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“I apologize, Your Highness.” Regret stained his voice. “For being a right royal ass.”
For the briefest moment, he had me fooled and thinking he was being genuine.
When I didn’t say anything, he said, “Of course, not as good asyourroyal ass.”
He gave me a nervous smile that was slightly crooked on one side but perfect, nonetheless. Sea god, it was beautiful. He needed to smile more often. It transformed his dark, broody face into that of a god.
But I was having none of it. Tritonia would have to freeze over before I let him worm his way back into my heart so easily. “Do you always joke to deflect?”
A wounded expression flashed across his face. “I joke when I’m nervous or flirting.”
I pushed him forward to dab at the wounds on his back. Raw red flesh greeted me, and I swallowed back bile that rose in my throat. “Which one is it right now?”
“Both.” He hissed as water trickled onto the wounds left behind by the lash of the whip.
Sea god. He was flirting with me. My heart took off like a bird. There was no chance of stopping it now. The tide that I’d held back flowed free.
He leaned back and grabbed my hand to stop me. “You don’t have to do this. I don’t deserve your kindness.” His honey-brown eyes radiated sincerity. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. I regret not listening to Fin. He’s always my voice of reason.”
“Believe me, there’s plenty of other places I’d rather be.” I cleaned the dirt from his arms.
“Ouch.” He touched his chest. “You’re really cute when you’re cross.”
Cute? He’d better stop throwing around terms like that, or I might jump in the bath with him.“Stop toying with me, or I’ll leave.”
Gill sat up a little straighter, giving me more of a better view of his chest. I had to use all my restraint to keep my gaze fixed on his eyes and on the flashing reawakening of the scales across his temples.
“I’m not very good with authority, Princess. Never have been.”
His admission caught me off guard. I didn’t know why he’d felt the need to tell me that, but his admission explained a lot. I supposed I couldn’t begrudge him his point of view when we had a lot in common on the rebelling and disobeying orders front. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so hard on him and should hear him out.
“Then why don’t you leave the merarmy?”
“Because I can’t,” he replied. “Not until I’ve finished my probation. But even then, I wouldn’t quit—I love it. I love my team. Fin’s turned me around. Nemes helps me remain positive.”
I’d love to see this positive side he referred to because all I’d been privy to was the guy grumpier than a walrus.
“Why did my father force you into the army?” I continued to dribble water across his chest to give me the opportunity to admire him. Shadows in the water concealed the rest of him. Pity. I was quite enjoying the view.
“I was a pretty messed-up kid,” he said, rubbing the shadow of growth on his chin. “Despite my adopted parents’ love and support, I held this deep-rooted anger at my birth mother for abandoning me.”
My heart sank a little for him. I couldn’t imagine not knowing my parents or having them in my life. My father had always been there for me when I needed him—until Faraall and his spell came along.
“I acted out,” he continued. “You know, breaking things, graffiti, getting into fights. My parents called me a disappointment and sent me to a boarding school to straighten me out.”
I’d heard rumors about those. Kids didn’t get to see their parents often. I was lucky I had tutors in the palace. But most of the nobles’ children were sent off to boarding schools.
“At school, the kids teased me because I didn’t read and learn as well as they did. I got into a lot of fights.” His finger traced the top of the brass bath. “I was expelled from every school. Took up stealing. That got me in and out of court. Finally, the magistrate took my case before your father.”
My insides were raw with emotion. His upbringing had been a stark contrast to mine. I’d rebelled to escape the constraints of my duties and the nobles who’d surrounded me.
“Did you find your birth mother?”
A fierceness sparked in Gill’s eyes. His heavy brows drew together. His lips turned into a snarl. “With her new family.”
I didn’t begin to understand his mother’s reasons, nor did I want to. That was her business. But I wanted to take him in my arms and strip away his pain.
Despite his hard façade, his rough demeanor, and all the multiple jagged edges, he was one of the most beautiful mermen I’d ever encountered. He was like a raw, uncultured pearl before it was polished into a shiny, smooth jewel. To me, that was one of the rarest and most precious finds.
