She grinned, feigning a bow before she lowered her back to the sand again.

“Why are you making bets about whether or not I’d follow you? Of course I would,” Triton said.

“I know you only mated with me because half your people lost a vote.”

“You are my mate, regardless of how it happened.”

I tried to push his hands off my waist, but Triton’s grip tightened.

When I gave up on escaping him and waded in deeper, he walked with me.

nine

ARIA

The water went over my head, and I slowly let out a breath before forcing myself to inhale. Breathing water went against my instincts, and I still felt like I might drown, but I forced myself to stay still while my body adjusted as if it was completely natural.

It took me a few minutes to find the magic within me. When I located it, it took another minute or two before I figured out how to use it to make myself shift.

When my tail was firmly in place—and after I forced myself to look down and acknowledge that my lower half had been replaced by a gigantic fish—I tried once again to push Triton’s hands away.

And once again, he refused to release me.

I flashed him a dirty look over my shoulder and said mentally, “Let go. I’m not even wearing a shirt.”

“I’m holding on until we’ve had a chance to talk.”

“We can talk after I find the plant I’m looking for.”

“Fine.” Triton turned me around so we were facing each other, then released me. “But you need to understand one thing. Regardless of the reasons I chose to mate with you, the bond that we have is real and permanent. You are mine, and I am yours.”

I managed a nod before I started swimming in the direction I was pretty sure Joa had pointed me in.

Now that I was underwater, directions seemed a lot more difficult.

And my hair wasn’t even almost hiding my nipples. I was just going to have to ignore that.

“Where are you going?”

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know the king was following me. I’d barely moved. Using a tail sounded intuitive, but that didn’t mean I was good at it.

“To the cliffs where the birth control plants are. Joa explained how to get there.”

Sort of.

“Alright.” Triton sounded amused.

That probably meant I was going the wrong way, but I wasn’t in a rush. I’d see if I could find the plants myself before asking for his help.

I swam deeper, though my motions were still horribly awkward.

Maybe the tail thing was harder than it looked.

“You need to roll, Sweetheart,” Triton said, after a few minutes of silence. We definitely weren’t moving fast, but we were moving. “That looks painful.”