“Tell me about work. How was your day?” I question. I’m eager to take his concerned, probing eyes from me. I want to forget tonight even happened. How my only friend here in Miami backhanded me across the face. If my father found out, he’d laugh at me. Tell me I deserved it for making such shit decisions.

He grumbles as he reaches for me. I’m pulled into his warm arms as the waves crash around us. His furry chest tickles my breasts, causing me to shiver. It takes everything in me not to straddle him right now. But dear God, how I want to. His thick erection is sandwiched between our naked bodies. I wonder how it will feel the first time he pushes it into me. Will he split me in two or will my body adjust to take him?

“You don’t need to hear about all that bad stuff. You’re too sweet,” he coos and nuzzles his nose against the side of my neck. I let out a gasp when his lips suckle the flesh right below my ear. This time, my legs do wrap around him. His cock rests against my pussy, and I pray he’ll just shove it in.

“I’m not sweet. The thoughts running through my head are far from sweet, Madden. When I’m around you, I can’t think straight. My thoughts resemble that of a teenage boy,” I say with a laugh.

His teeth bite down, nearly to the point of pain on my neck, but then he tongues the sore flesh there. “Teenage boys don’t have this,” he breathes against my neck as his hand slips between us. The moment his middle finger slides against my clit, I buck in his arms.

“Oh, God,” I moan, tossing my head back.

He chuckles, deep and throaty, which only makes me more needy for him. I’m about to tell him to just fuck me already, when his finger slips between my pussy lips and slowly enters me. His thick digit stretches me, and I grind against his hand. He then digs the heel of his hand against my clit, massaging me in a wicked way that has unearthly noises coming from me.

“Madden—I—what’re you—oh, God!”

The stars, so brilliant and bright in the sky, tilt and whirl above me. With every movement of his hand beneath the water, I fall further and further into his vortex. I could die after this moment and feel completely satisfied with my time here on this earth. His teeth find my ear this time, causing me to lose all sense of reality. The sensations are all too much—too perfect. My entire body suddenly convulses as he brings me to a pleasure my own hands have yet to achieve. I shudder for an entire minute before I relax in his arms.

“I want you in ways I can’t fully describe or understand, Hali,” he murmurs against my ear, his hot breath sending endless shivers down my spine. “Every part of me aches to join with every part of you. You’ve bewitched me, woman.”

I laugh and wiggle in his arms. “Take me in the ways you can understand for now. We’ll figure out the rest as we go. We’re doing good so far, biker boy.”

And at that, he tells me to hang on. Once my arms are wrapped around his neck, he grabs onto my hips and guides me over the tip of his cock. I’m wondering if he’ll go fast or slow when he thrusts fully into me, while pulling me down over him. An explosion of pain causes me to cry out. But then his fingers are probing my sensitive clit again, distracting me completely.

“Shhhh, angel,” he murmurs as he pumps into me. “You’re mine now. Do you like when I’m inside you? Do you feel like you belong to me?”

Our lips meet again and I kiss him deeply. When I moan, I let out the words he’s been dying to hear. “Yes. So good. You feel so good, Mad.”

My eyes close when an orgasm rips through me, even more intense than the time before. I’m completely owned by this bad boy biker. We were meant to meet. He was supposed to see me enter the shop that day. And I was supposed to drool over him every time he came sauntering in, his hungry eyes all over my body. I absolutely believe in fate.

When I come back down from my high, I feel his heat pour into me. I’m too drugged up on Madden Finn to consider the repercussions or consequences. Instead, I snuggle closer to him and enjoy the way his strong arms hold me tight against him. I feel him soften inside me, and with it, his semen runs out to mix in the ocean water.

“I kind of lost control there,” he says in a whisper. “It felt right though. I didn’t want to stop.”

I pull away to regard his dark eyes. “Are we weird? Do normal people feel this way after sex with someone they really like?”

He smirks at me. “You’re weird. I’m a badass.”

Laughing, I shake my head at him. “You got that backwards, biker boy. I’m the badass and you’re the weirdo.”

When our laughter dies down, he regards me with a serious expression. “I don’t think this is normal. It feels unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I’ve been around the block a few damn times, and I certainly have never fucked a woman without a condom on.”

I run my palm up his sculpted chest to his neck. “And I’ve never had sex. Seems like we’re doing all sorts of crazy things together. Perhaps we’re bad for each other.”

He growls and kisses me again. His cock hardens within me. I’m not sure if I’ll enjoy another round this soon, but I’ll be damned if I don’t try.

