I knew this, understood it—or at least told myself I did. And still I didn’t pull back from Mark right away. Instead, I pressed myself more tightly against him and gave us, gave myself, this one perfect kiss. I felt certain it was the last we would ever share, and I was determined to hold on to the first boy I’d ever loved as long as I could.
But the ocean had other plans for us. A huge wave came along, sweeping us up in its wake until our only choice was to let go or drown. I pulled away immediately, but it took Mark longer. Almost as if he didn’t mind being dragged under if it meant we would be together again.
But that was fanciful thinking, I reminded myself as the splash of cold water against my face brought me back to my senses. He had Chelsea and I had Kona. Kissing him had been just one more mistake. It seemed like I was making a lot of them these days.
Knowledge flashed through me at the thought, an understanding that I was coming precariously close to where I’d been eight months before. At the precipice of a cliff I had no chance of backing away from. And like eight months before, I wouldn’t be the only one who got hurt.
The thought had me propelling myself backward, away from Mark and the wary, wanting look on his face.
“This isn’t over, Tempest.” His voice was dark, dangerous, sexy. “You don’t get to just show up here, kiss me in the middle of the frickin’ ocean, and then disappear again.”
“You kissed me.” It was an inane answer, especially considering the way I’d twined myself around him like a piece of seaweed. But I didn’t know what else to say. What excuse to level for my imminent disappearance. All I knew was that I had to go. The air was closing in on me, the shore far too near for comfort—especially with Scooter and the others paddling straight toward us on their boards.
Mark cocked an eyebrow, gave a sardonic little grin that got to me even as I forced myself to keep retreating. “Is that the excuse you’re giving yourself?”
“It’s the truth,” I insisted. “Besides, I have to go.”
“Let’s go then. I’ll take you back to shore and we can talk—”
“I’m not going back, Mark. I think you know that.”
“Where are you going then, Tempest?” His eyes narrowed and he started to swim toward me. “Where can you go?”
His advance galvanized me to action like few other things could have. If he came near me again, if he touched me, I knew without a doubt that I’d end up right back in his arms. And I couldn’t do that—not to myself, not to Kona, and not to Mark.
I needed to tell him the truth, needed to let him know why things would never work between us. But I didn’t know how to say it in a way that would make him believe.
So, in the end, I did the only thing I could do. I swam forward, reached out my hand. Stroked it down his cheek. Then I turned and dived deep, knowing a word from him could melt my already shaky resolve.
At the last second, I shifted—again so easily that it surprised me—and turned my legs back into a tail. I might not be able to find the words to tell Mark why we couldn’t be together, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t show him. Which was why I very slowly, very deliberately, extended the bottom half of my tail just above the surface, slapping the water with it and no doubt spraying droplets of sea water all over Mark’s face.
Then I took off without bothering to try to find my bikini bottoms, too cowardly to stick around and wait for his reaction.
Chapter 3
My head was on the verge of exploding as I swam away from Mark as quickly as I could. Did I really just do that? I wondered. Did I really just show him my tail?
Now I had to live with the consequences, whatever those might be. I could only hope that they would only affect just me, and not the entire mermaid population who worked so hard to maintain secrecy.
What was Mark thinking right now?
Did he understand why I’d run away, why we couldn’t be together?
Or was he completely freaked out by what I’d become?
I really hoped he wasn’t. But because just the idea of it hurt, I swam faster in an effort to escape my thoughts and the invisible lure that seemed to stretch between us.
Why did I still feel this messed-up connection to Mark? This inexplicable feeling of rightness even after all the things that had passed between us?
It was stupid. Absolutely ridiculous, considering the fact that I couldn’t even be sure Mark still wanted me now that he knew the truth. He had kissed me, yes, and it had been as wonderful, as powerful, as ever. But I was smart enough to know one kiss didn’t mean anything, especially when he was human and I was … not.
Which was why I needed to stop thinking about him. It had been just a kiss, nothing more. It wasn’t like he’d pledged his undying love for me—or even his like for me. I would do well to remember that.
Just as I would do well to remember that humans and mermaids didn’t mix. My parents had proven that. And though my mother had said she’d left to protect her people—not because she didn’t care about my father, the boys, and me—it didn’t really matter because the outcome was the same. Rio, Moku, and I had grown up without a mother, and my father had lived the past seven years of his life without the wife he loved more than anything.
Knowing that, how could I even be worrying about what Mark was feeling? The two of us had been completely doomed from the very beginning; I had just been too stupid to figure it out. Back then, I’d been so sure I could stay human. Little had I known how limited my choices would really be in the end.
No, I told myself firmly, using my tail to propel my body through the water like a torpedo. Freaking out about Mark and one silly kiss wasn’t going to do me any good. It was over between us. He had Chelsea and I had Kona—which was more than enough for me.
I loved Kona, adored him, wanted to spend every waking moment with him. He was perfect for me. Perfect for the Tempest who was adviser/whipping girl to the merQueen and second in command of her mother’s clan. Perfect for the Tempest who had chosen water over land.
But if all that was true, why were my lips still tingling? And why did I still hunger for the feel of dry sand between my toes?
Wrapped up in berating myself, I was focused so completely inward that I forgot the first rule of the ocean. The first rule that Kona had taught me when he brought me down here—never, never lose your concentration.
The ocean was filled with dangerous predators, and though I was slowly learning not to be afraid of sharks or be squicked out by octopuses, there were other, more dangerous creatures down here. I knew better than to leave myself open to them.
And yet that was exactly what I’d done. I had been so busy thinking of all the reasons I couldn’t go back to land, I hadn’t noticed the shadows creeping up behind me until it was too late.
One minute I was swimming as fast as I could toward my mother’s clan—my clan—and the next I was surrounded by five of the ugliest-looking creatures I had ever seen. Half human, half shark, each of the shark-men had a great white’s tail with a human torso and head, while their faces were a weird amalgamation of shark and human. Small, black eyes, long, rounded nose, with rows and rows of sharp teeth behind their humanlike lips.
They circled me and I jerked to a stop, though every instinct I had screamed for me to flee. These were Tiamat’s henchmen, predators of the first order, and as usual, her instructions seemed to have something to do with tormenting me. I could only hope they didn’t also include ripping me limb from limb.