Heart of Shell (The Mercrutian Chronicles Book 1) (4 page)

“
You were talking too much.” He said simply.

“
Oh. Sorry.” I said and swallowed hard, my heart hammering up to my throat.

“
Just don’t do it again,” he warned. And I wondered if it would grant me more kisses to keep rambling on like a fool. Suddenly I thought that I might want more kisses, or did I? I didn’t speak, instead I nodded.

He returned to his bike and tinkered for a few minutes before he lifted it,  placed in a corner and threw his tools on the counter.

“
It’s too cold out now. We should head back inside.” He said opening the shed door for me.

I hopped down from the barrel, returned my book to my bag and turned off the heater before following him. I was still a little confused by the kisses. There was no pity in his eyes, or attraction... maybe curiosity. Yes, perhaps he had kissed me out of curiosity, but even that didn't seem to add up and his emotions were so unclear.

As soon as we made
it inside, I felt as though it was too warm. The intimacy between us made my heart tingle and I didn’t know how to feel about it all. He grabbed the jacket from my hand, hanging it with his on a rack by the door and we made our way to the kitchen. As he grabbed a box of mac and cheese from the cupboard, I grimaced inwardly.

“
You’re not going to eat that are you?” I asked.

He gave me a mischievous look. “Umm yeah, unless you want to make me something better.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Put that back, I’ll make you something better.”

Then I was looking through the cupboards, asking him where things were and assembling ingredients on the counter. Since my parents were rarely home during the week to make supper, I learned early on how to cook, and usually prepared something for them.

“
Do you have any shrimp?” I asked him while I diced a tomato and placed it next to the already chopped garlic clove. He had watched me with a hint of amazement as I had moved around the kitchen, and a single finger shot up bidding me to wait while he disappeared into a pantry. He returned with fresh shrimp, scallops, and clams. My mouth watered immediately.

“
Won’t your parents need that for your family meals?” I asked not wanting to use up too much of their food supply.

Merrick chuckled. “No, you should see the fresh fish on ice in the cold room, plus the freezer in there, it’s filled with seafood. They won’t mind, we usually rifle through it as we please.”

“
Oh,” I said suddenly wondering what it would be like to have a much larger family, to even have siblings.

I cooked quickly, while he watched and grabbed me anything I needed. Soon the sauce I was preparing was done. I grabbed the linguine I had found and added it to the boiling pot.

“
You must cook often,” he said leaning against the counter still watching me.

“
Yeah, I do,” I said picking up the spoon to stir the sauce.

“
Let me taste that,” he said with a smile handing me a smaller spoon. I scooped some up blowing on it lightly to cool it and he moved closer, bending down with his mouth slightly ajar.

“
Mmm,” he said, his lips smacking in approval. “It’s really good but it needs some hot sauce. Do you like your food spicy?” He asked me.

“
Yeah, sometimes,” I replied grabbing the hot sauce I had spotted in the fridge and adding a few drops.

“
Will you make me supper like this when we’re married?” He asked.

My cheeks flushed as I realized what he said.

When we're married?

My thoughts suddenly muddled. It seemed like such a faraway place in time.

I wandered off to that time and place, but only for a few extra seconds before I finally found my voice, “Yes, most of the time.”

He leaned in closer to me, still bracing against the counter. “You’ll spoil me.” He said smiling.

I smiled back while I drained the pasta, but then gave him a sharp look. “Sometimes you’re going to have to help me and other times you’ll have to cook -not anything out of a box either.”

He crossed his arms, but leaned back in relaxation. “Alright Anya, but you’ll have to teach me how to cook first.”

I assembled the noodles and sauce on his plate, cutting up fresh green onions and pulling out some grated parmesan to sprinkle over the top.

“
That I can do,” I said.

He disappeared into the dining room and I turned to assemble my own plate hearing him enter behind me and shuffle around in the kitchen before leaving again. Finally finished with my pile of food- not much less than his- I followed and quickly realized he hadn’t turned on a single light. Instead he had lit four candles at the centre of the table and had poured water into wine glasses. It looked romantic and like something from a movie, and suddenly I was feeling flushed again, and remembering the kisses that I had pushed from my mind. When I walked over to my seat he was still standing, and with a seemingly ancient gesture he pulled out my chair for me, taking my plate and placing it on the table.

“
You’re being a proper gentleman.” I said impressed.

“
Why not?” He asked finding his seat and eagerly swirling pasta around his fork with a spoon and then skewering a scallop. 

“
You don’t seem the type of Mer to be proper, or a gentleman.” I hadn’t meant for my tone to be flirtatious, but that was the way it came out. Merrick’s eyes flickered with something unrecognizable before he cleared his throat and answered me.

“
I’m not always proper or a gentleman, no.” He smiled slowly and continued eating. His emotions were still muddled and hard to read. It was then that a thought came hammering through me.

Eventually, we would be married as he had mentioned. He would be my husband and that meant we would make love. Had I been scientific in that moment I would have said that we would have sex, but it seemed like the realization demanded something softer, more romanticized. Truthfully, after all of the books I had read, it was the accurate way I felt about being intimate. I was wistful and hopeful for love.

I might have only been thirteen (turning fourteen at the end of the month) and he fifteen, but in a few years- praying that by then I had transcended, we would both have cycles when we were in heat. Mers were notorious for being incredibly amorous at that time of the month being desirous creatures anyway, past the age of metamorphosis. Yet even then, once we had crossed that line, would he love me?

Merrick paused from eating, noticing that I was deep in thought. “Not hungry?” He asked.

I didn’t answer, but immediately started eating. I didn't want to delve into that topic any time soon. Love...sex...either of them too complex.

