Envy (The Damning Book 2)

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Envy (The Damning Book 2) Page 26

by Katie May


  nonetheless with plush leather seats, a canopy overhead, and what Dair had

  called the captain’s chair.

  My Mermaid mate had driven the boat with a skill and expertise that

  hinted at his years in the water, both swimming in it and riding overtop of it.

  His cheeks were still flushed, eyes hooded, from the hour long ride.

  I wobbled the second I touched the grass, my feet and body adjusting to

  the steadiness of dry land. There wasn’t a part of me that missed the rocking

  of the boat and the clenching of my stomach seconds before I expelled the

  contents of my lunch.

  “Seasickness,” Dair had told me.

  “It’s beautiful,” I told Dair now, spinning in a circle. In every direction, I

  could see waves of water. There were no other islands in sight.

  “Yes, it is,” Dair murmured absently, but his attention was locked on me.

  He brought a hand up to cup my cheek, his thumb caressing my bottom lip.

  The moment we were inevitably about to have was shattered by an ear-

  splitting squeal. I immediately went on alert, pushing Dair out of my way and

  grabbing the dagger I always kept up my sleeve. Was it Aaliyah? Another

  monster? Tavvy?

  My confusion turned into something akin to jealousy when I spotted Dair

  running to the water’s edge and wrapping a girl in his arms.

  She was beautiful, I noticed immediately. A sort of ethereal beauty you

  would read about in storybooks but never see in real life. Her hair was long

  and black, molten obsidian stones, and cascaded around her porcelain skin.

  I had never seen a female Mermaid before, and I couldn’t help but gawk.

  Her tail was luminescent, a rich purple that sparkled in the sunlight like

  thousands of diamonds. Seaweed wrapped up her torso, covering her breasts

  from view - thank God.

  I saw red, literal red dots obscuring my vision, as she continued to hug

  Dair. I wanted nothing more than to stomp down there and rip her beautiful

  black hair from her scalp.

  Muscles trembling in exertion, as if I had run for miles and miles, I

  glanced down at my dagger. That wouldn’t do.

  I may have hated the girl still hugging and whispering to my mate, but I

  didn’t want her dead.

  Before I could think rationally, before I could piece together the clues that

  had been laid out in front of me, I bent down, took off my shoe, and chucked

  it at her face.

  Not my finest hour.

  The girl squeaked, batting at the air, and Dair released her, stepping back.

  His eyes were comically wide in his face as he stared back at me.

  “I didn’t even think to do introductions,” he murmured to himself. His

  blond, golden hair fell over one eye, and he brushed it away impatiently.

  “What with the mating bond still so new...” He took another deep breath,

  eyes flickering from the girl rubbing at her head and then back to me. “Z, this

  is Angelica, my sister.” He stressed sister in a way that made me feel like an

  idiot.

  My face flamed like their was a fire burning beneath the surface. My first

  time meeting a boyfriend’s family, and I already fucked it up.

  Note to self: don’t throw things at females until you get the whole story.

  I had a feeling I would be breaking that rule more often than not. At least

  it hadn’t been my dagger...

  ...that was still held in one of my hands, blade unintentionally pointed at

  the beautiful female. Angelica. Dair’s sister.

  I scrambled to shove it back in my sleeve, accidentally nicking my skin in

  the process.

  “Angelica,” Dair turned towards the ravishing female, “this is Z, my

  mate.”

  The girl’s eyes widened slightly, and before I realized what was

  happening, she was scrambling to her feet, butt naked. In the next second, she

  had her arms wrapped tightly around me.

  She looked a few years older than Dair, a sort of elegance in her face that

  couldn’t be found on a child. Full, pouty lips and a Roman nose befitting a

  princess.

  But she wasn’t a princess, I recalled. She was the daughter of Dair’s

  mother and her mate, a commoner.

  “It’s so good to finally meet you,” Angelica squealed, practically

  breaking my rib cage. I awkwardly patted her back.

  “I’m sorry for throwing a shoe at you,” I blurted. “I just saw you hugging

  him and-“

  “No worries.” She pulled back with a slight smile. “The first few years

  after you meet your mate are always the worst. Jealousy and all that shit.”

  She waved a hand dismissively, that smile never leaving her beautiful face.

  “Dair would be just as bad if another man touched you who wasn’t your

  mate. Isn’t that right, little brother?”

  She glanced over her shoulder at Dair the same time I did. His face had

  been soft as he watched me with his sister, but at her words, his expression

  hardened, eyes narrowing.

  “No other man is allowed to touch you,” he said coldly to me.

  His possessiveness should’ve made me mad, but it only served to do the

  opposite. Liquid heat settled in my core, and I wanted to squirm.

  Something that would be quite awkward with his naked sister’s arms still

  around me.

  Angelica pulled away with a devilish smile. I wondered where she had

  gotten her sense of humor from. Dair, though not cold, was one of my more

  serious mates. Kind, calm, collected. Those were just a few words in my

  arsenal to describe Dair Mermaid.

