Rianna bounced off the bed. “Let’s go s’plorin’, Mam.”

“Good idea.” Cassidy smiled down at her daughter, thankful she seemed recovered from their desperate swim. Cassidy, on the other hand, felt bruised and battered, as if she’d been tossed around in a human’s washing machine. At least her belly was full.

Marlin crouched down at Rianna’s level. The other two men had gone about their business, but the wiry California sea fada had stayed to see if Cassidy needed anything. “I can show you both around,” he told Rianna, “if that’s okay with your mom.”

Rianna’s gaze swung to Cassidy. She nodded, although if it were up to her, she’d spend the rest of the day in bed. “That would be nice.”

Marlin gestured to a door at the opposite end of the cave from the pool. “This is Nic’s bathroom. Joe knows some plumbing, so he helped Nic put in a composting toilet and a shower. If you want a bath, we have a freshwater pool further back in the caverns.”

He opened the door. Cassidy blinked at the small but beautiful space chiseled out of the gray basalt. The toilet and sink were a shiny black porcelain, and a chest-high glass block wall divided the small shower from the rest of the room.

“Wow. It’s lovely.”

Marlin’s smile lit his blue eyes. “I have my own bathroom now, too, and Joe is next on the list.”

Cassidy grinned back. Nic’s friend was easy to like. “Sounds like you plan on staying.”

“Yep. But it’s up to Nic. If he leaves, I’ll go with him.”

“So you’re okay with him being a sea dragon?”

He shrugged. “I’ll admit it was a shock, but hell, he took me in when I was fed up with living as a solitary. He’s clan now, even though the ass won’t admit it.”

Her smile faded. “That sounds like him.”

She’d known Nic was a loner. He might be the alpha’s grandson, but he’d acted more like a visitor than an honorary member of the Shannon clan. He was a dark, brooding man—and for some damn reason, she’d found him irresistible.

She could scent his desire for her. Her animal felt the same, so why not act on it? They were both unmated adults. It drove her mad when he kept his distance.

But even Cassidy’s best friends said she was stubborn. Like an arse, she kept at him, sitting with him at meals, inviting him to dance at the Saturday night ceilidh. When he’d finally gifted her with a smile, she’d felt like she’d won the lottery.

“Mam, look!” Rianna had been exploring the bathroom, peeking into the shower, tracing a finger over the glass blocks. “I can see myself!” She gripped the edge of the sink and pulled herself up to peer at her reflection in the shiny black porcelain.

Cassidy snatched Rianna up before she cracked her head on the stone floor, and caught sight of herself in the mirror.

Holy blue seas. When they’d left Ireland, she’d hacked off her hair to change her appearance. Now it was coated with salt water and sticking up all over her head like a newly-hatched chick’s. She looked like a sea hag, especially with those dark smudges under her eyes.

She wrinkled her nose. It figured that after four years apart, Nic’s first look at her was as a scared, thin victim…which she was, if you thought about it.

She sighed and set Rianna on her hip.

“Let’s go, Mam.” Rianna tugged on her shoulder. “I wanna see the pool for taking baths!”

“The freshwater pool?” Marlin asked.

The little girl nodded, curls bouncing.

“This way.” The dreadlocked shifter led the way out of Nic’s quarters.

Cassidy set Rianna down, and they followed him into a natural tunnel, all three of them barefoot. Fada rarely wore shoes in their dens. They were too confining and slowed you down in a shift. The tunnel floor was uneven, but Rianna had a shifter’s grace. She easily kept up with Marlin as Cassidy brought up the rear.

“These islands are honeycombed with tunnels and caves,” Marlin explained. “We each have private rooms. We’re over a fault line, and when the rock splits, the ocean usually finds a way in. Eventually it carves out passageways. And this is the main cavern.”

They’d entered a large, high-ceiling cavern about the size of Nic’s. The fae lights had followed them and floated near the ceiling.

“Welcome to the dining hall.” Marlin gave a self-deprecating grin. “As you can see, we’re a small den, but we have room to expand.”

The middle of the cave was taken up by a plastic table with four mismatched chairs. One side held a rudimentary kitchen with a sink, a butcher block counter, a few shelves for dishes, cups and other utensils, and a firepit surrounded by four shiny black stools. Four kayaks were stacked against the opposite wall, and to their right, a red ukulele hung by a shoelace from a hook.

