by Renee Field
“Darius what’s her name? She’s the Queen of the Red Sea who came here last year for the Reign of Titles. Now, that was a great party. It was when Jamie was crowned as Queen of the south seas. Anyway, what was her name? I’m sure it will come to me in time,” babbled Mercka, gaily swinging her arms back and forth in the water.
“It was Queen Ny’ula,” replied Darius, his voice sounding so cold and menacing that a prickle of unease crept through Kassandra’s body.
“Mercka, I need you to leave us for a few minutes.” He crossed his arms over his chest. His body was tensely coiled, as if he was planning to strike at any moment.
Still darting between them, Mercka stopped. Mimicking her brother she turned towards him, “Look, Darius, don’t get upset with her. She probably doesn’t even know her own talents. It’s not like she could have told you before. Right?”
Then Mercka stared at Kassandra. “Okay, that is my cue to leave. It was nice to meet you, Kassandra. Don’t be hard on her, Darius,” she said, darting away faster than a swarm of sardines.
Kassandra licked her lips. She felt uncannily nervous under Darius’ cold stare. She actually backed up when he glided forward.
His hands grasped the upper side of her arms. “Let me go,” she said, without much conviction.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
His voice was a soft, controlled hush, which did more to make her feel threatened then if he had yelled at her. She knew he was fighting for control.
“Tell you what?” she asked, knowing exactly what he was talking about. After all it wasn’t like she hadn’t been warned. Saad, when he had found out about her special talent, had warned her that it would be in her best interest to tell Darius as soon as possible.
She hadn’t realized they were moving until her sensitive tail hit a wall. Somehow Darius had propelled them into an undersea cave. His hands left her arms as they moved to claim her sleek bottom pulling her in tight to his chest.
“Oh, I don’t know, Kassandra, that you can find lost things,” he said, his voice a husky whisper as he nuzzled her neck. All the while his thumbs patted her silky bottom. It was an incredibly erotic feeling. His thumbs continued to span her bottom, in a slow tortuous circle. She bit the insides of her mouth to stop herself from squirming more into his hands.
What is going on? She could tell he was mad. Deep down, boiling angry at her. But his actions, the slow, seductive feel of his tongue traveling down her throat were doing strange things to her mind and body. She was craving something. Something she couldn’t describe. The unbridled current of desire left her breathless in sweet anticipation.
“I want you to know something, Kassandra. You are mine, and I intend to claim you,” he said, reaching out to tweak both nipples. Pain and pleasure clashed like a thunderous wave deep inside of her.
“Look, Darius, I know you’re angry with me.” She tried to push him away, but all it ended up doing was freeing his mouth from her neck so he could claim a breast. The sensation was like being speared with a hot iron poker. She felt as if she were melting. His tongue rolled around her pebbled nipple nearly causing her to scream in pleasure. She could feel his hands holding her bottom seeking something, and then she felt it. He had found her opening. Without any preamble, he placed a finger deep inside her.
Then her body acted on its own. Her tail wrapped around him, drawing him in tighter to her. Her breasts swelled even more and she thrummed with a deep craving that shook her normal, shy demeanor. It was a real physical ache. Her breathing was becoming labored. She shook her head, hoping for clarity.
“Darius, we can’t.” She croaked out the words, not even sure what they could and couldn’t really do. After all, she didn’t even know how Sirens…did it.
He spun her around so fast her hair swirled into her face.
“Face the wall.”
There was nothing gentle in his voice. The commanding tone of it terrified yet secretly thrilled her at the same time.
“Spread your arms.”
When she hesitated he briskly positioned her arms into place with her palms flat up against the wall of the cave. Her backside was to him and when she attempted to look over her shoulder he turned her head back to the wall.
Kassandra tried again for reason. “Darius, whatever you’re doing, stop it. I can explain,” she said, trying not to give in to the urge to wiggle her lower half.
