Page 16 of The Nymph Prince

Remembering that his teeth had been sharp that day on the ship, I looked at his mouth, trying to get a glimpse of them.

“Ask your question, mage,” he said, eyeing me with both interest and caution.

“When I saw you before, in this form, your teeth were sharp. They aren’t now.”

Self-consciously, Lorcan lifted his hand to his mouth. I hated that I made him feel as if he had to hide.

“It only happens when I feel threatened,” he explained, dropping his stare to the top of the water. He touched the surface, causing ripples. “My teeth sharpen, as do my fingernails. And more scales cover my skin, depending on the temperature of the water. May I ask you a question?”

“Aye.”

He focused on me. “Do you see me as a monster?”

Oh, how the pain in his eyes hurt my heart.

“Not at all,” I answered, and before I could stop myself, I touched his cheek. His skin was warm. Our chests nearly touched, and his tail lightly brushed against me from beneath the water. “Do you see yourself as one?”

Lorcan shrugged. “I’ve heard humans speak of us as such. If not monsters then as beasts to be hunted for sport.”

“In case you forgot, humans don’t exactly favor my kind, either.” I moved my thumb along his cheekbone. His eyes were a darker green than I’d thought, having swirls of a lighter green around the pupils. “I don’t concern myself with their opinions.”

The way he stared at me, with slightly parted lips and big eyes, it took all my willpower not to kiss him.

He kissed me instead.

I grunted as his mouth pressed to mine. But then my mind registered what was happening, and my arms went around his lean torso, holding him as I returned his kiss.

Lorcan’s mouth was soft, just like I’d imagined, but his kisses weren’t gentle. At first they were, but then he deepened the kiss, making that humming noise again. His scent reminded me of the breeze that came off the water when I stood at the bow of theCrimson Night, a blend of salty and something crisp.

He was intoxicating.

The connection that’d been growing stronger with every sighting of him over the past year sizzled right then. There was no fighting it anymore, no more denying my attraction to him.

With my mouth pressed to his, I drew him closer to me.

His tail glided across my leg and he wrapped his arms around my neck, careful not to cut me with the sharp fins on his lower arms.

My body came alive. Although chest deep in the water, it felt like I was on fire as he nipped at my lips and pressed his front to mine. My head spun from the intensity of it. Kissing Lorcan was intimate and there was something undeniably special about him.

I tended to avoid intimacy. When I fucked in the brothels, I normally requested two at a time to avoid being too intimate with just one. It was easier if I kept myself at a distance from everyone.

However, Lorcan was different.

I barely knew him; yet, my heart seemed to know him just fine. As if it’d been searching for its missing half and then had found it with the nymph in my arms.

It was ridiculous. You couldn’t feel so strongly for someone you just met. But I did.

Kissing Lorcan felt like fate; a connection that became fully realized with the touching of his lips to mine. And I was falling, falling into an unknown abyss.

That was… until he pulled away with a gasp.

“What do we have ‘ere, boys?” a throaty voice said from behind me.

I turned to see three men standing on the rocks by the shore. Pirates.

I pushed Lorcan behind me. He gripped my bicep as he glared at them and growled low in his throat.

The one who’d spoken was a vile looking man, as many pirates were. His stringy dark hair was long and his beard was braided in parts.