  Dair strode briskly back towards me, as if he couldn’t stand the distance

  that separated us, and interlocked our fingers. Or…

  As if he was jealous of his sister hugging me and me hugging her back.

  There was a soft noise from the front of the house - a nearly inaudible

  whimper - and I whipped my head in that direction.

  A petite older woman stood in the doorway, hand clenched around one of

  the many white pillars holding up the awning. She was beautiful with honey-

  toned blond hair and deep blue eyes. Gray speared the roots of her hair, the

  only indication of her age. Her wide, petrified eyes surveyed everything and

  nothing all at once.

  “Why is she here?” the woman asked harshly.

  Dair held up his hands placatingly. “Mother, this is my mate, Z. We came

  here to see you.”

  He took a step closer, and she flinched. I recognized the reaction...the

  reaction of a woman who had been beaten and hit one too many times.

  Disgust and anger battled for dominance. I had no doubt in my mind who had

  been behind her skittish reaction.

  The Mermaid King.

  “It’s safe, Mom. You can trust her.” He met my stare pointedly, but I

  couldn’t understand what he was trying to say.

  “Juliet, you’re safe,” a different voice said. An older man stepped out of

  the house and placed his hands on her shoulders.

  He had the same dark hair and blue eyes as Angelica. A soft smile graced

  his lips when he caught sight of Dair.

  “Dair, my son, how are you?”

  Dair smiled back at the man with love and warmth. It was the sort of look

  you would give to your dad...

  Wait.

  Understanding da
wned as I flickered my eyes from Angelica, now fully

  dressed, to Juliet leaning against the man, and then to Dair.

  This man was Juliet’s mate, I realized. The father of Angelica. And,

  apparently, the pseudo-father to Dair.

  No wonder Juliet was so nervous to see me, a stranger, on her island. The

  secrets held here were capable of killing them all. The Mermaid King was

  ruthless, volatile. If he discovered his wife was still seeing her mate, living

  with him, he would not hesitate to kill them all.

  “I’m Z,” I introduced, moving to stand beside Dair. My mate gave me

  another long, beseeching look, but once more, I couldn’t comprehend it.

  “Dair’s mate.”

  Juliet stared at me for a long moment before tears pricked her eyes, and

  her hand rose to her mouth. I had only a second to fear I said something

  wrong before she was pulling me into her arms with a soft sob.

  “My dear girl,” she whispered, rubbing a hand up and down my back.

  “I’m so happy he has you.”

  One glance to the side showed that Dair seemed just as stunned by his

  mother’s reaction as me. I tentatively patted at the woman’s blond hair,

  resisting the urge to whisper “there, there” as I would to a crying toddler.

  When she finally pulled away, her face was blotchy and swollen. She

  sniffled once.

  From somewhere in the house, a baby began to cry. I stiffened.

  A baby?

  As the man kissed his lover’s cheek and rushed back inside, I realized

  they were hiding more than just a hidden relationship.

  If the King caught wind of this...

  No, I decided resolutely. He never would. I would make sure of it.

  “Come, my dear children,” Juliet said, linking her arm with mine and

  pulling me inside. When Dair remained standing on the front porch, a dumb-

  struck look on his face, I pulled his arm and tugged him in after us. “Let’s

  have dinner.”

  “And you can tell us all about how you met,” Angelica added wickedly.

  And so it began.

  THIRTY-FOUR

  JAX

  L ight penetrated the darkness I had found myself in.

  “Z?” I whispered desperately. I scrambled to my feet and placed

  one hand against the blood-soaked walls. Even after all this time,

  they continued to bleed. And bleed. And bleed. And bleed. The enticing scent

  of copper permeated the air. I wanted nothing more than to press my tongue

  to the wall...

  No! I told myself I would never feast on blood again no matter how

  hungry I got.

  And I was famished.

  My stomach growled painfully, almost a reminder and confirmation all at

  once. Pain. It was all I ever knew. Normally, I could ignore it. Shove it under

  the rug and pretend it didn’t exist.

  This time, my need very nearly consumed me. It pelted me repeatedly in

  the face until I was dizzy with the madness of it all.

  Thirsty.

  Bleeding walls.

  Drip. Drip. Drip.

  The light was abruptly snatched away, and the darkness returned.

  With a dizzying clarity, I realized I was all alone. Trapped in my own

  mind.

  Trapped.

  Blood.

  Drip. Drip. Drip.

  I curled into a ball and began to rock, whispering nonsense to myself in

  an attempt to calm my racing heart.

  She had done it. She had left me, and she wasn’t planning on returning.

  She had taken my brothers with her, finally relieving them of the thankless

  task of watching over the crazed, eccentric Vampire.

  Alone.

  So, so alone.

  I called her name, but she never answered. It was only then that

  realization pierced me, a killing blow.

  She wasn’t coming back.

  For the first time in my life, I was really, truly alone. Emotion clogged

  my throat, and I released a whimpering sob.

