Page 20 of Midnight Serenade
My breath was loud in our quiet pocket of space. “I... can,” I said in wonder. They didn’t feel murdery, like I thought they would. Instead, they felt joyful, playful, and excited. I opened my eyes and looked down. Now that I was less terrified, I could admire their lithe movements. “Do you think it’s safe to go back down? I mean, they’re putting on a show for me. It would be rude not to watch, right?”
He laughed and kissed my nose. “I’ll go down with you and stay right beside you. I promise they’re gentle and the farthest thing from their minds is hurting you.”
“Okay,” I said. I tried to gather enough of my fraying courage around me to submerge into the nest of manta rays. Was it a nest? A pod? I wasn’t sure, and I couldn’t think straight at the moment. It mattered that they didn’t want to hurt me, as it lessened my fear, but sometimes animals panicked, and people got hurt when that happened. I shook the thought away and breathed out fully. Then I inhaled deeply and dived again with Sebastian.
At first, I had my eyes squeezed shut, but then, after a few seconds and a few soft touches of fins sweeping across my chilled skin, I opened them. The manta rays swirled gracefully and purposefully, like they were doing a choreographed dancethat only they knew. Sebastian and I surfaced for air, and then dove again. I almost sucked in sea water in surprise when agiantmanta ray headed toward us. He was easily twenty feet across. All the smaller mantas danced around the giant one, still swirling around me. Smiling from ear to ear, I let go of Sebastian and joined their dance for a few precious seconds.
I felt... loved and accepted. I felt free.
We surfaced and dove one more time, and the manta rays, maybe sensing how exhausted I was becoming, each gracefully let a fin skim across my skin before they swam away. The giant manta ray stopped just in front of my face, staring at me for a moment, before he too gently kissed my skin with a fin and swam away.
Sebastian and I popped up to the surface and took our snorkels from our mouths.
“That was?”
“Incredible,” he finished.
And then he leaned forward, stopping only inches from my lips, as though waiting for permission. And even though I’djustdecided, like yesterday, not to get involved with anyone while I figured out how to be a siren and how exactly I fit into my new reality, I leaned forward the last few inches until our lips met.
And just like our last kiss, it was magic. He pulled me closer to him until our bodies fused together, sharing our warmth with one another. The water lapped all around us, tossing us gently one way, then another until I could no longer tell which way was up and which way was down. I felt like I could kiss him forever. And we were certainly making inroads to do just that when my mama’s voice piped up from behind me.
“Gracie, are you kissing that man?”
Sebastian and I pulled apart and grinned at each other. Then he kissed a water droplet from my nose. “No, Mama,” I assured her. “Hewas kissingme.”
“Oh, well, that’s okay then.”
I laughed and snuggled closer to Sebastian.
This had been the best night ever.
Chapter 8
Grace
Later that night, Sebastian walked me to my door. Mama and Micaela went into the suite and made themselves scarce, and all I could think was—now what? Learning that I was a siren, and that there was a whole paranormal world out there had already skewed my world onto its axis. I didn’t need any more confusion in my life right now.
But Sebastian didn’t make me feel confused. He made me feel valued and safe, and I could settle into the paranormal world dating Sebastian just as easily as I could on my own.
In fact, my practical side argued, I could probably do itbetterwith Sebastian by my side. A vampire hundreds of years old, who knew the paranormal scene much better than I? Who better to help steady my footing? To help keep me from making huge, deadly mistakes?
I wanted to get to know him better. I’d thought that I could do that just as friends, but I couldn’t seem to keep my lips off of him.
Grace, why can’t you just keep your lips to yourself?I sighed. I thought I might be touch-starved or something. Or it could just be that there was a deeply sexy and seemingly brilliantand kind man that was interested in me, and that I wanted to snuggle with him… and possibly have his children?
I growled at myself.Grace, you need your head examined. People don’t move that swiftly.And besides, didn’t I want to be swept off my feet first? Hadn’t I always wanted a relationship that built up slowly from a deep friendship? Why, then, was I racing toward some finish line I couldn’t see at hyper-speed?
I genuinely liked Sebastian. In fact, I liked him quite a bit. But I’d only had a few days with him. It was enough to know I was interested, but not enough to fully suss out his character. I needed more time with him. Did that time have to be as just friends? Or could it be as something more?Shouldit be as something more?
Maybe my disappointment was because we’d kissed so early? I mean, it was a heck of a kiss! Just the right amount of smoldering and sweet. But I usually made the couples in my novels wait foragesbefore they kissed. And it always served the story and the couple well. There had to be a build-up, right?
I was being an idiot. Life wasn’t a novel. I had what appeared to be a genuinely great guy interested in me, and I was interested in him back. I nodded decisively. Yes, I would move forward with him if he wanted to.
Sebastian had his arms wrapped around me throughout my whole brain drama, and he’d watched each expression cross my face, which must have been incredibly telling because he asked, “Have you come to a decision yet?”
I groaned and leaned into his chest. “I’m being an idiot. Just ignore me.”
He pulled back enough to see my face. “No, I’m interested in your dilemma, in what you’re feeling. Genuinely.”
