The Marked Ones (Fairytail Saga)

by Munt, S. K

  Tristan’s breath hissed out between his teeth, and his head snapped up. ‘That is not the way to escape, Ivyanne,’ he reprimanded her, curving his hand around the back of her neck and forcing her to meet his gaze. ‘And I don’t think you really want to, do you?’

  Ivyanne bit her lip, staring at him. His eyes were alight, and she’d done that to him. Could she really extinguish it, because she was scared to take a step that was inevitable anyway?

  ‘What are you afraid of beautiful?’ He whispered, his previously carnal expression softened with concern. ‘The pain? I’ll be fleeting, I swear that to you.’

  She was afraid of the pain-it took a lot to hurt a mermaid, but this was one scenario where she knew that her own strength would work against her. But it wasn’t the main problem. Ivyanne shook her head, feeling tears well in her eyes. This was such a momentous moment in her life...she needed to know that he was aware of that.

  ‘Hey.’

  Ivyanne looked up timidly, afraid her sentimentality was going to leech the heat out of the moment.

  ‘It’s my first time too, in a way.’ Tristan whispered, his eyes shining. ‘I’ve never done this with someone I’ve loved before. I’ve never been in love before. Until now.’

  Ivyanne felt herself melt, partly because he’d read her mind and sensed her need to seek his sentimentality in a river of lust, and partly because his declaration made her heart flutter. But she retained enough skepticism to raise an eyebrow. He laughed a low, throaty laugh, shaking his head.

  ‘Don’t even act like that’s a line.’ He teased. ‘This Casanova has never had to extend his silver tongue beyond the word hi to get women under him before.’ He shoved her down lightly, and slid until his face was looming over hers, clasping her jaw in his hands. ‘I said I love you, and I fucking meant it.’ He brushed his lips against hers, ‘but if you don’t let me inside you soon I am going to stroke out and you’ll have to start your husband campaign all over again.’

  Ivyanne was filled with a warmth that bubbled out of her in a laugh and had a soothing effect on the rest of her body. She hooked one leg around his waist, then reached down to caress his backside: ‘Well we can’t have that. Bane and Ardhi don’t have an ass like this, and that’s really all I’m looking for in a king.’

  ‘Then hang onto me while I fill the position.’ With those words, Tristan’s ass flexed under her hand and he thrust his hips forward.

  The pain was as startling as the crack of a whip. Ivyanne threw back her head to cry out but Tristan’s mouth captured her exclamation. He stilled, kissing her ardently, his hands catching hers as she lifted it to push him free, weaving his fingers between hers and slamming it down back on the bed as he grunted and thrust into her again.

  Ivyanne’s entire body stiffened, and she was very aware that he was pinning her with all of his strength, his heart pounding against hers, his lips whispering soothing words she couldn’t make out against her own. The ache inside her was gone, replaced with a searing pain, and she felt a hot tear leak out of the corner of her eye.

  Oh god this is too much! It felt like Tristan had invaded her, claiming so much space that there was no room left for her. Ivyanne was beside herself, straining to wriggle free long enough to gather her wits, but Tristan moved again and his moan of agony actually penetrated her hysteria.

  She stilled, shocked when he tore his lips from hers, thrust his face into the bedspread beside her head and cursed a wicked exclamation. She felt power flutter inside her chest again and her body instinctively relaxed-for once, Tristan seemed more shocked than she! And then he moved again, but this time, he rolled his hips in a circular motion, and to Ivyanne’s surprise, the pain was less.

  ‘Oh god you feel incredible!’ Tristan yanked his head back up, staring down at her reverently ‘Are you okay?’

  Ivyanne swallowed. ‘I couldn’t honestly tell you,’ she confessed, breathless, fascinated by his ragged breathing and enraptured expression. ‘It’s-it’s not like before. It hurts...I’m sorry.’

  ‘Oh, hon….you’ll adjust to me soon, and it’ll be better than before. I promise. In fact, I’ll get right on it….’ Tristan bent his head and suckled on one of her nipples briefly, and Ivyanne moaned. Then, he palmed the breast with his hand, catching the aureole between the base of two fingers and tugging gently. The action made her writhe, and when he dropped his lips to attend to the other breast while he continued to toy with the first, it send a ripple of energy down her body, making her sex clench around him.

