Page 70 of Seduced By the Mermen
“Here we are,” Clark says, stopping in front of an entryway. He presses his hand to a biometric sensor, the mechanism unlocking it with a soft beep. With a firm push and a slow grunt, he shifts it halfway open. Sterling yanks it the rest of the way open.
For a city where everything is pristine and clean, the disrepair gives me pause. “Is it safe?” I want to yank the words back into my mouth. I’m done being the cautious one. I want to be free and wild. “It doesn’t matter,” I say too fast, too harsh.
“It’s okay, Blair. We don’t come up here very often anymore, but it’s safe. It’s a shared space with the penthouse, but they never use it. Forrest had this staircase put in a long time ago.”
The entryway opens into a stairwell. Metal stairs spiral upward.
“Whoa.” I crane my neck but can’t see the top.
“It’s a bit of a climb. We don’t have to go all the way up if you don’t want to.” Clark leans into me.
“No. I want to. This will be... fun.”
“Is it too high? I don’t want you to?—”
“Lose it? No, stairs don’t scare me. Glass elevators and subway tracks are the two things that set my phobia off. We better get climbing. I don’t want to be late for the feast.” I put my hand on my stomach. The apartment smells amazing. Though that’s gone in the stairwell.
“It’s worth it. Every time I come up here, I’m reminded how lovely it really is.” Clark starts up, then me. Sterling’s close behind. The warmth of his body and his scent of musky sand wraps itself around me. I have no doubt that if I wobbled, he’d catch me before I tumbled a single step.
Round and round we go. “How many floors is this?” I ask, trying not to sound winded. We pass a door on the landing.
“That’s the penthouse. It’s one flight so far. But a tall flight. We’ve got one and a half more flights to go,” Sterling says, his deep tone in my ear. “Are you tired? I could carry you the rest of the way up.”
“Uh, no. No, thank you.” Being carried up a flight of stairs might make me lose it again. But by the time Clark hits the top step, I’m feeling it in my quads and my calves. I’m a good few steps behind him.
“Wait, Blair.” Clark turns around and holds out his hands. “Close your eyes when you take the last few steps up. I’ve got you. And Sterling’s right behind you.”
“Okay,” I say again, putting on my brave voice. I clasp his hands firmly and close my eyes. I take the steps up, my eyes firmly clenched.
“Don’t open them until I say. I’m letting go of your hands to turn off the lights. Sterling’s behind you.”
Sterling steps closer. His front is inches away from my back. The urge to lean back into him is overwhelming, but he’s not giving me any signals. That’s not true. With the scowling and growling, the signals he’s given me are firmly not interested. With a topping ofget the heck out of my city so I can do more important things than follow a human woman around all day.
Clark’s shoes echo on the metal floor, and through my eyelids I see the light turn off. “Not yet, Blair. Give your eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness.”
“She’s human. She’ll need more than a minute,” Sterling says.
“Sterling!” Clark reprimands.
“It’s okay, Clark, it’s true. I studied aboard the Omicron, in the doctro centusia pods. I know that your vision, healing, and reflexes are all better than mine.”
Clark takes my hand again. “That might be true, but you’re a guest and he doesn’t need to be rude.”
“I don’t think he’s being rude. Just telling it like it is. I don’t mind people being blunt. Actually, I kind of prefer it. Sure, sometimes it stings a little, but in the end, it can be quite refreshing.”
“That’s Sterling. Refreshing. Like a pile of rancid seaweed.”
Sterling laughs. “Open your eyes, Blair.”
I blink them open. It’s dark, and I wobble back onto my heels. Sterling grabs me, his large hand splayed wide on my stomach. My breath hitches, and I crane my neck, my chin tilting up. There’s jellyfish and fish glowing around us. Swarms of bioluminescent color. A whirlwind of vivid green and blue-green glowing light.
I’m silent. It’s breathtaking. My head hits the middle of Sterling’s chest. The inky dark backdrop of the water above with the bioluminescent krill floating around takes all of my nerves and my thoughts with it and floats them away. Small and large jellyfish bob and float all around us. Calm fills me like I’ve done a long meditation or slept a good night’s sleep. My breathing synchs with Sterling’s. In and out. His warmth secures me to the spot. It’s the only thing keeping my soul from floating out to be with the glowing fish.
I don’t know how long it’s been, but I’m still holding on to Clark with my right hand, and my left one has settled on Sterling’s, holding it there against me. The longer I watch the bioluminescence, the more I can feel calmness on my skin. Like I’m swimming through it myself.
“Do you ever swim with it?”
“Here? No. This is just for show. But there are lots of places to do that. Though you would need a fluke,” Clark whispers. “And some bioluminescence is toxic even to us. Though there area few types that aren’t, and there are at least a few areas within the Veiled City where you can swim through it.”
