Flukes (19 page)

“Still want that swim?”

“Might be a good idea.” Now that I wasn’t caught up in the moment, I realized there was sand in uncomfortable places.

He kissed me again, sweetly, before rolling to the side and standing up. He held his hand out and I let him help me up. I blushed a little, looking at him standing there naked, but I was also a bit proud of myself. He was mine. I brushed some of the sand off my butt and walked over to our clothes while he cleaned himself up. I picked up his shorts and tossed them to him and grabbed my bathing suit.

“If I’d known it meant you were going to get dressed, I wouldn’t have reminded you.” He wrapped his arms around my waist, making it hard for me to tie the strings in the back.

“You don’t want to get caught swimming with no clothes, right?” I smiled at him over my shoulder.

“Fine. Clothed.” He slipped his trunks on and watched as I tied my bikini bottom around my wrist. “So that’s where you had your bottoms that night I caught you swimming.”

I laughed, remembering how freaked out I had been. “Yep. It’s irritating to carry them around, but I’m used to it now.” I took his hand and we waded out in the water.

“So, I get to watch this time?” He looked down at me, his eyes intense.

“Okay.” I bit my lip. Somehow, letting him watch me change felt just as intimate as what we did on the beach. “But it’s not a very slow process.”

I sank to my knees in the water and called for my tail. I braced myself with my hands and my back bowed. As my legs melded together and my flukes appeared, I rolled over in the water so that Blake could see better. I watched his face through the water and saw nothing but amazement. Once the change was complete, I swam a little farther out and surfaced, beckoning him with a finger.

“You know how I said there were some things my parents couldn’t explain?”

“Yes.” He swam toward me, his eyes on mine.

“One of them is that I can take people with me.” I smiled when his eyes lit up.

“You mean underwater?”

“Yeah.” I reached for him. “But you have to stay touching me at all times.”

“So far, so good.” He ran a hand down my back to let it rest on my hip. I tugged him forward and pressed his lips to mine. Once I was certain he was thoroughly distracted I pulled us under the water.

Chapter Eighteen

- Blake -

I didn’t realize that we were underwater. All I could think about was Meena pressed against my chest, her lips moving with mine. When she ran her hands down over my arms I shivered. Slowly she pulled my hands away from her waist and twined our fingers together. When she leaned back enough to look at me, I almost choked. Literally, on water.

“Holy shit.” Bubbles floated out of my mouth and I watched them in amazement. Her face was amused, as if this was no big deal. But it was. It was a huge thing to be under the water and to not miss the air. She cocked her head to the side and I could tell that she wanted to know if I was okay, so I nodded my head.

I looked around us and realized that things seemed clearer than they should. Normally I needed goggles to be able to see this well underwater. The moonlight trickled through the water, lighting the sandy bottom. Fish swam just out of reach, completely unbothered by our presence. I looked back at Meena and smiled. This might be the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced.

Her smile grew and I knew she understood what I was thinking. I wondered if she could sense what anyone was thinking if they were swimming with her like this and she shook her head. Her hair swirled around her head like something out of a dream. She let go of one of my hands and held up one finger and then touched my chest.

I looked at our hands and stared in wonder. The white lines seemed to almost glow and I knew that this was something special, nothing to be scared of. I could also sense that she was still frightened, worried that she had unwittingly trapped me forever. Her eyes were sad and her lips were pressed together. She thought that somehow she had denied me a choice.

How could I explain that I
had
made the choice? Meena had captured my heart before we’d ever touched. I’d never believed in love at first sight, but it had happened to us. To me, at least. She smiled sadly, and I wondered just how much of what I was thinking she could understand. Could she feel that I was in love with her? Running my free hand over her hair, I pulled her face back to mine. Her lips were sweet, and despite being under the water, she tasted only of Meena.

She pressed against me, her tail causing small currents to roll around us. Her perky breasts brushed against my chest and her hair tickled my face. I wrapped an arm around her waist, holding on as we floated through the water. If I hadn’t just made love to her on the beach, this would have been the most erotic kiss I had ever experienced.

Eventually, she pulled back and looked at me. Her eyes slowly moved over my face and she smiled. Tugging on my hand, she began to swim, pulling me along with her. I kicked my feet, trying to help as she cut through the water. I wasn’t sure where we were going, but my weight didn’t seem to be causing her any trouble.

Eventually, she veered away from the beach and headed out to sea. I felt naked this far out from land. There were no boats, life vests, not even water wings. Meena looked back at me and bubbles escaped her mouth. It took me a minute to realize that she was laughing at me. She squeezed my hand tighter but didn’t stop swimming. I was guessing that she might have gotten an image of my water-wing idea.

Soon a dark shadow came into view—a reef that jutted up from the ground. Fish swam along the area, completely unimpressed with us. She pointed out some of the little fish that were hiding in holes and an octopus that was looking for dinner. A group of wild dolphins swam close and chittered in excitement. Meena smiled, and I realized that she knew this pod. For a while we played along the reef, the dolphins blowing bubbles and swimming around at crazy speeds.

They all came to say hello to Meena, playing and talking with her like they were people instead of dolphins. I remembered her telling me that they were smarter than humans gave them credit for, so they were probably having actual conversations that I couldn’t understand. I didn’t mind. In fact, I enjoyed watching it all.

A young dolphin was nosing around me, pushing at me in an attempt to get me to play. I scratched along her chin and smiled. I didn’t know how old she was, just that she acted like every little kid I had ever met. Hyper and excited. She kept nudging at me, wanting to play, but Meena was busy watching the one that I thought was the mother. I turned toward Meena to show her the little one when a larger dolphin shot between us, barely missing my face with its tail. I let go of Meena’s hand without thinking, trying to keep from being battered.

