by Starla Night
“I am honored.” He smiled quietly and also made the two-circles-adjoining salute.
“I hope guarding me will not interfere with your duties.” She looked to Soren for confirmation.
Ah! Could it be that she had chosen them because he wanted them for patrols? Tingles popped in Soren’s chest like tiny bubbles. She had listened at the trench. She valued his opinions. And, she wished to bring these warriors to him so that his work could continue even when they were guarding her.
“We will discuss the new duties,” Soren said. “After introductions. Line up.”
Her two promoted guards joined him, ranging behind Aya. Queen Elyssa organized the warriors. Aya shook hands with all, repeating their names and inquiring details.
“Zoan.” She shook hands with the last warrior. “Your twin brother is the one I shot with a harpoon gun during the last battle, am I correct? How will I know if he impersonates you and breaks into the city once again?”
The peach-tattooed warrior’s eyes gleamed and his lips quirked, sharing a private joke. “Do not trust the ‘me’ with a harpoon scar on his arm.”
Her eyes narrowed as though trying to tell whether he was being serious.
He kept his smile in place.
“I will have more questions for you later,” she said coolly, finishing with the introduction.
“I will have more answers for you later.” He flashed a white grin in his tanned face and flicked his fins, returning to the jostling warrior crowd.
Aya shifted to address Soren and her guards. “Are all warriors from Siyokoy so cheerful?”
“Many, yes,” Faier said swiftly, seeking to answer her actual question. “The warriors of the different cities do have tendencies. It is rare so many gathered in one place can exist in harmony.”
She nodded. “No one has fought a megalodon.”
A sobering thought.
With a sigh, she turned to Soren and lifted her arms. “It’s time to rest?”
He pulled her against him. “You are tired.”
“The sooner we sleep, the sooner we can discuss strategy.”
He nodded to Ciran and Faier to swim with them. They kicked to the tunnel entrance.
Queen Elyssa stopped him. “You still have to do the ceremony.”
Aya lifted her head. “I just did the welcome ceremony.”
“No, silly.” A smile broke over Elyssa’s face. “The marriage ceremony. To Soren. We’re going to have it right now.”
Chapter Fifteen
Marriage ceremony. To Soren. Right now.
Soren didn’t protest. No, he held Aya proudly. Ready and certain, just like when she had fought off the raiders. He wanted to marry her.
Warm bubbles fizzed in her chest.
A man wanted to be with her. Forever.
“No,” she said clearly.
Shock and swift hurt closed his face. He looked away, frowning, as though reminding himself rejection was what he expected.
Elyssa’s mouth dropped open. Even though her words vibrated in her chest. “No?”
Aya tightened her grip on Soren. She didn’t want him to misunderstand. “This is too sudden. Soren and I haven’t worked everything out. We’re both exhausted. If planning to fight a megalodon can wait for the morning, marriage can wait too.”
“Okay, but…” Elyssa worried her hands. “If you aren’t married, you can’t open your castle’s heart chamber, and raiders are a problem.”
“That’s why I have three guards.”
Ciran, Faier, and even Soren straightened.
She rested her head against Soren’s shoulder. “They’ll protect me from any threats.”
Elyssa relented.
Soren took Aya to her new castle. She nestled against him instinctively finding the bulges and hollows of his body where she fit. He kicked, sailing down the long tunnel out of Elyssa’s castle to the rest of the city. Faier and Ciran flanked them a few kicks behind.
He demanded she become his bride. Now he affirmed he wanted to marry her. Did he understand why she delayed?
Once, she would have accepted without a moment’s hesitation. If he’d asked her on the surface, during the bride pageant or right after.
Their relationship was completely different now.
She cared about him as a person. Not as a merman. Not as a warrior or as a trade partner. She wanted more.
She wanted everything.
Bright, holy light shone from the Life Tree, bathing the surrounding ocean. Its light was pure and calming. They flew to the new castle, a smaller bulb that glowed with an iridescent light. Soren followed the curve to a pucker in the wall.
“Press your hand here,” he said.
She touched the wall. It was cool and smooth like marble. The dent twisted to let her in. The portal widened and grew cavernous, almost as large as the main castle behind them.
“It has fingerprint recognition?” she asked.
“The castle has been imprinted with your energy.” Soren swam her inside.
The long entrance hallway opened into another vast courtyard. No tended gardens or dirt covered the floor. It had the new car, new apartment smell — if she could smell anything—and the hallways, doorways, and windows looked rough.
“No plants,” she noted.
“This is the first time it has opened,” he said, confirming her intuition. “I will organize a work crew to gather soil. Gailen is good at planting. You will have a harvest before long.”
So this was hers now.
It was huge. Like suddenly owning a lodge, or five hundred head of cattle, or a really big yacht. She had things she was responsible for. Things to take care of. Things to learn.
Aya released Soren and paddled around, exploring the features that called to her. Sharp, modern angles revealed storage pockets in the walls. One main hallway twisted down, leading to a dead end.
“That goes to the heart chamber,” Soren said.
The most sheltered chamber in the castle. Aya studied the dead end. The first warlord marriage caused the chamber to open, and then all subsequent residents could use its protection.
