Water and Blood

by B. Kristin McMichael

  Sam didn’t offer her his hand again. Instead, he pulled her close to him so that their bodies were only millimeters apart, his arms wrapped around her back to keep her from moving away. He kissed her neck and sent shivers to her toes.

  “Please help me convince them we’re actually dating,” Sam said quietly enough that Whitney barely heard. “Just pretend you’re wildly in love with me.”

  Whitney’s heart beat hard. It wouldn’t take much pretending. Now, with his arms wrapped around her, it almost felt like she could feel the love from him. It was crazy as her logical mind told her that it was all a game, and that he already had a siren girlfriend, or rather, soon-to-be mate, but her heart and hands said screw it. She wrapped her arms around him, too.

  Sam kissed up her neck again, hiding his words with kisses to anyone that was watching. Pulling back, he gazed down at her. His eyes begged her to play along, and Whitney could almost say there was more in his eyes than just a plea. It had to be wishful thinking.

  She reached her hands up to run them through his still-wet hair, which looked almost jet-black as the sun sparkled off it. Smiling, Sam leaned into her touch like a cat would and that made her smile more.

  “Fine,” she said quietly, giving into his pleading.

  Sam grinned and didn’t give her a chance to change her mind as he dipped down and pressed his lips to hers. It surprised Whitney, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t about to kiss him back. In fact, her lips made up their own mind, and before she knew it, she was wrapped in his arms, sharing an incredible kiss. She had kissed guys before—that was nothing new—but this kiss with Sam was perfect. Their lips felt like they were made for each other.

  He pulled back just inches, keeping his nose to hers as he smiled at her. Whitney hadn’t wanted the kiss to end and kept her arms wrapped around him. She tugged gently at his head, and he got the message as he moved back down to kiss her again. Yes, the second kiss was just as great as the first. And somehow it turned into a third and a fourth, and she lost track of time.

  Caught in the bliss that was Sam’s lips, Whitney found herself being carried away from the pool, their lips never breaking as Sam moved down the hill toward the school. Sam finally broke the kiss by setting her down outside the door to the boys’ locker room as he dug out keys from his pocket. Whitney leaned against the brick wall and caught her breath while she watched him.

  She wanted to look around and see if their audience left, but then she would be all done with the incredible make-out sessions with Sam and have to go back to the real world where they weren’t actually dating.

  With the door open, Sam threw his bag and Whitney’s into the locker room. She didn’t remember him picking them up at the pool, but now her eyes went big.

  “Hey, that’s the boys’ locker room,” she complained. She was going to have to go in to get her bag, and she hoped because it was locked no one would be around.

  Sam’s teeth sparkled as he smiled at her. “Yep, and I happen to have a key to use it after hours.” He swung his key chain around on his finger.

  Whitney gave him her best “and so” face, hoping he would explain more before she broke their façade of a happy, in-love couple.

  “And we can be completely alone since I’m the only one that uses it after hours until swim season starts next fall.”

  Ahh, Whitney got it. They could be alone, and that was just what they needed for her to continue learning about the sirens. She grinned up at him. He had thought it all out perfectly. Even if he was a bit bossy, at least he was smart. It didn’t mean she was going to just do as he said now that she understood that better, but it was nice to know.

  Sam stepped back over to Whitney, trapping her against the wall with his arms on either side of her face. She looked up at him and felt her heart thump in her chest at him being close. It was going to be a long afternoon learning about sirens if she kept wanting to kiss him and relive their little act from before. Shoot, who was she kidding? Whitney hadn’t been acting, even if Sam had. Oh well, she would enjoy it while it lasted and hoped that maybe his siren shadows would follow him around some more so they could get another perfect kiss in.

