A Pirate's Dream (21 page)

“Sircco, I’m almost there.” She fluttered her lashes, wanting to look away from the intensity of his gaze. He wasn’t merely looking; he was branding her.

“No.” He clenched his teeth. “Do not look away.” And then he was shuddering, keeping his eyes fixed on hers, and she cried out, lost to the music only they could hear, the singing union of their souls.

It took her several long moments before she felt she could take a steady breath. She still felt the after ripples of that orgasm, every so often twitching, as another mini spasm would consume her.

Laughter that seemed to spill up from the very depths of him rolled from his tongue. Dropping heavily to his side, he wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her snug into the curve of his body.

Planting rows of tiny kisses along his chest, she heaved a contented sigh. “I do not think I could, even should I wish it. You have bewitched me, beluga, and I demand to be used thus each and every night henceforth.”

She felt his smile as he kissed her sweaty brow. “May I sleep here tonight? For I fear I truly cannot walk with these odious legs.”

Chuckling, she nodded, contented and deliriously happy. She never wanted to move off him, even though his ribs poked into her sides and he was far from a comfortable pillow. By the way his fingers languidly stroked down her back as his heart beat a steady
thump thump
in her ear, she knew it would be nothing for her to fall into a deep and powerful sleep.

“Gods, I hope I don’t drool on you.” She patted his chest. “You have exhausted me.”

“Your drool would be like the nectar of the Gods.”

Snorting, she slapped his chest. “That was the most—”

Wrinkling his nose, his chest rumbled with laughter. “Ridiculous. Aye, I know. But it seemed like the thing to say at the time. Though it sounded much less foolish in my head.”

Rubbing her nose against his neck, she curled her legs around his; enjoying the scratchy feel of his hair and yet feeling that she’d so much rather feel the slickness of scales instead.

“Well, I did think of telling you that your throbbing member made me want to weep tears of exultation, but I wisely choose to keep my trap shut on that one.”

Snickering together, they began to settle down, their breathing growing heavy, drifting slowly off to sleep.

But just before she did she whispered, “Sircco.”

“Hm,” he rumbled sleepily.

“In case you hadn’t already figured it out, you were my first.”

Smiling lazily, he kissed the crown of her head. “I know, my lovely hagfish. I know.”

*

W
aves crashed into the shores as the waters of the deep lifted the Jolly Roger high into the air.

A great cry came up from the assembly. “By the Gods, the Sea King is happy tonight!”

Men cheered and whistled as the waters below filled with all manner of colorful fish. Their nets would be full tonight.

Glowering at the lot of them, Hook bellowed, “Get back to work!”

Trisha came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I would say our daughter must have had a hand in creating this miracle. Be happy, Hook, because she is.”

Then after kissing the back of his neck, she headed below deck.

Sighing, he stared at the waters he loved just slightly less than the woman awaiting him in his cabin below.

The Sea King was soon to be his son-in-law. Snorting with mirth, he muttered, “Could be worse, I suppose.”

*

D
anika smiled as the wave of powerful magic pulsed upon her flesh like a tender kiss.

“Good on you, little Nimue. Now that you’ve caught the fish, the only thing left to do is make sure you sink that hook in deep.”

“Such a mercenary bedfellow I keep.” Jericho kissed her cheek.

Winking, she pinched his bum, laughing when he jumped and swatted at her. “And don’t you forget it, dear. This fairy’s got fangs, and I won’t hesitate to bite you with them.”

“T
he way I see it”—the shadowy form eyed Stygia with avarice—“you’ve not done a very good job of things. I handed you the keys to the Kingdom, and... what a waste.”

“Wait!” She held out a hand as the figure turned to leave. “Please. I can do better. I will do better. Only, help me get her out of the way. She is the only reason why I am not yet wearing that crown. I vow it.”

Twirling, the figure came back toward her, and Stygia cringed, turning her face to the side. She hated dealing with the shadows, but there was no other way. All she needed was a little bit of help. She’d nearly had Sircco—eliminating the threat would bring him back to her, and hopefully, this time, into her bed.

Whispers abounded in Seren that the king had taken the legger as his own. For the past month, it was all she’d heard. And she’d been unable to verify if there were any veracity to the stories since the queen and king had now taken to locking the palace gates at night.

