Total pages in book: 208
Estimated words: 207002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1035(@200wpm)___ 828(@250wpm)___ 690(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 207002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1035(@200wpm)___ 828(@250wpm)___ 690(@300wpm)
No one could predict my future.
No one could say if the random palpitation attacks might one day be the episode that eradicated me. All they could do was recommend drugs—which I wasn’t interested in taking. And suggest a healthy, stress-free lifestyle—which I was already living.
I’d fallen so deeply down the rabbit hole of health that I now freedived with Neri often (because breathwork and cold-water exposure were scientifically proven for longevity). We had daily saunas (because same thing) and ran on the beach most mornings, my blade cutting through the sand as effortlessly as Neri’s two feet.
Teddy and Eddie knew, and I was insanely grateful we had paperwork that meant Ayla would always have two other fathers to step in if fate decided I’d had my dose of allotted happiness.
Outwardly, I was still the same unkillable refugee turned billionaire. Inwardly, I valued my life all the more. I surrendered to every day and everything in it. I never grew angry because time was too short. I let go of my temper because I preferred total bliss. I was free in ways that no fear or worry could find me.
Thanks to her.
She was my anchor.
My heartbeat, my breath, my blood.
As long as I had her, I would live forever.
“I can feel you watching me, you know,” Neri whispered, turning onto her side and catching my eyes across the sphere. “By the way, my heart skipped just before. Was I sensing you, or am I just getting carried away with the view again?”
I chuckled and headed toward her, the click of my cane the only sound as I hopped across the small space. I’d already taken off my prosthetic to sleep and no longer had any qualms about my physical appearance.
Neri loved me.
Whole or in pieces, dead or alive.
All my blissful happiness stemmed from her unconditional love.
“I’m going to say your flutters are caused by your obsession with this reef and have nothing to do with me. My heart has been quiet as a mouse lately.”
“Promise?” She shifted until she sat cross-legged. “Because you know you can’t lie to me. I still keep my heart journal. I still feel you, and I’ll know if you’re lying.”
“That both mystifies and terrifies me.” Sitting beside her, I cupped her cheek. “You and your knowings, canım. You worry me because what will you feel when my time truly ends?”
“I don’t care because I’m going with you.”
I stiffened and shook my head. This argument wasn’t new. She vowed it each time I had an episode. “We’ve spoken about this. If I go, you’re to stay. That’s non-negotiable. I’ll just be patient until you come to join me. When it’s your turn, Neri, and not before.”
Sitting up on her knees, she straddled me and pushed away my cane. Running her fingers through my hair, she whispered against my mouth, “You’re forgetting I already know what it feels like to live when you are dead. It almost killed me the first time, and I swear on both our lives, I won’t let it happen again.” Pressing a fierce kiss to my lips, she pulled away, her eyes full of blue flames. “Do you hear me, Aslan? We live together. We die together. That’s what is non-negotiable.”
My heart tripped over her words, picking itself up in a regular beat. “You’re a sea witch. Did I ever tell you that?”
The fire in her gaze warmed to molten ocean. “Maybe once or twice. Perhaps that’s why you love me so much.” Her tongue ran over my bottom lip, making me jerk beneath her. “I put a spell on you.”
“It explains why I can’t keep my hands off you.” I ran my fingers over her bare arms, across her tattoo, and gathered up the silky material of her champagne-coloured night slip.
My own inked arm caught the soft light. The lion and its siren, scribed over my scars, binding me to Neri with the same permanence I’d always felt. We might wear rings and had promised eternal vows, but having my tattoo redone had completed me.
A full circle of before and now. Darkness and light. Tragedy and triumph.
Running my hands over her bare thighs, I couldn’t hold back my throaty groan. “You made me wait in bed while you were out here. I think you need reminding why you shouldn’t do that, especially when I have something to give you.”
“Something to give me, huh?” She fluttered her eyelashes. “What is it?”
“Get on your hands and knees, and you’ll find out.”
Her teeth clamped on her bottom lip. The air crackled with lust and the moonlight spangling through the sea lit up the sphere with silver streaks and dancing glows.
She’d never looked more stunning with the sea sparkling all over her, reminding me of the Turkish word yakamoz: the beautiful phenomenon of shimmering moonlight on water and the blue glow of bioluminescent plankton.