by D. K. Combs
“If I take back Atlantis, it is only for you. Only,” he said fiercely, meeting her eyes with hard oceanic ones. The seriousness in them caused a shiver to run down her back.
“So I need to know now. You said you loved me—“ his voice broke on the word, as if it were painful for him to say—“but I need your loyalty. Not just your trust or love, but your loyalty. I know it’s asking too much of you, after all that you have given me, but I can only have a throne with a loyal queen and—“
“Ambrose,” Mari broke in, placing her hand over his mouth. “Anything you ask for is yours. Anything you want from me is yours. Everything about me is yours. My loyalty was given to you the second you changed me into a mermaid—“ he frowned at the term—“to save my life, and that will never change.”
“Atlantean,” he corrected her sternly, tapping her nose. Despite his worry, he was trying his hardest to make this easier on her—like asking for her loyalty was such a great decision, she thought with a mental laugh.
“Atlantean,” she repeated, tapping his nose in return. “I love you, Ambrose. Nothing can change that.”
His eyes closed and so many emotions passed over his face it was hard for her to decipher which ones they had been. Her heart ached as she watched him. He had had no one for two thousand years—but now he had her.
It might not be a lot, but hopefully, it was enough.
For now.
Ambrose’s eyes flipped open to meet hers, the sudden fury taking her back.
“If everything about you is mine, then you are mine. Which means, I need to know about everything in your past…including the man who broke your heart.”
Mari froze.
“Tell me about him. Now.”
She swallowed. Oh, boy.
“Right now?” she asked, biting her lip.
He nodded, gaze hard. “You’re mine. And I want to know who hurt you.”
“No one hurt me,” Mari hedged, crossing her arms over her breasts. She felt a slight numbing below her hips and looked down. Her legs, tangled with Ambrose’s, moved on their own accord and began to mend together, scales beginning to replace the skin.
Ambrose growled, taking her jaw in his hand. She didn’t have time to ask what was wrong before he pressed his lips to hers, hand possessively covering her breast. Instantly, her body reacted. Her back arched into his hand, and a moan escaped her lips.
He pulled back, breathing hard. Desire thrummed through her body and she stared at him, dazed.
“Right now,” he said, hard. Ambrose pushed her onto her back, taking her wrists in his hands and holding himself over her. She felt his legs tangle with hers and held back a shiver of heat.
“But I’m all… Ambrose, I don’t think right now—“
He bent down, brushing his nose against her neck before placing a soft kiss there. She sighed, eyes fluttering closed as tendrils of pleasure danced along her skin.
“It’s the perfect time,” he growled. She felt a sharp nip at her neck and gasp, straining against his hold on her wrists.
“Let my legs—“
“No. Talk.”
Caveman mode, much? She struggled to pull her hands free, trying to twist her way out of his grip. All that did was press her breasts closer to his face—and he took full advantage of that. She gasped again when his mouth covered her nipple, tugging on the tender flesh.
“I can’t talk when you’re doing that—“
“You better. Two seconds to start talking and you won’t be able to swim for days.” He adjusted his hold on her so that he had both of her wrists in one hand, and the other was sliding under her body, down her back. Before she could tell him to knock it off, his hand cupped the round curve of her ass and squeezed, a warning.
“That isn’t fair at all—“
“One second.” He drew back his hand, lightly tapping the side of her hip. Another warning. He covered her breast with his hot mouth again, and the world around her spun. How could she concentrate when he was doing everything he could to make her not want to talk?
“Oh my lord, you are terrible,” she breathed, body trembling.
“One-half,” he growled against her puckered flesh, nipping her.
“His name was—was Ray. Raymond Blieger.” It was so hard to talk that she barely knew what was coming out of her mouth. She tried pulling at her wrists again, but he sucked on her breast hard, pulling back for only a second and then going to the other one.
“We went to the same college and both got degrees in teaching. Started living together when we got jobs and—“ She cut off with a whimper when the hand that had been caressing her ass slid around to the front of her body, lightly teasing her entrance.
