Page 91 of Sea's Secret

“I will leave you, but I just want you to know that you do not need to hide your emotions or your feelings.”

“I don’t have emotions or feelings; I am fine. It is just another day being a pirate.”

“Are you really going to lie to me? Remember in that cave? You told me on Marren Island that you still thought about your brother.”

“Fine, I am worried about him, alright? Happy?” I said harshly.

She smiled wide.

“Yes, I just wanted you to admit it. You are not as cruel and unfeeling as you pretend to be.”

“You do not know me, fully, Meria. I have lived a life that would scar you forever,” I said, stepping closer to her. I took her chin in my hand, and although I wore my gloves, her heat pierced through me.

“I would not mind a few scars, if it meant I could come closer to you,” she said tenderly, looking from my scar, to my eyes.

“I am not like your betrothed merman. I do not follow all the rules, and I do not–”

“You also do not report to my father every single step I make, nor do you betray me and get me banished, nor do you make me believe you want a life together and a family and then rip it all away.”

I blinked, dumbfounded, and then I was angry at what a fool that merman was. I already disliked him on principal, but hearing that–

“I will kill him, torture him to death–”

“No, you will not.”

“I will inflict him with so much pain that he will beg your forgiveness,” I snapped.

“No, you will not.”

“Yes, I will,” I said, taking her shoulders in my hands. “And I will enjoy it.”

“You do not scare me,” she whispered with a smile. “But nice try, my wicked pirate.” She then brushed her hand across my scar again, and I turned my face, frustrated; she could see so much within me, and I was afraid of what that meant.

“You are not at all like Edmar. Which is what I like about you, Dominick. You are not perfect, but I do not want perfection, nor what my father believes is perfection for me.”

“You should not want anything to do with me.”

“But I do. I cannot help it.”

I grazed my thumb over her lip, wanting more than anything else in this world to lean down and kiss those perfectly inviting lips.

“Meria, I am–”

“What?”

“I am tired.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, stepping closer to me. Her hand, then on my chest, played with the buttons on my vest.

I nodded, yes.

“Say it. Tell me you want me to leave, Dominick,” she whispered, and I stopped my thumb’s movement upon her soft lips.

“Do not ask me to do the impossible,” I said, leaning my face closer, down, until my nose touched hers. “I am a man, a wicked–”

“Pirate, I know. I like pirates,” she sighed as I pressed my lips to the side of her mouth–not touching her lips. I trailed my lips over her cheek and stopped when she wrapped her arms around my neck, her fingers playing with my hair. I closed my eyes and took in the feeling of her all around me. I did not want that moment to end. I wanted to take everything I desired from her, and be who I always claimed to be: cruel, selfish, and wicked. But I could not. She had discovered my bluff. She saw through the facade. I could not act the part, not in full, not with her. My eyes felt heavy, along with my body.

“Meria–I need you to leave,” I said again and took a step back, reluctantly. I should not have pressed my lips against her soft flesh because I knew I would not be able to focus on anything else from that moment on, but the desire I had to kiss her, in truth–to have those lips pressed against mine, was intense. But for some reason, a reason I did not understand, I could not do it. I could not kiss her. Why? Something held me back.

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