  She didn’t have to wait for a moment as Sam’s head swooped down and his lips found their way back to her. Sam pressed her to the wall and pulled her legs up to wrap around him. Without a look back, he marched them into the locker room and locked the door behind them. Whitney sighed, thinking the kiss would be done, but he didn’t stop. He passed their bags on the floor and around the corner to the showers. Sitting down, he expertly moved her legs around so that she was sitting across his lap now. He broke the kiss only to reach back and turn the water on in the shower behind them. The light mist that made its way to them instantly turned Whitney’s legs to a fin. Sam turned them around so that her tail could feel the water as it ran over it. He ran his hand down her pink fin, causing a new burst of tingles throughout it and right down to the edge where her toes used to be.

  Sam pulled Whitney to his chest and tucked her under his chin. He gave a sigh himself before finally letting go of her and setting her down on the bench beside him.

  Whitney noticed his guilty expression.

  “Your girlfriend isn’t going to be mad at you?” she asked. Whitney wanted to smack her head. She really knew how to put her foot in her mouth, but she just couldn’t help it.

  Something inside her made her upset to be the cause of his sadness. She had no idea where that feeling was coming from, but it was strong. Sam was sad, and she felt it as she sat beside him. It was almost tangible.

  “Girlfriend? You’re my girlfriend. Are you mad at me?” he asked with a slight grin.

  Whitney slapped his chest playfully, hoping he would get back to being the normal, happy Sam and not the sad one that had magically appeared after a great kissing session that was done way too early, if you asked Whitney.

  “Your siren girlfriend,” she replied while rolling her eyes. At least that had cheered him up as he smiled at her, but now he seemed a bit confused. “You know, your future mate?”

  Whitney didn’t understand where the confusion was coming from. He had just been talking to her.

  “Amber,” she added since it didn’t seem like he understood.

  Sam broke out laughing, not the reaction Whitney was expecting. Nothing she said was funny.

  “Amber as my girlfriend?” He laughed some more, enough to shake the bench they were both sitting on. “She’s been trying for years, but I’ve always told her no. We grew up together. I will never see her as anything more than a sister. She might want more, and possibly pushed her parents for it, but it will never happen. Amber is just Amber,” Sam told her, like it explained everything. He pretty much explained nothing that made any sense.

  “It didn’t look like that before,” Whitney added under her breath, and Sam grinned more at her.

  “You’re jealous,” he teased.

  Whitney’s face turned red and thankfully the water pouring onto her tail was hot, so she was going to blame her face on that.

  “Of what? I’m only your pretend girlfriend.” Whitney tried to keep the pout out of her voice as she willed her face to remain neutral.

  “Only if you want it to be pretend,” Sam replied, as he touched her red cheek gently.

  CHAPTER 7

  Sam stared into Whitney’s eyes and tried to read what was going on behind them. Normally she was an open book, even when she tried to hide her feelings. Sam had spent over a year watching her. He knew when she was sad. He knew when she was mad. He knew when she was happy. No one else might have noticed, but after studying her enough, he did. But now her eyes were guarded. She was purposely hiding her feelings from him.

  “Are you saying that because you really like me, or are you saying that to piss everyone off?”

  Sam couldn’t help the corners of his mouth from starting to move on their own. Just one more reason he liked her: she was smarter than anyone ever gave her credit for. She had noticed the
effect of their relationship. Most girls would not have picked up on it, but she did.

  “I’m not trying to upset the sirens. That’s me refusing to go home for my birthday. That’s trying to upset them. You …” Sam trailed off.

  He just didn’t know how to put it without coming off as creepy. He had been watching her over a year and wanting to have her as his the whole time. Then again, she probably already found him creepy. He had been feeding on her for over a year under the guise of teaching her how to swim, which he actually did very well, and he had been the person to change her back into a monster. She probably didn’t want to actually be his girlfriend.

  Looking back into her eyes, he made the choice. He was brave when facing hunters. He was brave when facing his father, King of the Sirens. He was brave when facing his older brothers who had beat on him unmercifully when he was growing up. He was going to be brave while facing Whitney, the hardest thing he had ever had to do.

