Essa punched and slapped, ramming her fists. The soft substance yielded. She sighed. The tension in her eased while her hands pummeled the dough. It’d taken every ounce of her self-control to regain her composure. She’d had to piece herself back together, as if Nazrin deconstructed her being with one simple kiss. Surely, nothing in that kiss was worth renouncing a lifetime of preparation, of dreams and goals. She clapped her floured hands together and sneezed as some sprinkled on her nose.
I thought so, his words haunted her. Thought what, about what? It must be more than mere curiosity about the feel of her tail.
She’d unwillingly revealed how much she desired him. That when he pushed, her body would always fall under his command. She grimaced. Despite their opposing allegiances.
Every bone in her body denounced the revelation. Isn’t that exactly what happened? She’d haughtily concluded she’d beaten him, Nazrin, who possessed five hundred years of fighting experience. He’d determined what she’d schemed and had countered perfectly. She’d surrendered and used the morphos. She should have held on. He wouldn’t have let her drown.
Even worse, she’d savored his kiss with all the repressed passion in her body. What she sought from him, she couldn’t explain.
All this musing about Nazrin caused the heat between her thighs to throb and beg. She slammed the dough onto the table again, kneading it far more vigorously than was necessary.
“I ought to intervene on behalf of yer dough.” Adamina strolled into the room. The elderly human female had agreed to mentor Essa. She was tiny in stature and slightly plump, with kind blue eyes that crinkled as she smiled. “I’m sure it doesna deserve such a beatin’.”
She stopped, heat flushing her cheeks from more than the exertion.
“Might I assume there’s a man somewhere who does?”
This woman discerned everything. “He kissed me.” She punched the dough.
“Ah, and ye don’t want him?”
“No, I do.” She slapped the dough again with a frustrated grunt.
“Ah, he’s gotten under yer skin, has he?”
“Yes, you put it perfectly.” Essa set the dough aside. “I’m not certain of what I wish for anymore.”
“I understand, dear.” Adamina tapped a finger against her lips. “Ye ought to put some space between ye. When things’re too hot, ye cool ’em. They’re the better for it. Like this bread.” She pointed to a loaf she’d pulled from the oven a few minutes ago. “Sure, ’tis nice hot and steaming, but allow it the chance to rest, and the flavor deepens. Changes it altogether.”
She smiled at Adamina’s insightfulness. This woman had been born with a counselor’s ear. “Thank you.” She shoved her heart inside a steel vault and locked away her lust for Nazrin. From this moment forward, she’d act with a cool head. She’d discover what he sought from her, what his plans for her were. Through fair means or foul, Nazrin would disclose his secrets, just as he’d ripped them from her.
***
Nazrin prowled Halcyon’s borders. Essa hadn’t been present at the evening meal. Nor were any of her friends helpful in providing her whereabouts when he’d questioned them.
He glowered at the lake, but Kai hadn’t been above water since their last encounter. Rounding to his cabin, he sniffed, hoping to detect her inside. Instead, a gleam on the path caught his focus.
A rock? One that hadn’t been there before, but he did recognize its smooth white surface. Like the one Essa had gifted Amaya. He plucked the stone, noting it was larger and more angular than the present. Not Amaya’s.
Nay, but he scanned the path and spotted another stone.
And another.
They formed a…trail?
He followed the purposely placed rocks, down the path, and through the woods toward the mountains. Ahead, the fall of water warbled. Aye, the Water Borne often ventured here to partake of the heated saltwater springs. He snorted. Never had he pictured himself bathing in these pools. Perhaps, he ought to turn back.
Suddenly, a light breeze coursed through the trees, carrying with it her scent. He groaned and pressed forward. No chance would he miss whatever scheme she’d devised in luring him to this place.
Nazrin tracked the rocks until the last one, right at the edge of a moderate-sized basin, carved from the slick rock of the mountainside. Emerald waters filled the pool and the light waft of steam settled atop its glassy surface suggested an inviting temperature.
