A cold glaze of hostility washed over Roen’s face. Even the color of his green eyes seemed to darken a bit. She had no idea if she’d convinced him, but she was sure as hell she’d wounded him. Would it be enough?
Roen began unbuttoning his shirt while keeping his hard, angry eyes pinned to her face.
“Wha-what are you doing?” she asked.
“What does it look like?” He shed his shirt and threw it to the floor.
Oh no. Is he calling my bluff? Because no way could Liv hide her true emotions if he started kissing her or touching her or showing her his perfectly chiseled pectoral muscles and hard rippling abs that ended with those teasing little grooves that cut diagonally over his hip bones.
She drew an unsteady breath.
He then unbuttoned his pants and slowly unzipped, making a seductive show of it. All the while, Liv felt her body igniting into an erotic blaze. She didn’t need to see him naked to know what was under that zipper. She’d memorized every inch of his superbly portioned, long, thick penis. Oh yes, it held an especially sinful place in the back of her mind, with its very own shelf. Sadly, they’d never had sex, but she’d felt the tip of him push against her entrance, and since that moment, she’d longed for the rest.
Roen shed his pants—Oh, God. He’s commando—and kicked them aside. Liv held her breath, willing her gaze to remain stuck to his eyes. Don’t look. Don’t look. He’ll know how much you want him.
“Trying to impress me?” she said with an affected little smirk. “Because I assure you Shane’s gear is twice as nice.”
His right eye twitched, and then the corner of his sensual lips curled into a wickedly arrogant smirk. “Doubtful.” He stepped in closer, leaving only a few inches between them. The air began to buzz with that strange energy he produced when aroused. And there was no denying the heat filling the narrow space separating their bodies, especially the spot where Roen’s now naked erection gently pushed against her stomach.
He’s not playing fair.
Liv fought the need to lick her lips and press them to his mouth or kneel down and taste him on her tongue—something she’d also never gotten the opportunity to do and had fantasized about on more than one occasion.
“Well,” she said with a shaky voice and gulped, “whatever it is you think you’re doing won’t work. I’m here for claiming, and you’re not who I w-w-want to spend the night with.”
“Excellent. Can you hand me that? I just flew in, so I didn’t have time to change.” His eyes momentarily flashed to a small side table next to the front door.
She followed his gaze and noticed a piece of folded suede. She grabbed the thing and quickly pushed it to his bare chest. “Here you go.” She then swallowed the prickly lust-filled lump in her throat.
You are not affected. You do not want to touch him. You do not want to wrap your fingers around his cock and pleasure the seed right out of him. Oh yes, she did. She’d watched him come once, and it was hands down the most erotic thing she’d ever witnessed. Right now, she felt her panties steaming up just thinking about it.
“Thanks.” He slid the suede from her hand, making a point to make contact with her fingers. The sensation sent a spear of throbbing warmth right between her legs, almost like he’d touched her intimately with those hot, thick fingers.
Still holding his gaze tightly to her face, he wrapped the cloth around his waist. “Excuse me.”
Liv blinked. “Sorry?”
“I have to go now; the ceremony is starting soon. If you’ll excuse me.”
She was blocking the door. “Oh. Sorry.” She stepped aside and looked at her feet—the only safe place.
“Enjoy your night with Shane, Liv. I hope he makes all of your fantasies come true.”
“He’s a merman. I’m sure he will.” Her voice came out raspy and quivering.
Roen left and she shut the door behind her.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she whispered, pressing her back to the door. That had been the most difficult thing she’d ever had to do. Not the lying part, but the resisting him part. Her entire body screamed for that man, especially the parts that were now wet, hot, and needed release. None of that compared, however, to how badly her heart ached for him.
God, I hope I convinced him. There was less than an hour before the Claiming Ceremony, and then she’d have to convince him once again.
CHAPTER SIX
Keeping his emotions hidden, Roen gave a cool nod to the man standing guard outside Liv’s cottage when he passed. Inside Roen’s mind, a violent storm raged, and he knew exactly who was to blame: Fucking Shane.
Did Liv honestly think he would ever believe she wanted that man or any other, for that matter? He could smell the lust on Liv’s skin and the scent of her arousal between her legs from the moment they locked eyes. It took every ounce of restraint not to act on his own urges, but when he picked up the hint of fear in Liv’s dark eyes, he knew she was protecting someone she loved. Was it her sister or him?
Perhaps both.
The thought of her loving him sped up his heart. Yes, mates wanted with every fiber of their being, although the want was a force of nature. The wind blew, you were a sail, and away you’d go. However, love was not a given between mates.
It doesn’t matter if she loves you. It was inevitable that he’d only destroy Liv like his father had destroyed his mother. Or perhaps Liv’ll end up a maid. No, he and Liv would never be together because he refused to hurt her.
However, that meant he needed to do everything possible to free Liv’s heart from the bond between them. It had never been done that he knew of, not that it foking mattered. He would find a way. He would save her from the fate of being a merman’s mate.
First things first: Get her the hell away from here.
Roen knew exactly why Shane brought Liv’s sister to the island—leverage against Liv. But why bring Liv at all?