  ‘Ugh,’ Tristan grunted and moved his hips again, only this time he retreated afterwards, granting her a brief reprieve, before thrusting into her twice more, the first shallow, the second deep. Ivyanne gasped and this time, the pleasure swept upwards, but before she could get a handle on it, Tristan shifted his weight, pushing up her knees and thrust forward again. Once, twice-the third stroke sliding in so deeply that Ivyanne inhaled sharply while Tristan let out a triumphant cry: ‘Yes! Oh hell yes!’

  His exclamation made her shiver with satisfaction. The pain of his possession was dissipating rapidly and she shifted her weight the next time he delved into her, meeting his thrust, and was rewarded with a jerk of pleasure deep inside her.

  ‘Oh..damn!’ Tristan pushed himself to a straddle position, cupped her buttocks and then pulled her hips against him, rocking into her, shortening his thrusts so that there was no retreat, only a pulse. Ivyanne saw his abdomen flex and release, rippling with his every movement and suddenly, she was all too aware that the sweet tension she’d thought he’d already dealt with was awakening inside her once more. She reached out, stroking the muscles that held her captivated, and Tristan grinned down at her.

  ‘Warming up to me baby?’ He panted, gaze lustful and knowing.

  Heating up was more like it, but instead of answering with words, she let her legs fall open more and swiveled her hips, curious to see if the place inside her making her breathless was something he could hit directly. Tristan groaned, pinning her down with one hand on the plane of her chest, his eyes dark.

  ‘Easy sweetheart,’ he whispered, not slowing his pace. ‘You don’t want me to give more than you can take yet.’

  Ivyanne’s alarm was instantaneous. ‘You’re not all the way…?’ When he shook his head, a shudder ran through Ivyanne, and she couldn’t help but glance down. To her shock, she saw that his fist was clenched around his shaft, preventing his entire length from slipping into he as he rhythmically rocked.

  ‘Oh my god!’ And yet even as the exclamation left her, the sight of him impaling her made the pulse between her legs a throb. He was just so hot. And his movements were coaxing her pleasure steadily to the surface once more. She wanted to please him, but how could she when he was sparing her? She threw her head back, covered her eyes and whispered: ‘Do it. Go deeper!’

  Tristan’s momentum slowed. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes…’ His stillness was frustrating to her, so she circled her hips again, eliciting a groan from him. ‘Please Tristan…’ the plea was surprising to even her own ears. ‘You keep getting so close but-’

  ‘Mmm….’ Tristan chuckled, moving her hand so that she could see him grinning down at her. ‘I know what’s troubling you... I can’t believe you’re there already though!’

  Ivyanne cocked her hips against his and smiled. ‘And here I was thinking you knew the effect you have on women.’ She reached out and stroked his lower lip. ‘Apparently, you don’t know the half of it.’

  ‘No, you only know half of it.’ He suckled on her finger before grinning. ‘But if you say you’re ready for the other half…’ He released himself, pushed one of her knees down so that it was flat against the mattress, and then rocked slightly, slowly shifting the angle of his entry. He connected with some wall inside her, and the hiss of satisfaction that escaped her was drowned out by his guttural moan. When he repeated the action, Ivyanne’s fingers clenched around the bedspread.

  ‘That’s it!’ She panted, lifting
her hips to meet his, seeing stars in her vision. ‘There. Oh god there!’

  ‘Here?’ Tristan grunted, striking again, and Ivyanne’s muscles relaxed instead of clenching, welcoming the sensation.

  ‘Yes!’ She grasped his backside and steered him back, faster, growing frustrated again as what had been too much became not enough. ‘More! Harder!’

  Tristan growled and thrust so deeply that Ivyanne almost levitated off the bed. ‘Damn you’re getting so wet again. My beautiful, soon to be very satisfied siren…’ Tristan’s hands swept over her breasts, more violently this time, and it was a pain she welcomed, as it only stirred her more.

  ‘Tristan!’ Ivyanne raked her nails up his back, arching into him, and he clutched her shoulder blades, supporting her weight so he could feed himself into her, never once missing the mark. She closed her eyes and took what he was giving until the desire to impale herself further had her rocking up into a sitting position. There was wonder in his syrup-colored eyes when she met his gaze and looped her arms around his shoulders.

