I nodded. What other choice did I have? And was it terrible I didn’t mind the idea of kissing him again?
Fine.He drank half, then I drank half. It tasted much better than the one I’d just swallowed.
Then I faced Ezra and, for the first time in my whole life, my heart was racing faster than a marlin zipping away from a fisherman. My thoughts crashed like waves, relentless and wild.
His lips met mine like the hush of a tide slipping onto shore. Gentle at first, like he wasn’t sure if I’d pull away. I didn’t. I leaned in like a current drawn to moonlight, letting the warmth of him ripple through me, soft and sure.
Kissing Ezra was like diving into sunlit water: startling and golden, and a little dangerous if I stayed too long. I shouldn’t have. I knew I shouldn’t have. But oh, he tasted like the wind before a storm. I gently touched his smooth jaw, mesmerized by him. Like something I’d chased across oceans.
My heart flapped in my chest like a startled fish, flipping wildly betweenyou fool, stop kissing him!anddo it again!His fingers brushed the back of my neck, and I swear the sea inside me sang.
This wasn’t just a kiss. It was abreach—the kind whales make when they can’t help but leap into the sky.
Andtides take it!I wanted to leap with him.
I shouldn’t have enjoyed it as much as I did, but he didn’t pull away, so why should I?
This is a shipwreck and I’m sinking for it.
Ezra’s voice sounded as he pulled away.Really? Good to know.
My embarrassment could’ve drowned a whole reef.
You heard that?
I can hear everything. You can probably hear my thoughts too, though I’m trying to keep them guarded.And suddenly I felt our connection. Icouldsee his thoughts, but as he said, he raised walls, made out of tall, sturdy trees, to block me from the view of him. I did get a glimpse of the words and emotions he felt: attraction, guilt, and… admiration?
If he asks to kiss me again, I don’t think I could say no.
I heard that too.He spoke to me in my mind again and grinned.
Well, this is going swimmingly. By which I mean I’m sinking fast.I had to build up a wall in my mind, like his.
Coral.Yes. I was from the Coral Realms and we used coral as walls for everything. I built it up, keeping him out of my intrusive and wild thoughts.
Ezra’s green eyes sparkled in the moonlight.You wear your heart on your sleeve, mermaid.
If I had one,I teased and he smiled, standing and helping me up.
“Let’s get you to the ocean,” he said. As I took his hands, I felt as if my entire world was shifting.
Shifting…But how? I was probably delirious from being in this new world.
It most certainly wasnotEzra.
With his tunic around my waist, I attempted to stand. Ezra’s calloused hands settled on my waist, but then he quickly retracted them, as if burned. His face flushed.
“You’re… steady now?”
Not in the slightest. How do you stand so straight on these wobbly things? They’re worse than seaweed.
It was then I could tell he kept looking away, averting his eyes.
Ah.I gently lifted his chin so he met my eyes.You have no idea, do you? I’ve seen much worse. Consider this modest compared to the world I came from.
He blinked, processing what I’d said, then the faint pink on his cheeks deepened. “I… I don’t…” The silence stretched, thick and uncomfortable. What was I to do to make him more comfortable?
Then, a fleeting thought came into our shared connection, whispering between us:She’s… unbelievably attractive.
