Oh, Bite Me (Guardians of the Deep 1)

She received no reply from her friend, so she turned to see that her buddy had already been pulled to the side by one of the men aboard the ship. Sylvia and her new beau stood at the yacht’s railing, beyond the safety of the canopy, where they were forced to drink up the sun. The man’s grey shorts sparkled in the light and his white dress shirt was unbuttoned at least one button too far. She couldn’t help remembering Rico from the skating rink.

“I hope he turns into a ferret,” Penny said silently to herself.

She didn’t mean it. She would never wish anything negative for her friend, but sometimes she wished Sylvia could experience at least a little bit of the failure Penny did, not to suffer from it, but to at least be able to feel some empathy. Sylvia’s answer to everything was, “Fuck it. Move on. Use your body, use your tits, and fucking work it, girl.” She thought the ferret story was funny. It was, but even when it came to Penny’s current condition, and the ailments she fought so hard to suppress, Sylvia seemed to take it all so lightly.

“You’re sick,” she’d said right before the trip. “You’ll get over it. It’s what humans do. Fuck it. Move on. Come with me to Australia, drink that shit into oblivion, and fill yourself with great food and thick cock!”

Sylvia was like a truck driver sometimes, spouting out pure filth, but Penny loved her for it. Especially now, standing on the yacht, sipping wine.

My problems are gone for now. I’m in Australia, on a yacht, surrounded by great looking people and listening to amazing music. What could be better?

Then she saw him, standing outside the main cabin door, leaned up against a post that held up an arch the waiters walked under when returning to the guests with trays full of liquor. His hair was short, dark, and his face was slightly unshaven. He wore light shorts, cream color, and a thin, blue linen shirt that fit his muscular upper body tightly enough that only some of the wind seeped through and made the fabric dance. His sleeves were rolled up a few times and Penny couldn’t help thinking he had that college professor look. It was wisdom mixed with experience and a sense of calm. He wasn’t here to talk and brag about the things he had, like all the other guys from what she’d overheard in the conversations around her. This guy was different. She sensed it all in one glance…and his eyes were on her.

She blushed and looked down at her glass. The intensity of his stare unnerved her a bit. They’d locked eyes and he hadn’t even flinched. She’d never had a man look at her that way. When she looked up, he was gone.

***

Focus. Catch your breath and go back out there.

Thane stood with his back against the cabin door. He knew he only had a few seconds before one of the waiters would push through and she’d see that he’d retreated and was cowering inside. Geraldine had done it. She was a fucking magician.

His human side was instantly infatuated with the short, innocent beauty standing outside in that crowd of ridiculous showoffs. She’d been staring off in the distance when he first noticed her. She was watching another couple, and the look on her face said it all. The way her mouth parted and stayed only slightly open, as if in mid-sentence, and the way her eyelashes bounced slowly and surely, almost as if she were about to fall asleep. It was the look of a woman wanting. She wanted what the others had. It wasn’t a declaration leaving her lips but air from deep within her lungs. He’d caught her in mid-gasp. Her eyes weren’t tired, they were lonesome. They were used to staring out at things beyond reach.

The woman’s white top hugged her body nicely, and her pants were tight on the ass but loose down at the legs where they swayed in the breeze. Yes, his human side wanted her. He was instantly attracted to her.

It was his shark side that was ravenous for her. His shark senses had made it hard to control his lips. They’d parted in a grin as he watched her, and they’d threaten to pull back over his teeth. He wanted to taste her, but not to eat her. He simply wanted to take a bite. It’s what his kind did when they wanted to mate, and he’d never felt it so strong. The desire to knock her overboard and take her right there in the water was so fucking strong. His shark side wanted her badly, but his human side wanted her too. He wanted to rip off her clothes, strip out of his, and sneak up behind her. To wrap her in his arms and sit down with her, her back to his chest, as she slid down onto his cock. To feel her flesh against his, to feel the warmth of her pussy…Thane had to shift gears in his thinking to contain the growing hard-on in his pants.

“Bathroom?” he asked one of the waiters.

“Back there,” the guy said, pointing to a hallway in the far corner.

Thane found it, and as he stood staring at the bathroom mirror, he willed himself to think clearly. Yes, he wanted a mate. He’d been wanting to settle down and have children of his own. He’d wanted to join all his friends, his followers, in building a community on Shamrock Island, but he’d never thought it possible. He’d always believed the only way he’d achieve that life was if he put his true feelings aside and simply accepted someone because she was pretty and could bear children. Now, he saw that a true mate was possible. His father’s words echoed through his mind. God, how he wished his dad was still here.

Your mother was my true mate. She tried to stay away from me, especially after she found out who and what I was. Everyone else said I should pick one of our kind, that it was the only thing that made sense, but I knew the moment I saw her that she was the one. Once she accepted me, we never left each other’s side. From that moment on, she never slept alone, and she never knew the feeling of not being loved. Neither did I. Don’t settle, son. You’ll find her. Trust me. One day you’ll find her, and you’ll know.

Thane knew now. He knew it would sound absurd to everyone else. Kino would laugh. He’d always found Ruby to be sexy. He’d wanted to fuck her and figured she’d be best fit to bear his children, but he’d never said anything about her being “the one.” He wouldn’t believe it. Nobody would, but Thane didn’t care. Gerri had done the impossible. Now, he needed to make this human see that too.

When he finally got up the nerve to approach her, he found her standing with her back to the crowd, looking out at the ocean. He liked that she didn’t seem to give a shit about any of the nonsense going on in the drunken crowd behind her. She wasn’t standoffish. That much he could tell, but there was something going on. He could sense that too. She had problems, she was suffering, and he wonder

ed if he would be able to ease some of her pain.

“This is home,” he said as he leaned against the side of the boat, next to her.

She flinched, startled, and gasped.

“My God,” she said. “Don’t ever do that to someone.”

“Do what?” he asked, finding her slightly frustrated tone endearing.

“Sneak up on somebody and…you know…talk in a deep tone like that,” she said.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you. And…I’m sorry about my…voice? It’s kind of the way I talk.”

She turned her attention back to the water. God, how he wanted to kiss her. He knew absolutely nothing about her, but he wanted her to know that she was his. He’d already claimed her mentally. Now, he only needed to seal the deal with her body. She was his, she just didn’t know it yet. She turned back to him and smiled. Her eyes, honey brown, were so captivating, but also so tired. She lived a difficult life. Her smile though was lively, genuine. Her painted red lips were full and so inviting. He liked how she stuck her tongue out ever so slightly as she thought of what to say next.

“Okay,” she said with a slight snicker. “I like your voice. You got me.”

“I knew it,” Thane said, joining the playful banter. “You like the water?”