by Piper Rayne
The truth is, my shield blocks everything out, but it doesn’t stop my mind from spinning in circles. From having images of cream shells on brown skin to remembering the scent of her.
Shutting Talia out leaves me stuck behind a wall of my choosing, and I’m left yearning for a woman only feet away. Who am I fooling? Talia crept around my wall from the moment she exited the water.
I fold over outside her bedroom.
What is it about her? I guess it started with the warmth of her smile as she stared up at the full moon. It felt pure and unworthy to behold. Then her strength consumed me when she stood up to Gunner and his troop. But it’s the essence of Talia that moves through me and found a secret place that longs for no one but her.
Then I kissed her. I groan, massaging the base of my neck.
Soft lips, smooth tongue, her sighs sound like a melody coaxing the length of my cock awake. All I have to do is hear her, see her, smell that damn conditioner.
Why her? Why now?
Talia’s a mermaid.
Nothing can come of such a union. She’s a fucking princess and I’m a killer—if the price is right. The only reason I’m on this mission is because I collected a quarter of a million dollars. The darkness of the suite absorbs my laugh. It was a stupid call. Not even a million dollars is enough for a priceless gem.
Talia Hudson is one of a kind. To which I don’t deserve.
What the fuck will I do now?
My head falls back against the closed door. The guard moves around the county undetected. The location of the reformatory is protected by legions of vampires with license to kill on sight. But even if the vampires didn’t stand guard, the magic of the Dakes Empire makes the place undetectable.
The only way to gain access it through the transmission of the elders, the head of the Dakes armed forces, Drake, or the Walker. I can’t fathom what Kaden had to pay and who he had to pay to gain the Walker’s itinerary. But something tells me at least one involved party is Colt or Adan. Why else does Gunner keep them alive?
The sound of Talia splashing in the tub puts a smile on my face. The troop took my advice and hit the bars on the pier again tonight. And against my better judgment, I drop my shield.
Immediately her joy feels me as if it were my own. There’s only one explanation. Talia is my mate.
I fall back behind my wall. Thinking about every interaction. Every woman I’ve known before. None have felt like this.
It can’t be.
It shouldn’t be.
But it is.
Talia hums and I’m on my feet entering her bedroom. Each step brings me closer to her until I’m standing in the doorway of her bathroom.
The sight of her steals my breath. Her hair slicked back, exposing her beautiful face.
How can I turn her over to Kaden knowing that Talia is my mate?
We get one. It doesn’t me we don’t entertain others or find love with another. But there is only one true love. A love that solders to your soul until two become one.
One love.
One heart.
One soul.
Talia is my soul. But there’s no happy ending for us.
She lives in the lake, and I live on land. She’s destined for the throne and I’m one hoof away from life in the Dakes Reformatory.
I have nothing to give her. There’s me, my land, and my horses. I wanted no more than that until now. I want to free my father, and the selfish man in me wants Talia.
The woman the Creator made for me.
Talia glances over her shoulder, and I follow the curves of her body. She rolls in the water and without taking a step, I caress the trail of white pearls. The faint beat of her heart races in the far edges of my presence, and I do what I haven’t done since the death of my mother. I drop my shield completely.
I’m slammed with the strength of her aura.
Passion.
Desire.
Love.
Our hearts race faster as blood flows through my body, filling the place that yearns to fill her. Her eyes round and I kneel beside the tub.
I reach for her, and she floats closer. “Do they hurt?”
She shakes her head. Need swirls in her eyes and until her brown eyes turn radiant blue.
My fingers trace each smooth pearl embedded in her skin. Skin that is softer than it appears and contrast with my pale complexion. My hand brushes over every pearl until I’m at her tail. It seamlessly extends from the space right above her hip. The texture is not what I expect.
It too is smooth, like silk. I run my hand down the length, and a moan escapes.
You like that? I ask.
Yes.
And so, do I.
I continue to explore her body, knowing I’ll have nothing but the memories of her to keep me occupied for the rest of my life. I don’t stop, despite her wiggling and soft moans until I reach her multi-color tail. Then I return, not with one hand but two, dragging up her curvy body. Talia twists and turns, but her gaze never leaves mine. Am not sure how, but tonight, I want to please her and it’s selfish of me because I have no solution for getting us out of this situation. I could let her go and my father will be lost to me forever, or I could turn her over and risk that Kaden will kill her in the name of the darkness he serves.
I lift Talia from the water, pushing thoughts of our dilemma aside.
Tell me to stop, Talia.
I can’t.
We don’t speak or think, but the beats of our hearts fall in sync. The scent of her fills my nose as her hands toy with the length of my hair. Then I lower her to the bed.
I run back to lock the door, uncertain what to expect. I’ve only been with humans. It’s easier since there’s no reason to tell them about my hybrid status. They don’t stay around long enough to divulge my heritage—which is against the Dakes Empire, since we’re sworn to keep our existence a secret.
I stop at the foot of the bed. Talia twists and turns and like before she scrambles, groans, and once my vision clears her long legs appear.
