by Amy Marie
“What damage did you do?” She straightened up, diverting her attention from the strangely unsettling development about her own gifts, taking the mug from his hand and inhaling the spicy scent. “Was my sister…”
“She’s in the tunnel. I would not leave her behind.”
“Thank you.” She took a sip of the warm brew and scrunched her nose. “Ugh, this is terrible.”
Caspian chuckled. “Seeing how well you’ve healed yourself, I’d say you don’t have to finish it.” He took the mug from her and placed it on the floor. “You don’t seem too interested in your new gift.”
“Do you have such a gift?”
“Not to that extent. At least, not that I’ve honed in a controlled environment.”
“But if something impacted you emotionally, do you think you could do the same damage?”
Caspian sighed. “Let’s say I don’t care to find out.”
“I’ll accept that.” Aria threw off the covers, twisted to get her legs next to Caspian, and scooted to the edge of the bed. “I think I’m in need of a bath.” She pulled a strand of seaweed from her matted hair. “Terribly so.”
“I’ll run one for you.”
Aria followed him with her eyes as he left the room, mug of foulness in hand. She took a deep breath of his lingering scent, clean, fresh, with a dash of something spicy. Maybe clove or cinnamon. When she heard the bath water run, she climbed up and stretched her muscles, stiff from the ordeal. Dried seawater left her skin feeling tight. Judging by the sound of the rain hammering down on the roof—this bedroom held no windows—and the occasional rumble of thunder mixed with the darkness that consumed the small home, sans a single light in the main room, she surmised she hadn’t been unconscious for long.
Caspian remained in the bathroom as she crept out of the bedroom. Yes, the storm still roared, virile and healthy. What chaos had they left behind at the docks? What damage had he caused that could be worse than her apparent lightning attack?
Curious, she moved on silent steps to the front door and pulled it open.
A small crack was all she needed to witness, with eyes and ears, the horror.
Fire, orange-yellow flames, spread through the village. Billowing black smoke filled the sky, but cast little protection from the rain. Lightning struck at random, setting a new building aflame with every bolt. Terrified screams and cries poured into the night.
The castle, alive with activity, belched out guards to lend aid.
Aria closed the door and pressed her forehead to the wood. Caspian’s home was far off track from the village, but the battle of the elements wouldn’t promise safety here.
A comforting hand settled on her shoulder. The heat and strength of Caspian’s body surrounded her, assured her in the silent manner they had always shared, only now, she sensed a deeper bond, the one she’d been blind to when they were friends. She turned into him, utterly aware of his nearness, the thrumming connection between them.
His hand slipped down her side to rest on her hip. “We won’t be able to stay here long, though I’m quite certain the guards and villagers are too busy with their own woes to chase us down anytime soon. I’ve already sent Brack away with enough coin that he won’t have to worry about expenses for the rest of his days. He’ll be off to see his daughter, no doubt. This storm is potent, princess, fueled by emotion. The fire. The rain.” His other hand came under her chin, lifting her face to his. “Once you have your bath, we’ll leave.”
Aria fell victim to the emotions brewing in his eyes and the overwhelming desire that ran rampant through her body. Pushing up onto her toes, cupping his face, she brushed her lips across his, craving the taste, needing his touch, wanting more than she’d ever wanted before.
Wanted everything, and wanted it all from Caspian. Only from Caspian.
She leaned back enough to capture his darkening gaze. “Why did it take me so long to figure this out?” She pressed herself flush against him, biting her lower lip as the full connection flared between them. “To figure out it was always you?”
“Time is irrelevant to us, and the whys no longer matter.” He sank his hand into her hair, his fingers gently fisting against her scalp. The prickles of discomfort quickly melted into pleasure. “Despite the circumstances, we’re together again.”
She closed her eyes, drinking in the sparks that tingled along her lips from his nearness. “Do you think we were ever meant to be apart?”
“I do. But that time is over.” He gave her hip a gentle squeeze. “Your bath.”
Aria dipped her head, pressing her cheek to his shoulder, and rested there for a few heartbeats. Caspian reluctantly released her when she rounded him. His hand slipped from her hair, across her face, and down her arm as distance grew between them. His gaze followed her, scorching paths along her back until she closed the door to the bathroom.
There was no delight to be had soaking in the warm water with its luscious scents of vanilla and jasmine. No delight in picking seaweed from her hair. She bathed quickly, washing away the grit and grime left on her human form from the ocean and cleaning up the mess the salt left in her hair because the only delight to be had was that which Caspian offered.
She climbed from the tub. Ignoring the rack of clothing options, she toweled her hair to get most of the moisture out and tucked the damp towel around her breasts.
Caspian stood by the window, peering into the night as fiery destruction crept closer to the outer walls of the castle.
“This village is plagued with evil. Manipulation and greed. However, I’ve made sure those worthy of survival are given a chance. The majority of the survivors will be those who lived in alleyways. Those who understand pain and suffering and who will be more attuned to the needs of others.”
“Children?”
Caspian turned his back to the window—and came up short of an answer, his mouth open to speak, but no sound came out. His gaze perused her from head to toe, lifting to her face after a few tenuous seconds.
