by Vivian Arend
“You’ve seen the dolphins change. You’re one of us, Alexia, like Joshua said. But you’re not a commoner.” Michael pointed to the medallion. “That represents your position in our pod. For years your grandmother has been our matriarch, our leader in much more than political matters. Giving you the medallion signifies her will for you to take over.”
“What do I know about leading mythical beings?”
Joshua’s fingers brushed her shoulder and she shivered, intense pleasure breaking over her. She wanted to turn around and throw herself on top of Joshua. Strip him bare, ride him, and she didn’t care who else was in the room. His caress was light but it was enough, and she stared into his eyes. Longing reflected back. Heat. She didn’t want to stop and have to think about what this meant.
She just wanted.
Alexia wrapped her hands further around his torso, palms tight to his skin, and Joshua made a quiet noise deep in his throat. A powerful shot of lust hit her, and her voice was husky when she managed to speak. “What does this have to do with my hormones being on overload?”
“Joshua, stop touching her!” Michael demanded, hands tightening to fists.
Alexia narrowed her eyes. The waves of anger rolling off him doused her libido like ice water.
“Please, everyone. Perhaps I should be the one to explain.” Anthony held out a hand to Alexia and led her away to the massive windows overlooking the sea. The sight relaxed her, gave her back her center. Anthony stood beside her with a soothing calmness. When she impulsively linked her fingers with his, he gasped.
“You’re the teacher. Teach me.” Alexia smiled in reassurance. “The SparksNotes version if possible.”
He nodded and thought for a minute. Alexia wondered if he realized his thumb was massaging her knuckles.
“As the Keeper, you have an innate sense of your people’s needs. You can use it to help them, whether it’s in their work or play or family life. You’ll know your duties instinctively, guiding the pod and keeping us strong. Keeping us safe.” He turned her face him, his deep green eyes dark in his tanned face. “Along with the abilities come needs of your own. You need to be supported and cared for. Until you select a consort, any time you have a need all the eligible males will respond. We’ll care for you as best we can—”
“Every time I get worried or upset, there’s going to be a throng of guys surrounding me?” Something was still missing, she knew it.
Anthony shook his head, his face flushed with embarrassment. “You know, I could write you a nice essay on this, explain it all in great detail…”
Alexia laughed and he smiled wryly before continuing. “You have the merfolk genes, but you don’t have the blood. Yet. You need additional chemicals to change to a dolphin form or to be able to survive underwater in your human body. If you’d grown up around Jaffrey’s Cove, in a family of merfolk, you’d already have them, just from environmental exposure. Most merfolk, boys and girls, build up enough of the chemicals by their early teens to shift.
“You gained a few during your summer holidays, but all the various components are required to produce the final compound. Your hormones are on overdrive because as the new matriarch, you want the chemicals immediately. We have them in a form you can easily absorb. That’s what’s causing your strong desire for the males of the pod.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You have this chemical?”
He nodded.
“And I get it from you, how?”
Anthony’s gaze flicked to the others as he flushed harder.
“Sex. You need to have sex with us.” Michael stalked forward, his hand reaching to pull her to his side forcefully. Anthony protested but Michael ignored him, slipping his hands around her head and forcing his mouth on hers. A shiver of disgust shook her body and she clawed at him, tried to detach herself from his clutches. He ignored her attempts to push him away, his hands scrambling at her dress, his stronger body overpowering hers. Loud voices rose in anger around her. Joshua yanked his brother off her and she was free, cradled against Anthony’s solid chest. Joshua slammed his fist hard into Michael’s jaw. He flew backward to land flat on the floor, limbs flailing. Alexia hid her face, Anthony’s arms closed around her as he attempted to lead her away from where Joshua stood menacingly over Michael.
She needed to stay. She needed to finish this. Alexia forced herself forward to Joshua’s side, dragging Anthony with her.