“Keep going,” he whispered, tempting the beginning of her core with a thick digit.
She couldn’t see the look on his face, but at that moment she didn’t care. The darkness in his voice, the need that she could hear in it, was enough to make her tremble. Hell, he could talk for days without touching her and she suspected she could get off on just that.
“Ah—we… We were together for three years—“ He growled, biting into her breast.
“I was on this couples cruise,” she said weakly, barely able to talk past the beating of her heart. Ambrose was doing so many things to her at once that she didn’t even feel a glimmer of pain as the memory vaguely crossed her mind.
She wrapped her legs around his waist tightly, trying to draw him against her. She had to feel him, had to have him again. The image of the sinking ship was replaced by the memory of how good he had felt inside of her, how amazingly thick and perfect he had been.
“And?” Hot water brushed over her chest, managing to make her shudder. How could one man make her so hot?
“I went alone—he said it would be good for me. He had too much work.”
“Bastard. I would go with you everywhere, to the end of the Earth if I had to,” he murmured, gentling his ministrations. She swallowed, nodding, even though she didn’t know what she was nodding at. She could hardly speak; the words were refusing to form.
And it wasn’t because the memory hurt—but because Ambrose was touching her, making her body come alive. She suspected he was doing it to make telling him easier on her, but she didn’t really care why. The fact that it was happening was good enough for her.
He tightened his grip on her wrists, moving up her body again. His lips brushed against her neck again, slowly pushing a finger inside of her—only to pull it back. She groaned, thrusting her hips against his hand, trying to make him touch her again.
“Talk, Mari. The more you talk, the more you get.”
“That’s cruel,” she whispered, turning her face into the pad and trying to find something to say. What had they even been talking about?
His finger lightly brushed against her entrance again, making it that much harder for her to concentrate.
“What happened on this cruise?” he prompted darkly. “You have not gotten to the part where this bastard broke your heart.”
“Why is it so important?” she asked with a breathy gasp. Two fingers pushed inside of her this time. Didn’t Ambrose understand that when he did that, she lost her mind? Making her talk was pointless when he kept touching her! But, she admitted to herself, she wasn’t going to ask him to stop.
“Because I want to know how many times I’m going to make him pay for hurting you. An eternity of pain wouldn’t be enough for what he did to you.”
She moaned. “That’s so sexy. It shouldn’t be, but it is.”
He looked up at her, flashing a small smile, then turned serious again. “Tell me what he did.”
“I thought we were going to get married,” she said quietly, heart beginning to ache. Ambrose pressed his lips to her neck again, pushing two fingers inside of her and then pulling them out. Mari bit her lip against a soft scream, forgetting all about the feeling of betrayal.
“Wasn’t good enough for you.” She shuddered, stomach fluttering, as his growl rumbled t
hrough the air, fingers pushing deeper inside of her.
“Yes,” Mari moaned, head turning on the pillow behind her, desire curling through her blood.
“Tell me,” he commanded darkly, nipping the delicate skin of her neck.
“What?” She blinked at him dazedly.
“What this bastard did to you. Tell me, Mari.”
How could she not tell him? His voice was so deep it was like a coarse rumble, rolling over her skin and invading her senses. She would do anything he asked, if he kept talking to her, touching her...
“Checked my email,” she struggled to get out, body jerking when he pulled his fingers out, gently rubbing her clit. “There were, ah...emails. From another woman. Said she can’t wait to feel his—Oh my god, Ambrose.”
“He was unfaithful to you?” he growled. She panted, back arching. He had slid down her body, gently kissing her nipple, and pulled his fingers out, only to replace them with himself. He plunged inside of her body, bracing himself over her body.
“He...oh god. Ambrose!” That’s all she could get out. He began pushing inside of her, filling her so completely that she swore they became one. Fire shot through every vein, heated threads of pleasure shooting through her body, pulling on her senses like she was a puppet to Ambrose’s touch.
