The Hunted

by Bethany-Kris

  Featherlight, and oh, so soft.

  Gentle.

  But just as quickly, she leaned in to bite him. Her touches were kind and sweet, but the rest of her was still just as raw and wanton as she had been moments before. The breathless noise that left her throat when he spread her thighs wide had his chest constricting. Almost a whine, but more like a mewl, it still felt primal.

  It was in that moment he realized she’d yet to utter a word to him.

  Eryx fitted between her thighs, hovering above her with one hand resting flat to the underside of her jaw to force her head back against the ground. There wasn’t anything about his roughness that frightened her.

  If anything, she seemed to like it.

  Her body trembled and her hips lifted to find any bit of him. Her fingers circled his wrist, and she even dared to try to pull him closer. A silent urging if he ever felt one.

  “What?” he demanded. “You want me to fuck you here like an animal? On this muddy, rocky ground outside, where anyone could see me ruining you? Is that what you want?”

  Her voice.

  He was dying to hear it.

  Something inside needed to hear the sound she would make when she spoke. He had no doubt the woman knew his language. They’d found a lot of her kind could speak the language of the lands and of the sea without any teaching.

  She could speak.

  Had to.

  And yet, all she did was swallow against his hold and nod.

  Just like that, Eryx forgot the woman beneath him was the source of the hatred that had been poisoning him. He lost the sensation of pain still coursing through his body. Their current situation, stranded where he didn’t know in the middle of a storm, didn’t seem all that important.

  She’d nodded.

  A silent yes.

  All he wanted to do was give her exactly what she wanted. What he promised.

  The hand he’d had on her hip to keep her pinned beneath him slipped between their bodies. She was already lifting her hips to meet him when he fit his cock to the slick heat of her cunt. There was nothing soft or easy or slow about the way he took her. One hard pump of his hips had her split around his aching cock.

  He couldn’t breathe again.

  Now, it didn’t matter.

  All those sounds of hers rushed back—they weren’t words, but he didn’t need those when her noises were just as tempting. How she gasped and moaned and whispered with every flex of his body against her own.

  Her nails cut into his wrist when he fucked her harder. She dared to bite his fingers—making him lean down to return the favor against her bottom lip—when he stuck two of his digits between her parted lips just to watch her suck on them.

  Her cries, though.

  Those was the real music.

  The song he couldn’t get enough of.

  Eryx certainly didn’t need her to tell him when she was about to break apart beneath him. Not when he could feel it vibrating through every piece of her straight into his own bloodstream. An echo of pleasure that turned his mind into a total mess. And when she did finally release under him, the world tilted.

  Or it sure felt like it.

  He fucked her like he hated her.

  Because he did.

  But he also fucked her like a dying man receiving his last moments of pleasure.

  Because maybe he was.

  TEN

  Arelle

  “PRINCE ERYX … Prince!”

  “Eryx!”

  “Is anyone out there?”

  Arelle blinked awake to a canopy of trees and bright spots of purple behind the large green fan leaves hanging from the branches. It gave her just enough cover from the morning sun that she was sure sunlight hadn’t been the thing to wake her up.

  That purple …

  She breathed in, and then out again. Over and over until the haziness cleared from her vision, the sleepiness in her mind drifted away, and she had a better understanding of her current situation.

  It wasn’t often she woke up anywhere but her grotto or the palace. Never mind the fact that she hadn’t ever awoken under trees, with a purple sky overhead—the only sign that a storm had passed and for the moment, all was good and safe in the sky and sea—and the earth under her back acting as her bed.

  Arelle flexed her toes, not her tail fin as she would usually do every morning to loosen up, feeling dirt and rocks scrape against her sensitive skin. The sting had her hissing, but it wasn’t the only thing on her body that hurt at the moment.

  The warm firmness at her back relaxed her, but she had to wonder if she dared to move. The hard lines that surely felt like a man tucked into her back made her feel safe, and even in her heart, the sentiment echoed over and over again. But the very fact she could feel someone else behind her had Arelle tensing.

  Which did nothing good for the rest of her.

  She didn’t need to test her body to know just how stiff it was. Even the slightest of movements had every muscle in her body protesting. It took her far too long to realize and remember why she was where she was, and just who was sleeping beside her on the still-damp ground.

  The man.

  All at once, memories of the night before slammed into her mind. Her sister, the ships … She’d been right because it was a trap. The man in the water, and then everything that had come after the moment she’d decided to save him.

  She’d done far more than just save him. The very second Arelle dragged the halfling man onto land, she’d made her first mistake. The second their blood had started to mingle, there had been absolutely no coming back from what she had started between the two of them.

  Had he even known what they’d done?

  What it meant?

  How now, because of the night before, the two of them would be tied together forever. Irrevocably. The bond was started—made. It hadn’t been finished properly, and not even witnessed like most matings would be, but Arelle already knew that wouldn’t make a difference.

  How did she know?

