Page 62 of The Song of the Void

Comforting, silent pressure surrounded me, and the sweet coolness—finally, I was back in the sea where I belonged. I inhaled deeply.

Water swirled around my tingling legs, pulling them together until they merged, and when I looked down, I nearly sobbed with relief. Gone were the surface-dweller limbs I’d been stuck with for six years; the ocean gave me back my tail. Midnight blue scales shimmered with the golden light emanating from my collar as a pulse vibrated through the metal. I turned my gaze up.

“Come on.” My tail propelled me closer to the surface with one powerful flick, and I floated there, brushing my fingers against the metal around my neck. Why did touching it bring me comfort?

Reiven plunged into the water nearby, stirring up a trail of frothy bubbles behind him.

“Rei!” To a Human, my voice probably sounded muffled underwater, but to me, it was clearer and sharper than it had ever been on land. I grabbed onto him as an underwater wave buffeted us.

Reiven’s gaze traveled upwards. No doubt he wanted to swim to the surface where he could actually breathe, but with the storm and those giant waves, it would only be a matter of seconds before he was pulled back under.

“Rei,” I said again. I gripped the front of his shirt and manipulated the water to pull us far enough within the bubbling, dark blue depths that the underwater waves wouldn’t be a problem.

His eyes widened as I dragged him down. Did he think I was just going to drown him after all this time? No, he trusted me enough to follow me into the ocean in the midst of a storm. Even if he hated the water, even if he was terrified.

“I won’t let you drown, I promise.”

Surely, he knew what I had to do to keep him alive in the ocean, right? If I kept hesitating, he might run out of air. I yanked him closer by his collar and pressed my lips against his.

His lips were soft despite the cut on the corner.

My heart fluttered wildly within my chest as I pulled away to let him breathe. I had intended the kiss to be nothing more than a quick, necessary physical connection between us to keep him from drowning, but it still sent waves of heat skittering through my veins.

Reiven took one gasping breath of water before cradling my face between his leather-covered palms and crashing his lips against mine again. There was desperation in the way he kissed me, but such reverence as his fingers slid up my temples into my waves. Almost like he had broken free of something more than Vaetrik’s chains. My hair flowed in a cloud around us as he tilted my head, deepening the kiss.

Shouldn’t I say something? That now was simply not the time for this, that I only gave him a quick peck out of necessity? Something was seriously wrong with me, because the moment those thoughts surfaced, I shoved them far away and parted my lips to let his tongue slip inside.

He explored my mouth like he needed to memorize every part of it, and I tentatively explored his, too. He was warm—so wonderfully warm in the ocean’s cold. Sparks burned up my spine until they reached my scalp. I savored the way his body felt against mine, almost wishing he had less clothing on—almost wishing I had legs to wrap around his waist. My tail curled behind his calves on instinct, pulling him closer. An urge to mold myself against him like that forever railed against me, stupid and frantic as it was.

I tasted blood. The metallic tang on my tongue reawakened my senses enough to break away from him.

“Rei…”

He stared at my lips with dilated eyes. A drop of blood drifted away from where I had accidentally punctured his cut with my fangs.

“Um…listen, you’re under a Siren’s protection for now. It’ll only last for about five hours, so we might have to do that again. But it doesn’t have to be that…intense. It can just be a quick brush of our lips.”

His thumb skimmed against my jaw. He remained silent, still staring unapologetically at my mouth as if he were too entranced to hear me.

“Snap out of it. It's just the venom,” I barked, a bit more harshly than I intended.

“Is it? Hm.” His mouth quirked into a grin and he dropped his gaze to the flowing tips of my iridescent fin and the inky blue scales that made up my tail. “Can you at least give me a moment to admire my savior, even if this is a venom-induced haze? Damn, you look…”

“Terrifying?”

“Beautifully so.”

Simple words ruined the steady current of my pulse. Unable to come up with a quick response, I hid my face by circling him slowly, as if observing his pathetic surface-dweller body with disdain. “Well, you’re at my mercy now, Rei. Don’t tempt me to let a shark eat you.”

His soft laughter reverberated through the water. “I’ve always been at your mercy.”

I needed to focus on something else, anything else but him.“We should swim to land so it’s easier for Ash and the crew to find us. If we come across any sea creatures, they might know which way we should go.”

“Oh, shit, let me tell Ash we’re alright.” He touched his earring. “Hey, kid.” As expected, he had no choice but to grimace and wait out whatever it was Ash was yelling at him through their link. “Don’t burst a blood vessel, we got away with our skins intact. I’ll let you know when we’re somewhere more stationary.”

I raised my brow at him once they were finished talking. “Is he alright?”

“Madder than a wet hen at us for worrying him. His words, not mine.”