Chapter Seventeen

" O h, babe... Take you on a real honeymoon one day," Kev sighs, shudders, and stretches as he hauls himself from his bed.

Our bed? My legs are still tingling from the "breakfast in bed" Kevin served me. I was the meal. But it was served in bed.

His hand slaps down lightly on my still pulsing lips, making me moan and jump.

We share a long, silent look. His hand stays, then his touch turns massaging. I arch and lift my hips, waiting until he slaps down again, more firmly, squeezing his fingers into the slippery mess he's made of me.

"You shouldn't play with your food... unless you have time for her to do the same," I hiss in pleasure, wondering what it will be like when I can be fully free from the specter of Koshchei, if I can let myself be totally weak and submit utterly, to enjoy being played with, all pliant and open, or perhaps all bound and spread.

Another shiver escapes me, and his fingers sink back into my greedy pussy.

"I already took Monday off," Kev pants, watching me, his cock at half-mast.

"I can wait until you take your lunch break. Barely," I whisper.

Kev looks at the screen of his phone, tossed on the pillow on his side.

"Quick is okay?" he asks, scrambling up my body.

"I can make you come in sixty seconds," I squeal as he sheaths himself in me, cock hardening fully as my muscles dance on him.

I like the promises we've made to each other.

I particularly like the idea of a honeymoon. Days and days of nothing but Kev and his gloriously filling body.

KEV FLIPS THE FREE calendar he got from the library when he applied for a Pine Ridge library card. Scenes from last year's Halloween parade welcome us to October. Two weeks. Two weeks until my friends risk their lives to stop a beast that may rise—or until I weep with relief on Kev's chest and then haul him into the water and carry him like a dolphin saving a stranded sailor, out to the mouth of the Atlantic if I have my way.

"What are you going to do today?" Kev downs a bagel and protein shake. I want to make him breakfast every day.

Do I sound like a doting little housewife?

Maybe I want that.

No, I do very much want that—although I'll be quite happy to have a job during the day and a few nights where I patrol the streets of Pine Ridge and put the fear of Hell into any wayward monsters I meet.

You'll get bored with him.

I didn't tire of Gregor.

You lost him after two years. This is forever.

And that is what I want. Stop being afraid of the good things when you have more than enough to worry about with the bad things!

I curse myself to silence in an ancient tongue, finally realizing Kev is worriedly looking at me as I slam the fridge shut and scowl.

"Did I do something, babe?"

"No, my love. I sometimes do things to myself." I rub my temples. "I will work in the pumpkin patches today and swim with Calder. He catches fish for the Jade Forest restaurant. I think he's also going to start doing some other sort of work. Steadier work that won't take him so far from Janet. He swims to the sea quite often."

"Ah."

"I will also get a job. A steady one. One to stay in town. One that means I'm no one's burden."

Kev slowly puts his plate in the sink, eyes narrowing. "Marina. You've lived way longer than me. You can take care of yourself like nobody's business. You don't need me to take care of you." He reaches for me. "But I'd like to. I'd like to be in one of those relationships where we take care of each other."

"I want that, too." I'm relieved and allow myself to be pulled into his arms for one long, solid squeeze.

At first, I barely hear him, but then I adjust my senses, catching the mumbled words he breathes against my hair. "Lucky you even want to stay with me when you could go anywhere in the world. Have any man in the world."

"I could say the same thing about you. Any woman with eyes would give you a second look. Any woman with a brain would beg to be yours." It's true. He's steady and sweet on the surface, but there are such deviant and delicious undercurrents in this man... I bite my lip, wondering if I'll always be this insatiable—and loving that it is not driven by hunger. I feel so full lately, like I could skip a year's worth of meals and not perish.

But I'm still ravenous for him.

"You need to leave for work. Now. Or I will want you to take me again."

"Damn, girl. Can't wait until lunch?" Kev kisses me and lets me give him a playful push away.

"Imagine that you have been living on the tiniest bits of bread for decades, never understanding that you had taste buds, never having the chance to find anything that would actually fill you. Suddenly, someone hands you keys to the world's finest restaurant."

"My ego's gonna swell up bigger than Carter's if you keep this up," Kev teases, but his eyes are wide and soft, like he gets it. Like he understands how much he means to me—but I'm not done.

