Chapter Fourteen

"You've got to get out of here," Cee said, eyeing the two of us with a shrewd gaze. "How much have you had to drink?"

"Just the one." I rasped, my throat burning.

"Not you," she rolled her eyes. "You, missy, are in no condition to drive." She stared pointedly at Kai.

I looked between them, dumbfounded. "You can't be serious."

Cee sighed, reaching into her bag. "I'll tell Allie we're catching a cab. Try not to dent her ride. I don't have the money to fix it anymore."

"He. Can't. Drive." I said, enunciating each word, though they sounded more like breathless gasps.

"Says who?"

"Gee Cee I don't know, maybe the DMV of California?!"

She smirked, "Well as his instructor, I'd say he's been doing just fine these past couple of weeks."

My mouth dropped, "When did you start driving?!" I said, turning my attention to Kai.

He gave Cee a slight, secretive smile, then looked at me. "I was hoping to surprise you. Once I saw how important they were up here, I asked my cousin to instruct me. She's been a brutal teacher."

Cee rolled her eyes. "You drive like a grandma on sleeping pills."

He pouted, "I was being careful."

"Careful also means not pissing off the drivers around you!"

"I think… I don't have the head for this right now." I finally said. Kai just tucked my head into his chest, and for once, I didn't argue.

"I'm here," Allie said, popping up beside Cee, her phone in her hand. "You need my keys?"

"Kai wants to get Maren to a clinic," Cee explained. "We'll give the cops the rundown."

Cee, you lifesaver. I didn't know how I would've handled talking to the police right now, or come up with a cover story, but I knew she would. I promised myself to take her out soon, especially if she was going to be spending more time at my place. Tonight, at least, she was staying with Allie.

"Are you sure the police won't take their leaving as fleeing a crime scene?" Allie asked nervously.

Cee leaned in close to Allie, whispering, "He doesn't have his ID on him. Trust me, it'll be worse if he stays. We'll just tell them the truth, he saved my best friend."

"And Dennis?"

"That coward is on his own. Let him rot in jail for all I care."

"Amen," Allie fished her keys out of her purse, and Kai shifted me in his arms to take them. "Don't crash, you're carrying precious cargo."

"I'll take care of her," he promised.

"You better," Cee said. From the corner of my eye, I saw her wrap an arm around Allie's shoulder, leading them back inside the bar.

Then I was floating, drifting in the canopy of his arms as he slipped into the night. Allie's car, a cherry red mustang, was hard to miss even in the dark. My senses returned somewhere between Kai settling me into the passenger seat and starting the car, and only because I was intrigued- and mildly terrified- to see how he drove. But like everything else on land, he'd picked up the skill with minimal effort, and was now executing turns and techniques better than me, someone who'd had a license for almost ten years.

Assured we wouldn't be plummeting off the edge of a cliff anytime soon, my thoughts drifted, eyes growing heavy. It felt like I'd gone twenty excessively brutal rounds with a heavyweight champion. My bottom lip was swollen and I could taste the thin stream of blood still seeping from the cut. My ribs throbbed from the bruises there, on the curve of my neck, and my knuckles where my fists had connected with Dennis' jaw. Even as I took account of my physical injuries, I knew the mental and emotional ones would be harder to face.

Dennis was, at one point, someone I had trusted, someone I'd let into my life, my body, and my heart. He'd taken advantage of all three, using our history as an excuse to try to lay claim to something that no longer belonged to him. I didn't want to think of what would have happened if Kai hadn't shown up when he did.

"Are you cold?" Kai asked, reaching over to switch on the heat. I nodded my thanks, unsure of what else to say.

When we pulled up to my house, my eyes were barely open. Kai lifted me from the car, and I had a brief moment of confusion when he started heading in the direction of the beach instead of my house, followed by a flash of fear, my panicked thoughts from the bathroom returning. Was he leaving now?