“I would never allow children to suffer,” he rasped, quickly closing the distance between them. The predatory glint in his eyes stunned her, causing her stomach to flutter uncontrollably. The sensation rose to her throat, leaving her essentially breathless. His hands dove into her hair and the way he stood, a leg on the outside of hers, his body not pressed to hers, left her anticipating his next move. “Not for the consequences of the adults.”
Aria nibbled her lower lip, tentatively placing her hands against Caspian’s chest. The solid muscle that met her palms sent a shiver of excitement along her body. Hard, thick muscle that caused her lungs to tremble and her breathing to turn faint.
“Alamari burns beyond that window, princess,” he said huskily. “Are you seeking to start a new blaze?”
She plucked open a button on his shirt.
“I think the blaze has already started.”
Chapter 10
Caspian responded with a crushing kiss, one that pulled a moan deep from within her chest. Desire racketed through her, sapping her strength. The possessive sweep of his tongue left her poised on her toes, barely able to keep her knees from buckling. An intoxicating mixture of tenderness and hunger met her primitive need with each kiss. Years of suppressed emotions, unknown feelings, intense love poured out of the prince as he dropped an arm around her waist and tugged her against him, right off her toes.
She wrapped her legs around his waist as he moved, his kiss deepening, melting from strenuously controlled to something bright and feverish. Something that rivaled the fire that now burned Alamari to the ground.
Lost, so delightfully lost in his kisses. So engulfed in his passion.
He might as well have floated on air for how skillfully he glided through the main room to his bedroom. Even as he sat on the edge of the bed, he adjusted her body, her legs, not once disrupting the starved kiss she refused to end. He tasted too good, an elixir of magic and heat. A potent essence of electric tingles and airy caresses, his sexual prowess eviden
t with each touch of his fingers, each brush of his knuckles. His cock pressed hard against her upper thigh, his pants a barrier she desperately wanted gone.
She may not have much experience with sex, and certainly not much in human form, but the way her core throbbed and ached and itched, she doubted the act in mer-form could match the way her human body felt right now.
Caspian growled against her mouth a second before he pulled back. The separation wrenched at her heart and left her breathless and craving more. His eyes swirled like an ocean whirlpool, a stunning azure-gray-turquoise blend that glowed in the dark.
“Why did you stop?” Aria dropped her hands to the hem of his shirt and tugged it upward. “Don’t stop.”
He allowed her to remove his shirt, but when she fumbled with the fastener of his pants, he stopped her. “Savor it, princess. Savor every moment.”
His fingers unfurled from her wrist and dipped under the towel. Brushed lightly against her thigh. His lips touched her collarbone as his fingertips slid through her slick folds.
“Caspian.”
She grabbed his shoulders and held tight, tremors coursing along her legs as he stroked the sensitive crease and teased her clit. His mouth kissed along her neck, his teeth nipping her skin every few inches, making her moan. No, that was the magic he worked between her legs. Slow, gentle strokes and circles that made her nerves hum louder and louder. Pleasure, raw and untainted, mounted as he touched her like a man who knew his lover’s body better than she did.
If there was anything more perfect than this, than the way he touched her, kissed her, seduced every wild inhibition locked deep inside until she wanted so badly to cry out, she couldn’t imagine what it might be.
“Ah, my princess likes this, hmm?” Caspian teased, his voice rough and thick with desire. The tip of his finger circled her entrance before testing her body, pressing deeper. A faint grumble rolled up from his chest, a sound that shocked her with its sensual vibration.
“Yes.” His finger slid out, through her crease, playing her clit until she dropped her head back with a sigh. “You do.”
“Yes, yes, I do.” As he removed his hand from beneath her towel, she lifted her head and caught his gaze in the dark. “I don’t think there’s anything I couldn’t like about you, my prince.”
“Shall we put that to the test?”
He gave her no time to answer, twisting over the bed until her back connected with the mattress. His hips rested in the cradle of her legs, the heat of his cock pressed against her core. He smoothed her hair back from her face, those stray locks that had fallen across her forehead in their heady endeavor. The towel tugged against her back before it loosened from around her breasts and the cool air of the room kissed her skin.
Cool, until the warm, rough skin of Caspian’s palm cupped one breast and he flicked a thumb across her nipple.
She sucked in a sharp breath through clenched teeth.
Was this what she once cast away for a human man? This intense, delicious, magnificent creature who tended to a body that responded so powerfully to his ministrations?
Aria turned her face into his palm and kissed his hand. “What do you plan to do, Caspian?”
“Now, princess. That curiosity of yours.”
She didn’t wait long before his mouth closed over her nipple and sucked gently. She gasped, drew up her knees and arched off the mattress, a strained moan clawing up her throat. She sank the fingers of one hand into his hair, soft, thick strands of silk, and clung to his wrist, his palm still against her cheek.
When he moved to the other breast, she was panting. Her legs trembled, matching the irregular patter of her heart.
She thought he’d finally come up to her, kiss her mouth, make them one at last.
Oh, how wrong she was.
