Ava was looking up at me with wide eyes, her mouth cracked open, almost as if in awe. It was a look I’d seen plenty of times. All nokken had a charm that no normal human man did. We were like sirens, beautiful water folk who charmed people into the rivers and lakes. We used music and looks to draw humans in.
For once I felt nothing but pleasure to see someone look at me like she was. She blinked and shook her head, the look leaving her. Then she shot me a friendly smile and started to back away.
“Well, let me know if there’s something about the room you’d like to change.”
“The art,” I blurted, feeling panicked by her retreat. I didn’t want her to leave.
“Oh,” she deflated, misunderstanding me.
“No, I mean, I love it. What made you choose it?” She turned her head towards a wall, giving me her side profile. She looked like a painting, her jaw a beautiful curve, her neck a perfect line. I wanted to sing to her. She looked over all the water art, a frown gathering on her face.
“I didn’t realize I’d only picked out water,” she said, sounding confused. Why didn’t she step back closer to me? I wanted that. Her eyes darted around the room’s art and she began to grow upset.
“Why did I do that?” She mumbled to herself, her hands pressing on her stomach. I didn’t know what was making her react that way but I wanted it to stop.
“I’m a swimmer,” I said, filling in the silence. She looked at me and a languid sense of contentment blanketed me. I never wanted her to look away.
“Oh, well maybe that’s it. I must have heard that from my mom at some point.” She smiled and I groaned in pleasure to see the amazing expression on her face. Her eyes widened in shock and I coughed, my eyes bugging. I needed to get in control of myself.
No. I needed my new step sister naked. I took a step towards her but she’d already started to turn and walk for the door. Where was she going? I felt troubled, anxious.
“Well, I’m going to get out of your hair,” she said, turning around in the hall outside my room and looking at my hair. “You’ve got nice hair. I wish mine would behave like that. I’d never cut it.” I pushed my fingers into the strands. The top was long, the sides shorter.
She liked my hair.
Ava started to back away with another friendly smile. I had to do something, I couldn’t just let her walk away! Fuck, stop acting like an idiot.
I shook myself out and stepped into the hallway, invading her space. Her eyes grew wide and she leaned slightly away, taken aback.
“I was hoping you’d help me,” I said, giving her a charming smile. I slid my fingers around her wrist and lifted her hand to my mouth, pressing a kiss to the back. My eyes slid shut as the smell of her skin enveloped me.
“Help you what?” She asked, voice trembling. Her eyes kept darting down the hall as if she either wanted to run or was afraid someone would see us. I leaned forward, my eyes twinkling in excitement.
“Break in my bed,” I whispered. Her eyes bugged and her mouth popped open. She jerked her hand from my grip and the sharp sting of a palm landed on my cheek. My head jerked to the side and I stood completely still in shock as I heard her stomp down the hall.
Finally, I lifted my hand to my cheek, pressing it over the sting she left.
“What the fuck?” I asked out loud. This isn’t how it was supposed to go.
6
Several hours later, I was stumbling out of the vehicle after my nap. My brain felt sluggish and heavy, not letting go of sleep immediately. I blinked rapidly as I spilled out into the sunny campsite.
The splinter from the haunted house pinched painfully in my left ring finger as it bumped the side of the car door. A little piece of wood was lodged inside me, worming deeper into my body every time I tore into my skin seeking it out. I sucked in a breath, eyeing the bandaid over the irritated wound.
My earlier attempts to fish the splinter out with tweezers only accomplished making it worse. The sharp ends of my tweezers had torn the flesh as I’d winced in pain, hurting myself.
At this point, I was scared to mess with it any more. I'd likely create a crater while the old wood slipped further into my body, getting so deep I'd never be able to find it again.
I leaned into the car, grabbing more antibiotic cream and bandaids. It was surprising how innocent the wound looked for how much it hurt. After handling that, I fished out my camera and popped off the lens cover before letting it hang around my neck from its thick strap, ready for action.
The air was cooler than I expected. It was mid-August and still warm, but nowhere near as humid and oppressive as my hometown on the coast. I tugged my phone from my pocket and saw it was already noon.
I scratched my scalp and went over to Caspian, who was finishing putting up my tent. He was hunched over, his wide shoulders pulling his tee-shirt taut across his back. Tattoos covered both of his arms, spilling in black and grays from the sleeves of his shirt and stretching down to his wrists. Both sides were visions of water and the creatures in its depths—some real, some fantastical.
There was another tattoo hiding just inside his hip bone, near his pelvis. Sometimes it would peek out of his low-slung pants. I hadn’t asked him what it was though, a little embarrassed to bring up I’d eyed the area a lot. He’d also gotten his left pec tattooed before we left, but it was still covered. When I asked what it was he had winked instead of sharing.
As I approached, he stood up with a proud smile, his eyes looking to me for approval. It was amazing how cute Caspian could still be.