We watched a movie after supper. A documentary on sharks that I hadn’t expected Merrick to want to see. We sat on opposite ends of the couch, our feet meeting in the middle. A couple of times during the film I glanced over to look at him. I wondered what he looked like scaled and if his skin turned the same blue-green like his eyes.

He seemed to feel wary of sharks. As much as I did, although neither of us had met any face to face in the wild. They could be ruthless but for the most part they ate to survive.

The Price family returned home with perfect timing, a few minutes after the movie ended. Even though I had enjoyed my time with Merrick, my mind was now swimming with far too many questions about the future. They were questions that I would have preferred to lock away and revisit at a later time.

Coral, Pearl and Rayne were friendly, giving me each a hug and welcoming me back to their house, though I had been there for the past eight hours.

“
Would you like to come up to my room for a few moments?” Pearl asked. Coral was smiling eagerly at her side.

“
We could show you all of our great buys before Mom and I take you home,” Rayne said while pulling her long blonde hair- now with two streaks of purple in the front- into a ponytail. I glanced over to find Merrick speaking with his younger brother and Caspian, and then I smiled at them with a nod.

“
I would love to see all of your new fashion things.”

Rayne and Ondine exchanged a glance of approval, which I guessed had something to do with me looking at Merrick before agreeing to follow them. I wondered if they would ask Merrick about me later  that night once I had returned home. They probably would in the same fashion as my parents. For a moment I contemplated what he would say. Would he answer to their questions? Would he tell them he kissed me?

Coral and I sat on the bed, while Pearl sat on her ottoman and Rayne took to the bean bag chair in the corner. They had all bought new winter clothes in an array of pastels and bright colours and I suddenly wondered if those were the type of things that Merrick would want to see me wearing. Truthfully, it wasn’t really my style.

“
So did you have a good time with Merrick?” Coral asked lying on the bed with her chin propped up on her hands and her feet kicking playfully in the air.

“
Of course they had a good time,” Rayne said. “Did you spot the leftovers of what Anya must have cooked for him? You spoiled him.”

I laughed outright. “He really can't cook can he?”

“
He can barbecue,” Pearl said with a shrug as she finished folding the last of the few sweaters she had bought.

“
Do you think...?” I began but stopped.

“
What?” they all said in unison. It was comical. They were leaning towards me as though I was professing a secret.

“
Oh nothing,” I said with a wave of my hand and folding my legs up on Pearl's bed.

“
Do we think that Merrick likes you?” Rayne asked her eyes wide with excitement.

“
Oh no, not that,” I said. “That might take some time. I guess I just wondered if you think I should wear different clothes, or maybe change my hair or something.” My fingers pulled on my dry bob of strands.

“
Well I think you shouldn't change anything,” Rayne said. “Merrick likes you the way you are. He picked you after all.” I was tempted to tell her why he had truly picked me, but bit my tongue.

“
Although,” Coral began, “he does like girls with long hair,” she finished saying as she gently touched a lock of my hair. “Maybe you could grow it longer.”

“
Do you use conditioner?” Pearl asked me, hearing the rough scratch of my hair between Corals fingers.

“
Yes,” I said unable to hide my exasperation. “I've tried everything, conditioner, leave in oil treatments, de-frizzing spray, shine protection. You name it, I put it in here to see if it would work.” I gestured towards my head.

Rayne laughed. “My hair was like that too, before I transitioned. Here try this,” she said handing me a pink swirled bottle of Head and Shoulders.

“
Oh no I couldn't take the shampoo you just bought Rayne.”

“
Please take it Anya, as a gift, we all wanted to bring you back something. I enchanted that bottle to make hair extra smooth and silky so it should work wonders for you. I got you this rocking headband too, so it's kind of fitting” It was a gingham pattern in cobalt blue, a cute bow affixed to one of the sides.

“
Oh right!” Coral said digging into her bag, “I bought you lip gloss in va va voom red.”

“
And I got you black nail polish,” Peal said with a wink, “you've got a bit of that Goth thing going for you.”

“
You guys,” I said blushing, “you're way too nice to me! I didn't even bring you anything.”

“
You kept Merrick company, and he's not grumpy now. That's good enough for us!” Rayne said with a thankful sigh.

“
Yes!” Coral and Pearl chimed in as well.

A soft rap at the door drew our attention to it and Ondine opened the door.

“I'm sorry to break up the fun girls, but it's getting late and I really should be getting Anya home.”

Coral whined, “Awwww, pooper.”

We all laughed, but I gathered my things, placing them in a small plastic bag that Pearl handed me, and thanked them again for the gifts. Rayne went to start up the van and Ondine turned to speak to me before joining her.

“
Merrick is on the front porch Anya, if you would like to say goodbye to him. We'll be in the van waiting for you.”

“
Thank you,” I said before she slipped out the side entrance. I made my way to the front porch and pulled on my boots. Sure enough, Merrick was seated there on the bench. He stood as I approached. 

“
What's in the bag?” he asked me and I opened it up for him to see. He reached down and pulled out the nail polish, as he examined it, he arched an eyebrow.

“
Pearl bought it for me,” I said with a smile. “I really like it.”

“
Black eh?” he asked, and I nodded.

“
Wicked.” He added, his voice throaty as he plopped it back into its place and looked back up to my eyes.

“
Thanks for the great day, Merrick,” I said rushing forward to give him a hug, my head sliding under his chin. I didn't even care if I wasn't being cool. I was way too happy to have friends who were so thoughtful. Being honest with myself, the night truly had been great. Were it not for this arranged meeting, I would have simply spent the night reading.

“
No problem, Buttercup,” he said as I backed away ready to leave.

I frowned. “Buttercup? Really?”

“
I could call you, Petunia, instead.” He said with a smirk.

“
Really, Merrick, you've got to think of a more original nickname for me.” I shook my head, but I was fighting back a smile and then waved before I walked to the van.