Page 62 of Sea's Secret

“I am Richard, by the way.”

“Meria,” I said as we reached the side of the ship. I closed my eyes and let the salty breeze give me some sense of the sea. I wanted to connect with the ocean so badly.

“Everyone knows you. Beautiful name. I will say it matches the maiden.”

I looked up at him.

He smiled wide. He seemed so kind, but I became uncomfortable.

Leave. He is not kind.

Why?

Why was I uncomfortable? I remembered what Dominick had warned me about men aboard the ship. But I had not let him near me. We only spoke a little.

“Thank you,” I smiled politely with a nod as I would to one of the Marren mermen under the sea.

Before I knew what was happening, he was too close, his lips grazing the side of my face. I stepped back and pushed him away with repulsion. There was a loud cry–a woosh of air, and Richard was no longer beside me, but he was in the sea below. I looked around to see Dominick standing beside me, instead, aglow in the moonlight, his bare chest rising and falling, his hair wild around his face and blowing in the wind. His eyes were fixed solely on me. His look was stern.

“What are you doing? Did you not hear what I said earlier today?” he nearly shouted.

Snapping out of the shock of Dominick flinging Richard into the sea, I looked around the ship. “Someone needs to help him!” I gasped, looking from Dominick to Richard, struggling in the water below.

“I do not care about that fool, Meria!” Dominick growled, coming closer as I looked over the railing of the ship. I turned around to look at him. He stepped closer to me, only a few steps away. “Did you not hear what I said earlier today about these men?” He was seething, I could see the anger in his eyes–hear it in his tone.

“Richard seemed kind. How was I to know otherwise?”

Your soul said otherwise. I really needed to start trusting myself.

“Listen.” He held up his gloved hands and placed them on my shoulders. Unlike Richard’s touch, I welcomed Dominick’s and moved closer to him, my soul aching for the connection. “Meria, men on ships, even royal ships, often spend months at sea. They do not often see any maidens for long periods of time, and men like maidens. I’m not saying this is an excuse to behave poorly, but men can be vile–especially when they have not been around maidens for a long time.”

“You are not vile.”

“Listen, please,” he nearly begged. His thumbs made circular movements on my shoulders. It was a soothing motion that had become a habit between the both of us–so soothing, yet making my body buzz with the desire to wrap my arms around him.

“I’m listening,” I whispered.

“Men miss women and their company. Is it not like this under the sea with the males?”

“Of course, mermen love mermaids, and there are mermen who overstep and cross lines, but that has never happened to me.”

“It is possible that you were never taught how to deter unwanted attention away from you. I am sure you were guarded as the youngest princess?”

“I did often have guards around. But we were only walking. I had no idea–”

“Meria, you don’t have guards here. I am only one man, and I cannot keep an eye on you the entire time you are aboard this ship. You have to understand the dangers and learn how to deal with these men.”

“Okay.”

“When you give them your attention, they see that as a sign that you like them as more than friends.”

“Really?”

“Yes, on a ship, it is a little different than on land; however, you should still keep what I say in mind on land or at sea.”

“Okay, I am sorry. I am not trying to be any trouble.”

“Meria–you do not have to say ‘sorry,’ and you are not ‘trouble.’ You are a very attractive maiden,” he said, his hands still on my shoulders, and more than anything, I wanted to embrace him–feel his warmth and comfort like I had on Marren Island.

---