All the guys at the table said a collective, “Oooh”, like they thought we were going to fight.
“It’s mostly luck,” the girl said. “Kind of like fucking a prince these days. Goblins and mermaids? What next?” She looked at Wrindel and slammed her dice down.
“Oh, Wrindel, you never should’ve dallied with that one,” one of the boys said, a red-headed elf who had been drinking a lot.
Wrindel’s fair, lovely elven skin flushed so easily that he couldn’t hide any embarrassment. He took a swig of wine and told me, “Gods, I’m sorry. I told you I have a history.”
“With that girl?”
“With every girl,” said the oh-so-helpful redhead.
“You stay out of it,” Wrindel snapped at him. “Not every girl.”
Ithrin glanced over from another table playing a sedate card game. My eyes followed the blonde girl. She had walked over to another table to talk to a different girl, and they were both shooting nasty looks our way.
“Wrindel,” I hissed. “How many girls here thought they might be your bride?”
“I never promised anything to any of them,” he said. “It isn’t my fault if they make presumptions.”
“And how many girls in this room have you slept with?”
“None.”
“None?”
“My favorite chambermaid moved on.”
“Don’t joke with me.” I put down the dice. “If I’m even to consider marrying you for two seconds, I need complete honesty from you.”
“I am being honest,” he said. “I don’t sleep with ladies of the court. I stick to proper courtesans who know what they’re doing, most of the time. I don’t want any bastards.”
“Oh,” I said, not pleased at this thought either. “Then why are these women acting like this?”
“I have done a few…other things with—Kiara—and Meriam, over there…”
For a moment I was furious with him, hot with jealousy. Yes, he’d warned me. That hardly mattered.
“I’m not going to apologize for things I’ve done before I ever met you,” he said.
The blonde girl put down her compact like she had just decided something, while her friend flapped her hands like she wanted to stop her. She walked back over to us. “The king is ill,” she said. “You know the old story about King Lefior. The poor mermaid lurking in the palace. The shame. Don’t you owe your people a proper bride?”
“You’re jealous, Kiara,” he said. “We have always courted for love in this kingdom as often as not.”
“I’m not jealous; I don’t want you. Definitely not now.”
“Watch yourself,” he said. “You forget that I am your prince.”
“Oooh, are you going to throw me in a dungeon for talking back?” Her friend tried to pull her back to their table as another man joined the argument, taking her side more diplomatically.
“Wrin, you have to admit, you weren’t very fair to Kiara,” he said.
Wrin stood. “Fair? I never made promises to anyone. Nor did I offer anything you weren’t eager to receive,” he told her, his tone dangerous.
“You cad,” she said.
I took a stumbling step back from the table.
Maybe I’ve made a terrible mistake. Could I really trust Wrindel? Maybe I felt so comfortable with him because he was charming any time he wished to be.
If I did decide to stay with him, I refused to be seen as a poor mermaid lurking in the palace, a girl who couldn’t walk or read or use a fork.
I rested my eyes on Kiara’s compact, abandoned on the table as everyone’s attention was drawing into a circle of accusations. I slipped out of my chair and crawled toward the other table. Ithrin was trying to calm everyone down, only drawing fire of his own for choosing a goblin girl over an elf. “Half-elf!” he insisted.
I snatched the compact off the table and shoved it between my breasts. Then I made my way to the door, clutching at furniture to keep my balance. Various small muscles I’m not sure I had until today were quivering in protest. I could stand up as long as I clung to the wall, but I was afraid to walk without support. I really just wanted to go back to the bedroom.
A moment later, Ellara stepped out and found me hesitating. “Are you all right?” she asked.
“Oh, I’m fine,” I said.
“High elves are a lot more petty than I thought they’d be,” she said. “I had an idea that they were always sophisticated, like the way I remember my father. Turns out, if you live to be two hundred plus, you really nurse old family wounds. Not so different from goblins, in the end!”
“Who was this mermaid mistress everyone’s whispering about?”