He set me down on the sand, so close to the water I could feel the moisture coating my skin. "What are you doing?" I asked warily.

He didn't answer, watching the tide for the returning sweep of water. When it flowed in, his hands moved over the surf, manipulating the waves without touching them. Like in the forest, thin streams drifted up, swirling toward me. They settled over my body, across my bruises and aching limbs, and began to glow a deep, indigo blue, pulsing like a heartbeat. As the color lightened, so did the pain, until I could shift my body without wincing, and my strength and sense of awareness returned. Even the sting of salt across my split lip began to warm. The water moved with a mind of its own, massaging sore limbs back to full strength, congealing open cuts where the broken glass had cut into my skin, and fueling me with the energy equivalent of all of the redbull in Cee's secret stash. There was a reason she'd busted out an entire clothing line in less than a month before graduation.

Once the water was shining a bioluminescent aqua, Kai released his magic, and the water drifted in a lazy arc back into the ocean, the bright colors sinking into the depths.

"Thank you," I said slowly. My voice was strong, and my throat no longer felt like it had been poked with hot iron.

He frowned. "You're not going to ask how I healed you?"

I just stared at him. I could barely process what had happened in the last few hours, never mind the magical intricacies of healing whatever had been damaged.

I could tell my non-response concerned him. He scooped me back into his embrace. I squirmed, trying to get out of his hold, but his curled arms were like a steel cage, and I found that the more I struggled, the closer he held me, until my chest was pressed tightly to his, turned sideways like I was the last sardine shoved into the can.

"Put me down, I can walk on my own." I demanded.

"No." he smirked, and I pretended the emotion it elicited within me was anger and not pure lust.

"Please, I need some air." And I really need to put some distance between us. The events of the last hour hadn"t changed what I'd been worrying about tonight.

I'd always felt a pull to the ocean, the kind that made me want to jump in, clothes and all, or dedicate my life to protecting it. But I was only human. I couldn't imagine what it did to merfolk. What I did see was the longing in his eyes as he was healing me, the way he shuddered when he released his hold on the water mere steps from his feet. The ocean was his home. If I tried to keep him here, I'd be no better than Reinhardt.

"We are outside," he reminded me.

"Oh for the love of- put me down Kai!" My protests increased until we reached my back porch and he finally set me on my feet. I'd gotten a text from Becca that she and my dad were out for the night, so it was no surprise that the windows were dark, and the back door locked. Where they were, I could only begin to guess. I'd left my house keys in Cee's purse, but since I frequently returned to the house at ridiculous hours of the night on a regular basis, if at all, Becca had the foresight to stick an extra under the leg of the wicker chair. It was rusting along the edges from the salt air, but the teeth lined up with the lock, and the door swung open after some jiggling. Replacing the key, I stepped inside, debating if I should shove the door closed behind me. But Kai was already at the threshold, so close I could feel the heat of him against my back.

I sprang away, retrieving my shot glass from the sink. Then, as an afterthought, I grabbed the two others as well. Whatever mojo he had worked on me had also cured my queasiness, and I was determined to take advantage, future hangover be damned.

He said nothing, but his eyes tracked me as I retrieved the bottle of tequila from the cabinet, sitting on the counter with more force than was necessary. The edge of the bottle chipped when I lifted it to pour. Yep, too much force.

Jaw tight, he watched me line the glasses on the sink, fill them to the brim with liquor, and throw them back in rapid succession. I filled them again.

"Maren," Kai said, coming around the island. He slid between me and the glasses. "Tell me what's bothering you."

I met his eyes, lifting the bottle to my lips, I didn't blink as I took three defiant swallows. When he reached for the bottle, I stepped away.

"Stop poisoning yourself and say something, dammit!"

"Something," I echoed snidely.

"Maren—"

"You should've been more careful!" I erupted, my inner conflict deciding to erupt as anger, eager sparking at my fingertips like electricity. To pick a fight, to drive him away before he could do any more damage to my heart.