He scanned the spring, but found no trace of Essa. Instead, he spotted a cluster of sea shells near the cascade of a waterfall. Treading toward it, he cocked his head and read the word they formed. Get in.
Fiery siren. He clenched his fists and grimaced at the water. Tugging at the hem of his tunic, he tossed it over his head, onto the shore, followed by his breeches. If she’d wanted him bare and exposed, she’d gotten her wish.
Where in Hades was she?
Scowling, he waded into the pool, his wings bristling as the warm water soaked his feathers. This game had damn well better be worth it. He wended toward the ledge near the gentle rapids and hopped onto it. The water bobbed around his upper chest and he kicked his feet impatiently in the water. Still, she didn’t appear, so he clasped his hands behind his head and leaned against the rock wall, shuttering his eyes and skulking.
He jolted at the first brush of her fingers, across his toes. Gods, she was below him, the water too murky for even his eyes to penetrate, but he sensed her there. He’d know his mate’s touch anywhere.
Her hand slipped up his leg and his cock hardened instantly, his hips jerking forward. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead and trailed down the sides of his face. He reached his hands downward to grasp her, but solid weights clamped around his wrists, shackling him on either side of his body to the stone ledge. What the bloody hell were these? He glowered at his right wrist. Not a rope nor steel, but rather water restrained him.
Clever lass. So, she wanted him captive, did she?
Nazrin gulped as her hand settled on his hip and she grasped his length, her delicate fingers curling around him. His flesh throbbed at the contact, his ballocks ready to burst.
He rolled his hips forward, unable to contain his anticipation. His talons scraped against the rock at his sides, desperate to guide her and frustrated that he couldn’t. He jerked his wrist, testing to see if he could free himself, but then her sweet lips found the head of his shaft, closing around him.
Gritting his teeth, he slammed his head backward, thrusting his hips to force himself deeper into that glorious heat. No longer caring that he couldn’t control her movements. He whipped his head from side to side and beat his sodden wings.
Stomping cracked through the silent night air. He tensed and scanned into the forest. Sweet gods, if someone interrupted them…
Arsenius strode past the spring, Kyme on his arm. The pair started, as though they hadn’t anticipated the spring being occupied.
And never, in a thousand years, by him.
“Oh, hello, Nazrin.” Arsenius coughed into his fist, clearing his throat.
“Evening,” he barked, dipping his head and hoping the pair gawking at him didn’t perceive Essa below the surface, frozen with his cock in her mouth.
“Enjoy your ah, dip,” Kyme hummed, jerking on her mate’s arm and leading him through the woods. Not even attempting to stifle their snickering.
Essa popped him from her mouth, but he grated, “Don’t you dare stop now, Sirena. The entire camp will already know anyway.” Those blasted, gossiping friends of his.
Bubbles floated to the surface…from her laughter? He jerked his hips forward in demand. Complying, she wrapped both of her hands around his base as he pumped himself between her lips, grunting with the ferocity of this relentless lust.
He had to have her.
All of her.
Now.
***
Essa moaned in the back of her throat while Nazrin’s shaft slid between her lips. Ever since he’d tasted her, she’d been curious to reciprocate.
Trapped in her watery realm, Nazrin was captive to her fantasy.
Her cheeks burned a little that they’d been caught, but he was right. There was no stopping now. Not when she had to have him, all of him.
She undulated her tail in the water, keeping herself afloat, and pumped his rigid width into her mouth. He’d made her body shatter and her lips scream in ecstasy. How could she compel him to do the same? Hmm. Perhaps if she grasped him there… She cupped his ballocks in her other palm, kneading the soft, full weight in curiosity.
Just as she pondered the dilemma, his hips jerked rapidly, and he drove himself harder while his shaft twitched and spasmed. A thunderous roar rumbled from his chest, breaking across the surface.
She reared, lips parting in fascination as a thick, pearlescent stream spurted from his tip.
And then, his taste splashed onto her tongue. Salty and hot.
