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Laughing, I slapped his chest lightly.“Put medown.”
He did, and it was difficult not to smile as he continued to smirk and took my hand in his, squeezing slightly as he led me toward the water.Glancing backward, the cliff face seemed even more imposing looking up at it, and I was floored we’d manage to climb down relatively unscathed, save for a few scratches.Wiggling my hand free from his, I unhooked the water bag from his shoulder and took a grateful swig before offering it back.
We stopped a few yards from where the ocean splashed against the shore.From the escape pod, it had looked so similar to Earth, save for the color—a deep gray, almost like dirty water from a mop bucket.The waves crashed and fell the same way they did back home, leaving trails of off-white foam on the sand.Although I’d spent very little time at the beach, it was still a soothing sound.It was so familiar it could almostbehome.Closing my eyes, I breathed deeply.The air here didn’t have the salty sting it did on Earth beaches, and I wondered if the water was fresh.
“Vitri, is the ocean here salt water?”
“The water here is full of minerals from the rivers and mountains washed from the island.You can drink it, but the taste is quite strong.”
“Is there anything in the water that will kill me?”
“Not while the sun is out.The water is too warm for them this close to shore.”
I was already removing my shoes, and, not wanting to get back into wet clothes, I pulled my tunic over my head.Vitri made a sound somewhere between a gasp and growl as I ran toward the water, squealing as the cold waves lapped at my thighs and then my waist.Taking a deep breath, I dove under.The cool water invigorated my pores, stinging only slightly on the cuts and grazes on my legs and arms but soothing the wounds as well, rushing across my skin and reenergizing me.I almost laughed underwater.Not the most graceful swimmer, I burst from the surface, and finding my footing, I then scooped up a handful of the water and lifted it to my lips.
Pulling a face, I smacked my lips together—it tasted like… a cave.There was no other way to describe it.I imagined if I were to find a rock at home and lick it, it would taste like this water.Not sickening, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to drink it either.I brushed my fingers slowly through the water, letting it relax me, soothe all my worries and concerns, and try to make this planet feel a little bit more like the home it was apparently destined to be.
It happened too quickly for me to call for Vitri, and I released a strangled cry as I was grabbed.
While I was certain Vitri was watching me being pulled underwater, it filled me with dread faster than the elation that had flooded me a moment earlier.Underwater, I opened my mouth to scream on an instinct I wished I could’ve controlled, and the rich minerals in the water flooded my mouth.The strong, pungent taste was forced down my throat, and I gagged, closing my mouth even though my lungs screamed at me to take a breath to replace the air I’d lost screaming.
As quickly as I had been pulled under, my head broke the surface again, and I was dragged onto the shore, my hands clawing uselessly at the water to try and get a grip on anything, my toes dragging through the sand underwater.I took only a brief moment to wipe my eyes so I could see before lashing out at my captor.Ahead of me, Vitri was waist-deep in the water where I had been, screaming my name and splashing around.I tried to call out to him but instead began coughing again.The sand gave way under my feet every time I tried to get up, but still, I struggled.
When I was dropped onto the sand, I jumped to my feet after coughing up a mouthful of water and forgot my nudity as I was faced with an unfamiliar creature.His gaze traced my body, although his expression not one of hunger but anger and almost accusation, as though he blamed me for not being whatever hethoughthe was catching.I took a step back, and the creature let me, and I allowed my gaze to trace his body the way he had mine.
Grays, purples, and shimmering skin.Slight frills in his neck that could’ve been hiding gills with webbed fingers and toes.Four on each hand and foot.Purple shoulder-length hair.
And his eyes.
Bright green eyes.
My mind raced, and I forced myself to calm, remembering the difference between Vitri and his mountain of a brother, Ilk.We were here to meet his brother.So, could this be…
“Sahcor?”I asked, trying my best not to botch the pronunciation.His eyes widened, but he said nothing, and his gaze wandered up and down my naked body again.Throwing my hands up, I took another step backward, turning to find Vitri fighting his way through the water toward me, calling my name and eyeing our visitor wearily.First, Vitri smashes my face into a tree, then Ilk slams me to the ground in the forest, and then I almost drown when this asshole drags me underwater.
“Dammit!”I cried, kicking sand in his direction.“Why can’t any of you brothers greet normally?Why must I always be attacked?This isbullshit.”
I took a moment to throw a tantrum, no longer feeling threatened by this creature before me, who, with every second that passed, I was increasingly sure was Sahcor.Kicking up sand and throwing my arms up, I repeated my favorite word as Vitri awkwardly splashed his way to shore.
Water was not his element.
After I had expended some excess energy and pulled my tunic back on, I planted my hands on my hips and eyed Sahcor.Still, he said nothing, and although his head didn’t move, his eyes would shift to the side, watching Vitri’s ungraceful approach before shifting back to me.What I was seeing hit me like a smack in the face, and I took a step backward.
Sahcor was alone.
Fear gripped my stomach.
Where the hell was the girl from the pod?
Chapter Twenty-Six
VITRI
The ocean made moving difficult, and I hated every second of it.I’d dived into the water after Tori had been pulled under, but before I’d even got my footing, unable to keep straight with the waves knocking me about, she was being dragged ashore.Now she was pacing up and down in front of Sahcor, shouting at him and kicking up sand.I hoped he had read the human’s mind as I had and was able to understand Tori, and I hoped she was being as fearsome with him as she was when she was mad at me.Sahcor was my brother, but he had attacked my mate, and my heart pounded in my chest as I struggled to keep my breathing under control.The desire to claim Tori again was strong, to show me that she was mine and was safe.I’d fuck her on the sand in front of him to show him she belonged to me and warn him never to touch her again.
Every second it took me to work my way through the water to get to Tori was agony.
“Tori!”When I finally broke free of the trap of the water and slugged my way through the wet sand, I called to her.Tori turned, her short hair whipping around her face and sand streaking her legs and arms.She was breathtaking in her anger, primal,mymate.
