by Nikki Dean
Pain bloomed in her side and Celeste looked down to find the fairy’s other hand pressed against her armor. Blood swirled through the water as she pulled her hand back, revealing the long, slender needles that adorned her glove.
Needles that had slid straight through the rings of her chainmail. It was the last thing she saw before everything went dark.
Chapter 8
Celeste
“Speak to me, Celeste.” Sam’s voice called to her as though from far away, earning a grimace. “You have to say something.”
She bared her teeth with a growl, warning him back as he laughed.
“See, she’s already back to normal,” someone else said in the distance. Celeste shook her head, unsure what the new voice meant as sensation flooded her senses. She felt so many different things, none of them welcome. The most pressing was a burning flame of pain in her side and she reached for it, only to have her hand batted away.
“Let me give her something for the pain,” yet another voice said this time. It was familiar, although she couldn’t place it for some reason. “This will help her rest. She’ll be out for several hours, so I’ll be back in the morning. Check on her around dinner and give her another dose. She most likely won’t be hungry.”
What dose? What’s happened to me? Oh, yes, the fairy… where’s Lahni? She earned nothing but a chuckle when she tried to sit up, barely able to lift her top half up from the net that cradled her limp body. A tube was pressed between her lips and a noxious liquid filled her mouth. She reflexively swallowed it and sputtered, searching for something, anything, else to get the disgusting taste out of her mouth. Sef laughed as she snarled in protest, trying to open her eyes to see what was happening.
She barely got them open by a crack before they closed on their own. Cursing her own weakness, Celeste wrenched them open just long enough to see Sef leaning over her, watching with interest. Her father’s royal physician floated beside him, a long slender tube in his hands. It was the type that mothers used to dispense medications to their teething babes.
Sam was nowhere to be found. Of course he’s not here, you idiot. He would drown long before he ever reached this depth, so he won’t ever be here. Disappointment flashed through her and she growled, either at this irrefutable fact or herself, she wasn’t sure.
“Sleep, Celeste. You did your duty, and your sister is safe,” Sef assured her, patting her shoulder. She shied away from him as much as she could, which meant she barely twitched. He seemed to understand what she was thinking anyway, and removed his hand with a laugh. The water swirled as they both left the room, locking her door behind them.
Good, at least she’s safe. Darkness took her then, wrapping her in its cocoon of solitude, and she didn’t try to open her eyes again.
“Celeste.” His voice caressed her skin, touching her more intimately than she’d ever allowed another being. “Celeste, look at me. Speak to me.”
She stretched and shook her head, denying him.
“Please, Celeste.”
I like the sound of that. “You’re not real.”
“Does that really matter?” Sam asked, his voice lower, yet somehow closer.
I suppose not. Finally conceding to his request, she opened her eyes to see that they were in her chambers at the castle, far below the level where Lahni’s rooms lay. “What are you doing here?”
“You tell me,” he said, holding his hands out before him as she glanced in his direction. “It’s not my dream.”
“A dream. Of course. Otherwise you’d be dead right now.”
“Because you’d kill me for being in your room, or…” he trailed off with a wink, allowing her to fill in the blank.
“Because you’d drown. Stupid, fragile human.”
His jaw dropped and his eyebrows shot up at her insults. “Oh? Please, don’t hold back on account of my feelings. Although I suppose that’s a kind of progress, in itself.”
It was Celeste’s turn to laugh, the sound ringing through the small room. It was the loudest she’d laughed in a long time, and the realization drew her up short, cutting off her mirth. Lahni always tells me to lighten up and laugh more. Enjoy the people and things around me. Perhaps she’s right.
“I apologize, that was a little harsh.”
He waved her words off, a gesture that reminded her of her father. She shook her head, not wanting to think of him right now. “No, no, if that’s how you really feel, then I suppose I should be grateful for your concern. It’s not every day that I’m called fragile.”
“You’re a human. You’re extremely fragile compared to me,” she said, unable to resist gloating. “Where are your sharp teeth, or claws? Your spines or scales for protection? Humans are soft.”
“But comfortable,” he teased back, eliciting a startled laugh from her once more. “Would you like to see for yourself?”
She tilted her head as she studied him, uneasy for the first time. He walked to her, encouraged by her silence this time.
Why is he walking through the water as easily as if it were air? His clothes aren’t moving, or his hair. Perhaps because the one time I saw him in the ocean’s grasp, he was drowning, and I have no desire to imagine that again. Then again, dreams are strange things.
He arrived at the edge of her sleeping area and stepped into the depression that she had arranged for herself. It was like a nest of sorts, where she slept surrounded by driftwood, kelp and other seaweed. Lahni had frequently asked her why she didn’t sleep in a net like the rest of them, and Celeste’s reply was that she liked to feel something solid against her back, instead of the open water, where anything could sneak up on her.
It didn’t hurt that she had no less than a dozen weapons hidden in the edges of her nest, just waiting for her to have a need for them.
She watched as Sam sank to his knees before her, looking down at her with those intense, green eyes. The yellow flecks in their centers were gone, swallowed up by his dilated pupils. The first tingles of the needing swept over her once more.
