Dolly sputtered, then coughed up water. Zander collapsed on her, kissing her and telling her how sorry he was.
I rocked back on my knees, catching my breath and my eyes burning with tears as I watched the star-crossed lovers reunite. I was so lucky that I could see Abel’s mark. That we didn’t have to spend the rest of our lives searching for each other or wondering how we could stay together. And I’d taken it for granted. I almost put him through this very same fate, sending him back to the lake while I decided if I wanted to come back when Dolly and Zander would literally die to be together.
Abel put his arms around me. “Thank you.” He pressed a kiss against my temple. “You saved both their lives.”
“I think they saved me, too.” It was only then I realized how hard I was shaking. “What the hell happened?”
“You’ve met the serpent of the lake. He wants to protect us from humans. He doesn’t understand the difference between good and bad.” His gaze was glued to his friends. I could only imagine what was going through his mind as he’d watched the scene play out. That could have been him. That could have been us. “As crazy as it is, I understand what Zander did. Nothing’s worse than getting called back. Feeling your human body fall away and having to go back to the lake to survive. Once we know everything’s okay, I’ll talk to him. But right now, they need some alone time, and so do we.”
Hand in hand, we walked back to the tiny house. It was closer to the lake, and I think that gave Abel comfort, to be near Zander and Dolly in case anything else happened.
“You’re hurt.” I hadn’t noticed the slashes on his skin until now. I turned the faucet, but no water came out. There were no services here because I was still trespassing. Funny how I never felt like I’d belonged someplace more than Aurora Falls.
I picked up a clean washcloth and pressed it against Abel’s wound. He closed his eyes, absorbing the sting, the pain.
I drew the cloth away and went up on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “I’ll never leave you.”
A slow smile tugged at the corners of his lips, and he opened his eyes slowly, like he’d been watching a dream. “Every month before you came to me, there was a moment when I realized I’d have to go back to the lake. Again. That I might always have to go back to the lake. That I might never find you. It felt like someone had taken a stick of dynamite to my insides. Oxygen would start to hurt, and I wanted to go back. Because it’s easy there. The best and worst thing the gods ever gave us was hope.”
He slipped his arms around me, and I wanted to absorb all that for him. The disappointment and fear. The heartache.
“I want to stay in Aurora Falls.”
His face lit up. “Really? I have someone coming in the morning to tow the tiny house out of the sand. Then we’re free to go anywhere you want.”
“I want to be here.” An unfamiliar feeling came over me. I didn’t feel like the outsider anymore. My story would be woven into the fabric of this little town. “We’ve got to figure out a way to get Zander out of the lake for good.”
Abel chuckled. “I’ve been working on that with him for centuries.”
“But never like this.” Now my brain was on overdrive, the same high feeling that I got when I first hit the open road. When I realized my life was nothing but one big possibility. “You’ve never been able to come up with possibilities as a free man. Now that you’re on the other side, you can see all those little things that helped you shift that you couldn’t see before.”
He shook his head sadly. “It’s the mark. Dolly’s got to see the mark, and then it has to bloom on her skin. They’ve been together. It hasn’t happened.”
“We’ll find a way.” I wasn’t giving up.
“Why do you care so much? You just met them.”
“Because...” I had to find a way to put this feeling into words. It was harder than I expected. “I want everyone on earth to feel the way I feel when I’m with you, even if it’s just for one night.”
Abel cupped my cheek in his hand. The slashes on his face had dried, and his hair was wild from the lake. He looked every bit the fierce Viking. Desire pooled low in my belly.
“How do you feel, Tori?”
My ancient warrior meant to find the answer for himself. Before I could answer, his lips met mine. His hand snaked up into my hair and he pulled my head to the side as his lips fell to my neck. I clawed my fingers into his shoulders, relying on primal language to let him know I wanted more. I wanted all of him.
He picked me up and sat me on the small counter. The moonlight reflected in those gorgeous blue eyes, and desire rippled through them like waves on the lake.
