Page 63 of Oceansong
Kaden’s kiss on her neck brought her back to reality. “How are you feeling? I hit the right spots, then?”
“Like I had an out-of-body experience.” Angie cocked an eyebrow at him. She closed her eyes in contentment. “How did you know where to touch?”
“Knowledge and rumors circulated among us, in secret. You think I am the only mer who’s had clandestine relations with a human?” Kaden replied with a knowing grin.
“Is there anything I can do for you? I want to make you feel like I did.” Angie opened her eyes and looked him up and down.
Kaden shook his head no. “Not at all. I am content simply being in your company. Seeing you pleased excited me just as much. It is an experience.”
“A good or bad experience?” She snuggled closer to him so they were chest to chest, her legs and his tail intertwined.
“A wonderful experience. But, we typically do not physically join until we’re bonded. If I join with you, it will bind me to you for life.”
“Oh.” Angie hadn’t expected that. “So you’re like penguins? Well, most penguins.”
“Now I’m a penguin.” Kaden teased.
“You’re a very handsome penguin.” She gave him a playful poke on his solid chest. “I respect your decision to wait. I’m not ready for that level of commitment yet.”
“I understand. I have that desire to join with you, but I can’t act on it. Not until we are both sure.” He put his hand on her thigh, hiking it up so her leg was underneath his hips. “I am sure of one thing. That what I feel for you is beyond describing. A foreign feeling, but I only know I cannot stand to be apart from you. You bring me such fulfillment, and if you are the last person I would ever have the pleasure of kissing and caressing, I would have lived with no regrets.” He grazed the back of his fingers over her cheekbone. “When I am with you, it feels as if all is right, despite the hostility between your people and mine.” The words were sweet sounds from his lovely, soft lips.
Angie pressed herself closer to him, speaking into his chest. Then, before she could take them back, she said, “I feel the same way.”
He put his hand on the back of her neck, running his fingers through her hair. Her happy hormones lit up collectively like tiny flares, and she shut her eyes, letting dreamy sleep take over. Kaden stilled next to her with his chin resting over her head. Though he breathed with his gills, his chest still rose and fell in a soothing rhythm in tune with her own breaths.
She wanted him and cared for him and desired nothing more than to call him hers.
Yet in the back of her mind, she knew confessing their feelings would damn them both.
Twenty-Six
While Angie slept, she wasacutely aware that he awoke partway through the night. Kaden left her grasp for a moment, returning with a weighted blanket that felt to be of the same material as his hammock.
Her heart swelled at the mere thought of his name, and she became hyperaware of her body whenever he was near. A sensation of emptiness arose at the possibility of being without him, a feeling new to her.
She loved the way he molded with her, like they were two missing pieces of a puzzle. Kissing him made her head swim with pleasurable, delicious waves.
The crass sound of glass grinding on rock drifted into her ears. The blanket moved to cover her head, and muffled voices followed, sounding a mile away. Glass moved over rock again, and then it was quiet.
The sounds she heard sounded so clear before were now muffled. Why—
A cool, fuzzy sensation spread through her chest, turning into pressure. Angie jolted awake, one hand flying to her breastbone.
The pressure built, and her vision blurred. It became harder to breathe. She purposefully inhaled and exhaled slow, conserving oxygen, trying to make sense of what was happening.
The voices, the rock and glass noises, they weren’t a dream. Kaden was gone.
How long had it been since she’d fallen asleep? How long since he—
“Oh no. No, no, no.” She scrambled out of the hammock and grabbed her swimsuit, slipping it back on.
The mer magic was fading, and she needed to get out of here, fast. She thought quickly.
Oxygen. She also needed oxygen. Without it, she would never make it to the surface in time.
What was that that Kaden showed her the day before? Right, air bubbles.
Angie held her breath, and swam to the glass door. After a quick look around to ensure no one was outside, she tried to pull it open, but it was heavier than she thought. She couldn’t manage enough force while floating, and trying resulted in her legs floating out from behind her.
