Bite Me Harder (Guardians of the Deep 2)

Later, when she would have been spent in her old human form, she listened to his lectures and copied his battle movements with electricity coursing through her veins. She felt so alive and so full of energy. She could have gone three more rounds with him, fucking her way into pure bliss, but the time for that would come later. Now, she needed to learn from him. Sylvia respected Coby. She admired him. Most importantly, she was falling in love with him.

Chapter 23 – Rafe

“The Party for Life Festival,” Thane said as the others sat around the campfire.

Rafe leaned against a log with Kalina between his legs, her back to his chest. He loved the smell of her saltwater hair. Every time he breathed, he felt himself inhaling a part of her and falling even more in love with her. He wanted to tell her how he felt but it seemed too soon. He would sound like a buffoon. What man falls in love with a woman in a week? He leaned down and enjoyed the way her hair was flipped to one side, giving him access to her smooth neck. He planted kisses on her, imagining what it would be like if he were a shark. He would bite her there and mark her for life. That was their way, at least from what he understood. If she made love to him again, and bit him in the process, their orgasms would collide, and he would become one with her. He would be practically owned by her. That didn’t matter to him. He would gladly accept it if it meant he no longer had to pretend to be like

all the other people on mainland. He wasn’t like them. He never had been. He was like Kalina. He enjoyed life and wanted to spend it in the ocean where the real power was. Most humans didn’t understand the raw beauty below the water’s surface.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Kalina said. “Evelyn warned that war was on its way. Last time she attacked the barge. Sylvia was there.”

“I was,” Sylvia said.

The change in Penny’s friend was evident. She’d seemed so naïve when Rafe first met her. So quiet and cool. So sincere. Kind of like the seagull he’d found on the beach. Like Petey, she’d seemed almost fragile. That had changed. From the bite marks on her neck and arm and leg, Rafe could tell she’d been turned.

“I was there when her monsters attacked all those innocent kids,” Sylvia added. “I won’t let that happen again.”

“Well someone’s gone and gotten totally badass,” Penny said.

Sylvia smiled.

“Where’s Cobalt?” Penny asked.

“Coby doesn’t do well with team meetings,” Sylvia replied. “I’ll fill him in.”

At first, Rafe had been intrigued by Sylvia’s radical change, but then it bothered him. Why had Cobalt so easily agreed to change Sylvia, but Kalina refused to give him her gift? He needed to know why. And he’d no longer take no for an answer.

“Yes,” Thane agreed. “I think you’re right. Evelyn is looking for something bigger than a barge. She proved she could fuck with me on a cruise ship…the day she nearly killed Penny.”

He reached down and touched Penny’s face as he spoke. She smiled up at him. Rafe envied the two. They were the perfect power couple. Thane was a fucking rock star. The guy could do no wrong. He was the leader of these people, of these sharks, and as soon as he stood in front of them, that was clear. He commanded respect and he gave as much as he took.

“Then she went bigger with that barge business,” Thane continued. “We fucked up that day. We weren’t prepared. None of those kids should have died. Poet shouldn’t have died.”

At Thane’s words, Sylvia put her head down. Rafe knew Poet was Cobalt’s brother and hearing the man’s name obviously bothered her. She was connected to Cobalt now and could probably sense his feelings.

Or is that vampires who have that connection? It would be nice if I knew for sure.

“We should have known better,” Rickshaw called out, bowing his head after.

“She outsmarted us,” Paisley said.

“The bitch needs to die,” Faith said as she stood and walked closer to Thane.

If Rafe had to guess who the queen B of the island was, Faith would be it. Not only was she ridiculously sexy in her tattooed human skin, the tales Kalina had told about her in shark form were awesome. Faith wasn’t one to be fucked with.

“The barge was on the water,” Faith said. “That’s our home. We can’t let this bitch come to our home and kick shit around. It’s like we’re letting her walk through our front door and ransack our cabins. She pisses in our water each time she spills human blood. If we don’t stop her, we’re going to have to move. Kane is already on to our asses. He knows what we are. He’s tasked us with safeguarding the sea, and if we can’t stop Evelyn, we’re not doing our fucking job.”

Thane put a hand on Faith’s shoulder.

“Calm down, babe,” he said. “I know how much this bothers you, but you need to calm down.”

Faith nodded her head and took a few deep breaths.

“Evelyn has been creating a small army,” Thane said. “Hammerheads mostly, but we know she still has a few tiger sharks in her gang too. Who the hell knows what she has up her sleeve?”

“I’ve seen them,” Rafe spoke up.

Kalina looked over her shoulder, surprised that he was speaking out.