“When you were multi-purposing this place, did you ever think that your mate might take you here?”
“No, I didn’t think to double my kitchen as a playroom.” But I liked the idea of it, a lot, as he slid my jacket off my shoulders and pushed my sweater down to expose my bare skin. The brand-new mark on my bicep. It shined, just like the moonlight when it hit the water. His beard tickled my chest as he licked my collarbone.
I tangled my hand in his hair, pushing him lower. The sweater had fallen onto the floor, and he ran his thumb over my nipples, watching them with satisfaction as they pebbled under the lace of my bra. Lowering his mouth, he sucked my breasts through the fabric with the same intensity that he’d claimed my mouth.
My head banged against the cabinet when he nipped, and the chuckle he let out sent a wave of desire over my skin.
I tore at his plaid shirt, but Abel grasped my hands and placed them over my breasts. Wow, they were sensitive and craving his touch.
His gaze was glued to the way my nipples pebbled as my fingers moved over them. “Keep going,” he rasped. “You look like every scandalous dream I’ve ever had.”
“Do I?” My inner muscles were pulsing like crazy, because in my kitchen, in front of the big picture window with only the lake as our audience, this felt so forbidden, but at the same time nothing had ever been more perfect. “What else did you dream of me doing?”
His smile dripped with sin. I wanted to lick it off my fingers. I knew it would taste like honey and fire. He tapped my hips and I lifted them so he could slide my leggings over my thighs and down to the floor.
“Open your legs for me. I’ll do the rest.”
I did as Abel asked, sliding my legs open just a little bit, revealing myself to him that much more. We’d been together only a few hours ago, in my tiny loft, but it hadn’t felt like this. We’d promised ourselves to each other, but this was something more.
Devotion.
“All the way, Tori.”
The way he said my name when we were together like this sent shivers over my body. I opened myself to him, but he didn’t touch me. Instead, he drank me in, a low moan emitting from his throat. My own breaths were ragged as I waited in eager anticipation.
Ever so slowly, he unbuttoned his shirt. My pussy pulsed with each bit of muscled chest he revealed. He freed himself from his pants and his cock was so hard and ready.
One step forward was all it took for him to be between my legs. The heat from his own desire rolled over me like a wave. He caught my mouth in another kiss.
“I always want you to be free with me,” he said when we separated. “Never hold back.”
Freedom was what I was chasing on this adventure. And I never in a million years imagined it would come from an ancient warrior who’d been trapped at the bottom of a lake until he found me.
Abel fell to his knees, pushing my thighs even further apart, and licked the length of my slit. I trembled on contact. My hands were in his hair again, but this man needed no guide. His tongue was masterful, as he moved along my outer lips and finally to my clit, giving a flick before circling it slowly.
I cried out as he sucked it long and hard between his lips.
Those big hands steadied themselves on my thighs as he rose to his feet. He kissed me, letting me taste myself, and the desire that would never fade between us, on his lips
.
The kiss ended in a gasp, both of us shaking with need. He positioned his cock and entered me, lifting me off the counter as he sunk deep inside me. Cradling me as he rocked, his thrusts were fast and steady. His forehead was against mine, and his hands in my hair.
We were one.
The first waves of climax brewed deep in my belly and radiated through my body. My pussy muscles pulsed around his shaft, like I was trying to capture this moment. Make time stop.
I couldn’t. That was what made it so beautiful.
My head rolled back against the cabinet as I cried out, giving myself over to my orgasm. Abel rocked faster, more intense. His cock swelled inside me, and he came.
His head fell onto my shoulder when he pulled out, and he stayed there like that, with my arms around him. The only sound in the trailer was our ragged breaths, frantic heartbeats, and the waves that crashed against the shore.
I was home.
Chapter Sixteen
ABEL
I’d carried Tori to the loft and made love to her all night long. Exhausted from orgasm, she fell asleep with her head on my chest, but I was awake all night.
