by A. K. Koonce
His hands skim up my chest, cupping my breast before he bends down to run his tongue over my nipple. Each flick out of his wicked mouth only fuels the fire. Lightly, my fingertips touch the hard muscle of his abdomen, his body tensing beneath my touch. The small trail of hair below his navel meets my palm and soon my palm wraps around smooth skin. My hand eagerly strokes against his cock. A pleasant moan vibrates against me through his chest.
We collide against each other, pushing all the space away that separates us. Both of us release all of the tension, all of the needs and wants we had built up for each other. My chest aches as if this is the last time I might touch him. The last time he’ll touch me.
The rough tips of his fingers trail down my body as he kisses me slowly, his tongue drifting against mine. His palm continues down, brushing against my thighs before he leisurely draws circles across my skin until he’s circling my clit. Pleasure swells with each passing of his fingers. My hips begin swaying slightly with his touch. His fingers slow their teasing as he eases his hand lower until he finds my opening.
My thighs part more in response and he takes his cue. With torturously slow movements, his fingers drag in and out. I can’t help the begging whimper that escapes me.
My breath starts coming in pants as he continues, his nose running over my jaw before he nips at my ear.
“Please,” I whisper, the only begging I even have the energy to do as he teases my body.
His grin spreads against my neck and his lips skim my flesh as he speaks. “As you wish, Princess.”
Cohen’s strong arms slip around me, gripping the underside of my thighs. With one quick move his hips find mine as he pushes me against the dirty, cold wall. The hard length of his dick is slick against my entrance. His dark eyes study mine intently, like he wants to drink in my every reaction as he slowly eases into me. My lashes flutter. Groaning, with the fullness he was creating, my back arches against the stone wall for support, brushing my chest against his.
“Fuck.” His breath fans over me in a whisper of curses before his lips crash back onto mine.
A wickedness glints in his hooded eyes.
All the composure Cohen has held since I’ve met him slips away as he drills into me. His hips find a fast pace that has me rocking against him in a pleading way. His shaft drags over my sensitive folds in a rush of pain and pleasure that has me moaning against his lips.
My hands push into his hair and with a quick move, he grips them both before holding my palms to the stone wall above my head. He controls my body and I love the way it feels. Part of him is meticulously in control while the other part strives to lose that control.
His hand gripping my palms is sweet and caressing, while his other hand holding my ass digs into my flesh. It’s this torn struggle he’s battling while making love to me with long, hard thrusts.
The feeling within my core tightens and my sex clenches around him, making a vibrating groan leave his lips. The orgasm shakes through every inch of my body.
With a few more reckless thrusts, he pulses within me. I feel his slickness against mine and we both still against one another. He presses another slow kiss to my lips before he releases my hands and leans his head against my temple.
A tremble shakes through my hands as I grip his face in my palms and study his sensual gaze.
He smiles against my lips, kissing me again and again. The stone scrapes against my back as he gently lowers us to the floor. The way he rests his head in my lap makes me realize how tired he really is. I wonder if the power he expelled earlier was more draining than he lets on.
The quiet sound of his breaths fills the silence as he begins to drift to sleep right there on the dungeon floor. The moonlight is the only color that streams into the darkness, casting his tan skin into a lighter color. My fingers skim over his short hair, just wanting to touch him.
Happiness fades away all too quickly within me. It’s gone before I ever get a chance to enjoy it.
I refuse to let them slip away from me. I refuse to allow that witch to force me into the same terrible choices she forced on Cohen’s father.
As if summoned by my thoughts alone, her eerie voice whispers through the darkness.
Come to me, child. I have more tales to tell. The sea wishes to see the cursed princess once more.
The tone of her magical voice sends a chill across my damp skin.
Slowly, I untangle mine and Cohen’s limbs and I stand. I shove my dress on quickly. With a heavy heart, I glance to Cohen once more. He looks boyish when he sleeps; younger than the hundred years I know he’s lived. Smooth features, high cheek bones, and strong jaw defines him. Not a single worry line creases his face.
He won’t have to worry soon enough.
The dagger is in my hand before I close the door to the dungeon behind me.
It is a dagger forged from love. It is a dagger forged right from her heart.
Perhaps, it’s time the dagger returns home.
Chapter Seventeen
The Heart of the Sea
Wren
The wind chills right into my bones. My bare feet run across the slick dock, threatening to send me falling into the icy waves.
My drenched dress is crisp from the frost as I kneel down. The clear water is all I see as I stare down into the ocean that isn’t nearly as serene as it appears.
“You called for a cursed princess,” I scream into the waves. The winds sting my throat. “You called for me and now here I am.” The blade is hidden beneath my skirts as I stare out into the dark waters. The moonlight cuts across the inky ocean, a clear night sky reflects off the mass of sharp ice and choppy water.
A slithering tale glides up the coast, until she rises before me with a cruel smile twisting her lips. Heat fumes off of her as if the weather is too cold for the hot power raging through her.
She drifts back a few inches until a foot of space separates she and I.
