Renner fingered the tips of her breasts. “Would you like to take the boat out tomorrow?”
“Will you all crew for me?”
“Of course.”
“You have your own jobs.”
“Until you’re claimed, our job is you.”
She lifted her head to study his expression. There was no impatience, no judgment. “Then I guess it better be soon or I’ll be out of business.”
His crooked grin coaxed her own to stretch across her face, and she laid her cheek over his heart to listen to the loud thud. “The full moon’s tomorrow night. I don’t want a church wedding. I want to marry like a proper witch.”
A long sigh lowered Renner’s chest, and he kissed her hair. “Tomorrow night then. Sure you want witnesses?”
“I want my sisters with me. I want them to know that anything is possible if they want it badly enough.”
“No more fears about demons stealing power?”
She looked at Elias, whose eyes sparkled in the moonlight. “There are three of you in case one decides to get greedy. I think I’m covered.”
Elias smirked. “You’re in charge. Except when we are here.”
Her smile faded. “Elias, are you and your brother sure you want to join us? Renner will claim me. My child will be his.”
Elias’s smile softened. He tapped her nose. “Miren, darling, you have a very loving heart. Big enough to make room for us. Of that, I have no fear. You watch, we will protect you, pleasure you. Our bond will strengthen. And when your child comes, we will love it as our own.”
Miren swallowed the lump burning the back of her throat. “We’ll need a bigger bed.”
With laughter rising, filling the room, Miren’s mind swirled with all the loving possibilities.
Chapter Six
Renner watched as Miren haggled with the buyer at the docks, enjoying how she negotiated, part Southern honey—exaggerated on her part, since she didn’t have a drop of Southern belle in her blood—and part vinegar. When both were satisfied with the price for the morning’s catch, Miren nodded and reached out her hand to seal the deal with the buyer who seemed young for the job. He was dressed in cutoffs, was bare-chested and he looked mightily disappointed as he eyed Miren’s crew.
Renner guessed the scrawny younger man knew he didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of attracting her attention when he and the two mermen accompanied her.
When she walked back to the boat, he loosened the line and held out his hand to help her step aboard. In minutes, with her guiding the boat through a narrow inlet, they were back in open water. Only they didn’t follow the shoreline.
“Where are we going?” he asked, coming up behind her to wrap his arms around her narrow waist.
She glanced sideways, challenge in her eyes. “Want to wash off the smell of shrimp?”
He smiled, glanced at the clear sky above them and then over at the two mermen, who had been restless all day as she’d methodically dropped nets to drag the ocean bottom for tasty crustaceans. So near the sea, and the mermen hadn’t dipped their tails even once. He guessed they were all ready to play.
“Sounds like fun.” And a nice diversion to get their minds off the coming full moon. Tonight, everything would change.
Once they were far enough out to sea that the risk of another seagoing craft crossing their paths diminished, she shut down the engine, dropped the anchor and began rifling through a chest for snorkels and fins.
“We won’t be needing those,” Mikkel said, already shucking his shorts and tee.
Elias laughed and leapt nude off the side of the boat.
Renner and Miren glanced over the side to watch as Elias’s body shimmered. A moment later, he surfaced with a long green and blue tail, which he flapped at the water. “Join us for a swim.”
Miren glanced at Renner. “That’s disturbing.”
Renner laughed. “I don’t need the snorkel. I can breathe the water.”
“Right.” She shook her head. “Do you change?”
“Do you want me to?”
“You are a draugr. And I’m marrying you tonight, so you have to make me happy. I’d love to ride a dolphin.”
With a laugh, he dropped his shorts on the deck and stepped off the back of the boat. The moment he submerged, he closed his eyes, and envisioned himself a dolphin. When he swam back to the surface, he glided onto his side to wink at her with his dolphin eye.
The look on her face was well worth the effort. With her snorkel in place and her flippers making her walk clumsily to the edge, she looked blissful as she stepped off.
As promised, he held still as she mounted him just behind his dorsal, and then he nosed around, flipped his tail, and they were off.
For Miren, it was a magical day. She skimmed the sea atop a dolphin and then snorkeled lazily, watching her three lovers play in the depths. The mermen were somehow no less masculine, no less impressive, their lower bodies a study in rippling muscle cloaked in tiny iridescent scales that caught the sunlight streaming through the water, glinting blue then green, even purple. Truly beautiful.
She grew anxious as they lingered beneath the water before she reminded herself they didn’t need to surface, that they were as at home in the sea as they were on land. More connected than even she was.
Well into the late afternoon, after feasting on a shrimp chowder she heated over a hot plate, they all sat on the edge of the platform at the rear of the boat, their feet dangling in the water, the four of them completely nude and completely relaxed about it.
“I could get used to this,” Mikkel said, echoing her thoughts.
Elias caught Renner’s gaze and nodded. “It’s not a bad idea.”
“What’s not a bad idea?” Miren said, knowing the men were already making plans and not including her. “Are you all planning to crew on a permanent basis?”