“You will not touch her again unless she asks. Do you understand me?” Joshua’s icy cold tones sent a shiver of pure lust shooting through her. “She selects. She decides. Not birth order, not some fancy piece of paper on the wall. The Keeper alone knows who she needs, and manhandling her is not going to make her transformation any easier.”
Michael attempted to stand and Joshua swept his feet from under him again. “Do you understand?” he demanded.
“I understand. Damn it, Joshua, let me up.”
“Yes, let him up.” Alexia stepped forward just in time to see Michael exchange his expression of avarice with one of deep concern. Alexia’s stomach churned. He might have tried to mask his outward appearance, but Michael’s emotions gave his intent away. He was far too delighted in the thought she was going to select him and rebuff Joshua. As Michael rose to his feet she took one more step forward.
She let it him have it with a right jab to the same spot Joshua had nailed him.
Michael staggered back, catching himself on the dining room chairs. Alexia followed, righteous indignation filling her stronger than her previous arousal. She didn’t know all the rules yet, but whatever was happening she knew one thing—Michael had crossed a line and she didn’t like it.
“Thank you for the evening, Michael. You were very gracious to extend an invitation to welcome me to the community. Let’s pretend that was your motivation all the time and leave it at that.” Alexia crossed her arms over her chest, watching as he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. His eyes glinted coldly for a moment and she saw red.
He was defying her?
She shot her arm out in time to stop Joshua from racing past her to attack Michael again. “Stop.”
Joshua froze immediately, body clenched tight as he waited for her direction.
“You need me to be able to change,” Michael warned softly, his gaze flicking over his kin. “I doubt you can gain all the chemicals you need from either one of them. Neither is strong enough to help you make the first change. Don’t throw this away, Alexia. We’d be good together, leading the pod as a team.”
Behind her Anthony hissed. She glanced at him, surprised at his response.
“You lead the pod alone, Alexia. Not your partner. They support you. Michael offering to lead together… It’s not possible. It’s not right.” Anthony spat the words with disgust.
Joshua said nothing, standing beside her like a rock.
“Joshua, is it true? Do I need him?”
Joshua stared at Michael, his body remaining alert. “It will be harder but not impossible. He’s very strong. Still, the tradition of the pod demands he provide what you need, no strings attached. You can order him to assist in your first change, and he will or face banishment. To stay in the pod he must support and respect you as you are due.” Joshua hesitated and turned to the side so she couldn’t see his face. “If you select him you might not need us.”
The thought of sending Joshua away sent an ache to the pit of her stomach and she couldn’t stand it anymore. She turned her back on Michael and threw herself at Joshua, wrapping her arms around his neck to cling to him. Their mouths met and once again his taste exploded through her. He supported her tenderly and she wanted to shake him. She didn’t want tenderness right now.
She wanted to be possessed.
A loud crash behind them made Joshua spin her behind him protectively as they turned to face the sound. Michael was once more on the floor. This time it was Anthony who hovered over him, fists at the ready. Joshua would have moved to swing at Michael and continue the battle, but A
lexia had had enough. In spite of the rollercoaster of emotions sweeping through her, she finally knew what she needed to do.
“Michael, you aren’t welcome here. We’ll have a civilized discussion about this sometime in the future, but I want you out of my house immediately.” Alexia laid a calming hand on Anthony’s shoulder, soothing his anger.
“I just want what’s best for you,” Michael insisted.
“Go!” she ordered in the same tone she’d heard her Gram use earlier in the day.
He scrambled to his feet and straightened his clothing with dignity before he bowed slightly in her direction. The menacing look he threw at his younger relatives was less respectful but Alexia let it go. She wanted Michael out before she lost all control.
6
The click as the door shut behind Michael echoed in the room, Anthony’s agitated breathing loud in the silence. Joshua swept a hand through his hair and took a calming breath himself. He’d never thought Michael would resort to violence to try and claim the Keeper.
Delicate fingers slipped into his hand and his heartbeat doubled. Alexia was here, he was here.
