before he reached my pants. Meeting my eyes, he pulled the pants and then
my panties off my legs. I lifted my ass to help him remove them completely.
Bare in the moonlight, I didn’t feel vulnerable. The way he stared at me
went beyond mere love. I would almost describe it as worshipful...and that
scared the crap out of me. I didn’t deserve to have a man as good as Dair look
at me with such warmth and love. It very nearly took my breath away.
His hot breath hit my dripping wet core, and I whimpered.
I was so needy, so ready for him.
“You’re perfect,” he whispered, one finger settling in my slick folds. His
finger had just barely begun its ministrations before it was replaced by his hot
mouth.
All coherent thoughts fled from my mind as Dair devoured me. My hips
bucked of their own accord, desperate to ride Dair’s face. His tongue and
teeth nipped at my bundle of nerves, alleviating the ache only slightly. I was
seconds from the impending explosion, seconds from losing myself in his
mouth.
The second I would’ve crumbled over the edge, he lifted his lips from my
core and captured my mouth in another searing kiss. I tasted myself on him, a
fact that nearly sent me spiraling.
He pulled away, briefly, and I heard the sound of his pants being
removed. I had only a second to appreciate his long, golden length before it
was sheathed inside of me.
I moaned at the sensation, the one of being too full yet not full enough.
“Dair,” I whispered. I needed him to move, to send me crashing and
tumbling over that edge. I needed it more than I needed air to breathe.
I had given him everything, and I wanted him to do the same.
“My love,” he whispered, eyes pinched closed. Pure, unadulterated
pleasure crossed his face. That look alone was nearly my undoing. It told me
everything he wasn’t saying.
“Move,” I ordered breathlessly.
Dair complied, slowly moving his hips. He wanted our first time to be
slow and sensual, but that soon changed. He couldn’t seem to control himself
as fucked me relentlessly, tiny spurts of air leaving his lips.
“Yes, yes,” I shouted into the night air. Each buck of his hips sent me
closer to that edge. He lifted my legs suddenly, angling himself so he was
deeper inside of me. The tip of his cock pounded my clit, and I cried out.
I pulled his lips to mine in a feverish kiss, desperate to feed both his and
my insatiable hunger.
I reached the precipice with a loud scream, my orgasm shuttering around
me. Dair continued to move inside me relentlessly until he, too, spilled his
seed. I shuddered in his strong, powerful arms, my body depleted of any and
all energy.
“Fuck,” I whispered. Dair chuckled breathlessly, planting a kiss on my
bare shoulder. He was still inside of me, and I could already feel him getting
hard once more. In the next moment, he had his strong forearms beneath my
ass hoisting me up and his mouth on my clit, sucking and licking.
It was unlike anything I had ever felt before.
I placed my hands on his shoulders to maintain my balance as he expertly
held me in the air, devouring my pussy.
Minutes later, I exploded into his eager mouth, and he lapped up every
last drop. Through it all, his strong arms didn’t waver once…though I was
not a light girl by any means. Spent, I collapsed into his arms, and he pressed
a kiss to my temple.
“I love you, Z. More than I have ever loved anyone or anything before.”
His words were earnest. Beautiful.
His hand stroked my sweat-soaked hair as he held my eyes. I knew he
wasn’t expecting a reply, but I wanted to give him one anyway. I wanted him
to know how much he meant to me. How much I adored him. His gentle
smiles and soft hands. The laughter always dancing in his eyes. The pain I
could see behind that laughter.
“I love you, too,” I whispered into the silence of the night.
His smile was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Nothing could be
more beautiful. All of his previous smiles paled in comparison.
There, with the water rippling the side of the boat and the birds cawing
overhead, we were content to hold each other.
With our bodies, we showed each other how pure and wonderful love
could be.
IT WAS hours later when we returned to the dock. Blissful hours of
memorizing each other’s bodies, discovering what we liked.
I felt sated in a way I hadn’t been in a long time, not since my time with
Killian. In those moments, all fear and anger and hurt had disappeared
completely leaving only me and Dair.
I felt safe in his arms. Loved. Treasured.
With great reluctance, we cleaned each other up and set course for shore.
I remained curled in Dair’s arms as he steered the ship. He stayed true to
his word. Now that he had me, he wasn’t letting me go.
Only the moon guided us as we departed the boat. My legs felt like jelly,
but this time it wasn’t just because of the ship.
Stumbling, I couldn’t release the very girly giggle.
I felt like a schoolgirl with a crush. Young and in love, the familiar
feelings of elation coursing through my veins.
Dair met my smile with a blinding one of his own. I didn’t think I would
ever get tired of seeing that, especially aimed at me. It was as if the clouds
parted and the sun appeared.
“You’re beautiful,” I told him seriously.
“I love you,” he replied.
He hadn’t stopped saying that.
Each time, it sent delightful tingles down my body.
