Page 100 of Sea's Secret

“I should also tell you that I am also very selfish,” he said, brushing a strand of hair off my cheek and wiping my face of its tears. “I am so incredibly selfish, Meria,” he whispered even closer to me.

“You are not selfish,” I whispered back.

“No?” he asked with a chuckle.

“You are not. You have gone through so much, Dominick, but you are searching for your sister. Through it all, you are doing good things.”

“Saving my sister?” He nodded, pressing his lips in a firm line. He turned his head to the side, a smile on his lips as if he were excited to prove me wrong. But he would not. “You want to know why I want to save her?”

I tried to keep on my feet, but my exhaustion was getting to me. I wobbled.

He gripped my shoulders, guiding me away from the wall, and onto the bed.

“I am looking for my sister so I can see my mother–not so I can save my sister because she deserves saving, but because it also helps me. If I show up with my sister, my mother cannot turn me away. I will see her face to face and get my revenge for all she has put me through by giving me up–and for sending me off to be on Veeto’s ship.”

“Dominick–”

“And you want to know what else makes me the most selfish? What makes me the most wicked?” he asked, leaning to place my legs upon the bed–pushing my shoulders so I was laying on my back. He climbed beside me, not touching me, but we were a few inches apart. He just looked at me, his eyes wild with something I did not understand, but wanted to, desperately.

“What?” I asked, my mind reeling with all the new information, but my heart was ever constant, not caring for him any less, but ever caring for him even more, the more he spoke. For the more he spoke, the more he divulged, and the stronger his faint melody became. His inner soul’s melody, deep inside of him, began to reach out to mine.

“What makes you the most selfish?” I asked, needing and wanting to know.

“This–” he whispered against my lips; then he crushed his lips against mine. His hands dug into my hair. Kissing him was like breathing in sea water–refreshing, all consuming. I was selfish, too–I also wanted his kiss. I wanted everything from him. I was not afraid of his past, not afraid of the dark parts. I cared about him. I knew that I always would. I loved him.

I love him.

I love all of him. Every single broken, cracked, or dark piece. I wanted them all, wanted him.

He broke our lips apart, and then he looked at me.

“I am so selfish, Meria–because I want you. I want to keep you forever and ever.” He teased kisses down my neck, over my cheeks, all around my face, and I wanted his lips so badly to find mine once more. “I want to lock you up in the cell below, make sure you never escape,” he growled into my skin as he continued to kiss me again and again, drenching me in pure bliss and joy.

“You want me in the dungeons?” I laughed quietly. “If that is where you want me–”

“Perhaps, this room can act as your prison cell, my mermaid captive. I have to admit that I like the sound of that.” He kissed me again, gently against my jaw and then my throat. “I like the sound of you never leaving, never finding another man–mer, human, or magical being–to be with. Just me.”

“You cannot keep me prisoner,” I said tenderly as he peppered kisses down my neck, making me dizzy with the need for him to never stop touching his lips to my skin.

“But I can. Remember, I am not a good man, Meria. I am a rather wicked pirate, with no desire to change my selfish and greedy ways. We pirates love treasure, and I think I found what I have been searching for over all these seas,” he said, meeting my eyes and smirking at me.

“Well,” I tried to be calm even though what he was saying lit up my entire world. “I like pirates. And I would not be your prisoner because I have no desire to leave you,” I said, tangling my fingers at the back of his head in his soft, dark brown hair.

He groaned. “You do not?” he asked as I began kissing his jaw at the rough stubble there. He always let his hair grow for a couple of days, and then he shaved.

I pulled away and looked at his flushed face and messed up hair from my fingers running through it. He was the most handsome man I had ever laid my eyes upon. And that man, he was kissing me, and I was kissing him, and it was a thousand times better than the last kiss I had been given by Edmar. Edmar was nothing to that. Finn had been right; my soul did know when I was in love.

This is love.

It was life changing. I was more attached to him than ever before. I was a barnacle, he a ship, and I would not come off.

“I am not going anywhere without you,” I said.

“Be careful what you wish for. I think this pirate is corrupting you,” he whispered.

“No, the opposite, actually. I am going to make your soul sing, Dominick.” Before I could say anything else, his lips devoured mine, like he was a stranded, starving sailor on a deserted island, like my lips were the most delicious thing he had ever tasted, and he was addicted after just one taste. I had no idea how long those powerfully warm lips danced with mine, but I was sure there was nothing better on any land or under any seas.

“It already sings for you, Meria,” Dominick whispered against my ear. I was unable to think about anything else, All there was was us. Dominick with his salty sea scent; his warm, tanned skin, caressing mine; and his dark hair, falling into his eyes, along with the erratic beating of my heart–my heart that only beat for him, and the soul song that swirled around us.