Out of the many years of my sexual experience, I've never had a man's mouth between my legs before meeting these sexy mer. I always thought it'd be this awkward situation that wouldn't feel as good as what most women make it out to be. Now I'm kicking myself for not letting it happen sooner. Maybe it's for the best, though, because I like the thought of having this first with my mates.
His arms go underneath my thighs and wrap around, using his fingers to spread me even wider. The first swipe of his tongue has my back arching off the floor. When my fingers reach down to sink in his hair, I don't stop them and neither does he. I should be embarrassed by the noises coming out of my mouth and the fact that my hips are moving, burying his face even further into me. The only reason I'm not is because I can feel it as his cheeks lift in a grin. Then his tongue starts working figurative magic on my clit with a few quick brushes of his teeth and lips and all thoughts in my mind float away on the wind.
Between all of the teasing and the feel of his hair tickling the rarely touched skin of my inner thighs, I’m already at that peak of no return. When he hums, sending a vibration through his still flicking tongue, it’s enough to send me straight over that edge. My fists clench in their spot sunken deep into his hair, and I’m barely conscious of grinding my hips into his face as a breathless sound escapes my chest.
Lifting his head, he runs a hand down the lower part of his face, wiping away the wetness there that I should probably be slightly embarrassed about. Trailing a fiery path of kisses up the center part of my body, he takes his time showing each and every inch of skin its own personal attention. By the time those lips find their way to mine, I feel like a worshipped goddess beneath him.
I smile against his mouth, feeling his own match it. Wrapping both arms and legs around him, I tug his body tight against mine, pulling a soft moan from him in the process. It slides into my mouth easily seeing as his tongue is still plundering and staking his claim. All of it is enough to have my heart pumping over time. I don’t want to wait any longer.
“Zale,” I plead softly.
Another one of those sounds passes through his lips before he brings himself back up to his knees. Somehow he’s managed to see through the fog to remember to hand over the talisman. Jutting my chin upwards gives him perfect access to place it around my neck.
His fingers linger around my collar bones, and an unreadable expression crosses his face as he confesses, “I don’t like this, damselfish. I don’t like the thought of hurting you.”
Forcing him to look me in the eye, I reply, “We don’t have a choice if we want to break the curse.”
“Not necessarily. We’re not certain it has to be done this way,” he says with a short shake of his head.
I appreciate his concern, but it’s not worth the risk.
“I don't know about you, but I'd rather not take the chance over a tiny burn that can be healed almost instantly. We know next to nothing about any of this, Zale." Reaching up, I caress the side of his face as I tell him, "I want to see your kingdom and for you, your brothers, and our people to be able to return home. To ensure that happens, we do everything we've been doing in the right order. Now, are we going to lay here and keep talking, or are you ready to claim your mate?"
His face nuzzles into my hand as he presses a kiss into my palm, trying to hide the smile that flashes across his lips. Hooking my free arm around his neck, I pull them down to mine for another taste. This earns me exactly what I've been asking for.
Slipping a hand between us, he lines himself up at my entrance. I suck in a breath to hold, waiting for the moment he slides all the way in. Only it never happens.
"Look at me, damselfish," he tells me.
I didn't even realize my eyes had fallen closed. Now that they're open, I'm stunned by the reverent expression on my mate's face. I never knew it was possible to feel like this with a simple look. Cherished. Loved. Worshiped. Without another word, Zale sheaths himself fully inside of me, stealing my breath for a second time.
"Merciful gods, Rubi," he groans, forehead dropping to mine. "I don't think I've ever felt anything as good as you do right now."
I wish I could say something sweet or smooth at this moment, but as his hips start moving, I can't form a sentence to save my life. My mouth opens, but all that comes out is a soft moan of Zale's name. When his hips surge forward again, I lock my legs around his waist, wanting there to be no empty space between us. He obliges by dropping the rest of his weight on me, forcing me to sink further into the spongy material at my back.
A feeling of guilt tries to rise up as I think of the ways my other mates make me feel. I shouldn't be thinking of them in Zale's moment, but I can't help it. I adore the way each of them chooses to love and make love to me with their own unique personalities. The thought of them and the possibility of being with all three of them like this has my core clenching tight around Zale in a truly delicious way. He must think so too if the soft sound that slips through his lips is anything to go by.
Rising up to his hands, the angle in which this drives him hits a new spot within me that makes my back arch off the floor in pleasure. His pace is slow and sweet, building me up higher and higher. My fingertips brush across the skin of his back, and he shudders above me. Moving faster now, his hips start to drive into me with determination. As much as we're both wanting this moment to last, I can't help the pulsing feeling in my core when he pushes me over the edge, triggering his own release. His cock is still filling me full when he brings his lips back down to mine again. I get a few seconds to enjoy the moment before a fire demands attention on my chest.
Reaching up to rip it from my own neck, it scalds the hell out of my hand. The pain from both is worse than the other two times combined. Zale tears the thing from me, but the pain doesn't stop. I'm barely conscious of him yelling my name and shaking me before I blackout.