He suddenly lurched forward, eyes glazed, and I let out a surprised
scream, staggering under his weight. His heart still beat steadily, and I nearly
collapsed in relief. Gently, I placed him on the ground and spun to meet our
attacker.
I lunged forward with my blade extended, only to stop short seconds
before I would’ve cut the offender’s neck.
What the hell?
My eyes were wide, feet paralyzed with fear, as I met Tavvy’s blue eyes.
“Beautiful, you know you can’t hurt me.” He shook his head
disapprovingly and took a step closer. His hand cradled my head, and he
brought his lips a hair’s breadth away from mine. I was trembling with the
need to stab him, to push him away, but I couldn’t.
I was trapped with a psychopath with no possible way to defend myself.
My body physically wouldn’t let me harm him.
His tongue licked a long trail down my face, and I shook with revulsion
and anger. And fear.
An all-encompassing, all-consuming fear.
Before the ball, I had thought I would be able to fight him and escape, but
I now knew the truth. I was entirely at his mercy.
All I could see penetrating the darkness was his bright blue eyes and
blinding white teeth as he smiled.
“My dear, I think it’s time we had a chat.”
THIRTY-SIX
Z
“You don’t want to do this.” I hated how my voice shook.
Tavvy’s fingers were rough under my arm as he led me up
a stone staircase and into a dilapidated hut at the base
of the
cliff top.
It looked to be a small store, unoccupied, that sold seashells, glass wind
chimes, and rental boats. Moonlight pierced through the open window,
illuminating everything in vivid detail.
I was tossed to the ground like a rag doll, and I let out an instinctive grunt
of pain.
“What do you see in my brother?” Tavvy’s cadence was harsh, broken,
manic. He took a step closer to me, and I braced myself for pain. The man did
not disappoint when he swung a fist at my face.
Pain erupted behind my eye, so intense that I gasped.
“Why him?” he continued. He sounded and looked completely unhinged.
His eyes were wild, wild, wild as they swept over my face. “Why does
everyone love him more than me? Why can’t I have a pretty mate? Why
don’t you love me?!” The last statement was accompanied by a kick to my
ribs.
Maybe it was foolish to poke the beast, but if I couldn’t fight back
physically, I would get in his head.
“Because you’re a psychopathic asshole!” I hissed. Blood dribbled down
my chin, but I ignored it. “Because you’re evil. And an ugly bastard as well.”
The next kick was enhanced with his Mermaid magic. I flew through the
air, hitting a shelf that held glass statues of animals. I collapsed on the floor,
and glass rained down on me. Shielding my head did little to stop the
onslaught of pain, tiny nicks as glass cut up my arm.
“You’re a fucking coward, Tavvy,” I managed to say through clenched
teeth. Pain radiated throughout my whole body. “That’s why no one loves
you.”
He was in front of me a second later, hand tangled in my blond hair as he
pulled me to my feet. Pain emitted from my scalp, and I cried out.
“All I wanted was for you to be mine,” Tavvy whispered brokenly. “Why
can’t you just be mine?”
Before I could reply that I could never belong to such an asshole, he
kissed me.
Kissed me.
His tongue prodded the seams of my lips, but I kept my mouth closed.
Disgust churned in my stomach. Disgust and an incandescent fury that
threatened to burn me alive. I hated him.
Hated him.
It was on the opposite end of the spectrum of what I felt for his brother. I
loved Dair intensely, with all I had to offer, and I hated Tavvy just as much.
It was a pendulum that swung in both directions - one side hate, the other
love.
But I couldn’t stop him, couldn’t push him away, couldn’t even angrily
bite down on his lip like I wanted to. My only course of action was to hold
myself perfectly still, muscles rigid, and hope that whatever he did would be
quick.
A searing slap sent tendrils of pain down my left cheek. My head snapped
to the side with the force of his hit.
“Why won’t you kiss me?” Tavvy screamed, spit hitting my face.
If goading him didn’t elicit the reaction I wanted, I would try stony
silence. Again, my thoughts shifted back to the image of a pendulum. One
extreme followed by another.
“Answer me!” He shook my shoulders. Crazed. Desperate.
Envious.
The man was overridden by the sin he was born with, an inherent part of
himself. He couldn’t control his nature just like I couldn’t control being born
with blond hair.
It wasn’t the sin that made people act like monsters; it was how people
wielded them.
Tavvy’s hands clumsily pulled at my shirt, and I once more held perfectly
still. My eyelids were squeezed shut, blocking out his hideous face and cruel
smirk.
I knew what was going to happen. I knew it, and a little part of me died
inside because of it.
“You’re mine,” Tavvy whispered hotly, tongue lapping at my neck.
One second he was touching me, and the next his body’s weight left
mine. I peeled open my eyes, scarcely believing what was happening.
Another face hovered a hair’s breadth away from my lips.
