“Put your hand out and feel the water—listen to what it tells you,” Orion gently instructed.

“Like this?” Jenny asked, spreading her fingers.

“Yes, what do your senses tell you?” Orion asked.

Jenny bit her lip and concentrated. She focused on processing the data she was receiving as the water flowed around her fingers and across the webbing between them. Her lips parted when she felt the vibration and a slight change in temperature.

“I feel a slight vibration… actually a bunch of them,” she said before she paused and frowned. “But I also feel like there is something else—bigger. It feels almost like a wave rolling onto shore.”

“Very good! Now, which direction?” Orion asked, swimming over to where she was floating.

Jenny slowly moved her hands back and forth. She felt like a living metal detector—waiting for the beep to tell her she was close, then moving back and forth in smaller and smaller sweeps until she found her treasure. When the vibrations felt the strongest, she stopped and pointed to the east. The other movement was a little more difficult to narrow in on. Each sensation came like a rolling wave breaking on a reef. She finally stopped and pointed to the north.

“Excellent. Keep your eyes open, and you will see what the vibrations are from,” Orion said, wrapping his arms around her.

“This is like having built-in fiber optic Internet,” Jenny joked, holding up her hands.

“I’m not sure what this fiber optic Internet is,” Orion said with a frown.

“Orion, look!” Jenny whispered.

Swimming toward them was a school of small fish. Jenny’s eyes lit up with delight when the vivid sky blue and silver fish circled around them. A juvenile paused in front of Jenny before darting forward. She giggled when the tiny fish nipped at her floating hair before trying to swim through it.

“Go on with you,” Orion ordered in a firm voice.

Jenny’s mouth didn’t fall open this time like it had the first time Orion had ordered a sea creature to do something and it did. She grinned when the fish flicked its tail at Orion before swimming off to join the rest of the school.

“That’s why there were so many vibrations in the water,” she said, watching the school disappear.

“Yes,” he said, turning her to the north.

Jenny’s head fell back against his chest when she saw the dark shadow approaching from the north. Her hand wrapped around Orion’s, and she pressed against him. She felt him press a kiss behind her ear.

“Watch,” he murmured.

“I am,” she muttered.

If Orion hadn’t been holding her, Jenny would have bolted for the nearest rock to hide behind. That sense of unreality, which had been her constant companion since she arrived, swept through her once again, threatening to overwhelm her. Orion had sensed her confusion, especially since her transformation and had been incredibly patient with her as she adapted to all the changes in her body.

One of the not-so-surprising things she’d been dealing with was her growing feelings for Orion. While she loved his chivalry and protectiveness, she was ready for some serious, lets-get-the-sheets-dirty action. Over the past several weeks, she had learned that Orion was a master when it came to foreplay.

He would walk by her and leave a trailing touch that left her aching for more or give her a tender kiss when no one was looking. It was the heated looks and the promise in his eyes that almost destroyed her. After the one he gave her last night at dinner, she swore she wouldn’t care who was in the room because there was going to be some serious R-rated paybacks.

Of course, it was the nights that hit her the hardest. Exhausted from her daily training sessions, she tried to stay awake in the massive bed that they shared. Invariably, she would fall asleep before he came to bed. She knew that he slept beside her because the pillow next to hers would show evidence of his presence and the sheets would still be warm with his scent. How he managed to slip out before she woke frustrated the hell out of her.

“Jenny, behold your wave-maker,” Orion said.

A huge whale appeared out of the inky purple depths. It wasn’t alone. Beside it, a calf about a quarter of its mother’s size swam beside her. The only time Jenny had seen the creatures before was through the crystal dome of the city. She realized now that seeing them up close and personal was far different than viewing them from afar.

They were dark royal blue with a light blue underbelly. They looked very similar to the pictures she had seen of the blue whales except for the rows of fins along their backs, and these had back legs too. Jenny tilted her head back when the pair passed overhead, momentarily blocking the sunlight streaming down from above. A stream of bubbles escaped the breathing hole of the calf when it glanced down at them with curiosity, but it never slowed down. Jenny pulled free of Orion’s arms and turned to watch them continue on their journey.

“They migrate this time of year, bringing their young back to the coves where they were born. The young ones will play in the cove while the mothers sun themselves on the beach. Those without young will begin their courtship,” he explained.

Jenny was practically melting by the time he finished speaking. The fire was back in his eyes, this time hotter than ever—and they were alone for once. Unfortunately, they were also under the water.

Reaching out, she touched his check with her fingers, tenderly stroking his skin. Her body floated closer to his. A soft moan escaped her when he reached out and gripped her waist. His thumbs caressed her bare skin. The clothing that she wore was made of a material that allowed her to skim through the water. It also didn’t absorb water, so it was dry when they emerged from it. The problem was that the majority of the outfits consisted of a vest and a pair of trousers for both men and women with the vest being optional for the men. Orion had opted out today.

“You are driving me crazy. You kiss me, touch me, sleep with me, but nothing else,” she said, gazing into his eyes.

“I promised I would give you time, Jenny. Trust me, it has not been an easy promise to keep,” Orion replied in a strained voice.

“Two days—okay, one—would have been enough,” she said, leaning forward until her lips were almost touching his. “Maybe hours… I could have handled a couple of hours.”

“You wait until now to tell me this…,” Orion started to growl before she captured his lips and silenced him.

Now, it’s my turn, Jenny thought as she threaded the fingers of one hand in his hair and followed a path toward the hard evidence of his arousal with the other.

