Page 33 of Entangled

“What?” Her head snapped around. “What are you saying? You want me to swim in it?”

“Sure. Why not?” he asked with a shrug, sitting atop a nearby rock. “Isn’t that what sea nymphs like to do?” He picked up a handful of small stones and one after another started tossing them into the water. Each hit the surface, creating small circles that rippled out wider and wider until they disappeared.

“Well, yes,” she admitted. “It is exactly what we like to do.” The sounds, the scents of the falls and the lake and the life beneath the surface called to her, begging her to dip her toes into the water. Calling her to go for a swim. She found herself curious as to what underwater life this fresh water lake of Mura held. The beauty of it at the surface alone was intoxicating. What kind of treasures and secrets did it hide?

“What are you waiting for?” The stones he’d thrown were gone now and he brushed his hands together to remove the dirt. “Go for a swim. That’s why we’re here.”

“Oh,” she said, knowing that as soon as she touched the water her tail would emerge, as well as her webbed fingers and toes and the fins at the ends of her ears. She would be in her most natural form which meant she’d look and act quite different from Sebastian and the other humans. For some reason, it made her a little nervous. “Mayhap we should return to the castle after all.” Feeling emotional about turning back into a sea nymph in front of him, as much as it saddened her, she figured it was best not to do so right now. This was a lake, not the ocean. She’d put herself in a vulnerable position right now to lose her legs. She would be a prisoner again but this time of the small lake since she would not able to swim away. It wasn’t at all like being in an ocean. Merrow would also not be able to run away on land if they should be attacked.

“Don’t be silly,” he said. “The water is refreshing. I know, because I swim here quite often myself when I need to be alone to think.”

“Really?” she asked. Hearing him say this, the swim did not seem as threatening to her now. “So…you will be swimming with me?”

“I hadn’t planned on it, but why not?” He got off the rock and started to undress.

“What are you doing?” she gasped.

“Well, I can’t very well go for a dip with my weapon belt attached and my boots and clothes on, can I?”

“I suppose not.”

He detached the pouch he’d had tied to his waist, pausing for a minute, running his hand over it. A shiver ran up her spine. It was the pouch with her charm in it. Was he planning on using it to control her here? She hoped not and wouldn’t like that.

“You’d better hurry, or I’m going to be the first one in the water.” He gently placed the pouch atop a rock that also held his clothes and weapons. Before she knew it, he stood there in just his braies. So much of his skin showed, that he might as well have been naked. The sun danced on his toned body and illuminated his long, dark hair. His chest was wide and looked very solid. The muscle in his arms and upper body made him look quite strong. He was a true warrior, she could see that.

He noticed her watching him. He grinned and reached for the string holding his braies in place.

“Nay!” She quickly turned and headed for the water. The thought of him standing there stark naked made her mind run in several directions at once. She needed to submerge herself in the cool water to clear her head. Because right now she felt very hot and couldn’t stop thinking about them ‘almost’ having made love.

Wasting no more time, Merrow kicked off her shoes and slipped out of her gown and let it fall, pooling around her feet. She didn’t dare look back at him when she heard a splash, knowing he had jumped into the water, and was most likely naked. Pulling her shift up and over her head, she sank down into the cool, fresh water, feeling her change in action. It took only a mere minute or two before her tail emerged and she was a true sea nymph once again.

“Yes!” she said happily, diving down and letting her tail flip up and out of the water. It felt so freeing, so right. This was exactly what she needed right now. This made her happy.

Sebastian dove into the small lake, able to see Merrow underneath the water as her change came about. It was amazing. He had thought he’d always despised magic, since that was what he’d learned from his late uncle. Magic was bad. It was evil. That was what he’d been taught. But seeing the way Merrow transformed from a human into half-fish was something he’d never thought he’d witness. The sunlight streamed through the water and lit up her iridescent tail that magically appeared. Gone were the legs that had made her landbound. Erased was the image of a purely physical girl. She was an undine now. A true goddess of the water. Merrow’s smile told him he was right in bringing her here. He held his breath watching her hold out her hands to caress a passing fish. She seemed to honor each underwater creature, and even treat the seaweed as if it were a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Merrow suddenly realized he was watching her under the surface. She smiled and swam right toward him. Such beautiful curves of her hips and her breasts. Gliding through the water, her long, strong tail propelled her forward effortlessly. It was all muscle and when it moved, it was once of the sexiest things he’d ever seen in his life. Merrow looked elated to be in any underwater paradise, no matter how small.

Sebastian was just about out of air and needed to resurface. He started to swim upward, but she grabbed his arm and held him down. Warning rushed through him. Was she purposely trying to drown him? Was this her plan to make him pay for taking her away from her sisters and keeping her from her true home?

Relax. Trust me. He heard her words in his mind and didn’t understand how he was hearing her thoughts. It made no sense. Then, he realized what she was doing when she put her mouth up to his and gave him the breath of life, the same as he did for her when she could not breathe after drinking the strong whisky. Come with me he heard her words again, even though she hadn’t even moved her mouth to speak. They swam together under the water as she pointed out things that Sebastian had never known existed.

Look came her thoughts into his head again as she turned over a rock. He discovered a brightly colored salamander dart out and swim up to the surface. Two more overturned rocks led them to a good dozen crayfish. Then she pointed to a turtle swimming by, taking his hand and guiding him to pet its back. Next, she nodded toward a blue frog, swimming after it and following it to the surface. He quickly followed.

When Sebastian popped his head out of the water, he felt invigorated and totally alive. The blue frog hopped atop one of the lily pads. The large pink and yellow flowers that floated on the water gave off a sweet scent that filled the air.

“I never knew there was such beauty under the water,” he said, smoothing back his wet hair.

“Yes, there is quite a bit of beautiful underwater life on Mura.”

“I agree,” he said, drinking in her—the most beautiful water creature of all by far. “Thank you for the breath to allow me to stay underneath the water longer and to see so much more.”

“I wanted you to share what I was experiencing.” She sank back down, only half her face sticking out of the water now.

“Merrow, something odd happened down there. I heard what you said to me. In my mind.”

“Yes.” She raised up out of the water to her waist, using her webbed hands to tread water. “Undines are able to communicate by mind alone.” She looked even more beautiful in her mermaid form than she did as a human. She wasn’t naked, but her aquatic clothes clung to her, showing off her breasts and cleavage. It was almost more like a second skin, or scales, instead of clothes. It looked like a shell of a turtle covering one breast. The other breast wasn’t quite as covered.

“But I am not an undine,” he pointed out. “Why could I hear your thoughts?”