Aya rested on the floor of the hall, feeling the texture of the plant with her bare feet. Funny how she’d been underwater for months and her toes were smooth. Wrinkle-free. She wasn’t even a little pruney.
There appeared to be a small pucker on the dead end, like on the outside of the castle. She put her hand against it. Nothing happened.
He stood right behind her. “That is not how you open the heart chamber the first time.”
Her mouth went dry. Even though she was underwater.
Soren was the first warlord. He wanted to marry her. Would he try to convince her to marry him with his body? She rubbed her palms on her thighs. Would she let him?
She swallowed. Her chest vibrated. “I know.”
He moved closer. The hallway suddenly seemed far too small.
She turned. “Soren—”
Something exploded next to her hand.
She jerked away from the motion. “Ah!”
Soren made a startled noise and pulled her close. He palmed her head protectively, holding her against his chest with his other arm out in a defensive motion.
A small creature flew out of the hallway and disappeared in the courtyard. Faier and Ciran shouted.
“What was that?” she asked, muffled against Soren’s taut chest.
His heart thundered in her ear. “I do not know.” He flew them out of the narrow hall.
“I thought this was the first time the castle was opened.”
“It was.”
They reached the courtyard. Faier and Ciran peered in a jagged window.
Soren kicked to them. “What manner of creature is it?”
Faier answered. “It might be the house guardian.”
Soren grunted.
Ciran pointed. “There it is.”
The tiny creature exploded again. Soren released her and kicked once, hard. He caught the fleeing animal like a
baseball, clapped in his large palms, and brought the squirming creature close to Aya.
“It is the house guardian,” he confirmed.
A tiny purple octopus pooled in his fists, ebbing first one way and then the other, like liquid mercury seeking the tiniest escape. It disappeared and he juggled it, grabbing onto the last bit of tentacle as it nearly got away.
“How did it get in?” she asked.
“They have their ways.”
Clearly these castles were not air-tight.
Faier and Ciran watched its antics. Faier said, “I have never seen one so skittish before.”
“You are right. Normally they are aggressive like Queen Elyssa’s.” He grabbed it again. “Ow. It is biting me.”
Oh. “Let it go.”
Soren released the tiny octopus. It flew laps around the courtyard as though looking for a superior hiding place and then disappeared down the dead end heart chamber hallway.
Huh. “Any more surprise guests?”
The warriors checked the rooms and halls of the castle, communicating their findings quietly.
Aya waited in the middle of the courtyard, free-floating. Her three big guards returned.
“We found no one, Queen Aya,” Faier said.
Queen? Her heart thudded. That was what Atlantis wanted. That was what Soren wanted to marry. Her, a super-powered queen.
She really hoped that Elyssa’s fool-proof plan didn’t hinge on Aya’s undeveloped — or was it anti-developed? — super powers.
“Very good.” She nodded at him and Ciran. “Thank you.”
They glanced at Soren.
His jaw tightened as though he were fighting with them about something. Soren turned to Aya formally. “Queen Aya. Faier and Ciran are rested. They should go to work crews and patrols while we rest.”
“Who will guard us?” Aya asked.
His teeth clenched. A flash of the hurt snapped across his face again. “I will guard you.”
“Then who will guard you?” she demanded. “I’m going to pass out like the dead. Your ex-boss is constantly sneaking past the city guards, and his vendetta against you is personal.”
His brows lifted in surprise. “You wish me to stay?”
“Of course I do. You’re my fiancé.” She nodded at her guards. “You two stay close. Don’t let anyone enter that tunnel.”
They both straightened and saluted using the fingers-looped-in-front-of-their-chests gesture.
She returned the salute. It was easy to do and clearly this was how the warrior culture greeted each other. “Thank you again for your hard work.”
They departed.
Soren gazed at her through dark brows. Tingles walked up her arms. The water grew heavy between them.
Like a coward, her heart raced behind her chest and hid like a little rabbit.
She made a show of stretching. “Well, I’m really tired. I’m just going to stretch out here on this bare patch of floor.” She lay down and closed her eyes.
Microcurrents brushed her body with the hot sensation of Soren. The taste of his skin. The rich anise flavor of his energy.
His quiet voice rumbled too near her sensitive earlobe. “Fiancé?”
She jumped. “It means we agree to marry but not yet. We have to set a date.”
He floated closer. She could feel him on her cheek, on her chest, on her shoulder. “The Life Tree is right outside. Come with me and speak the vows to join us.”
“Us?” Her eyes snapped open. He floated right there, gorgeous, and all she had to do was reach out and capture his mouth for her kiss. She rolled onto her back to face him head-on. “Us, Aya and Soren, or ‘Us,’ Aya-the-super-powerful-queen and Soren-the-dishonored-warrior-who-won’t-say-why’?”
He looked away, then firmed and cupped the back of her neck in his wide palm. “Aya. You are a powerful queen.”
“No, I’m just—”
“Believe.” He nuzzled her. Awareness simmered in her blood. “When you use your power, your soul light is so bright. There is only one other time it is that brightness.”