“I don’t know. But hey, maybe we could find out. I would imagine that all the papers of the old kings and queens are in the library’s archives.”
“I would need your help,” I admitted. “I can’t read.”
“No shame in that. Lots of people can’t,” Ellara said. “Of course I’d help. Selfishly, I hope you’ll stay. I can already tell that everyone would talk about me a lot less if you were here.” She noticed how I clung to the wall. “Do you need help getting somewhere?”
“It’s been a long night. I’d like to just go to bed. But I can’t walk either,” I said. “I’m not sure you’re big enough to help me.”
“I’m stronger than I look!” Ellara said. “Let’s see.” She slung my arm around her shoulders and put a hand around my waist. My balance was improving, and I managed to walk away from the wall, leaning on her when I tottered.
“Ohh, it’s a long way back to the bedroom,” I said.
“Don’t think of it like that. Just one step at a time, and you’re getting better.”
“Do you think I can trust Wrindel to have truly changed his ways?” I asked her.
“I’ll tell you what I know about these brothers,” she said. “They’ve grown up under a load of grief after the death of their mother and two eldest siblings. Ithrin was a little boy, and Wrindel was a baby. So Wrin never knew the lost half of the family, and he was learning to walk and talk as his father and brother were just trying to put themselves back together. I can only imagine how awful it was for everyone. From what I understand, the king and queen were a true love match.” She paused. “Sometimes I don’t understand why the world has to be so sad.”
The story pricked at my memories. As if I knew a little of how this felt.
“Wrindel might have a bad reputation with women,” Ellara continued. “But one thing I’ve learned about him is that he takes care of everyone. He doesn’t like to see anyone hurting. If something troubles you, you hardly have to say anything—he’ll make you laugh or hand you a warm drink. I’ve seen how he balances out Ithrin, who is more serious. Maybe he was just searching for love, like we all are. Or maybe he didn’t want to be seen as too much of a caretaker. A prince needs to have manly prowess, you know. But then again, maybe he just has a hell of a libido. Ithrin’s like a sleeping dragon.” She grinned. “Don’t tell him I said that.”
“If that’s all it is…”
“You think you can handle him?”
“Oh, I think I could.” If it meant he was going to do things like he’d already done to me, over and over… I flushed.
Ellara giggled. “They are pretty, pretty men, aren’t they?”
Chapter Nine
Wrindel
“She can’t even use a fork correctly!” Kiara cried. “If I see her at dinner again, I’ll tell my father to tell the king.” She had reached the point where she knew she had lost the general argument—she couldn’t tell me what to do—but refused to give up.
“Enough.” Ithrin stood next to me, his voice slicing through the chatter. “You will not tell the king. That’s my call. He’s not well right now, and I don’t want anything to upset him. Whatever your personal judgment might be on Wrindel’s choices, he is well within his rights.”
I glanced at Ithrin, thankful that he had kept his own concerns out of the public sphere. I kn
ew he wasn’t happy about this either, but he was a loyal brother.
Somehow, I realized, I had lost track of Talwyn in the middle of our heated argument. “Where’s Talwyn?” I hissed at him, as the disgruntled young nobles settled back into their games.
“Ellara’s gone too. They’re probably together. I wouldn’t worry. Play a game of Demon’s Hand with me and then see if she’s in bed.” He picked up a deck and neatly shuffled it. “Of course, you should offer her a guest room.”
I shrugged noncommittally.
“You’ve asked for this, you know,” Ithrin said. “Girls don’t seem to mind as much when you’re known to flirt with everyone. But choosing a mermaid, ignoring all the elven girls, without even holding a ball?”
“Yes. I get the picture. Everyone has made it very clear to me by now. Let’s talk about something else.”
Ithrin dealt me a hand. “I believe that you genuinely have feelings for her. You’ve never been so stubborn about it before. But you also have a tendency not to take consequences seriously. You stole that girl from the sea. You stole her memories.”