“I like being bad with you,” he tells me in a conspiratorial tone.

I giggle against his lips. “I like being bad with you too.”

“I like your shower,” I tell him as I emerge from the bathroom in just a towel.

His eyes roam my body before he grins crookedly at me. “I like you naked in my shower. And now, I want you naked in my bed.”

I drop the towel and eat up the ravenous way he looks over my body. Twice, earlier in the ocean, was probably one too many times for my sore body, but I’m already growing wet beneath his gaze.

We crawl into bed and he pulls me to him. His giant arm wraps around my middle and cups my breast. My heart rate quickens at feeling his thick, erect cock between the cheeks of my ass. Luckily, he remains still. As much as I want him again, I’m unsure I can take it.

“I like you here, sea angel.”

Giggling, I cover his hand with mine. “Sea angel? I thought we determined I was bad, right along with you.”

His hearty chuckle warms my heart. “You’re bad, no denying that. But it’s the good kind of bad. The kind of bad that makes a grown man crazy. Besides, tonight, in the ocean under the moonlight, you were ethereal. I swear, I was making love to an angel. So now you’re my sea angel.”

I close my eyes, reveling in his words. Is this what people search for their entire lives? I’ve never felt so complete and wanted. My heart throbs to life whenever I look at him. This has to be what everyone’s always gabbing about. And I want to gab about it, too. Right here from this bed. Because I’m never leaving.

“Tell me about Steffan,” he says softly, a bite of anger in his voice.

I stiffen in his arms. My words still on my tongue for a moment. Eventually, I find my voice. “He’s rough around the edges. Protective—overly so. I’m not even sure what he does for a living. He tells me it’s illegal and that’s enough probing for me. If he didn’t find me when I was at my lowest, there would be no loyalty to him. But he did find me. And it breaks my heart it’s come down to this.”

“So he’s jealous?”

I bite my bottom lip and nod. “He’s always envisioned a relationship between us that goes beyond friendship. For me, I just don’t feel it when I’m around him. I’m thankful for him and sometimes he can be funny. And he always looks after me. But he doesn’t make it hard to breathe like you do. He doesn’t seem to ignite my entire body with flames, but you do. Everything’s just different with you.”

His thumb runs over my nipple, making it harden at his touch. “Have you ever just wanted to run away from it all?”

I freeze at his words. “Yes.”

“And what did you do?”

“I ran away from it all.” My words come out clipped and cold. Images of my father and Zee flash in my mind. I force them from my head. They’re not here.

“Hey,” he coos against my neck, “it brought you here.”

Relaxing, I nod. “That it did.”

“What anchors you here?”

I consider his words. At one time, Steffan. I’m loyal, but he crushed that loyalty once and for all when he put his hands on me. My job at the froyo stand is temporary, just something to bring in cash to support my photography. And then there’s Madden.

“Just you right now.”

“So would you ever go away? You know, if things between us worked out? Could you just leave this all behind and start over?” he questions.

Hope is laced with his words.

Unsure. Unsteady. Uneasy.

But, hope is there.

“I think I could. But could you?”

His teeth nip at the flesh on my shoulder. “I would go anywhere with you.”

“You’re drunk,” I say with a giggle.

“Drunk on you.”

I let out a full-bellied laugh, to which he begins tickling me. It’s a flurry of kicks and screams until he has me pinned beneath him. My chest heaves, but our eyes are glued to one another.

“My craving for you gets more and more intense. I can’t quit you, Hali.”

Freeing my legs, I then wrap them around his waist. I want him inside of me. I want to feel the painful burn of his body inside of mine. The addiction is there for me too.

“So don’t quit, Madden Finn. Please, don’t ever quit.”

We’ve spent four blissful weeks in our bubble. I quit Franny’s and spend every waking moment in Madden’s arms. He makes less and less frequent trips to the clubhouse, to the point I’m beginning to worry they’ll be angry with him. Steffan, surprisingly so, hasn’t tried to communicate with me at all. Like I said, bliss.

But today, Madden’s not his usual self.

“Everything okay?” I question as I lick the spoon I’ve been stirring the spaghetti with.

He leans his hip against the counter and runs his fingers through his disheveled hair. Today, he’s hotter than ever in a pair of low-slung faded and holey jeans, with no shirt on. Each curve of his muscular chest begs to be licked. Instead, I settle for running my tongue along my upper lip. His eyes narrow on my mouth before he speaks, lines of worry etching his handsome face. “No, it isn’t actually.”

