Free The Mermaid's Pearl (Tears of the Deep Book 1) by Brooke Kennedy

late now; there was no escape. I had no choice but to go with him back onto the ship until I could figure out another plan.
    When we reached the edge of the ship, he pulled me over it with him and into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hid my face in his shoulder. I couldn’t look at any of his men because I was too ashamed. When I was on the dance floor with him, I lost too much of myself, drank too much rum, and looked like a fool jumping into the ocean. I still couldn’t get my thoughts straight. My body still shook in fear from almost losing my life as I clung to him, unable to stand steadily even though I wanted to.
    He marched straight to his cabin and shut the door behind us. He dropped his right arm slowly, lowering me to the floor. My feet touched the wood, but gave out underneath me. I had no strength to stand up.
    “Whoa, lass,” he exclaimed and tightened his grip on me. He sank to the floor with me and gathered me back into his arms. One of his hands snaked through my hair to comfort me.
    I let him hold me, unable to pull away from him because of the tired feeling in my body. “You saved me.”
    “Of course I did.”
    “You had no reason to do that.”
    Aiden didn’t respond.
    We sat in silence on the hard wooden floor for what seemed like forever, but my body slowly began to stop shaking. I felt safe there in his arms. My mind began to clear and my breathing became even again. I wasn’t sure why he would save me and risk his own life. After all, I was his captive, no one of importance to him. I pushed against him and his arms gave way enough for me to look at him.
    “Why did you save me?” I demanded.
    “I told you, my dear, you aren’t dying on my watch. You are safe with me, but you don’t believe me. You still don’t, do you?” There was intensity in his gaze, but the hard set of his jaw showed he was trying to hide something else.
    “No.” It was partially a lie. I trusted him now more than ever, though I didn’t want to. I still feared what he would do if he found out I was a mermaid. He couldn’t know I was growing fond of him.
    His jaw tightened even more, and he let me go to stand up. He growled angrily as he walked over to his desk and slammed his hands down on the papers, throwing them around the room. The chair was the next victim to his anger as he picked it up and threw it across the room. He yelled, right before it hit the wood and broke into several pieces. Without a word, he stomped over to the washroom and walked inside. The door slammed behind him.
    I couldn’t move. His open display of wrath and rage was obviously directed at me, something I dreaded from the moment I saw how violent he could be. Surprisingly, he hadn’t hurt me. Aiden removed himself the moment he lost his temper and took it off on everything else around him.
    He emerged from the washroom clad in a pair of black cloth pants with a towel in his hand. His hair was still wet, but his body was dry, only a few drops of water left on his skin. As he walked past me, he threw the towel down in my lap.
    “Dry yourself off and get dressed. You’re going to end up sick. You look like a drenched pussycat.”
    I opened my mouth to thank him but as he reached for the door, I could see the scarring down his back. It stood out underneath his tanned skin and trailed in random splotches down the center of his perfectly built back.
    “What happened to you?” I asked, my words rushed as I jumped to my feet and ran over to where he was, determined to run my fingers over the light tissue. There was concern in my voice that surprised me.
    Aiden whirled around before I could touch him and grabbed my hands. The anger was still in his eyes. “You are bloody crazy, lass. You can’t just be jumping into the ocean off a pirate ship in the middle of the night!”
    “You jumped in after me!”
    “That’s because you make me absolutely mad, woman,” he snarled and let go of my hand. He ran his hand down his face