Oceanborne (15 page)
She brushed her fingertips over his taut, smooth skin, reliving the erotic pleasure he'd given her ⦠remembering the way she'd felt when he'd plunged deep inside her.
Trembling, she leaned down to press her lips against his rising tumescence, and he inhaled sharply.
“Elena.” Orion's powerful fingers threaded through her hair.
“Do you like it when I do this?” she murmured, flicking her tongue against his cock. “And this?” Lightly, she nipped him, small teasing bites that made him groan and flinch.
“Woman ⦠you ⦔
She laughed huskily, caught in her own rush of desire as she savored the feel of his hard body ⦠as she let her imagination take wing. “You aren't allowed to talk,” she reminded him huskily. “Unless you want to forfeit the game?”
His lips compressed into a tight line, but whether he was attempting to stifle a groan or laughter, she couldn't tell. It didn't matter. She'd set out to seduce him and had succeeded in igniting an inferno in her own body.
“Do it,” he said.
“Shhh.” She took his length in both hands, stroking and massaging with tremulous fingers, using her tongue and lips to excite him, before slowly taking the swollen head of his penis between her lips and suckling.
Orion groaned and bucked. His lean fingers closed on her breast, and he found her nipple and pinched it. Desire shot through her. “Harder!”
A hot sweet substance filled her mouth and she cried out and fell back. He caught her and cradled her against him. She could feel the force of his climax convulsing his body as he groaned and pulled her tight against him.
“Elena! Elena!”
She was wet and hot and aching. She would die if she couldn't extinguish this fire throbbing in her loins. He threw her back against the bed of seaweed and plunged his face between her thighs, licking and kissing her, thrusting his hard tongue deep inside until she, too, was swept into the tidal wave of utter abandon before reaching the peak and tumbling over in a thousand shattered bits of utter and complete joy.
Sobbing, she clung to him as he laughed and kissed her and held her so tightly that she could barely breathe. “You cheat,” he said hoarsely.
“I did not.”
“Did.”
“Shall we have a rematch?”
He laughed. “You'll be the death of me, woman, but I can't think of a better way to go.”
“Go?” Waves of pleasure still thrummed through her body and she sighed and yawned. “I don't even know where I am now.” She chuckled. “Before we were almost devoured by that squid, weren't you taking me somewhere?”
Reality jolted him. He should have been back at his post hours ago. If the troops assembled without him, there would be no hiding his absence from Poseidon. “How long have I slept?” He got to his feet, caught her hand, and pulled her erect. “We have to go, Elena. I have to get you to safety.” He had to make certain she was all right before he was free to return to his command.
Confused, she looked at him. “But you said we'd be safe here. Sanctuary, you called it.”
“It is, but you can't stay here. I have to go, and you can't breathe underwater without me.” He gathered her scattered clothing and handed it to her. Somehow, they had both shed every last garment.
Seeing her beautiful naked body was tempting, but he knew that they had to move quickly. “Hurry. Get dressed,” he said as he pulled his tunic over his head and strapped on his cuirass and greaves. “We don't have much time. I'll explain later. For now, you have to trust me.”
“What do you mean âI can't breathe without you'? It's my dream ⦠or whatever. I assume we're in the ocean, but I'm having no trouble at all.”
“And you won't, so long as we're together. It's complicated.” How could he make her understand the ancient truths? He was Atlantean; the ocean was his home. Her place was on dry land, and without his presence, his protection, she would drown in the time it took for a wave to crash on the beach and flow back into the sea.
How he or any Atlantean was able to give the gift of life underwater was a mystery, one that he had always known but never questioned. For Elena, the magic would be beyond understanding.
“I don't understand why we have to leave.” She stared up at the swaying trees of verdant green kelp that rose above the sea grass arbor. “This seems like paradise.”
“It gave us what we needed ⦠the time I needed to recover.” He located his sword belt and looked around for his helmet. It was nowhere to be seen. He decided that he must have lost it in the battle with the squid or in transport. “Now, I have to get you to the fairies.”