“Mari,” he growled, burying his face in her neck. “He will pay. Whatever I have to do to make it happen, he will regret ever hurting you.”
* * *
Hours later, her body sated to the point of being boneless, Mari dozed on Ambrose’s chest. His fingers were brushing up and down her back, and she could hear the steady beat of his heart. It brought her a peace she had never felt before.
“Ambrose...” She began, not really knowing what to say—or rather, how to say it. She knew what she wanted to say.
Who are you? What did you do? Were you really the king? Was there a queen before me?
“Yes, love?” Oh man, his voice. So tender, so relaxed. She hid her smile in his chest, the nerves dying off. He was way too relaxed—and plus, he had promised to tell her everything she wanted to know.
“I’m curious,” she said, biting her lip.
His hand cupped her bottom, then slid up her back. He smiled down at her, rolling her over so that they were both on their sides and both of his arms were wrapped around her, cocooning her in his warm embrace.
“About?” he asked, raising a brow.
“You. Atlantis. The ‘throne’. Those people on the dais…I want to know everything,” she said excitedly, unable to keep herself from bouncing in his arms. She was too excited to stay still.
Ambrose smiled at her patiently. “The people on the dais?”
She rolled her eyes, poking his shoulder. “You know who I’m talking about—-they had the same tail as me!”
“Ow,” he said, laughing, moving away from her finger. “The Atlantean gods. They created us, everything in the world almost. Without Atlantis, the sea will die off, and then the rest of the world will follow suit.”
Her eyes widened. “So they’re like…God?”
“Gods,” he said sternly, poking her shoulder in a mimicking way. The oily orbs that surrounded the pad jiggled as he adjusted them again, pushing her onto her back.
“Ambrose, not again,” she groaned, taking his shoulders. For the past four hours, he had taken her nonstop. It seemed like he couldn’t get enough of her—or they couldn’t get enough of each other.
She wanted him, and would probably never stop wanting him, but her body was beginning to feel the effects of hours of love making.
“I’m not, love,” he said. She heard the laughter in his voice and blushed. “I just like looking at you. Your breasts are perfect…your hair shines with a golden glow that entrances any man who looks upon you…your eyes. Don’t even get me started on your eyes. I’ve never met a woman with such beautiful and expressive eyes… You’re like a book.” He chuckled. “So easy to read that it’s not hard to figure you out.”
“Okay, fishman. I take serious offense to that!”
He arched a brow. “Oh, really?”
Mari nodded sharply. “Yeah, really. My brothers always said that to me,” she grumbled, hiding her face against his chest.
“My brother never…” Ambrose stopped, catching himself from saying something. She waited for him to continue, and when he didn’t, curiosity began to set in.
“At the gates, with your brother. What was that about?”
Ambrose didn’t answer her for a long time, and she began to think that he wasn’t going to.
“Have you ever been betrayed by blood?” he asked, his voice holding a tone of pain that made an ache form in her chest. She shook her head against his shoulder, not daring to look at him. She knew that whatever was in his eyes was ten times worse than what his voice sounded like.
She thought of Ray, but knew his betrayal wasn’t to the scale that Ambrose’s was. He wouldn’t have tried to kill his brother if it wasn’t.
“I had two people at the trial that were on my side. Out of every citizen I had, out of every family I helped, took care of, watched out for, gave protection to—I had only two people. Erikos wasn’t one of them. All he did was take my spear and leave.
“No apologies, no hug, no ‘I believe you.’ I watched out for that kid my whole entire life—when my parents died, all he had was me. All I had was him. I was only a couple hundred years old when I took over the throne, for gods’ sake. It wasn’t until a couple years later that I gained the Atlanteans' trust. Before that, though, all I had was Erikos. My last remaining family, and he left me to be exiled without a word in my favor.”
His voice was bitter. Mari couldn’t move—it was impossible when the pain that he felt was flowing to her, making her breathless.
