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2022-07-01 22:27:57THE SEAGULLS WERE LAUGHING AT HER.
Atop a lighting fixture at the end of the dock, the birds started making noise the minute Angel stepped off the rocking boat.They could cut her some slack. So she was a little un-steady. This was the first time she’d ever had legs, and disembarking a rocking boat wasn’t easy. Not to men-tion, she was still floating over the fact that she’d pulled it off. Logan was letting her stay. She had an excuse and an opportunity to test out her plans for the Coalition.Now she just needed to figure out how to pull off a disappearing act every other night to ensure the return of her tail so she could stay for more than a day or two. Much as she wanted to learn about Humans and get the directorship, she didn’t want to sacrifice her tail to do so, which is what would happen if she had legs for more than two consecutive sunsets.“How long have you had the boat, Logan?” She turned around as he climbed over the gunwale. “Do you use it often? Have you ever lived on it in the marina? The ocean? What does it run on? Diesel? Biofuel?”Logan stepped onto the dock. “What’s with the twenty questions?”Damn. She had a bad habit of wanting to know the answer to everything right away.“Oh, just curious.” Then she tripped over someloose mooring lines, and, on cue, the birds erupted with more laughter.At least she stayed upright. As long as they didn’t start speaking to her, she could pretend they were squawking that signature caw Humans found so annoying—and would find even more annoying if they knew the gulls were laughing at them. Seabirds just loved bathing-suit season.Then her heel came down awkwardly on a hose some-one had left out and, this time, she couldn’t manage to keep her balance and fell—right into Logan’s arms.Suddenly the seagull noise faded into the background. So did Michael’s laughter, the creak of the boat against the dock, the motor of someone’s charter leaving the marina, and all her twenty questions.Everything faded into the background except the feel of Logan’s arms around her. The flexing biceps beneath her palms. The tightening of his stomach against her chest. That delicious blended scent of sea breeze and man…Angel looked up—he was so much taller than she was. So much bigger. Yet he wouldn’t hurt her. She knew that. How she did, she didn’t know, but some-thing… almost a quiet strength about him told her, in one instant, that she could trust him with her life.She blinked. Now that was ridiculous. He was a Human. Humans were the last beings a Mer could trust. But when Logan raised her chin to stare into her eyes, Angel knew that wasn’t true about him.“Are you all right?” His voice was lower than before, the words breathless.“I…” She licked her lips. Talk about breathless. She tried again. “Yes. I am.” She tried to prove it by standing,but she wasn’t exactly proficient with legs after such a short time and fell back against him.Logan’s head lowered. Or did she raise hers? Did it matter?All that did matter was that his lips were just above hers and if she stretched a bit more—“Hey! Come on!” Michael’s voice broke into the moment.Oh, gods. She’d been about to kiss him. “Are you guys coming or what?”Angel looked away. What had she been thinking? He was a Human, for Zeus’s sake. She couldn’t be attracted to him. That went against everything she believed in. All her scientific protocol and everything she wanted for herself. Hades, she’d broken up with her last boyfriend because he’d started getting serious. She didn’t want that; she wanted to focus on her career. On the Coalition. On bettering their worlds. She didn’t need to have an attraction to anyone, least of all a Human. Besides, Logan was married.Wait a minute. What had he been thinking? Or… maybe she’d just imagined it.Yeah. That was it. She had to have imagined it.Embarrassed, surprised, mad at herself, a whole host of emotions plaguing her that she didn’t want to examine, Angel made a concerted effort to regain the use of her legs. Logan helped by steadying her—although steady was a misnomer because there was nothing steady in the heat zipping through her fingers, up her arm, and all over her body.No. No. No. Mind back on your purpose here, Tritone.“Thank you,” she said, yanking her hand off him. “You’re welcome,” he said, his voice still raspy. “Hurry up!” Michael bounced on a loose weatheredplank, hitting the beam beneath with a thud, thud.Kind of like her heart was doing.No it wasn’t. That was just surprise. Embarrassment.She was imagining things.Then Logan slid a hand under her elbow, and her knees got a little jellyfish-like.She had one Hades of an imagination. “Angel.”She really had to focus on walking. Legs took some getting used to. That’s why hers were wobbly.