Shock filled his face. An instant later, he closed his eyes. The weight of betrayal seemed to crush him all over again. He disentangled his fingers and turned away as though he could not bear to face her. “I am a fool.”
That was what she’d expected. Zara rose and floated across the verdant garden. “So you didn’t notice?”
“I acted as though I understood. But I understood nothing.” He held his forehead with both hands. “Truly, I am a betrayer.”
“It’s okay.”
He didn’t reply.
“Honestly, Elan. If I’d been more confident, you wouldn’t have been locked into single-minded protection mode. And if I had been really powerful, I never would have blindly believed you. I would have had more faith.”
He moaned. “I truly failed.”
“Well, again, maybe it’s okay.”
She hated to say that all was well that ended well, but if she’d saved him at the surface, what would have become of Dragao Azul? Wouldn’t General Iner have moved forward with annihilation? And, tied to the Life Tree, would that have been a death sentence for Elan and probably for Zain? Maybe also for her. She didn’t really know how magical human-to-mermaid transforming trees worked.
“You apologized,” she said. “Which, by the way, is more than anybody else has done for the way they treated me in the past, including your king. And that’s all I wanted, anyway.”
He shook his head harder and dropped his hands. His intense aquamarine-flecked eyes were rimmed with red. “How can you forgive me?”
Aw. His seriousness went a long way.
She stroked his rough cheek. “Just don’t forget it in the future.”
“Never.”
“And, there is one other thing.”
She checked on Zain, who had gone suspiciously quiet. He curled up in the sweet leaf patch, his cheek mashed into the ground and his butt up in the air, fast asleep.
Her heart melted.
Wishbone browsed a few feet away, appearing to keep one eye on their baby while his tentacles busily sought crabs.
Elan moved behind her. His arms slipped around her front, securing her to his chest, and his chin rested on the crown of her head.
She leaned against him, soaking up his silent love. “Should we move Zain to another room?”
“He is safe here. The house guardian will protect him from any danger.”
And, if that wasn’t enough, the castle really did have its own protective mechanisms. Sealing off to prevent anyone from entering if necessary.
The night of Zain’s birth, they hadn’t prepared correctly. Distracted by the nervous excitement of the event, Elan had accidentally allowed the unwelcome warriors right into his castle. And Zara had never sensed the invasion.
Now, something had changed.
Zara could feel the protective lines of the castle like threads in the walls, communicating with her and telling her it was safe. If intruders came, they would convey the invasion to her as well. She would never be caught unawares again.
That, perhaps, was another power of the queen. She had never felt so secure.
Reassured, she turned in Elan’s arms. “Take me to the heart chamber.”
With an uncertain, but hopeful, expression, Elan twined his fingers with hers and tugged her through the winding passageways to the inner heart of the castle. The sheltered, shielded chamber opened only to the touch of their hands.
Inside, the vibrant green walls of the castle’s heart were smooth and gently rounded like the interior of an egg. Little sparkles shimmered along the strength lines of the room. They were toned in Elan’s aquamarine and warm golden amber.
She entered.
Elan lingered in the hall.
She turned. They had always had sex — or, in his words, joined — in this chamber.
Did he no longer want her? Had something changed?
She calmed the worry in her belly and outright asked. “Did you not want to join with me?”
“Did you want me to?”
Huh? What was this hesitation?
She rested her feet on the shapeless floor, soft and silky beneath her bare toes. “Yes.”
“Despite my betrayals?”
Oh.
Dark lines creased. But they were not the same dangerous shadows that had lined his face when he’d first surfaced. His soul sickness had healed, and he faced her as a mature male who knew hell and no longer feared it. Changed but whole.
Cautious but hopeful.
Zara bounced across the chamber to him. She slid her hands up his forearms, past his pointy elbows, over the bulges of his powerful biceps. “It’s possible to recover from any mistake.”
His chest shuddered as if releasing a suppressed sob. He dropped his head to her shoulder and pressed her waist-to-waist, chest-to-chest, taking savage comfort in her soft body.
She stroked his waving hair. “We need all the honorable warriors we can get.”
“You are my heart. My honor. My soul.”
He kissed her neck, laving his tongue across her skin as though he couldn’t get enough of her taste.
Desire flooded her, twisting to a sharp ache between her legs.
She pulled him into the chamber. They floated in a safe space that had no up nor down. Her senses filled with Elan.
Single-minded with his passion, he squeezed and sculpted her body as though memorizing her, kissing and sucking down her collar to her breasts. One nipple disappeared into his hot mouth, and then the other. Twin peaks of pleasure ached.
She wanted more. Now.
Zara entwined their legs. She was going to explode any second before she had properly savored him. “I want you in my mouth.”
With his lips still making love to her swelling nipples, he vibrated a proud smile. “I want that too.”
