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The thought of swimming beside him and returning home to their cabin in the evening made her giddy inside.
As Rafe led her back to his boat, the fishery boat, she could still feel the contradiction between the warmth of the pool, and the slight coolness she felt when she opened her legs underwater and let it glide between her legs. She’d surprised herself by how easily she swam around the pool in human form. She wanted to go back and do it again. She decided right then that somehow, someway, she would make sure that swimming in a chlorine pool would become part of her routine. It felt so good to tilt her head back and keep her ears underwater. The silence that came with it. It was different when she was in the ocean and could hear even the slightest chirp of a sea creature or the fine rumble of a faraway boat motor. In the pool, it wasn’t like that at all. It was like she’d become completely human again. She had Rafe to thank for that.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
She nearly swooned and grabbed hold of his arm to steady herself.
“Swept away,” she said.
He laughed.
“As much as I love to hear that,” he replied. “It’s hard for me to imagine you’re as into me as I am into you.”
“I hope you mean that,” she said.
She really did. Her heart couldn’t handle another break. She’d never considered herself delicate, but a
t this moment, she knew her heart could crack a little and that crack could become a deep trench of pain if not cared for properly. Rafe had more power than he believed. He truly held her heart in his hands.
“Why don’t you stay with me tonight?” he asked. “You can come back to my place. It’s small, but it’ll do.”
“What about my place?” she asked. “You’ve already met Faith and kind of met Thane. Why don’t you come hang out at the island and spend the night in my cabin?”
He thought about it for a second and then smiled.
“I’ll miss work tomorrow,” he said. “Or be really late at least.”
“I’ll make it worth it,” she promised.
That seemed to be all he needed to hear. They stepped onto the boat and Rafe untied it from the dock. He pushed them as far out into the water as his muscular arms would allow. With him, she enjoyed being in the cool, crisp night air as much as she usually loved being underwater in shark form. As much as she’d always felt like a monster of the ocean, nobody would ever be able to understand the surge of energy that flows through a shark when its speeding like a torpedo through the darkness of the sea. Everything dodged her. Everything feared her. Everything was potential dinner.
“Do you think they’d like me?” Rafe asked as he moved to the front of the boat to start the engine.
“They’ll love you,” Kalina said.
“Oh, they absolutely will,” came a third voice.
Kalina’s head whipped around, adrenaline instantly surging through her entire body. Evelyn climbed onto the boat, as naked as the day she was born, her beautifully marred face looking twisted and evil in the moonlight. Kalina’s stomach lurched. She couldn’t let the evil bitch come anywhere near Rafe. If she was on the boat, she had something sinister in mind and Rafe was in great danger.
“Rafe, stay back,” Kalina said as she squared off, ready to fight to the death if that meant protecting her man.
“Why, Kalina,” Evelyn said. “What have I ever done to make you offer me such a rude greeting? We were friends once upon a time. Don’t you remember?”
Kalina didn’t answer. Evelyn stepped left, so Kalina stepped right, following her, giving her little room to reach her boyfriend. That was what he was now. Rafe was her man, and it was Kalina’s duty to protect him. Evelyn hated all humans, and Rafe would be easy pickings for the likes of her. Surely, she’d want nothing more than to knock the man into the ocean where undoubtedly, she would have a school of sharks waiting below. Probably the hammerheads. The thought brought chills to Kalina’s bones.
“Stay away from him,” Kalina ordered.
“We used to hang out and talk about everything,” Evelyn said. “Remember? About how Thane was the one. About how if I couldn’t have him, maybe you could? He played us both for the fool though, didn’t he?”
“He did nothing wrong,” Kalina said. “We both knew what we were getting into.”
“And now it seems you’ve moved on,” Evelyn said. “Found yourself a boy toy. A human one at that.”
Evelyn took a couple of steps closer and sniffed the air, smiling as her bare feet slapped the floor of the boat with each step. Her long, black hair stuck to her bare breasts, nipples peeking through the strands. Kalina didn’t need to look back to imagine the expression on Rafe’s face. A stark naked, gorgeous woman was standing on the boat, in an obviously threatening manner.
“She one of your kind?” Rafe asked.
“Evelyn,” Kalina said.
