Page 73 of Mermaid on Heels

Liriya dropped her gaze from the heavens and let Luke lead her. He stopped them at a landscape in the heart of the garden and sat on the grass, tugging at her hand to join him. Baffled, Liriya obliged. He then lay on his back, tucking his free arm under his head and looking above him.

Liriya didn’t quite understand him. She continued to stare at him, waiting for him to say something.

“Are you going to Luke-gaze or stargaze?” Luke’s lips twitched into a big smirk as he directed his gaze to her. Not waiting for her reply, he tugged at their joined hands to make her lay down next to him.

Liriya lay down, still baffled. “I do not—” she paused and her breath caught when she looked above her. “Wow.”

“And that’s what I was talking about.”

They lay stargazing, neither of them speaking another word. The silence between them lasted too long for Liriya’s taste and she wanted to break it and hear him speak again. If it was possible to miss the voice of someone that you heard only minutes ago, with him lying next to you, Liriya missed his voice—as ironic as that sounded. But it was only the truth.

His deep voice and the sound of his laugh had become music to her ears. Since listening to his voice for the first time, it had lured her in, and Liriya wanted to listen to it always now that she was with him. Her heart rose at the thought and she didn’t admonish herself for it.

“To be honest, I thought you were going to take me somewhereupto get a better look,” Liriya whispered, breaking the silence, too sure that anything she said would get her a reply from him.

She meant her words as a joke, but it prodded something in Luke.

“Oh, that reminds me,” he said suddenly, dragging Liriya’s eyes from the vast heavens to him. He met her gaze, eyes twinkling like the stars. “I have a surprise for you tomorrow.”

“Let me guess, you enjoy surprising others.” The corner of her lips twitched.

“No,” he drew out and lifted their joined hands between them. “Just you.”

Heat rushed up Liriya’s neck, and the next moment, warmth blanketed her body. Goosebumps rose all over her skin, her heart pounded against her ribcage, and her free hand curled on the grass on her other side.

She stared at his face. He was ethereally beautiful under the moonlight, and he glowed from the inside out. His deep blue eyes holding hers captive drew her in, making her wish to dive into the ocean in his eyes and to swim forever and ever. A strange desire rose in her heart at the thought offoreverand ever.

What would it be like to be his? To be loved by him? To stop holding back and let herself be consumed? He made her feel all sorts of strange things. Sometimes she even forgot herself and acted unlike the person she had known herself to be. What did all that mean? And not to mention, he made herhappy. He had just given her anotherbest-evernight.

“You have the most beautiful pair of eyes I have ever seen, Liriya,” Luke whispered, and the movement of his lips made her gaze drop to them.

What would it feel to be kissed by them? Liriya’s heart leaped at the thought. Her fingertips, where he had kissed earlier after touching them, burned. She fisted her hand in the grass to fight the sensation, but it did not help. She remembered the softness of his lips as if she was touching them right now, and her pondering mind didn’t help as it continued imagining the feel of them against her lips.

Liriya’s heart did a double backflip and she snapped her gaze back to his eyes.

“They are my favorite color,” Luke continued with a grin, “resembling the ocean depths, adorned with a complex of colorful flecks.”

Liriya wanted to tell him that she admired his eyes too, that they were her new favorite color, that it resembled the surface. But before she could, he continued.

“And I want them to see every wonder of the land. I want to see them light up and outshine the sun when they look upon every awe-filled sight. I want to see all that, and I want to be the one to show you all of them.

“Back at the fountain, I wanted to show it to you because I wanted you to feel like you belonged in this world. Therefore, I thought, if you find something here that connects you to the ocean, you would feel happy. I’m sure that was what my father wanted for my mother too. She loved it, and I thought you would too. That’s why I wanted to show it to you, I didn’t mean to scare or upset you.”

“I know, Luke, and I am sorry.” Liriya frowned sadly. “I-I had no ideathatwas why you brought me to it, to make me feel connected and like I belonged.” Liriya’s eyes watered suddenly. He cared so much, and he made her feel… special. Not because she was a mermaid, like he said last night. But because she wasLiriya.

And for the first time, Liriya felt it.

She wasLiriya, simply Liriya. Not an appraised, crown-bearing mermaid princess that she had been or a crownless, broken, and orphaned royal she was beforenow.

“I want you, Liriya, and it’s not a need. Iwantyou, more than anyone or anything. And I’m going to try everything I can, to convince you to stay with me.” Luke held their joined hands to his chest.

Liriya’s eyes tracked the motion. She felt the rapid beat of his heart against the back of her hand. Her own heart picked up its rate, banging against her ribcage as though it wanted to burst forth and entwine with Luke’s.

“Luke?”

Luke hummed, holding her gaze.

“If you will have my heart by the end of the second week, it is yours.”