“I can’t be your bride.” Lucy curled her fingers, so recently in his grasp, around her mug and hunched away. “Sorry.”

No. She could not escape from him. He had found her. This was destiny

Wasn’t it?

Torun slid around the booth until his leg was flush against hers. He cupped her firm jaw. “You are mine.”

She watched him with bright, fearless eyes. “No. Sorry.” Her lips quirked to the side and she smiled faintly.

Sorry? With that expression and sigh, it sounded as though she was sorry she wasn’t his.

He could rectify that. His thumb stroked the softness of her cheek. Her ample chest rose and fell. He tipped back her head. Her soul light flared. Her eyes began to close and she yielded to his kiss.

His claim.

Her lashes fluttered. A sweet, needy moan emerged from her lips. He encompassed her shoulder and drew her around the corner of the table, against his hard chest.

“Mm. Wait, no.” She pushed his mouth back and straightened. Her chest heaved and her light burned with their connection. “This is crazy. Let me think.”

“Do not think.”

She scooted out of his reach, to the edge of the booth, and licked her lips. “Thinking is good right now.”

“Not if it takes you away from me.”

She fixed on him. Her gaze traced his body, hot as a caress. She shook herself, gripped her volcanic cocoa mug, and sipped. “Just give me a minute.”

He leaned back in the seat. She felt their connection. Her soul light flared brighter with his touch. What more convincing did she need?

Ah. Of course.

He could not give her the mating jewel.

The end of the fight was hazy. Jolan had first sliced Torun’s pouch, spilling all but one mating jewel. Torun stole Malem’s trident, endured the bite of Jolan’s blade deep across his shoulder blades, and struck Jolan’s brow with the solid base. The turquoise prince’s eyes rolled back in his head.

Malem couldn’t leave Jolan vulnerable in the shallow water so near to humans. He screamed in rage as Torun escaped. Free flowing blood and other injuries weakened him, and he lost consciousness. That must be when the last remaining jewel had slipped out of his grasp.

Truly, Jolan’s strategy made him a worthy ruler. Without the sacred jewels, Torun’s quest was over. How could he convince the beautiful Lucy to join his world without his Life Tree’s offering? How bitter that question tasted. In front of a human woman who shone with the light of a queen, he had nothing to offer to make her his.

“It’s not you. I’m kind of a mess. This,” she indicated the two of them with her index finger, “seem like a good idea—“

“It is a great idea.”

“But it’s actually nuts. You’re lucky to be alive. Let’s not turn your miracle into regret.”

Her soul light dimmed.

Again. His true mate must not dim her soul light. She must be strong and bright to fight off the doubts of the Council. Once she joined with him, surely, she would glow steadily and never fade.

Yes. Once she joined with him.

“Lucy.” He rested his palm against her chest, where the injury of her soul looked more and more apparent. “You need a husband.”

She pushed his hand away. “No way. I’ve been there, done that, and burned the T-shirt.”

“Burned the T-shirt?”

“I’m divorced.” She rested her elbows on the table and eyed him sideways. “Do you have divorce in your tribe? It means I had a husband, and he’s long gone.”

She had a husband.

The blood in Torun’s veins turned to ice. “You have a husband.”

“Had. Past tense.”

Cold clawed into Torun’s spine. If a warrior touched another’s bride, even to save her life, her husband was justified in taking his revenge. Cutting off the flesh that had touched, banishment, execution.

His hands had touched Lucy’s skin, his arms had embraced her soft body, his lips had pressed against hers. She was his. And yet, she belonged to another male?

“It didn’t work out.” She scratched her bare ring finger. “I couldn’t give Blake what he wanted. He left me for a woman who could.”

Her husband left Lucy for another woman? Was that possible? No warrior would leave his mate. Humans were different.

Yes.

Humans were very different. Lucy did not belong to a warrior. Only marriage blessed by the Life Tree truly joined a bride to her husband. Therefore, it was fine. Lucy belonged to him.

“Hello?” She waved at him. “Are you still here?”

Torun captured her hand. “Yes. Here with you is where I will remain. Forever.”

“Ha.” She stroked the back of his hand. “I don’t even know if ‘forever’ exists anymore.”

“Until death then.” He rested her hand on his chest so she could feel the warmth of his soul glowing with his promise. “I vow to defend, love, and protect you.”

She swallowed.

“Lucy—”

She stood abruptly. “Well, I better check our radar.” She stretched. Her beautiful breasts swelled the white covering. She glanced sideways at him and her cheeks pinked. “You’re staring.”

“You are female.”

She snorted and dropped her arms, adjusting her covering. “You noticed, huh?”

He had noticed. Her breasts were a good size for filling his hands, and her body was soft and good for squeezing. Her pleasure-filled moans sounded sweeter than any ocean song. She was everything he had ever wanted, and she was the one who had claimed him first by pulling him from the water. No matter what anyone said, Lucy was clearly his by the work of destiny.

Except for the problem of her light…

Her shoulders hunched. “Okay. Seriously. What are you looking at?”

“Your body.”

She started to cover herself. “Don’t judge by what you see right—”

“It is beautiful.”

She hesitated. “Why would you say that?”

“Because it is true.”

She started to shake her head. Disbelief challenged him. “You can’t be serious.”

That was a challenge he accepted. He scooted free of the booth, stood, and drew her into his arms. “You are my bride.”

“Is this how your tribe proposes marriage?” She rested a palm on his chest. Her light fluctuated wildly. “You don’t know me. I don’t know you.”

“We know enough.” Their souls and bodies communicated everything they needed to know.

She softened. “What are you doing to me?”

“Claiming you.” He nuzzled her softness.

She moaned. “It’s crazy how unbelievably tempted I am to say yes.”

“Say yes.”

“No.” She pulled back enough to meet his eyes. Hers were so clear and vibrant. “The last marriage I started out here went terribly wrong. If nothing else, I don’t want to jinx us.” She stroked his pectoral. “Try me again when we reach the mainland.”

“We have no time for the mainland.” He felt stronger now. Strong enough to join with her and fix her light at its most brilliant setting. “We must descend now to Sireno.”

Once their marriage was recognized by the Life Tree, the Council would reverse its judgment. His honor would be restored. Other warriors would claim modern brides. The city would grow with new life.

“Sorry.” She eased out of his arms. “We barely have enough fuel to reach Cancun. I don’t think there’s enough to detour to another dock on the way.”

Wait. Could this rattling actually be the ship’s engine? Was this rocking the sensation of movement across the surface of the ocean? Could he, actually, be slipping further from his goal now that he had acquired his bride?

She strode to the engine room, poured a container of liquid into the growling machine, and then climbed the stairs. He followed. The ocean moved under their hull and the night sky lightened with a distant city. She leaned over a dashboard full of blinking lights and pressed some buttons.

“Stop,” he ordered. “Anchor. Now.”

“We’re in the middle of a shipping lane.”

“We must go to Sireno as soon as possible.”

“Forget it. We’ve got to get you to a doctor ASAP, and we’ve got to dock before the ship sinks.”

“Stop now, Lucy.”

She straightened and put her hands on her hips. “Give me one good reason.”

“We must join ourselves before the Life Tree.”

“I’m sorry. Life Tree?”

“You, Lucy, will save my race. Join with me now and become my mermaid queen.”