Blurb
“Is it true...that you pulled a lion from the ocean and fell in love with him?”
ASLAN
The sixteen-year-old boy named after a lion.
A boy with his entire life ahead of him.
A boy running from a terrible secret.
All it takes is one awful night to change everything.
One secret, one smuggler, one boat, one storm.
And he wakes in an entirely different existence.
Staring into the ocean-blue eyes of his twelve-year-old rescuer.
NERIDA
The twelve-year-old girl named after a sea nymph.
A girl with lofty dreams and absolute faith that she’ll achieve them.
All it takes is a bright, sunny morning to change everything.
One boy clinging to wreckage, one sea cradling him close, one chance at keeping him safe.
He’s illegal and unwanted.
She’s stubborn and so sure.
He’s lost absolutely everything.
And she’s found the only thing she ever wanted.
They begin as rescued and rescuer.
Slowly growing from twelve and sixteen.
He’s not allowed to touch her.
She’s convinced he is the one.
But as each day dawns on his illegal existence, Aslan’s secrets creep ever closer, the death he ran from hunts ever faster, and the darkness that he can’t get free of finally finds him.
And it costs him...
everything.
A true coming-of-age story that spans a lifetime. This book deals with heavy subjects and it is advised you check the Content Warnings on the Author’s website.
Lunamare is a tangled romance that fans of The Ribbon Duet will love. Combining the beautiful drama of Nicholas Sparks with the brutality of dark romance, Pepper Winters has created a tale of soulmates, secrets, cruelty, and heart-wrenching love.
Letter from Author
This book is a tale of blended culture, languages, and love that overcomes every obstacle. Sensitivity readers have been enlisted for authenticity and translations, and research has been conducted to provide as accurate and respectful tale as possible. Creative license has also been used as the characters are their own person and their evolution is unique to them.
This book is intended for audiences who enjoy graphic sexual descriptions, intense emotional challenges, and are familiar with my darker work. This is a life story, a coming-of-age story, and ultimately, one of the most poignant love stories I have ever written, but it does deal with topics such as death of family, rape (on page), and other mental health challenges.
Please read responsibly.
Pepper
x
Prologue
*
Nerida
*
(Sea in Latin: Mare)
“I SUPPOSE MY FIRST QUESTION HAS TO be the one that everyone is dying to know.” The reporter cast a shy look my way, cheeks flushed, eyes bright, hope clinging to every word for the story of her career.
I sighed, knowing this question would come but hoping it could have waited until after. After I spoke so eloquently of my life’s work. After I gave every piece of my legacy. Instead, my broken heart would have to bleed all over the rest of her questions because I wouldn’t be able to staunch the flow once she asked.
“Perhaps we should ask about Lunamare first?” Dylan said, shooting a reproachful stare at his colleague, all while adjusting the microphone in front of me.
“Oh, yes, of course.” Margot sat back on my comfy wicker furniture, the soft ocean breeze playing in her strawberry-blonde hair. She winced. “I’m sorry. I just...ever since I heard about you two, I can’t stop imagining your love story.”
I smiled softly.
Was I once like her? Diamond-eyed and untouched by time? So full of magic and wonder?
Yes.
The answer was yes.
Yes, I’d once been like her.
And I’d lived a life worth living.
A life worth telling.
Even now, with time carving relentless lines across my face and stamping its unforgettable memories into my weathered skin. Even now, with that very same clock tick-ticking in the back of my mind of what I faced once this interview was over...I still glowed with gratitude.
So, so much gratitude.
“You can ask,” I said softly. “I don’t mind.”
Dylan stiffened a little, a dark beard framing his mouth with harsh expectation. His article on my unparalleled creation seemed to be overshadowed by true love.
And wasn’t that always the way?
You could fashion the tallest building.
Build the fastest car.
But in the end...the greatest achievement of your life would always be what you loved the most, and what loved you the most in return.
“Is it true...” Margot scooted closer, her notepad and pen forgotten on her lap, her burnt-yellow sundress swaying around her knees. “That you pulled a lion from the ocean and fell in love with him?”
Tears pricked.
Heart swelled.
The sea called to me with its soft hish-hish-hish upon the crystalline sands.
“It’s true.” I smiled.
“And is it also true that you descend from a line of sirens? That your very name means nymph, and that your lion loved you back because you sang to him like all sirens do and captured his soul forever?”
“Jesus, I’m so sorry about her.” Dylan snorted, tossing his rakishly long hair off his forehead. “I swear she comes highly educated.” Pinching her in the side, he muttered, “This isn’t a fantasy, Margot. This is real. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interview the greatest visionary of our time. A woman who not only gave her life to the sea but also made living beneath the waves a reality.”
Margot deflated a little, nodded sadly, and consulted her little notebook. “Nerida, how did you envision Lunamare? Did you always believe you could create a liveable undersea biosphere?”
“It’s not just a sphere anymore,” Dylan interrupted. “Over a thousand people now list their address as the Coral Sea.” His eager hazel eyes met mine. “How did you go from being a marine biologist to the architect of a new world?”
I looked back and forth between the two reporters.
I glanced down at my wrinkled hands, and the pangs in my bones spoke of time running out. I’d agreed to this interview because Lunamare was worthy of every publication possible, but...my heart was weary and nostalgic.
Tipping up my chin, I smiled at Margot and gave her the answer to the question she truly wanted. The question that followed me around every time I stepped on shore.
“It is true that I captured the heart of a lion. That I plucked him from the sea when I was just twelve. It’s true that I fell in love with him at first sight, all while he was stubbornly blind. And it’s true that he fell for me...eventually, not because I’m a nymph or siren or some other fantastical myth or legend. He fell because we belonged to each other.” I sighed wistfully. “All it took was for our eyes to touch and our hearts to beat, recalling the song we’d always known, slipping into sync where we belonged.”
“Wow.” Margot blinked. “That’s—”
“A wonderful tale. A romantic one to be sure.” Dylan sniffed. “But not the one we came to—”
“Is he here?” Margot scooted even closer, looking like she’d fall off her wicker chair with eagerness. “Do you think he’d share his side of the story while you shared yours?”