She felt strangely exhilarated, which scared her even more than Darius’ actions. She realized she should be fighting him more, but that wasn’t what her body really wanted. And, it would appear her brain had long ago shut down. She silently hoped it would reboot soon. Otherwise she might end up regretting what she was doing, or about to do.
The hot feel of his breath on her neck caused her to moan, and then all rational thoughts fled.
“Oh, sweetlips, I am positive you can explain it, and I will explain all of this, but sometimes actions speak louder than words.”
His words were a soft, light caress as he nibbled on her earlobe. Who knew earlobes could be so sensitive? Kassandra wondered momentarily what other delights she’d discover about her body if she let Darius have his way with her.
Then both of his hands slid down her bare back. She felt the tips of his fingers scale down her backbone, touching and teasing as he went. Then the tips of his fingers glided over the hard ridge separating her waist from her tail. She felt him move. His heat leaving her backside made her feel bereft.
Then the moistness of his tongue licked her hard ridge and she couldn’t stifle the groan. She was so incredibly sensitive in that spot that she couldn’t stop her body from wriggling. She felt her tail bucking on its own as if it was anticipating something. Then his tongue moved lower. His two hands pushed on her bottom forcing her painfully aroused breasts up against the cool, rough wall of the cave. She felt sinfully wanton. The rough feel of the wall on her nipples only served to heighten her pleasure.
Momentarily she wondered what he was going to do but then she felt it. The feel of his tongue deep inside of her wet opening overwhelmed her senses. She keened out a note that sounded foreign yet alluring all at once. Then she was groaning and grinding her body for more.
Swiftly he moved up. He was hot and hard as his body flanked hers. Overwhelmed with the loss of control and the feelings taking over her rational brain, Kassandra experienced a moment of panic.
“Darius, you’ve got to stop,” she groaned, realizing how ridiculous that sounded as her body continued to twist and squirm for more.
His hand moved to her front to play with one of her already pebbled nipples, while his other large palm cupped both her breasts. Her body was being bombarded with so many new sensations she felt overloaded. Just when she was sure she couldn’t take any more of it, he released her breast. Then his throbbing erection rubbed up against her sensitive tail.
She yearned to look. To see all of him and hold him in her hand, but she sensed he was barely able to control himself as it was.
The realization of what they were about to do slammed into her. She didn’t want it this way. She couldn’t let it happen.
Pushing her arms against the cave’s wall she managed to spin herself around. She panted from the effort and from the acute sexual stimulation her body was feeling. She titled her head up to look at him. There was a heated look in his eyes that scorched her soul.
And then it was gone. He blinked, and she watched as the awareness of what they had almost done washed over him. Before she could say anything, he darted from the cave. Her body almost sang for him to come back to finish what he started, but she knew better. It was for the best that he had left, but like her friend Melissa would have said, “How come the best things in life sometimes hurt so damn much”?
Chapter Eighteen
Darius didn’t stop until he was far enough from Kassandra that he could no longer smell her scent. Even though, if he was honest with himself, her scent was now fully ingrained in his being. She had tasted as sweet as t
he morning dew as it gathered on the lily pads he had drunk in delight during his travels in Ireland. It was a heady mix of innocence and wantonness.
He shook his head, angry at himself for what he had almost done. The ancient words that would have bound, not just her soul to his, but her body and heart had rolled around in his brain until the beast within him had tried to force him to chant them, to give into the urge to claim all of her. But he hadn’t. Even in his frenzied state with every cell in his being urging him to brand her tantalizing body with his, he didn’t dare utter them.
By Tethys he was glad she had pushed him away. Never in his existence had he ever taken a woman or a Siren in anger. He was the Prince of Sex, who lived to pleasure his lover senseless. He had prided himself on his controlled love making. It would seem that finesse and all he’d learned over the centuries mattered little when he was around Kassandra.
