Page 38 of Bride of the Sea King

And once again, he refused to release me.

I flashed him a dirty look over my shoulder and said mentally,“Let go. I’m not even wearing a shirt.”

“I’m holding on until we’ve had a chance to talk.”

“We can talk after I find the plant I’m looking for.”

“Fine.”Triton turned me around so we were facing each other, then released me.“But you need to understand one thing. Regardless of the reasons I chose to mate with you, the bond that we have is real and permanent. You are mine, and I am yours.”

I managed a nod before I started swimming in the direction I was pretty sure Joa had pointed me in.

Now that I was underwater, directions seemed a lot more difficult.

And my hair wasn’t even almost hiding my nipples. I was just going to have to ignore that.

“Where are you going?”

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know the king was following me. I’d barely moved. Using a tail sounded intuitive, but that didn’t mean I was good at it.

“To the cliffs where the birth control plants are. Joa explained how to get there.”

Sort of.

“Alright.”Triton sounded amused.

That probably meant I was going the wrong way, but I wasn’t in a rush. I’d see if I could find the plants myself before asking for his help.

I swam deeper, though my motions were still horribly awkward.

Maybe the tail thing was harder than it looked.

“You need to roll, Sweetheart,”Triton said, after a few minutes of silence. We definitely weren’t moving fast, but we were moving.“That looks painful.”

I rolled once, though that obviously wasn’t what he was talking about.

He snorted, coming up behind me. I expected him to grab my waist again, but instead, his hand found my abdomen. His palm spread over it, and I did my best to ignore the warmth that followed.

As much as I wanted to forget what we’d done in his library, it had happened, and it was solidly burned into my memories.

Sex like that wasn’t something I would ever be able to forget.

“Your movements are jerky. It will take time to build the muscles to the point where you can consistently roll from here, but this is the only effective way to swim.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Like this.”He used his hand on my abdomen in an attempt to guide my motions. I was pretty sure I knew what he was saying, but it felt good, so I wasn’t about to stop him.“It’s hard to force. Here.”He pulled my hand to his deliciously ripped abs and made the motion.

“I don’t have those kind of muscles.”

“It will take time.”

“How much time?”

“It depends on how much you swim. Probably only a week or two until you have enough strength to keep up with me for a while. Endurance will take longer. A few months.”

“That’s not too bad.”

“Try it.”Triton released my wrist, and I focused on swimming the way he had explained.

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