Seduced by the Sea Lord

Chapter 13

Lucy's soul light darkened. "I told you, I'm tired. Let's talk about it tomorrow."

"Tomorrow might be too late."

She was so close to coming with him. Every hour they delayed, his council armored the citizens of Sireno against them. Lucy thought up new ways to injure herself and darken her soul light. She had to see her own beauty as he did. Accept his claim, gather her power.

"This delay is senseless."

"Senseless?" She pulled back. Her soul light brightened with her protective anger. "You want me to spelunk an uncharted cave system, at night, without telling anyone, and you don't even have scuba gear?" She shook her head. "You're crazy."

"I will keep you safe. The water is not dangerous."

"Oh sure, the water's not dangerous. Forgetting a turn in the dark, running out of oxygen, and dying is the problem." She walked away from him and tidied the deck.

"I will be there with you." He walked after her, holding the items she picked up and handing them back for her to secure in their proper places. "You will not lose your way."

"I definitely won't lose my way because we're diving in the daylight like normal people."

"The sooner we reach the Life Tree, the sooner you can experience its healing."

She ignored him, pattering down to the galley.

Cash faced away in the lower bunk. Gracie lay on her upper bunk watching a flat-screen.

"Do not fear the water," Torun repeated.

"Of course I'm not afraid of the water."

"You are."

"I'm not afraid of the sky either, but you don't see me jumping out of a plane without a parachute."

He opened his mouth to argue.

She stopped him with a kiss.

Demanding and giving, yielding and strong. She yanked his attention from the delay and focused it entirely on her.

What was this sensation?

Her soul light did not change intensity, but his did. His chest swelled with her kiss. New thoughts slammed into him.

Lucy chose him. Over and over again, she chose him. She pulled him from the water, she introduced him to her friends, she defended him to the interns. Now she kissed him. All those actions turned his craving for her body into his craving for something more.

He didn't know what it was, exactly. He would figure it out later. He was not just a warrior but also a thinker, and once she became his bride, he would have all the time he needed to explore this new desire.

She pulled back. Her cheeks reddened, and her lips darkened to a prettier shade.

"I'm trusting you enough to go into the water with you tomorrow." She licked her lips. "My last dive partner horribly betrayed me."

He tightened. "I am different."

"I know you are." Her gaze dropped to his broad chest and traced the honorable markings of his house and rank, and lower, to the still-loosened rim of his shorts. "That's why you're here. Don't push your luck."

When she spoke with such confidence, the brilliant, shining aura of a queen filled her.

His anxiety eased.

The council's fears were based on ancient misconceptions. Lucy was strong enough to overcome any challenge. Together, they would prove his grandfather wrong and save his city.

Lucy ducked into her own cabin and closed the door with finality

Torun passed the night on piled deck cushions. It was not as comfortable as sleeping in water, but the currents here were untrustworthy, and he didn't want to be caught unawares.

Splash!

Torun twitched and jerked upright.

What was that? ... It must have been nothing. He lay back and stared at the vast, starry sky.

Lucy had committed to enter the water with him tomorrow. Had he carefully considered all the risks?

Prince Jolan and Malem must have returned to Sireno. Jolan would have needed healing. The king might have been horrified by his injuries and finally turned against Torun, ordered his castle destroyed and him punished. The council would dispatch different, possibly more numerous, warriors to recapture him.

They could easily trace his disappearance to this region. Perhaps the warriors even knew he was aboard this vessel.

They might even be blocking the atoll cave...

No. The cave guardian was loyal. If a war party tried to hide and spring a trap, all Torun and Lucy would find was bone and blood.

Lucy would pass by the cave guardian unmolested with his Sea Opal. She would drink the elixir, journey with him to Sireno's Life Tree, and unite their bodies. Her soul would glow with the highest brilliance. Of course she would bear his young fry. Together, they would prove the council wrong. Modern mainland women could bear young fry and save the mer race.

That was the only possibleoutcome.