Page 22 of Cruel Tides

I scoffed. “Don’t be sorry,” I said, then rolled onto my back. Cum was smeared all over my stomach, which was a first for me, but I didn’t really mind it. I stared down at it, taking it in.Wow. Did human males come as much as mermen did, or were these guys part sperm whale? “It wasn’t what I expected, but I enjoyed it. I should have said this earlier, but thank you for saving me.”

“Not what you expected, huh?” Kai’s grin was waiting for me when I glanced back over. “Same goes for me,” he said, rolling on his side to face me. He winced with the movement, but when his eyes settled back on mine, he was smiling brighter than ever. “Ireallyenjoyed—” He paused. “What would humans call that?”

“Uh…” I glanced at our cum glazed bellies while my mind grasped for the correct phrasing. What was it called when you got off by grinding on each other’s genitals? It certainly wasn’t adryhump. “Foreplay, I guess,” I said with a noncommittal shrug, and he nodded like he was soaking up the information.

“I like foreplay,” he said, his teeth flashing with the words. “Even better than the pool.”

Now I was laughing, my head shaking as I scooted off the bed. “I sure hope I’m better than a pool,” I teased, getting to my feet.

The corners of his mouth fell. “Where are you going?”

I gestured to my stomach. “Don’t you think we should clean up?” Leaning over the bed, I planted a kiss on top of the soft spikes of his hair. “Then we can cuddle until Barren and Laverne come back.”

His eyes lit, but I knew that there was a lot we needed to talk about before they came to check on us. Like what had happened after he’d been knocked out. The cecaelia, the sea wizard, Leander taking in the trident…

Then there was the shell that had saved my life. I’d stashed it as soon as we got back from the beach, too afraid that it might accidentally cut someone if I kept it out, but the others needed to see it. Maybe there was an easy explanation as to why it had acted as a blade when I’d tried to clobber the Rook over the head with it?

I massaged my temples as I walked to the bathroom.

Yes, there was a lot to discuss, and I felt whatever happened next was the beginning of something greater than all of us.

7

Barren

When I returned to my room, Laverne was still snoring. I eased the door shut and took a breath, using the end of my workout tank to dab at my forehead. The fitness center had been empty, and I was thankful for every moment alone. Being around others was a change I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to. I’d hoped a workout would help clear my head, but the fitness room was ill-equipped, and I’d barely worked up a sweat.

What I wouldn’t give for a pull down machine and some free weights,I thought, thinking of my equipment back home.But driving to a gym wasn’t an option. Not while Claira was here.

My shirt was dry, but I pulled it off and bagged it up with the rest of my laundry. A sharp snore tore through the room, and I shook my head as I checked on my phone.

No calls, no messages. When I placed it back on the counter, my chest felt lighter.

I still had time.

While gathering fresh clothes, I shuffled through my rolls of socks and paused over the leather brace folded neatly at the bottom of my luggage. My jaw set as I scanned over the perfect round of stingray leather, overcome with the need to put it on.

The impulse won, and I pulled it out and placed the stiff leather against my shoulder, taking a deep breath as I lined it up. The tension in my muscles eased before I even had the strap around me. I threaded the buckle next, tightening it into place over my chest.

Under the firm weight pressing down on me, I finally felt whole. The shoulder brace looked foolish paired with sweatpants, but I didn’t care. I’d been exposing painful memories for too long. Memories that were better off strapped up and hidden.

I moved to the dresser, carefully checking my new brace’s placement in the mirror, watching my muscles swell around the leather as I bent and flexed them.

Adjusting a brace was second nature to me by now. I made a point of overlooking the jagged dips and scars that covered half of my chest while I worked. It was easier to hide a weakness from others when you stopped looking at it yourself. I didn’t need a reminder of what might have been.

The leather was thicker than my last brace, hewn from a larger ray, stiff and far from molding to the grooves of my shoulder. But with my previous brace lost to the Atlantic, this would have to do.

I flexed again, curving my spine to the left, then the right, until I was certain the strap would hold in place. Not bad. It would break into shape faster in salt water than on land, but I would survive the sores until it did.

The adrenaline from my workout drained away as I stood there, allowing memories of Claira’s soft hums and rolls of laughter to seep into my mind like a delicious nectar. The ones she’d made after following Leander into the bathroom.

My teeth gnashed as my fingers worked, tightening my brace’s strap until my lungs pinched and my shoulder burned.

There was a time, not long ago, when I would have given her up for Leander’s sake. Stayed silent as he and Claira and Kai worked things out.

Now, I could barely keep my mind from trying to work out how to make my voice call to her like hers did to me—even when she was an entire room away, wrapped up in the arms of another merman.

I’d stood in front of the bathroom with lead feet, tortured by the smile I could hear in her voice from the other side of the door. Both of them were laughing, recklessly carefree. Like we hadn’t just been dragged through the jaws of the Undersea, chewed up and spat back out.

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