The moon was totally visible through the skylight. I stayed up all night to watch it wane. There was a piece of me that didn’t trust that it was actually true. That I wouldn’t be called back to the lake before the sun rose.
Every splash of the water made my heart stop as the Mer that I’d come to think of as brothers and sisters were called back. Their curses weren’t broken.
Zander was one of the many, and I’d have to go back to the lake eventually, and persuade him to give it another try next month. My best friend could be one stubborn bastard when he wanted to be, and when he set his mind to something, he didn’t often change it. But he’d never hurt Dolly, even if she never could wear his mark. If he had a mate that could see it, I felt bad for her, because another woman already owned his heart.
Tori moaned in her sleep, but her lips curled upward in a smile against my chest. and clutched the sheet in her hand. It was tempting to wake her up with my head between her legs, and my tongue on her clit. We’d have many days to start that way. But first, I had a surprise for her.
Sneaking around in a tiny house wasn’t so easy. Everything was open, and I was anything but tiny. Soon, I’d convince her to move into my cabin. I’d let her multipurpose the shit out of the place if that was what made her happy. And when we were ready for adventure, we had a home on wheels ready to take us anywhere we wanted to go.
The town was quiet now, recovering from the Fall Festival. I parked in front of Rita’s Diner, loving the way everyone’s mouth fell when they saw me on land, with two legs, the Tuesday after the full moon.
I thought about Dolly waking up alone this morning in Zander’s cabin. I was so thankful that Tori wanted to stay and help someone who’d done the same for me. They were complete opposites, but I had a feeling they were about to be best friends.
Standing on the sidewalk until Rickard flipped the jewelry store sign to open, I walked in.
“The full moon has passed,” he said. “You’re still here.”
I nodded. “I came to pick up the ring.”
He smiled. “Even though you insisted it was just a ring, your mate picked out the most common setting for a mating ring. Most Mer ladies wear something similar, but I must say, the stone you chose was spectacular.”
“Thanks.” I wouldn’t tell him that I’d found it when the curse was still fresh, when I was still convinced I was human, trapped in a nightmare. I’d held onto it for centuries, waiting to wake to the call of my mate and find the woman who’d wear my mark. Many things had changed over time, but I’d never let go of that stone.
Or the hope I’d find my mate.
The lake looked different to me without the curse. Calm and peaceful with all its secrets trapped below the surface for another moon cycle. Still I was drawn to it. A piece of me would always belong to Sapphire Lake, no matter where I was.
“Where’d you sneak off to this morning?” Tori’s voice made me jump. I hadn’t seen her sitting in the sand in front of her tiny house. “I won’t lie, I was a little afraid you’d been called back to the water.”
I sat beside her and kissed her hair. “I should have left a note.”
She shook her head. “You just freed yourself of one controlling bitch. I’m not like that. There are so many things, so many places you must be dying to explore. What’s the first thing you want to do?”
I laughed. “I’ve spent all my time on land looking for my mate and participating in Dolly’s ridiculous schemes designed to find you I haven’t had a lot of time to figure out what would happen after that.” I hadn’t wanted to dream about things I couldn’t have. “But I do know what the first thing I want to do is.”
Her face lit up. My mate loved a new beginning. “What is it?”
“Make this official.” I took advantage of her curiosity and kissed her again before reaching into my pocket and pulling out the navy velvet box that held the ring. “Mer can see your mark, but I want everyone to know you belong to me.”
She opened the box, and her eyes shone with unshed tears. “It’s even more beautiful like this. The way the platinum wraps around the stone, it looks like the slivers of moonlight as they dance on the lake.”
“Do you know I’ve never seen them from above land, only below the surface?”
“I have so many things to show you.” She danced in her seat. “I can’t wait.”
The ring fit perfectly on her finger. She brought it up to her face to admire it. “This might sound corny, but I... I feel complete. Like your mark was the thing I was willing to go to the ends of the earth to find.”