“I brought you a gift,” she says in her smooth, purring voice.
The creamy white skin of hers rises until her palm is heaving up the limp body of a young girl. The child’s tale is unmoving and her lids refuse to open to me but I know who she is.
It’s their sister.
“I’ve kept good care of her just for your men. Your harem, I suppose they are.” The sneer on her lips becomes more cruel as her emerald eyes glint with malicious happiness. “I hope you’ve enjoyed them. I hope they’ve enjoyed you.” Another few feet separates us as she sways a little farther back. “They’ll be returning to me soon enough. If only you had the gall to prove that you loved them.”
My heart slams against my chest with every shaking breath I take. Several yards separate us. She drifts farther out to sea. The cold pools between us, the wind whipping at her fiery hair.
“Did you tell them you loved them? Did it feel like a lie, knowing you’ll never save them? Love and lies go hand in hand.” Her taunting voice grows quiet and she takes a few strokes closer to me. “There is one other way. I could tell you if you’d like.”
That magic I’ve seen them all possess doesn’t shine in her hands. It gleams darkly in her eyes. Like a flash of lightning, it sparks from deep within her.
“Tell me.” My body trembles from the cold but I listen intently to every word this insane woman speaks.
“Your own heart. Give the dagger your own soul and they’ll forever be free. The ocean will never rule their lives ever again.”
My fingers tremble against the cold hilt of the blade.
Is she telling the truth? Could I really give my life for theirs?
I consider her words carefully and she watches me with rapt attention blazing through her vicious gaze.
“No.” The simple word echoes across the wide space of space that separates she and I.
“No?” Her red brows rise high as her lips form a tight line.
The girl sinks lower into the waters as the witch clings to her hair. In her other hand, her fingers begin to tremble, inky smoke fumes from her palm. Po
wer is waiting to rise from within her.
“I’m starting to wonder if there’s a third choice,” I say casually. I stand from my place at the edge of the dock. Nothing but determination fills my small frame.
Rage fuels my body and I try not to think about what I’m about to do.
I leap into the sea.
My fingers tangle into her long hair and she drags us both under like an anchor ready for the hard landing at the bottom of the ocean.
Her palm presses to my chest and pain shudders through me. Shadowy tendrils fume from between her palm and my body. I feel her power shake through me, threating to split open my ribs.
An angry scream jars through her pretty lips but it’s cut off with a confused gasp that’s swept up in the thick waves.
Crimson colors stain the water that drift around her. Her gaze travels slowly down her body as she stares wide eyed at the dagger I’ve sliced into her chest. A tightness fills my jaw as I look at her. All the lives she ruined flash through my mind. She deserved to die a long time ago.
Right before my eyes, her beautiful iron colored tail shifts into two pale, slender legs. The glint in her gaze, that raw power, fades away, leaving behind dull eyes. Her body drifts away from me as her eyes close slowly. Darkness welcomes her corpse, swallowing her up into the bottom of the sea.
To my right, dark hair sways into my view and I kick hard until my hand clasps around the young girl’s arm. Her angelic face shares the same sharp angles as her brothers. She, too, has changed back into a human form just like the sea witch.
My throat constricts, desperately searching for air. With the small girl held to my side, I kick hard in the sloshy waters. It’s tiring. My limbs feel weighted. Slashing movements fuel my limbs but the surface never comes.
Inky blackness surrounds us on either side. I hug the girl to me, and my only regret is that I couldn’t save her.
A sick form of justice has been served in the deep oceans of Aveil.
Even if the sea takes my life, as well.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Wren
The fluttering feeling in my chest that Cohen Ryken gives me will always be there. For a while, I wondered if the curse was the only thing that kept us together. Now I know it’s us. Magic has nothing to do with it.
The priest’s words are washed away in the breeze. I can’t hear a thing he says because I’m too caught up in the way Cohen’s gaze seeps into me.
The waters just behind us are a shimmering shade of white and blue. It’s beautiful and full of hope and wonder but it’s also full of warning.
Warning to us all to never stray too far from the safety of the shore of this land.
Deep amber eyes shine down on me and then there’s nothing but silence. The ocean air catches my hair and his warm fingers pushes it back from my lips. Gently his fingers linger along my jaw and he leans into me, his breath skimming deliciously across my neck.
“I think they’re waiting for me to kiss you,” he whispers. His eyes lock with mine before I glance over his shoulder at Cason and Cormac. They both share an amused, knowing smirk just as their brother’s lips brush against mine.
The fluttering of my lashes sweeps me up in a memory.
Cormac and Cason pulled me from the sea. As men. As mortal men. They saved me and their sister. They saved me just like I saved them. I spent weeks in the infirmary, healing without the magic the men once had.
They never left my side. I think my father was astounded they saved me after being thrown out of the castle all that time ago. Everything was a bit strange for a while.
My eyes flutter before Cohen pulls back just slightly from me. A consecutive cheering commences from the enormous crowd.
The sun beats down on me, glimmering off the beautiful sea. A shining band with four interlocking rings is smooth against my ring finger. Cohen holds that hand tightly as he leads me back down the aisle.