“Those two, perhaps,” Renner said. “But I’m a construction chief. I’ll still be needed at Vindlér.”
Miren nodded, a little disappointed at his answer, but he was right. When the building was complete, they’d be busy moving equipment and office furniture, then seeking more jobs to pay for the expensive relocation—jobs that might take him away from home for extended periods.
Still, she smiled at the thought of more lazy days like these.
Renner leaned back with his weight braced on his arms. “We haven’t talked about tonight.”
“And I don’t want to. Bryn is seeing to the arrangements, gathering what we need.”
He turned his head, squinting his eyes at the lowering sun. “You’re sure you don’t want to be married in Bonne Nuit by the priest?”
“Bryn and Ethan wanted that for their children. We can always apply for a license and take care of the formalities later, but our wedding tonight will be the one I want.” She angled her head toward him. “If you don’t mind…”
Renner shook his head. “I don’t mind.” As would always be, he’d give her whatever she wanted. He liked the idea of a natural setting, just their friends and the moon as witnesses. He just wasn’t all that comfortable knowing everyone would be present for the fireworks after the ceremony.
Mikkel chuckled. “You do know everyone will be scoring your technique.”
“You swim naked today so your ass wouldn’t glow like the moon?” Elias said.
Both mermen wiped their expressions free of mirth when Miren gave them a frown. “That’s okay. Get it out now. If you two act like children during the ceremony…”
Renner wished all the talk of the coming festivities would stop. Already his cock was stirring.
But Mikkel solved that problem. “Miren, do you want to tell us about your dragon? Why didn’t you want to marry him?”
Renner didn’t like the way the light faded from her eyes. Her expression grew bleak. But he wanted to know as we
ll. He’d heard the sanitized version—witch’s fleeing enslavement, but she’d never offered more.
“He’d have kept me landlocked,” she said, her voice sounding like it came from far away. “We’d known each other since we were children. Attended the community’s private school together. But once we both reached puberty, and I learned which element ruled me, I grew restless.”
Mikkel nodded, his eyes narrowing. “You would have pined for the sea.”
“And lost a great deal of power.” She shrugged and her gaze fell away. “I know that sounds selfish, that maybe I’m no better than Liliana,” she said, mentioning the witch they’d defeated when the council had come seeking the witches.
Renner grunted. “You are far above that bitch.”
“Well, it’s still true that when Bryn decided to escape, I told her I’d come, so long as we landed somewhere near water. Ever since we came to Bonne Nuit, I’ve felt…like I’m home. I’m stronger. My magic is more concentrated and focused. I think the council forgets that witches need freedom to walk the earth barefoot, to swim so we can renew our connections on a daily basis rather than just be trotted out for ceremonies.”
She took a deep breath and then laid her hand on his arm. “I’m trusting you to keep your promise.”
Renner bit back a flash of irritation but kept his features even. “Given time, I hope you’ll come to trust me. Your power is attractive, but not the reason I want you for a mate. We belong together. Aren’t you tired of being alone? Of shouldering all the responsibility?”
She wrinkled her nose. “If I say yes, will I be tripping over you all as you try take over my life?”
“We’re crew, Captain,” Mikkel said. “We’ll follow your lead.”
Renner patted her hand. “And although I hate the thought of you out here, with only these knuckleheads to protect you, I’ll get used to it. I know you’re capable and smart.”
“But you don’t really know how powerful I am.” She said it quietly but with certainty shining in her eyes. When she looked out on the horizon again, he noted the sea’s surface was no longer calm. A small dark cloud formed in the distance and the wind whipped up, tugging at their hair.
Then she lifted her hand, pointed her finger downward and twirled it.
“Spirit of the water, hear me.
Cradle of life, bend the wind to my will.
Around and around, as I will, so mote it be.”
Then she lifted her fingers, pinched them together, opened them and leaned close to blow across the top of her open palm.
As he watched, the winds picked up and began to swirl. The clouds darkened and punched downward to pluck up the water. A waterspout had formed.
The men rose, glanced at one another and then turned one by one to stare at her.
“You’ve made your point,” Renner said, raising his voice to be heard over the rising wind.
“Have I?” she said, lifting her chin. “I don’t need protection from any demon.”
There was a hardness in her eyes that he’d never seen. A raw anger that caused his chest to tighten. “You certainly needed us to battle for you. Ethan killed to keep you all safe. We were all prepared to lay down our lives.”
“But you didn’t do it without expecting something in return. Ethan certainly had a price.”
“Is Bryn unhappy? Does she look browbeaten? Do you think she considers herself enslaved?”
The boat began to rock as peaked waves arrived, but Renner didn’t demand she cease the magic. She wanted to prove a point, but so did he.
In the end, she gave herself a visible shake and turned her attention back to the darkened sky. She closed her eyes and the wind died down, the spout spitting as it fell back to the sea and the cloud drifted away.
She pulled her knees against her chest and hid her face.
Renner wasn’t sure what to do now. He glanced at the mermen. Elias jerked his chin toward her, telling him silently to move closer.
