19
Sophia
Three pairs of eyes blinked at Sophia in surprise as she and Nate walked through the door. Hannah, Grace, and Jack were milling around the kitchen, pulling on shoes and chatting. They were clearly about to go somewhere, which was for the best. Whatever the conversation her and Nate were about to have, Sophia didn’t want to be overheard.
“Hey you guys,” Grace said cautiously.
Hannah and Jack had clearly brought her up to speed on today’s outing.
“Hey,” Sophia greeted, kicking off her shoes. “You’re heading out?”
“Jack’s going to take us to the beach, if you wanted to come,” Hannah offered, glancing warily up at Nate.
Sophia dismissed the idea with a short shake of her head.
“You crazy kids have fun then,” said Jack. “We’ll see you in a couple hours.”
He ushered the girls out of the apartment, clearly more aware of the mood than they were. Sophia hung uncertainly by the doorway after they’d gone, unsure what to do next.
“So...” Sophia moved from foot to foot. “What now?”
“Can I show you something?”
She blinked up at him. “It’s funny to me what a wide array of marvels that could involve.”
Nate chuckled and gestured to the couch. “Can we sit?”
Sophia curled up on one side of the couch, but Nate didn’t move beside her. He sat across from her, resting on the edge of the coffee table instead.
“I know you’re probably curious why the leaders of the shark clans are fated to die young.”
She nodded.
Curious was putting it lightly. There were a million questions she would ask if she could, but sharks were secretive and the last thing she wanted to do was put him in an uncomfortable situation.
He held out his arm for her palm facing up, and Sophia edged forward in her seat to get a better look.
“It’s almost like a game,” he explained. “There’s an energy thrumming through my veins. All I have to do is manipulate it. Let it expand in some places.”
The skin of his wrist rippled and turned grey. She knew from experience it would be smooth, almost silky to the touch. As long as she stroked it the right way, that was.
Nate continued, and she tracked the rippling greyness as it moved up his forearm. “In other places I can pull the energy in.”
The grey curled around his bicep, like a wave rolling over his skin. She could almost feel the power radiating from Nate, though he looked as if this barely fazed him.
“The clan leader is the most powerful member of the clan,” he continued as the grey disappeared up the sleeve of his shirt. “He or she always performs at peak, and is expected to take on more assignments. Especially the more challenging ones.”
Sophia was entranced. She found herself leaning even closer as the grey emerged from the neck of his shirt and twirled around his neck, racing up his cheek. It reached his eye, which slowly blackened. The ink seeped into his other eye, until two dark marbles stared back at her. The glossy blackness reflected back her own expression of wonder.
“Having this much control takes a lot of practice and a lot of energy.” Nate opened his mouth, and his jaw cracked. His teeth grew into dagger-sharp points and his jaw widened, giving him an alien quality.
He’d never looked more beautiful.
Sophia found her hand raising of its own accord reaching out toward his lips. “Can I…?”
He held still, which she took as her cue to continue. Slowly, realizing if she jerked her hand she could cut herself, Sophia poked his razor sharp teeth with one finger. A small smile of wonder blossomed on her face, and when their eyes met again, his irises had faded back to steel. He was looking at her tenderly, like she’d just given him a gift.
She pulled her hand back and watched as Nate’s teeth shrank back to normal. He cracked his jaw and it settled back into place.
“It takes a toll,” he explained. “All of it. It’s a sensitive, delicate process. After a while, our bodies can’t keep up with the stress anymore. Most sharks reach that point very late in life, in their early eighties or so, but not the higher ups. The more power you possess and use, the quicker your decline.”
“That’s horrifying,” Sophia whispered. “Isn’t there anything you can do? Is he too far gone to be saved?”
Nate couldn’t help his bitter laugh. “I wouldn’t save him if I could. He’s spent his whole life controlling me, making sure I always knew that even though I was the strongest in the clan, I was never good enough to be his son.” He pointed to his eyes. “When I was first learning how to shift as a kid, I got my eyes stuck in the black for a week. Instead of trying to coax me down and help me change back, Marcus beat the crap out of me every day until I figured it out on my own. The fact that they never went completely back to normal has been a daily reminder to him that I’m a disappointment.”
Sophia’s hand reached tenderly for his face, brushing along the side of it next to his eye. “I think your eyes are beautiful,” she said. “They’re like sunbaked granite.”
“Sunbaked?” he asked quizzically.
She nodded, staring deeply into his sunbaked granite eyes. “Warm.”
Sadness pooled in his irises, and Nate looked away.
“Is it going to happen to you too?” Sophia asked, letting her hand fall away. It was an almost pleading question, pleading for him to tell her he was going to live a long and healthy life.