“Since you’re speaking to me now, does that mean you’ve realized that I’m not a threat?” he asked.
“Ha. You’re not even real.”
“I’m real enough to do this,” he replied as he brushed the back of his fingers over her cheek. Her focus narrowed to the warmth of his hand against her skin and she couldn’t help the little gasp that escaped her. His eyes immediately dropped to her parted lips.
“And this,” he whispered, leaning closer. He drew his thumb across her bottom lip, not seeming to mind the sharp teeth that were just within sight.
“And this.” His lips brushed her cheek, barely grazing the corner of her mouth. White fire lit up her senses, leaving a trail of heat across her skin as she turned into him, catching his lips with her own. The needing exploded from a little trickle of an impulse to a full-out craving, demanding that she touch and taste him to her heart’s content.
Even if it was just a dream.
Celeste flipped her tail, propelling herself forward and on top of him as she pressed her lips to his. He tasted of warmth and sunshine, salty air and laughter. Or so she imagined.
His arms immediately closed around her, holding her smaller frame against his own as she devoured him, kissing and licking into him, rubbing against him with delight. Her chainmail shirt was soon discarded, pulled over her head without even the slightest bit of discomfort as he ran his hands over her smooth skin.
Sam paused when he reached her scales. Pushing himself up, he grabbed Celeste around the waist and laid her onto her back, shushing her when she would have protested.
“You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. Just let me look at you, please.” The reverence in his voice stopped her from correcting him, telling him that she wasn’t a woman, she was a mermaid, and a damn good siren at that.
He slid his palms over her sides, fingering the area where skin met scales and changed from one to the other. The skin was harder just above the scale line, less sensitive
, and Celeste found that watching him touch her there was nearly as tantalizing as feeling him touching above it.
She bit her lip as his hands drifted lower, gripping her hips as he squeezed her. His fingers played over her red scales, investigating how they slid against each other, protecting her from the coral, rocks and sharp teeth that the ocean had to offer.
“You’re amazing,” he said simply, his eyes raking over her form. She couldn’t quite stifle a moan as he surprised her by placing one hand over her belly again, then sliding it down her body.
A small cry escaped her lips when he brushed against the scales covering her most intimate place.
“What is it? Did I hurt you?” he asked, his eyes flying to her face.
She shook her head, then let it fall back against her nest as tremors continued to race through her. Even that small contact, no more than a passing glance, against her feminine area had reduced her to a shivering mess. I’m pathetic, she couldn’t help but think with a self-deprecating laugh. It’s an excellent thing this isn’t real. But since it’s not…
She took his hand and placed it over her center again, shuddering at the delight that the pressure caused. She’d never experienced anything like it, and couldn’t say if it was a result of whatever medication she’d been given, the needing, or merely the thought of him touching her so intimately when it had never been done before.
Sam bent and kissed her again as he stroked her scales, experimenting with different pressures and directions. Finally she could take no more teasing and rested her fingers over his, showing him where to gently press so that he could discover her more intimately.
He pressed a ravenous kiss to her lips as he finally slid one finger into her welcoming channel, so slick with need that he had no trouble sinking to the second knuckle. Celeste arched as she gripped his shoulders, trembling at the new sensations rolling through her body.
“Is this the first time you’ve been so close?” Sam asked as he finally pulled his lips from hers.
She nodded and pulled him back down, not wanting to ruin the moment with talking. He chuckled and dodged her kiss, instead pressing his lips against her throat as he slid his other hand beneath one of the seashells covering her breasts.
Her nipple tightened immediately and he plucked at it, adding just the right amount of pressure that she squirmed below him. He did something down below to stretch her as he slid his finger, no, make that fingers, in and out of her body, causing the most delightful friction and eliciting a moan of pleasure.
He groaned in response, resting his forehead against her collarbone as he jerked the seashell out of the way. The water grew heated around her and he lowered his head, sucking her nipple firmly into his mouth.
Her inner walls clenched around his fingers, tightening as he thrust harder. He rotated his hand, pressing against some secret spot with his thumb and her world exploded. Ripples of pleasure turned into undulating waves as it overwhelmed her, leaving nothing but euphoria and the colors of the sunset splashed across the insides of her eyelids.
Celeste finally relaxed, sated for the first time as she went back to sleep with her human’s arms around her.
Chapter 9
Sam
Sam tried to lay back in his sailboat again, but as soon as his head touched the bottom, anxiety would threaten to overwhelm him and he’d lurch back upright, looking around wildly. He wasn’t sure if this was a result of the run-in with the whales, or something else.
Perhaps it was his desperate need to see Celeste, and his fear that she would appear, silent and deadly, peeking her head above the waves, then disappear just as quietly. He would never even know.
It had only been a few days since he and Lahni had last spoken, and yet, he found himself thinking of little else. He had a million and one questions that he wasn’t certain she or Celeste would answer, but he knew he’d never rest until he asked them.
