Shattered by the Sea Lord (Lords of Atlantis Book 8)
Page 31
But she always woke with him, turned, and linked their hands. And the glow in her chest was real, natural, and full of love.
His heart ached with love too.
After the dinner ended, the guests gathered in the den. Dannika made her farewells.
“You really must stay.” Frederik walked them to the door. “We haven’t seen you in so long, and with your dual marine-human lifestyle, who knows when we’ll see you again?”
“Oh, thank you. I feel so welcome.” She hugged Frederik, then linked her hands with Ciran’s. “But we have a date.”
Date? He didn’t remember that.
She smiled at him, her chest glowing, and he moved easily to her side. With a sparkling, secretive look like that, she captivated him. He looked forward to this date.
The senator followed them and harrumphed. “Your little PR story? About the violent murderers returning toy ducks to toddlers? That was cute. But let’s not forget that these warriors crave our women, and any day now, they’re going to flip a switch. Instead of returning a toy duck, they’re going to drag Mommy and Little Sister into the deep. That’s why they are never setting one flipper in my country.” He glared at Ciran. “Don’t get comfortable.”
Ciran tugged his too-tight collar. “I will not.”
“Senator.” Dannika unbuttoned Ciran’s top button and the strangling sensation eased. “You misunderstand.”
“No, you’re the one who misunderstands. I’ll stake my career on never letting them touch my vulnerable, impressionable daughter.”
“I meant about us needing to enter the United States.” She smoothed Ciran’s collar. “The only mer who want to enter the country already partnered with US citizens. They of course want to meet their wife’s family and introduce their children. But the rest?”
She shook her head and ticked off their alternate options on one hand.
“We have almost built our mid-Atlantic platform. The mer have multiple abandoned sacred islands. And other countries are very interested in the mer’s Sea Opals and untapped ocean resources. If the US doesn’t want to partner with the mer, that is your choice. But countries who do will reap the benefits.”
He ignored Dannika and raised a warning finger at Ciran. “You’ll never control my country like you control the water. Your light tricks don’t work in the air. You might stop our depth charges with one of your shields, but on land, your game is over.”
Ciran? Controlling light and shields? He laughed out loud.
The senator’s brows rose in surprise.
Dannika patted his shoulder, suppressing her smile.
“I do not know how you rule the land,” Ciran gasped between chuckles. “But warriors do not have these powers.”
“That’s what I’m saying. On land, you’re helpless. Don’t forget it.”
“And under the ocean, warriors do not channel the Life Tree. We support and amplify the ones who do: our queens.”
“Who come from the surface.” Dannika shook her head at the senator. “And if you don’t want US citizens to partner with warriors and control these amazing powers, so be it.”
He frowned darkly. “This is another trick.”
“Think about it. But if you really don’t want US citizens to find mer soul mates, you’d better stop interocean travel and close all beaches. Because if the wrong people meet, you’ll find you can’t separate soul mates. The king of Lusca tried. And when it comes to the future of your children…” She rested her hand on her rounded, six months’ pregnant belly. “I care about the future of mine, too.”
The senator flapped his lips.
Dannika turned on her heel, wished her friend goodnight, and pulled Ciran into the darkening night. Dannika’s driver conveyed them away from the grand house.
“Will the senator change his mind?” Ciran threaded his fingers with hers and rested them on the rumbling car seat. “It is unfortunate that Angie and Meg’s children could not visit their homeland.”
“I doubt it. I can only connect with people who are seeking the truth, and that senator made up his mind ages ago. But that’s okay.”
The car stopped in front of a small house. They exited, and she bid farewell to the driver, then led Ciran down the starlit path. “I used to think it was my responsibility to change the senator’s mind. But some, like the Luscan king, can’t hear others’ pain. They are too focused on their own. And while I have empathy for their situation, I can’t change them. I can only live in my truth.”
Ciran followed her inside the human structure. Big windows showed the beach, sands, and grasses of Florida.
“This is a good view,” he noted. “For the air world.”
“It was my parent’s winter house.”
She released his hand and strolled around the lower floor. White cloths covered the furniture. She trailed her fingers along the ghostly shapes.
“I spent the first year after Eliot’s death here, staring at the ocean, trying to understand my loss. I asked the sky and the surf, why had my dreams been taken from me? Why had I lost my husband, my chance for a child, my life? It’s funny that when I was asking these impossible questions, I was already staring out at my future. I just couldn’t see it.”
