Myths & Rejections

Chapter 13 - Reflections

Word Count : 3316

Adam walked into his hotel room, almost too exhausted to even take a shower, but as tired as he was, he had to wash off the dead fish smell coating his skin. Dead tritons smelled worse than dead fish, which wasn't surprising considering they were half fish. Adam thought back over the day as he stood motionless under the hot spray of the shower, this had definitely been the craziest day of his life. He'd seen his mate for the first time in seven years, she'd rejected him, then he'd found her again and shared the most amazing kiss imaginable with her, his first kiss. A smile crept onto his face thinking about how Celie accepting the rejection hadn't stopped the sparks, they were there, they were 4th of July inside him when they kissed. But the smile dimmed when he thought of how she'd pushed him away after the kiss, how she'd asked him to leave after he'd tried to explain... would she really deny him a chance to prove himself? Had he spent the last seven years hoping in vain? He couldn't let himself think that, he couldn't give up hope now, he'd found her, she was here and so close, he could tell by the look in her eyes she was tempted. Yes, she'd accepted the rejection, but that wasn't the end, he wouldn't let it be. Goddess, he couldn't believe he hadn't thought to revoke it the second he saw her, would it have made a difference if he had? Would it have made her pause at all if that had been the first thing he said to her?

She was so beautiful, she'd taken his breath for a moment when he'd first seen her, he'd never taken much notice of her figure in high school, she'd been skinny then, but she'd filled out now and she looked amazing. That red bikini...grrr, he felt himself growing hard as he pictured it in his mind, he wanted to see it again, he wanted that sun warmed, tanned, and oiled skin against his. He wanted to feel her around him, he knew she was still pure, he could smell it on her, she'd waited for him, even though she said now she didn't want him, she'd had no man to replace him in all these years. He never felt any pain of her being with someone else, but he wasn't sure rejectors felt that pain, he didn't think they did, he couldn't remember that being one of the symptoms of rejection that they spoke of in the classes. He didn't think they did, men wouldn't be so blasé about rejecting a woman if they knew they'd be covered in bruises if she slept with others. Men were generally not that willing to suffer or deal with pain. Sure, they acted all big and bad when it came to war wounds, but when it came to that? He couldn't imagine someone like Ben wanting to chance it with such a casual rejection. Adam felt guilt seep into him thinking like that about his dead friend, in the end Ben had suffered for his stupidity, he'd paid with his life for it.

Then he thought of the fight at the canal and the mermen; sirens and tritons, he reminded himself. He still couldn't believe they existed, he'd gotten a good look at them as he was helping to drag the bodies into the woods and cover them with leaves. They were large creatures with wicked hooked teeth and viscous claws, he shuddered thinking of having one of those things come up to him in the ocean, he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to take a swim again, so much for learning to surf. Harper had chuckled when he said that, and assured him they didn't hunt during the day, especially near a crowded beach, they weren't that brave or that stupid, the only danger when the sun was up was if you were out in the deep ocean alone. Lone divers occasionally disappeared, but it wasn't like there were millions of tritons out there, they were pretty rare creatures, so it didn't happen that often. That's why encountering 5 in the area in one night had freaked them out so much.

Goddess, who would have thought mermen were real? And Harper found one and married it! Him, Adam reminded himself, HIM. He couldn't think of Matt as an it, he was a man, a creature, just like Adam. Were they really so different? No, the answer was no. He shifted into a supernatural being just as Matt did, there was no difference between them. It began to make sense now, no wonder Matt had been able to challenge Reese with no fear at all, no wonder he'd seemed to strong. He was strong, and in his natural form he was massive. Just like werewolves, that strength in his other form would translate to more strength in his human form. Adam wondered just how powerful he was, Harper had said his muscles were twice as dense as theirs, Adam was a strong werewolf, but he decided right then he never wanted to get into a ring with Matt, and he certainly never wanted to piss the guy off.