It was the best awakeningNorris had ever had—even better than the first time he’d slept underwater as a Dunkleosteus. Even before he opened his eyes, he felt Annabeth’s warm body beside him, nude and entangled with his, and remembered everything about the night before.
My mate,he thought, savoring the words.My wonderful, wonderful mate.
He opened his eyes. Annabeth was fast asleep beside him (and partly on top of him.) Her curly hair was spread out across the pillow and over his face, as if it was floating in water. He breathed deeply, inhaling her scent. Her hair had picked up the aromas of the coffeeshop—coffee and caramel and cinnamon—but beneath it was her own inherent scent, that intoxicating aroma that was all her own.
Norris felt as if he was going to burst with happiness.
Then he realized that he was going to burst in a completely different way.
Unnecessarily, his Dunkleosteus informed him,The curse is upon us. We must vacate these premises.
Norris sat bolt upright, realizing too late that he’d dumped Annabeth onto the mattress. She blinked foggily up at him, then gave him the sweetest smile he’d ever seen. “Morning.”
“Good-morning-I-love-you-I-have-to-go-for-my-morning-swim!” he said, leaping out of bed. He bolted naked across the room, pausing only to call over his shoulder, “Come join me!”
He flung open the back door and raced to the swimming pool. When he was close enough, he realized that he was going to shift before he reached it. Hoping to avoid crushing the lounge chairs and umbrellas with his enormous bulk, he took a desperate flying leap. He was just in time. The Dunkleosteus sailed through the air and landed in the swimming pool with a tremendous splash.
Norris resurfaced and peered around. Everything on the patio was completely drenched, but at least it wasn’t crushed into splinters. The curtains in the bedroom were drawn. Annabeth stood at the window, watching him incredulously. He flapped his fins at her encouragingly.
A few minutes later, she came out the back door in a breathtaking black bikini that highlighted her Junoesque form. He flapped his fins and opened and closed his jaws, hoping she’d understand his approval.
She chuckled. “You really do love your morning swim, huh? Do you do that cannonball every morning, or was that just for me?”
Norris flapped his fins.
“You big show-off,” she teased. “But okay, seeing a gigantic armored prehistoric fish flying through the air was a truly amazing way to start the day.”
He had an idea for making her day even more amazing. Norris swam so his back was parallel with the edge of the pool and gave a little flip of his tail.
“You want to give me a ride?”
He flipped his tail again.
She grinned like a kid with a free pass to Disneyland and gracefully settled down on his back. “Ride ‘em, cowboy!” Then, with a laugh, she amended it to “Ride ‘em, fishgirl!”
Norris took off with a surge of his powerful piscine muscles. Atop his back, Annabeth whooped and cheered. He rolled his eyes and saw her waving an imaginary hat in the air before she hurriedly grabbed on with both hands. But he knew his mate wouldn’t fall off his back. He wouldn’tlether fall. All the same, he intended to give her an exciting ride.
He swam back and forth in the pool, sometimes gently, sometimes fast, and sometimes with a playful shimmy. Finally he stopped and floated at one end of the pool, then dipped his head into the water and rolled his eyes up at her.
She patted his armored back. “Go for it!”
Our mate is a courageous creature of the watery depths,said his Dunkleosteus.
Don’t I know it,Norris replied.
He dove down, all the way to the turquoise-tiled bottom. The fresh, unchlorinated water was clear as crystal. When he rolled his eyes, he could see Annabeth underwater, still clinging to his back, her hair floating and swirling in a glorious cloud. Her eyes were wide open, and though her mouth was closed, she was smiling.
He swam the entire length of the pool underwater, then surfaced.
Annabeth gave sigh of pure happiness. “That was absolutely marvelous.”
Norris flapped his fins in agreement and pleasure.
“Want to change back so we can communicate without fin language?”
Uh-oh,Norris thought. He had been so caught up in the joy of swimming with his mate that he’d forgotten that he hadn’t shifted on purpose. Mentally crossing his fingers, he tried to shift back.
To his immense relief, the next moment he was a man again. He and Annabeth treaded water together.
