I nod. I’m all out of words. Saving him was absolutely the right thing to do, but the consequences are still profound. And it was not a choice Sammy made. All of this has been done to him.
“How? When? Why?” His bewildered confusion is breaking my heart.
“When you fell into my pool,” I say. “The first time.”
His eyes widen even more. His face is far too pale. “I don’t understand.”
I take a deep breath and try to find my courage. Lello has a lot to answer for, but he is absolutely right about one thing. Sammy deserves to know what I have done to him.
“You were drowning. The water was claiming you. I interrupted the sea goddess’s plans and took you from her.”
Sammy’s jaw drops, then he exclaims, “It’s a flipping swimming pool!”
I shrug helplessly. “Apparently, it still counts.”
He stares at me. Intensely. It looks like he is lost for words and I don’t blame him. It’s a lot to take in. For anybody. And he is human. A human that only stumbled into the paranormal world a few months ago.
I wait while he gathers his thoughts. Granting him patience is the very least I can do for him.
A breeze picks up and draws eddies over the surface of the pool. The taste of the air changes, it grows heavier with salt from the water stirred by the wind.
“I…I accidentally jumped into the deep end. You pulled me over to the edge. It wasn’t a big deal,” Sammy says suddenly, as if jolted back into his ability to speak.
His statement sounds rational. Reasonable even. If you’re taking a human point of view. But I’m not human, and the ancient magic that has bound us together knows nothing of human logic.
“It was a big deal,” I say softly.
Sammy’s beautiful face scrunches up in confusion. I think those are tears in his eyes. Hopefully tears of frustration. Though he has every right to be devastated by this news.
“Sirens aren’t nice,” I say. “We are vicious and vindictive. An act of selflessness is a huge deal.”
Sammy blinks. “You are nice.”
I chuckle and shake my head. My heart does a little skip. I adore that he thinks that of me, but I’m not sure it’s true. My years away from the ocean and my kind have softened me, for sure. Whether it is enough to classify me as nice, I have no idea.
“If I had intended to mate you, I would have ripped your throat out with my teeth and then attempted to staunch the bleeding. If you survived, you’d be mine. If not…” I trail off and shrug.
Sammy pales even more and his pupils dilate to two pools of darkness. His slender hands rise up and protectively cover his throat.
“Please, don’t do that,” he whispers.
Instinctively, I swim closer, but he flinches, so I freeze. My chest aches with a need to comfort him. The fact that he is scared of me right now is tearing at my soul.
“I would never,” I promise solemnly.
I don’t need to, for a start. Sammy is already mine. That dark thought swims through me. Twisting and twining. And the taste of it is alarmingly delicious. My plan to find him someone else has shattered. If there ever was a moment when it could have been done, that time has passed. I'm far too entangled in this mate bond to even be able to consider it now.
Sammy shivers and wraps his arms around himself. At first I think it’s from emotion, but then I realize that he is fully dressed and soaking wet. It’s dark and late and the very tail end of summer. And he is human.
My heart pounds. I’m such an idiot. I need to take better care of him. He could get sick and that would be terrible.
I leave the water and stand beside him.
“Let’s get you inside and warmed up,” I say as gently as I can.
Tentatively, I offer my hand. He hesitates for a heart-stopping moment, then he takes it and I pull him to his feet. As my fingers tighten around his hand, I can feel the chill of his wet skin against mine. His palm is smooth and delicate, and I try to be gentle as I pull him away from the pool.
I take him into the house and straight into his room. I sit him down on a chair while I find a towel and some dry clothes. He watches me as if in a daze as I move about his room.