Anthony was still here.
His cousin’s expression held a mix of anger and awe, and Joshua empathized deeply. With Michael’s departure, the sexual tension returned, a heady sensation that tangled Joshua’s limbs and clouded his mind. In her every move and glance, Alexia sent a clear message of arousal and need, one he wished nothing more than to answer immediately.
Completely. Forcefully.
He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it lightly, tonguing the tender flesh between her knuckles.
“You have a good right hook, my lady,” Joshua said, soft and low, his voice gravelly as lust raced through his body.
Alexia’s eyes were huge in her pale face. She moistened her bottom lip with her tongue and a flush covered her skin.
“Now what, Joshua? Now what do we do?” He had to strain to hear her quiet voice, embarrassment coloring her prettily.
He raised a brow, his fingers stroking hers. “Anthony explained. You are the one who must decide what you need. We will do whatever you ask, whether it’s a walk on the beach or a game of cards. We could sit by the fire and tell you stories about what it’s like to travel underwater.”
As he spoke Alexia pulled away from him to stare out the window at the ocean. Her body sagged and she hugged her arms around her body tightly. Her head dropped to the cool glass for a moment and Joshua hesitated. Perhaps it was all too much too fast.
She knew what she needed to demand of them. It was a part of who she was, the heritage in belonging to the line of the matriarch. Now that the medallion had begun to awaken her body to the change, there was no turning back. Her longing for transformation would drive her need for sex higher and higher to the point of overwhelming lust.
Every inch of Joshua’s body urged him to step forward and take her into his arms, but he held back. He had to let her be the one to decide. “We could say good night, and let you sleep and think about things until the morning,” he said, attempting to keep the reluctance out of his voice.
Anthony cleared his throat. “We could…” His gaze flicked to Joshua as if asking permission. “We could…”
“Hold me?” Alexia whispered. She turned her back to the windows and squared her shoulders.
“Ummm, yes.”
“Kiss me?” she breathed as her head tilted to the side.
Anthony swallowed hard before nodding.
Alexia smiled, a mischievous expression crossing her face. She stepped closer to Anthony but looked at Joshua. “Make love to me?” she purred.
Groans tore from both their throats as she reached for them. Joshua stayed back, letting Anthony take Alexia into his arms first.
The anger he expected to flare at seeing anyone touch Alexia arrived, but far more tempered than he’d believed possible. Anthony’s tender adoration for her was so clear in his every movement Joshua felt a tentative peace as he watched their lips meet. He didn’t want it to happen. He’d give anything to be all she needed.
But he wasn’t. Not yet. Perhaps not ever.
Anthony kissed her again, a hesitant caress. Joshua watched a trickle of blue shoot from his cousin to brush Alexia’s skin. The magic of St. Elmo’s fire would make her strong. Along with the chemicals from both of them, she would able to transform and survive underwater and lead their people.
What Joshua could give alone wasn’t enough.
This night had to happen. He would share, for her sake, this one time.
Please let it be only this one time.
Joshua moved to stoke the fire higher, pull cushions to the floor and open the curtains to let the ocean witness their lovemaking.
Alexia wondered briefly what she was doing in Anthony’s arms while Joshua wandered the room behind them. It was so different from anything she’d experienced before, the need welling from deep within calling her to keep these two men at her side. More than called, demanded. She longed for Joshua, a heady all-out desire that shocked her to the core, but she wanted Anthony as well. Alexia had never been one to fool around indiscriminately, always keeping sex in the context of long-term relationships. But there was no denying the urges sweeping through her now, harder and hotter than she’d experienced before.
It had to be something to do with the medallion, with the dolphins.
Did she want to be out of control like this? She’d accepted the medallion as a gift from her Gram. A trinket. Not some life-changing “now you are one of us” commitment. Yet here she stood in Anthony’s arms. Her hand throbbed from the smack she’d delivered to Michael’s face. Her body tingled from head to toe with the need for…something.
