“And if it takes me dragging you into a merfolk cave, somewhere hidden well enough that even he would never find us there, just so you can tell me just what’s going on… then that’s where we’ll go.” Reaching for the hem of his shirt, he lifted it over his head and tossed it aside.
My breath swept away like a whirlwind.
“But we can’t talk underwater,” I argued, trying to look anywhere other than the slowly undressing man in front of me.
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
A clunk sounded as his belt hit the floor, soon followed by his boots and breeches.
“Yes,” I rasped.
“Then take off your gown and join me in the water.”
My gaze lifted just in time to catch his toned legs as he lowered himself into the pool. Short briefs covered hismiddle, giving him an ounce of modesty, but still, my throat dried immediately at the sight of his exposed bronze skin. And Ancients, there was a lot of it.
“Naria?” he prompted.
Flinching, I glanced away. “Sorry,” I squeaked, focusing instead on my fingers while they loosened the bodice of my gown. But I didn’t miss his smirk as his torso joined his legs in the water.
Moments later, I stood cowering on the first step into the pool. Water lapped around my bare ankles while the rest of me tried not to focus on how far down the sand lining the bottom was. There was no way either of us would be able to stand and still breath. It was about as deep as my tower was tall back home.
Although that didn’t seem to be a problem for Lukas, whose broad shoulders bobbed confidently in the water.
“This way.” He beckoned me further into the pool.
Reluctantly, I took another step. The blue water rose to my thighs and soaked the hem of my chemise enough to make me shudder. My lips parted again to argue, but then before I could speak, I squealed as my weight was pulled out from underneath me and I was being held just by two arms.
“It’s alright,” Lukas soothed while I splashed about.
“But it’s too deep!” I panicked. “I can’t swim!”
“You need to trust me, Naria.” He drew closer, pressing his forehead to mine. “Close your eyes and trust me.”
My heart beat like raindrops hitting the sea. It took everything within me to not reach back for the pool’s edge. Eventually, I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to slow my rapid breathing to match his.
“Trust me, forest princess,” he murmured, before he forced me below the surface.
Water rushed into my ears and nose. A scream battled against my closed lips, making my whole body shake. With my eyes shut, I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel bubbles fizzing on my skin along with two hands forcing my body down. Down. Down.
Panic burned in my chest.What was he doing?
I began to wrestle out of his hold, until his grip on my wrists tightened, and I felt soft lips pressing against mine for just a few heartbeats.Was he kissing me?
“Open your eyes, Naria.” His voice swirled through the water.
Shaking my head furiously, I tried to swim up.
“Open your eyes. Trust me.” Somehow Lukas’s voice was clearer now and the water didn’t feel so foreign against my skin, nor did the wet sand beneath my toes.
Slowly, I opened my eyes. Through a fading curtain of bubbles, I gasped to see Lukas standing before me, the water between us as clear as the air above. My hand smacked over my mouth the moment I realised I was breathing, too.
I’d never known anything like it. Our hair and the little clothing we wore still floated around us, as if we were underwater, but everything else was just like being on land. Aside, of course, from vibrant tropical fish and the swaying seaweed, all enclosed within the circular walls of the vast underwater cave.
Lifting my feet, I gasped to find I could still float like in water. Though I only drifted for a few seconds before Lukas pulled me back down to the sand with a scowl.
“I brought you here to talk,” he said plainly.
“I’m sorry, you expect me to be the one to talk right now?” My eyes drank in the cave, twisting my body as I spun around. Colourful fish darted around coral trees, while starfish and other sea creatures I couldn’t even name covered the boulders on the ground. This was like an entirely new world. A hidden blue world, and somehow, I was standing – no,floating– in the middle of it.