Swallowing the bile coming up her throat at the thought of him touching that vile, noxious legger, she knew she only had one last chance at righting this wrong.

“Fine. One more token from us, but know this, Stygia of the Under, should you fail, your soul will belong to me.”

She screamed as a wave suddenly rose from the depths, covering and swallowing her, dragging her back down into the sea. But her fear soon turned to triumph when she opened her palm and stared at the vial full of liquid death.

Licking her lips, she knew what she had to do. It would be so easy, so ridiculously easy. She simply needed to figure out a way to get close enough to administer the poison.

No sooner had she thought it, than she knew how.

Turning, she flicked her powerful tail then swam for home. There were a few things she must do first.

*

N
imue grinned at Ariana as she chased the children through the thick maze of Maiven’s kelp stalks.

“Frisee, swim faster. She is nearly upon you!” She yelled at the orang-haired child, who shrieked so powerfully when Ariana tackled her from behind that even at this distance, Nimue cringed.

Breathless with laughter, the two tussled around for a moment, before Ariana finally released her.

Glancing up at the sun, Nimue asked, “Frisee, didn’t your mother want you home by the noon hour?”

“Aww.” The little maiden flicked her tail across a pebble, causing it to skitter across Maiven’s freshly swept cobblestone paths.

“Yes. Yes. Yes. Now out with you. Go, you little imp.” Maiven clapped her hands, ushering the little one through the back door with promises of sweets and a bowl of snails to take to her mother.

While they were busy inside, Ariana came and plopped down beside Nim, her features serious and stoic.

“Ari?” she asked her friend who’d been more absent than not lately, to the point that Nimue was now shy about even talking to her for fear that the skittish maid would swim off without even a farethewell to be had.

But this time, rather than flit away, the mermaid sat ramrod still, peeking at Nim from the corner of her hypnotic green eyes.

Not knowing what to say, but wishing to put Ariana at ease somehow, she asked, “Do you still have your comb, Ari? Would you like me to brush your hair?”

The mermaid’s fingers twitched, and she turned just slightly, a clear indication that she did.

Whatever Nimue had done that day with the mirror had left a lasting impression on her friend. She only wished she knew what it was.

“Yes,” Ariana finally whispered, reaching slowly into her pouch to extract the ivory comb.

Frowning as she took it, Nimue instructed Ariana to turn all the way around and tip her head back just a tad.

The first swipe of the comb through her hair visibly eased the strain between Ari’s shoulders, and by the fifth stroke, she was positively trembling.

“I like this,” she said in a voice stronger than it had been before.

Smiling, Nimue nodded even though she knew the mermaid couldn’t see her. “I like it, too.” And she really did. Ari’s hair was like touching the softest velvet. After a moment she said, “I’ve missed my friend.”

Again, the shoulders tensed.

Not wanting to suffer another interminable bout of silence between them, she sighed. “Ari, please if you could just tell me what I did so that I could apologize and we could move on. It pains me that you still don’t trust me. I would never take your mirror.”

Twirling about so quickly that it nearly forced Nimue to fall off the bench in surprise, Ari gripped Nim’s wrist and held fast as her normally docile features turned hard and aggressive.

“Not you, my Nim. Not you. But you should... you shouldn’t...”

Then her face screwed up, and she looked about to cry.

Nimue felt completely flabbergasted and helpless. “Ariana, please, what is the matter?”

Covering her face with her hands and shaking her head hard, she muttered between her fingers, “Bad. Bad happened, my Nimue. I know this. You should not go there. I know this. You should not.”

“Go where, Ariana? Home?” Was the maiden upset that in a month’s time, Nim would be returning to the above? “Home is not bad. Home is just home. I can come back and visit.”

“No!” Ariana screamed, bobbing to a standing position and glowering. “You should not go. Do not go. Stay. You must stay.”

Then she was gripping Nimue’s arms and dragging her to her side, moving through the gardens at a fast clip. The maiden’s strength was so great that no matter how much she pushed and shoved at her, Nimue couldn’t force Ariana to release her.

“Maiven!” she shrieked as a last defense. “Come, please.”

