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“What, no flowers?” I teased, closing my hand around the small trinket.

He shrugged playfully, wafting backward a few inches. “We’re Mer. I guess our courtship customs are a little different.”

“Is that what this is?” I asked, keeping my tone coy and light. “Are you courting me?”

“I hope so.” The sincere look on his face made all my walls disintegrate.

Kendall leaned closer. I could feel his body heat radiating through the small amount of water between us, and it kept getting smaller.

My pulse quickened in anticipation as his face drew nearer, his nose brushing the tip of mine. It was so unlike the way things had gone down with Tobias last night, so gentle and patient, but the same burning desire that incident had ignited hadn’t left me, and it burned again now.

I closed the distance, gently meeting his soft lips with my own. His lips parted and closed again over my bottom lip witha seductive grace that made my body melt against his firm chest.

Forget about Tobias. Forget about Tobias.

Slowly, we tangled into each other, his hands sliding down my hips and making my scales prickle with desire. The kiss deepened, his tongue sliding out and gently caressing my lips at first, then entering my mouth as a moan escaped me.

He gripped my hips and pulled me against him as we feasted on each other’s mouths. The burning need grew with a demand that I had no idea how to satisfy in this form, and all I could do was grind my pelvis against his in futility.

He chuckled low and dark against my neck as his lips moved to nibble at my ear. “I know what you want,” he purred. “Do you want me to teach you?”

In a fog of need and want, I panted, “What?”

His hand slid over the mound of my ass, gripping it briefly to make a gasp escape my lips, then sliding his fingers down even farther to circle around an incredibly sensitive opening I didn’t even know was there.

Before I could register the change in my bodily structure, he slid his finger into me. I gasped and gripped his shoulders, shuddering at the unexpected pleasure. His finger moved in and out with a slow, rhythmic pace that made my head swim as I lost myself to the overwhelming sensation.

With his free hand, he tipped my chin up so that he could kiss me while he fingered me, his tongue playing my mouth as his fingertip played my pussy. As if sensing my heightened tension and desire, he increased the pace of his strokes, penetrating me deeper and deeper, pushing me over the edge.

Suddenly, I was coming, pleasure crashing over me like a turbulent storm. My body shook with each wave, and hecontinued to kiss me until the waves subsided, and I hung limp against him.

When it was over, I looked up into his eyes for a long moment.

“That was…incredible,” I breathed, realizing with near desperation that I wanted more.

It had never occurred to me to even wonder how sex was possible in our shifted form, and now that I’d had a taste of it, I was inflamed with the idea of experiencing it. Here, in this magical place, with him—you know, for science.

“I can teach you all kinds of things,” he purred, stealing one more peck from my swollen lips.

Then, with a pained expression, he pulled back. “But for now, we should get back to the school. It’s getting late, and we don’t want to be out when the light leaves.”

Slightly disappointed and a bit shaken from our escapade, I reluctantly agreed.

We swam out of the ship, and I followed him again, not realizing we’d angled up until the pressure around me began to ease, and The Dome loomed big and round beneath us. I could see the entire school from this birds-eye view—or fish-eye view, rather. It looked so small from up here. The people walking along the sidewalks looked like ants crawling through a super hi-tech ant farm.

Kendall reached out to take my hand, and I let him. There were no words to describe the feeling surging through me. I was beyond grateful that he chose me to share this incredible secret with, and more than a little thrilled by what we’d just done. I had never felt more at home anywhere in my life than I did floating in this lake, and I was sad to be leaving it.

We swam back to the portal under the edge of the dome and he surfaced first to help me climb up out of the water.

Despite our passionate moment in the wrecked ship, and the intimate sweetness in Kendall’s eyes as he looked at me now, I didn’t feel terribly close to him. I liked him, and I absolutely wanted to explore more of mer sexuality with him, but there was something in the way of me wanting anything beyond the physical with him.

Ishouldwant to be with him. Of all the guys I’d ever met, he was the most perfect fit for me. He was a mer and could teach me about our kind, could immerse me in the culture and traditions, make me a true part of them. And he was nice, smart, hot as hell, and seemed to have status and a bright future in the shifter world.

“Can I walk you back to your dorm?” he asked when we both had our clothes on. Was that a boyish blush coloring his cheeks?

“Well, we’re both going to the same place, so sure,” I said with a giggle.

He took my hand again, and I tried to open my heart to him as I clasped his hand back. We left the hidden room and strolled back through the garden to get back to the main building.