“If you feel like socializing,” Marlin added, “this is where to find us.” He indicated the plastic table with a stack of playing cards tossed carelessly down in the center. The four chairs around it were shoved back as if the men had jumped up quickly.

“What’s that?” Rianna pointed to a tunnel at one end that was half-submerged in water, the ocean surging in and out. Red algae covered the damp lower walls, and Cassidy could just make out a thin strip of stormy sky at the other end.

“That’s the main entrance into the caverns,” Marlin explained. “Mister Nic brought you and your mom in this way.” He glanced at Cassidy. “It’s underwater at high tide, and even at low tide the tunnel has just a few feet clearance, so it’s easy to keep the humans out. They tend to stop at the Channel Islands anyway. Out here we only see working boats, not tourists. If anyone gets too close, Nic drops a rock over the tunnel entrance. The humans don’t even know we’re in here.”

Rianna tugged on the leg of Marlin’s board shorts. “Where’s the pool?”

He did a sweeping bow. “This way, princess.”

Rianna chortled. “I’m not a princess!”

“To me, you are.” He headed toward a second tunnel at the back of the cavern. “This passage leads straight to the pools. There are three, actually. Me and Joe have rooms down there”—he pointed to a tunnel branching off to the right—“and Ben is down that tunnel to the left.”

He led the way into the second tunnel. This time, the fae lights remained behind, but their eyes went night-glow, allowing them to see in the dark. The tunnel tilted uphill and narrowed, the coarse gray basalt changing to a smooth black. For a few yards, they had to turn sideways and inch their way along, but soon enough they were back in a wider passage again.

“Almost there,” Marlin said.

They entered another high-ceiling cavern to stand on a ledge ten feet above three stunning turquoise pools. Cassidy’s breath hitched. It was a scene out of a storybook. A misty silver light streamed through slits in the ceiling to illuminate the pools, and a waterfall spilled down the wall to the left, filling the cavern with its hushed murmur. All the scene lacked was a mermaid perched on a rock combing her hair.

“It’s brilliant,” she breathed.

Marlin grinned at her. “The pool on the left has fresh water for you to bathe in—the one with the waterfall. The other two are saltwater pools.”

Steps carved out of the rock led down to the middle pool. Rianna hopped up and down. “Can I go swimming? Please?”

“Go ahead,” Cassidy said. “Just stay where I can see you.”

“I will.” Rianna dashed down the steps, tugging off the green sweater as she went. She dropped the sweater on the last step and jumped into the water. Her head went below the surface, but she’d been swimming since before she could walk, and she popped right back up. “It’s warm, Mam!”

Cassidy and Marlin had followed at a slower pace. Cassidy picked up Rianna’s sweater and set it on a nearby ledge before dipping her toe into the water. “It is warm.”

“Yep,” he said. “We’re on top of a volcanic vent here—that’s how these islands formed. You didn’t see when you came in, but this is the middle of three islands. Anyway, the vent heats the water to a nice temperature, and the sulfur and other minerals from the volcano give it that intense blue-green color. Go ahead—get in.”

Rianna was happily splashing around in the water. She waved a hand. “Mam! Come in and play.”

Cassidy took off her sweater and set it next to Rianna’s. Marlin politely averted his eyes until she was in the water.

“If you’re busy,” she told him, “you don’t have to stick around. We can find our way back.”

“I don’t have anything better to do. Mind if I join you?”

“Of course—go right ahead.”

He stripped off his board shorts and got into another of the pools, tactfully giving her space.

The short walk here had drained her meager amount of energy. Cassidy leaned back and floated, letting her feet dangle. The pool would’ve felt lukewarm to a human, but to a water fada, it was like soaking in a hot tub. Her sore, exhausted body reveled in the pool’s healing warmth. As the tension eased out of her muscles, she gave a little sigh of contentment. Even the scab on her leg felt better.

Meanwhile, Rianna flitted from pool to pool, trying them out like a water-based Goldilocks. She did a running jump into the pool where Marlin floated with his eyes half-closed, splashing water on him. He gave a mock-growl and splashed her back, inciting a fit of giggles in the little girl.