  “Whitney,” Sam said slowly as he thought of the words to say.

  She was staring down at her fin as it flapped in the water. Again, he found himself smiling. She was a siren now, and no one could stop them if she actually wanted to be with him, too. And based on the kisses she had given him just moments before, he had to hope that meant she wanted him, too. He reached over and touched her chin gently, turning her face up so that their eyes locked.

  “I’ve spent my whole life in the mer world, looking and searching for a mate. It’s tradition that if you don’t choose by your eighteenth birthday, your parents will choose a mate for you. You get no say, and you get someone you are stuck with for the rest of your life. I knew from the time I was dropped off in the Pacific I wasn’t going to let my parents choose. They haven’t ever had my best interest at heart. I needed to find my own mate. So I searched. I’ve looked and looked. I’ve been on hundreds of dates to know that each girl I ever met wasn’t for me. I went outside of the sirens knowing my parents would be upset, but they would eventually get over it as long as she had a fin. My life has been a series of work and dates, and yet I never found a girl that I felt even an ounce of what I feel for you.”

  Whitney’s eyes went wide as he admitted his feelings. She didn’t reply or run away shrieking, and he took that as a sign to continue. Okay, she couldn’t exactly run away with her fin sitting there in the water, but she wasn’t shrieking.

  “When you came to school here, it was like I felt as if I had met you before. I was drawn to you like I never had been to a girl before. Something about you was familiar, and I wondered why. I began to watch you.”

  Quickly, Sam put a finger on her lips to keep her quiet. He didn’t know if he would have the nerve to say more if she interrupted him, and he needed to get it all out there. She needed to know this wasn’t just a ploy to upset the sirens; she needed to know what he felt was real.

  “The more I watched you, the more I wanted to know you better. When you asked to do swimming lessons and the school assigned you to Mark, I made him switch. I’m kind of in charge here, so I just had to say I wanted to teach you, and he had to obey. He thought it was because of how beautiful you are, but in reality, I saw much more of you beyond your looks.”

  Whitney bit her lip as he talked—a nervous reaction of hers. Sam rubbed his finger on her cheek, hoping to send calming vibes her way.

  “You are beautiful, but you are also smart, caring, funny, and clever all rolled into one. The mer don’t look at day humans as anything but food and I should have done the same, but I couldn’t with you. More than anything, I wanted to get to know you better. I wanted to spend time with you. I wanted you to finally look at me and see me for me as you did your friends. You are the first day human they have ever befriended. And I knew that was because it was you. Something about you makes the mer see more in day humans. You are special.”

  Whitney tried to avert her gaze, but Sam kept firm and held her face up looking at him. She didn’t like being complimented on anything but her appearance. He needed to finish up because it was torture to not know what she thought.

  “I’m not here asking you to be my mate. That’s a commitment I can’t ask of you.” At least not at this time, he thought to himself. “What I’m asking is that if you feel anything for me, to give me a chance to prove to you I should be your boyfriend. I’m sorry that I’m the one who turned you, and if you just want to stay as friends because deep down you can never forgive me, I’ll understand.”

  Sam let go of her face and turned to the spray of water. He hadn’t meant to add the last part about turning her, but he needed to give her an out in case she didn’t have feelings for him like he thought she did. He might have imagined the whole thing with wishful thinking.

  Stretching and wiggling his toes, he let his fin appear next to hers. Her fin wiggled a bit beside his. Old legends had said that when you found your destined mate, you would know. That’s why the sirens put such an emphasis on finding your mate before you turned eighteen. Sam sucked in a breath as her fin brushed against his. Even if she didn’t want to date him, he couldn’t stop wanting her. That was impossible. He had found his one and only.

  “I like you, too,” Whitney whispered, the words barely audible over the sound of the water hitting the shower around them.