“I’m going to take her to the healers to see about her memories.”
“The healers can’t do anything for her! You bloody well know that already. Her memories are gone because you’re holding her talisman, isn’t that right?”
“You read that in an old book; we can’t be sure.”
Ithrin snorted.
Unreasonable anger bubbled inside me. He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t know. I had fallen into a trap, as easily as a mouse: lie to Talwyn, or lose her. I discarded my two of clubs and drew a new card. I won the game, but I barely said another word to Ithrin.
When I came back to my room, Talwyn was sleeping, curled up on the fur in front of the fireplace. Her dress was tossed across the bed, but she was still wearing the stockings and garters. Gods.
Clearly, she wasn’t angry at me despite the scene earlier.
“Tal?” I whispered.
She really was asleep. I took off my boots, and then my shirt, but as I pulled the clothing over my head, I noticed something on my nightstand.
Kiara’s jeweled compact.
Talwyn had stolen it? I didn’t know whether to laugh or groan.
I settled myself behind her and draped an arm over her. She stirred, shifting onto her back.
“Why aren’t you in bed?” I asked.
“I’m having a hard time getting used to all the clothes and coverings…but I was cold, too. It’s nice here by the fire.”
“But you left the stockings on.”
“I had some idea that you wanted to take them off…”
“You liked it earlier, didn’t you?”
She gave me an impish smile. “I think I need more of it before I can decide for sure.”
I leaned to kiss her, and she crashed her lips into mine first. I slipped my tongue into her mouth and she opened wide for me. That mouth of hers was going to be good for a lot of things. Despite the meal, she still tasted like the sea, clean and a little salty. I pumped my tongue in and out of her mouth, deeply, and she responded in kind. Her knees were locked together again, and I forced them open. She made a little sound in my mouth like it hurt. I loved how just spreading her legs felt like I was doing something really intense.
But before this got too hot, I remembered the compact. “Why did you steal that thing?”
“Because…” Talwyn paused like deep down, she wasn’t entirely sure why. “I’ll give it back.”
“That’s no answer.”
“I think I just wanted to show you,” she said.
“Show me? Don’t you mean you wanted to show her?”
“Well, both of you,” she said. “I’ve always been independent and if I give that up, it won’t be to take crap from any girl who has a history with you. I’m not sure how ladies are supposed to act around here, but I have my pride. Your history ends with me.”
“I accept those terms.” I kissed her again. Her bold words only heightened my lust, made me want to drive her harder because I knew she could take it. Talwyn never talked to me like I was royalty. Our lips grew more urgent. She stroked my hair, her hands open wide so that her fingers raked across my whole scalp at once. We rolled around on the fur. I stroked my erection against her clit through my trousers.
“I want you,” I said.
“I want you too.” She sucked in a ragged breath. “Even if you are a cad.”
Chapter Ten
Talwyn
I reached down and tried to unbutton his clothes. I knew what buttons were, and they seemed pretty easy to manage, but right now I was having trouble.
He unfastened them for me. I dragged them off his legs. He was fair, athletically built—exquisite. Legs might be strange, but they were also fascinating. I ran my hands along his thighs and up to his buttocks, feeling his skin tense and shiver with desire wherever my hands graced his flesh. His cock stood, stiff and thicker than I imagined. I touched it hesitantly.
He half-smiled. “You won’t hurt me, sunshine. Might as well get to know what’s about to split you open.”
I don’t know why such talk made my body so eager, like his manhood was a meal I’d already sampled, and I knew just how good it would taste. “Seriously, now…will it hurt?”
“It usually does. But not the way other things hurt.” He brushed my hair away from my neck, the gesture so tender. “I’ll make you ready for me. You’ll be begging, Tal, I promise.”
He dropped kisses down my neck all the way to my breasts. His mouth drew in my nipple, nibbling all around the tight skin, and instantly I knew what he meant. Somehow, I could feel what he was doing all the way down between my legs. I moaned as he nibbled and suckled, first one and then the other. I kicked my feet, finally digging them into the fur to stop myself.
