Page 91 of Oceansong
His contented sigh buzzed along her lips, causing pleasurable vibrations to rush through. “You are breathtaking. Incredible. You’re brilliant beyond words, and I want to call you mine, if you’ll have me.”
Invisible wings beat against her heart, and she put both her hands on either side of his face. “I am yours. As you are mine.”
“I think I can describe what it is I feel for you,” he added, and she tilted her head to the side. “Angie, I—I love you. From the deepest recesses of my heart and soul. My heart is so entwined with yours that there is no me without you.” He moved his head back an inch, his eyes searching her face, as if edgy at what her response would be.
The reply came easily from her heart to her throat, “I love you too, Kaden.” As soon as she verbalized her thoughts, an intense passion swelled and burst.
He beamed at her, part of his face brightened by the moon, his skin lambent and so soft and smooth.
His beauty made her weak in the knees and her heartbeat quicken.
“Would you care to follow me one more time?” He pointed above her head. “We can get to the top of the rocks and get a sweeping view of the seascape.”
Angie studied the rocky landscape. It was a far climb, and she swallowed hard. She wouldn’t chicken out of this. “Okay. Yeah, let’s do it. I can use those edges and nooks. What do you do?”
Kaden motioned toward the smooth, vertical finger-like projections. “I climb those.”
“This I have to see.” She moved to the solid ground, making her way up. She only ever rock-climbed once in her life when her friends in college had pressured her to go for one of their birthdays, and she hated every minute of it. She never had a strong upper body and still couldn’t do a pull-up without assistance.
Angie shook her arms, using the step-like projections and nooks to her advantage, and made her way upward. Two climbs in and her arms and legs began to cramp, but she pushed onward.
Kaden was within her line of sight, his long fingers keeping a secure grip in front of him. His tail tensed, curled beneath him and contracted along with his back and arms, revealing powerful muscles as he made his way to the top. Then, to reach her, he extended one arm out to the stone projection beside him, gripping with his biceps and shifting his other arm and tail over. He was a magnificent sight to behold.
When her muscles fatigued and ached and she felt like she couldn’t keep going, she reached a smooth, flat area at its apex.
Kaden joined her shortly after.
“Impressive.” She gave him an appreciative nod while shaking out her arms and legs, catching her breath.
He winked. “You liked what you saw?”
“Oh, of course.” Angie nudged him with her elbow.
He held out his arm, inviting her to come closer. She snuggled into him, resting her head against his cool shoulder.
Now that they had reached the top and the sky was unobscured, she tilted her head and stargazed. The moon’s cast over the sea made it glitter like a million tiny diamonds at the surface. Studying the panoramic view, itstruck her that she had no idea where they were.
She was alone and free here with the man she loved. It thrilled her.
Love. It was still so foreign to admit it, but the admission freed her both from the restraints of her own mental block and from the inability to accept her growing feelings.
The night sky enveloped them like a dim blanket, the rushing tides a rhythmic lullaby, and the smell of salt and frosty air lifted her senses. Beneath her hands, the cold, wet slickness of the rocks reminded her of days when she was a kid when she and Mia would go exploring the jetty jutting out into the sea wearing big bubble jackets, and they’d slip because of their rubber boots. Their hands would slap against the mossy rocks, and they’d giggle and get right back up.
A more innocent time.
Another wave broke in the distance, and the events of yesterday came rushing back. She wrapped her arms around herself. “Kaden, I have to ask. The tsunamis yesterday, was that your mother’s doing? You said you didn’t know what she was going to do in her grief and rage.”
Kaden sent his gaze downward. “Yes, it was her. I didn’t know, and neither did Cyrus. Though the rest of the queendom approves and lauds her because of it, Cyrus and Adrielle and I did not.” His fingers squeezed at her shoulder.
“Should we expect another attack?” Angie shivered, though being next to Kaden kept her warm enough. The docks wouldn’t be able to handle another hit. It was already so fragile.
“No. The destruction took a lot out of her, and she is on bedrest. It will likely be a long time before she has enough energy to do something of such a large caliber again.” He drummed the fingers of his other hand over his tail. “She was not always like this, you know. So full of hatred and rage.”
Curiosity sparked. “What was she like before the war?”
Kaden shifted. “She is not a cruel mermaid, but her hatred for landw—humans stemmed early in her life, and having her lifemate murdered was the last straw. When she was an adolescent, she and her family fled unrest in the East China Sea, by the coast of, I believe what humans call Taiwan. They fled east, but when they found refuge, they did not realize it was near an isolated cluster of islands. Humans discovered them when they wandered from their queendom, and mercilessly hunted them for food. Cut off their tails to eat and then left them to die.”
Angie shook her head in disgust.