Her chest burned with inner starlight. Matching warmth kindled in his body.
He was still sad on her behalf. She suffered so much after losing her soul mate, and there were still times he wished that he could somehow trade places with that male so she would not have had to endure the pain.
But her life had not ended.
She was here with him now.
He turned her in his arms.
She met his lowering lips with her upturned mouth. They knew each other’s body movements now by heart.
Their kiss seared a heat deep inside, their souls glowing as the beautiful light surrounded them inside and out.
She led him up the stairs to a bedroom, opened the big windows to let in the sound of the crashing ocean, and unbuttoned her flowing maternity dress.
“It’s funny that you look at me like that in the bedroom.” She lifted one brow and paused at the button just above her full breasts. “In the ocean, we’re nude all the time.”
“It is different above the water.”
Dannika’s lips curved and she released the button. The dress parted. Silk caressed her curves and dips, shimmering and seductive.
His mating gemstone, encased in wire, hung from a silver chain.
A crack still fractured the gemstone, but Dannika said she liked it even more now. Despite looking as though it would break at any moment, it had withstood the pressure and survived.
She peeled off her silk under-coverings and laid back on the bed. Her flowing curves, pliable as an anemone, undulated on the bed and her hair fanned out.
She crooked her finger. “Come to me, husband.”
He set his feet, unbuckled his belt, and hooked his fingers in the loops of his trousers. He pulled them over his hard cock.
She touched her lip with the tip of her wet tongue.
He shouldered out of his dress shirt and sauntered to the bed naked and proud, hard and ready.
She opened her arms in welcome.
He kissed her lips and, before she could get too heated, rolled her away from him.
“Ciran,” she protested.
He rested his palms on her lower back. “Where do you need me to release your tension?”
She melted against him. “Oh, everywhere.”
He kneaded her back and shoulders, then paid special attention to her feet and her ankles. She had earlier mentioned that these areas swelled along with her belly from the pressure of carrying his young fry. She moaned in heartfelt relief.
He rolled her over and stroked her belly.
She watched him.
He smoothed her cheeks, the lines by her eyes. She closed her eyes, then snagged his fingers in her teeth.
“You have caught me.” He nuzzled her pointed nose, soft cheeks, lush black hair. “Now what are
you going to do with me?”
She released his fingers and wound her arms around his neck. “Love you. Forever.”
“I accept.”
He claimed her mouth, driving in his tongue, and they surged together like the waves of the sea. She scissored him, catching his bent knee, and centered his cock on her soft entrance. She was already dripping for him, and the slippery sensation made him one hundred times harder. But he must take care not to put pressure on her belly. He rested on his heels, turned her on her side, and eased his cock in to the hilt.
She shivered, and her chest glowed. “Yes.”
He rocked her gently, thrusting in and out, tightly encased in her wet heat.
She matched his rhythm, and he listened for her delicate sounds of building release. Sometimes, in her need to connect, she tried to please him so much she ignored her own pleasure. She was too selfless.
He chased her relentlessly, thrusting and bucking until she arched and cried out. Her channel gripped his cock. She shuddered, and her very soul glowed with deep, well-fulfilled satisfaction.
She was his past and his future, all he had ever wanted, and all he ever would want. And her pleasure carried him into his release. The world turned white. All he saw was her.
When his peripheral vision returned, her eyes were closed and she was smiling with bliss.
After such a long time of watching her struggle with happiness, this tableau made his heart clench.
He slid out to care for her, then settled her into the bed and made a shelter with his body. Above the ocean or below, he would always be her pillar, her hope, her strength.
She traced the worry lines on his cheeks. “You once said that you wanted to make yourself worthy of me. I hope you know that you are, and always have been, just exactly what I need.”
He kissed her palm and pressed his forehead to hers. “It is nice to hear.”
“And I’ve also decided to leave New York.”
“You will leave MerMatch?”
“The office.” She stroked his cheek. “You’ve long wanted to return to Atlantis and support King Kadir. I’m already dividing my time between New York and Sanctuary Island. So, why not the platform over Atlantis?”
“What about the brides?” Journeying to the treacherous mid-Atlantic was much more complicated than journeying to an island equidistant between Bermuda and the Bahamas.
