Page 53 of Surfaces
He swallowed hard and I felt his fingers dig into my waist, though he didn’t drag me to him as Valdez had.
Interesting.
So the pirate wanted to break me and make me lose all sense of propriety. Meanwhile, I craved doing exactly the same thing to the rebel.
Watkins studied me silently for a moment, his looks broody no matter his expression, because his brows were thick and his eyes were deep-set, allowing mysterious shadows to gather and hide his true thoughts.
He chewed on his lip for a moment before asking in a husky voice, “Favorite childhood memory?”
This man was so full of twists and turns that he could have been a tangleball, the ocean’s version of a tumbleweed.
“You don’t really care.”
“I asked, didn’t I?”
“My dress is too heavy,” I lied and used the excuse to slide both my hands up around his back so that he’d hold my waist and pull me closer.
He grinned and shook his head as if he knew exactly what I was thinking but I didn’t give a damn. If Watkins actually wanted to know something about me, he was going to learn it on my terms.
I thought for a moment before I remembered a memory that always brought a smile to my face. “I played hide and seek with my older sister, Bloss, quite a bit when we were younger. She’s six years older and grew out of loving the game faster than I did. So she used to volunteer to count and then would claim she could never find me.”
“Rather mean.”
“Yes. Well, I figured it out. And so the next time we played, I let her count, and then I snuck over to our fathers’ rooms. I stole sweets hidden in their drawers, mixed up their clothes—dragged them to the wrong rooms, jumped on the beds, and then…when I got caught, I told them all Bloss threatened to cut off all my hair and made me do it.”
Watkins shook his head. “Ruthless. I knew it.”
“Must run in the genes, you’re right. Swim away now while you can.”
“Yes. Well, now I blame you and your evil ways for the fact that Humberto’s underthings ended up in my trunk.” He gave a playful shudder.
I snorted an unladylike laugh. “What? Really?” I didn’t particularly want to imagine Humberto’s underthings but an unwilling image of striped braies like my fathers had worn—short pant-like undergarments—popped into my mind and wouldn’t leave. Nor would the idea of Watkins growing increasingly angry as he tried on pair after pair only to have them all fall down.
The shark shifter sighed and nodded with mock seriousness. “It was a bit traumatic getting ready for this ball when nothing would stay up. I had to go get help to find my real clothes. A couple of servants helped me look—took thirteen trunks before we found mine.”
I closed my eyes, letting my eyelashes gently brush my cheeks as I said, “I love it. I’m currently imagining you wandering the hallway naked.”
“Well, be sure to double the size of my dick—I’m sure you’re not imagining it large enough.”
I smacked him even as I tilted my head back and teased, “Bigger or smaller than a sea slug?”
“Definitely bigger.”
“Bigger or smaller than an eel?”
Watkins’s laugh stopped his answer, but our entire conversation was cut off by someone who pressed their body up against my spine. My eyes flew open, wondering who would take such liberties.
Valdez would.
And did.
He pressed up against my spine, his lips curling down to my ear. “I don’t like you laughing with this crown-hater,” he murmured.
“Are you willing to answer my question?” I spat back rather harshly because Valdez’s words were a slap to the face. I felt my cheeks heat, but this time in anger, instead of attraction.
“He’s not wrong to be protective,” Watkins’s grip loosened on my hand but I clutched at his wrist, refusing to let it go.
“Valdez doesn’t get to dictate the terms of what I do,” I snapped.