Is your transformation governed by a spell?
No, my blood. Once I’m out of water my legs return.
I crawl up the bed, kissing all the places my hands touched. Her toes licking up her calf, suckling on her thighs, dragging my tongue to sample her sweetness. And the taste of her is like my own personal drug. I bury my face, exploring her womanly folds with my tongue.
Talia pulls on my hair, rocking her hips as I drown in the taste. The sound of her breathing shifts and I increase my stroke caressing her ass patiently waiting for her to release on my face.
Xander, what is this? What’s happening to my body?
Ride the wave, love.
She arches into me, riding my tongue as I eat the best meal of my life. Then I suckle on her pearl. Talia screams. The force of her release rocks us both. She’s panting and I’m panting until I climb up her body.
“Yes, Xander.”
I fill her.
“Fuck!”
Her sweet, tight pussy holds my dick like a glove. I stare down and her blue eyes command me and I willingly obey. She wraps her hands around my neck and pulls me closer. We kiss, but I hear the whispers of her pain.
I’ll stop.
No.
Talia pushes me back, searching for the truth in my face.
* * *
Xander gazes down at me and I everything in me burns. We’re joined. I reach up to find his lips.
He whispers, “Ready?”
I nod and he pushed another inch. Pain stifles the excitement of the moment, and I bury my face in his chest, seeking comfort. He kisses up my neck and stops with a tongue in my ear.
“I can stop.”
“Will it always hurt like this?” I look up into his eyes.
“No love. It gets better. Relax and I’ll show you.”
He eases out of me, sliding back in, and the pinch fades into pleasure. My body moves as if from memory of Xander filling me, loving me, as I hold my eyes closed tight.
Light bounces behind my eyes as he moves inside me. I’ll never be the same, and I have Xander to thank.
He increases the rock. Hands roaming over my body. Breathless kisses and I’m home in his arms, beneath him. My body groans, stretching until I know he’s exactly where he belongs. And so am I. Then a strike of light brighter than lightning cracks through my body.
Xander… I gasp and my eyes fly open. “What is that?”
A cocky smile spreads across his face. He opens his mouth to answer and I feel it again. I buck. My back lifts off the bed, running from it yet needing it. I grip his shoulders so tight that my nails dig in his flesh.
“Xander…” I scream and he captures my question with his tongue. Stroking in tandem with his cock.
“You’re about to touch the sky, princess. Are you ready?”
He doesn’t wait for my answer. He pounds into me as a beg for more until I’m flicked to the heavens. I scream and his growl of release rocks the room like an earthquake.
Xander leaves the bed and I watch his magnificent body. I’ve only seen a naked human in books. None of the books look like Xander. Hard, lean muscles. His straight black hair falls pass his shoulders.
And like another strike of lightning, I’m hit again with a realization.
I love Xander.
Tears sting my eyes. I’ve done some foolish things in my life. Falling in love with my capture is by far the worse. But I don’t feel foolish at all, instead my heart breaks because we live in two different worlds. Two worlds that will crash around us the moment we stand before the Walker.
Xander, Hunter, and his troop will die for abducting me and the deaths of my guards. Is there a way I can save Xander from his fate? Is there a way we can see each other again?
My eyes fall heavy and for the first time since they brought me to this prison, I welcome sleep until Xander lifts me from the bed.
“Time for your bath.”
9
I sit with my back against the wall, watching her.
Talia lays in the tub with her eyes closed. From the rhythm of her heart, I know she’s not asleep, but she’s close. I don’t want to miss a single minute because somehow, I must let her go.
“Xander, I love you.”
My heart stops. No one has loved me since I buried my mother. Heartbreak killed her. It seems I’m fated to a similar death. But the cause is vastly different. She loved a man who was fated to another, and I love a woman that will never be mine.
Eyes filled with love and fear stare at me. “Tell me I’m stupid, or childish, or naïve. How can I love you when so much hangs between us?”
“Tell me everything about you.” A soft smile touches her lips and I lean over and kiss her. “Please leave nothing out.”
For the next three hours she tells me about her kingdom, her sisters, her parents. She tells me about her fears of assuming the role as queen. But I know she has nothing to fear, Talia will serve her kingdom well.
Her story end with the moment she emerged from the lake and her probing eyes turn on me.
“What are you doing here Xander?”
“I accepted a contract to oversee this mission.”
“To abduct my mother.” I nod and she leans away from me. “What do they want with her?”
“That’s outside my concern.”
“So, you’d agree to take a woman and not at least ask why?”
“It’s what I do.” I say the words, but they seem hollow speaking them to Talia. “I don’t ask questions. They ask. I give them the price. They submit the deposit. I handle the job. It’s business.”
“But it’s not just business. How can you take a life without cause, without a reason, without knowing the cost of your actions? My mother has my father, daughters, sons-in-law, grandchildren, and an entire kingdom that depends on her. Hundreds of thousands of merfolk who love her and would give their lives for her. And you,” rolls off her tongue like I’m scum, “would take that away for a million dollars?”
“I’d take that away to save my father.”
