Oceanborne (30 page)

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Authors: Katherine Irons

Tags: #Romance, #Paranormal, #Fantasy

BOOK: Oceanborne
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“Just Atlanteans, all of us. Once you accept what I look like, the others won't seem so unusual.”
“So if you look like you do, why were you attracted to me? I'm nothing special. And, as you like to remind me, I'm only human.”
He lowered his head and kissed her tenderly. “You're not only anything, Elena. You're special. And, in time, I'll prove just how special.”
“And what if there isn't time?” Elena whispered, looking into his eyes, seeing him in a new way, beyond the foreign surface of his skin and the webbing between his toes. “What if there is no more time for us?” She drew her hand over his high cheekbone, feeling the slight ridges of his scales. “What if our time has passed and this is … the end?”
“Elena—”
“What if we've found something, only to lose it, something special?”
“I must go, my precious. No matter how much I want to be here with you, I have to, but I swear I'll come back to …”
A tiny sob rose in her throat and she covered his mouth with hers, silencing his words, words he could not possibly guarantee. “Orion,” she whispered, out of breath when she pulled away.
He hesitated.
“Love me,” she said softly. “Make love to me this one last time.”
She felt his arms around her relax as he pulled her against him. “And if it isn't our last?”
She slipped her arms around his neck, molding her body to his, to this new body she didn't know and yet did not seem so foreign. “Then what harm will it do?” she whispered seductively.
As she lifted on her toes to kiss him again, he began to change form, back to the human form she knew. “No, don't … I want …” She gazed into his eyes hesitantly. “Will you hurt me … as you are now?”
“Not if we go slowly.”
She smiled, took his hand and led him back to the seashell bed. “Then we'll have to go slowly, won't we, my glorious merman?”
“I'm not a merman. You're going to have to get that right, Elena. We're entirely different species.”
She lay down on the bed of soft seaweed and put her arms out to him. “Kiss me then, Atlantean, and stop arguing.
“I never argue with a beautiful woman.” He knelt in front of her on the bed and she parted her legs, the flimsy fabric of her clothing fluttering as he leaned over her to take her mouth with his again.
Orion seemed larger now than he had before, and as she felt his tongue push into her mouth, she couldn't help wondering what else was bigger. She felt her body flush with heat as he stretched out beside her, still thrusting his tongue into her mouth, now caressing her breast with one big hand, with its thin webs between his fingers.
Elena pushed the sleeveless tunic off his bulging shoulders, suddenly eager to touch every part of his body. Feel it with her hands. Taste it with her tongue … know him as he truly was. As he stroked her breasts, then her stomach, she ran her hands over his body, exploring. The scales were not rough, more like tiny ridges under her fingertips. And though his body was different, larger, harder, more sensitive, it responded in the same way it always had to her caresses.
She felt Orion's hand skim over her bare thigh and then lower. Her breath was already coming too fast. Too fast! She wanted this time—what might be their last—to be painfully, beautifully slow, but she was already throbbing in want of him. Need.
His finger brushed the cleft between her thighs and she opened her legs, arching her back, threading her fingers through his long, beautiful blond hair. He lowered his mouth to that sweet place, and she closed her eyes, moaning as the waves of pleasure washed over her. She didn't want to surrender; she wanted to savor the moment, but she couldn't hold back and she cried out as she reached orgasm.
Orion rested his cheek on her thigh and caressed her hip, giving her a moment to catch her breath. His motion remained constant, though. Stroking her … then more kisses: first between her breasts, then her abdomen, then lower again.
“Orion, please. I want to feel you inside me.”
“We cannot rush this, my love. You must be ready.”
“I'm ready,” she moaned, already feeling herself building again.
But still, he denied her. He kissed and stroked and then thrust his fingers inside her. She bucked against him, coming again almost at once. Only then, when she had caught her breath once more, did he finally strip off his garment.
Elena lay back on the bed and stared at his engorged shaft, more a wonder than his exotic, scaled blue body. It was so big … surely too big. But then Orion kissed her again, first her mouth, then one nipple and then the other and she could not bear the thought of not finishing what she had started.
When at last Orion drew his body over hers, she reached down and closed her fingers over him. His murmur of pleasure encouraged her to stroke his full length and breadth, and then, certain she could wait no longer, she guided him inside her.
There was no pain, thanks to Orion's tender care. She opened up to him, taken him fully, consumed by him and the love she felt for him at this moment, no matter what of God's creatures he was.
He gave her a moment catch her breath, to acclimate, and then he began to move inside her. Slowly, at first, then faster to match the pounding of her heart. She tightened her legs around him, meeting each thrust, dragging her nails over his scaly back. She came quick and hard, but demonstrating great control, he teased her upward again … then again.