“This is kind of funny, but after we complete the platform, Hazel thinks we should hold a giant welcome party. Bring all the warring cities together and show them potential brides, former brides, and what partnering with modern brides means. It doesn’t solve the Sons of Hercules problem, but at least we could get the underwater world to understand our side.”
“I think they already know.”
“Right, but it’s one thing to say you don’t want to break an ancient covenant. It’s another to look into the face of your mom or your future soul mate and tell them they don’t belong.”
He rested on an elbow. “I seem to recall being told—to my face—that my soul mate would never become my bride.”
She covered his face with a pillow.
He tickled her, and she yielded.
“Agh. I know. And you left.” She squeezed her eyes shut and shuddered. “I always knew you were mine, but I was afraid of what that would mean. And you came back, and literally, a few hours later, we got together. Here we are.”
Yes. He rested his palm on her belly, where often in the night he could feel his young fry move and kick. Here they were.
“You’re right, though. Just inviting everyone to a big party is probably a little too simplistic.” She closed her eyes with a big yawn. “I’ll tell Hazel tomorrow when we return to New York.”
He agreed.
But his mind stayed awake.
Could Hazel’s giant party actually work?
Was it so unreasonable?
King Kadir always listened to his warriors’ ideas. Queen Elyssa welcomed all visitors, even their supposed enemies, into the city to observe.
Some Atlantis warriors might return to their origin cities. Capable warriors, such as Lotar, could bypass the dangerous cities to deliver a message. Then, knowing potential brides, or past mothers, were searching for warriors might just be enough to pique their interest…
Warriors acted tough, as Prince Lukiyo had at the Luscan prison. But he had also secretly protected her and then broken down when actually faced with Bex.
The All-Council would stand against them. The Sons of Hercules would certainly attempt sabotage.
But it was a good idea.
And why was he surprised? His Dannika had shared it because it was intriguing. She was intuitive and wise about forming connections.
His young fry turned and pushed on her belly.
How wonderful to be born in an era when one could be treasured and loved by both parents.
If warriors came to Atlantis and saw the families, that, too, would be a powerful image to change their minds.
And any warrior could make a new choice.
Just look at Lieutenant Orike.
“Oh, well.” Dannika snuggled against him. “I need to table it and sleep. Why think about all the details now? Go to sleep, brain. I’m so sleepy.”
Yes, his queen did need her sleep. They could talk in the morning.
And yet…
She opened her eyes. Sensing, through her connection, that something was amiss. “What? You think it’s a silly idea too, right? I mean, it’s impractical. There’s a kraken on the loose, and the ocean already had its share of dangers. Who would willingly expose themselves? What a fool’s errand.”
She squeezed his hand and settled, once more, into sleep.
But it was not a crazy idea.
And Ciran was not the kind of warrior to ignore a misunderstanding.
Ciran took a deep breath. “Actually, I think it will work. We just need to resolve a few small details. But I already know several warriors who would be perfect.”
She rolled over and kissed him long and hard. “I can’t wait to hear your strategy.”
Because he always had one.
And as his soul mate, his one and only, the heart of his heart and mother of his young fry, Dannika understood.
Instead of sleeping like good, responsible future parents, they stayed up giggling under the covers and dreaming up a future where everything went perfectly to plan.
Sea Lord’s Castaway
How did Bex, Angie, and Meg ever end up on Sanctuary? Find out in the fun, romantic novella, Sea Lord’s Castaway.
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Also by Starla Night
Lords of Atlantis
Seduced by the Sea Lord
Sacrificed to the Sea Lord
Enslaved by the Sea Lord
Stolen by the Sea Lord
Surrendering to the Sea Lord
Secrets of the Sea Lord
Spellbound by the Sea Lord
Shattered by the Sea Lord
Saved by the Sea Lord
Sheltered by the Sea Lord
7 Virgin Brides for 7 Weredragon Billionaires
~ ONYX DRAGONS ~
(Series Novels)
Malachite
Pyrochlore
Kyanite
Amber
Jasper
Alexandrite
Flint
~ CARNELIAN DRAGONS ~
(Linked Novellas)
Syenite
Peridot
About the Author
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 smokin’ hot dragons and tattooed mermen at StarlaNight.com.
starlanight.com