Ocean's Surrender by Denise Townsend Read Free Book Online Page A

only here because I sensed someone was in trouble. I didn’t know who it was, or how. I thought it was your brother, at first.”
    “So you do know Jason?”
    “Oh, yes. We’ve had quite a few chats, now. He’s delightful.” The selkie’s emotions glowed with genuine affection, and a paternal protectiveness that eased River’s mind. The sad fact was that some people were drawn to Jason’s vulnerability and child-like innocence for all the wrong reasons, with intentions that were anything but protective. River had learned the hard way that any man coming into her mother’s life, and later her own, was a potential predator. Luckily, between River and her mom, the predators had been weeded out almost immediately.
    Mom was a flake with a thing for losers, but she also had a knack for spotting the true Bad Hats.
    Ironically, that ability had not passed on to her otherwise much more cautious and conservative daughter.
    “He is delightful,” River agreed, her love for her brother emanating from her.
    “And he loves you very much,” Fen said, carefully. “He’s worried about you.”
    River’s emotions careened alarmingly, a thousand disparate emotions sparking like a trail of gunpowder accidentally set alight.
    “What? That’s ridiculous. I’m fine.”
    Fen only gazed at her quietly, causing River to sputter.
    “Okay, I’ll admit it’s been a rough year. But all that stuff is over and we’re good. We’re fine. I’m fine. Besides, I’m the one who takes care of Jason, not the other way around.”
    To her irritation, River knew her voice had grown petulant.
    “You’ve always taken care of Jason, haven’t you?”
    “Somebody had to.”
    “What about your parents?”
    “They were pretty useless,” River answered, automatically.
    “Really?” Fen asked, leaning back on his hands. River couldn’t help but admire his body as he did so, and regret that he’d moved away. But it also felt like she had room to think, suddenly. So she did.
    “No, I’m being unfair. Our parents loved us. They were just both in their own worlds. And they were always fighting and leaving each other, dragging us around the country as they broke up, then made up. And in between there was always a string of equally unstable boyfriends and girlfriends. We never had any security, and that’s what Jason needed more than anything else. He needed to be safe.”
    “We can never really be safe, River, although we can feel safe.”
    River gave the selkie a sharp side-eye.
    “Feeling safe is being safe,” was her only response.
    Fen let it go, for now.
    “So why is Jason worried about you?”
    River shrugged her shoulders, a look of irritation crossing her features.
    “I’ve got no idea. He’s never talked to me about it. But I’m fine.”
    “He told me he worries you don’t have any fun.”
    “What? We have fun all the time. We go bowling, and for pizza, and we watch movies…”
    “Those things are fun, yes. But they’re sort of for Jason, aren’t they?”
    “We have fun together. It’s fine.”
    “You like that word, ‘fine.’”
    River gave Fen a withering look. The selkie only smiled at her.
    “So you have fun with Jason,” he said. “But when do you have your own fun?”
    “That is my fun.”
    “But can you see how Jason might feel like you’re always taking care of him, rather than yourself?”
    River winced, Fen’s casual words hitting like a punch.
    “He takes care of me, believe me,” she said, her voice haunted. Then she rallied her knives.
    “Why am I even talking to you about all this?”
    Fen knew he’d gone as far as they could that day.
    “You’re right. We’re only just getting to know each other. So how about we have some fun?”
    His smile was sensual, and his desire beat against her in dizzying waves. River’s own arousal answered Fen’s, two-fold.
    But he’s a stranger, and I don’t do boyfriends , she reminded herself, trying to quell her sudden need to ravage him.
    “Fun?” she