Small petals liter the lush green grass, adding spots of white and pink beneath every step we take.
My father clasps Cohen’ shoulder when we’re out of sight of the prying eyes. He whispers something in my husband’s ear that makes them both chuckle. An involuntary roll of my eyes is all I give them. Sometimes I think he might like Cohen more than I do.
Cormac, not so much.
He rather likes Cason, too, though.
Ledian … not so much.
But it’s my life not his.
Small specs of flowers flow down the dark, whisking hair of a young, beautiful girl; Valin, their sister. Her lashes shift shyly to the hem of her pale pink dress as she gives me a sweet smile. I squeeze her hand as we walk by and Cohen pulls her to his wide chest.
Her ruffles her gorgeous hair and I swear she almost murders him with her eyes. Her arms fold across her chest as she struggles not to smile at him.
“She’s too good for you,” she whispers with a smirk as he pulls me toward the castle.
“Everyone knows that, Val.”
Big blooming roses are on the verge of taking over the garden. The scent of them floods my lungs as we race through the gardens. The moment we’re hidden away within the halls of the castle, he’s pushing me against the wall. The stone bites into my flesh.
His lips crash against mine and his tongue presses to my lips, demanding the feel of our tongues against one another. The strong muscle of his body pushes perfectly against every inch of me, sending a tingling feeling all through me.
“I cannot believe you just married me,” he says with a smile against my lips between rushed kisses. He still kisses me the way he did that very first time in my bedroom. Kiss after kiss as if he never wants to stop. It makes me crazy in the best possible way.
“You know, I hear your advisors are demanding your … attention, Princess.” A smooth, deep voice says from behind Cohen. His voice alone makes my thighs clench together.
The lopsided smirk Cormac gives me has my teeth sinking into my lower lip.
Cason and Cormac stand in matching red and white uniforms behind their brother. Golden buttons gleam down the front of their coats.
My advisors.
“I also cannot believe your father let you appoint these two assholes as your royal advisors.” Cohen smirks at his brothers from over his shoulder.
The small corner of the corridor tucks us away but I hear the sound of footsteps trailing through the castle nearby.
For now, though, we’re alone.
“I hear her royal guard is fucking fantastic, though.” Ledian’s fingers brush down the front of my white gown, down my stomach until he holds tightly to my hip.
The pure black uniform he wears is tight across his shoulders. He looks different, but no uniform in the world could take away that cocky smirk he always seems to have.
His smirk fades away into complete seriousness as his lips brush lightly against mine. Cohen’s mouth swipes across my neck as Ledian’s tongue flicks against mine.
“Gentlemen, we do have a long,” Cason emphasizes the word long as if it holds a different meaning, “long night planned. We don’t have to devour her in the hallway.” The two men pull back from me slightly, their chests heaving against my body.
Cason reaches out his hand for me and I take it with a smile pulling at my lips. Ledian and Cohen’s bodies push against mine as I slip out from between them.
Warmth slips over me as Cason slides his hand down my arm and grips my hip, pulling me into his side.
There was a moment, after I recovered and life settled into a sense of normalcy, that we tried to just all be friends. We tried to force control over our muddled and intertwined feelings.
It lasted a single day.
Love isn’t something you can ignore or something that can be restricted to only one person. Why try to change the way you feel for someone?
Our steps echo quietly down the deserted hall. Cormac smiles wickedly at me as the five of us trail through the castle as if we fit perfectly here. As if we were made to be t
ogether.
We weren’t brought together because of a curse. We were brought together because of attraction. Because of power. Because of passion. Because of love. Because of fate.
I never believed in curses, anyway.
The End.
Author Note
This was the first book Nikki or I co-wrote together. We love every part of this series and we hope you enjoyed it! This is the last installment for our mermen tale but we both have new reverse harem books launching in February! If you love sexy fae men (because who doesn’t?) and strong, kickass heroines, check out the new books below.
Nikki Hunter
The Needed, book one of the Magic of the Jin Series
A.K. Koonce
Hopeless Magic, book one of the Hopeless Series
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About Nikki Hunter
Nikki Hunter is a mom and wife, but also a Friends nerd. When she’s not writing she spends her time binge watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers while making her husband crazy.
Coming Soon by Nikki Hunter
The Needed, book one of The Magic of the Jin Series
Day of Ruin, book one of the Ruin Series
About A.K. Koonce
A.K. Koonce is a mom by day and a fantasy and paranormal romance author by night. She keeps her fantastical stories in her mind on an endless loop while she tries her best to focus on her actual life and not that of the spectacular but demanding fictional characters who always fill her thoughts.
Also by A.K. Koonce
The Mortals and Mystics Series
Fate of the Hybrid, Prequel
When Fate Aligns, Book one
When Fate Unravels, Book two
When Fate Prevails, Book Three
The Resurrection Series
Resurrection Island, Book one
Coming soon by A.K. Koonce
Hopeless Magic, Book one of the Hopeless Series