Oh, gods. Amazing. Her core clenched, but she resisted the urge to morphos into her human form.
Instead, she fluttered her lashes at the rich, decadent taste and scrambled forward to imbibe of more, squeezing his sac and sucking him dry, swiping her tongue across the slit until no more of that indulgence came forth.
“Ack, Sirena, you’re going to be the death of me,” Nazrin heaved, bucking his hips.
His shaft remained hard in her hands, but not quite as rigid as before. Pouting, she released him and pushed to the surface. “I want more.”
His eyes flashed copper, penetrating her. “Then release me.”
She bit her cheek, not quite willing to surrender control yet. His eyes were dark pools of intense passion, and retaliation definitely swirled in their depths.
“Mmm.” She ran her tongue across her lip, savoring the last, lingering droplets.
“Enjoyed that, did you?” He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing.
“Oh, yes, so much.” Curving her mouth, she traced a finger down the hard ripples of his abdomen, toward his thickening length. Adamina had suggested Essa cool things between herself and Nazrin, but she wasn’t certain these flames could be squelched. Contained, perhaps. Hence the liquid manacles.
Yet, if she freed him, they’d step right back to where they’d been. With him in command and her striving to assert her autonomy.
“That’s because you’re my mate, Essa. Every touch between us blazes brighter than Eros’s flaming arrows.” His mouth curved into a wicked grin. “Release me, and I promise to prove it.”
She slid a hand across her lower belly, calming the fluttering within. “If what you say is true, and I am your mate,” she arched a brow at the smug slant to his lips, “then I shall definitely let you prove it to me.” Leaning forward, she swept her finger across his mouth. “But you’ll have to do so without touching me.”
Flickers of incandescence sparked in his eyes and she couldn’t help but smirk as she tapped him on the nose. Transforming, she swam to the other side, slipped a gown over her head, and murmured while she sauntered away, “I thought so.”
***
Nazrin paced the training arena, impatient for Essa to arrive. I thought so. Damn. She’d sought to repay him for the icy lake, and hell, but she’d been victorious, and then some. Several minutes after she’d dismissed him, the manacles had released and he’d trudged alone to his cabin, sodden and unsated.
Prove his worth as her mate without touching her? He snorted. Ridiculous. Everyone knew that, while Aphrodite had fashioned the bonding, her son Eros had bestowed bonded males a great gift in the erotic bliss they alone could bring their mates. While the male would forever be devoted to only her, the female of the pairing might still entertain others.
He closed his fists. Like Kai?
Scoffing, he scraped the back of his neck. The pleasure of his touch was his greatest weapon and she’d refused to let him wield it. Saucy siren.
How was he supposed to claim her heart if he couldn’t claim her body? Persephone’s words haunted him, yet what was he to do?
The answers he sought eluded him.
Perhaps he ought to request that favor he’d procured from Eros, long ago. Prick Essa with one of the god’s erotic, gilded arrows. Ha.
Nay, he swung his head. She’d despise him for certain, once the spell wore off.
Well, today was a new day and they had training to complete. He couldn’t delay retrieving the amulet any longer. They’d leave for it tomorrow.
Essa strolled into the far end of the field, her scent hitting him first. The decadence of the bakery smothered her, mingling with her luscious fragrance. He growled in unison with his stomach. Two appetites to sate, and fulfillment for neither.
He handed her the straw hat he’d acquired from Aedre. No risk of dehydration for her today.
She gawked. “You don’t expect me to wear this, do you? Did you search the entire countryside for this monstrosity?”
He grinned at her, studying the hat. True, it was rather hideous. “Aedre’s orders.”
She scowled at him as she placed the floppy, wide-brimmed eyesore on her head.
He stifled his chuckle. Feisty wench. “Continue with the flowers today.” He nodded at the bouquet he’d picked and placed on the bench.
She sighed and plopped onto the bench. “Is this truly necessary?”
“Yes, Sirena.” He softened his tone. “Now, more than ever.”