Tears slid down Elena's cheeks as one last time she achieved an unbelievable orgasm, this time going hand in hand with Orion's.
“I didn't hurt you, did I?” he murmured in her ear as he fell beside her.
“No.” She gave a little laugh, brushing the tears from her cheeks, a little embarrassed. “You didn't hurt me. That was … it was incredible. “
He kissed the tip of her nose. “I'm glad you were able to find pleasure in my body as it is in true form. I feared—”
A metallic gong sounded from somewhere in the distance, followed by the deep resounding peal of a horn, and Orion quickly sat up, reaching for his clothing.
“What is that?”
“That's the signal,” Orion said. “I must leave now. Wait for me. I'll come back to you, if I can, and then we'll make plans.”
“Will we?”
He embraced her a final time, brushed her lips with his, and then strode out of the room, leaving her more confused than before.
What had he meant by they'd make plans? And would he find out if the man who called himself Lord Mikhail was really Randal Carter, her father?
 
Orion nearly collided with Mikhail in the secret passageway that led to Poseidon's small throne room. The older man carried an armload of scrolls, and seemed deep in thought. “Prince Orion,” he said. “I've just come from a final consultation with your father.”
“He's going into battle with us.”
Mikhail nodded. “I know. I tried to talk him out of it.”
“In his place, I'd do the same. Good men will die today. He wants to be with them.”
“He's appointed Queen Korinna to stand as regent in his place, with me to assist her. And the High Council, of course. In case …”
“In case Poseidon should be one of those good men.”
“I'm afraid so.” Mikhail shifted his weight, obviously in a hurry to end the conversation.
Orion hadn't intended to confront his aunt's consort before he went into battle, but the hallway was deserted except for the two of them, and there might be no better chance to keep his promise to Elena.
“Is it true?” he asked the older man. “Did Halimeda kidnap Morgan's daughter?”
Mikhail nodded. “I'm afraid so.”
“Do you know where Danu is?”
Mikhail shook his head. “My contacts are working on that. I have my suspicions, but I'd rather not say until I'm certain.”
“She's a child, a little girl. What kind of monster would take her?”
“You know what kind.” Mikhail looked grim. “I'm afraid she took Danu to Melqart's lair. If she did, we'll be hard-pressed to get her back.”
“Alive, you mean.”
Mikhail nodded. “It's not a mission that can be done openly. If Halimeda suspects we know where Danu is, she may kill her out of spite.”
“But why would Melqart want an Atlantean child? Not as a hostage. He's never—”
Mikhail's expression hardened. “Danu is a royal princess. She would make Melqart's slimy priests shit in their kilts for joy.”
Orion's heart skipped a beat. “They couldn't mean to …”
“Sacrifice her on the altar. Yes, they could. And it wouldn't be the first time one of Melqart's followers has done something like this. Not to us, but I know for a fact that three fairy queens have burned in his fires over the centuries. And one was younger than Danu.”
“I'll strangle the bastard with his foreskin if he so much as breathes on her.”
“I'll do what I can,” Mikhail promised. He shifted the scrolls into his right arm and laid his left hand on Orion's shoulder. “My operatives are very good at what they do. Sometimes mer folk or silkies can get into areas an Atlantean couldn't. As you are well aware, our illusions don't work with Halimeda or with Melqart.”
“If I find Halimeda, I'll part her head from her neck.”
“May it come to pass.” A scroll slipped from his grasp. Mikhail caught it and tucked it back into the pile. “Now, we both have places to be. Take care of yourself. You've always been dear to Eudora.”
“One more question before you go.”
“Yes?”
“Elena, the woman I brought from Crete.”
“I'm aware of her. A human is difficult to miss in Atlantis.”
Orion looked into Mikhail's eyes. “Elena believes that you're her father. That you were once human. Is there any truth to that?”
CHAPTER 28
F
or an instant, Mikhail's stern mask slipped, and Orion glimpsed the troubled man beneath the façade. Orion studied him intently.
Was there some resemblance to Elena? The eyes, maybe? Mikhail's coloring was different, not simply the skin variation between humans and Atlanteans, but his natural complexion was fairer than Elena's warm olive complexion. But if Mikhail had been human, it was possible that he could be her father. If so, it was a secret that had been well kept in a palace where few secrets were.
Orion couldn't have been more stunned if Caddoc's man, Tora, had jumped out from behind the granite statue of the centaur that stood only an arm's length away and struck him over the head with a Samoan war club. “You were human, Mikhail? How is that possible? Aunt Eudora …”
“Don't blame her. She knows, of course. She's the one who found me, who returned me to life when my ship went down. Not the same kind of life, but life. It's no secret to Poseidon, but few others were aware that I wasn't born to the Kingdom.”
Orion swore.