Water filled my nose and I exhaled to try and clear it. I started swimming for the surface, but it was at least twenty feet above us. Arms wrapped around me and Meena propelled us to the surface. I coughed, the water that I had swallowed making me feel green. She wrapped her hand around my arm and I immediately started to feel better. I wondered if she was passing on her water breathing ability.

“Are you okay?” Her face was worried. She shook her head as some of the dolphins surfaced around us. “They didn’t mean to hurt you, they just didn’t understand. They just wanted to play with my… mate.”

I coughed again, unable to talk. The younger dolphin nudged me in the shoulder and made a mournful sound. I distractedly rubbed its head to let it know I wasn’t upset. I looked at Meena, shock rolling through my system at her words.

“Mate?” It made sense. The markings that were more defined, the way we could feel each other.

She bit her bottom lip and blushed. “That’s what they were calling you.”

“Huh.” I looked at the smiling faces of the dolphins around us and wondered how they knew. I was surprised and relieved that it meant Meena really was mine. She had said she’d think about going with me, but I wasn’t sure she would.

“I’m sorry, Blake.” She shook her head and tears formed in her eyes. “Maybe there’s a way to reverse it.”

My heart stopped beating and the little dolphin nudged my shoulder worriedly. Reverse it? I wanted to leave the island, to explore the world, and find out more about myself. But I didn’t want to leave Meena. She was part of me. The tears that had been shimmering in her eyes were now running down her cheeks and I kicked myself for taking so long to respond.

“I don’t want to reverse it, Meena.” She had drifted away a little, so I swam closer and pulled her against me.

“I trapped you! I didn’t mean to, but I did!” Her tail swished angrily under the water. “If we can’t reverse it, then you’ll always be linked to me. What are you going to do when you find someone in France or Italy and they ask about the markings on your arm? ‘Oh, that? It’s nothing. Just the thing that links me to my mermaid mate.’” Her impression of me almost made me smile, but I could tell that she was really upset.

“Meena—”

“I’m serious, Blake. You want to see the world and I can’t do that! I’d just hold you back from your dreams. If we don’t reverse it, you’ll feel guilty following your heart.” She choked up for a minute and I reached out to soothe her, but she wouldn’t let me touch her. “What if you get married one day? And we’re still linked?”

“Why can’t I just marry you?” It was simple, obvious. Why was she making this so hard? The shock on her face was fascinating to watch. So many emotions played over her features, I wasn’t sure what all they were. Had there been any happiness at all?

“I don’t want to be your parents! I don’t want you to be with me because you have to be!” She swam away and then back, almost like she was pacing. “I want you to love me the way I love you. Not marry me because you have to. Because I trapped you.”

“I do love you.” I said the words slowly, quietly. My heart was beating fast and it was taking all my strength to keep from shouting. She had said she loved me. She loved me. I don’t think she even realized she had said it. “You didn’t trap me. You didn’t set out to make me your mate. It happened because that’s what we’re supposed to be to each other.”

“You love me?” She froze in place, her eyes wide.

“Yes.” I grabbed her arm and gently pulled her to me. “I love you. I think I’ve loved you this whole time but was too stupid to realize it.”

She snorted. “You are kind of stupid.”

“Apparently you love stupid.” I cupped her cheek in my hand and let my eyes run over her face. Meena. My mate.

“I do. I love you.” She sighed and closed her eyes. “The last week has been hell. I hated staying away from you so much I had nightmares.” She opened her eyes and looked at me. “But is that because of this bond? Do you love me or is it the bond that makes you love me?”

“It doesn’t matter, Meena.” I ducked my head so I could look in her eyes. “I love
you
. The way you smile, the way you care about your family. I even love your bad jokes. When we find Jacen and Mireille, I’m willing to bet that they will tell you we have this bond because we were meant to love each other.”

“Who knew Blake Weathering was a romantic?” The corners of her mouth pulled up.

“Don’t let it get around. It would ruin my image.” I slid my arms around her waist and pulled her against me. “I love you, Meena. We’ll figure this out.”

“We should head back.” Her voice was wistful and I understood her reluctance. The sky was starting to brighten, the faint light making the water sparkle around us. I didn’t want to give up this time with her, but it wasn’t safe for us to be out in the water during daylight.

“Just don’t let go.” I grinned and threaded my fingers through hers.

The swim back felt shorter than on the way out and I was disappointed when I recognized her little beach. We slowed and I knew that Meena was sad to give up this time too. There was still so much that we needed to figure out. She brought us to the surface a ways from the beach and bit her lip.

“I’ve never wanted to skip work before.”

“We could play hooky,” I suggested.

“Hooky?” She scrunched up her nose.

“What, you’ve never played hooky?” I laughed at her expression.

“No, I haven’t,” she said. She sniffed and stuck her nose in the air. “I have a sense of responsibility, unlike some people.”

“Hey, I only play hooky for good reasons! Like swimming with mermaids.” She rolled her eyes.

“We can’t swim during the day. It’s too risky.”

“Fine. You win, Ms. Responsible.” I tapped her nose.

“You could come with me again tonight,” she offered. She looked at me through her eyelashes and it was one of the sexiest things I’d seen.

“Swimming?” My voice had dropped and my mind had gone somewhere darker and sweatier. “Or skinny-dipping?”

“I guess you’ll have to show up to find out.” Oh, she was a tease and I was taking the bait.

“I think I can work that out.” A soft blush ran over her cheeks and I wondered just what she was thinking.

I tilted my head and was going in for a kiss when I saw the shadow coming up behind her. Without thinking, I spun her behind me and pushed her toward the beach. “Swim, Meena!”