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“I figured.” Though she smiled and still traced his shoulders with her fingertips, he could sense that she hesitated. “I have studied the ocean my entire life. I know evolution and the changes of species through the centuries. I know the science. Nothing is born with so many weapons on their body, without being able to use them or having a good reason to use them. You are built like a predator, Imber. Don’t think I ever forget that.”
He took her hand in his and slid it down his arm. He used his own hand to force her to linger on the sharp points down the backs of his arms, then drew her closer to make her feel thespines down his back. Baring his teeth, he took her hand and touched her thumb to the sharp points of his teeth.
Throughout it all, she held her breath. Barely breathing at all as she allowed him to make her touch every single dangerous part of him.
And when he was done, when he was certain she had been frightened enough, he leaned down to press his lips against the very sensitive side of her neck. “I am a predator, Alys, but I am yours. In this time, in the next, in all the lives to come. I am yours. You never have any reason to fear me.”
Her arms came down around him, her single heart thundering against both of his, and he knew in that moment that she understood what he was saying. She was safe.
He would keep her safe.
“What are we going to do?” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “We cannot stop them from building Alpha. I can’t go back and tell my father that he needs to change something because he’s not going to change. Our hands are tied. I cannot live with myself knowing that my people were the ones who cause yours so much pain. You don’t deserve this. They don’t deserve this.”
“We will figure something out.”
“It’s your home, Imber.” Her voice broke around the sadness and mourning that radiated throughout her entire body.
He could taste it in the water. Faint, because he realized her sadness tasted like the sea. Saltwater and a heavy brine that settled on his gills and dried into fractured pieces that dug into the sensitive membranes like sharp little claws.
Perhaps, even though he had always thought her weak, his Alys was stronger than he thought.
He drew back, pulling off her goggles so he could wipe away the tears. Usually she left these on in the water, saying her eyesneeded the air. But when he went to put them back on her, she shook her head.
Alys let the goggles drop onto the sea floor. She took a deep breath, staring at him, and something settled between them. Some understanding that both of them had been fighting against, but they finally knew had to happen.
“Imber,” she said, her voice strong and determined. “I want to help you. I want to help your people.”
He nodded. Because, of course, this was the only way. “Don’t go home this time,” he said. “Stay with me.”
Chapter
Nine
“Stay with me,” he said, as if it was that easy.
As if she could just stay underneath the water. As if she could just not go home and then live somewhere with him. It wasn’t that easy, she wanted to tell him. Nothing was easy when she had to have air to breathe, and being under the water so much would eventually harm her. She couldn’t just decide to stay here with him. That was a dream that would never work out in the end.
But then she thought about it. She let her mind wander through the possibilities and she thought...
Well.
Why not?
Sure, she couldn’t live underwater forever. And she would run out of oxygen eventually, but that had to be fixable. She was the daughter of an inventor, and she could come up with something.
Glancing at the tubing attached to her face, and at the anchor of a ship she was connected to, she wondered if maybe she could figure out a way to lengthen the tube. If it was constantly in theair, maybe she could figure out some kind of pump system that would... she didn’t know. Draw the air down to her?
It was a long shot. But still, without hesitation, she found herself saying, “I want to stay with you.”
Like it was that easy. Like it was just a choice they both had to make. Like they could choose to do this together and the world would change with them.
His dark eyes lit up as if she’d given him the moon. His hands closed tighter around her waist, drawing her closer and closer to him until he pulled off her mouth piece and kissed her. And oh, it didn’t matter then. Nothing mattered because he was kissing her, she was in his arms, and the ridiculous decision she had just made was for the both of them. Not just for herself.
A small prick at the side of her neck distracted her for a split second before his tongue swept into her mouth. Then nothing mattered. Because he had coaxed her to follow him, trailing her own tongue along the sharp points of his deadly teeth. He showed her again how deadly he was, how dangerous, and yet how gently he would treat her for the rest of her days if she trusted him.
Gods, she could love this undine. She could dedicate her entire life to making him happy just to feel the plush press of his lips to hers.
“I adore you,” he said, his words eerily close to what she had just been thinking. “I want to keep you, Alys. I’ve wanted to keep you from the first moment I saw you. You are... everything. You know that, don’t you?”