“Angel, do you want to make a call?”Bird calls? Humans did that? Her research hadn’t given any indication they practiced this old sys¬tem of communication. Did they even understand the language?“Um, all right. What breed?”“Breed? You mean brand? Of cell phone? Does it matter?” He held his black box out to her.Cell phone. Oh, crappie.She stared at the black thing. She knew about the device, especially the mercury from discarded ones that leeched into the environment, but unfortunately, she didn’t have a clue how to use one. She also didn’t have anyone to call. Cell service wasn’t exactly pos¬sible in Atlantis.“Actually, there isn’t anyone I can call. No one knows I’m doing this and, well, I’d rather keep it that way. They wouldn’t approve, and if they heard what happened…”Related chapters
Fun of a Lifetime 6
Logan tilted his head to the side, studying her. “You want to prove something to them.”It wasn’t a question, but it was so right on the cur-rency that Angel grabbed it with both hands. “Right. They think I can’t do this, and if not for that damn shark, I could have proved them wrong in a tailfli—in a heartbeat.”All of which was true—if slightly skewed.Logan studied her another moment or two, his eyes narrowing, and Angel refused to remember how they’d darkened when he’d almost kissed her… or, rather, when she’d imagined he’d almost kissed her.Oh, Zeus. Let it go already. If she wanted to be taken seriously in the Mer scientific community, the last thing she needed was to swim down that stream about a Human. With The Council’s, and most of the Mer popu-lation’s, prejudice against all things Human, her obser-vations would be tossed aside as lovesick musings. She pulled her arm from his grasp—and ignored the sudden chill that raced over her skin.“Okay, Angel, I know all about n
Last Updated : 2022-07-01Fun of a Lifetime 7
MICHAEL CHATTED ALL THE WAY OFF THE DOCK AND BACK UPthe steps, with his father patiently responding, discuss-ing anything and everything. Who owned which boat in the marina, why Tony cussed so much when he didn’t think Michael could hear him, what they were going to have for dinner; the little boy never seemed to run out of questions to ask. It was both interesting and beneficial to listen to the two of them.Interesting because Angel had wondered what Human conversations were like beyond Beach-Speak, the only dialogue she’d ever observed in the wild, and benefi¬cial because it gave her something to focus on rather than that near-miss of a kiss and the fact that Logan Hardington was a man.“You can ride in the back with me,” Michael said when they approached the big, black vehicle. “Usually Rocky does, but he stayed home today. Rocky doesn’t like boats.”She’d have to thank Rocky, because she’d always wanted to ride in one of these. The purloined Jet Skis and other small watercra
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“Blech.” Michael knocked his hat sideways. “Girl stuff.”“Girls like girl stuff, Michael,” his father said, straight-ening the hat. “Someday you’ll be glad about that.”“Nuh-uh. Girl stuff is yucky.”“Not if you’re a girl.” Angel reached in front of him for the perfect pair of purple shorts, a few shades darker than her amethyst tail, with delicate filigree like lace coral around the edges, then held them against the tops of her legs. “What to do you think of these?”Michael shrugged his shoulders, but Logan turned the most interesting shade of red and walked away without a word. An odd garbled sound, but no word. Was that some Human language she wasn’t familiar with?Michael just giggled. “Logan still doesn’t know you’re a mermaid, does he?”She shook her head. “No. And you have to remember not to say anything.”“I won’t. I promise. I always wanted my very own mermaid. I hope you get your tail back soon. I liked it.” She was going to have to remind him about that word, mermaid
Last Updated : 2022-07-01Fun of a Lifetime 9
THANK GOD SHE’D SAT IN THE BACK.Logan rushed out of the boutique with the image of Angel’s shapely, toned legs peeking out from beneath the hem of his shirt searing his brain and shooting straight to his groin. Yeah, as if the hardening of her nipples from the store’s air-conditioning and that jumble of hair—not to mention the sexy lingerie she’d held against her body and that kiss they’d almost shared—had nothing to do with his condition.God help him, he couldn’t forget one single detail, and his body’s reaction was making walking damn difficult. He angled away from Michael before adjusting his shorts, not wanting to contemplate what he’d be going through if she’d sat next to him in the SUV, those thighs inches from his—especially after watching them ascend the dock steps, then having her in his arms, almost kissing her… He’d been utterly relieved by Michael’s seating arrangements.And thank God for the store clerk. If he’d had to spend one more minute with Angel holding lingeri