  Sam thought he must have been hearing things as his head snapped up, but then he felt it inside him like he had when they touched back at the pool. She had said it. She really had. Sam didn’t think further and let his siren take over as he pulled her back onto his lap, back where she fit perfectly in his arms. Back where he hoped she would never leave.

  Whitney walked around school the next day in a daze. The night before still seemed completely unreal. She had pinched herself more than a dozen times on her walk home, and even made Sam pinch her once for good measure. It wasn’t a dream. Sam really liked her. She now had her first ever boyfriend. Her fake boyfriend was her real boyfriend. That wasn’t easy to believe.

  They hadn’t had much time to talk since most of the time they’d spent with their lips already busy, but he did have a chance to explain that the sirens would see her only as a snack and play toy. He was sorry that it would be that way, but they would leave him alone, and he could now spend as much time as he wanted with her without anyone catching on to the truth. His plan got them alone time whenever they wanted. She had to admit she was sad he hadn’t thought of it earlier.

  Now that everything was out in the open, she saw Sam a lot more at school than she realized. They didn’t have any classes together, but it seemed like they had a lot of classes right next door to each other. She found that out as Sam walked her to each class and then was waiting outside the door when she left. When he said he’d been watching her since she came to the school last year, she now saw how he did it without her or anyone else knowing.

  They didn’t say much as they walked the hallways; Sam, being the gentleman he was, carried her books. She could feel the eyes of everyone on them as they went between classes. She couldn’t remember a time that Prince Sam had a girlfriend. She had wanted to ask her friends as far back as last year, because they obviously knew the school and all the people in it better than she ever imagined, but she didn’t want them to know she had a crush on him. In hindsight she didn’t hide it that well as they already knew before she told them.

  Her friends took the news and Sam hanging around in stride. It turned out that while they made comments about him behind his back, they didn’t actually dislike him as much as they pretended. Without his normal group of friends around him as he walked her to classes—sometimes with Tina or Trudy—Sam actually fit in well with her friends. They also seemed to notice the difference and lightened up after their first day of warnings.

  “Do you work tonight?” Sam asked when Whitney stopped at her locker before their last class of the day.

  “No. Mark has off, and it seems like I’ve only been scheduled when he works,” she replied.

  She hadn’t noticed when she started, but now t
hat she knew who Mark really was, she kept better track of when he would be there since she had to be extra careful around him. Going through her schedule, it really did look like he only scheduled her when he was there. Whether that was on purpose or not, she wasn’t sure. Since she had started dating Sam, he had stopped asking her out. At least there was one siren who respected that they were dating. Amber was a whole other story. She glared at Whitney every chance she got.

  “Good. Want to come with tonight?”

  “I thought we were grabbing dinner and a walk on the beach,” she replied. At least that was what she remembered him mentioning somewhere between kisses forty-two and sixty-four.

  “I was hoping we could get a walk in before we have to catch the bus,” Sam replied. “Someone canceled, and we got booked in their place. Short notice, but we tend to not turn them down if they’re in the area.”

  Now she knew exactly what tonight meant. He had another gig. Whitney smiled. Hearing him sing the first time had been amazing, but hiding in the bus was a pain. She wasn’t sure she wanted another trip sitting under the bench seat.

  “Come with me as my guest,” he clarified, as he also probably remembered their trip only days ago.

  Smiling, Whitney nodded. She had been smiling all day and figured eventually her cheeks were going to hurt too much if she didn’t stop soon. Sam smiled back at her and quickly kissed her cheek like he knew exactly what she was thinking.

  “Have fun at class,” he said as they had already reached the door.

  She nodded in a daze and went into the room to find her seat. Unfortunately for her, her last class of the day was shared with Amber. She knew from the brief conversation with Sam that he didn’t like Amber at all, but she could also tell that Amber really liked him. Whitney would have felt bad for her if she hadn’t seen Amber throw herself at Sam the day before. Now she was more than a little fed up with her.