He was an avenging angel in the flesh. A being materialized straight from
heaven to smite the creature who dared to harm me.
Dair’s eyes flashed with a rage unlike anything I had ever seen before. It
burned me, burned my very soul, and was exactly the balm I needed. He
would protect me when I couldn’t protect myself.
“How did you...?” I couldn’t finish my sentence, my eyes taking in his
face. He looked positively murderous in the sliver of moonlight, his eyes
flaming with an elemental fury. A darkness emanated from his eyes like a
spilt cauldron of ink. He looked like a monster.
My monster.
“I told you,” he whispered roughly. His hands grabbed something behind
him, but I couldn’t see what it was. “I’m not letting you go.”
One of his hands held both my wrists together as he led me back a step,
and then another. He brought my wrists to a wooden post.
And then abruptly tied my hands to the post, the rope sinking into my
skin and no doubt leaving red gashes. I couldn’t even fight back at first, the
shock I felt at his actions leaving me speechless.
“Dair!” I hissed, pulling at the rope. It held. “Dair!” My voice was a
screech, an accusation, and a condemnation all in one. Still, my Mermaid
Prince didn’t falter under my glare. There was no sympathy or guilt in his
blue gaze. Only resolution.
And it was then that I understood.
“Dair!” I kicked at the post, wiggling my wrists futilely. Without a word,
and then reached behind me to grab my sword. His eyes were dark when he
finally faced his brother.
Tavvy rolled to his feet, blood gushing from his nose. It gave me great
satisfaction to see him injured, though a part of me screamed in fury.
I had to protect him. I had to...
No!
I tried to ignore the Mage spell. My mind knew that I didn’t want to
protect such a monster, but my body refused to listen to me. It struggled
helplessly against the bindings in a desperate attempt to get to Tavvy.
“What are you doing, little brother?” Tavvy asked gleefully. He either
wasn’t aware or chose not to care about the blood staining his palms as he
opened his arms in a large, swooping motion. “We’re family. You share your
mate with those... friends of yours. Why can’t you share her with me, your
brother?”
“You’re not my brother.” Dair’s voice was dark and raspy, an inarticulate
growl.
In the next second, Dair had Tavvy on the ground, punching him
repeatedly in the face. The sword clattered as Dair dropped it, his need for
vengeance, for the satisfying sound of flesh hitting flesh, overcoming his
logical reasoning.
I began to struggle in earnest. I needed to get to Tavvy, I needed to
protect him.
The need was almost uncontrollable. Sweat dripped down my forehead,
and not just from my struggles.
My body and mind warred for dominance, each one believing to be right.
I knew, innately, that I didn’t want to help the monster bleeding on the floor,
&nb
sp; but my body refused to listen. And, if it listened, it didn’t obey.
“You. Hurt. My. Mate,” Dair seethed between blows. Tavvy released a
manic laugh.
“I would’ve done more than hurt her,” he rapped out. “I would’ve stuck
my cock into her sweet cunt.”
His words pierced a part of my brain, the part that warned against helping
such a monster, but it did not completely override the need I felt to protect
him. I needed to get to him. I needed it more than I needed air to breathe.
His statement had the desired reaction from Dair too. His movements
became erratic, just sloppy enough for Tavvy to slide smoothly out from
underneath him and jump on his back. Dair fell to the ground, twisting. Their
positions reversed, Tavvy began to level punch after punch to my sweet
mate’s face, cackling beneath his breath.
I couldn’t help Dair. My body refused, but my mind stayed sharp. They
could take away my body’s autonomy, but they couldn’t take away my voice.
I would not be silenced.
“Get angry, Dair!” I shouted. “Get fucking enraged. He hurt me! He hurt
you! Fight back! Fight back!”
Even as I screamed this, my body worked to break free and fight for
Tavvy. Fight against my mate.
I hated myself.
My wrists were red and raw, but I did not relent. It was a helpless feeling,
these contradicting emotions battling inside of me. A part of me wanted to
stay chained forever, while the other part wanted - no, needed - to break free.
Protect Tavvy.
No! Protect Dair!
No, Tavvy!
“Think of all that he’s done to you!” I screamed at Dair. I couldn’t see his
face, but I could hear his moans of pain. That sound would forever haunt me.
“Fight back! Fight fucking back!”
My words must’ve pierced the darkest recesses of his brain. With the next
punch, he gripped Tavvy’s fist, twisting it with a roar. There was the
satisfying crack of bone breaking and Tavvy crying out.
Dair stumbled to his feet. His beautiful face was bruised and bloody, but
his eyes continued to gleam with a malicious glint I had never seen before.
Tavvy lunged at Dair, but neither he nor I noticed the dagger held tightly
in Dair’s hand. The blade cut through skin.
Tavvy’s eyes widened, shock evident on his pale face. He hadn’t
expected Dair to actually do it, to actually kill him. His body lurched