“It's something that I'd naturally prefer not be known, considering the key position I hold in government. Some Atlanteans might hold it against me and be suspicious of my actions.”
Orion tried to come to terms with what he'd just heard. “I suppose Elena will be ecstatic,” he said finally.
“You can't tell her.”
“Why not? Doesn't she have a right to know? She's your flesh and blood. She worships the memory of you.”
“The memory of who I was,” Mikhail said.
“She said you refused to talk to her when she saw you. Why?”
“It's not a question that I care to answer. Not to you.”
“She loved you. Loves you. Doesn't that count for anything ? Don't you care about her, you heartless bastard?”
Mikhail drew himself up to his full height, which brought him within several inches of Orion's. “I care more than you could possibly know or understand,” Mikhail said. “Elena and I were always very close. Losing her was one of the hardest things I had to come to terms with when I went through … my transformation. Which is precisely why you can't tell her who I am.”
“What's to stop me? I promised her that I'd find out, and that I'd share the information with her,” Orion said.
“She's human. You can't reveal the truth. She might decide to stay here, simply to be near me. And that would be terribly wrong.”
“She's not a child! Elena has the right to make that decision.”
“You're wrong, Prince Orion. This is between a father and a daughter. It's not your decision to make.”
Orion knotted his hands into fists and clamped them to his sides to keep from striking the man. “So you'd deny your own daughter? Have me lie to her?”
“As if you hadn't already. Otherwise, how would you have gotten her here in the first place?” He met Orion's gaze. “Isn't this a little late to play the noble prince?”
“What I did,” Orion said, “was for her protection.”
“And my intentions are the same. She's human. I'm Atlantean. As you are. I can see that you're infatuated with her, but you have no idea how wide the chasm is between our worlds.”
“But it should be Elena's choice,” Orion repeated.
“And if she makes the wrong choice, there's no going back. If she stays here, she gives up her humanity forever.”
“Was it such a bad decision for you?”
“I didn't have a choice. I had drowned. Eudora made the choice to revive me in another form. It's different for Elena. She has a life in front of her, possibilities, the opportunity to rise to the top of her academic career field, to show up the fools who laughed at me.”
“I love her, and I think she loves me. Doesn't that count for anything?”
“It does, but love is inconstant. What Elena is—what she can become—that may be more important to her happiness. She could do so much to advance knowledge of the ancient worlds. Perhaps even open a dialogue between Atlanteans and humans.”
“She couldn't do that if she were to become one of us?”
“Absolutely not. Humans would regard her as a freak. She is more likely to be stoned by a crazed mob than to be treated with the respect she deserves. Any message she might give would be utterly buried in a tide of fear and superstition.”
“Are humans so backward?”
Mikhail scoffed. “What happened when the last interplanetary visitor landed in the western part of the United States? The ambassadors were murdered and the government denied that they ever existed.”
“I'm aware of what happened, but that doesn't mean—”
Mikhail cut him off curtly. “Whether my daughter remains here or returns to earth, she must decide for herself. I refuse to interfere with that choice. And you are honor bound to keep my secret.”
“Why should I be?” Anger made Orion's voice harsh.
“Because I ask it of you. A father's rights come before that of a lover.”
“I won't tell her now, and—for Elena's sake, I'll give you the courtesy of considering your opinion. But, if I survive the coming war, I mean to ask her to be my wife. If she agrees, will you tell her the truth?”
Mikhail rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “We'll see when that time comes. It may be that she'll refuse you, and then the question will be moot.”
“Did you ever love her?” Orion asked.
“I did. I do. I always will. But that was another life, another time. She was nine years old when we met last. And we all change. She may not like the person I've become. I'd not have her decide the rest of her existence based on a child's memories of a doting parent.”
 
Hours later, Elena stood at one of the crystal domes in her bedroom, staring out at a dolphin and her calf. The two dolphins were playing together and showed such obvious affection for each other that it seemed to Elena that—except for shape and color—they could have been a human mother and child.
She sensed rather than heard someone in the room and turned to see Morwena. “I never realized that dolphins possessed a sense of humor,” Elena said.
“Oh, they do,” Morwena said. “In many ways, they feel things more intensely than we do. Laughter, anger, sorrow. Never underestimate a dolphin. They possess the highest intelligence.”
Elena glanced up at her. Morwena's face was pale, her eyes red. She'd obviously been weeping. “You saw Orion?” Elena asked.
This was still Morwena, the same, but different. The illusion that she was human no longer existed. Morwena, princess of Atlantis, could have been a shining, largerthan-life superheroine. And, she, too, was beautiful in form and features, too beautiful for words. At any other time, in any other place, her friend's transformation from human to alien species would have been impossible to assimilate, but at this moment, all that mattered was Morwena's obvious distress.