Roen headed straight to Naylor’s cottage. The old man was one of their five elders and knew more about their laws and history than anyone else. He was also a stubborn, cantankerous old goat.
Roen knocked on the door of the rustic, pine cabin and entered without bothering to wait for permission. After all, Roen was king here. That, and Naylor was in some other world half the time.
“Well, do come in,” said Naylor sarcastically. As usual, the old man sat with his eyes closed in his worn leather reading chair positioned an arm’s length from a wall of ancient texts. His long white hair and beard covered his bare, upper torso like a warm blanket.
“Good. You’re awake. Why did Shane bring Liv back?” Roen asked.
Naylor opened one green eye and then the other. “You really have to ask?”
Roen shot him a look. “I’m standing here asking, so I think that answers your question.”
“He obviously wants control of the island.”
“You told me only Dorans are chosen by the island to rule,” Roen argued.
“That doesn’t mean a non-Doran can’t. It means it’s never happened. And I will tell you that Shane’s family has tried over many generations.”
“And the island will allow it?” Roen asked.
Naylor flicked his bony wrist. “The island is only as strong as the men who protect her, which is why she wants only the smartest, fiercest warrior leading. If it happens to be someone else, I doubt she’ll care.”
“Then why not challenge me for leadership? Why bring landlovers into this?”
“You mean the woman Liv?” Naylor scowled when he said her name. “The one you say isn’t your mate because she’s not strong enough, yet she was chosen by this island to come here, and then managed to motivate you—the most stubborn sonofabitch on the planet—to step up and take over. You mean that landlover?”
“Yes. That landlover.” What else could he say? The connection with the island made it hard to keep secrets. So if Naylor knew he’d lied about Liv, then others did, too, including Shane.
Naylor puckered his lips into a little ball and
narrowed his green eyes in contemplation. “I do not know. Perhaps Shane hopes you’ll never make it to a formal challenge. Mermen are known to lose their heads when it comes to their women.”
Naylor might be right. Ungoverned killing and fighting among mermen was forbidden and punishable by death except under certain circumstances like self-defense. Disputes and challenges had to be settled in the great hall after each side declared their positions in a formal manner among witnesses. Otherwise, given their kind’s short fuses and instincts for killing, their race would be extinct by now.
“I’m close to getting everyone what they want: freedom and their mates returned,” Roen said. “Why would Shane want to risk losing that?” It was merely a question of time before Roen had the proper modern resources in place to keep anyone and everyone off the island.
“Not everyone wants change, Roen. Especially the island. It makes her nervous.”
Well, too damned bad. Roen would do everything in his power to ensure she wasn’t vulnerable to outsiders, but this chaos had to end. Besides, sooner or later, someone would discover this place. With technology and human population growth, the world grew smaller by the second. For God’s sake, it was a damned miracle that an ocean freighter hadn’t rammed right into them. Thousands of ships passed within two miles of their shores every damned year. Roen had no doubt in his mind that he’d get the island to come around. First, he needed to prove to her how his way would be better in the long run.
“And you?” Roen asked. “How do you feel about change?”
Naylor grinned. “No matter what you do, I will never leave her. She is my home. And may I remind you, Roen, that none of us will ever truly be free. She’s as much a part of us as we are of her.”
Being connected to something didn’t mean it had to be everything. The connection simply needed to be honored and understood for what it truly was. What they had on this island wasn’t right.
And I’m going to change that. And Shane just made a big mistake dragging my mate into this.
The sound of a loud metal bell rang out across the island, summoning everyone for the evening’s big event. It was time.
~ ~ ~
With a heavy sigh, Naylor watched Roen disappear out the front door. He admired the young man of only thirty-four years for his determination and loyalty to the people. Nevertheless, this island was no place for a merman with a big heart. Because despite the island’s name—El Corazón—she didn’t possess a heart. It was the one thing Naylor understood after living here for hundreds of years: the island always got what the island wanted.
One way or another. Those who moved against her wishes got to see everything they loved taken away, piece by piece. Never turn your back on that which the island asks of you. It was the cardinal rule.
“Why did you remain silent, merman?” the island hissed inside Naylor’s head. “Why did you not tell him?”
“Because Roen was in no mood to listen and telling him now would only fuel his conviction.”
“Then let him fuel himself to the grave and everyone who chooses to follow him,” she said. “Roen made a vow to rule obediently if I spared his mate. He promised to close his heart to her and give it to me.”
It had been a mistake—her mistake—calling Roen to the island, using his mate as the carrot to get him to dethrone his own brother. But the island couldn’t help herself. She had believed Roen’s strength would make her stronger, too. However, she quickly realized there was such a thing as too strong. She couldn’t control him like she’d been able to with the others. That hadn’t kept her from trying, though, and tonight would be her last attempt to rein him in. Roen either buckled or Shane would step in. Liv was merely brought in as a test for Roen, a bone to fight over.
“There is still a chance Roen’ll keep his word. And we both know how happy that would make you.”
“Yes, but if Roen so much as lifts a finger toward that landlover bitch, I will make him watch while I kill everything he loves—his mate, his brother, the men, and perhaps I’ll take out some of those vile landlovers, too.”