Cassidy’s heart clenched. Her daughter was a naturally cheerful, cheeky child, but the journey from Ireland had taken a toll on them both. It had been weeks since she’d heard Rianna laugh in that uninhibited way.

Marlin and Rianna chased each other around in the pool for a few minutes. The game only ended when Nic appeared, the missing rucksack in his hand.

“You found it.” Cassidy’s mouth dropped open. She’d heard that sea dragons had a sonar ability that far surpassed a dolphin’s, but she still couldn’t believe Nic had located it in the middle of the Pacific—and during a storm, yet.

He shrugged as if it were no big deal.

Marlin got out of the pool and pulled on his shorts. “Everything okay?”

Nic nodded. “Joe’s right—nothing’s out in this storm. I didn’t even see any tankers. They either headed into port or are riding out the storm further offshore.”

“Good. I’ll see you both at dinner. Bye, princess.” Martin waved to Rianna, and then with a wink at Cassidy, headed back in the direction of the dining hall.

That’s when Cassidy realized he’d been guarding them.

Nic set down the rucksack and descended the steps. His seal-brown hair was wet and curly, his only clothing a pair of loose cotton shorts. He looked down at her, feet braced apart, all smooth olive skin and hard muscles.

Her stomach gave a funny flip. She moistened her lips. “Thank you.”

His eyes darkened. “Cassidy…”

But whatever he might have said was lost as Rianna pelted across the pools toward them. “Mister Nic! Mister Nic! You found Annie?” She scrambled onto a strip of rock separating two pools and trotted around the edge to Nic.

“There’s the pack.” He pointed to the steps. “Do you want me to get your doll?”

“I can do it.” Rianna dashed up the steps and rooted around in the rucksack until she found the ragdoll. “Here she is.” She gave Annie a hug and then ran back down and held her out for him to admire.

Nic fingered the doll’s worn blue dress. “She’s…um…beautiful.”

Cassidy pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. The doll had been sewn by Cassidy’s aunt. Annie’s red yarn hair was ragged, and Cassidy had already had to repair her seams, but Rianna wouldn’t go anywhere without the doll.

“Thanks for retrieving her,” Cassidy said. “I would’ve had a hard time getting her to sleep without her Annie.”

“If it makes her happy, then I’m happy.” He turned to look at Rianna, who had crouched down a few feet away to croon to the doll.

Cassidy took in his broad shoulders, the way the muscles of his back tapered to two dimples right above the shorts. He had a swimmer’s body—big shoulders, lean hips. One evening, she’d spent long minutes exploring that broad, hard back. Massaging the tension from his body. And then Nic had rolled over and pulled her down for a searing kiss…

Cassidy dragged her gaze away. Because these days, she wouldn’t touch Nic with a ten-foot pole.

Liar, taunted a voice in her head.

Nic turned and caught her looking. A slow smile curled over his mouth. Mortified, she ducked under the water, but he shucked his shorts and joined her in the pool.

Cassidy jackknifed in the water and headed down. The pool was deeper than she’d expected; she descended a good twenty feet before reaching the bottom. She turned and looked toward the surface. The sun had momentarily broken through the storm clouds, sending light streaming through the ceiling slits into the pools. A shaft of gold touched Nic as he followed her down, haloing his body so he looked like a primitive water god, beautiful and unattainable.

Something hot and sad lodged in her chest. Everyone knew sea dragons weren’t like other fada. They had a coldness deep inside. Hell, the man had been able to ignore their bond as if it didn’t exist, while not a day had passed that Cassidy hadn’t thought of him.

Eejit woman to love a dragon.

But then, she hadn’t known Nic was a dragon when she’d fallen in love with him. He’d been careful to hide it. Cassidy had thought he was a river dolphin for weeks. Not that it would have made a difference—Nic had fascinated her from the day he’d arrived at the Shannon base.

Nic halted beside her. The water was crystal-clear. She could see his brooding green eyes and the occasional bubbles that came out of his nostrils as he gradually released his breath. His dark hair floated around his face like a living frame.

He touched her cheek.

Cassidy stiffened, but that was all he did. Touch her cheek, as if she were a rare, precious thing.

Awareness zinged through her. Her entire body tightened with longing.

He only wants you because of Rianna.

Goddess, she was hopeless, if even knowing that, Nic’s touch could still make her want him.

She twisted away and arrowed back to the surface.