  Because now … already, Arelle could feel her mate within her. His magic was hers; hers became his. The thrall that had been unique to each of them was now shared. He was right behind her, touching her, but even if he hadn’t been, it would be okay. Because she would still feel him. Or hear him, if that’s what he wanted. He was an echo in her mind. An imprint on her soul. Within the very beats of her heart.

  That was the bond.

  They would share the same air.

  Linked minds.

  Unable to stand separation.

  And all because of what?

  To save his life.

  That was all she’d meant to do! Just save his fucking life. To correct her wrongs—or to assuage the guilt that never left because she couldn’t get the image of his mother’s haunted face out of her mind. Instead, this happened.

  But did the man know these things?

  Arelle seriously doubted it. He wouldn’t know; he wasn’t like her.

  “Oh, my Gods,” she breathed.

  Behind her, she felt the man shift in his sleep; his arm slung over her naked hip, and his fingers pressed into her skin. He was still sleeping. She could tell by the way his breaths came out steady and even.

  The calm after a storm.

  But even that touch …

  It was possessive.

  In his sleep, he reached for her.

  Like she had been doing for him, she’d bet. That was why, even after sleeping alone for most of her life, she still found herself awake and tucked into her mate’s side. Because this was how it should be from now on. The bond would demand it, or it would torture her until she gave it what it needed.

  “Eryx!”

  “Prince!”

  “Prince Eryx—call out if you can!”

  That’s what had woken Arelle up. Again, she felt him start to shift behind her, a groan echoing against the back of her neck. It had her shivering, a rush of memories filling her mind all over again. All those sounds he made when he pinne
d her down and fucked her until she couldn’t think or breathe or see.

  She’d wanted it.

  Needed it.

  It had still been a mistake.

  Her worst ever.

  Arelle would be a damn liar if hearing that groan didn’t make her wet and hot and ready all over again, but she blamed the bond for that. It had to be the bond, didn’t it? The man with his arm hooked around her to keep her in place while he woke up certainly wasn’t the only man she’d laid down with. Her education had included a male companion when she’d turned seventeen—one who’d taught her everything from the act of sex to self-pleasure, and more when it came to mating. That way, she would know and wouldn’t be afraid of it when her time came.

  She hadn’t been.

  It’d come too easily, maybe.

  But her companion—he’d told her something important once. The bond only ties you together; you decide everything else after. The bond between mates could make her want a lot of things, but she still had a choice.

  “Eryx!”

  Arelle lifted just enough from the ground that she could peer through the brush that led out to the shore of the island. It wasn’t the calm sea that she noticed first, or even the way the light breeze brought with it the scent of sunshine and salt, two of her favorite things.

  No, it was the ship.

  Quite far off, edging close to the shoreline of a neighboring island, the vessel had men all across the deck shouting a name she didn’t know.

  “Eryx!”

  They would find them soon. There’d been more than one ship the night before, and there was a very good chance someone had seen her swimming with Eryx toward the islands.

  She couldn’t be here …

  They were hunters. A lot like the man behind her. One she’d tied herself to. Bonded with.

  All over again, Arelle was reminded of her situation. That she had mated herself to a man from the land. That she had an intended mate on his way to her colony. Once more, it seemed as though she had found every single rule she shouldn’t break and yet, still managed to do exactly that.

  It felt taunting almost. How dare she forget? How could she be so stupid?

  Though it killed her to do so, and she had absolutely no idea what would happen when she left her mate behind on the island, she slipped out from under his arm and stood up on shaky legs. She did her best not to look back, to keep walking toward where the sea lapped at sharp rocks.

  Their blood had finally washed away. The storm … gone. Not that it mattered. The storm was inside her, now.

  By the time Arelle reached the water’s edge, the sore, healing scrapes on her toes and legs touching saltwater, she finally looked back.

  Her heart stopped. Just for a second.

  She was sure it did. He stared back at her. Burning blue eyes. Hatred and confusion warred.

  “Wait,” he said.

  Faintly.

  It didn’t sound like an order, but it didn’t have to. Not when it was her mate saying the word—request, plead or demand … it didn’t matter. That was the bond.

  Everything inside demanded she do what he said. Wait. The calls from the sea came louder; the ship sailed closer.

  “Prince!”

  The man turned his head toward the sound.

  “Prince Eryx, are you here?”

  Was that his name?

  “Eryx.”

  The name came out of her lips lower than a whisper.

  He hadn’t even heard it.

  Then, his gaze snapped back to hers. His hand slid along the ground, and though she could tell he was still weak, he seemed determined to stand. She wanted to tell him to rest—it’s what he would need for a while. Mating took a lot of energy. The bond often drained their kind of everything, and recovery was sometimes the best part.

  Except he would be alone.

  And so would she.

  Arelle gave a slight shake of her head, a whimper falling from her lips.

  She couldn’t speak.

  Not to him.

  It would finish the bond.

  Their voice and songs …

  He’d always be able to find her if he heard it.