This was what Naylor had been afraid of. The island’s sense of justice and revenge was one without regard for the consequences. Sometimes protecting her meant protecting her from herself, too. “I will personally see to it that the landlover female is dealt with. But please, my queen, I beg you to let the men live.”
“No one, except for the elders and Shane, will be spared if Roen fails to keep his vow. And there will be no limit to the suffering I will bring.”
“But my queen—”
“No! Weakness and disobedience are like a cancer that must be eradicated before it spreads. I will tolerate none of it. Do you hear me, merman?”
Naylor nodded and wrung his tired hands. “Understood, my queen.” In the meantime, he would gather the other elders and begin discussing how to keep their people from being wiped from existence.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Wait. Where are you taking me?” Liv stopped cold on the narrow dark path that cut through the pitch-black forest filled with thorny bushes. “This isn’t the way to the great hall.”
The great hall, where they’d taken her last time, was a giant cavern smack in the middle of the island, inside a mountain resembling a dormant volcano. Right now, it felt like they were heading in another direction.
Jason, who’d been taking the lead, stopped and turned. “That’s because we’re not going to the great hall. We’re going to the lagoon.”
“Why?” Frankly, Liv wasn’t aware they even had a lagoon. Then again, this entire place was full of surprises. The bathroom in that cottage, for example, had a sauna and a double-headed shower with the most incredible water pressure ever, and she’d enjoyed every minute of it. Forget last meals and last rites—a last shower is how this woman wants to go down. She might not make it out of this Claiming Ceremony alive if things went south with Shane. Yes, it scared the hell out of her. So what? That wouldn’t change a damned thing.
Jason chuckled, and Liv wished she could see his face. Had that been an evil villain chuckle?
“I get,” she said, “that you guys have excellent night vision, but would it kill you to use a flashlight when ‘guests’ are around?” Her body already felt like a solid ball of nerves, and traipsing around in a dark chilly forest, getting stuck with thorns wasn’t helping.
Jason chuckled once more.
“Why the hell are you laughing?” she grumbled.
“I find your spunk amusing, that’s all. Sort of reminds me of a little piranha with sharp teeth—kinda cute.”
Naturally, a merman would find a piranha cute.
“Come on,” he said. “We’re almost there, and you don’t want to be late.”
Oh no. Late. How tragic. She quickly imagined some horrible scene where women, with bite marks all over their bodies, writhed on the ground, screaming for mercy while they transformed into mermaids.
The dirt path sloped downward, and the front of Liv’s sandal caught on a small rock. She stumbled and caught herself on the trunk of a sticky pine tree.
“Great.” She pulled her sap-covered hands from the bark and wiped them down the sides of her white dress, which was really only a long strip of cloth wrapped around the body and tied behind the neck. It was what they’d made her wear the last time she’d been claimed when twenty men stepped up to fight to the death for her. Roen, of course, had decided to skip all that and challenge Lyle, his brother, for control of the island. Liv never got the story of how Lyle ended up in this place, though she knew it had to be complicated because up until that day, Roen believed his brother to be dead.
“Can you possibly walk any slower?” Jason chided.
“Yes. I can. And I don’t want to hear a…” She looked up to address Jason, losing her train of thought. Through the stand of trees up ahead, she caught a glimpse of giant floodlights shining down on an enormous swimming hole.
She marched forward, passing Jason, for a better look. “Sonofabitch,
” she muttered under her breath, emerging from the forest onto a rocky ledge overlooking the pool of sparkling, deep green water. Four floodlights anchored to tall pine trees shined down on the water’s surface. A fifth light illuminated a narrow, ten-foot-high waterfall. “You have a lake.”
Jason stood beside her and shrugged. “Sure. Why wouldn’t we? Doesn’t everyone need drinking water?”
That wasn’t the point. When she’d been shipwrecked on this island, before Roen took over, she’d been dying of thirst. Yes, dying-dying—not a figure of speech. Poor Roen, who’d showed up and rescued her from Shane’s evil clutches, had to carry her in search of drinking water, but they’d never found any. Meanwhile, this damned lagoon had been ten minutes’ walking distance from them the entire time. Of course, she and Roen hadn’t been able to see it. Thank you. I hope someone blows you up, she thought to the island, who’d surely been responsible.
“It’s not a lake,” Jason said. “It’s technically a lagoon with a waterfall. The water comes off the mountain when the snow melts.” He pointed back toward the center of the island.
A loud sound filled the air, and that’s when Liv spotted Roen standing at the top of the waterfall across the lagoon. He held a conch in his hand and blew into it like a horn. His stomach muscles flexed, showing off his ten-pack, and his bicep bulged with sleek hard muscle.
Don’t look, Liv. Do not look at the hot merman wearing almost nothing.
“Crap. We’re late.” Jason grabbed her arm and pulled her down the trail that skirted the edge of the lagoon and led to a small beach, where the fifty other women waited, all wearing the same white dresses.
Still no Dana. Liv wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or worried.
“Where’s my sister?” she asked, stumbling behind Jason and his large strides.
“She’s safe. Don’t worry,” he said curtly.
MERMADMEN (The Mermen Trilogy #2) Page 5