Kissing Anthony felt right. Sweet, tender kisses that turned her inside out. Anthony’s touch teased. Tentative at first, his lips on hers like a brush of the ocean on the shore at its very calmest. She stroked his lips with her tongue, and he drew a hand around her neck to adjust the angle of their mouths to bring them closer together. He nibbled on her lips, along her cheek to the V of her neckline and a shiver ran through her. Anthony was softness and intimate caring.
Then Joshua returned and the heat skyrocketed. Twisting her in his cousin’s arms Joshua took possession of her mouth and controlled her. Tongues met, teeth bit. This was what she’d been longing for and she urged him on, her lips hot and moist on his. She wrapped an arm around his neck to lock him in place, the fingers of her other hand still tangled with Anthony’s.
Three bodies close together, the rough fabric of their jeans brushed the bare skin of her legs and made her want more of their touch everywhere. Joshua’s hands held her hips firmly to his groin, his erection a hard ridge against her belly.
Anthony nipped the back of her neck, then lapped to soothe the pain away. He pulled the zipper on her dress inch by inch to release the garment from her body. A trail of kisses flowed downward, laving her bare skin with his tongue.
“She’s not wearing a bra,” Anthony whispered in awe as a finger brushed softly over the exposed skin of her back.
Joshua pulled away and Alexia restrained herself from following him, chasing his addictive taste. His hands pushed the straps of her dress aside and the top pooled around her hips. Anthony stroked her shoulders and down the curve of her breasts. He cradled her in his palms, lifting the firm globes to Joshua like an offering. The heat of Joshua’s stare hit her full on, and she forced her eyes shut to avoid going up in flames.
Then she was covered with caresses as her dress was lowered to the floor, and lips and hands touched her body again and again. She didn’t know who kissed her neck, didn’t care who caressed her breast. Skin to skin, moist kisses after searing hot touches. One of them flicked the pearled tip of her nipple, and her womb flooded with moisture.
“We want you, Alexia. All of you,” Joshua said before his tongue slid along the edge of her soaking wet undies. She opened her legs voluntarily, wanting more. Offering more. He pressed a kiss to her he
ated core, his teeth snagging on the fabric covering her. Hot breath on hot moisture combined and whirled together into a flammable danger zone. He leaned in harder with his lips, licking the length of her slit over her panties and she shivered.
Take them off, please.
She wanted his mouth on her, no barriers. Joshua sucked the fabric again, the crotch sopping wet between her juices and his mouth. Alexia tilted her hips, attempting to make him touch her more intimately, and he laughed. His hands traced over her thighs, thumbs rubbing along the inside toward her tender core. He pushed into the material, his fingers probing her pussy ever so slightly.
“Oh sweet mercy,” Alexia moaned. It was torment, the lightness of his touch on super-sensitized tissues.
Her panties slid away, and she rocked on suddenly shaky legs until Joshua’s hands steadied her. One hand reached behind her to clasp her ass, his fingers dipped into the crease between her cheeks. The other stroked her slit, fingers dragging through the moisture to settle where her clit pulsed in time with her heart.
Then his mouth descended and his tongue claimed her again.
All this time Anthony worshipped her breasts, his fingers rolling the tips between thumb and forefinger before he suckled, one side and then the other until both tingled with need.
“You’re beautiful, Alexia.” Anthony pulled back, his eyes glittering with golden flecks. She watched in fascination as he palmed her, lowering his mouth slowly to suckle. She was quivering with anticipation before the moist heat of his mouth lit her on fire. He raised his head to stare at her again. Stars swirled in the depths of his gaze.
“Your eyes. They’re alive with lights.” Wonder and delight filled her heart.
Anthony rose and moved to the side, allowing Joshua more room to settle intimately closer as his tongue lapped at her. Sensation built, pleasure rising. One man between her legs and one caressing her torso became an exquisite form of torture.