Quivers of uncertainty shake their way through me. I force a smile. Have I done something wrong to piss him off? Is he tired of me? Am I not a good enough lover? “What’s wrong, Mad?”

“I want to leave this place. Together. You and I can start someplace new where nobody knows our names.” His voice is gruff, but I sense pain in his words.

“That sounds wonderful,” I say with an encouraging smile.

“But…”

My heart thunders in my chest. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“We can’t go into this with secrets. I’ve told you mine. All but one,” he says gruffly. “But I want to.”

I can’t help but think about my own past. We never broach the subject much, of my father, but if he tells me what’s bothering him, he’s going to expect the same of me. When I left two years ago, I vowed to bury that part of myself. To burn away the memory and pretend it doesn’t exist.

“You don’t have to tell me. We’re fine. We’ll be fine,” I blurt out as I turn the stove off.

His worried eyes have darkened. I see them assessing me, seeking out answers I’m unwilling to give. “We won’t be fine. This is a part of who I am. You need to understand this part about me and if you choose to leave me—”

“I won’t ever leave you,” I vow, my brows furled together.

He scoffs. “Don’t make that promise yet, beautiful.”

An hour later and we’re both walking silently hand in hand toward the beach. Because the beach is so secluded, we don’t even bother with clothes anymore for the walk to the ocean, since we’re going to strip down when we get there anyway. When we reach the water’s edge, he tugs his hand from mine and storms toward the waves. His complexion has gotten tanner since he spends so much time out here with me, and I stare at his golden sculpted ass until he dives under the surf.

With a nervous sigh, I splash out after him. Once we’re both deep enough we have to tread water, I dip under the water and wet my hair. When I come back up, he’s regarding me with a scowl. For a brief moment, I have a panic attack. What did he see? One glance around me, tells me I have nothing to fear. Everything is normal.

His arms wrap around me and he tugs me to him. Our lips connect for a hurried, hungry kiss before he pushes away just a little. Water rivulets run down his temples, his dark hair hangs down past his brows, and his lips are pulled into a frown. Whatever it is that’s upsetting him is upsetting me too. I’m on the verge of tears.

“So you know I’m adopted right?

Chewing on my bottom lip, I nod.

“I don’t know where I came from or anything. My adopted mother says there isn’t much to know, just that she took care of me. Truth is, I don’t think she legally adopted me. You see…”

“Yes?”

He kisses me once more, as if I might disappear simply from him thinking about what it is he wants to tell me. Surely, it can’t be that bad, can it?

“I don’t think I’m human.” His voice is sad, bitter even.

The breath is sucked right from my chest. “I, uh…”

“Just listen. I’m different. I’d like to show you, but swear to God you won’t freak the fuck out, Hali. I need you,” he begs. “Promise me.”

I swallow the thick ball of emotion in my throat. “Promise.”

Another kiss.

“I’m going to show you. It’s easier that way.”

Tears are welling in my eyes. My heart is expanding more and more with each passing second, until it might explode. This cannot be true. This cannot fucking be true.

“Stay there,” he instructs.

All I can do is stare at him. With a nervous laugh, he sinks into the water, disappearing once again into the dark depths. My heart continues its wicked stretching and growing. It hurts, but it’s a beautiful sort of pain.

The water around me moves forcefully. And when something smooth touches my calf, I let out a surprised gasp. I know that smoothness. I’ve felt it before. It’s familiar.

My heart rate quickens when he doesn’t reemerge. Deep down, I know. I understand. But I need confirmation. After several minutes, his head resurfaces. The dark hair hangs in his eyes as he takes a breath. Our eyes meet, and I shiver. Gone are his almost black eyes. Now, they shimmer a radiant midnight blue. His skin seems almost translucent in the sunlight.

His smile, though.

His smile is more brilliant than the sun on the hottest day.

He’s absolutely beautiful.

“Are you scared?” he murmurs, his low voice almost musical in quality.

When I shake my head no, his grin widens.

“Good. Now let me show you the best part.”

He dips back under the water. A moment later, a large tail of the aquatic variety thrashes the water in front of me, splashing my face. The tail is sparkly and that same midnight blue of his eyes. It’s absolutely breathtaking.

Tears well in my eyes, and I let out a sob.

My heart finally bursts, no longer content with exponential growing.

Time to face the facts.

My boyfriend is a merman.