bit down once before suckling the skin. Nibbling on it. This time, I couldn’t
contain my groan. “I touch myself too.”
My cock was painfully hard, throbbing almost, inside my pants. There
was a fine line between pleasure and pain, and the damn thing was dead
smack in the center. I pictured Z lying in bed, her hand between her slick
folds.
I was going to come in my pants.
Her fingers fisted in my hair, and she eagerly brought my lips down to
hers. I swallowed the appreciative moan she made in the back of her throat,
prodding her lips with my tongue and demanding entrance. Everything felt
instinctual to me, as if I had done it a thousand times before. There was no
hesitation as my tongue tangled with hers in a choreographed dance. She still
tasted sweet, despite being paralyzed for hours. Delicious.
She salaciously grabbed my bottom lip between her teeth, tugging. Her
eyes remained fixed on me. Gauging my reaction, perhaps?
When I nodded once, encouraging her to continue, she reached for my
boxer briefs and tugged them down. I froze, briefly, but any self-
consciousness I might’ve felt disappeared when she ran her eyes over me.
“God, you’re so fucking big,” she whispered.
“Thank you.”
Was that a thing people said? It felt appropriate. After all, she was
complimenting my cock.
And I had a rather great one, if I was being honest. Not that I had a lot to
compare it to. Nobody would let me look at theirs and see-
My thought cut off when her hand pulled at my balls. I whimpered, the
feeling unlike anything I had ever felt before. It was ten times better than
when I had touched myself there.
“Wait,” I breathed, and her hand immediately released me. For the first
time since I knew her, Z’s face turned a delicate shade of red, and she hid her
face.
“I’m so sorry, Kill. I just got carried away.”
I cut off her ramblings with a searing, claiming kiss.
“Don’t ever apologize,” I whispered harshly. I gently grabbed her hand
and brought it back to my aching cock. “I want you to touch me.”
I kissed her again, hoping she was able to feel all that I felt for her
through the clash of our lips.
“I don’t want to have sex tonight,” I stuttered, and if I expected
judgement or anger, I was sorely mistaken. I shouldn’t have expected
anything else, though. This was Z. She understood me better than anyone.
“And it’s not because I’m not ready - because I am. I’m so fucking ready,
you have no idea.”
I leaned down to breathe her in before planting a kiss to her shoulder,
directly where her dress was sliding down.
“I want you, Z. I want to love you and fuck you and do so many other
things to you. But I don’t want our first time to be like this.” My face heated.
“I had it planned. I would make it romantic and shit with rose petals and
candles and chocolates. I just...I want it to be perfect. I want-“
She cut me off with a quick kiss. Her eyes were glittering with a
suppressed emotion, and my heart hammered at what I suspected I had just
seen.
“It’s okay, Killian. You don’t have to explain yourself. We can go as far
as you want.”
As far as I wanted...
“Take your dress off,” I whispered darkly. Huskily. I barely recognized
my own voice.
Eyes heated, Z made quick work of sliding the dress over her shoulders
and shimmying out of it. My tongue turned to cotton in my throat when I
took in - devoured - her scantily clad form.
She wore only a white, strapless bra and matching panties. Panties that
were currently soaked through.
“You’re already wet for me,” I murmured in observation, and she let out a
whimper. Huh. She liked when I said that.
I grabbed the tip of my cock, using the pre-cum as lubrication. Slowly, I
began to rub myself from tip to balls. My cock had always fascinated me.
The velvety softness of the skin contradicting the hardness underneath.
“You need to get naked, sweetheart,” I said softly. Because really, at that
point, it just wasn’t fair. “Be a good girl and remove those clothes.”
Once more, a needy whimper escaped her.
Huh. Interesting.
With a blistering speed, she unsnapped her bra and kicked off her panties.
I made a mental note to undress her myself when we finally did make love.
To take my time removing each article of clothing, showing her my love with
each kiss to her soft skin.
Worship her, the way she deserved.
Breathing heavily, she glanced up at me. Waiting.
For what?
Instead of answering her silent plea, I took a moment to take in her
perfect body.
Her skin was porcelain in appearance, the occasional scar marring the
perfect smoothness. Her breasts were large, quite easily a handful, and her
pink nipples screamed at me, demanding me to put each one in my mouth as
she had done with mine.
Patience, I told myself firmly. The last thing I wanted to do was explode
before we even started.
I lowered my gaze, taking in her dripping pussy. Her legs were spread
wide, offering herself to me. My own personal feast.
I continued to rub my cock, eyes alternating between her nipples, lips,
and pussy.
“Touch yourself,” I pleaded and was shocked when my voice came out
sounding authoritative. I was even more shocked when Z released a breathy
moan.
“Where?”