The heat of his mouth left her breast and trailed down her belly, his tongue licking and swirling over her skin. The mattress shifted and his body slid lower, the weight of his hips leaving hers.
Aria lifted her head and watched the shadow of his form settle between her legs. “Caspian?”
“Say my name again. In a few minutes.”
“Wha—ohh!”
Aria flung her arms back, grasping for the pillow. Caspian’s tongue slid over her clit, through her slit, and back again. Magic. Whatever it was he was doing, he cast her into a different world, a different mind, one that threatened to tear her from her body and send her flying into the stars.
And she did fly with the stars when Caspian sucked her clit and unleashed a storm of pleasure that outdid the one punishing the world outside.
Bowing off the mattress, she cried out, “Caspian!”
That wicked mouth of his continued to suck, that tongue to lash until her entire body shuddered with the powerful rush of climax.
“Better,” he murmured, leaving her core to nip the insides of her thighs. Dazed and gasping for breath, Aria lolled her head in the direction of his voice to see his full silhouette at the foot of the bed. She listened to the sound of metal scrape as he unfastened his pants and shed the item before climbing over her. “Do you have any idea of how lovely you sound?”
“Crying out your name while you ruin me?” She found the strands of hair that seemed to habitually fall over his forehead and brushed them aside. He leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead with a soft chuckle.
“Mm-hmm.” He brushed the tip of his nose against hers at the same time he slid his cock through her crease. “A true siren, my darling.” He splayed a hand over her hip and slid it to her bottom. “Lure me into the sea. I come willingly.”
Aria held her breath as he fit the wide head of his cock against her entrance. “I will never lead you astray, my prince. As long as you say you’ll stay with me.”
“Aria, you own my heart. I will always be yours.”
Her chest cinched and her mind whirled as he slowly claimed her with one, slow motion. He hiked her leg around his waist, her body accommodating him, welcoming him, claiming him in return.
Complete. One single entity entwined together.
Aria slipped her hand to the back of his neck and brought him down, finding his mouth and kissing him with every emotion from the bottom of her heart. He responded in kind, matching each desperate sweep of her tongue with his own, engaging in a dance far more intricate and permanent than any before.
This. Caspian. So right.
Perfect.
Each thrust of his cock pushed her back to that blissful precipice. Each moan and groan that curled between their hungry mouths. She raked a hand over his back, the sinew and muscle under her fingers taut and smooth. His body moved with grace, skill, a perfect pace that drove her higher and higher.
She broke their kisses, tipping her head back on a moan. Caspian wasted no time laying a path of kisses along her neck.
“Tell me I’m yours, Caspian,” she breathed. “That I belong to you and no one else.”
One of his hands found hers and folded their fingers together next to her head. “If there is anything I’m certain about, it’s that you belong to me.” He punctuated his claim with a thrust of his hips. “If you wish to be claimed, princess, I claim you. Here. Now.” Another thrust of his hips, hitting every sensitive spot she could imagine. “As the gods above hear my words.”
Lightning struck, shattering the darkness for a split second.
A bolt of merciless pleasure tore up from her core, splitting her in two, three, a million pieces.
She dug her nails into his back, the rippling bliss blinding her to anything but sensation. A sensation of melting into another, into Caspian. Molding together, a stronger creation of the sea, brimming with passion and promise and hope.
“Aria.”
The rasp of his voice quickly evolved into a roar.
Heat pulsed inside her, filled her with fire. Over and over.
Until Caspian’s thrusts ceased.
He dropped to his forearms, the mattress indenting on either side of her head. His l
abored breaths spread against her mouth before he claimed her lips in a tender, slow kiss. They remained locked together, kissing in the sweetest afterglow.
The village may burn outside, the storm cast the world beneath its curse, but here, in their little corner of peace, nothing could touch them.
“I never want this to end,” Aria whispered after Caspian lowered his body to the mattress beside her. “I was the damn fool ten years ago. I should have listened to you, and listened to what my heart tried so often to tell me.”
“Princess, this will never end. You asked me to claim you. I did and the gods heard. As for the fool, I should never have left the sea. I should have fought harder for you.” He held her close, stroking her shoulder. “But my time here was not wasted either. And my patience not in vain—”
A volatile banging on the door jerked them apart. Caspian jumped to his feet and silently crossed the room to the bedroom door. Aria crept up behind him and peered between Caspian and the jamb. The flicker of lantern light reflected off the glass panes in the main room. The banging on the front door didn’t stop.
“Caspian! Open up by order of King Jethro!”
Caspian closed the bedroom door and gathered Aria in his arms. “Ready to return to the sea?”
“I can’t. The bracelet.”
He caught her chin, kissed her with precision, and chuckled. “Oh, princess. You underestimate me.”
Chapter 11
Returning to the sea with no option of returning to this particular area of land may have been bittersweet if it weren’t for the goddess swimming beside him, holding onto one of Stacia’s arms. Together, they pulled her along, hoping to return her to Timarra for the proper burial rites.
They had barely escaped to the tunnel when the guards broke down the door. The king’s men stormed Caspian’s house, yelling out for him to surrender, but he and Aria had already made it through the spelled trap door and to freedom.