“We’ll still go there,” I reminded her.
“Once Dolly and Zander feel this way too.”
My heart couldn’t grow any bigger for this woman. “Those two were my entire world before you came here. I can’t tell you what it means that you want to see them happy.”
Tori sighed. “My whole life, I never felt like I fit in. People made fun of the stuff I liked, and eventually I started hiding it. Like the mermaid stuff. Man did I get teased about that when I was a kid. And then when I didn’t want to work until I was too old to have fun, everyone told me I was wrong. That I should settle for things that didn’t make me happy just because that was what they did. I couldn’t. They made fun of my tiny house and told me I’d fail. They might not have said it in such plain language, but they said it over and over again. That I was being wild and reckless and not thinking of my future. But if I didn’t change, my future would’ve been one giant repeat of my past. So when I met Dolly and she loved me just for being me... I knew I’d found the place I belonged.”
I pulled back and scoffed playfully. “Only because of Dolly?”
“No.” She climbed into my lap and pushed my chest. If we weren’t careful, we’d be naked on this beach and it would be a lot bigger violation than a little trespassing. “Because you accepted me unconditionally. You showed me what it meant to belong somewhere. To someone.”
My lips brushed against hers, only a tease of what was to come. “I would have chased a thousand moons to find you. You were worth the wait.”
THANK YOU! I HOPE YOU had as much fun reading Tori and Abel’s story as I did writing it! I loved being a part of the Mountain Mermaids series. Thank you so much to P. Jameson and Moxie North for creating it and inviting me into their world.
Will Dolly ever see Zander’s mark?
For more information about upcoming and existing stories in the Mountain Mermaids universe, visit www.mountainmermaids.net.
Let’s keep in touch!
www.kristenstrassel.com
Newsletter—get exclusive bonus content from all my books. Never miss a new release or a sale.
Kristen’s Backstage Pass—hang out with me in my Facebook reader group.
Bookbub—Just want to hear about new releases without all the other jazz? This is your
hookup.
Keep reading for an excerpt from His Forbidden Omega, from The Royal Omegas series with P. Jameson!
His Forbidden Omega
Zelene
The old woman behind the table looked nothing like she did before The Division. When I was a little girl, I spent hours in her shop, bored out of my mind while my mother and sister had dresses made. I wasn’t allowed to touch any of the beautiful fabrics with colors so vibrant they appealed to every single one of my senses.
I still wasn’t allowed to touch the fabrics.
I watched the woman carefully. An omega like me, she’d lost her shop, but she hadn’t given up. Those beautiful bolts lay on an open table. The dust from the desert barely dulled their brilliance. She was little more than a living skeleton now, with her graying skin stretched over gaunt features, and eyes like black holes, reflecting her soul. More like, the spot where her soul should’ve been. The omegas had lost many things in The Division. But I wouldn’t lose that. I would fight tooth and nail to keep my soul intact. No matter the cost.
I moved my gaze to the brilliant bolt of cloth I’d had my eye on, and it was like she sensed my movement.
“Not for you,” she snapped. Even in the Badlands, there was a pecking order. Survival demanded respect. The ones who made it happen outside the city had little patience for those of us who worked for the royals. “Unless you’re shopping for royalty.”
I’d starved myself to buy this fabric. My lie wouldn’t make me any more uncomfortable. “I am. My lady needs a dress for the ball.”
It wasn’t a total lie. I just wouldn’t tell her that I was the lady. It would take some getting used to. In the Badlands, females weren’t thought of in those terms. But I dreamed of it, just like I dreamed of turning this fabric into a beautiful dress worthy of a royal ball. All the soft comfort and gentle days that came with commanding such a title. I didn’t need to be a queen or a princess. A lady would do.
The old woman wanted money more than she cared about the validity of my story. She picked up the brilliant magenta fabric, gazing at it with much more respect than she held for me. “There’s just enough on the bolt to make a dress. The price is six gold coins.”
Chase the Moon Page 8