Last Updated : 2022-07-01Fun of a Lifetime 10
ANGEL WAS GONE.Mariana swam through her sister’s condo, making a mental list of what was missing: the slate tablets of notes Angel kept stacked on the desk in the study, the box of urchin spines she stored next to the Human perfume bottle of octopus ink, that bottle of octopus ink, and the sea-pak from the foyer closet.The shutters were closed on every window, and cloth¬ing was strewn all over the bedroom, the Human shirts Angel had bought at the Salvager’s Market floating atop the furniture in the soft current that wended through downtown Atlantis. This mess wasn’t like Angel. She was a total neat freak about her “treasures,” only getting maniacal like this for one reason.Mariana somersaulted back to the living room. The sea stars were missing. The little colony of colorful echinoderms Angel had recently adopted from Rod’s office usually spent the day wandering around the coral sculpture Mariana had designed for just that purpose.She swam over to the kitchen sink. Yep. The he
Last Updated : 2022-07-01Fun of a Lifetime 11
ANGEL FELT LIKE A PRINCESS.Okay, so, technically, since her family was royalty, she was a princess. But other than the occasional “my lady,” the title didn’t mean a hill of shells in her world. Here, though… wow.Wendy must have melted that plastic with all these clothes. Angel knew it’d be fun to try on silky item after silky item, then put more on top of those. Swishy dresses, flowing skirts, lightweight pants, colorful tops. They were all so beautiful, like a tropical coral reef on a sunny day. That Humans could create such beautiful products said a lot about them—and gave her hope for the future.And the shoes! Oh, the shoes. The flats came in so many colors, and Wendy had insisted she try on a pair for each outfit. Really, Angel hadn’t needed much convincing. She loved the flamingo-colored sandals the saleswoman had said were the latest style. They were comfortable and looked so very pretty on her new feet. And then, the high heels! All different heights, some thick-heeled, s
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Okay, so maybe someone Up There wasn’t on his side after all.Logan opened the door to the ice cream parlor for Angel, leaning back to keep from touching any part of her or that bag.She’d picked out red lingerie.He’d actually given the saleswoman carte blanche— and his credit card—to outfit his son’s new babysitter, and, between the two of them, a woman who was sup-posed to know fashion and another who had as many degrees as he did, they’d come up with red lingerie. It’d be ironically funny if Michael weren’t involved.Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe he should have just given her the money, bought her a one-way bus ticket, and told Michael she’d had to go home. He wouldn’t have to worry about what she wore, what her favorite flavor was, how her hair felt on his skin… nor what it’d be like to kiss her.Then Michael grabbed Angel’s hand and tugged her forward, his smile almost bigger than he was, and Logan knew he wasn’t going to ask her to leave. He couldn’t break Mich
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“ANGEL, WATCH THIS!” MICHAEL JUMPED OFF THE EDGE OF the pool in Logan’s yard and did a half twist in the air before belly-flopping into the water. That had to hurt. Angel clapped when he surfaced. “Good job! You almost made it all the way around that time.” “I’ll get it. You’ll see.” “I’m sure you will, Michael.” She leaned back on the chaise lounge to watch him practice as he’d been doing since lunch. Logan had disappeared into his study to handle some business, and she and Michael had had an interesting afternoon making paper animals with pages from his notebook, as well as figuring out how to make a peanut butter sandwich. Between the two of them, there’d been enough pea-nut butter on their fingers that they hadn’t needed the sandwich part, but Angel wasn’t willing to pass up her first taste of dry bread. “I’m gonna do a handstand, ’kay, Angel?” “Go ahead.” She hooked the pen on the notebook where she’d jotted her observations and impressions before lunch, then ran her fing
