The Mermaid's Curse (California Mermaids Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

onto the sand, I struggle to bend over and remove my shoes, but it just isn’t happening. The rigid undergarment that Amelie had laced me into makes bending at the waist impossible. Despite my grunting and puffing, there’s just no way I can reach my feet.
    I look up from my battle to see Xavier watching me with an amused expression. “I should’ve known that you’d want to get out of those shoes as soon as possible,” he says, winking. “Here, let me help you.”
    Xavier sinks to his knees, and I feel my face heat up as he reaches under the layers of my skirt. Gently, he loosens the clasp on one shoe, and then the other. I kick them off into the sand, wriggling my toes until I can feel the circulation again.
    “Thank you so much,” I say as Xavier grins up at me. “I don’t know how Amelie can wear those all day. They’re completely uncomfortable.”
    Xavier shrugs, standing up. “I think she’s just used to them.” He kicks off his own shoes, and then picks up both his pair and mine, clutching them in one hand while he holds my hand with the other. “Although I must admit that this feels much better.”
    He laughs as we walk down the beach. Even though the day is young, the fishermen are already hard at work, casting their lines into the water and reeling in their morning catches. The waves are placid and all is silent, except for the occasional cry of a sea gull and the gentle background noise of the ocean rolling softly onto the shore. 
    “Well, here we are. Point Joe, where it all started.” Xavier finally breaks the silence as we reach the spot where we met for the first time.
    Together, we climb across the rocks, gazing out at the horizon. The view is much different than it had been under the full moon. Now, a thin layer of clouds covers the sky, and the tranquil ocean laps at the rocks.
    Xavier drapes his arm around my shoulder, and we watch spellbound as the sun rises over the deep teal waters, peeking out from the gaps in the clouds and bathing the sea and sky in luminous tones of pink and orange. The sun’s rays glint off the tips of the clouds, making them shimmer like the golden doubloons I’ve seen in underwater shipwrecks.
    I snuggle into Xavier’s embrace, savoring the feeling of his strong, manly arms. But I know that far under the ocean, my parents are awakening and probably wondering where I am. They’ll swim to Ula’s house to interrogate her, and when she tells them that I swam to the surface at midnight but she hasn’t heard from me since, they’ll begin worrying. Mermaids and humans enjoy a relatively peaceful co-existence, but I have heard tales of mermaids who have been mistakenly speared or caught in fishing nets, just as there is the occasional story of the human who tries to frolic with mermaids and ends up drowning.
    I glance over at Xavier, and see that his suntanned skin is glowing golden under the rising sun. He smiles at me. “It’s been so long since I’ve enjoyed a sunrise,” he says. “I usually sleep through them, but they’re amazing, don’t you think? Like a new beginning.”
    “It is a new beginning,” I agree, drawing my face closer to his. I stroke the light stubble on his cheeks and chin. “Today is the dawn of my first day of adulthood. And I love it so far.”
    Xavier hugs me tightly. “I’m glad to hear that. And I didn’t get a chance to tell you this yet, but happy birthday. I’m glad that we met. But I have one question for you.”
    “Anything,” I say, my voice muffled against his jacket.
    “I’m wondering if you would be all right with me kissing you. What happens when a human kisses a mermaid?”

Part II: The Kiss
     
    Chapter Ten: Xavier
     
    Oceania, who has had her face buried in my shoulder, raises her head to look at me.
    “It would be perfectly all right if you kissed me,” she says, her eyes sparkling like playful waves splashing against the sides of a boat. “A mermaid’s kiss can simply express affection, just like a