The familiar delicious arrogance made her clench with new desire. He sounded like him, like her husband who had no cares, her First Lieutenant knight who had never done wrong. Now, he was a warrior redeemed, devoted to worshiping her body, and willing to throw away every other honor for her alone.
They rotated in the water, fitting together. Their movements mirrored, synced with their souls.
She filled herself with his savory flavor, and felt the answering tug of pleasure. Worshiping each other, they chased a mutual possession until the heat drew tight and she fought the urge to explode.
Then, she released him and rotated again, facing his flushed, wild hunger with matching desperation. “I want you inside me.”
He rested against her entrance … and slid in to the hilt. Their completion fit together like a key thrusting into its lock, and they both groaned with rightness.
She expected him to thrust crazily, but he simply smiled that arrogant smile.
Upright, tangled together, weightless in the water, they stroked each other with sweet savory patience. Not savage, like the time Elan was trying to rekindle their trust through sex with her. Now he enjoyed her slowly, teasing her with sensual and deeply fulfilling caresses. They had all the time in the world to reach climax. The rest of today and the rest of their lives.
Shuddering ecstasy puls higher and higher. He worshipped her, and she truly felt the strength of his love. Unstoppable goodness linked them forever in a universal union of beauty and light.
As her climax mounted, aquamarine and amber sparkles raced around the chamber. They swirled like life and filled her mouth and her soul. The sparkling wave broke over her. She cried out.
He shuddered his release.
In perfect sync, they orgasmed together, finally finding wholeness between their worlds linked as one.
She collapsed and rested her cheek on his shoulder. He trembled in the powerful aftermath.
Their city was liberated. Their family was reunited. Their union affirmed their right to love.
She stroked his back.
He tensed and squeezed her, still recovering his equilibrium. They had both nearly lost everything today. But now they had the rest of the
ir lives to become strong.
“I know we decided not to move Zain,” she finally said, vibrating deep in her chest, “but I want to sleep as a family.”
He lifted his head. “You do not trust Wishbone?”
“No, I know he’s great, but I want to be surrounded by my loves.”
“Then, you shall. Forever and always.”
He eased apart and then flew her to the courtyard. Revitalized greenery shimmered new life in the walls and floors. It was as though the castle itself surrounded them with happiness.
Elan kicked down to Zain, who was still sleeping butt-up in the sweet leaves. Zara made a hollow to rest on one side and Elan did the same on the other. They settled with the baby between them. Elan entwined their hands over Zain, linked.
It felt like lying in a field on a summery day, the sweet taste of the crushed leaves on the back of her tongue like the smell of new-mown hay.
“Thank you for saving the king,” he murmured. “And the Life Tree.”
Because, at one time, she had told him she would have liked to kill them herself. “Your king did love Zain. Although his actions to me were wrong, he treated Zain well.”
“You saved the city.”
It was her son’s city too. And her husband’s. And soon, perhaps, hers.
Elan apparently wanted to talk. He rested on an elbow. “I was too afraid. Afraid for you and Zain. Afraid of failure.”
This did not surprise her.
During her first stay, Zara had wondered about his black-and-white certainty, his overwhelming confidence that bordered on arrogance. Was it justified? Or had he not battled — and lost — to as many over-powering monsters as she had? Now he had battled those undefeatable monsters. The scars would forever be embedded in his hardened soul. She grieved for the illusions he had lost.
But he had survived and grown strong. His I-will-take-care-of-you-so-do-not-try-to-care-for-yourself attitude had departed. Only together could they beat back the real monsters of the world: Crippling, fear-induced self-doubt.
She allowed a rueful smile. “Now you should be more afraid than ever.”
He cocked his brow at her. “Oh?”
“We are the first family to live between worlds. We’re going to be watched.”
“Then our success will encourage other couples.” He squeezed her. “Many will wish to raise their young fry together.”
His tempered arrogance made her smile. Such sweet confidence softened her heart. “I hope you’re right.”
“I am.”
The world was changing. Not just Atlantis, not just Dragao Azul. The other cities and the humans, and Zara and Elan, too.
Their love was larger and more important than just themselves. Simply by existing, they proved it was possible for love to overcome any odds. Together, they would make a better future for Zain. A future where he could have the freedom to live as a human or as a mer; to love as a human or a mer. A future where he could chase any dream.
They created a world full of light shining through the darkness.
Zara squeezed Elan’s hand. “We’ll change everything. One white knight and one sacred bride.”
His brows rose. “Did you not hear? You are not my bride.”
Oh yeah. Zara had told the elders she wasn’t Elan’s bride only a few hours ago.
She snorted. “I meant I’m not only your bride.”
“I understood.” Elan smiled over their peacefully sleeping son. “We will change the world as one white knight and one brilliant queen.”