She felt the tingle in her legs, barely registering that her tail was coming back. Mari didn’t cast a look at it—she was held too tightly against Ambrose’s chest.
He had asked for—no, demanded—her loyalty. It had seemed weird and out of place at the time, but now she understood why. The one person in his life who should have done anything for Ambrose had left him behind, betrayed him.
“It’s the most painful thing in the world,” he whispered. Hot water fanned over her cheek as he turned his face into her hair, clutching her. “The only thing I can imagine being worse than that is losing you.”
Mari looked up at him, gently touching his jaw. “That won’t happen. You’re stuck with this fish for life, Ambrose. I just hope you’re prepared for it. I have the worst PMS anyone’s ever seen, I’m terrible with decorating, and I like chocolate. If I don’t get it, I go into withdrawal, and it’s already been a couple of days so—“
Just like she had wanted, he laughed. It was a weak one, but a laugh nonetheless. “Mari, we don’t get chocolate in the ocean.”
She gasped. “What?”
“We. Don’t. Get. Chocolate.”
Mari jerked into a sitting position, holding her hands up in an ‘excuuuuse me?’ motion. “Okay. Alright. I’m done. Hashtag I quit. Give me chocolate, or give me death!”
He frowned.
“Hashtag?”
“I said, give me chocolate, or give me death!”
Ceto looked at herself in the mirror, fluffing her black wig. There was blood streaking down her cheek, but it didn’t bother her. If anything, it made the red of her lips look that much more vibrant. She smiled seductively at the mirror, admiring herself.
A kill always gave her the thrill she loved. The blood, the screams. It was like a melody to her ear that only death had the voice to sing. It was almost better than sex, she conceded, running her hands down her body.
The poor man from F-Inn had paid dearly for lying to her. Soon after her visit with Austrux, she had done some backtracking. It wasn’t hard to realize that the man at F-Inn had lied to her when she put two and two together.
It was the closest place to the cave where she’d kept Ambrose hidden. There were several other hotels
that were more spread out, and a lot nicer, but it wasn’t hard to read her little pet’s mind. He didn’t want to go to Atlantis, and he couldn’t go to some high-class hotel where he would be recognized and reported.
No, her pet had to go to the nasty and the distant. It made complete sense, she thought. How could she not have just barged into the hotel upon leaving the message? It had only been a guess that he would be there, so she had just given a little warning to the man.
Ambrose might despise his brother, but Erikos was blood. Threatening him was the easiest way to get Ambrose out of his shell—and it had worked. The dumb fool had run right into Austrux’s view, who had told her. Now she knew all she needed to know, besides where he was now.
Austrux had not reported back to her in hours. She hadn’t been worried of course, too busy taking her fury out on the bastard who had lied when she asked if Ambrose was there. She had made his death, and everyone else’s who had been there, as painful and as long as she could make it.
While Ceto loved the screams, they did give her a headache.
She cupped her breasts, lifting them in the mirror. “Hmm,” she murmured, beginning to frown. “Might need another job,” she said to herself, contemplating.
Ceto shrugged, reaching for the tube of blood-red lipstick. It was her favorite shade—it matched the color of blood on her cheek.
Austrux was most likely waiting for her at her little shack. Ceto would hurry, but she loved taking her time. It was nice to keep them waiting, the anticipation. Austrux was new to all of this. Sure, he had dabbled in gambling and doing odd jobs for the wrong people, but taking out the past and future king?
Getting him anxious was simply too good to pass up! She pressed her lips together and then popped them, smiling into the mirror again. Hmm, maybe she should get rid of the blood. Ceto wanted to look presentable, right? The little souvenir from her kill would have to go.
Sighing, she swiped at her face.
Gone.
And time to meet her partner.
She turned away from the mirror, waving her hand out. Immediately, following the motion of her hand, was the swirl of water and ink. All it took was one swoosh and the portal began to swirl at an accelerating rate. Seconds later, it was ready for her to walk through.