“When’s that?”
His hot gaze flicked across her body like a caress.
She swallowed. “Not that long ago you said you’d dump me off with some other guy in Atlantis.”
Possession flamed in his eyes. He looped her hand with his fingers, drawing her into his body. “I will never give you up again.”
His fire consumed her.
She clenched his scarred shoulders.
He rolled and pulled her onto him, straddling his taut abdomen. They floated on the bare, curved floor of the castle. He rested on his back, bobbing a few inches off the ground. Her knees kissed the smooth marble.
This was a powerful position. Desire uncoiled between her thighs and she throbbed. “What are you going to do?”
His hands skimmed her thighs, molding her nakedness. Rough, powerful hunger burned in his black gaze. “Make you mine.”
Her breasts swelled and her nipples tightened. How could looking at her, barely touching her, cause this intense reaction? She was love-starved and he really had enslaved her.
Well, okay then. She didn’t want to think any more. About the raiders, about the megalodon, about the things Elyssa thought Aya could do, about anything.
Right now, all she wanted was to fall further under his commanding spell.
Chapter Sixteen
His Aya was looking down on him with partially lidded hunger. Her pink tongue touched her full bottom lip in teasing invitation. She shifted, rubbing her soft, feminine folds against his trembling abdomen.
She would be his undoing.
Soren stroked her long, silken thighs. She was gorgeous and no longer running from him.
Yes, she delayed their marriage. But she considered him. She accepted his claim.
And she feared her power. She couldn’t analyze it, couldn’t direct it, couldn’t control it. She was uncomfortable with feelings. With closeness. He’d seen how she pulled away from Queen Elyssa. How she used to pull away from him.
She did not pull away any more.
He wanted to thrust into her now and empty his cock in her feminine heat. Make her his so she would never get away again.
He skirted her smooth buttocks and traced the soft planes of her body up her back. She closed her eyes and hummed. The sound vibrated in her chest, and her position highlighted her small, pert breasts. “That feels so good.”
His cock hardened.
He slid around her soft belly to her front. Her lashes fluttered. She allowed him to map her body, tasting and owning her adorable belly button, her flat belly, and the valley between her breasts.
Her lids parted and she gazed down on him. Her heart was beating loud enough he could feel her heat. Would she run from him if he made demands? Her soul light burned hot, urging him on. She was beautiful. Achingly desirable.
His cock throbbed. He slid his hand up to her neck, stroking the fine vertebrae with his thumb. She sighed with pleasure. He tightened on the back of her neck and dragged her down to his kiss.
She collapsed like a wave, rushing against him. Their mouths meshed and her lips parted, yielding to him before he could demand entrance. Her tongue met his, thrust for thrust, parrying. She tasted like purity and heat. He couldn’t get enough.
He worshiped the ivory luminance of her satiny-smooth skin. Her determined jaw, the elegant curve of her neck, the glimmering brilliance lighting her twin globes. She was more than he deserved. Smart and focused, determined and strong.
She braced her hands against his cheeks and rubbed her breasts against his chest. “Mmm.”
It lit him on fire.
He grabbed delicious handfuls of her buttocks and crushed her against him. Her little moans increased. Hunger, desire, need. She wanted him. He wanted her. He wanted to drag her back and spear her on his throbbing, hot cock.
She tore her mouth free and pressed kisses to his jaw. “Mmm, Soren.”
His name in her hungry voice
sent shudders through him.
He was going to lose it.
“Marry me.” He growled in her ear and bit the lobe. She moaned. “Now. In front of the Life Tree. Become my bride.”
“I…” She gasped and kissed his neck down to his chest. Swirling his hard nipple with her delicate tongue, she brought another lance of desire to his throbbing cock. Her soft folds shifted down, to the edge of his shaft.
He gripped her. Her hip bones made a perfect handle. If she got any closer, he was going to take her like this. “Accept.”
“I want you.”
Her response shot fire through him.
He released her hips and arched with a groan. “Aya.”
She wiggled. The tip of his cock nudged her soft folds. “Take me.”
He forced her off, shifted to human feet, and tensed to push off the floor.
She stiffened and stopped him. “Where are you going?”
“The Life Tree.”
She blinked, frowned, and began trying to smooth her non-existent clothes, to get control of herself. “No.”
Hadn’t she just instructed him to take her to the Life Tree to be married because she also wanted him? He fought his instant reaction of pain. “You want me to take you.”
“Here.” She rested her hand on his knee and pleaded. She could see his pain and struggled to alleviate it. “Take me here. I want to feel you against me. Inside.”
“You want me,” he repeated. His heart slammed hard against his breastbone. “But not to marry?”
“Isn’t being engaged enough?”
No. It wasn’t enough. Not at all.
She begged him.
“Yes.”
She gave in with relief. Her kisses were just as sweet and desperate as moments ago. She was so relieved not to marry him.
He couldn’t do this.
But he needed to. He needed to go at her pace, to love her deeply when she was ready to be loved. At least she still wanted the pleasure she wrung from his body.
He couldn’t kiss her. He was going to break — or break down.
Soren thrust her away.