He took one of my hands and put it between my legs. I stiffened. I had never felt down there myself, and it was strange. The skin was so velvety, and so slick.
“Feel how wet you are,” he said.
“I—I must be making a mess of your rug.”
“Not yet. But it’s kind of an old rug anyway. It was some poor thing my uncle shot.” He guided my fingers to the swollen, tender bud. “That’s your clit, sunshine. They don’t get as much attention in the popular consciousness as they should, but your clit perks up as sure as a cock when its paid its due.” He pushed my fingers along the slick folds. “And down here is where I’ll enter you. It’s wet because it knows. And I say this with complete honesty—you have the sexiest damn pussy I’ve ever seen.”
I was blushing furiously. “That can’t be true.”
“You’re so soft and bare. Not a thing to get in my way when I taste you. Women of the land have hair there. Mind you, some men don’t like a woman to shave bare. It can make you look more childlike and I do like a woman to be a woman. But with you, there is no mistaking that. Your curves, sunshine…they’ll be dancing in my head until the day I die, no matter what happens.”
He started kissing down my stomach now, down one of my hips. He pushed my legs open again—I had hardly been conscious of closing them, but it was second nature to me for my body to move like I still had a tail—and I moaned weakly.
His tongue slid along my sensitive clit in a slow rhythm. I whimpered, arching my hips toward him, wanting more and more.
“Oh, Wrin…can you go harder?”
“No,” he said. “When I’m inside you, then you can ask that question.”
It was true. The longer his tongue glided along my slick skin, the more I craved him inside me. Needed him like nothing else.
He slipped a finger just inside my entrance, and then he traced the wet finger around my back passage, just barely nudging at my asshole. I tensed with surprise.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “That’s something for later. But it never hurts to tease.”
I was shocked that when he drew his finger away, I missed the touch. “What happens there?”
�
��I can fuck you there too,” he said. “I know you’re about to protest the idea. But you’re intrigued. You’re even wetter and pinker than before.”
I was about to protest the idea, but I remembered Ellara telling me that Wrindel took care of other people. In this moment, I could feel how much he wanted me to be happy. Whatever he wanted to do to me, I could feel that it wasn’t just a selfish act. He wanted us to be close in every way. If what Ellara said was true about Wrindel never even knowing half of his family, it made perfect sense that he would crave connection.
In the end, I’m not sure why I trusted him so much. Why I was willing to surrender these most sacred parts of myself to him. Logically, maybe I shouldn’t. But something that went far past logic surged through me when I was with him.
The merfolk said the sea asks you not to think, but just to be. I could never get there under the waters. I had never gotten there until now, in his arms.
“You’re ready, aren’t you?” he asked. “More than ready.”
“Oh, yes. I—” I looked at his cock again and it seemed even stiffer than before, with a bead of moisture on the tip. “I—I think so.”
“How about this, sunshine? I think you like to have a little control over your world. I’ll sit on the bed and you can sit on me.”
He was right about that. I didn’t want to surrender to him completely until I understood what I was getting into.
He carried me to the edge of the bed and sat down, guiding me onto his lap facing him, urging me to put my knees on the bed and straddle him. He was a pretty broad figure to straddle. I clutched his shoulders, gnawing at my lip as I let my legs adjust to this sensation.
“That’s it. Spread as wide as you can.” He stroked my thighs, encouraging me. My skin tingled. I lowered my body toward his shaft, finding the head.
“Relax your muscles,” he said. “It’s going to feel so wonderful to join with you, Tal.”
I knew I had the right position, so there was nothing to do now but let it happen. I lowered myself onto his cock, groaning at the pain I knew would come. It was like spreading my legs magnified by a hundred—a splitting violation that felt like I was tearing in two, but at the same time, it was a delicious feeling. Loving someone. Trusting someone. Giving myself over to something larger than myself.
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