Why by the gods didn’t she tell me? He realized as he swam like a freshling through the sea that he wasn’t paying attention to his where his wanderings were taking him. It took the soft ripple of water against his body to alert him that he was no longer alone.
“Why did you leave her alone?” asked Mercka, darting past him at lightning speed.
Darius realized he had wandered into the stadium, which was uncannily empty. “Leave it,” he replied, noticing almost immediately that all of the warriors’ Tritons still looked as if they could use a good cleaning. What was going on? It frightened him that his mardom could have fallen so quickly into a state of decay.
“You need to go back and get her. You turned her into a Siren. You can’t just leave her,” said Mercka, ignoring him.
“She’ll manage fine on her own. She always does.”
A hard yank on his arm stopped him. He could have easily shrugged off his little sister, but he didn’t.
“Darius, what’s wrong with you? You seem different. The Darius I knew would never leave his Sokhan. I’m not sure what’s really happened to you, but I don’t like it. And, let’s be honest.” Here his sister paused. “I’m sure you haven’t told her everything, either. Go back, apologize, and talk to her. By the way, Father wants to see both of you,” said Mercka, finally leaving him in peace.
Go back and apologize...if Tartarus froze over, but not until then.
Part of him wanted to shout that he was different. Ever since the sea dragon had healed him, he had felt changed. The knowledge he was no longer a Titan in his prime and that his eyesight would never be the same were facts of his life now. But he’d be damned if he was about to share that morsel of information with anyone, let alone his baby sister. Or Kassandra.
“Fine,” he mumbled, more to himself than to acknowledge that his playful, baby sister’s words had had their desired effect on him. Swiftly turning about, he made his way back to Kassandra, not liking the conversation they needed to have.
If she knew how close she’d come to being fully tied to him, she’d kill him. That idea immediately caused a part of his anatomy that remembered every feel of her silky skin to buck to attention with a mind of its own. By Zeus! He hated she had fueled his fantasies as a woman, but now that she was a Siren, he knew that being celibate around her was going to leave him hard and on edge, probably permanently.
He spied her the moment he crested the last outcrop. She was sitting regally on a large boulder and talking to a young warrior as if it was a normal, everyday occurrence. Relying more on scent than sight, he recognized the warrior as none other than Galagan, who had been with his father when they had tried to kill her.
A red haze of jealousy slammed into him. Did she have no idea how alluring she was? Her wild, untamed chestnut hair streamed sensually around her body, and even though she kept her arms firmly crossed over her breasts, he knew, without relying on his poor eyesight, that she was looking up at the warrior with those chocolate brown eyes of hers that were a deadly mixture of sex and innocence.
He didn’t like her talking with the Titan, at all. The realization of that hit him hard. She was his, whether she knew it or not. Every cell in his body knew it, and that blasted young Titan was about to find out.
“Like what you see?” The words were a low growl meant for Galagan’s ears only. He could have used his telepathy to push the young warrior away, but he played by the books.
Darius watched the young warrior bow his head in acknowledgement of his status. “Prince, it is not as it appears,” said Galagan.
He crossed his arms over his chest as he moved closer. “It appears to me that you are talking to Kassandra...is there something else I should know?”
“No...no...that is to say, yes, I was simply talking with her.”
Darius took great pride in watching the formidable Titan trip over himself. A motion behind him told him that Kassandra was now standing.
“Stop it, Darius. Galagan was simply looking for us, and he came to personally apologize to me for what he was forced to do. Thank you, Galagan,” said Kassandra, reaching out to touch the warrior’s arm. In doing so she could no longer completely cover her chest. That meant she was now bare to Galagan’s gaze.
If you so much as bat an eye movement lower than her nose I will break you in half, said Darius, pushing his telepathic thoughts loud and clear into the young warrior’s mind. So much for going by the books. He hated the intense range of emotions Kassandra made him feel.
Immediately Galagan turned his back. “It’s...it’s...I’ve got to go. Have to relieve the outer guards. See you around, Prince,” said Galagan, swiftly exiting.