"I have to inflate it just a bit more." I put an apple and some trail mix in his work bag where it rests on the counter, trying to get my words just right. "Imagine that you finally eat your fill. That you are so full and satisfied, that you feel like you might never be hungry again—and now you can just enjoy other things. I'm not hungry for survival anymore, my darling. I'm hungry to spend time with you. To feel pleasure with you. To make love in every way with my... my soulmate."

One long kiss. One long look, his eyes looking into mine as our foreheads touch. "That's how it's always been for me. At least, after that first night. First night, I was a ball of hormones and horniness. But now... Mmm. Just being with you gives me a rush."

"I hope it's always that way."

Kev nods, face crinkling in thought. "I think the rush might change into something steadier. Slower. Deeper. But that fire's never going to go out, babe."

Water puts out fire.

I smile and hug my love, my promised one. We head out together, savoring a stiff October breeze that blows gold and red leaves across the faded cream-colored sidewalks surrounding the apartment.

Water puts out fire.

Just a metaphor Marina. That spark won't fade. That's what he means.

Water kills sparks, too.

Dread stabs my stomach.

If something happens to us—it'll be my fault.

THAT AFTERNOON, WHEN the shadows start to invade, I slip into the river, my long white dress fanning around me like a koi's elegant fins. I swim to where it's darker and murky.

Home—or at least, home base.

I pull myself aboard my decrepit houseboat with a frown.

How could this place have ever been my refuge?

Looking around it now, it looks so terribly barren and grim. Algae and brackish slime coat the prow. The interior smells damp and disused. There are no clean river smells below the surface, even though the water surrounds me.

But there's one spot inside that's quite bright...

With a soft grunt, I pry open the little door built into the interior. When I first found this houseboat, there was a rusted red lantern and a coil of rotted rope. Now, it holds a rusting steel box—which was once stuffed with moldering money—the kind of bills that are no longer in circulation now, some with Martha Washington on them, others what they call "funnybacks." It helped me keep up a semblance of respectability when I found this place and had to venture on land.

"As if water won't give you everything you need, rusalka," I whisper to myself, prying open my "treasure chest." It is full of treasures. Coins, rings, bracelets, gold and silver chains—scavenged from the bottom. People lose them swimming. Throw them in during a fight. Maybe they're from wrecks of long ago—maybe from a few months ago.

Kevin bought me such a beautiful ring. I'll take my little stock of treasures to Jan at Stilz Jewelers, or maybe to the sketchy little "consignment" shop a few miles north of Jax Alley. Consignment might be how it begins, but pawning is how it ends.

"Or maybe there's something just right for him here..." My fingers sift through clinking metal in my dark corner. I can see in the dark after all. The abyssal zone of the ocean is no stranger to me, nor were dark black nights that lasted for months on the rooftop of the world.

Thick gold chains gone green. A circle of silver with its stones missing. A flat silver heart-shaped pendant with faded initials.

Nothing worthy of him. Nothing that shows how seriously I take my vows.

In a bold sweep, I shut the lid and rise, making sure it's secure as I tuck it under my arm.

I will find him something. I have time—at least until the Hunter's Moon. By then, I'll have something for my lover.

My promised one. My king, my knight, my air, my shore...

I shiver.

Now I know what they mean when they say love is all-consuming. I understand the phrase "so in love," and this love...

I hit the water at a run, diving in seamlessly, the clanking metal box not hindering me in the slightest. I swim with long, one-armed strokes and effortless kicks, my mind matching the pace of my limbs as they slice through the water.

This love was not borne of loneliness.

Images of Gregor and the way we found each other—two lonely souls, desperate for touch.

We grew, first in companionship, then into love.

In Pine Ridge, there are always friends. This love was not about being alone, nor was it about desperation. (well, the first time, yes, I was desperately hungry, but every time after...)

"I fell for him from the start, and nothing can change that." I climb back out onto the bank near Onyx Farms, retrieving my clothes and phone from where I stashed them.

"But in case something does change—" I look at the sky, already a smooth, flat ceiling of darkness, "he'll have something to remember me by."

"I GOT TAKEOUT. I'M sorry, ‘cause that's probably an unneeded expense, but you wore me out and I was thinking I might have worn you out, too." Kev comes in smelling like a mix of antiseptic and tacos. Sure enough, he holds up a bag from Dolcita's, the little Mexican place. "Mom would have told me to go to the grocery store. It's close to work, anyway."

"I like that you spoil me. I'm sorry I tired you out. Back rub?"

"Never gonna say no to that—but you get one, too. Wanna find a movie for us while I shower?"