“Touch those perfect tits,” I instructed. I fondled my balls, once, before
moving my hand back down to the tip. Z’s eyes were fixated on my cock
even as her own hands moved up her sides and to her breasts. Two fingers
from each hand pulled and tugged at her nipples.
“Shit, Z,” I whispered, awed. She was beautiful and perfect and mine. I
had never been overly religious before, but I thanked God that I had gotten
her.
“Keep touching your breasts, but I also want to see a hand in those pretty
pink lips,” I said. I figured if she had listened to me the first time, she would
be willing to listen to me a second time.
If the gasp of pleasure was any indication, she liked what I had said. A
lot.
One hand continued to fondle her breasts, her thumb circling around her
nipple but never quite touching, while the other spread her pussy apart for my
viewing pleasure. I groaned low in my throat, utterly transfixed as she jabbed
a finger inside of herself.
I erratically stroked the length of my cock in tandem to her own finger
entering and exiting her liquid heat. She began to fuck her finger in earnest,
jabbing a second and then a third inside.
Her fingers pinched her nipple before moving to her neglected breast. She
tested the weight before pulling her nipple out and releasing it. The
momentum caused her boob to bounce, and she moaned.
“Look at me,” I whispered harshly. “I want to see you come.”
Her eyes lifted from my cock to my eyes and held them as she played her
body like a violin. She knew which string to pluck
and when to pluck it, each
moan that reverberated from her body a symphony of music.
I could feel myself reaching the precipice of pleasure. One more tug, and
I would be tumbling head over heels off a cliff.
“Come for me, sweetheart. My love.”
I exploded the same time she did. Our cries echoed in the large bedroom.
My balls clenched painfully as I released the last of my seed onto the
bedspread.
“Fucking hell,” Z breathed, panting. She glanced up at me with doe-like
eyes. “I didn’t know you fucking had it in you.” She sounded awed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I admitted, standing up from
the bed and moving to the adjacent bathroom. Turning on the facet, I wetted
two towels before moving back to the bed. I gently cleaned Z off before
rubbing the cum off my own dick. Our mixed seed still darkened the
bedspread, but I was too lazy to send up servants to change the bedding.
Instead, I grabbed a blanket from a chest near the foot of the bed and laid
it overtop of the sex-drenched one. Z waited until it was sprawled out before
climbing back on the bed, still naked. I curled around her, tucking my head
beneath her chin.
This was heaven. Bliss.
It was unlike anything I had ever felt before.
“Kill?” Z mumbled sleepily. Her fingers were idly stroking patterns on
the skin of my chest.
“Yes, my love?” I asked, tentatively pressing a kiss to the crown of her
head.
“You don’t have to be a fighter or a protector for me to love you. You just
have to be you.” The last words were nearly unintelligible, but I heard them
as if they were screamed.
Did she...?
Did she just confess...?
I didn’t want to hope, but my heart began pounding against my rib cage.
All I could do was hold her closer against me. Surrounding her in my love. I
languidly nuzzled her perky nipple with the tip of my nose.
Before I could ponder her unintentional confession, I felt darkness
encroaching at the edges of my vision. Sleep claimed me like a thief in the
night, stealing away the last of my coherent thoughts.
I fell asleep holding the love of my life in my arms, her confession of
love hanging palpably in the air.
TWENTY-ONE
Z
The Kings loved to hear themselves talk.
I imagined they spent hours in the mirror, practicing their
speeches and animated facial expressions.
The send off was small - only the Kings and their sons present. I stood in
the center of the throne room dressed in tight, leather pants and a black shirt
that clung to me like a second skin. Over my shoulder, I had a bow and arrow
set and a sword sheathed. On my wrists, I kept two throwing daggers hidden
beneath my shirt.
I felt powerful, exuding danger that no amount of haughty smirks from
the Kings could replicate.
A part of me missed the badass outfit - my ninja costume, as Mali had
called it - that Diego had made me. One push on the magical pendant allowed
me to completely transform into Z the assassin, not Zara the simpering maid.
Complete with a black cloak, white mask, and a variety of invisible weapons.
Unfortunately, the Kings had procured the pendant after The Damning
had ended. Too much power, they had insisted.
Too much my fucking ass.
As the Mermaid King droned on and on - and the Incubus King released
tiny sparks of his power straight to my core - I focused on the men present.
Namely, my mates.
Dair sat behind me, muscles taut and knuckles white where they gripped
the wheels of his chair. He looked strikingly handsome today in his fighting
leathers and with his golden hair slicked back. Beside him stood his three
brothers. Tavvy and the twins, whose names I couldn’t recall. I would have to
ask Dair at a later time.
Lupe and Devlin stood behind their fathers, eyes intently trained on me.
