Page 110 of The Sea Witch's Son

The shipwreck rests across my chest, dropping an anchor on my heart and burying it in the sand.

“The fear goes away, you know.” He nuzzles my neck, “It takes a while, but eventually it goes away.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Mm, I wouldn’t either.”

A smile escapes me, “I don’t understand you.”

“I should hope not. That would ruin any air of mystery I hope to achieve.”

The smile turns into something more.

Marlin’s arms tighten as laughter echoes from my body. It’s warm and inviting, the type of sound I forgot my body was capable of producing.

“That was actually funny, for once.”

My comment is met by silence. Shifting around to face him, I find those violet eyes trained on my face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

His eyes drop to my lips, which are still stretched in a wide smile. My heart goes still when he brushes a thumb across my bottom lip.

“I have heard every scream. Every shriek of agony and every cry of ecstasy. I have heard and enjoyed them all.”

I can’t feel anything except the gentle press of his fingers.

“But nothing." He pauses, tracing my smile again, "Compares to the sound you just made.”

The weight on my chest increases by tenfold.

“You weren’t supposed to be like this.”

I wasn’t supposed to feel like this.

His lips split right down the middle, “What was I supposed to be like?”

“Disgustingly ugly.”

It’s his turn to laugh, and God, if I don’t want to record the sound just so I can play it on repeat.

“My features are quite devastating, aren’t they?”

“Devastating might be a stretch.”

A wide, genuine smile hits that perfect face and I’ll be damned if it isn’t a little bit devastating.

“That’s not a denial, little saint.”

“You should take it as one.”

Marlin laughs again, and I can’t help but lean closer.

He’s like a drug. An intoxication that messes with your mind and toys with your body until there’s nothing but a desperate craving.

A darkness you never want to escape.

“You always have to be difficult.”

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