  It was bad enough that he’d spoken because now, she would always hear him.

  “Wait.”

  Her next step hesitated.

  His voice was so much rougher.

  Like rocks against her skin.

  And still, she liked it.

  “Prince Eryx!”

  “Fuck,” he snarled behind her.

  She looked back again, but he had looked off at the approaching ship.

  Arelle took her chance to run, darting over sharp rocks and an uneven ground beneath the water until it was deep enough for her to dive. Under the water, she breathed, feeling the change that took her from legs to tail again.

  She couldn’t hear him call for her.

  Not under the sea.

  But in her mind?

  Her heart?

  She heard him loud and clear.

  I’ll find you, little mermaid.

  • • •

  Eryx

  Despite how his legs threatened to fall out from beneath him, Eryx managed to get up from the ground. Even through the pain and the wounds that reopened to seep blood—his throat, and the cut on his leg—he still rushed to the edge of the water. The sharp rocks that scraped the soles of his feet barely registered to him at all.

  “Wait!”

  She didn’t.

  The last thing he saw from the red-headed mermaid was the tips of her tail fin that peeked out from the water before disappearing beneath the surface again. Those bluish-green scales with the black markings seemed to wink at him—taunt him—before she was gone.

  Rage filled him.

  Disbelief, too.

  The confusion was the worst, though. His mind raced from one memory to the next. He tried to put all the pieces together, but it felt like none of it made sense. Oh, he knew what had happened. Remembered it perfectly well.

  But why?

  His gaze scanned the water, entirely ignoring the ship that was now skimming along the edge of the shoreline of the island where he currently stood. He looked for any sign of the mermaid—bubbles in the water, shimmering scales … anything at all.

  Eryx found nothing.

  Why did that ache in his chest? Why did it hurt that she hadn’t stayed?

  He still wanted to kill her. The memory of his hand wrapped around her throat the night before had him inhaling so sharply that it hurt like nothing else in his lungs, if only because every time he’d tried to squeeze hard enough to take away her air entirely … he hadn’t been able to.

  But he wanted to.

  Now, more than ever, he wanted to catch that mermaid. Kill that mermaid.

  “I’ll find you, little mermaid,” he told the sea.

  Whether or not she would hear him … Well, that didn’t really matter.

  He just wished that ache in his chest would go away. A part of him had to wonder if the ache was because of her … had she stayed when he told her to, would he still be feeling whatever this was?

  “Prince!”

  Eryx finally looked toward the ship. One of the men on deck seemed to have caught sight of him, if the way he waved erratically in his general direction before shouting at someone behind him was any indication.

  He didn’t even bother to wave back. Didn’t have the energy.

  Instead, Eryx’s knees hit the wet rocks, the stab of pain from the stone cutting into skin echoing through his entire body. He wished he cared.

  Nothing felt right. Everything was wrong.

  Eryx wasn’t sure how long it took for the ship to make its way to where he still kneeled on the ground. Long enough, he supposed, for the sun to move quite a bit. He heard the oars of a boat slapping against water, and it was only then that he raised his head to see who was coming onto shore. Quite a ways back, they’d dropped the anchor for the ship before putting a smaller boat into the water.
<
br />   “Prince,” the man at the front of the boat called, “is that you?”

  “Does it look like me?”

  He didn’t get a reply.

  Eryx figured he didn’t need one. Neither did they.

  It was only once the men had climbed out of the boat and brought Eryx a blanket, which they quickly used to cover his shoulders and mostly naked form, that the one who’d been at the front of the boat spoke again.

  “Lucky a man saw the bitch bringing you this way, Prince,” he muttered, slapping Eryx on the back.

  “I can’t remember,” Eryx lied.

  He remembered perfectly fine, and if the men were smart enough to think … they would notice that the flattened spot of ground where Eryx had slept happily beside the mermaid was big enough for two people and not just himself.

  “Caught one of two,” the guy added, watching as two other men helped Eryx to his feet. “A fighter, she is.”

  “She’s not the one I want.”

  “Have to discuss that with Corval, then, Prince.”

  Oh?

  “Corval made it?”

  “One of three on that ship who did,” the man muttered. “You included.”

  Well, then …

  “Take me home.”

  The man didn’t even question Eryx, he was simply directed to the waiting rowboat before he found a seat to sit in alone while he surveyed the calm waters of the sea, and the sky that was just now starting to lose the purple tones that had colored it earlier. Eryx said nothing as they docked alongside the ship, ropes were dropped down, and then they were lifted up to the deck.

  In fact, he said nothing at all until he stood beside Corval on the deck.

  “I suppose the captain was right,” Eryx said.

  “And we’d have been out a mermaid, yes?”

  “She’s not the right one, though.”

  “But the other one was?”

  Eryx didn’t miss how the hunter was careful about not asking if it was true the mermaid saved his life. There were more than enough whispers on the ship for him to deduce his own conclusions on that.