“I grew up with a group of guys just like me. We see each other on occasion, if we’re working in the same area. And I’d never wanted more until…”
“Until what?”
He shifted in his seat. “Do merpeople choose who they end up with? Who to spend their lives with?”
“I suppose. Both sirens and merpeople choose partners throughout their lives, often more than one partner, and often changing their couplings through the years.” But not me.
“Shifters have one mate.” He looked at me with an intensity that took my breath away. “There’s one person out there for us, and once we find that person, there’s no one else.”
It was a beautiful sentiment, soul mates of a kind. To have that certainty, to know that now and forever—
There was a knock at the door.
I put my palm over my weapon, ready for a fight if need be.
Vaughn rose from his seat and walked over to the door. He cracked it open, exchanged some words, and then closed the door, holding a box in one hand.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Dinner.”
He sat down across from me, set the box between us, and opened it.
Inside was a long brown oval with colorful objects inside. The scent was interesting, and unfamiliar.
Vaughn reached in and pulled out half, then offered it to me. It was crisp on the outside, yet soft when squeezed.
I watched as he took out the other half and took a bite.
Then I tried mine.
It was savory, and quite good.
I swallowed and asked, “What is it?”
“Sandwich,” he said. “Roasted veggies, so no animals required. Do you like it?”
It didn’t taste as though it was made of sand.
“Yes, I like it,” I said, and took another bite.
He sat for a moment and just watched me eat. There was a hunger in his eyes, and I wondered why he wasn’t eating his sand, too.
Then, as if just noticing that he was staring, he started eating once again.
Shifters have one mate—his words repeated in my head. And then I remembered something else he had said—I get you to smile, and you give me a kiss.
There was something in the way he was looking at me...did he think that I was his mate?
Selene. Distant and familiar...a voice.
Contact, a touch on the shoulder—my eyes shot open.
Looking down at me was Vaughn, with a sparkle in his eyes.
I rolled over and sat up. The room was dark, and judging by the slit in the fabric hanging over the windows, it was dark outside, too.
“Is it still night?” I asked.
“It’s a little earlier than we need to go to catch the pod, but I wanted to show you something.”
“Okay.” I climbed out of bed and brushed my hair out of my face.
Vaughn waited by the door. “We’ll have to hurry.”
I hadn’t seen him so excited before. What was he intending to show me? I put on my shoes and followed.
He set a brisk pace and led me down the streets toward the water. When we reached the sea’s edge, he took my hand.
It was such a little thing, holding hands, yet it felt so profound. The contact made me warm, made me happy.
He pulled and began to run. I ran with him, up and up, onto a high point in the road that went over some of the water below.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Just wait.”
I looked around but there was no sign of what we were waiting for. The night was calm. I relished the feel of my hand in his. He was warm and big, and wonderful.
Slowly, the darkness lifted. With his free hand, Vaughn pointed.
I looked in the direction he suggested, out over the sea. And there, the sky lit with color, orange and yellow, an otherworldly glow. The light reflected on the rippling surface of the water, hiding the blue in a mirror of the glowing sky.
The light dispersed slowly, reaching out from the glowing ball that was the sun and overwhelmed the darkness of night.
And as quickly as it had begun, it was over.
“Sunrise,” Vaughn said.
I turned to face him and found him smiling at me.
“It is beautiful,” I said.
He nodded. “Yes, yes it is.”
And with the way he was gazing at me, I wondered if he was referring to the sky at all.
I noticed he hadn’t let my hand go, and I didn’t let him go, either.
I pulled his arm, so he took a step closer, and I breathed him in. I yearned for him to touch me more, to test this feeling I couldn’t shake, for him to—
His lips crashed over mine, and my body was fire. He lips were soft and sweet. I wanted more, I wanted forever. In that moment, I wanted time to stop.
But it didn’t.
He pulled back, and he smiled. And he said nothing, like nothing had happened. Just like the sunrise, our kiss was a quick burst of something magical and fleeting.
Vaughn took me for some more human food, bagels. It was tasty, though I found it strange that name was so similar to that of the bay gulls that flocked to the breakfast shop.
And before I knew it, it was time to return home.
As we headed back into the water to where the pod surfaced, I felt a pang of disappointment that our time had come to an end.
Chapter Eight
Vaughn
The ride back was awkward and quiet. It would have been the perfect time to talk about feelings, to figure out where we stood. I’d kissed her, and she’d kissed me back. And then...nothing.
I must have come on too strong and scared her away.
As the pod pulled into the docking station, Hugo Rose and a few of his guards were standing there waiting for us.
“What did you find, Keating?”
“Well hello to you, too, buddy,” I said as I climbed out.
“We found this.” Selene slapped the file onto Rose’s chest.
He stared at her a moment without responding, then opened the folder.
“Exactly how long have you been spying on my people?” Selene asked.
Her tone was even and cool—she was a complete badass.