It's all so nice. So normal and loving and sweet that my chest is on fire. He makes me ache, just with a bag of takeout.

"Baby, you look frozen." Kev pulls off his hoodie and hurries over to me, stuffing me into it before I can protest.

"I look like a throw rug," I say, staring at the oversized maroon sweater with a huge white owl on the back. It hangs well over my thighs.

"But a damn sexy throw rug." Kev nuzzles his face into my neck and follows up with a kiss. "I smell like hospital. Gotta change." He cups my face, then wriggles his hands through my hair. "Good swim?"

"All afternoon. Well—except for a little lunch break." We exchange a smirk, remembering the lunchtime quickie that we shared.

"You sure you're going to be okay staying in Pine Ridge all winter? Are the pools at the college and gym enough? Will the river be too cold?"

"I am used to much colder. As long as I have a good soak every other day, I'll be fine."

Kev licks his lips, worry on his features. "What if we're snowed in? Like there's a massive blizzard?"

"Sitting in the shower will work, love. Even lying in the snow until it melts would work in a true emergency."

He nods, but the worry remains. "What if there's—"

"Kevin. I will be fine. It would take me several days of complete dehydration to—to have a problem." I cross my arms and give him a glare.

"Okay, okay. Don't put me in a hammerlock—unless you want to try that later." The smirk and wink are back, and my insides flutter.

"Go shower!" I prod his perfectly sculpted ass, biting my lip so I don't bite him.

I LIKE THE WAY MARINA looks in my hoodie. I like the way she snuggles up under my arm and the way her hand splays out on my chest, ring all shiny. Love the way she sleeps on me, breathing longer and slower than anyone I've ever seen—probably because she's not quite human.

I'll never believe she's something bad. Not anymore. Not now. Not when I feel myself falling asleep beside her on the couch, everything peaceful—for now.

"HUH?"

"Shh. You need your sleep, proper sleep in a bed," Marina whispers.

I'm picked up, clumsily at first, then smoothly slung across her back, my arms dangling over shoulders as I snort myself awake. My legs scramble around her hips, trying to find the floor.

No dice. Marina shrugs me up like a heavy backpack, puts me on the bed, and clambers in after me.

Kinda sexy that she's so strong.

Even half-asleep, my junk is now completely awake. "You—uh— You hungry?" I rasp.

"I don't need to eat," her throaty chuckle dances inside my half-sleep brain, adding a delectable sensual note to the fog I'm gloating in. "But I've been thinking about how much I love being with you. Being the one to sleep beside you. Wake up with you."

Her hand scoops my cock out of the confines of my sweats, and I moan as a long, winding tongue caresses it, slippery spit coating me at once.

I force my eyes open to see her leaning over me, glinting eyes, the sharp rows of teeth, and the serpentine tongue.

Nightmare creature, right?

She slurps around my cock, and we moan as one.

Mm, no. She's my dream come true.

WHAT SHE STARTS, I finish, just as my alarm starts to go off at five. I ignore it, swiping it away and lying back with my panting beauty, sheets tangled around our legs.

"What are you going to do today?" I ask, resisting the urge to spoon her and close my eyes.

Marina looks up at me with a lazy, satisfied smile. "Well, once my legs work again, I will go into town. A... A few stops I have to make. I was thinking, too, that as much as I love Ian Kane—"

"Hm?" jealousy flares up.

"The one who owns the landscaping business, silly. As much as I love him and the people at the farm, I... I want something different. More human. This is my last century, my love. Which is perfect, because it means we will never be parted for long."

"Shh. Skip that part." I don't want to think about losing her. There is no concept of apart when it comes to her and the way she owns my heart. She ninja'd her way in and took me over, body and soul. The best part is, I think it's mutual.

"I was thinking about us. About our lives. This is the time in my life cycle when I will slowly begin to age. And I can have someone to grow old with." She takes my hand, smiling up at me. "That is a treasure. No other rusalka in history has ever had that, darling."

"We gonna move to Miami? Go on long cruises when we retire?"

Marina's chuckle ripples against my chest as she rolls into me before sitting up. "Maybe. But I would like a job. One I go to every day. One where I know the people, where there are regular customers who smile when they see me. Perhaps the gym will let me be a lifeguard if I pass the tests. I think they could offer swim lessons. Water aerobics. So many things. I would like that—to teach children to swim. I would never let anything happen to them." There's a fierce, deadly look in her eyes.