The darkness gives way to a light so blinding I have to bring my hand up to shield my eyes from it. Just as they've adjusted and can see I'm in a room I've never been in before, a voice calls out, "So good of you to call, child."
Blinking a few times, I try to make sense of the witch standing in front of me as I clear my throat and tell her, "I didn't call you."
She plops her ass down at a chair beside the table and snickers. "Of course you did, Eurybia. As soon as you claimed your third mate and tried to override my magic."
Doing a wave of her fingers, she continues, "And my work is impeccable if I do say so myself."
"What do you mean?" I ask. This feels like a dream, and my head is filled with fog.
"Your markings, of course," she says with a smile, motioning towards my neck then to a mirror hanging on the wall.
Wanting to understand at least a small amount of what's going on, I waste no time moving to stand in front of it. There I find myself staring at my reflection. I look like normal plain Jane Rubi, but I don't. Leaning closer to the mirror, I spot a faint white design in the shape of my mates' talismans. A gasp slips between my teeth before I can stop it.
Whirling on her, I demand, "What have you done to me?"
She cackles. "Personally, I did nothing. You accepted your destiny the moment you accepted those pretty mer mates of yours. Magic of this magnitude always leaves its mark on the world. You just happened to be what they chose to brand. I'd apologize, but even you must admit the beauty in my work."
I try to recall the etiquette for dealing with a witch. Do I tell her I'd rather not have the blemishes on my body and risk offending her? Or thank her for them?
Sighing, she looks to the ceiling. "No need to overthink it, child. What's done is done. Now, I do believe you likely called for me to ask some questions, yes? We don't have a whole lot of time here, so we best make haste."
I want to argue again and tell her I didn't call for her, but as the thought crosses my mind, I realize I do have questions.
"Is the curse broken now?" I ask quickly.
Her lips purse together into a thin line, and he
r expression says she's debating on how to reply before she finally does. "That was another's magic that placed the bind on the people of the sea. Both she and her magic are tainted by darkness."
The last is said on a quiet whisper as she glances around like the walls can hear her. A chill creeps up my spine, and my eyes flick to the dark corners of the room.
In a whisper, she informs me, "During the wars of the sea people, they were so distracted by their own follies that none of them caught onto the darkness sweeping across this realm. It took root within those of the blackest of hearts and turned them to rot from the inside out. The curse was justified seeing as that's the only thing to stop the sea people from destroying the entire realm. What they didn't see was that their rulers were cursed even before that when that darkness buried itself within their bodies and mind. They say it whispers to you and makes you do horrible and unspeakable things. Unfortunately, when the witch who placed the curse lost her son, she became an easy target for the darkness, and it consumed her entire being. So, when she went to place the curse, the desired effects were tenfold. No one truly knows what it will take for the curse to be broken. The only way to find out would be to ask the witch herself but considering no one has seen her since the end of the war, that feat would be near impossible."
"But we thought we were onto something because when we mated, the princes got their magic back. I even have magic now," I admit just as quietly.
She's already shaking her head before I'm through talking. "I told you. The talismans were of my own creation. They were there to spare the princes their sanity, so they'd be able to rule once the curse is broken."
"How?" I ask desperately. "How do we find out how to break it?"
A nervous tic starts at the bottom corner of her lips. "It's said that when she was last seen, a spell or riddle of sorts spewed from her mouth only once. Then the only word she would mutter was the number four."
"Is there a way we can find out what she said?" I ask.
Again with another quick shake of her head. "I've tried more times than I can count to go back in time to that day. I've searched the memories of one present with her that day, but the darkness inks the memory out as though it was never there to begin with."
Devastated at the news, I take the seat across from her at the table. All of this was for nothing. The Zs may have gotten their magic back and acquired a mate in the process, but we're no closer to breaking this curse for their people today than we were when they pulled me here. Choking back the tears that are threatening to spill down my cheeks, I try to pull myself together for the sake of gathering more information.
Raising my gaze to the witch across from me, I can honestly say both her pride and sadness are written across her face.
"You're a lot stronger than I thought you were the day I helped your mother rescue you," she admits.
As flattering as that statement is, there are still questions and disappointment burning through my mind.
"What did you stand to gain from helping my mates?" I all but demand from her.
This time, there's no mistaking the despair in her voice. "The people of the sea weren't the only ones who lost something in the curse. They also aren't the only ones with the hope of finding happiness once all of this is over."
All of a sudden, she jumps from her seat, startling me so badly that I almost tip back in my own chair. The table rattles with our movement then groans as she leans across it to grab my wrist. "It's coming, child. We've only a few mere moments left here, and I don't know when I'll be able to find you again after this. Whatever you do, you and the princes must find a way to break this curse without letting the darkness get to you. Warn them. Make them listen. Once the curse is broken, find the others from the prophecy. Otherwise we're all doomed."
I open my mouth to ask the avalanche of questions that now brings crashing down on my head, but I don't get the chance to. The corners of the room where the dark has been hiding go pitch black, and the blackness starts to creep across the room. In a panic, the witch urges, "Go now, child. I can hold it off, but not for long. Heed our words here today. Now, go!"
