Page 37 of A Merman's Tail
I closed my eyes and buried my face into his neck. “Yes, but I never wanted to be. I was an outcast like you. They all thought I was strange because of my interest in humans. The mermen we killed a few months back and today? They were my tormenters. They physically and verbally hurt me. I hated it there, and I’ve always wanted to be a human.”
“And then you saw me?” He kissed my temple and it was surprisingly gentle. I’d partially expected him to hate me, to hurt me for lying to him.
“It’s a little more complicated than that.” I tilted my head and let the spray of water hit my face. The scorching heat felt amazing on my skin, and I wanted to stay in here all afternoon, but we’d need to move soon and get rid of Zolo and Aza’s bodies. “When a merman or mermaid turns twenty-five, they’re allowed to go to the surface for the first time. I longed for that day, and it finally came. Father was worried about my obsession and didn’t want to allow me to go up. Grandfather convinced him to let me. So I did, and I saw your crew struggling against the storm. Your boat overturned, and all I could think about was getting to you. If I could have saved your father, I would have, but I could only take one of you.”
“And you chose me.”
I opened my eyes and glanced at him. “Yes.”
He shook his head and wrapped his fingers around my neck, squeezing. I gasped as his hand tightened on my windpipe, and I thought maybe he would kill me after all, but then he relaxed his grip again.
“I should want to hurt you,” he whispered, so quietly that it was almost hard to hear him over the spray of the shower. “But I don’t.”
“We don’t have to end what we’re doing,” I said, leaning my forehead against his. “We could take Zolo and Aza’s bodies back and prove you aren’t crazy. Then we could go back to Atlantia and destroy it.”
“At what cost? Fuck.” He released me and shoved himself to his feet, dragging me up with him. My legs felt like jelly, and I nearly collapsed again, but his hold on me was tight enough that he kept me upright. He turned off the shower and we stepped out. He threw a towel at me and grabbed one for himself, drying off his body as he stalked toward the bedroom. I followed him, unable to do much else.
The way he dried himself off told me hewasmad, but probably not mad enough to kill me. I would have let him if he wanted to. Maybe I deserved it because I’d seen Father kill a human and never thought anything about it. Was I as bad as them?
“My father obsessed over finding mermaids,” he said as he dropped the towel on the floor and turned to sit on the bed.
My gaze roamed his naked form, and I took a moment to appreciate his soft cock sitting between his legs. His skin was red from the shower, but even with the scars marring his face, he was the most handsome person I’d ever seen.
“Even before my mother died, he was sure they existed. He left my mother for months at a time, searching for this myth. I thought he was crazy, too.” Ethan laughed and dropped his face into his hands. “After my mom drowned, I blamed Dad for a long time. Hated him for it. He started dragging me out on trips with him when I finished high school. I could have chosen not to go, but I wanted to so I couldlaughat him whenever he didn’t find something. I dreamed of a day when I could tell him he was wrong and have him believe me.” He dropped his arms to his thighs and curled his hands into fists.
I moved over to the bed and sat beside him, bumping my shoulder against his encouragingly.
“That day the accident happened, I was just hoping he would fail again. That was going to be my last trip. I told him that if we didn’t find anything this time, I was done. It would prove he was wrong. The end. He was adamant that we were going to find something. Then the storm hit and…. Well, you know what happened next.” He glanced at me with a frown. “When you saved my life, you proved to me that Dad was right. You existed, and I hated myself for thinking he was crazy. So I started searching on my own.”
“And you found us,” I whispered, reaching out to link my fingers with his.
He shook his head. “Again, at what cost? The town thinks I’m crazy, and when I brought them back proof, they still called me crazy. Maybe I should have let them have the tail.”
“We’ve got more proof now. Zolo and Aza. We can take them back.”
“No.” Ethan clenched his jaw. “You know what I learned down there in that little mermaid city of yours? They’re not worth it.” He turned himself toward me and cupped my face. “They’re not fucking worth a cent. No matter what we do, Boy, it’ll never be good enough for those reporters, and we shouldn’t be living for those bastards.”
“You’re right,” I murmured with a smile. “So what do we do now?”
“I don’t know….” He stroked his thumb across my chin and then over my lips. “Maybe we should leave that shitty town behind. Go somewhere else.”
“I’ve never been anywhere else.” I chewed on my bottom lip. “But I’d follow you anywhere.”
“We’d need to get you some kind of fake ID and birth certificate and shit. Make it legit. Maybe you could go by Lyric since that’s your name.”
I pouted. “I hate that name.”
“Can you think of anything better?” He smirked.
“Hm.” I shifted onto his lap, my knees on either side of his thighs. “I can keep my first name, as long as I can have your last, Mr. Turmont.”
He laughed, and I shivered as the sound worked its way down my spine. Pleasure curled hot in my gut. “You drive a hard bargain, but I agree to your terms. How about we get rid of those bodies, throw them in the fucking ocean where those pricks belong, and go home, pack our shit, and get out of dodge?”
I sighed in delight. “In human words, fuck yes.”
His laughter grew louder.