“And Alexander and Paris.” Her eyes glistened with tears. “Morgan's being treated for the injuries he received off Rethymo.” She came to stand at the crystal dome beside Elena and reached for her hand.
Elena took the offered hand and squeezed it tightly.
“This ring—where did you get it?” Morwena asked.
“Orion gave it to me before he left. I think he's given it to me three times, now. Maybe it's time I wore it.”
Morwena nodded. “Maybe it is.”
“I love him.”
“Enough?”
“For what?
“To trust him.”
Elena shook her head. “I don't know.”
“Make certain you are sure before you make any commitment.”
“I will.”
Morwena was silent for a long time, and they stood and stared out the window at the reef together. Finally, Morwena broke the silence. “Rhiannon says that Morgan's in a rage. Not only has Poseidon refused to allow him to mount a rescue effort to find Danu, but the healers have declared him unfit to go into battle. Our father the king has forbidden Morgan to leave Atlantis.”
“I didn't know Prince Morgan was badly hurt. Was he injured trying to rescue the tidal wave victims?”
“In a manner of speaking. You saw Orion's injuries, didn't you?”
Elena nodded.
“Did you see the bite marks?”
“Yes, but I thought …” Elena didn't know what she'd thought. She'd wanted to ask him, but once he'd kissed her … once he'd given her the ring and she'd seen him as he truly was, the moment had passed. All that mattered was keeping him in the circle of her arms as long as possible. “Sharks?”
Morwena shook her head. “Not sharks. Something worse. Shades.”
“What are shades?”
“Soulless creatures, all teeth and claws. Melqart's horde. They're big, taller than I am, and they hunt in packs, sometimes in waves of hundreds. They feed on flesh and bone. Melqart is an ancient Phoenician god of war. They're his minions. Every life the shades extinguish adds to his power. The shades drink blood. Melqart exists on the life forces of those he destroys. It's the shades our men and women have gone to do battle against.”
“You're telling me that some kind of supernatural
things
made those wounds on Orion? Something called a shade? It's hard for me to believe, Morwena. I don't doubt you believe what you say, but you called that old woman a witch, too. And I didn't see witchcraft.”
“Didn't see witchcraft, or didn't believe it?” Morwena asked. There was no anger in her gaze, only sadness. “Life is more than what you see and hear and touch, Elena. We are spiritual beings as well as physical. Magic is real, and not believing in it doesn't make it go away.”
“If these things, these
shades
, exist, why haven't we … Why has there been no evidence of them? Why haven't my people—humans—ever seen them?”
“They hunt mostly at night. They pull down lone swimmers. Sometimes they just suck the blood out of the victims, and sometimes, if they're hungry, they tear them to shreds and devour everything but hair and bone. For centuries, for thousands of years, humans have blamed sharks. The bite marks are similar. The teeth and jaws on shades are out of proportion to their size. You've probably read about such attacks all your life and believed that it was a killer shark. And how many humans have supposedly drowned in the ocean and their bodies never found?”
Elena shuddered. “If what you say is true … and I say
if
, then why are the Atlanteans going to war against them? It seems an unfair fight.”
“It is,” Morwena admitted. “Melqart can field untold numbers. And there have never been many of us. Not like the human race. Our warriors number in the thousands, not tens of thousands. And we're going to war against Melqart. He's behind the attacks. Shades think like … like a hive of insects. They don't possess individual intelligence, but they have a pack mentality. Without Melqart to give orders, they'll cease to exist.”
“So why aren't they going right to the source? Why aren't your people attacking this Melqart?”
“He's very powerful and elusive. He takes many forms. I'm not certain that he even has a solid existence that could be killed. For thousands of years, men worshiped him. There were many other evil gods of war and violence in the dawn of time, but most have vanished from the minds of men. Without adulation, they wither and die. In time, even the memory of their power is forgotten.”
“So the Atlanteans go out to fight monsters with swords and tridents.”
“Yes.” Morwena nodded her head. “If we can destroy Melqart's power source, we destroy him, or at least drive him into hibernation. It's happened before. Once, he didn't surface for hundreds of human years.”
“Can these shades be killed?”
“Actually, swords are pretty effective. Tridents, not so much. If you cut them in two, they die, and when they die, they turn to a black oily smoke. Unfortunately, Melqart can create more.”
“Where does the witch come in to all of this?” Elena asked. It was crazy, impossible, but was it any more impossible than the fact that she was walking around under the sea and in love with an Atlantean? Was it any more ridiculous than her suspicion that her father was still alive and had become one of them?
“Morwena!”
Elena turned at the sound of Rhiannon's voice.
“You've got to come and see this. You, too, Elena. A newscaster just showed your photograph. They think you drowned in the tidal wave that hit Crete.”
“Newscaster? Don't tell me you have television?” Elena said.

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