Page 64 of The Rusalka and Mr. Right

No, Idovery much want that—although I’ll be quite happy to have a job during the day and a few nights where I patrol the streets of Pine Ridge and put the fear of Hell into any wayward monsters I meet.

You’ll get bored with him.

I didn’t tire of Gregor.

You lost him after two years. This is forever.

And that is what I want. Stop being afraid of the good things when you have more than enough to worry about with the bad things!

I curse myself to silence in an ancient tongue, finally realizing Kev is worriedly looking at me as I slam the fridge shut and scowl.

“Did I do something, babe?”

“No, my love. I sometimes do things to myself.” I rub my temples. “I will work in the pumpkin patches today and swim with Calder. He catches fish for the Jade Forest restaurant. I think he’s also going to start doing some other sort of work. Steadier work that won’t take him so far from Janet. He swims to the sea quite often.”

“Ah.”

“I will also get a job. A steady one. One to stay in town. One that means I’m no one’s burden.”

Kev slowly puts his plate in the sink, eyes narrowing. “Marina. You’ve lived way longer than me. You can take care of yourself like nobody’s business. You don’t need me to take care of you.” He reaches for me. “But I’d like to. I’d like to be in one of those relationships where we take care of each other.”

“I want that, too.” I’m relieved and allow myself to be pulled into his arms for one long, solid squeeze.

At first, I barely hear him, but then I adjust my senses, catching the mumbled words he breathes against my hair. “Lucky you even want to stay with me when you could go anywhere in the world. Have any man in the world.”

“I could say the same thing about you. Any woman with eyes would give you a second look. Any woman with a brain would beg to be yours.” It’s true. He’s steady and sweet on the surface, but there are such deviant and delicious undercurrents in this man... I bite my lip, wondering if I’ll always be this insatiable—and loving that it is not driven by hunger. I feel so full lately, like I could skip a year’s worth of meals and not perish.

But I’m still ravenous for him.

“You need to leave for work. Now. Or I will want you to take me again.”

“Damn, girl. Can’t wait until lunch?” Kev kisses me and lets me give him a playful push away.

“Imagine that you have been living on the tiniest bits of bread for decades, never understanding that you had taste buds, never having the chance to find anything that would actually fill you. Suddenly, someone hands you keys to the world’s finest restaurant.”

“My ego’s gonna swell up bigger than Carter’s if you keep this up,” Kev teases, but his eyes are wide and soft, like he gets it. Like he understands how much he means to me—but I’m not done.

“I have to inflate it just a bit more.” I put an apple and some trail mix in his work bag where it rests on the counter, trying to get my words just right. “Imagine that you finally eat your fill. That you are so full and satisfied, that you feel like you might never be hungry again—and now you can just enjoy other things. I’m not hungry for survival anymore, my darling. I’m hungry to spend time with you. To feel pleasure with you. To make love in every way with my... my soulmate.”

One long kiss. One long look, his eyes looking into mine as our foreheads touch. “That’s how it’s always been for me. At least, after that first night. First night, I was a ball of hormones and horniness. But now... Mmm. Just being with you gives me a rush.”

“I hope it’s always that way.”

Kev nods, face crinkling in thought. “I think the rush might change into something steadier. Slower. Deeper. But that fire’s never going to go out, babe.”

Water puts out fire.

I smile and hug my love, my promised one. We head out together, savoring a stiff October breeze that blows gold and red leaves across the faded cream-colored sidewalks surrounding the apartment.

Water puts out fire.

Just a metaphor Marina. That spark won’t fade. That’s what he means.

Water kills sparks, too.

Dread stabs my stomach.

If something happens to us—it’ll bemyfault.

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