“I accepted my fate a long time ago, Sophia Davies.” He smiled sadly. “Though given recent events, I doubt I’ll be needing to walk into the darkness quite as soon as I thought.”
A spark of relief settled between her shoulders. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that my priorities have shifted. I grew up thinking I didn’t have a choice, but so did Gabriel. I don’t want the clan anymore.” His stare made her insides molten. “I want you.”
Sophia’s breath hitched in her throat. They were words she wanted to hear more than anything, even if the implication was much more serious than she could understand.
“I told Lexa to shove off before I left,” he said.
She was overwhelmed by her feelings for him, by her relief and excitement and the sadness that accompanied his story.
Oblivious to her thudding heart, Nate continued. “I’ll need to clear out of that house soon anyway though, in case they send someone after me.”
Sophia couldn’t hold her emotions at bay any more. She flung herself forward and pressed her lips to his. The feelings she wanted to share with him couldn’t be expressed with words. The cavernous ache in her belly that had come out of his perceived duplicity now began to ease, and was soon replaced by radiating heat.
Nate quickly overcame his surprise and returned her kiss with equal enthusiasm. He held her face in his hands and kissed her hard and deep, spearing his tongue into her mouth. Sophia moaned and curved her body against him. They couldn’t be close enough. She could picture their bodies merging together like microscopic cells and knew she’d still long to be closer.
Nate pushed her back onto the couch, swinging their bodies around so she was seated over his lap. His lips worked expertly against hers, sending a flood of pleasurable sensations straight to her core, where they settled fluidly.
The kiss was wild. Unbridled. It was explosive fireworks. In comparison, the kiss in the water the week before had been a sparkler. Nate fisted her hair in one hand and tipped her head back, pulling enough on her scalp to send tendrils of fire shooting through her skull. A low moan spilled from her lips, growing in volume as Nate’s mouth made a hot trail down her jaw, stopping to nibble at the base of her throat.
The blend of pleasure, relief, and happiness was intoxicating. Invigorating. She tugged on his shirt, trying to lift it away. Nate responded by chuckling against her throat, the tickling vibrations only adding to her throbbing need. He moved his arms above his head long enough for her to remove his shirt, then grabbed her by the waist and flipped her onto her back, lying lengthwise on the couch. His hips nudged her thighs open wide and he ground his hard bulge against her mound. Sophia groaned.
Sophia was going to have sex with Nate. And, so far, it was everything she’d ever wanted it to be, but definitely not what she expected. It was better. They were both raw from their confrontation, and each kiss soothed the pain. Sophia’s breaths came heavy and fast as she tried to keep up with Nate’s bruising pace. He was devouring her. Consuming her. The predator in him had caught her scent and the hunt was on. Neither one of them would surface until they’d sated themselves.
Or, at least, that was what Sophia thought.
Nate began a rough exploration of her body, squeezing her breasts in time with his thrusting hips. The pleasure was overwhelming. If it was this good just to make out with him, how incredible was it going to be when they had sex? Sophia could hardly wait to find out.
He practically ripped the shirt from her body, tossing it across the room before she could see if he had actually torn it. It didn’t matter. Nate’s attention slipped down to her breasts. He began to kiss and suck along the tops of them, guiding them free from the cups and pulling one swollen nipple into his mouth.
Her back arched. Whatever he was doing with his tongue was officially her new favourite thing. The slippery caress made her toes curl with delight. He moved on to the next, and Sophia felt as though she’d come unstuck from time. The world beyond was either moving impossibly fast or glacially slow.
“Take your pants off,” she panted. “Please, please, take your pants off.”
Nate kissed up the valley of her breasts, lips gliding teasingly over her collarbone, up the curve of her throat, then covering hers once more.
“I like it when you beg,” he murmured. “You’re so sexy, Sophia.”
Her heart swelled. Was she dreaming? This seemed like the kind of dream one experienced while lying half dead in a hospital bed somewhere.
Nate kissed her deeply again. She wanted to drown in his kiss and stay in this perfect pocket of time forever. Though preferably he’d remove his pants at some point.
She’d already realized by now that her emotions for Nate went deeper than a crush. They went deeper than anything she’d ever experienced before, period. It should have been scary but it felt too damn good. And everything was going to be okay now, right? Sure, there’d be some challenges to face in the upcoming weeks, months, but as long as she had Nate, how could that matter?
Nate pulled back a little, and Sophia’s eyes fluttered open. He was still wearing his pants, and appeared to be making no moves to remove them. Instead, Nate was just staring at her. She could’ve handled that, but the expression in his eyes was so sad that it yanked on her heartstrings and made panic rise in her throat.
“I can’t,” he said, backing away. “I’m so sorry, Sophia. But I have something else I need to tell you.”