Last Updated : 2022-07-18
Latest chapter
Fun of a Lifetime 69
“ANGEL? LOGAN? WANNA PLAY BALL?” MICHAEL’S shadow fluttered on the filmy netting draping their hon-eymoon cabana door. Private island getaways didn’t need doors—unless one expected a six-year-old to make an appearance. Logan helped Angel smooth the sheet on the bed, then checked himself in the mirror. They’d had to scramble into their clothes when Mariana had done the first loop around the island. Good thing Angel’s sister had a big set of lungs—half the Caribbean had probably heard her warn them Michael was on his way. One more reason he’d be indebted to Mariana for the rest of his life. He didn’t mind in the least. “Come on in, Michael.” Logan brushed past Angel, unable to prevent himself from touching her shoulder, then he pulled back the netting. “Oooh, awesome!” Michael bounced in—of course— and picked up the crystal sculpture Mariana had given them for a wedding present. “Awesome? What happened to ‘cool’?” Logan said, rustling his son’s hair. The hat had been left back in
Fun of a Lifetime 68
LOGAN WAS GLAD ANGEL DECIDED ON LEGS FOR THEIR wedding day. And the morning after—if only for the fact that she looked utterly magnificent straddling him. Her skin glistened in the warm Caribbean sun. The pineapple-and-hibiscus-scented breeze wisped her golden hair around them, and the rhythmic arrival of the surf on the deserted island beach set the tempo for their lovemaking. The twilight ceremony last evening hadn’t been his idea. If he’d had his way, they would have been mar¬ried in Atlantis immediately after the trial, but Angel had specifically requested a land wedding with all her family… and no tails. It wasn’t enough that she’d fi-nagled both the job she wanted and had him—by virtue of his experience with green technologies—appointed to her Advisory Board, she’d wanted to make a state-ment about bringing the sea and the land together via their marriage. The earliest the wedding could be pulled together, tails shifted into legs, and Michael brought over had been last night
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There wasn’t a dry eye in the place—oh, that’s right. They were underwater. But Angel knew tears when she felt them, and they were what was sliding down her cheeks. And what she tasted when she kissed Logan. “I love you, too,” she whispered against his lips. “I never lied about that.” “Then it’s settled.” Zeus clapped his hands and a giant golden abacus with different colored pearls floated in front of The Council. Angel looked past Logan as Zeus swam over to it. What was the head god up to? She caught Mariana’s smile before her sister tucked her chin to her chest and draped her long hair in front of her face. She had a feeling Mariana knew exactly what Zeus was going to do—and she had a feeling she was going to be eternally grateful to her sister. “In the system of checks and balances that we use On High, two negatives—” the god slid two small black pearls to the side—“equal a positive.” He slid a pink pearl on another row. “Angel offered herself in Michael’s place. Knowing C
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MARRY? Every head, eye spot, and antenna swung toward the doorway. Angel couldn’t have heard correctly. And then she saw who it was. Logan? As gorgeous as the last time she’d seen him, Logan swam into the Coliseum, Mariana right behind him. Oh gods. What had Mariana done? The Council would crucify him—and she did mean literally. No Humans except her sisters-in-law had ever witnessed a convened Council, but they were married to members of the royal family. “Who are you, Human?” Thorsson’s last word rasped across the silence as tightly as his clipped beard swung against his chin. All the beings in the arena followed Logan as he walked—yes, walked, on two legs, every bit as tall and strong and proud of his heritage as he had a right to be—toward The Council. He didn’t utter another word. Not until he reached her. “Hey,” was that word. Then he hugged her. Chest-to-chest, thigh-to-tail, arms-wrapped-around-her hug and, omygods, it felt so good. She’d never thought she’d see him ag
Fun of a Lifetime 65
SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT! Logan kicked his feet, trying to free the one that’d been caught, all the while paddling his arms towards the surface. The creature, whatever it was, let go and Logan swam for all he was worth, managing to grab his knife. Now if only he had his mask on so he could see the thing coming. He wasn’t waiting for it to attack again; the boat wasn’t that far away. He cleared the surface and headed toward it, only to almost crash head-on into a— Mermaid. Right in front of him. Long, flowing red hair and a sparkling emerald green tail. Almost as beautiful as Angel. No one was as beautiful as Angel. “I’m Mariana Tritone. Angel’s sister.” The woman’s voice was almost as lyrical as Angel’s, but it didn’t af-fect him at all. “Do you really want to help her?” It spoke to how far his reality had shifted when he entered into the conversation as if it were completely normal. “Yes. She saved my life and my son’s. I owe her.” Not to mention, loved her, but he wasn’t su
Fun of a Lifetime 64
ANGEL SWAM INTO THE COLISEUM TO THE MURMURINGS OF the assembled members of Atlantian society. Octopi, eels, fish, crustaceans, Mers, Council members. They were all there, every stone seat in the circular building filled. A public lynching. The gold walls of the Atlantian cavern were bathed in the glow from the massive magma wells ringing the circu¬lar building. A gently waving, multihued carpet of every species of anemone known to Man and Merkind covered the marble floor, while thousands of sea beings stared at her with antennae, eyes, or some version thereof. A convened Council used to intimidate her, having all the pomp and circumstance of an entity that dated back thousands, if not millions, of selinos. But now that The Council was convened for her, interestingly, she wasn’t intimidated. Seriously, what more could they do to her? She’d almost cost Michael his life with his father, had almost cost Logan his life, period, and she’d broken the cardi-nal rule of the Mer World. Thi
Fun of a Lifetime 63
LOGAN CHECKED THE COORDINATES GINGER HAD GIVEN HIM, then looked overboard. Somewhere down there, beneath the island of Bermuda, Atlantis waited. He dropped anchor, wondering how much damage that did to the reef, but if this all played out like Ginger had outlined, that would be the least of his worries. Grabbing his scuba gear, Logan scanned the area. A perfect Bermuda day. Sunny with wispy clouds. Logan could see for miles. A pair of boats were well beyond shouting distance, and others farther past them. Windsurfers sailed near the shore, and that party cruise had been headed north. He’d rented the boat for the week, so it wasn’t expected back until then, and no curious Jet Skiers were around to take note of how long he’d be gone. His arrangements were either good subterfuge or suicide. He hoped it wasn’t the latter. One more look at the map and the coastline confirmed that he was at the right spot. Ginger had even mentioned the area off the bow where the greens of the shallows
Fun of a Lifetime 62
“HE’S ASKED ABOUT YOU.” MARIANA SHUT THE DOOR BEHIND her with a swish of her fluke and set a tray of food on Angel’s bedside table. Angel rolled over on the mattress and looked at her. “He has? Who’d he ask?” “Ginger.” Angel groaned. “Great. That bird doesn’t like me.” “True.” Mariana dipped a piece of shrimp in the mango puree. Ginger didn’t like Angel—which was why the bird had been more than happy to share that little bit of gossip with her. The bird knew the news would make its way back to Angel. But rubbing saltwater in the wound only hurt on land. In the sea, things were different. And about to get a whole lot more different if Mariana could pull it off. “So? What did Rod do when he heard Logan was asking about me?” Angel took the shrimp and popped it into her mouth. “Rod doesn’t exactly know.” Angel sat up and flicked her tail over the edge of the mattress. “Why not?” Because Mariana didn’t want to get her sister’s hopes up or jeopardize her plans. “You said yourself
Fun of a Lifetime 61
THE NEXT MORNING, LOGAN STOOD OUTSIDE A YELLOW AND red tent. They’d gotten a new one. A permanent one, according to the sign on the gate: The Flying H Family Circus. Family Circus. The irony wasn’t lost on Logan. “You really lived in a circus?” Michael held onto his hand, the baseball cap tilted back just far enough that he could look up without it falling off. “Yes, I really did.” In another lifetime. And one he was now going to subject Michael to. But he didn’t have a choice. He wasn’t about to take him along to find Angel, and Rainbow… well, Rainbow had enough on her plate at the moment if he could even find her—and he didn’t have time to look. His… parents were the best choice he had. He’d never starved, and Nadia had always been there with a big hug whenever he’d gotten hurt. She’d taken care of him when he’d been sick, asked how his day was. Right now, he’d have to be happy with that for Michael. God willing, this would only be temporary. “This looks cool. Let’s go in.”