His eyes blazed with indigo fire, "Did you expect me to just watch while he hurt you?"

"I didn't expect you to try to kill him!"

"He was killing you." he growled. "You were losing consciousness. Just thinking of it now tempts me to finish what I started."

"Not unless you want to end up in the same cell as him." I was pretty sure the police had taken Dennis to the station, and if they had notified his parents, Kai wouldn't have to worry- he would be dead by the time Kai got there. "After everything you went through, everything I've done to keep you safe, you'd really risk your freedom to satisfy your pride?"

"It's not my pride I'm worried about. That weak bait thinks he has claim to you—"

"And tonight set that record straight. If not, I'll get a restraining order. I don't care what your male pride demands, up here we have to do things the human way." I'd been so impressed by how well he'd adapted that I'd let myself forget that Kai lived by the rules of the sea, and he would fall back on those habits, especially in the height of danger.

He said something in his language, a sound like coral scraping against a rocky seabed, and I knew without a translator that I'd royally pissed him off. I swallowed, knowing I was about to make things a thousand times worse. "I- I think it's time for you to go."

The temperature in the room dropped, the pressure more suffocating than ten fathoms deep. I fiddled with the neck of the bottle, wishing I could take the words back. But what was the point? Whether it was tomorrow, or even a week from now, he was leaving. Might as well rip off the band-aid so I could start grieving, or whatever. Not that it would be able to erase his memory. I'd never be able to go anywhere without seeing him. The indents of the couch, the rivers of the forest, the tiled floors of Cee's ballroom, and the damned ocean itself held his essence.

I heard him swallow. "You don"t mean that." And his voice was so raw, I couldn"t look at him, couldn't see the damage my words had caused.

"No?" I waved him in the direction of the back door, "Go jump the buoy. I'm sure your people will be thrilled to see you."

He tensed, but I turned towards the curtained window over the sink, staring out at the dark water. I lifted the bottle to my mouth, waiting to hear the door shut behind him. Waiting for the subsequent sound of my heart shattering, and the Kai-sized void that would be left in its wake.

Instead, I cried out as he snatched the bottle, tearing it from my grip with the sound of a suction cup peeling from a windowsill. I let out a sharp hiss as I felt the accompanying bite of skin tearing from the label digging into my skin. He upended it over the sink, and I watched, mouth agape, as clear liquid sluiced down the drain with a final gurgle.

"That was seventy-dollar vodka." I deadpanned. "Becca is going to be pissed."

"I will placate her after I deal with you."

"There is nothing to deal with! The waters are clear, Reinhardt's off your scent, and Dennis is spending the night in jail. There"s nothing keeping you here!"

"You're wrong." he said. Two simple words with far too much hope behind them, and that was a dangerous emotion for me to play with right now.

My mouth worked for a moment, then I pursed my lips in a tight line. "Whatever." I spat. "Do what you want, just leave me alone." I scooted away from him in search of another bottle. I was too sober for this conversation.

He caged me in with his arms before I got far, the dimples in my back pressing tantalizingly against the counter, reminding me of the last time we'd been in this situation, his head between my thighs. I gulped.

"Do you really want me to leave?" His voice was low and husky, like he was remembering too.

"Yes!" I cried. I just wanted this to be over, for him to leave and take all of these infuriating feelings with him.

"You're lying."

"I'm not," I said, biting the inside of my cheek.

"You are," He pressed in closer, which I didn't think was possible. I gasped as I felt the hard length of him press into me, "And you are incredibly bad at it."

I swear no one could push my buttons like this man. He had me going from burning with desire to wanting to smack him in two sentences. "Oh screw you!"

"I can see the emotions rolling through you like a rip tide, and they're ready to tear you apart. If you are so insistent that I leave, then I have to know what scares you enough to keep pushing me away so I may erase it from existence."

"I'm not scared of you."

"You"re scared of something. Tell me,"

"No."

