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“What are you doing alone out here? Where are your parents?”
His accent sounded strange, the words lacking the reverberating, melodic quality my ears were accustomed to. A chill spiked through me, and I trembled.
When the hand on my forehead retreated, I couldn’t stop a sob from wrenching up my dry throat.
No, wait—
Something rustled above me, and heat enveloped me, the warmth draping over my shoulders like a thick blanket of seaweed.
“Poor little thing, frozen right through,” the voice muttered as I greedily wrapped myself in the covering.
“Let’s get you warmed up inside before we look for your parents,” the deep voice soothed, and arms drew around me, lifting me up. They weren’t as vast and sturdy as Papa’s arms, but I latched on to them regardless.
My breathing calmed as I huddled close to the stranger’s chest, each steadythunkagainst the wooden planks drawing me further away from the only life I had ever known.
Claira
PRESENT DAY
I’d never caught anything too interesting in my net, but today was an exception. Gawking at my lean arms in astonishment, I wondered how I’d managed such a feat. Hoisting load after load of fish every morning must have finally paid off.
Now is not the time to be impressed with yourself, I thought with a shake of my head.
Not when there was a man in the bottom of my precious lift net, his bare skin conveniently covered by only a blanket of flopping mullet. The load hadn’t felt particularly heavy when I first pulled it in, but there he was, clear as the morning sun…
A man. Anakedman.
In my net.
My cheeks flushed as I scanned over way, way too much sandy, sun-kissed skin peeking out from the heap of thrashing fish. A sharp breath whistled through my lips as I took hold of my hand net and began scooping through the fish between us.
My mouth fell into a grimace, and I hesitated. Did it matter if I hurried? I had fished him up out of the ocean, after all, and humans weren’t exactly known for their proficiency in sucking down salt water.
A rogue fish bounced away from his hips, revealing a particular region of his body that had me inhaling another quick breath.
His body might have been spared the bloat that came from soaking up too much seawater, but the sea cucumber snaking between his legs sure hadn’t needed any help looking engorged. “Damn. What a waste.”
What crazy life had this dude led to end up drifting bare-ass naked in the grimy deep? Guess I’d probably never know.
My hand net lingered in the air, the small collection of fish inside it alive with movement. I gazed over his dewy skin, lost in a trance.
Well, we all had to die eventually. When my time came, hopefully I’d still be wearing pants.
A strained, almost inaudible huff rattled through parted lips, and the man’s chest sank.
Holy, merciful—
I nearly dropped my net.
Tightening my grip on the handle, I bit back the urge to scream. I was still close enough to the shore that if I shouted now, Dad or Gram could hear it. They wouldn’t hesitate to seize a neighbor’s boat to come after me, and I wasn’t sure they’d believe I was capable of hoisting a man onto the deck all by myself.
And, well, considering his blatant lack of apparel, Gram might just have a heart attack before I had a chance to explain myself.
Fish bounded for the water below as I emptied a scoopful of mullet that had just been flopping on top of him. “Uh,” I said, tapping his shoulder with the edge of the net’s rim. “Hello?”
The man’s chest rose, the slight movement arduous enough to furrow the space between his sandy eyebrows.
So he was alive after all. Cool. Cool, cool. Good for him.
