Those hazel eyes held hers as he spoke again. “Where I come from, there are…expectations. I am the last merman of my line. I’m also the youngest mer in my pod.”
“What does that mean for you?” Tempest asked carefully, worry furrowing her brow.
“I am the only merman left of breeding age and they will fail without me,” Reed said tightly, his jaw clenched. “If I do not, the Cascadia mer will die out with my generation.”
She watched his face contort at the confession. “That’s so much pressure for you to carry alone. I’m so sorry, Reed.”
“Yes. It is not what I want for myself,” the merman sighed, turning toward the sea.
“What do you want?” Tempest squeezed his hand once more, prompting him to look at her. “If you could have anything you wanted in this world, Reed, what would it be?”
“You,” he whispered.
The chatter of the busy restaurant behind them faded in an instant, until all that existed was the two of them. Her heart pounded in her chest as she replayed that word over and over in her mind.
You, you, you. In all her days, Tempest had never been anyone’s first choice for anything. Not once.
Yet here sat this stunningly beautiful merman, this magical being from another place, and he wanted her. More than anything else in the world. He likedher. He had called her magical and lovely and comfortable to talk to, words she had never heard in reference to herself.
“What will it cost you to stay here with me?” she asked softly.
Her eyes locked on those glittering hazel eyes of his as he ran one hand through his windswept dark tresses, pulling the hair out of his face. Tempest had never met anyone as truly gorgeous, inside and out, as Reed. In a matter of days, he had made her feel wanted and chosen and pretty. More than that, he had made her feel safe.
As much as she wanted to see where this chemistry between them might go, she hesitated to be the one to insist without knowing what he would have to give up. He needed to decide what mattered most to him, for his future. Tempest held her breath as she waited for his reply.
“I must leave behind all that I know…,” Reed began, choosing his words carefully. “If the pod does not listen to Elliot and decide to join me here, I will be dooming them to extinction.”
“Goodness, that’s awful,” she hissed.
The merman lifted his gaze once more to meet her eyes. “I cannot promise you much. I don’t know if any children we might have would be human, or mer, or some combination. Would you…still want me?”
“Reed,” Tempest whispered, reaching across the table to place one hand on his cheek. “I have never met anyone like you before. I’ve never felt like this about anyone else. If you are willing to give all that up for a chance at happiness together, I’m with you.”
His whole world was tumbling down around him, yet he continued to choose her. The hot mess of a storm witch who could barely control her powers and whose family barely tolerated her. Tempest’s heart ached at the way it made her feel.
When her merman leaned over to kiss her once more, she truly thought she might melt into a puddle of pure happiness. His hands in her hair, his lips on hers, the warmth of his body as he slid closer to her.
Had Tempest ever been this happy in all her life? No memory seemed to come even remotely close to this feeling. This must be what people meant when they talked about falling in love and losing your mind a little along the way.
It felt nearly as electric as the first time she had commanded a storm.
Humans with Magic
REED
A
cross the table, his beautiful, magical storm witch fought back tears as she looked at him. Reed paused to appreciate how deeply she felt for him, his situation, and the cost of being together. The mermaids he had been told to choose from wereless than empathetic with the fact he had no interest in marrying someone his mother’s age.
Yet Tempest, who had only known him for a handful of days, looked as if her own heart might break at the thought of him being married off against his wishes. This woman who made him feel seen in a way he never had before among his pod, with her big feelings and bigger heart.
This witch who spent her days caring for the sea and all her creatures.
“You would still wish to be with me, knowing I have abandoned my family?” he asked, still disbelieving. “Would you not worry I might do the same to you in the future?”
“Reed, you’re not abandoning them. You’ve done everything you could to help them adjust to the inevitable.” His witch spoke softly, her hand on his.
Adoration swelled in his heart. That was how he felt about the situation as well, but no one in the pod seemed to agree