“Well, that was very princely of you, Prince,” said Kassandra, mockingly. “So are a real prince?”
He nodded. Already he felt bad for his brutish behavior toward Galagan. Not that he had any intention of doing anything about it. “We need to find you something to cover up with,” he snapped, fearful he’d smash the next Titan who eyed Kassandra’s chest to smithereens. While Sirens didn’t normally wear anything, the Titan he was didn’t think he could stand it if she didn’t. That was an oxymoron if he had ever heard one. The Titan he was shouldn’t care, but maybe the man he had been forced to be did. Whatever, he didn’t like the possessive feeling, and he certainly didn’t want to go off half-cocked wanting to bash any titan who simply dared a glance at the lovely Siren by his side.
“That would be great. Then we can talk,” she said, sweetly, flanking his side. He breathed a sigh of relief that the idea of covering up didn’t faze her. Then he realized she was still thinking like a human, but for once, it didn’t matter.
They didn’t have far to go before Mercka showed up again. “Here this will make you feel more comfortable,” said the perky siren, as she dangled a bright red swimming bra in her hand. “I think I judged the size correctly, but if it doesn’t fit, let me know. Darius, father is waiting.” Then as quickly as she had come, she vanished.
Darius grumbled as he helped fasten the small hook of the swimming bra in the back for Kassandra. He wondered where his little sister had found the material and why by Tethys couldn’t she have used another color, say a dull gray. No, instead Kassandra was now sporting a bright red swimming bra that left enough to the imagination to cause him instantly to harden. He had hoped having her covered would make him feel less like tossing her to the ocean floor and having his way with her – it would appear that was not going to be the case.
“I’m sorry, Darius, I should have told you sooner.”
It took him a moment to realize they were already having the conversation that he had been hoping to avoid.
“Yes, you should have,” he growled. “How long have you known you were a Seeker?”
She shrugged her dainty shoulders, the movement causing her hair to spill around to the front. She pushed the wild strands out of her face.
“Since I was a child. Actually, it was my brother, Geoff, who discovered it. Whenever we used to play hide and seek, I could always find him. Then he started to hide objects around the house. At first I couldn’t find them but if I
touched him and saw the objects through his eyes I could. Sometimes I can find things simply by thinking about them. I know it’s weird, and for me it’s very unnerving. Geoff used to tease me and say I could find anything I put my heart to,” she admitted, twisting her long hair into a knot to keep it in place.
Her admission broke through his hurt and his anger. “It sounds like you were close to your brother,” he said, gliding away.
Her soft answer stilled him.” Yes, but he was wrong.”
He looked at her. Her eyes had filled with tears. “Wrong about what?” He moved closer, hoping she wouldn’t start to cry. He’d never been able to deal with crying females of any sort.
She composed herself and he gave her credit for that accomplishment. “It’s nothing,” she replied, darting away.
As much as he’d have liked to pursue it, he couldn’t. His father wasn’t a Titan you kept waiting. “Father wants to see us.” He grasped her hand. He was surprised she didn’t shake it off. Instead she gently squeezed his hand, causing him to smile.
“Thank you,” she said, a sad smile lighting up her face.
“For what?”
Wide, brown eyes assessed him. “For coming back, and for not asking me for more than I can give you at the moment,” she replied, her honesty cutting him as deep as any Triton.
Again he felt like a heel. “Sorry about that. It won’t happen again.”
“No, it won’t,” she replied, evenly, looking him squarely in the eyes. “So, prepare me. What type of Father is yours like? All I know is that he was the one who tried to kill me, which, I have to say, puts me on edge already. If he’s anything like my father, Mr. Commander, Mr. In-Control, then I’m sure we’ll get along famously – not!”
He noted how she shielded her hurt and anger through her casual sarcastic comment, as if it didn’t mean anything, when he knew it did. That bit of information he’d store for another time to ponder.