I wake to three familiar faces hovering close, worry and anxiety creating lines that weren't always noticeable before.
"Little siren?" Zephyr questions as soon as my eyes are open.
Trying to force out any kind of reply is practically impossible given that my tongue seems to be glued to the roof of my mouth. Even the attempt to swallow leaves me feeling like I just consumed a fist-full of sand. Thankfully, Zale is there with a cold glass of water that I take and drink greedily. Reaching a hand out while I'm still drinking, I try to wipe away the worry from his expression as well as telling him thanks without using actual words. His face turns into the cup of my palm as his eyes seal shut.
"Thank you," I manage to croak when I get to the bottom of the glass.
He smiles into my palm, but it's Zanthus who speaks next as he stops pacing at the foot of the bed and touches my foot. "You can't do things like that to us, love. Scared us out of our minds. What happened?"
I try to explain my version of events leading us to where we are now in the best way I know. All three of them stay silent. However, they do bristle when I mention meeting with the witch again. Even more so when I relay her words to them. I totally expect to see three different states of devastation to the amount of those I felt. What I'm not prepared for is the lack of emotion, other than relief. When I ask, Zale is the one to respond.
"All of that is important, but none of it is more so than you, damselfish," he tells me. "You have no idea what it was like to have you go limp and unresponsive in my arms the way you did. If I hadn't been in my right mind to check, I would've thought you'd died right then and there."
"I'd have died a happy woman then," I reply cheekily and am rewarded with a huff of breath against my palm. Continuing, I add, "I'm sorry our time got ruined like that. I didn't know something would happen the way it did."
His head is shaking, but I simply grasp his chin between my fingers and force his gaze to mine. "I'll make it up to you. Promise. "
"If you don't take her up on that offer, brother, I'd gladly step in for you instead," Zephyr jests from my other side.
Giving him my other hand, I shoot him a soft smile before turning back to his brother and asking what happened after I blacked out.
"Like I said, you just fell limp in my arms," Zale answers. "I panicked for a moment before my brain caught up and I checked your pulse. Once I realized you didn't die, I rushed out to the pool while calling for Zanthus and Zeph. The water healed you just as quickly as last time, but the marks were new. I'm glad you knew about those. because I was really not looking forward to telling you about them."
Sitting up in the bed, I don't care that I'm still fully naked and exposing myself to the room when I throw my arms around his neck. "You did nothing wrong. It was all a part of the magic linked to the talismans. Plus my own yearning for answers if the witch can be believed. Thank you for taking such good care of me."
"For as long as I'm breathing, damselfish," he says against my lips now pressing on his. I kiss him like we're the only two people in the room, like I didn't just mentally travel to gods only know where to meet a witch, like I didn't just drop the biggest bomb of them all right in their laps about not breaking the curse. Which reminds me.
"Where do we go from here?" I ask them. "If what she says is right, then we may never find a way to break this stupid curse."
Zanthus huffs, "There's always a way, love."
"Besides," Zephyr adds, "most of those old bats talk in nothing but riddles anyway, so I wouldn't take every single word to heart. We've just got to read between the lines to see if we can figure out what she was really talking about."
It sounded pretty straight-forward to me, but who am I to argue when I know next to nothing about witches and magic?
After kissing my other two mates so as to not leave them out, I pull on a dress from my closet and let the
m lead us downstairs to the pool.
"What are we doing here?" I ask, assuming they'd want to hit the study as soon as possible and tell Merrick everything. Between the five of us, we should be able to figure out at least one part of the riddle the witch left us with. Numbers. Numbers are important. Not just any of them, but the number four. It's been bouncing around my skull from the moment I told the Zs what the witch said. There are three princes, but I make four. Could it be that the four of us together could break the curse? Or maybe four centuries that it lasts?
All of those thoughts are crossing my mind before Zephyr finally answers my question. "Well, you did say once that you wondered if you'd have a tail, right?"
At my cautious yet excited nod, he adds, "You're now mated to three of the strongest mer princes in five kingdoms. If there were ever a time for you to grow fancy beautiful fins, now would be it."
My breath stills in my chest. The possibility of being a freaking mermaid is almost too much to process. Both Zale and Zanthus wait at the water's edge for the two of us to make our way over to them from where I've come to a dead stop in the sand. Pride lights their faces bright enough to bring water to my eyes.
Letting the dress's straps slip down my shoulders, the rest of it drops easily to the sand before I stride easily over to my two mates, Zeph right on my heels. They both kiss a cheek as the first tiny wave of salty water teases my toes. Without further hesitation, I take a few steps and then some more. The water laps at my upper thighs and then my waist as I wade out even further. A tingle begins at the tips of my toes, slowly working its way up my legs. It's not necessarily uncomfortable. More like the feeling of my legs falling asleep after sitting on them for too long. There's a sharp tug right behind my belly button, and I give in, allowing my body to sink beneath the surface of the water completely.
Sunken Empire Page 16
