The Blues of Atlantis | ✔

Chapter Twenty-One

"Come on, Nerina! Talk to me." He pounded his fist on the door. Five days straight and she hadn't uttered a single word, refused to even be in the same room with him. "Will you grow up and get your butt out here."

Hot damn, he sounded just like his father. Wade raked a hand through his hair; his body involuntarily shivering at the thought. The last thing he wanted was to become was a man like him. His father had left his mom shortly after the incident, introducing divorce to their people.

It wasn't supposed to be that way, they mated for life, but his father turned their culture upside down. In the end, the man even left Atlantis because they wouldn't let him marry someone else.

He refused to become a man like him. "Please, Neri?"

"Go away!"

"I can't do that," he said, forcing his voice to remain calm and steady, despite the fact that he wanted to beat the door down. "We really need to talk."

"I don't know you. Leave me alone."

He placed his forehead against the door, resting his hands on the wooden surface. "Babe, you don't know you either." When she remained silent, he knew he hit the right chord. "Look, I know it's hard, but I'll help you work through it. I promise."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"I did save your butt at the house and the hospital, didn't I?"

"What if you're working with them?"

He clenched his fists. Hopefully, she would never find that part out. If she found out he used to be one of them, then all hell would break loose. There was no doubt in his mind.

"If I was, don't you think I'd have handed you over already?"

"How do I know that you aren't just waiting for the right moment?"

"Damn it, Neri." He thumped on the door with the side of his fist. "Don't make me break the door down."

He walked over to the kitchen and riffled through the cupboards. When he found what he was looking for, he returned to the door and shoved a toothpick in the little hole on the handle, popping the lock.

She gasped and pressed up against the door, but she was no match for his strength. Wade dug his shoulder into the door and continued to push it open. The resistance from her side disappeared and the door flung open, sending him tumbling into the room. He did a face plant on the carpet, with his lips kissing her feet.

Rolling over onto his back, he looked up at her. With her cheeks sucked in as she bit down on the sweet flesh inside, she bore the resemblance of a goldfish. Her blue eyes were sparkling, like sapphires dancing in the sunlight.

"You find this amusing, do you?"

"I—" When Nerina opened her mouth to speak, a half laugh and a half snort broke free. She quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. She didn't want to laugh, not when so much frustration was coursing through her, but it was there whether she liked it or not.

The laughter bubbled inside her like soap suds in a sink, itching to break free. And that's exactly what happened. Her mouth overflowed and another round of laughter found its way out between her rose colored lips.

She fell backwards on the bed, rolling in laughter. Whether it was because of him flailing his arms and falling face first at her feet, or whether it was just everything catching up to her, she didn't know; but she laughed until her sides hurt and tears slid down her cheeks.

Holy heck, it felt good to laugh, despite the hiccups that always followed after and the incessant ache in her muscles from contracting so much. Wade had finally picked himself up off the floor and was staring at her, an odd expression on his face, something between amusement and desire.