Under The Moonlight

By Ashley Nemer

Zara's fate had been decided thousands of years before her birth. She is now fighting against time and family to reclaim the decisions that will ultimately shape her destiny.

Sentenced to live an existence in the Underworld, mated to a man she despises, Zara must find a way to overcome the Gods and their curses, with love as her only guide.

Can James, a sailor, help Zara break the bonds of magical spells or will she end up mated to Xander, the Son of Satan?

Take a dive Under the Moonlight to see where love can take you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Art of Safkhet
• Release date: Oct 20, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311513595

Ashley Nemer

Ashley is married and lives in Houston with her husband and their two children. They have been together for overa decade and he brings her more joy than she could ever imagine as a child. She loves to read and has been hooked on the romance genre ever since her life long best friend gave her "Ashes to Ashes' by Tami Hoag to read when they were younger. Ashley finds her strength through her family, especially her parents. They always support her in life, they push her to strive for greatness. There once was a motto that Ashley heard in her youth through her Taekwondo life 'Reach for the Stars' and that is what Ashley has always done. It was through her upbringing that the values Ashley has and display's came from. With her Parents always cheering her on in life she was able to grow up having faith in herself and her ability to conquer the world.

Book preview

Under The Moonlight

By

Ashley Nemer

UNDER THE MOONLIGHT

Cover Art by Callie J. Morris

Edited by Katia Vodin

Format by Ashley Nemer

Copyright © 2014 Ashley Nemer

All rights reserved.

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A product of the

Art of Safkhet

Published, October 2014

DEDICATION

This story is for my Aunt Pam … She has no idea how much she has meant to me over the past years. And how much she helps me, every time we talk.

And to my Aunt Lee, who gave me my first taste at romance novels and opened my eyes to an entire world of reading I may never have known.

As the saying goes…

"Only an Aunt can give hugs like a mother,

keep secrets like a sister

and share love like a friend."

Ashley’s published works under

Ashley Nemer & Niki Becker

Novels

Maverick Touch: The Cat by Ashley Nemer March 25th, 2013

Maverick Touch: The Highway by Ashley Nemer March 18, 2014

Blood Purple by Ashley Nemer September 24th, 2012

Blood Yellow by Ashley Nemer July 3rd, 2013

Blood Green by Ashley Nemer April 23, 2014

Blood White by Ashley Nemer June 29, 2014

Special Assignment by Niki Becker December 17th, 2013

Short Stories

Bud’s Christmas Wish by Ashley Nemer November 17th, 2012

Bud’s Christmas Miracle by Ashley Nemer November 24th, 2013

The Café (Temptation Tuesday) by Niki Becker May 7th, 2013

Fantasy Cruise (Temptation Tuesday) by Niki Becker July 2nd, 2013

The Backyard (Temptation Tuesday) by Niki Becker August 6th, 2013

Sekhmet’s Revenge Volume One through Four by Ashley Nemer & Stacy A. Moran September 28, 2013

Soul Mates by Ashley Nemer and L.S. Broomfield October 2nd, 2013 (Through Secret Cravings Publishing)

CHAPTER ONE

2014

Zara couldn’t help staring at the vessels that passed by her cove. Each one contained a different story and a different set of sailors. Her father had warned her that interacting with the humans, or even simply studying them, was an addiction, one she would soon have to learn to overcome. Each mermaid was presented with the same challenge on their twenty-second birthday. They each had to make a choice to stay in the waters and live with their families, or to give up everything they had always known, for love, and join the human race.

For thousands of years, the merpeople had joined the two-legged humans’ culture, going undetected. And it wasn’t as if mermaids could never go into the waters again afterwards. Each full moon they had the opportunity to dive into the salty water of the ocean and join their fellow merpeople under the moonlight. However, each full moon that passed made that transition harder and harder for the mermaid to accomplish. The longer they were out of the ocean and away from their mer-form, the harder it was on their body to shift back to their original form.

She knew that her decision was about to be due. She hadn’t told anyone what she was thinking about choosing; she didn’t want the added pressure from King Triton, her father, and his brother, Poseidon, her uncle. Humans always got the lineage wrong in their stories. So many of the gods were intertwined that they all ended up being related to one another in some way or another, but the rules for joining the human race were strict. A merperson could only marry once, and it could only be for love. Any other reason wouldn’t be approved. You had to have King Triton’s blessing in order to make the final conversion into the human world.

What are you looking at, Zara?

Her head whipped around to the side to look at Sadie, her mother, who was swimming in the lagoon. That ship out there. It comes by here every day around this time, like they are just waiting.

They are predators. Always remember that. Her mother’s tone was adamant.

You only say that because you don’t know them yet. Everyone is a shark to you, Zara retorted.

Men are men, Zara. They will kill to get what they want.

Is that what you tell Daddy? Zara valued her mother and knew that she would always be there to support her, but she worried that her mother was constantly trying to sway her against all human men and make her change her mind about the choices she had spinning around in her head.

Your father is different. Gods know how to treat their women, she said flatly.

No, they don’t, Mother. You are just blinded by love. She watched the curve of her mother’s lips come up and form a smile. It was the truth. Her mother and father were very much in love, even after all these years and hundreds of children. Humans talked about having large families with nine or ten siblings. They should try having two hundred and fifty nine sisters and twice as many brothers.

And what a blindness to have. You should be so lucky, young lady.

One day, Mother, maybe I will be.

You keep staring off into that sunset. You are a true romantic at heart.

Isn’t that what you want for me? Zara always felt like her parents were over protective of her most of all. Granted, she had only seen them with three other children as she had grown up and wasn’t exactly sure how the other seven hundred and seventy-three siblings had it, but she felt like she had it the hardest.

We want all of our children to find love. It is what gives us our powers. Your father and I only wish for the love we have for one another to be bestowed onto our children.

I don’t want to give up the sea.

No one does, but you have to follow your heart. Her mother swam past her and out into the cove before turning back around and looking at Zara. Your father and I love you, and we will always support you, no matter what, Zara. Remember that. Even when the situation is out of our control, we will always support you.

She watched her mother dive into the waters. Her mother’s tail came up out of the water to splash against a