Page 10 of Little Shake of Salt

It was the complete rush of pleasure crashing into my body that made me cry out.

And then knowing that this mermaid had just given me a mating bite.

“Marina!” I yelled, clasping my hand over my neck.

Blood wet my palm as she smiled in the darkness.

Then, she pulled me into the sea.

2 /DEEP END

Marina

I’d tossed my mate into the deep end. But instead of flailing about like I’d expected, she glowered at me as I made her kiss me again, this time creating a bubble of air around her mouth. She dragged in a deep breath, her shoulders relaxing.

Whatever danger Creature Cafe was in, I could not be bothered to help at the moment. That was not my fight, and now that I had my mate, I could protect her from whatever evil storm was brewing around that place.

She was here.

In my arms. In my ocean.

“You can speak,” I said.

She was very pretty. I couldn’t take my eyes off the freckles that dusted her cheeks or the amber-brown of her irises. There was a ring of liquid gold around her pupils—beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I found her so interesting, with no scales in any places, and herlegs.No gills or fins. Eventually her skin would start to wrinkle from the water, and I’d need to get her to the surface—but for now, here she was. Safe with me.

I could see her mind working, trying to reason with the fact she could now breathe underwater. She dragged in more air, shaking her head as she exhaled.

“You can speak,” I urged. “Saysomething.”

“What . . . what the fuck is wrong with you?”

Well, I hadn’t expectedthat.Demi was angry, and that was understandable, I reminded myself. I, too, was furious the last time I was dragged through a portal to some unknown place. But I was her mate. She should trust me. Sheshouldknow I’d never do anything to harm her.

Over the last week, since the Barista agreed to match me via his annoying disaster of a daughter, I’d beenpreparingfor this moment. It’d been difficult to not show just how excited I was that she was here and that she was real.

My mate was no longer a figment of my imagination, but a real, live, breathing woman.

“You told me I could do as I pleased,” I said.

“I meant you could eat me out!” Demi yelled. “Not take me to the middle of the ocean!”

She kicked her legs, her eyes drifting beneath us. A reef thrived below, and I was careful to keep us from touching the precious coral. I even took account of the pressure difference for Demi, so that she didn’t get sick from suddenly being in the water.

I’d thought ofeverything.

Except for the fact that my mate might be resistant to what we were.

I scoffed at her. “We’re not in the middle of the ocean. We’re close to the surface, close to the shore line, and close to a cavern that will allow us to see each other.”

“It’s dark,” she said, looking toward the surface above.

Itwasdark, and the sea was restless. Angry, even. I could feel it in the currents, my skin prickling from the micro movements.It was as if a creature had been awoken, but not one of the sea. I’d been alive a long time and had never seen anything like this.

“I don’t understand how this is even possible,” she whispered. She brought her hand to the bubble around her mouth, carefully prodding it. It wouldn’t pop, though.

I wasn’t the first mermaid to be mated to a human. For centuries, merpeople with human mates had used our magic to give them the ability to breathe. If Demi accepted me as her mate, her body would adapt in small ways to be able to withstand the sea. She wouldn’t be a mermaid, but she would form gills around her throat and her nervous system would become resistant to freaking out from being in the water for so long. Her lungs would come to withstand the pressure of deep diving without caving in as well.

“I don’t understand,” Demi said.