House of Royale (Secret Keepers #4)(20)

“Thank you,” I told him, trying not to let that emotion into my words. “That’s probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said or done for me, but I wouldn’t feel right taking it from you.”

I pulled my hand from his, and turning around, broke my bubble and took off for the shore. We’d gone out further than I thought, and I had to surface twice for air before I made it back to the sandy beach. It was still very dark, but the air had the slight crispness to it that only came when nearing dawn.

I dragged myself up the sand, resting against it for a beat. I always did this, centering myself before returning to walking on legs. It was a hard transition. A warm body landed next to me and I turned my head to Xander, amazed to see the bubbles of water around his legs dissipate. He leaned back on the sand, his broad shoulders nudging against mine as he stretched. I felt energy trickle across his skin and into mine. The last of the bubbles faded away—

“Wait,” I whispered. “Your legs….”

They were joined, a fine webbing across the top, binding them all the way down to the feet.

“We’re like your merpeople,” he said, leaning up so he was sitting, or more like resting his weight back on both hands behind him. “I can switch between a ‘tail’ and legs.” I sensed the air quotes around the word tail and realized they probably didn’t call it that.

Before I could stop myself, I reached out to touch it. The bubbles were completely gone now, so I could see everything clearly. Just before I made contact, I realized what I was about to do, and jerked my hand back.

Xander actually chuckled, the sound low and heady, sliding across my senses. “You can touch me.”

Those words shot heat through every part of my body. His laughter cut off then and I wondered if he sensed my need—I was goddamn turned on right now and it was pissing me off, because he was an asshole. I was not one of those girls who thought she could change a man. That was too big a job for me. I preferred not to raise a man-child to try to turn him into a decent human.

Still….

A mermaid tail. It was my dream to be able to live in the ocean, and he was six and a half feet of sexy merman. Of course this would be an aphrodisiac for me.

Xander also seemed to have recovered from whatever softer emotions he’d been experiencing after our swim, and with his tail completely gone, and board shorts somehow back in place, he was on his feet and moving.

I reached his side pretty fast and he shot me a dark look—like he was pissed I’d caught him so quickly. I shrugged. “I have long legs, sue me.”

His gaze dragged up the length of my bare legs, his eyes darkening along with his expression.

“I have no idea what you’re babbling about, human.”

And we were back to the human thing. Before he could say another word, I reached out and wrapped my hand around his wrist, yanking as hard as I could. That move was about as effective as trying to stop a truck with my hands, but it did get his attention. He halted, swiveling around to face me.

Before he could spit out whatever angry tirade was on the tip of his tongue, I poked him in the chest. He blinked a few times, looking down to where I’d poked. The look of pure astonishment on his face was almost comical. Clearly no one had ever jabbed him like that before.

“Firstly, I don’t babble,” I told him with barely contained loathing. “Secondly, you were glaring at me because I caught up to you so quickly. For whatever reason, you don’t like me. Which is fine.” I pulled my finger back, crossing my arms over my chest. “Not everyone likes everyone else, but you don’t have to be such a fucking asshole about it.”

His lips twitched. Minutely. So minutely I wondered if I’d imagined it. He took a step closer and I swallowed the sudden nerves filling my throat. I wasn’t used to people towering over me the way he did. Our bodies were almost touching; the heat coming from him was like an inferno. Was the heat an alien thing? Or a Xander thing?

“I don’t need any complications in my life…, human.” He deliberately dragged the human part out this time. “The rest of the secret keepers and overlords might have found their soulmate and perfect match in each other. But you and me, we are never going to be anything.”

I laughed. In his face. I couldn’t help it. Who did this arrogant piece of shit think he was?

Again he looked astonished, like I was just shocking him all over the place. The second my laughter cut off, I tilted my head back so that our eyes met. “If you were the last human on earth, I would not touch you.” I enunciated each word with care. “And considering you’re not even human, alien man, then I guess we have nothing to worry about. I’d prefer my kids don’t come out as little green mutants.”

Then, with one final eyebrow raise in his direction, I spun on my foot and hightailed it back to the house. My face was flaming. I was so angry that I wasn’t sure I could contain it. I had this insane urge to punch a wall or something, which was totally not my usual way of handling things. People who lived by the ocean and surfed, especially Hawaiians, tended to just go with the flow. I always thought that was my personality type as well … but I could have stabbed Xander to death and not lost a minute of sleep over it.

Not one minute.

By the time I stomped to the house, my anger had only increased. It might have set in permanently at this stage. Of course, when I got up there, I couldn’t remember the code I had been given last night, so I had to wait for the dumbshit to open the door. Xander breezed by like he didn’t have a care in the world. Meanwhile, I was trying to decide which part of his body looked the easiest to stick the knife in.