and savor her while he slid every lengthening inch into her swollen, wet pussy.
The images slicked her with throbbing need.
She sucked in a deep, shaking breath. The wind was suddenly still, the falling evening suddenly too hot. “Test?”
His irises glimmered with promise. “Accept my claim, and transform into my bride.”
Four
“Bride?” Starr’s voice squeaked. Her soft, rounded cheeks flushed a beautiful color. “Me?”
Dark amber tendrils escaped from her covering and flipped in the wind. She was wrapped in so many protective layers that he could only see the gentle shape of her body beneath. Feminine curves were hinted at. He wanted to peel back all the wrapping and taste her, starting with her trembling lips and going down the column of her neck to where it disappeared in the covering.
He crawled forward on his hands and knees, staying at her level. “You.”
Her eyes widened. Her soul glowed bright as it had the first moment he had seen her. Now it made her even more beautiful. “How?”
He rested on his knees before her. “Accept my kiss.”
She swooned forward. She was going to accept…
And then she closed her eyes and clenched her fists, resting them on her knees. A thick substance surrounded her, encasing her light. Strangely, the substance did not extinguish her light, the way humans normally fluctuated with their powerful, uncontrolled emotions. He could still sense her brilliant resonance deep inside. But it was no longer able to connect to her body. Her expression flattened, and her shoulders froze.
This was also like before. It made his stomach dip. “Starr, you are going away from me again.”
She did not respond.
And this time, he could not sense even the flicker. The barrier was too impenetrable.
She hid herself. From him, now. She made herself immune to the mer, to the elixir. She cut off her soul mate bond. More than cut off. She repelled him. Right now, he would never think that he was her soul mate.
The rejection stung.
A smart warrior would respect her unspoken wishes.
But Gailen was not smart. “Do you wish for me to talk to you again?”
No response.
If anything, the substance grew thicker, repulsing him more actively.
His presence was not what she wanted. Distance. She needed him to go away.
And she was as locked in as she had been after her shaking sickness.
Was the peanut substance still on his breath? On his fingers? Was he dangerous to her?
He stood and walked around the ship. The waves rolled the deck and made it difficult to walk. It was tough on the surface. Could he wash off the dust, or was that dangerous too? He had so many questions about this illness. She’d seemed fine and then, moments later, she’d been dangerously ill. He’d caused a horrible rattling noise in her chest. She’d looked panicked, unable to draw in a breath.
He never wanted to be the cause of her panic again.
And she spoke defensively about it, the same way he spoke about the life he should have had if he hadn’t been stupid.
It’s okay to be annoyed.
That helped. Just a little, it eased his anger.
He returned to her on the deck. She was still locked in silent introspection.
His soul tried to reach her and failed. His chest felt cold.
He vaulted the railing and dove into the water.
No sign of Iyen.
Night fishes rose with the last light of day. Perhaps he could hunt. His first trident thrust went awry, and the fish sheltering beneath the boat scattered. How stupid. Even a young fry could spear a surface fish, but Gailen, because of his thumbs…no. Because he was angry and hurt and…panicked? Yes, this burning fear in his chest was panic. He could not reach the woman he thought, possibly wrongly, was his soul mate.
If he had never left Aiycaya, never gotten injured, never defied his king…
It’s okay to be annoyed.
He was annoyed. Constantly.
His heart calmed.
He needed to not cry about his past mistakes. Focus on being present. Learn how to help Starr.
He rinsed his mouth as he had once rinsed the cans for her. They would have a week or more together. He would rinse many more cans, and he would hunt. Here was an edible seaweed trailing from the keel. It was not a fish, but it was something. He hopped onto the deck with a handful of seaweed to offer her.
She was standing, staring blankly over the side. Her light flared. “I thought you left.”
The knowledge hit him straight in the chest. She is my one.
And then the barrier intruded, blanketing her