Ava M Taylor (i.e. me)
The ocean is deep and dangerous.
No one knows this better than Vanessa. Her father died while working at sea. Her mother faded away. Now Vanessa’s alone and old enough to be sacrificed.
Five sea monster block the entrance to her village’s fishing bay. This means five women will be sacrificed to the sea monsters in the hope the village will be able to go fishing this year. Vanessa knows she’ll be one of them.
She chooses the ocean over the village. She takes a leap of faith. But the ocean is deep and dangerous. Will Vanessa save her village at the cost of her life? Or is this just the beginning of her fated journey?
Excerpt
She turned from the ocean and made her way back down the rocks. Uncertain of her mood, he stood his ground. She picked her way across the rocks and sand. He wanted her. He wanted to lay her on the white sand and take her in every way he had already and then start taking her in new ways.
Her head snapped up and her eyes speared him. Still angry
“Jerk,” she strode up to him. “You. You give me a choice and I think… I think you’re different. You make love to me. You tell me you want to protect me. Then because I see something which makes me think, you’ve suddenly got me off in some damn city. Why?”
“I wondered if you had dreams before you were sacrificed,” Beric said. “I wondered if you wanted a chance at something different.”
“Dreams. The only dreams I remember ever… no.” Vanessa paced away from him. Shaking her head, she turned back. “I told you about my parents. I told you what my mother called me. You think somehow I’d be happy living in a concrete barren city?”
“The ocean is a harsh environment,” Beric said.
“I know,” Vanessa said. “I’ve lived on the edge of it my entire life.”
“That’s my point. I wondered if you wanted to pursue something other than being by the ocean.”
“You’re an idiot,” she put her hands on her hips. For a moment, she wondered how ridiculous she looked standing completely naked on a miniscule beach having a fight with her sea monster boyfriend. The ridiculousness of it made her lips twitch.
“Probably,” Beric admitted. “Look at you. You aren’t a water baby. You’re a goddess. I love you and because I love you, I wondered if being here with me was the best thing for you.”
“Still an idiot but how could you think I was sad,” Vanessa said. “When we’re underwater, I know exactly what you’re feeling. Doesn’t it work both ways?”
“I might have been focused too much on my own thoughts,” Beric confessed. “This life…”
“Is with you, right?”
“Absolutely,” Beric said.
“You’re the first person to give me a choice,” Vanessa said. “The boys growing up always called us a sacrifice, meaning we were useless. Some tried to use it to their advantage, let me fuck you and we can be attached, so you don’t get sacrificed.”
“Bastards,” Beric muttered. “I stole you from the village.”
“You rescued me and gave me a choice,” Vanessa said. “This is the one and only time we’re having this discussion. Do you want me as your mate?”
“Yes,” Beric said.
“Then don’t try sending me away,” Vanessa poked him in the chest. “I came to you voluntarily and I intend to stay. If you don’t like it, then you go to the damn city. I’ll take the ocean any day.”
He grabbed her finger and licked the length of it. He watched her nipples harden. “You think you get the ocean over me?”
“Yes,” she let him pull her closer.
“I guess I better keep you,” he pulled her tight against his hard cock. “The ocean appears to be in our souls.”
“Don’t doubt me,” she put her hand firmly on his chest.
“Never again,” he assured her.