  ‘You’re amazing,’ he gasped, running his hands down her waist.

  ‘And you’re underrated.’ Ivyanne whispered, before catching his mouth in a frenzied kiss.

  ⁓

  Tristan had never been so out of his mind with excitement with a woman as he was with Ivyanne. And not just once. Every time she moaned, every time her slick, tight sex quivered around him, it felt like the first time. Sex, he realized, had been nothing without intimacy. Her trust in him, her descent into the depths of insatiability under his guiding hands was the hottest thing he’d ever experienced. And sliding in between her delicate folds had damn near undone him. Only her cry of pain had anchored him, reminded him of what he had to prove. She’d given him something significant, and he had to make it the best decision of her life.

  But when her unease lifted, and her excitement began to climb, Tristan found himself in a sensory overload he was powerless against. The heat and vanilla scent of her silken skin, combined with the coconut perfume of her curls and the lusty way she called his name as her gravity-defying breasts jostled above her impossibly tiny waist was so overwhelming that it made his cock ache. So when she mounted him and began to ride him back, thrusting her perfectly rounded ass against his hands to gain leverage, Tristan knew the end was near.

  ‘Ivyanne!’ He raked his fingers through her hair, forcing her face back. ‘We have to stop-’

  ‘Like hell we do!’Ivyanne silenced his lips with a messy, vicious kiss. But Tristan groaned and turned his face away, reminding himself that his honor was at stake.

  ‘No we have to-I can’t hold onto my control when you’re like this!’

  ‘So don’t!’ She swiveled her hips, sinking down his length even further, and making every muscle in his body taut with teeth-grinding pleasure. ‘I want you to let go!’

  ‘But-ugh-’ His eyes squeezed shut as he teetered on the precipice of release-every roll of her hips was punctuated by a current of electricity rollin down his throbbing erection. ‘I can’t. Protection remember? I need a minute to put it on!’

  Ivyanne’s eyes were molten emeralds when she threw her arms around his neck and whispered: ‘If you get me pregnant, I’ll deal. But if you pull out of me right now, I’ll die.’

  Tristan’s blood rushed to his head, then straight back down to his shaft. He reached up, unlatched her arms then fell forward until he was on top of her again, curling himself around her.

  ‘You sure about that? I am still just one of your subjects at this point,’ he drove himself into her, knowing exactly what she needed to reach oblivion. ‘Your word is my command, so you can’t throw it back at me later.’

  ‘Ahh…!’ Ivyanne’s beautiful face contorted in ecstasy. ‘Then finish what you started, Tristan-inside me. That’s my damn command!’

  That was all the confirmation Tristan needed. He angled himself and thrust into the hilt, watching her eyes roll back into her head when he forced his entire length into her lush body. After three swift strokes, her green eyes opened and the expression of wonder and bewilderment inside them was beauty in it’s purest form. At that moment, he knew that Lincoln was the last thing on his mind, and it filled him with triumph that equalled the ecstasy of burying himself inside her sweet body to the hilt. She was burning for him in a way she had never yearned for another man, and what would start in her body would blossom throughout her in no time, he was certain of it.

  ‘Oh...god-’ Ivyanne arched her back and began to shake in his arms, and her sex followed suit, spasming around him as she dug her fingernails into his shoulder blades. Tristan sucked in a breath when her quickening body tried to milk him, bracing himself with one arm over her body while reaching between them and circling his thumb around the responsive bundle of nerves on the edge of where he was embedded in her.

  Ivyanne’s sharp answering cry let him know that there was in fact, one more way he could undo her before his own surrender, so he stimulated her silken pelvis as he thrust into her, finding her mouth and kissing her with passionate abandon as she let go once more, shuddering in his arms, the violent jerking of her body as she clutched at him pushing Tristan over the edge of his self control.

  He came hard, and seemingly forever, his buttocks clenching as he thrust his hips into hers and stilled, relishing the moment until his weakened limbs collapsed from the exertion of holding out against her. Ivyanne crushed him to her, whimpering his name, while her body absorbed his seed, and her soul absorbed his everything.

  26.

  Ivyanne turned in Tristan’s arm and her eyes opened slowly, seeking his. ‘I slept?’ she asked huskily.

