Marta sets her jaw in a look of determination before bringing her feet up off the bottom of the pool. Her head immediately sinks under the water, her arms shooting up as she panics.
I grab her hand and pull. She chokes out big gulps of the glowing water and clings to my forearm, pressing my elbow hard into the spot between her breasts.
“Why didn’t you just stand up?” I scold, a little more impatiently than I should.
“Because I panicked!” Her eyes are wide, and the soles of her feet are still pulled up against her butt.
“Why aren’t you standing up now?” I ask.
Marta’s brows knit and she shifts her eyes quickly from side to side. She releases me before dropping her heels to the pool’s bottom.
“Sorry.” Her response is curt.
“Okay, so step one, if you get scared, just stand back up. Sound good?”
“Sure,” she sniffles. “How the hell do you just float there?” She’s frustrated already, my little human is so quick to anger.
“Like I said, our biology is likely different. We’ll adjust.”
Could we adjust…in all things? Could I, ruler of the Liin’gan Reefs, adjust to a human mate?
“Maybe we should switch tactics.” I take her hand and guide her to the pool’s edge. “Use your hands to hold on, get good use of that extra finger of yours, and kick. Feel the water pushing your body up and forward as you do.”
“Just kick?” she asks apprehensively.
“Like you’re trying to kick the side of the wall, the pressure of your movements against the water will push you up,” I say, hoping she’s not as helpless as she seems.
She takes a deep breath, gripping the edge of the pool so hard her knuckles turn white. With a little hop, she slams her foot against the wall.
“Shit!” she yelps, releasing one of her hands to grab what I’m sure is a throbbing toe.
“F’tee, human, don’t actuallykickthe wall. A kickingmotion…” I scrub my hand over my face.
“Listen, I don’t know what I’m doing here!” She pouts and crosses her arms. “This isn’t going to work, so we can stop.”
“Do you always give up this easy?” I hit a chord somewhere inside her.
“Only when I have shitty teachers,” she snipes under her breath.
“One more, human. Surely you can muster a second attempt before giving up completely.”
She gives me a look of annoyance but puts her hands back on the wall.
CHAPTER23
?THE GEM?
?MARTA
There’sno way I’m letting Duke Fuckface get the better of me. It’s just stupid swimming—the water here is even safe and shallow.
Come on Marta, even babies can swim.
“So a kicking motion? Show me,” I demand of Raf’ere.
“Point your toes down, let the water catch the top side of your foot.” He demonstrates with his own legs. He’s so graceful in the water that I almost miss his huge and at attention cock.
Almost.Is it weird to think a penis is pretty?