Killian stood off to the side, not next to his father but still close enough for
the King to flaunt his ownership.
My core tightened when I met Killian’s eyes, memories assaulting me of
our time together only last night. The way he had taken control. The
domineering voice. The lust emanating from his eyes. Who knew my sweet
Incubus was an accidental dom?
He offered me a salacious grin, completely unlike the timid man I had
grown to care for, and I felt my own lips curving in response. Just as quickly,
I shut that shit down.
Now was not the time to lust over my sexy, seductive mate.
Bash was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes flickering from his
sleeping father to me. His expression was unreadable whenever he met my
gaze. Seeing Bash brought back the aches and pains that had all but
diminished after my time with Killian. It rubbed repeatedly at the wound until
blood sputtered out, draining me.
I wrenched my eyes away from Bash’s. Did he notice the pain and
betrayal in my eyes?
Did he care?
Did I care?
It was the latter question that bounced around in my head. It brought
about connotations that I had accepted the mate bond and everything that
went with it. Accepted Bash as one of my mates.
The man barely tolerated me, keeping me at arm’s length as I did him.
and laughing. He had held me so tenderly, so reverently, as if he was afraid
that I would dematerialize as quickly as I had arrived.
That was one road I couldn’t travel down until I was sure of where we
stood. Sure of what we both wanted.
Jax and Ryland were both missing, and their absence slammed into me
like a sledgehammer. I wasn’t necessarily surprised with Jax, but Ryland?
Where the hell was he?
I hadn’t seen him all day, not after the awkward stare off in my bedroom.
I would’ve believed him to be mad at me if I hadn’t known him better than
that.
Everybody began walking towards the door at once, and I realized I had
missed the dismissal. Oops.
Frowning, I once more removed the map the King had given me when
announcing my first task. My eyes traced the sloping lines adorning the
crinkled page. No particular landmarks stood out.
And then the description of the man I had to find and kill...or lack of one.
I sighed heavily. This wasn’t a mission that they expected me to
complete. It was a game designed for failure.
“Dair,” the Mermaid King called, waving his hand. Dair’s jaw clenched,
but he obediently wheeled himself towards his father. I remained standing
near the entryway, watching their exchange with narrowed, suspicious eyes.
The rest of my mates and their fathers had already been ushered out leaving
only me, Tavvy, the Mermaid King, and Dair.
Tavvy’s smile was smug, almost sardonic, when his eyes met mine. He
offered me a wink that he probably thought was attractive, but came across as
constipated.
The King said something to Dair, and I watched my mate lower his head
minutely. Reaching into his pocket, the King han
ded Dair a small bottle, the
liquid continually changing colors in the artificial lighting. A spell, I realized
dumbly.
As Dair put the liquid to his lips, my fascination turned to horror when he
keeled over, falling out of his chair.
I ran towards him, ignoring Tavvy’s dark chuckle and the King’s
expectant grin. Dropping to my knees, I pressed the palm of my hand against
Dair’s forehead. His skin had taken on a ruddy tint, sweat plastering his hair
to his forehead.
“What’s happening?” I asked, fear tightening my stomach until it was a
mesh of tangled nerves. I glared at the older man towering over us. King or
not, if he had hurt my mate, I would end him. Painfully.
Dair’s breathing evened out, but his eyes were pained.
“Z...” he whispered helplessly, and it was only then that I got a good look
at him. Where his stubs had once been, two legs sprouted out, the skin as
golden as the rest of him. His toes flexed, wiggling, before he slowly
stumbled to his feet.
In my dazed state, I couldn’t help but think he reminded me of the little
mermaid learning to walk for the first time. A laugh bubbled up, threatening
to break free, at the accurate comparison.
“It’s...it’s a miracle!” I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand. Tears
burned in my eyes, and I was not ashamed to admit that more than one
escaped.
Dair’s smile was sheepish when he looked at me, eyes haunted. Why was
he not more excited about this? He could walk!
Before I could stop myself, I threw myself into Dair’s arms and peppered
him with kisses. He kissed me back instinctively, arms tightening around my
waist before releasing me.
The Mermaid King released a feigned gasp of shock, and I threw him a
glare. “I know you already know. Don’t act so fucking surprised.”
That expression of shock morphed into one of pseudo-sweetness. His
eyes were bright, illuminating. It always struck me to see my mate’s blue
eyes - the clearest shade of water - reflecting back at me from such a cold
man’s face.
“I had my suspicions,” he said evenly, that same damn amusement
dancing in his eyes.
“Not suspicions,” I hedged without hesitation. “You knew.”
Shrugging a broad shoulder, he amended, “Does it matter what I knew?
You should be grateful, little girl, that I gave him his legs back. It took years