“Spying?” Rose laughed. “I have never been a spy, only a welcome representative of the Tribunal.”
Welcome wasn’t exactly how I’d describe our initial arrival.
“What about the map?” Selene asked.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Rose said.
“There’s a map in that folder, drawn in black in white, with the city’s power lines highlighted. You’ve been looking into our inner workings for at least twenty years,” Selene said.
“I’ve been involved with Thalassapolis for nearly thirty years,” Rose said. “A researcher and envoy. You shouldn’t speak of things you know nothing about.”
Selene tensed, but said nothing.
“Maybe you should ask your father about our past.” Rose’s face split in a grin, one that didn’t meet his eyes.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
“I believe I will.” Selene walked past, and I went to follow.
Rose grabbed my arm.
“What else did you gather about Wafflick? Did you speak to his father?”
“Big Man Waffles? No. But Joey’s room is filled with mermaid stuff.”
“He must be obsessed. It makes perfect sense. Pray we find him before Aegaeon does. I would be out there searching for him myself,” Rose said, “but they won’t let us back onboard the Harpoon until this is settled.”
“Selene and I will find him.”
Rose let go of my arm, and I chased after my mate.
I could feel his eyes on me as I went, and I wondered what Rose would think about my feelings for Selene. What the Tribunal would say, what her father would say. It didn’t matter. No one had to approve, only her and me.
Too bad I didn’t know how she actually felt.
I ran down the hall and found Selene b
y the elevator talking softly to a merman. As soon as he caught sight of me, he stopped speaking and scowled.
Selene turned, and though she didn’t smile, I’d like to think she was smiling on the inside.
“Hey, Selene,” I said, as I approached.
“You may go,” she said to the soldier.
He nodded and left.
“I was really impressed how well you kept your cool with Rose,” I said.
“I’m not.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Why not?”
“I gave him the folder.”
Oh. The folder with all of the Tribunal’s intel. It made sense for her to want to keep it. She’d hardly had any time to look over its contents.
“If it helps, I can promise you everything he said—he was telling the truth,” I said.
“Because you trust him?”
“No. Because shifters are natural lie detectors. If he’d been lying, I’d have known it. As for trusting him, I trust him as much as anyone else. He’s my boss, and he’s never given me a reason not to trust him.”
“I don’t like him.”
I shrugged. “I don’t, either. He’s a dickwad.”
“Dick wad?” She tilted her head a little as she searched my face for meaning.
“Never mind.” I couldn’t hold back my smile. With Selene, I never could. “I just mean he’s a jerk. That’s a mer-term, right? Tell me jerk is universal.”
She nodded. “Of the tail.”
“Is...is that a mermaid insult?”
This time she actually did crack a touch of a smile. Well, as close as I figured I’d ever get.
“It is.”
I found my attention drawn to her lips, and more than anything I wanted to kiss her again.
“The stolen pod of Waffles Lick has been located,” she said, pulling me from my thoughts. “The message was just delivered to me.”
“Oh,” I said, pulled from my thoughts. “Great. Where is he?”
“In the temple district.” She frowned.
“That bad, huh?”
“Yes, that’s bad.” She nodded.
“We should get going, then, and you can tell me all about how bad it is on the way.” I took her hand and turned around to head back to the docking bay.
Waffles had been located, and I sure as hell wanted to get to him first.
“I need to speak to my father first. It will only take a—”
The elevator opened, and there stood Aegaeon, with a whole entourage of merguards.
Perfect timing. Speak of the devil and all.
“We were just coming to find you,” I said.
He completely ignored me as he stepped out of the elevator. He put his arm around Selene’s shoulder and pulled her aside.
The trident brigade stepped between us like I was threatening to bust through to see what they had to say.
I could listen perfectly well from where I was. Tiger hearing, baby.
“No, you will not go.”
“That’s unfair. You charged me with this mission,” Selene said. “It’s mine. Let me—”
“Others will be dispatched. When the murderer is returned to the tower, you may question him.”
Apparently that was the end of it, because Aegaeon and his crew walked away.
Which left me and Selene alone in the hall.
“It doesn’t make sense,” she said. “My job is always dangerous. This is no different.”
“But he doesn’t want you to go.”
She looked at me, fiery determination in her purple eyes. “No. But I am going.”
Yes.
“Good, because I don’t know how the hell to pilot one of those things, and I’m not waiting to see if Waffles will be treated fairly.”
“It’s likely he will not.” She headed toward the sub docks.
I followed, keeping pace by her side.
“That’s not making me feel any better,” I said.
“It wasn’t meant to. I wouldn’t want to tell a lie detector a lie, would I?”
“Smart thinking.” I winked at her.
“We need to get to this temple before anyone else does, and the pod will only be able to take us part of the way. To explore the temple area, we’ll need to swim.”
Give me a pool, give me a river, I’m game. But out at the bottom of the ocean...I was no fish.
“That might be a problem for one of us,” I said.
