Chapter Twenty
Kaspyn watched as the tiny human worked on Thrasher’s arm. She had to fight the urge to rip the tiny human away from him and toss her into The Gulf. Jealousy, Kaspyn admitted to herself. I am jealous.
Unable to stand there and watch Thrasher being touched by another female, Kaspyn announced. “I am going for a swim.” She turned and strode off.
The Gulf waters were much more beautiful than the Atlantic Ocean. Though Arkadia was situated between the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Ocean, its waters tended to be darker and more blue than green. Not to mention colder.
Kaspyn stepped into the waves, loving the warmth of the southern waters. She dove headlong into their depths, allowing her body to do what it did best…swim.
Salt water raced through her gills in stark relief, and her barbs quickly filled with blood to stand out from her wrists and ankles.
A beautiful Red Snapper crossed in front of her and Kaspyn smiled at his quick surge to get out of her way. Had she been hungry, he wouldn’t have escaped so easily. But Kaspyn only took what she ate, and nothing more.
Unsure of how long she’d swam, she slowed her pace and rolled to her back to stare up at the lights playing on the water’s surface. Her mind opened. “Mother?”
“Kaspyn!” Koral answered immediately. “How do you fare, my daughter?”
“I am well, Mother. I just wanted to hear your voice.”
Koral hesitated. “Tell me what is bothering you, my only child. I can sense it in your voice.”
Her mother had always been able to read Kaspyn’s emotions. “I have met someone that I cannot stop thinking about. I want him, Mother. Even though I know it is not right. Part of me despises him for who and what he is, but the other part seeks him out, wants to be near him.”
Koral’s emotions slammed into Kaspyn. “Who is this male that you speak of? If he is not of royal blood or a great warrior, your father will—“
“He is neither of those things,” Kaspyn blurted through their mental link, cutting off her mother’s warning. “He is a land walker.”
A gasp of disbelief filtered through their connection. “Oh, Kaspyn, no. Please tell me that you jest. You have fallen in love with our greatest enemy?”
“I am not in love with him, Mother. And I am not so sure that he is our enemy. The land walkers that I have met are not what I was taught to believe they are.”
“They are that and more, Kaspyn. There is a reason why we stay hidden beneath the water. Humans are not to be trusted. They defile and destroy everything they come into contact with! You must return home at once, Kaspyn. Your father would be destroyed if his only child has been soiled by a land walker.”
“No, Mother. I am staying.”
Koral’s anger was palpable. “If you truly care for this human, you will leave at once, get as far from him as you can. Because if you do not, your father will have him destroyed.”
“And if you truly care for me, you will not tell father of this. I am no longer a child, and I will make my own decision.”
Her mother’s voice softened, but a pleading sound still remained. “Do not do this, my daughter. Think about what I have said. If you continue down this path, the land walker will die. Your father will see to it.”
“I love you, Mother, but princess or not, I am first and foremost a warrior. If I am old enough and strong enough to defend our home and act as diplomat for the Arkadians, then I am old enough and strong enough to make my own decisions where my future is concerned.” Kaspyn severed their link, closing off her mind as she headed back to shore.
She had just confessed her feelings about a land walker to her mother. And Kaspyn did have feelings for Thrasher, no matter how much she wished it otherwise. She was attracted to him in a way she’d never been attracted to another. Her body came alive in his presence. His very nearness sent her heart racing and her fangs tingling.
Kaspyn recognized her symptoms for what they were. Her body was preparing to mate, though her mind rebelled against it.
She didn’t have to give herself completely to Thrasher, she decided, swimming toward the shore. As long as she refrained from taking Thrasher’s blood and didn’t accept him into her body, she would be in no danger of mating with him.
Darkness had fallen by the time Kaspyn emerged from the water. She hadn’t realized she’d swam out as far as she did.
She squeezed the excess water from her hair and trailed across the sand to her bungalow.
Stopping on the porch to strip out of her wet clothes, Kaspyn draped them over the railing and stepped inside.
“Where the hell have you been?” Thrasher growled from the darkness. “You can’t just disappear for hours without checking in. Kerik or Howell could have gotten their hands on you.”
Kaspyn stilled at the sound of Thrasher’s voice. Though she couldn’t see him, she knew he sat on the couch.
He suddenly switched on a lamp, his eyes widening as he took in her state of undress. He rose to his feet. “Where are your clothes?”
“On the porch,” she answered, watching him slowly stalk toward her.
Anger sparked in his eyes. “You can’t keep running around in the nude for every Tom, Dick, and Harry to see.”
“I do not know anyone by those names, and I was not running around. I removed my clothing in the cover of darkness.”
He stopped in front of her and ran a hand down his face. “My God, you’re killing me, Kaspyn.”
Not understanding his meaning, she asked, “Why are you here sitting in my bungalow in the dark?”
“Waiting on you. I was worried about you. I also wanted to apologize for my earlier behavior.”
“You mean the way you ran from me after finding out that I am untouched?”
He glanced away before meeting her gaze once more. “Look, I know we’ve had our differences, but I’m not in the business of taking someone’s innocence…especially when that innocence is supposed to belong to their future mate.”
Kaspyn moved to step around him, but he grabbed onto her wrist.
“Not that I wouldn’t love anything more than to make love to you, Kaspyn. I can’t recall ever wanting anything more in my life. But it’s not right. I can’t do that to you. I won’t.”
Anger and disappointment at his words took hold. “You have made your position clear, land walker. There is nothing left for us to say.”
Jerking free of his hold, Kaspyn hurried off to her bedroom and closed the door before she humiliated herself further by begging him to take her.