He grinned wickedly, and damn him, but my chest tightened, and I squeezed my thighs together in hopes of remaining upright. He bent until we were eye level, then dipped his head into my neck, inhaling the perfume I'd used. A strangled moan escaped when he brushed the sensitive spot just behind my ear, my arms gripping his forearms when he nibbled and sucked on the tender flesh.

"Tell me." he whispered.

"You don't play fair." I panted.

He lifted one of my hands from its death grip on his arm, kissing each fingertip. "This isn't a game to me, little star." I could see the sincerity of his words reflected in the deep pools that stared at me with such…longing. My vision swam, wanting to dive into them.

"I don't believe you."

"Tell me."

"I want you to stay." I'd just barely formed the shape of the words, but he still heard me. I swallowed hard, finding what little voice I had left. "I want you to stay," I said again, a bit louder, "but you can't. You haven't been in the sea once, and I saw the pain in your eyes even before you told me it was calling you back. You have to go, and you'll forget all about me and marry some perfect mermaid with red hair and a fork collection. It doesn't matter what I want or what you claim, it's inevitable. And that isn't scary, it's fucking terrifying."

I loved him. It was a feat more impossible than free college, or the instantaneous elimination of plastic from the earth. I think I'd loved him even before I saved his life, when not even the dismal environment of the lab or his tail could keep me from him. Like a force that tugged me back every time I'd tried to walk away. He'd become as essential as breathing, as the very lifeblood of the ocean, and I didn't know how I would survive when he left.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable sting of rejection, bracing myself for the goodbye that would shatter me into a million pieces. I wish he would just get it over with.

But he trailed his fingers down my arms, the rough calluses of the pads stirring goosebumps on my skin. "You're wrong." he repeated. He tilted my chin up, kissing each of my eyelids until they opened to his coaxing. Then he smiled, and my world tilted on its axis, "Don't you see, little star? I have always been yours."

We collided.

His hands threaded through my curls and tugged, and I could no more resist him now than when I first saw him in that tank. I wove my arms around his neck, hoisting myself up, and wrapped my legs around his waist. I moaned when he pushed my lower back into the counter, the contours of his hips lining up against my own.

One hand still in my hair, his other drifted over the curve of my thigh and lower, sliding against the bare skin under my dress, which was bunched between us in an all too familiar position. He cupped my backside and turned, and somewhere in my lust-addled brain, I felt him climbing the staircase. His lips roved over my cheeks, my neck, my eyelids, before returning to mine with renewed fervor.

My blunt nails dug into the back of his neck, and he growled. "I need to know if you're sure."

"I thought it was obvious,"

"Tonight has been…I would understand if you weren't..."

I pulled back, and the look on his face took my breath away. The raw longing he would only release if I asked him to. It softened the last of my reservations as I cupped his cheeks. I opened my mouth, those three words on the tip of my tongue, then closed it, leaning in for a soft peck on his lips. "That is the furthest thing from my mind right now," I said instead. "I want this, I want you. Even if it's only once."

He purred, "Oh, little star, once will not be nearly enough for either of us."

"Promise?" I ground my hips into his again.

"You're walking a thin line with my restraint." he commented casually, even as his eyes lit with blue fire.

"I don't want you to have any." I wanted him as he was, as he'd always been, ferocious and untamable as the sea. If this night was all we would have, I was going to cherish it until my dying days, and find a way to live with whatever followed. Right now, there was just us, this night, and an insatiable pleasure that demanded to be challenged.

He pushed the door closed with his hip, and between one breath and the next, I was laying on the plush duvet, the seafoam colors enveloping me like an angel sitting on a bank of clouds. But the look Kai gave me was pure sin, like I was precious. Precious to him. His eyes locked on my chest where my erratic breathing pushed my breasts higher, then between my legs, to the ache I was begging him to ease.

He climbed onto the bed, stretching over me like a cat. His thumb rubbed over my trembling lip. "You're sure?" he whispered again.