  The walls continued to drip blood, taunting me. The urge to feed was

  nearly overwhelming.

  Alone.

  You deserve it, I whispered to myself. Images of Sasha flashed through

  my mind, one after another. I hugged my knees tighter to my chest in a

  desperate attempt to tame the rising storm inside of me.

  Alone.

  And so I waited, with bated breath, for death to finally claim me.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  Z

  “I like your family,” I said as the boat sliced cleanly through the

  water. “They’re...homey.”

  Dinner hadn’t been as bad as I had expected. After being

  peppered with rather embarrassing questions, we had sat together around the

  table for a home cooked meal of fish and clams. It struck me as odd that they

  were eating their brethren, but I didn’t complain. The food was delicious.

  Dair’s youngest sister, only a year old, was named Shelly, after the

  seashells she had immediately grabbed to play with after she was born. Juliet

  had apparently kept up her relationship with her mate even after marrying the

  Mermaid King, unbeknownst to him. This was a crime punishable by death.

  I discovered through our conversations that Juliet’s mate’s name was

  Pearce. I also discovered that they had a second home at the very bottom of

  the water.

  A wistful part of me wanted to see the castle in the water - something that

  sounded like it came out of a fantasy book - and Dair assured me he would

  find a way.

  After hours of senseless chatting and another hour of them in their

  Mermaid form, we left with our bellies full and chaste kisses to our cheeks.

  “Homey.” Dair snorted at my description of his family. “I never heard

  that one before.”

  “Your mother and father really love each other,” I mused, and that was

  what Juliet and Pearce were to him. His parents. Pearce may not have been

  blood, but I could see the familial love between the two of them. Dair thought

  the world of the man with the boisterous laugh and sharp-witted tongue.

  He needed that. Dair needed a father-figure who looked out for him, who

  loved him unconditionally, who remembered silly aspects of his life such as

  his favorite dessert (clam cake).

  “You were glorious with them,” Dair whispered. He moved away from

  the steering wheel to stand directly in front of me. His hot breath fanned my

  face. “Shelly adored you. I had never seen her laugh so much before.

  Angelica and Pearce loved you as well. I had never seen my mother so taken

  with a stranger before.”

  “Do you bring a lot of strangers to your house?” I asked, only half-joking.

  The thought of him introducing another girl to his parents filled me with

  unease.

  “No.”

  And then he was kissing me, or I was kissing him. At that point, it didn’t

  matter. We were devouring each other, telling a story with our lips alone. My

  soft, supple body fit perfectly against his hard one, and I wrapped my arms

  around his waist.

  “You’re mine now,” he whispered roughly. Before I could comment,

  could agree, he snaked his hands beneath my ass and hoisted me up. My legs

  instinctively wrapped around his waist as he held me. “Because now that

  you’re mine, I’m never letting you go.”

>   With those words, I was crushed tighter in his arms, our lips once more

  chasing each other in an endless race. My body melted against his.

  He moved forward until my back hit one of the leather benches. With a

  gentleness that belied the euphoric energy in the air, he pressed me down,

  immediately covering me with his long body.

  I tore my lips away from his only long enough to breathless say, “The

  ship...”

  “It’ll be fine.”

  And then he was kissing me once more. Our tongues tangled together,

  hands desperately grabbing at any bare skin they could find. One of mine

  caught the edge of his shirt, pulling it up so I could lay my palm flat against

  his abdomen. His muscles were hard beneath my hand, flexing. My other

  hand touched his corded bicep.

  “My love...” he whispered into my ear. His teeth grazed my earlobe

  before lowering. His tongue brushed the sensitive skin of my neck, my jaw,

  before claiming my lips once more.

  And they were his to claim. There was no doubt in my mind.

  His. Theirs.

  Mine.

  Dair pulled back suddenly, balancing over me on his elbows. His tender

  eyes traced my features reverently.

  “Tomorrow, things are going to be different,” he told me. “I’m going to

  be different. But my feelings for you are not going to change, do you

  understand?”

  His words brought more confusion than understanding, but I nodded

  anyways. His lips twitched slightly, but my answer was apparently sufficient

  enough. Or his need matched my own.

  His look of amusement was replaced by one of veneration.

  With a desperate gasp, he pulled my lips into a bruising, possessive kiss. I

  rivaled his own neediness by ripping at his shirt so I could touch more of his

  skin.

  Each of his muscles was defined, a delicious trail of golden hair leading

  into the waistband of his pants.

  Movements jerky, he helped me out of my shirt and bra, sitting back for a

  moment to admire me. My stomach fluttered at the heated look in his eyes,

  and any self-consciousness dissipated in that moment.

  He was mine, as surely as I was his.

  “You’re so damn beautiful,” he whispered in awe. His tongue took its

  time memorizing each crook and crevice of my body. My back arched when

  he sucked on my nipple, his hand leaving my hips to knead my neglected

  breast.

  His lips moved down my stomach, tongue swirling in my belly button,

 

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