* * *

Sizzling… that was what his nervous system was currently doing—melting from the heat that he had tried to contain since he’d first seen Jenny. He had done everything he could to behave, but he couldn’t resist touching or kissing her when he passed by her.

The nights had been both bliss and torture. If he had been more noble, he would have given her the guest bedroom or even her own living quarters, but his desire for her kept him from those options

Unfortunately, holding her proved almost too much of a temptation for him, and he knew there was no way he would have been able to continue giving her the time he felt she needed to adjust.

In an effort to soothe his feelings of guilt at not being able to be separated from her, yet still find that balance, he had taken to training her with a ruthlessness he normally reserved for his personal warriors. He had worked her to the point of exhaustion each day.

The first few days, he had felt like a bastard. His punishing regimen had drawn disapproval from Kapian, Coralus, and Kelia, left his sons refusing to talk to him, and Jenny so tired that he had carried her to their rooms because she could barely stand. Kelia had snapped at him to leave Jenny alone, that he had done enough, and had taken Jenny under her protective wing the moment they returned each evening.

Kapian and Coralus both threatened to beat the shit out of him if he didn’t stop. On the other hand, Jenny never complained or gave up. Each morning, she eagerly greeted him with a teasing smile and excited eyes that made him groan and feel even more like a heel.

Hearing the longing in her voice and the fact that he might have been torturing them both unnecessarily for weeks made him want to pull his hair out. His body, now fully inflamed and with nothing to stop it, was pulsing with anticipation. All thoughts of their first time together being tender and slow were quickly changing to hard, fast, and often. His mind reasoned that his body had weeks—if not years—to make up for. His body just wanted to make up for all of it right then and there.

Breaking the kiss, he held her tightly against him with his right arm. Raising his left arm, he snapped his fingers. Sea Fire, never far from them when they were away from the city, appeared out of the shadows. Orion turned, his arm still firmly around Jenny, and lifted her onto the stag.

“There is a cove above. We will have privacy there,” he said.

“You mean, up there?” Jenny asked, glancing up at the surface.

“Yes. I’m feeling very selfish at the moment, and I have no desire to share you with anyone else,” he said, pressing his heels against Sea Fire’s sides.

“I like selfish. Selfish has its place in the world,” Jenny said enthusiastically.

“Why did I not just tell you how much I wanted you weeks ago,” he groaned.

Jenny laughed. “You are a little slow if you couldn’t tell I wanted you when I had that meltdown in your arms,” she pointed out, glancing over her shoulder.

“Witch, you would remind me of that when I’m ready to come like a stag on the hunt?” Orion retorted.

Jenny’s response was to scoot back so that she could roll her hips. The feel of her soft buttocks against his swollen cock sent a mixture of pleasure and pain through him. He was so aroused that his ballsack felt like two stones covered by hard, crinkled flesh.

“Mm, I think this stag is ready to do some rutting,” Jenny teasingly observed.

“Ah, my fire-haired mermaid, you drive me insane,” he groaned.

He wasn’t exaggerating either. The feel of her in his arms was driving him crazy. He urged Sea Fire to increase his speed and whispered to the water to send a current to help. Jenny’s delighted laughter warmed his soul.

This is what it means to find your soulmate, he thought as they broke through the surface a few hundred yards from shore. This was a special place for him. A place where he’d come when he was younger to escape the responsibilities of his duties as the prince of his people and as an adult to deal with the responsibilities of being a king.

Sea Fire waded ashore. The stag’s large feet sank into the silky white sand. Once on the beach, he reined the stag to a halt and dismounted. Reaching up, he helped Jenny down.

“Let me take care of Sea Fire. If you follow the trail, you’ll find a treehouse where we will stay for the night. I used to come here often, but it has been a while since my last visit. I fear our accommodations may need a little work,” Orion said.

Jenny glanced toward the path, then out over the small cove that opened out to the ocean. She turned to look at him. Orion caught himself staring at her hair. This was the first time he had seen it in the sunlight and he swore the strands glistened with fire.

“It is beautiful. I can see if there is anything I can do while you take care of Sea Fire,” Jenny offered.

“Thank you. I will bring food for us as well,” Orion said, finally giving in to the desire to touch her hair. “It changes color in the sunlight.”

Laughing, Jenny stood on her toes and brushed a kiss across his lips. Her fingers teased the flesh of his stomach, and she looked at him with mischievous eyes. His hope of providing food and lodging first was fast losing out to saying to hell with everything else and taking care of their primitive desires. Food and shelter are highly overrated at times like this, he decided. He would have abandoned the stag, food, and the offer of a bed for the sand, sunshine, and Jenny, naked, if Sea Fire hadn’t chosen that moment to push his head against Orion’s lower back.

“I’ll be waiting and ready,” she promised before turning and walking across the sand toward the palm-lined path.

Orion reached up and scratched the stag under its chin when the beast placed his head on Orion’s shoulder. They both watched Jenny until she disappeared. Releasing a long breath, Orion looked at the stag and shook his head.

“I am one very lucky man,” Orion said to the stag.

The stag agreed with a loud snort. It was either an agreement that he was a lucky man or a reminder that he still hadn’t taken off the bridle and saddle.

Drawing in a deep breath and releasing it, he set to work. The sooner he took care of the stag and found some food, the sooner he could focus on more enjoyable things—like all the wicked things he planned to do with Jenny.