I nodded. If he stopped now I was going to spontaneously combust. "I never thought it would feel this…" I trailed off, unsure of any word that would do this moment justice. He swept in again, and there was no further need for words.

We wove together in the nautical twilight, strong and passionate as an undercurrent, swooping in and pulling back just as fast, leaving me struggling to keep my footing lest I be torn away. I gave into the flow, letting him guide me. My name echoed on his lips like a plea, like I was the sea calling him home. Calling him home… to me.

I traced the edges of his face with my fingertips, his roman nose, the furrowed crease between his brows, the newly stubbled skin stretching over his jawline. Each touch loosened the grip of his control, and my clothes disappeared before I could ponder how he'd removed them without separating us. They were probably torn to ribbons. I didn't care.

"Tell me something," I panted as he dipped his fingers inside my heat. They stroked and curved, driving my pleasure to heights I never experienced. His thumb stroked the soft bud of my clit, and I writhed. He was reverent in his touch, worshiping me like an ancient goddess.

"Anything."

"Tell me that I"m not the only one. Tell me that you're as lost as I am." His fingers curled inside of me, and I finished the thought in my mind as my words were choked off with a gasp. "Is this what it feels like in the depths?"

His smile was soft and warm, a million twinkling stars. "I"ve spent my whole life in the depths. It"s dark, cold and nearly lifeless." He cupped my cheek, a whisper of a touch that soothed and burned. "With you, it is like basking in the sunlight on soft sand or riding a wave all the way to the shore. It's the exhilaration of a hurricane, and the calm of a kelp forest. It's you, Maren. You are everything."

He kissed me hard as my pleasure peaked and I rode that wave with him, savoring every glorious moment. But it wasn't enough, not nearly. Feeling nearly animalistic with need, I flipped us over, ripping the buttons of his shirt as I tore it open and ran my hands across his chest. He, on the other hand, seemed perfectly content to take his time, running his hands over my thighs in long, lazy strokes. But when I finally stripped his boxers and cupped his length, the last threads of his control snapped, and I was on my back again.

He braced himself above me, and I was surprised to see his arms tremble. "I will ruin the memory of anyone who came before me." Kai growled, lining our hips together. Oh, that was hot. Unmistakably, unerringly, fucking hot.

"And after you?" I asked, the coy smile on my face betraying the question.

He smiled at me in a way that said nothing of the wicked things he was planning. Then he finally slid inside me, and for the first time in my life, I felt complete. He muttered a word that danced across my skin like droplets of water as he paused, giving me a moment to adjust. But I didn't need it, I wanted all of him now. Pure bliss engulfed me as we moved together, the magic flowing between us like a tangible force in a rhythm as old as the ocean and skies. My head thrashed against the pillows, and I moaned into the dip of his shoulder. I was close, banging on the doors of ecstasy, begging them to let me in.

Then he reached between us, rubbing me with deft fingers, and those doors burst wide open. Stars flashed behind my eyes as sheer pleasure rocked me, spreading out like a wave from the epicenter between my thighs, and he followed me over the edge.

Once the tremors subsided, he fell beside me on the bed, arms open, and I nuzzled my head against his chest. He rubbed soothing circles on my lower back, his breath stirring my hair. I don't know how long we stayed there, wrapped in the intimate embrace of lovers, the salt air cooling our sweat-slicked bodies, when he whispered another word in his language, the cascade of a monolithic wave rushing to the shore, the kind I'd seen wipe out even the most experience surfers.

His real name,I knew with instinctive certainty, and my heart filled close to bursting that he trusted me with it, even if I'd never be able to speak it. To me he'd always be Kai, my Kai. I leaned up to kiss his neck, and he shuddered, his arms tightening like I would disappear into seafoam. I snuggled in closer too, and as we drifted off, I thought I heard him whisper something else in his language. And in my mind, I saw a star, shooting across a midnight sky and a wine-dark sea.