Her great-mother came speeding through the door not a second later, eyes rounding as she spied Ariana snapping through her beloved kelp plants in her haste to escape with Nimue.

It took the two of them forcefully grappling against the mermaid’s monstrous strength to finally get her to release Nimue.

Gasping, teeth clenched from the throbbing pain in both her wrists, Nimue couldn’t believe what’d just happened. Fingerprints had already begun to bruise upon her delicate skin.

“Ari?” she whimpered, hugging her hands to her chest.

Upon seeing the sight, the mermaid tossed her hands up, once more covering her face, and cried great heaving sobs. “I’m sorry, my Nimue. So, so sorry. So sorry. Sorry.”

The mumbling continued on unabated, the once-more lovely mermaid trembling violently from the heavy tears raining down her cheeks.

Maiven’s eyes asked a wordless, “What happened?”

Feeling close to tears herself, Nimue shook her head. She had no idea. One minute, her friend had been fine. The next, she’d turned mindless with rage.

Heart more bruised than her flesh, Nimue whispered slowly, “Great-mother, I think I’m going to return to the palace now.”

“Yes. Yes, I think it’s best.” She nodded as she hugged Ari tight to her breast.

The girl still hadn’t stopped crying.

Throat clogged with tears, Nimue turned to go. Cook wouldn’t be receiving a batch of snails today, after all.

*

C
limbing the stairs gingerly, Nimue began to feel bruises in more than just her wrists. Her legs ached, too, thanks to the repetitive slapping of Ariana’s tail. She’d passed Cook and Sirenade as she’d made her way to her room, giving them a polite nod before continuing up the steps.

She wasn’t even sure what she’d agreed to, but right now, she desperately needed the safety of her room.

Once inside, she locked the door then collapsed onto the bed, heart completely shattered and broken.

A little wriggling mass zipped from out of the curtain of her hair. Jian eyed her critically before his ear fins began buzzing frantically.

“I am fine, my little friend. Only sore, is all.”

But her words weren’t good enough for him. Swimming first to her right wrist, he proceeded to nuzzle and plant a tiny row of kisses across every tender and aching part.

She sighed as, immediately, the magic of his healing worked its way through her. But he didn’t stop there. He moved to the next wrist and repeated the same process.

Relieved beyond measure that she no longer felt as though there were crystal shards floating freely through her bloodstream, she nodded. “Thank you, Jian.”

He gave a quick, short burst of a neigh—a “you’re welcome, and is there more?” She was just about to answer when there was a pounding at her door.

“Nimue, let me in!” Sircco’s voice thundered, full of fear.

Cringing as she stood to her still-tender feet, she made her way slowly toward the door, unlocked it and was immediately enveloped in his warm arms.

He trembled as he held her, and she clung to him like a lifeline. She’d never felt more safe than she did now. Tenderly, he kissed her brow before pulling back so that he could get a good look at her. Bronze eyes snapped with thunderclouds.

“What has happened to you? Sirenade came to me saying you looked unwell.”

“I’m... I’m fine now.” She shook her head, not wanting Ariana to come to any harm.

She still couldn’t understand why her friend had done what she’d done, but she also knew it wasn’t her fault.

“Nim,” he growled, sweeping her into his arms. He swam to her bed and gently deposited her on the mattress. His fingers glided soothingly along her thighs. “I know when you are upset. You are trembling like a twig. If you do not tell me what’s happened, I will demand Maiven do so, as I am her king.”

Glowering at his implied threat, she punched his arm. Not hard. With no intention of hurting him. But because she hated when he used that trump card against her.

“I am fine, beluga.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“Argh, you insufferable beast. Ariana snapped at me today. I don’t know why, and I doubt she does, either. We were fine one moment, and then the next, she was dragging me through great-mother’s garden and slapping me with her fin.”

“Why?” he barked, grabbing her wrists and turning them this way and that as he studied the now-smooth flesh.

Jian, whom she’d forgotten about till just now, harrumphed at Sircco when the king swatted him away.

Punching him just a bit harder this time, she snatched her precious little pet away from the frightening Sea King and settled him once more into the nest of her hair. He cooed before wrapping his tail around a thick lock of hair then promptly resumed snoring.