The hardness of her eyes doesn’t change. “What makes your father’s life more valuable than my mother’s?”
“It’s not. Your mother was the means to reach my desired goal.”
Talia rolls her body away from me, and I don’t blame her. I’m a monster. And before meeting her five days ago, I didn’t care.
My life suited me. It kept my pockets fat and I live life on my own terms. But through the lens of her grief, I’m ashamed.
I don’t ask questions because I don’t want to know the details. Details like a spouse, children, and all the loved ones affected by my actions.
“Talia, I’d never intentionally hurt you.”
Like before, I remove her from the tub, and I dry her body. This time the beauty of her transition is lost in the way she rolls away with her back towards me.
I take a few steps back. The pain she feels for her mother is mine to carry.
How did this perfect woman land in the core of my darkened heart? I’d do anything to stop the insatiable ache.
“Why Xander?”
How much should I tell her? I wonder, sitting at the end of the bed facing the door. I can’t bear to look at her tear-stained face.
“My life is tangled in this mess and if you care anything for me. Tell me the truth.”
“I guess it started with my parents.” I climb up onto the bed and take the space beside her. “As your extensive research may have revealed, intertribal marriages and procreation carry extreme penalties.”
Talia lays her head on my chest, and I hold her close. “Penalties. What penalties?”
“Depends on the keepers standing in the Empire and their kingdom. But lower-level keepers may have their rights stripped. They could also forfeit their tribal inheritance, and some are sentenced to death.”
“Why?”
“Because they frown upon bastards like me. They can’t predict our powers. Because each of us, unlike them, are unique. Our genetic make-up splits and integrates the powers of two separate tribes.”
“That must make you powerful.”
“Some of us.”
“And you.”
“Extremely. I became a wanted man in my mother’s womb.” I take a deep breath. I’ve never shared my story with anyone. Only my parents know the hardships we’ve endure because of my birth. I wrecked both of their lives and now I’m about to wreck Talia’s life too.
I move to get up.
“You can’t leave. Walking away doesn’t change what we feel Xander.”
I stop and I jump the moment her body presses against my back.
“The only way we’ll find a solution is to do it together.”
I sit on the end of the bed.
Talia continues, “Mother always tells me that an effective queen leads from her heart, not her head, and maybe you need to stop throwing up your shield. Let me in. What do we have to lose?”
“Everything, Talia. Everything.”
“I’d rather lose it all standing on the truth than maintain my existence based on a lie.”
I glance back over my shoulder. “You sound like a queen, princess.”
“I have to be a quick study to keep up with you. Now lay back and tell me about your parents.”
I obey because she is a queen, my queen.
Talia makes the act of standing in my truth sound so easy. But I’ve maintained my distance for twenty-nine years and this one mission could expose me to the Dakes Elders. If captured they’ll kill me.
“My mother gave birth to me and they went on the run. We never stayed in a place for more than a few months. We lived all over the country, changing cities, names, you name it, we did it, trying to prevent the inevitable.”
“What’s that?”
“Death.”
“Is that how your mother died?”
I nod. “She stopped running once my father found his fated mate.” I swore I’d never give in to the mythical concept of fa
ted mates. I didn’t believe in it, thought father used his relationship with Filia to leave us in our plight alone. But after meeting Talia, my opinions have changed.
“He left you?”
“Yes, met Filia while scouting a location, and a week later they married. He settled on her ranch in Texas.”
“And your mother. We kept running. Her from the sole desire to keep me alive into manhood. Me from the sole desire of one day killing everyone responsible for my mother’s pain. She died days after I turned eighteen.” The ache of her pain is as real today as it was eleven years ago. “He broke her heart and nothing I did or said could repair what he shattered.
“And that’s how they found him?”
I nod. “He stopped running. Now he’s on death row awaiting execution.”
“So, you’re here to save your father?”
“He’s an asshole for leaving us. But I can’t let another person die because I lived. That includes you.”
I’ve done wrong. But saving my father by turning over Talia seems like a high price to pay. Haven’t we paid enough. To lose both of my parents all because they had me. To live off the radar because the Dakes fear my existence.
I can’t fix it all. But I can save Talia. Because this world is nothing if her soul isn’t alive, giving it light.
“What are you going to do?”
Talia straddles my body, pressing her breasts against my chest. I cup the cheeks of her ass, ready to relieve the stress that’s headed our way. The Dakes are expected in two days, that gives me one day to get her far away from here.
“It’s better you don’t know. I think it’s time we take a trip to the Ferris wheel. How would you like that? You can people gaze up close and personal.” I push her curls behind her ear, ready to make love to her again.
“Really? I’d love to see it up close. What about Gunner and his men? And Colt and Adan?”
“Princess, we have to handle this one step at a time. You first. Now kiss me.”
* * *
I kiss Xander with all the love I have in me. Is this our fate? To find each other and lose each other in the same week. The Creator can’t be this cruel.
It’s complicated up top. Our world below the line seems simpler. We have different Kingdoms, but we all exist as one, whether freshwater or saltwater merfolk.
