Surrendering to the Sea Lord

Calm.
That’s what Uvim was. Calm. His presence stilled her swirling thoughts.
And his hard body evoked forbidden desires.
She focused on her food.
He finished his meal and rested the fork on the side of his plate, mirroring her.
“Done? I’ll show you where to sleep.” She rose.
“I … patrol.” He made a fist. “Defend against … your enemies.”
How honorable. But Uvim would not defend her against a cockroach right now.
She sat. “Brody’s appearance tonight was a misunderstanding.”
He lifted a brow. Disbelief.
“We almost dated.”
His questioning expression remained.
“Tried to start a relationship.”
Surprise and then a dark shadow crossed his face.
“It didn’t work out,” she assured him.
Wait. Why she did she have to assure Uvim?
Her chest burned hot and cold, which meant her soul light was probably setting off fireworks.
Uvim struggled for words. “You … did not … touch.”
“Stop looking.” She covered her traitorous chest. But Uvim was right. It was hard to date a guy if she couldn’t bring herself to touch him. “How did you know?”
“You are … not … his bride.”
Mermen and their brides. She dropped her hands. “I may be no one’s bride.”
“You are a bride.”
She smiled. It was easier than arguing.
“You … allow no males … near your home.”
“I allow no one near my home. Male, female. Nobody.”
But you brought me.
He didn’t say it aloud. She heard the statement in her mind.
Uvim was special.
So was this house.
“I love my house. It’s mine,” she defended herself. “No one can make stupid rules or threaten to kick me out. I can live my life as I like. And it’s where I retreat when I get overwhelmed.”
Overwhelmed?
“With life. It’s tough after you graduate. I have a degree and I’m still trying to find my place.”
“Your place … is the sea.”
“I wish.”
His brows lifted.
She held up her palms. “But not enough to pay your price.”
His frown returned. He didn’t like her calling the mer marriage ceremony a transaction. Even though it was.
Here’s how it worked:
A bride accepted a merman’s offering – aka, Sea Opal – and he “claimed” her with his kiss.
She drank the nectar from a blossom of his city’s Life Tree. If her soul truly resonated with his, then she transformed into a mermaid.
Transforming took stages. First, she saw and heard and breathed underwater – passive traits. Second, she could speak and shift her feet into fins. Third, and only if she truly embraced her new identity, she could wield their mystical soul-connecting resonance into a super power.
The super powers only worked underwater. But they were still pretty amazing.
Zara and the first bride, Lucy, could project a shield. Another bride, Aya, could push others away. Aya’s cousin Elyssa could lay her hands on any mer and heal.
Milly wanted to join their ranks. She wanted to heal or shield or push. Save cities? Sign her up.
But there was the hitch.
Despite her dreamy fantasies, she’d never kiss Uvim.
Kisses led to more kisses. Nakedness. Yielding control while desire swept her away.
She liked her feet under her, thank you very much.
“I can’t have a normal life,” she finished. “I’m going to be an awesome aunt to baby Zain. I’ve got no interest in getting close to a guy or making my own children. None. Zero. Zip.”
She was not imagining how Uvim would taste. If his mouth was as addictive as his scent. Or tracing the crinkly amethyst tattoos under Uvim’s orange waistband — with her tongue.
His smooth, curved olive skin. The weight and shape of his male member. Hard or soft? How it would plunge into her throbbing feminine—
“None,” she said firmly.
His gaze dropped to her chest. He sensed her truths and her lies.
She splayed her fingers across her breastbone. “If you weren’t a merman, your attention to my breasts would be flattering.”
He lifted his gaze as if to ask, I am not flattering?
“I don’t share my feelings with strangers.”
“I am Uvim.” Not a stranger.
And he thought she had shared many feelings.
“Mostly anger.” Milly picked up her empty coffee cup. “And my commitment to lifelong celibacy.”
“Your husband … will change you.”
“I don’t think so.”
He looked smug.
“I hate to blow your mind, but I’m probably the only college graduate in this archipelago who didn’t hook up with at least three, four other coeds.”
He frowned. Hook up? Hit on?
“‘Hook up’ means sex.”
Uvim flinched.
“Sorry. I know mermen only get one shot at finding their brides.”
He blinked suddenly as though smacked by an unwelcome realization. His forehead creased with unhappiness.
“What?” she asked.
“A warrior cannot…”
“Hook up,” she supplied.
“…embrace any female.”
“You said that. He could get his hand cut off just for touching.”
He shook his head. “Only his bride makes him react.”
“React?”
He gestured to his damp swim shorts.
The bulging crotch.
His bulging…
Oh.
Ohhhh.
She’d seen a few multi-colored merman cocks in her day. Loud and proud, they’d swung loose. Relaxed. Because she wasn’t their bride?
Huh.
“You only get hard for one woman? Ever?”
He nodded.
She leaned back in her chair. “If humans were the same, it would solve a ton of problems.”
“You are a bride.”
That again.
“I’d love to be a mermaid. I’m not going to lie.” She popped out of her chair and carried their dishes to the sink. “Live underwater. Develop mystical super powers. No one would ever trap me again.”
“Trap?”
She scrubbed the dishes. “Just as an example.”
“Milly.”
She shivered and increased the water, loud, to drown out her own heartbeat. “Uh huh?”
Silence.
She shut off the water and turned.
He’d slid out of his seat and knelt in front of her.
Her stomach flip-flopped.
This male attracted her. Bad. She would melt in his arms.
He stared up at her as though he could read the secrets in her heart. In her soul.
She should have knocked out a less tempting warrior.
But that was okay. She’d be rid of him by morning. As soon as he came to his senses, she’d—
“Milly.” He took her hand. Enveloped her in warmth. “You are my bride.”