearm, stopping him just outside of our favorite Mexican restaurant. “Reed, you really don’t?—”

His arms wrapped around me and he hugged me tight, burying his head against my neck. “I know you’re capable of protecting yourself. I know you aren’t a damsel in distress. That doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t protect you. I’m courting you and that means I should do everything in my power to protect you. Knowing you were shot, that you could have been killed, sets off my protective instincts. If you hadn’t used your scales, or been too slow to use them, I could have walked into that restaurant to find you bleeding on the ground.” His grip tightened and I was glad for my strong skin or I might have had to ask him to release me. Instead, I relished the tightness, the closeness I’d been missing for so long.

“You weren’t there to protect me,” I reminded him. “Are you going to blame yourself if I’m injured when you aren’t here in the future? That’ll lead to insanity. Let’s just focus on the fact that I’m uninjured and enjoy our night, okay? The only important thing is to focus on our now, not the uncertainty of the future or what-ifs.”

He leaned back and looked down into my eyes. “Kass…”

Whatever he’d been about to say was interrupted by a group of drunk males shouting and laughing as they walked by.

“Let’s get some tacos,” I said with a smile, kissed his cheek, and linked our hands together.

He returned my smile and said, “Tacos and margaritas.”

My smile widened. “You know the way to my heart.”

Once seated and margaritas before us, I told him about the stupid humans I’d defeated.

He relaxed and laughed as I told him about it and things finally felt like they were going back to normal between us.

He told me about work and I told him about some of the kids who’d come to see me.

“You know, you’re getting quite famous for your aerobatics in the tank,” he said with a smirk.

My eyebrows rose. “I am?”

He nodded. “Lot of kids are talking about it and there’s even a discussion board questioning the oddness of it since sharks don’t normally do backflips. Some think you’re a super intelligent shark. Some have mentioned you possibly being a shifter, but overall, everyone seems to love that you are part of the aquarium, so you don’t have a reason to worry. So long as you don’t shift, I think you’re just making little kids excited to see you and come to the aquarium.”

I felt my cheeks warm and looked down at my drink. “I love seeing their smiling faces. When I first started, they looked at me with awe, but also fear and I didn’t like that fear. That’s when I started doing it. I just hope I don’t end up getting the aquarium in trouble if someone does discover I’m a shifter.”

He set his hand on top of mine on the table and when I looked up, he smiled warmly at me, so handsome and loving. “You’re doing good not just for the kids, but your species. There are kids now doing projects and research on tiger sharks, a species not previously discussed frequently. I think it’s awesome. You’re awesome.”

Warmth bloomed in my chest, but there was still that bit of coldness, fear, that he was going to ultimately leave me.

“Thank you,” I whispered and looked down so he wouldn’t see that sour note on my face. So I wouldn’t ruin our date, which had been awesome so far.

We finished our meals and drinks, then strolled down the city streets, hand in hand. I swung our arms a little bit, smiling like a kid headed to a candy store.

“Would you like to head home and watch a movie?” he asked. “I can make caramel popcorn.”

My eyes widened. “Yes, please!” I said excitedly. “I haven’t had your famous caramel popcorn in a long time. I’ve been dying to have some.”

“Well, let’s hurry home then,” he said, picked me up, and started running down the street. People shouted in shock as he flew by them while I laughed giddily.

Once at home, he set me down to open the door, but I grabbed the front of his shirt and pushed him against the door, pressing my lips against his at the same time.

His hands dropped to my hips and he kissed me back, his lips and tongue just as aggressive as mine.

My hand fumbled behind me to open the door and we both nearly fell as we shuffled inside. He kicked the door closed and steered me into the living room, which was thankfully empty, gently lowering me to the couch and pressing himself atop me, his lips never leaving mine.

His hands pushed up the hem of my dress and when I sat up, he tore it off completely.

I pouted, but he said, “I’ll buy you a new one.”

Tugging at his shirt, he tore it as well. I smirked and said, “I’ll buy you a new one.”

We laughed softly and he rested his hand against my cheek. “You’re so beautiful, especially when you laugh.”

“Serrated teeth and all?” I asked.

He nodded. “Serrated teeth and all.” His lips crashed into mine and with his hot, smooth skin against mine, I lost all train of thought after that.