He did, easing down beside her and putting his arm around her back.
Slowly, the tension in her body left. She turned to him, opening her arms, and he scooped her into his lap.
“You don’t have a lot of control, do you?” he asked, rubbing his cheek against her hair.
She shook her head. “When we escaped, I sent a sideways wind laden with water at Mathias who was chasing us into the woods. I nearly drowned him on dry land.”
Above her head, Mikkel shrugged, not the least concerned about how she’d treated the dragon.
“Is it why I’ve seldom seen you use your magic?”
She nodded against him, sinking closer.
“And if you share it?”
“Bryn thinks it will dissipate it, make me more calm.”
“Then why are you so worried?”
“I’m not. Not so much about the magic, but I’ve seen how people change. Mathias changed. Once he came into his own, he became proud. Too proud to listen to me or consider how I felt. All his thoughts were for his rise inside the council.”
“Well, we don’t have a council. And we don’t have any expectations to become too proud about. We’re just trying to make a life, one we can share.”
“That sounds nice…”
“But you still have doubts.”
She sniffed and nodded but finally moved back to lift her head. “I love you, Renner. I fear more that I’ll want to surrender everything to you.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Mikkel said.
When Renner and Miren turned toward the merman, Mikkel arched a brow. “There will be balance. Not equality, but a simple balance.”
“You have this all figured out,” Miren said, her voice thick.
“All knowed up, or so my grandfather would have said.”
Miren eyed both of the blond men and her expression slowly eased. Her mouth curved. “There’s so much for us to learn about each other.”
“It will be a journey,” Elias agreed.
Renner tipped her chin and turned her face toward him. “Any more doubts?”
“No.”
“Tonight then.”
She nodded, her eyelids slipping downward as she tilted her face to receive his kiss.
The women led the men through the forest.
Ethan had complained that they could get there sooner if they took vehicles. The company had laid down roads in the clearing where the old oak stood even before construction on the new office building had started. But Bryn had shaken her head. “We are earthing,” she’d said firmly. “Barefoot. Nothing between us and Mother Earth. We draw power from her, just as we will from the moon.”
And so all the men had removed their socks and shoes, something Renner had regretted the first time he stubbed his toe on an exposed tree root. He and Ethan trailed directly behind the women. Every now and then, Miren glanced behind her, her expression clear despite the heavy canopy above them. The pearl-like glow emanating from all the witches was like a beacon in the darkness.
Just like the last time he’d made this trek, he had the feeling that they were somehow entering another realm. The air was alive with electricity. The scents of the wood and decaying leaves, even the stagnant bayou water flowing beside them, smelled sweeter, fresher. There was no sound, just as though someone had hit a cosmic mute button.
Above them shone a full moon, abnormally large, he thought, and shining so brightly he could see color here and there amid the gray moonlight. He checked his watch and noted the time. They still had a few minutes before the eclipse heralding the blood moon began.
Since they’d done this before and knew what to expect, the men remained silent. They followed the women to the tree and then waited to assist them with their bundles and clothing as they stripped.
Then they too removed their clothes, leaving them in neat little stacks beside the cloth
ing of the women they protected.
Renner, flanked by Mikkel and Elias, helped Miren with her dark cloak and thin nightgown. Her expression was animated but also a little nervous.
When she was nude, she wrapped her arms across her chest and shivered. “I can definitely feel a nip in the air.”
“The moonlight will warm you,” Elias said, his voice soothing.
Renner conceded it was handy having him around. His quiet calm affected each one of them, just as Mikkel’s humor tended to lighten their moods.
Torches were thrust into the ground and lit.
Unlike the last time, Miren rather than Bryn took charge, awakening the spirit of the old oak with three knocks against its bark.
“Waken, spirit of the oak.
Stand guard while we revel.
Defend our secrets from evil.”
The torches flared outward and then whooshed inward. The ground shifted and settled. A light humming sound buzzed in his ears.
As before, the women began to dance, circling the tree and then moving beyond its wide branches to draw down the moonlight.
As they danced, the eclipse crept across the moon, darkening it to a deep, dark red. The women moved faster, arms waving, the natural pearlescence of their skin soaking up the darker hue of the blood moon.
It was then that Miren came to him, a lock of hair hiding one eye, a sultry look on her face and a smile that made it impossible for him to resist as she tugged on his hand and led him to the bower someone had prepared.
A white blanket and pillows lay on the ground. A gauzy curtain enclosed three sides of the bower, but he didn’t care who might gather in the opening to watch, because Miren’s hands were working their magic, smoothing over his skin and sending infusions of breathtaking heat. His muscles quivered and strengthened. His cock lifted, hard and engorged. His thoughts became a jumble of sensory details he couldn’t quite catch because his focus narrowed on the woman who lay back on a pillow and opened her arms.
When he knelt between her spread legs, there was only the two of them, only the heat of her glowing skin, a distant chanting he couldn’t make out, because all he heard was his heartbeat growing louder and louder.
Under a Blood Moon: Beaux Rêve Coven, Book 2 Page 7