Dagger (Brothers of Element Series Book I)

"Just like that... no dinner... no movie?"

<><><> CHAPTER EIGHT  

IT TOOK A minute for everything to sink in. Her life would never be the same, no matter what happened, he was out there.  

When Dagger confessed to being T-Bone, her heart bounced around in her chest, alerting the other organs to stand up and spin around in a circle, then together wrap her arms around his thick neck and never let go. It was there in his eyes. The longer he looked at her, the less convincing she needed. 

The moment their flesh touched, memories rippled through her mind. From a teenager to a woman, he had watched her grow. It left her with doubts though. If T-Bone had a way to talk to her, wouldn't he have done so months ago-years ago?  

What was Dagger hiding? Although thrilled with the opportunity to live beneath the sea, she remained cautious. 

Although the sun went down hours ago, its heat permeated the soles of her bare feet through the wood deck of the pier. Memories of T-Bone hovering before the pier, that black eye fixed on her as she ranted about her week, added to the warmth. Not once did he leave ever before she finished speaking.  

An eerily sweet whisper of alarm crowded her and somehow it felt good to have him behind her, all hard muscles and mystery. This was who she needed to be convinced of, the man and his claims. Get to know his rhythm, his soul: that part of a person most people forgot to listen for. The way she connected to the animals. If he was lying to her, his true self would surface. And as much as she wanted to believe him-and she did-something was off.  

"Alright, Dagger, I'm here. I've asked Jim and Jack to remain on the beach. I can't have you and Jack going to blows every time you look at me. If I can trust T-Bone, I want to learn to trust you. So, make me believe in Dagger. Then explain to me why tiger sharks are in the Carolina shoreline and not warmer waters like the Central Pacific Island, the more tropical waters?" 

She felt that heavily muscled chest that he brushed over her hair and his hands on her shoulders in such an everyday manner. "As to why these waters," he started, "we exist everywhere. We live in homes, much like your own. Our human forms can handle the different temperatures. Also, humans do not expect a shark in shallow waters." 

She rolled her eyes. 

Nice.  

Kept that slice of sarcasm to herself  

"I didn't need to know that," Drew admitted. Something clicked, pulling her attention to the beach. Jim stood with his rifle aimed at Dagger, Jack waiting at the stairs of the pier. She understood he was angry, but so was she for them not telling her sooner.  

"And you're okay with an arranged marriage to a woman of a different species you don't know-a human?" 

"I watched Malcolm propose marriage." She felt the change in the air around that comment, his height shrank by an inch. "I stopped coming to the pier for a while... assigned a security guard to watch over you. I distanced myself, but not my mind." She picked up pieces of T-Bone's quiet atmosphere in his tone. "You remained with me... I know you, Drew." 

"If you saw him propose... you saw us on the beach. You watched us make..." 

"For a moment... then I left." 

Pain, anguish, excitement, and fear all leached through her body. She turned to stare up at her tiger shark and ran a hand down his face, then said, "The time I was gone for a while was college only two years... prodigy... started early, finished early. I don't know what to say, Dagger. For ten years, you were my confidant, my silent friend. I mastered my volleyball serve with you," she joked or made the attempt. "Now, we're supposed to be life mates."