Page 68 of A Warrior's Heart

I kissed him before licking the jam away. He stared at me, speechless.

“What?” I asked. “You told me to lick it off next time, so I did.”

Troy giggled and threw his arms around my neck, planting another kiss on my lips.

“How long do you think before we find the trident?” he asked, nestling against my chest.

“Lorcan says he hears its call, though the call is distant. The closer we get, the louder the weapon sings.”

Troy closed his eyes and started to drift to sleep. “Mal?”

“Yes?”

“You’re truly mine?”

My chest warmed as I buried my face in his soft hair. “I am yours.”

“I keep expecting you to push me away again.”

Truth be told, I had expected the same. I shouldn’t have acted on my feelings for Troy. I shouldn’t become distracted from the mission by losing myself in him. So many things I shouldn’t do. But I ignored them all.

Having him in my arms felt too right.

Chapter Fourteen

Troy

A shark swam beside me, its massive body probably ten times the size of mine. When I dove deeper, he followed. I swam below him, then above, before grabbing hold of his dorsal fin and letting him pull me through the water.

After over a week of travel, the Crimson Night had docked for the night in another harbor town to restock supplies and repair a part of the ship’s hull that had started showing signs of leakage. Needing the freedom that only the sea could give me, I had wandered off to an area away from the bustle of town and dove into the crisp, blue-green water.

Summer had left, and in its absence, colder air moved in around us. The water would be too chilly for humans to enjoy, but it didn’t bother merfolk. Our thicker skin and scales combated the cold, keeping us warm.

The shark descended lower into the depths, and I released hold of his fin.

“Thank you for the ride,” I said, then watched him sink into darkness.

“You should be more careful.”

I smiled at Malik’s stern tone and turned to see him several feet away, his large orange and green tail moving slowly through the water as he stared me down. The black dusting around his vibrant orange eyes had my heart racing a little faster.

No matter how many times I saw him in this form, he never failed to take my breath away.

“I knew he wouldn’t hurt me,” I said, swimming forward. Malik’s arms came around me, and even though I hadn’t been afraid, I suddenly felt safer. Comforted. “Though big and perhaps frightening to some, he had a gentle spirit.” I nuzzled his jaw. “Just like someone else I know.”

“I am far from gentle.” He pressed his lips to the top of my hair.

“Your words say one thing, but your actions say another.”

“Only with you.”

When our mouths met, my blood turned to liquid fire. His lips moved slowly on mine as his hands wandered down my chest, resting on my waist. I traced the dip of his collar bone down to his muscled chest, then lower to where his leather armor met the scales of his tail. My heart thumped harder as I dared go even lower, my fingers sliding to the slit in his tail that concealed his cock.

He growled and tore his lips from mine. “Troy.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, both shocked by my behavior and mortified by it.

For nearly two weeks, we had slept beside each other every night and had kissed so often my lips became chapped. There had been moments when I’d explored areas of his strong body, caressing his chest at night after he removed his armor, and once, I had straddled his hips as we kissed. But we hadn’t touched each other below the waist.