Free Titanic's Ondine by Jorja Lovett Page B

account, she wanted to scream, but the moment had passed. She adjusted her clothes.
    He behaved as though the last ten minutes had not happened and picked up the conversation regarding his departure. But all she wanted to do was move further into his embrace, make this night last forever.
    “Will you wave me off when I leave?”
    As much as he deserved a teary farewell, she shook her head. “It’s not my place.”
    She wouldn’t encroach on the intimate family moment which accompanied his every journey. That was their time. This was hers.
    “Let’s say our goodbyes now.” Madeleine stood on tiptoe to offer up her lips.
    This time, Joe’s kiss was a slow exploration mapping out the contours of her lips, as though he were memorizing her taste. That sensuous perusal finally eroded the jaded view she harbored for the male species. Joe didn’t demand, only took what she willingly gave, and he returned it with love. He respected her, cherished her, and, for the first time in decades, Madeleine let herself trust.
    * * * * *
    Madeleine swam as close as she dared to the hull of the huge ship looming above the water. Titanic was one of the most impressive man-made sights ever to cross her path, and she held the same curiosity as her human counterparts.
    A gentle wave lapped against Madeleine, heralding the arrival of her sister.
    “I don’t see what all the fuss is about.”
    Elizabeth sniffed; her superiority complex was in fine fettle where mortals were concerned. Madeleine suspected neither marriage, babies, nor soul-gaining was high on her sibling’s list of priorities.
    “It’s the greatest ship in the world!” Madeleine exclaimed. “Unsinkable, so I’ve heard.”
    In her optimism, she thought of it as an evolution of sorts. Somehow, sailing on that vessel would bring Joe a step closer to her world. If man could conquer the seas, then surely someday the barrier between the mortal and legendary realms would be broken and they could co-exist without fear. Her true nature was the one thing keeping her and Joe apart.
    She needed to trust him completely if she were to confide in him; the survival of her species depended on it. If word spread of the existence of water nymphs, how long before her family were rounded up for freak shows and medical experiments or, worse, hunted to extinction?
    “Besides, the hustle and bustle here is infinitely more exciting than lolling in a lake waiting for something to happen.”
    Madeleine knew the romantic notion many harbored about maidens of the water was a far cry from reality. Much to her family’s chagrin, her low boredom threshold led her to seek out adventures, both on land and under water.
    “I suspect it is not only the ships that draw your attention here, little sister.” Elizabeth’s suspicious aquamarine eyes bobbed above the surface of the water as she watched the stream of folk, passengers and crew, boarding the Titanic.
    Madeleine followed her sister’s gaze; her heart gave an extra beat when she spotted Joe among the throng.
    “What’s so different about that one?” Elizabeth didn’t even try to hide the cynicism in her voice.
    Madeleine didn’t blame her. So often she had invested her heart only to have it smashed to smithereens, leaving poor Elizabeth to put the pieces back together.
    “He’s not like the others.” Madeleine was quick to defend him.
    Among the masks of despair on the unemployed who trawled the docks, Joe’s cheery smile never left his handsome face. She also knew, unlike his counterparts, Joe didn’t make The Grapes Pub his first port of call when he returned from the seas.
    “He looks after his family.”
    Where many of the seafarers indulged their thirst for alcohol while their skeletal children waited outside the pub, Joe headed straight home to his mother and siblings.
    “He has company with him today.” Elizabeth nodded, but her approval still wasn’t forthcoming.
    “His sisters,” Madeleine confirmed.
    Many a time, she had