Ooh. My girl is also a little bit of a Mama Bear.

Fuck, that used to make me want to pump the brakes, but now I can suddenly see her holding hands with two little girls in their matching swimsuits, spinning them in the water... I can see my family at the Jersey Shore, with my parents in their beach chairs and Marina and I keeping some little rugrats from eating sand...

"I know you can't have kids the way some women can—" my brain is still sleepy, so my mouth leads the charge, a charge it has no business leading, "but if you ever want to think about adoption or surrogates or something like that, we could. Because I know you'd be the best mom ever. You'd help them ace any history paper they ever have to write, that's for darn sure. And swimming! Man, Carter might not be the only one in the Olympics. Think of it. Generations of Baileys, bringing home gold."

Marina's eyes are wide.

Sort of like the size of the hole I've just dug for myself. "Sorry. Sorry, mermaid. Too early to think about that. And I'm not pressuring you. No kids is cool with me. I'm into you for you, not for anything you give me."

"You would—" she swallows hard, "You think I would make a good mother?"

"Tied for first place with my own mom. Different, but still totally badass. Not that I'm pushing!"

"Oh, my love. I like what you think about—but you should think about it a little later. Maybe after that May wedding you once mentioned?" Marina arches her eyebrow, daring me to backpedal.

"I'm all in. We'll talk about Junior in June." I kiss her once more before stretching and heading into the shower. "Hey, I'll do a grocery run tonight. I'm out of shaving cream, and I'm going to pick up some stuff for sandwiches. Do you need anything? Do you want to pack your—" I stop and stare under the cabinet in the bathroom sink.

Big rusty metal box. Definitely not here when I moved in and stuck extra toilet paper, soap, and mouthwash in here. "Marina, what's in the box?"

"Oh! Nothing. Well, something. The only things of value I wanted to bring with me from the houseboat." Marina's voice is sharp, higher-pitched.

"Okay." My fingers brush the box, then draw back. She didn't tell you to look, dumbass. Leave it alone. Maybe it's private. She hid it in here. Didn't leave it out in the open.

Yeah. Hid is the right word. My stomach twinges with a little nibble of worry.

Is it going to be something spooky? A portal to the demon world? A severed hand or something nasty like that?

Or maybe Gregor's love letters to her? A lock of his hair?

Can you please not be an immature jealous asshole?

I'm trying .

I give the box a little shake as I shut the cabinet door. Metal on metal.

Money? Keys?

"Don't open it, Kev. It's something I'm working on. I will show you very soon."

"Sounds good!" But I'm jealous and curious and just a little bit worried. Probably shouldn't be. "Want me to pick up dinner, or do you want the salmon?"

"Salmon! We have to eat straight away when you get home. I told the Pine Ridge Coven, Ardy, and Minegold that I would help them with some translations tonight. Remember? The stories about Koshchei from the old book Jakob has?"

"I remember." I stand up fast and turn the shower on. Marina will probably join me. She usually does.

"We've doubled up on the Night Watch rotations—and it was already doubled because we always double up in October. I feel terrible making everyone leave their families at night when there are so many fun things to do this time of year."

"You're not making them do anything. The Big K is doing it—and they want to help. They care about you."

Marina's voice drifts in, soft and reflective, battling with the sound of drumming water on the tub. "They do, don't they?"

"Yes—but I care about you the most. Just gotta stake my claim," I call, pausing, hands on the sink. Deep breaths. My life has changed so much in just over a month. What would life be like if everything suddenly went back to normal?

Nope. Won't happen. The world will never go all the way back to "normal" now. I can't change that. Can't shut my eyes again after they've been opened to all the other people (saying creatures seems wrong) living with us "regular humans."

"Don't worry, lover. Your claim has been staked."

I do worry—maybe about things I shouldn't. But if I'm going to worry, I should be worrying about that big bastard overlord. My teeth grind together. I'm gonna crack a molar like this.

Worrying isn't going to help, and it's just going to ruin your day. Stepping out of the bathroom, I march back to the bedroom in time to see Marina patting the pillows into place, glorious body on display, ass begging to be grabbed when she bends over to grab the corner of the fitted sheet.

I grab her by the waist. Hoist her up as she flails and laughs in surprise.

She squeals, "Kev!"

"Shower with me? Yes? Good, let's go." I don't give her time to answer, just carry her with me, loving the way her hair trails down my skin and the way her laugh tickles my ears.