“No,” Selene said. “It won’t. I will teach you to breathe water.”
The submarine bay apparently had an aquarium attached to it.
We entered a room with an enormous pool in the center. The surface was sealed over with a clear covering of some sort. I walked to the edge and peered down. The water was easily forty feet deep, and at the bottom I could make out small purple shapes moving about the artificial ocean environment.
“It’s a special high-pressure tank,” Selene said, “capable of simulating a depth of several thousand feet.”
“What are the purple thingies?”
“Coralinites. A crustacean indigenous to the low city. Don’t worry, you’ll get to see one up close.” She pressed a button on the wall, and the cover over the pool began to retract.
Her gaze locked on mine she toed off her shoes. If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of mischief behind her stoicism. And maybe...nervousness.
“There are no clothes permitted in the coralinite tank.”
Ohhhhh.
She began unfastening her uniform, and I gladly stripped the hell right out of everything I was wearing. I slid down my pants and boxers in one motion, and my cock sprang up. I couldn’t contain my arousal, and I didn’t want to.
I wanted her.
Buck-ass naked, I watched as she slid the stretchy fabric down, slowly, deliberately. And hell if it wasn’t a damned fine show.
Her skin was creamy and pale and beautiful.
Her breasts were round and pert, her hips wide.
She was even more perfect than I’d imagined. When we’d first met, I’d thought she was a fish monster, but this woman was a goddess.
With a sharp inhale she stepped closer to me. She was just inches away. I could touch her. I could hold her, I could claim her as mine.
Selene reached out and put her palm on my chest.
Then she full-on smiled. A beautiful, playful smile.
And she shoved me backward.
I tumbled and splashed into the purple lobster tank. The water was cold, a shock to my system, and I waved my arms to regain my balance, floating at the top of the tank.
Selene jumped in next to me, and water splashed into my face.
I flinched, and laughed.
“To the bottom,” she said and dove down.
I took a deep breath and quickly followed, watching her perfect form swim down in front of me. Her silver hair spread out in the water, glistening around her head like a halo.
And the most amazing thing happened. I watched as she kicked her legs in unison, up and down. But then the two wove together and became one. Like a shift, but less violent, more graceful. Scales rippled across her legs.
Midway down the tank, Selene no longer had legs, but a long, purple tail that shimmered as the light hit it. The shade was a soft violet, just like her eyes.
She turned and looked up at me as she floated just above the floor of the tank.
It wasn’t just her legs that had changed. More of her skin had, too. There was a swirled pattern of blue and purple up her stomach, over her breasts.
She was magnificent.
I stared in awe as I struggled to push myself downward.
“Doing all right?” she asked.
It was strange how clear her voice was underwater—not muffled or garbled, but clear as a cloudless sky.
I nodded, though the pressure of the water was stranger still. It felt like a bear was sitting on my chest, which wasn’t the most comfortable sensation I’d ever felt, but I didn’t care for it.
Selene bent d
own and plucked one of the glowing purple creatures from the sand. It was about the size of a golf ball and it thrashed and snapped its tiny claws as Selene held it by the end if its tail.
Was this thing some sort of charm that would let me breathe?
Selene looked up at me. I still hadn’t quite made my way to the bottom. “You need to eat this.”
Well shit.
“Alive.”
Of course.
I wondered if Waffles would appreciate the lengths I’d gone to help his soggy sandwich-loving ass.
I was not thrilled about eating a big, glowy bug. The sooner it was over, the better.
I snatched it from Selene’s hand and shoved it into my mouth.
Her eyes widened for a moment, then a smile played at the corner of her lips.
I could feel the creature’s tiny legs pressing against the inside of my cheeks, its claws grabbing and scraping, fighting not to go down my throat hole.
I curled my tongue and forced the little lobster down my throat.
It tasted like sand and garbage and bile and a little bit of blood. Those last two may have been entirely me, though.
It felt like a horse going down, and the feeling lingered after it was gone, but the little bugger was gone.
Now what? Was it safe to inhale?
A sudden crushing pressure overtook my chest. I instinctively grabbed my throat. It was like all the air I had been holding in my lungs was being forced out. I wanted to swim up, to get back to dry air, but my body felt impossibly heavy, and I couldn't move.
Was this supposed to happen?
I looked to Selene, and judging by her expression, it wasn’t. Her eyes were filled with concern.
Holy fuck, I was going to die.
I flailed and kicked but it was no use. Selene moved toward me, and put her hands on my cheeks.
“Look at me,” she said softly. “Vaughn.”
I looked and was met with her lips against mine. She delved in past my lips with her tongue and I opened for her. The fear and panic were gone, and warm ocean water poured from her into me, filling my lungs.
I could breathe again.
Selene slowly broke her life-giving kiss, letting her lips linger a moment before pulling away.
The Ocean's Roar: A Tiger Shifter and Mermaid Romance (The Protectors Quick Bites Book 3) Page 7