  ‘For awhile,’ Tristan stroked her arm lovingly. Her skin felt like satin. ‘You looked so peaceful that I couldn’t wake you.’

  ‘I think I needed some shut-eye,’ Ivyanne admitted. She sat up, groaning, holding the throw from the bottom of his bed around her bare breasts. ‘Oh. Ow.’

  ‘Tender?’ he asked guiltily. ‘I’m sorry.’

  She shot him a sidelong glance. ‘Actually I have a stiff neck,’ she rotated her head and then cringed again, her hand falling between her covered thighs. ‘Oh. Yep. Definitely tender there too. You’re right.’

  Tristan’s hand found her lower stomach and he rubbed it tenderly. ‘For the record, you blew me away.’ He admitted. ‘I’ve never had a virgin uh, be so.. accommodating before.’

  Ivyanne blushed, lying back down. ‘You’ve probably never had a twenty-eight year old sexually frustrated ball of hormones virgin before either.’

  ‘True. You’re definitely the crown princess of abstinence. I would have died in your situation.’

  ‘I almost did. More this week than ever….’ Ivyanne sighed, shaking her head at the ceiling with a bewildered expression. ‘Well.... that may just have been the stupidest-’

  His mouth went dry. His heart ceased to beat.

  She smiled at his nervous expression. ‘-and most exciting thing I’ve ever done in my life.’ She chuckled, tilting his face up by his jaw. ‘Why the long face? I’d expected to find you strutting like a peacock.’

  ‘I am-on the inside,’ he said quickly. ‘On the outside, I’m trying to look dignified and cool. And appropriately ashamed.’

  She propped herself up on her elbow and studied him, still covering herself. ‘So was sealing the deal without protection part of your master plan? Make me beg for your….’ She blushed.

  ‘Essence?’ He supplied, grinning at the recollection. ‘No. But it was a lovely bonus.’

  She mock-scowled at him. ‘Trapping a woman with a baby? How fifties of you! Do I seem ready for motherhood?’

  ‘You don’t know there’s a baby in there,’ he pointed out, blushing. ‘Given your family’s track record of procreation, it’s probably going to take a lot more than one shot two days after you ovulate to breed you.’ He reached out and cupped her bare buttock, yanking her up against him. He had the sheet draped over his hips, but that and the throw were th
e only things separating their bodies. ‘It’s going to be hard work, but some poor schlub has to do it.’ He was growing hard again already at the very thought. He kissed her neck and whispered: ‘Over, and over again...until you can’t walk.’

  A little moan escaped Ivyanne’s lips, and her head fell back, allowing him access to her neck. ‘Good thing I prefer swimming.’ She murmured. ‘God Tristan. I can’t believe what you just did to me. And I can’t believe how badly I want to do it again. I don’t need to be knocked up to feel trapped. Your hands, your lips your body...they’re a cage. And I have no desire to be free of them.’

  Her words melted him, smoothing over every wound she’d inflicted to his self confidence in the past two weeks. ‘That was my master plan.’ He confessed, nibbling gently on her earlobe. ‘To make it difficult for you to stay away from me.’

  ‘Mission accomplished.’ Ivyanne pulled her head back and wagged her finger at him. ‘Schemer. I swear, you could sell solar panels to a nuclear plant!’

  He couldn’t help his goofy grin. ‘That’s why I’m rich!’

  She tossed a small, bronze satin throw pillow at him. It glanced off his shoulder and skittered off the bed. ‘There’s the Tristan I know!’

  ‘Good to know you like him too,’ Tristan admitted. He glanced at her. ‘Can I ask why you waved away the protection? Is it possible that sub-consciously you want to be locked in?’

  Ivyanne frowned thoughtfully. ‘Possibly. But it was the timing, more than anything else. It was like there was this rhythm inside me, and if you stopped, it would ruin it.’

  Tristan chuckled, he’d figured as much. ‘For the record, I’ve never lost a rhythm I couldn’t find again.’

  ‘Oh I believe you. Now.’ She smiled at him. ‘You’re amazing. Maybe I have no basis for comparison, but I’ve read books and seen movies and heard other mermaids discussing it….’ She bit her lip and smiled. ‘And what you just did is not what most men do.’

  ‘I know.’ Tristan wiggled his eyebrows at her. ‘I’m a mystic between the sheets.’