She shook her head. “Fairies don't exist.”
He rolled his eyes. Humans! Stubborn and closeminded. For thousands of years humans of every continent and culture lived beside the fairy folk. But after the humans had hunted and persecuted them to near extinction, after they had made life impossible on land for them, they pretended that the little people had never existed. It was ever the habit of the human race to deny what made them uncomfortable.
“They do not exist?” he asked her.
“I'm not a child, Orion. How can you expect me to believe in such superstitious claptrap? What next, trolls?” She thought for a second. “Of course, I can't breathe under water either.” She looked at him again. “But I have to maintain there's no such thing as fairies, even in my imagination.”
“Take that up with the fairy folk when we get there. For now, we have to go back into the seraphim.”
She looked unconvinced. “Not that again!”
“Trust me, Elena. I'll protect you.”
She shrugged and gave him her hand. “Do I have a choice?”
Â
“Rhiannon? Are you here?” Lady Athena pushed aside the curtain of pearls and entered her daughter's luxurious private quarters. “Rhiannon? We're home.”
Worry pricked at Athena. Where were the four guardsmen who should have been at the gate? And where were the household servants? Rhiannon's husband, Morgan, was crown prince. Never in her lifetime had Athena seen the royal family's section of the palace empty and unguarded.
Athena had the afternoon off from her duties at the temple and had used the free time to take her granddaughter Danu with her to visit the dolphin nursery. The five-year-old loved to see and play with the baby dolphins, and Athena was thrilled to spend time with Danu.
When Athena had come to fetch Danu, Rhiannon had confided that Princess Morwena was nowhere to be found. Morgan's brother Prince Alexandros was secretly conducting a search for her, but neither Alex nor Rhiannon wanted the king or the entire court to know, in case Morwena's absence had something to do with Prince Orion's unexplained absence.
Rhiannon had sent a trusted serving girl to ask Morgan to come to their apartments on an urgent matter. Athena knew that her son-in-law had been meeting with his generals. If his wife called him away, he would know that whatever she wanted was serious. Having Danu out of the home for an hour would give Rhiannon time to talk privately with Morgan without risking the child overhearing their conversation.
Athena suspected that had Morgan known about his beloved sister's absence, that would have superseded even the assembly of his troops. Now Athena was anxious to learn if Morwena had turned up or if Prince Morgan knew where she was.
“Rhiannon!” she called again. Not even a lady-in-waiting appeared. The scales rose on the nape of Athena's neck. If Rhiannon had to leave before Athena and Danu got back, she would have left someone to receive her child and watch over her until she returned. As princess royal, Rhiannon commanded a large staff, something that Rhiannon had yet to come to terms with. Her daughter sometimes complained to her about the strain on private life between her and her husband, but Rhiannon would never send both the soldiers and the servants away.
And it wasn't like Rhiannon to go somewhere without telling Danu ahead of time. The two were extremely close, and Rhiannon took motherhood seriously, calling Danu her special treasure. Danu had been born human and transformed only recently into an Atlantean, as had Rhiannon. Danu's life before she had become a daughter of the sea had been one of neglect and loneliness. Both Morgan and Rhiannon were determined to make up for that cruel beginning. They loved Danu unconditionally, and were extremely protective of her.
“Mama!” Danu cried, running ahead of Athena. She dashed across the large courtyard into Rhiannon's bedchamber. “Mama?”
The child's voice took on a frightened tone, and Athena rushed after her.
Rhiannon sat at her loom as she often did, but nothing about her seemed normal. No strands of seaweed shimmered on the framework, and none coiled in the basket or rested in Rhiannon's lap, but she seemed to be weaving nevertheless. Her gaze remained fixed on an invisible rug and her hands went through the motions, in spite of Danu's cries of distress and anxious tugging at her mother's tunic.