Like why was he dreaming of the lovely guard nearly every night? And why did he have this unshakable feeling that she was dreaming of him, too? She’ll probably just growl and splash water into my face like I’m insane, but I have to know. I have to hear her voice just one time while I’m awake, to know if it’s the same as in my dreams. To know if it’s real or not. He shook his head, almost not believing it himself. Listen to me, even thinking as though I’ve lost my mind.
It didn’t help matters that Solange had been regarding him strangely as well, tilting her head and studying him as one would a pie that was just perhaps a little too done to be savored to its fullest potential. Indeed, he certainly felt crusty around the edges as he barked orders and snapped at her when she overstepped her bounds.
He’d always felt that he was too lenient with her, but now he could barely tolerate her presence. In truth, his skin crawled every time she entered the room, but then again, he was so taken with the very idea of Celeste that he had very little time for any of the court ladies who tried to curry favor, as well. He found himself wishing that just one would defy him as she did, baring her teeth and snapping at him. Making him work for her approval.
It was preposterous.
Pushed to his limit, he had finally confided in his brother Sebastian last night over brandy. If anyone would believe him, it was Sebastian.
“I don’t know what to do! She’s always there, in my head. I can’t think of anything else.”
“And she’s part fish, you say?” Sebastian had asked with a half smile upon his face. Belle chose just that moment to walk in and stopped midstride, a puzzled look on her face. “My Beauty, come listen to this,” Sebastian said as he stretched a hand out to her. “My little brother has fallen in love with a fish.”
“A fish?” she repeated, allowing Sebastian to pull her onto his lap. “And I thought a wolf was odd.”
“Or a beast?” Sebastian had said as he nuzzled her hair, then nipped at her shoulder. She’d stiffened, blushing as Sam had the decency to look away.
“Behave yourself,” she ordered. “You’re going to scandalize your brother, and I want to hear about this fish. Does she turn into a human?”
Sam stopped and stared, utterly dumbfounded. Does she, indeed? “I highly doubt it. She hates humans on principle, and is only a fish from the waist down.”
“But above that?” Belle prodded.
“The most beautifully exotic and amazing creature I’ve ever seen.” Sam couldn’t keep the awe out of his voice. “She has long black hair, and red scales that flash like embers under the water. She’s fast, incredibly fast, and strong. I’ve seen her do battle with an entire pod of killer whales and win to protect her little sister. She has the most amazing eyes, so dark blue that it’s difficult to tell where the color stops.”
“She sounds striking,” Belle murmured as Sebastian nuzzled her again. She promptly elbowed him in the belly, earning a quick grunt and a proud smile.
Watching them together made Sam’s heart stutter. I want that, he realized. That comfort and pleasure in just being together, no matter what else is going on. I never thought he’d settle down with anyone, but it looks like he’s a hundred times happier now than he ever was before the curse. And he can turn into a monster at will. How did he get so lucky?
He’d never been jealous of his older brother before, and experiencing the feeling now was uncomfortable. I’m the bloody king, and one of the few people, if not the only person, to have met mermaids and lived. In fact, I’m relatively certain that I can consider one of them as a friend, and if I’m lucky, the other as more than that one day. I’ll have a damned castle built on a barge if I want to, and keep her close by.
He nearly snorted at himself. As though anyone could keep Celeste contained for long.
“Sam?”
He vaguely realized that Belle was softly calling his name, and looked at her in response. Both she and his brother had him pinned with level stares, as though just now grasping the level of his obsession.
“Have you spoken with Rumsfeld about her?” Sebastian finally
asked. “I would imagine that if anyone knew anything, it would be him.”
“In a manner of speaking,” Sam hedged. “I mentioned enough that he gave me a book to look through. He said that all manner of creatures are listed in it, even some he’d never heard of before.”
Sebastian’s eyebrows went up at that. “Damn.”
Sam nodded at the sentiment. “The book didn’t say much, just that merfolk are a half-fish, half-human species that live in coastal waters. They may or may not eat humans, but have been known to seduce sailors, then drown them. It didn’t say much about their origins, but Lahni, the young mermaid I’ve been speaking with, told me that the first of their kind were human women that were found as stowaways on ships. The sailors felt that these women were bad luck, and used them, then tied them with weights and dropped them into the ocean. Somehow several were able to transform and became the first mermaids.”
“What about males?” Belle asked, curious. “If the sailors only threw women overboard, how did they get any males into the species? Unless I suppose a woman was pregnant, or had a male child with her.” She shuddered at the thought and leaned back against Sebastian’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.
“I don’t know,” Sam said after a moment. “Lahni didn’t mention that. She did say she has a father, so I assume there are a few males, at the very least.”
“And you can’t stop thinking about her?” Sebastian prodded, trying to figure out what drew him, aside from novelty.
Sam shook his head with a sigh. “It wasn’t bad at first, but I’ve even been dreaming about her the last few days. She’s affecting everything, it seems.”
“But she hasn’t spoken a word to you?”
“Sebastian, I swear if you’re laughing at me, I’m going to publicly appoint you as the head groundskeeper or some such. Give you more to occupy your time with than your pretty wife and my personal life.”