If you plan to continue with this series, there’s an epilogue. It’s free to my newsletter subscribers. I suggest you stop here if you don’t like cliffhangers and don’t plan to join my newsletter to find out how it ends.
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Epilogue
“I made my fins!”
Zara burst into the hotel room. Elan was sitting on the rumpled bed watching TV. Their son, Zain, was sitting on the floor digging into her tipped-over purse. Both looked over at her excited announcement.
“I did it based on some yoga moves. Milly sent me a bunch of materials.” She extended her long, water-dotted leg. “I have to envision my foot chakra expanding and then it happens.”
Elan’s aquamarine tattoos bunched on his forehead as he raised both brows. “Chakra?”
“It’s an energy thing. Here, see?”
She closed her eyes, extended her toes, imagined the energy in her chest pushing outward, through her feet, and…
…Find out the rest (plus a bonus deleted scene!) in the free Starla Night newsletter.
The End
Continue the Lords of Atlantis Series with Faier’s story in book five, Surrendering to the Sea Lord.
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About the Author
Starlanight.com
USA Today bestselling author Starla Night was born on a hot July at midnight. She hikes, scuba dives, and swims naked in the ocean. She writes about hot, alpha merman shifters at StarlaNight.com.
She is a secret agent of the Mer-Human Alliance.
Paradise of Shadows and Devotion
Gaja J. Kos
Paradise of Shadows and Devotion © copyright 2017 Gaja J. Kos
* * *
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Paradise of Shadows and Devotion
Hunted for her present. Haunted by her past.
As a mermaid stranded on land, Liana’s only goal is to survive this new world and not succumb to the call of the sea—unless she wants death to find her a second time.
Her struggle takes a turn for the worse when a PI tracks her down to the small cafe in Piran where she sought refuge. Her dashing Italian boss offers her a way out of the clutches of her past. In exchange for her honesty
Revealing the taint of her previous life to Santino is terrifying enough, but with her lethal nature and the attraction brimming between them, growing close could become dangerous. Especially as she realizes there is more to him than meets the eye.
With Santino’s aid, Liana just might overcome her darkness. But will she be able to accept his?
1
Beautiful. My tail was beautiful, a gemstone birthed from the darkest depths… And the reason behind my current pitiful state of existence.
I glanced down at the soft spill of lilac and turquoise shimmering beneath the surface of the water, every scale unique as if lovingly touched by a master artist’s brush. The urge to feel the currents of the sea press against them was nearly overpowering, but I clamped down on the impulse to join with the endless blue and secreted it away in the overflowing drawer of broken dreams and hopes.
Too dangerous.
With my sisters listening for any bubble of my presence floating their way, I didn’t dare dip into the embrace of the sea often. Only every once in a while, when the bitter thought of resting here in this grimy, narrow bathtub threatened to drive me insane, did I allow myself to taste the freedom every bone in my body craved for.
I sighed and shook my head. Absurd or devastating. I couldn’t decide which description was a better fit. They seemed interlaced, the threads wound so tightly around o
ne another it was impossible to peel them apart.
The only thing I was truly certain of was that with each minute I spent crammed in the bathtub, the talons of sorrow digging into my chest were getting worse. They carved me up, finding purchase in my flesh, and I knew that if I didn’t leave now, those jagged tips just might stay there forever.
And I did have forever. As long as I didn’t get caught.
No, getting through each day was already a hard enough task. I didn’t need my pain to grow any harsher.
I loosened a breath, then pulled the plug from the drain and watched the water spiral into its metallic, hungry mouth. Brooding would get me nowhere, and I’d already taken up enough time in the communal bathroom as it was. While few woke this early in the morning, scrambling out of the door in a hurry in case someone did come knocking was simply a luxury I couldn’t afford.
Since my mermaid tail wasn’t designed for moving around on dry land, I waited until every last drop of water trickled away, then snagged a dull, beige towel from the nearby rack I’d hung it over earlier and ran the rough material across my scales. Even after all the times I’d gone through the exact same motion, the sensation still rubbed me the wrong way, much like nails scraping down a chalkboard—although that was a sound I hadn’t heard in a century, give or take a few dreadful years. I hissed to alleviate the slight nausea creeping up the sides of my throat as the threads of fabric slid across the blend of lilac and turquoise, then continued to pat down my tail until not a hit of moisture remained.
Once I was certain I hadn’t missed anything, I lifted myself up on the edge of the tub, the fluke trailing across the worn tiles, and waited.
Unlike the first time it happened—although I presumed my own shock was partially to blame for that—the sun-and-salt scent of magic washed over me almost instantly. Fascinated, I observed as a shimmering haze enveloped the scales and fluke, obscuring them from my sight until all I saw was the splash of gradually muting colors. When the misty film dispersed in a rush of invigorating heat, I was left staring at a pair of long, slender legs.
Sirens and Scales Page 74