“Rhiannon, what's wrong?” Athena demanded. All her instincts told her that something terrible had happened. Rhiannon's beautiful blond hair was snarled, and her
peplos
torn and dirty. “Are you ill?”
peplos
torn and dirty. “Are you ill?”
Rhiannon's only answer was a flat, nonsensical humming. She continued to sway slowly from side to side and repeat her chilling pantomime. It was then that Athena noticed the bloodstains on the hem of her daughter's garment and pulled Danu away.
“She's hurt,” Danu said, reaching out to her mother. “Mama's hurt herself.”
Fear skimmed down Athena's spine, and she picked up the little girl and cradled her against her breast, shielding her eyes. She gave a sharp whistle and a mature female dolphin swam into the chamber. “Echo,” Athena ordered. “Take Danu into the walled garden and keep her safe.” Athena looked down into the child's face. “You go with Echo.”
“But, Mama ⦔ Danu looked frightened.
“I'll take care of your mother. She'll be fine. She's just ⦠tired.”
She rubbed her eyes with the backs of her fists, trying to be brave. “Babies in their tummy make mommies tired?”
Athena nodded. She glanced around, saw her own personal dolphin, Melika, in the archway and beckoned to her. “Call a general alarm,” Athena said quietly. “And bring servants and a healer from the temple.”
Almost at once, Echo returned with Danu clinging like a burr to the gilded harness on the dolphin's back. “Come and see,” Echo communicated, through a series of clicks. “In the walled court.”
“What is it?”
“Guards sleep,” the dolphin chirped. “Maids sleep.”
“Are they dead?” Athena asked.
Echo's burst of sound was a clear negative. “Sleep.”
Danu was calling out to her mother again.
“You must be brave, Danu,” Athena said. “Remember, you are a princess, and princesses don't cry. I'll take care of your mama. Echo, take her into Princess Rhiannon's baths. Protect her with your life.”
Echo's reply was an angry chatter of clicks and squeaks. The mammal was clearly offended that Athena thought she needed to remind her of her duty. “Good dolphin,” she repeated.
“Yes,” Athena said. “Echo is a good dolphin. I meant no disrespect, sister.” When child and dolphin had once again left the room, Athena went to her daughter, took her by the shoulders, and gently guided her to the bed. The blood was troubling, but it didn't mean Rhiannon was miscarrying, not yet. There were remedies to help her retain her pregnancy, but Athena had to get her off her feet.
“Octopi are dancing,” Rhiannon murmured as she lay back docilely on the cushions. “Do you see them?”
Madness
, Athena thought.
This is no ordinary illness. It smacks of sorcery.
She pressed a palm to Rhiannon's temple. She wasn't fevered, but her skin was colder than it should have been. “Shh, shh, darling, lie still,” she crooned. “I'm here. Everything will be all right now. I'm here.”
, Athena thought.
This is no ordinary illness. It smacks of sorcery.
She pressed a palm to Rhiannon's temple. She wasn't fevered, but her skin was colder than it should have been. “Shh, shh, darling, lie still,” she crooned. “I'm here. Everything will be all right now. I'm here.”
This was the daughter that she'd had to give up at birth, her only child that she'd feared she'd never know. The fates had been kind, and they had been reunited when Rhiannon had returned to the sea. And although their true relationship was a secret to most Atlanteans, Athena loved her fiercely. She would not lose her again.
“Rhiannon!” Prince Morgan came into the room followed by a half-dozen armed guardsmen. “What's happened? Where is Danu? Is sheâ”
“Danu is safe with Echo,” Athena said, “but I fear for Rhiannon. She's bleeding. I'm afraid something may have gone wrong with the pregnancy, and her behavior is abnormal.”
Quickly, as the prince gathered his wife in his arms, Athena told him all that she knew. “Echo said that the princess's guard and servants are sleeping in the walled court, but I couldn't leave her alone to go and see for myself.”
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