Caspian's silver-blue eyes searched her face, desperate for a lifeline, terrified that the magnitude of his sacrifice had finally pushed her away.
The sharp, stinging sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed like a gunshot in the quiet room.
Caspian violently flinched. He let out a sharp, breathless hiss, his newly formed mortal muscles seizing as a hot, bright flare of pain bloomed across his thigh.
For a merman who had spent centuries shielded by impenetrable abyssal scales, the sudden, raw sting of a physical slap was entirely foreign and shockingly sharp.
He winced, rubbing his leg in pure bewilderment.
"Well, I am not sorry," Roxy declared, her voice trembling but laced with absolute, unyielding fire.
She didn't stay seated on his lap. Roxy immediately stood up, breaking the cage of his arms and creating a sudden, jarring physical distance between them.
