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I wanted to kiss Maxine Mayhem from the tip of her electric-blonde hair to the bottom of her feet. However, I also wanted to kill my younger brother. Literally. He was such a manipulative little shit and he knew I liked her. We had seen the goddess once in a press release for some event or another and I mentioned how beautiful she was. How I didn’t care that she was a Mayhem, something about her called to my very soul. He was my brother. Well, half brother. We had different fathers and my mother treated Loudan as though he were the one who suffered. His father hated me. I acted out plenty and made that transition difficult. Still, I was young, my father was dead, and my step-father was conveniently ready to step into that leadership position which he then ensured would go to his son, not me.
All because I saved a family from a sinking boat and by doing so, I endangered our entire realm. I still didn’t understand that logic when the magic realm was aware of us and our water boundaries were mapped. The siren call could ensnare innocent travelers the same as anyone seeking mer-treasure, though that was all old ways and thinking. But I was the one banned from the ocean and Loudan practically emerged from the sea with blueprints for bridges.
Fuck him. Fuck them.
In shark form, I snapped and bit at everything and nothing at all. I pushed and swam faster around and around the false base of this island. I could barely see straight. I was so livid and unsure how to process the anger. By the time I worked through the aggression caused by the betrayal and manipulation, I was only left with sorting through the lies my brother had told me about Maxine and her… skills.
He tormented me with details I repeatedly asked him not to share, but he insisted that because I was his big brother and she had chosen to be with him that it was only fair I still got to live vicariously through him. I was so grateful to get back to school after that visit to our land-based home, I hadn’t been back since. And he was there, manipulating our parents and for what? Why did he seek her out? Was it just because of me? Because I held an interest or was it the legend and other nonsense passed down for too many generations about Mayhems and merfolk mergers?
Thinking of mergers. I could have kissed her.
That was the thought that finally registered once I had swam out all of my rage and confusion about my personal situation. She was about to kiss me! I was afraid I might bite her. Afraid the rage would have slipped over and caused me to be rough with her. Maxine may have never even kissed my brother, but I had plenty of experience with the female persuasion. In technical terms, I hadn’t consummated things with the female species the way most textbooks would approve. Most of my running around occurred within the time they were allegedly dating. I hung my head low as I made my way to the cabin. The sweatpants were soaked and drifting along the shore.
I would gather them later. The artificial sun was rising and our time here was fleeting. I had plans to walk through that door and sweep her into my arms, taste every inch of her flesh with my tongue, and see if she could, in fact, handle the intrusion of my cock into her depths.
Of course, with every step toward submission to the idea that I could have her, the reality of my situation crashed back onto my shoulders. I still had nothing. No matter what the situation with my brother, I would never be accepted back into the waters I grew up in. I still could not offer her more. Maybe I could offer what Brazrothan was offering to Eleanore, a life as a professor at the academy. And that would only be if they allowed me to do that. They did not need me. Surely, upon discovering I had been in some sort of waters, violating my banishment, I may even get expelled.
My footsteps slowed to a halt as I stood outside the door and wished it could just portal me through to the past. Push me back to a time I could have intervened, said something, changed the course we were on so that our paths aligned and we would be able to walk into the future together.
Instead, it opened to the scent of cinnamon and sugar. Of hot liquids and warm baked goods. “Wow.”
“Hey.” She looked at me and my heart about tripped over my lungs. Maxine Mayhem was never more beautiful to me than she was right now. Her sleepy yawn let me know how her night had been. “I was wondering if you were going to show up before the portal opened again.”
“I had to work through some things.” I was still working through some things. Working through the fact that I wanted her now more than ever before and now I had even more reason to protect her from a life below her station.
“How’d you do?” she asked.
“Not as well as I would have liked,” I admitted.
“Coffee?”
I nodded and realized as I moved into the space with her to accept the cup that I had again muscled up a bit more. If I continued to soak up whatever was feeding my genetics in that ocean, I’d be as big as Braz when we returned. All of us deemed as monsters were large creatures, but now this ocean had activated all my essential monster genetics and caused growth the way love had activated all of Braz’s when he met Ellie.
“I want to tell you something.” I needed to just be honest with her here.
“You like the smell of cinnamon rolls enough to leave the ocean and return to the kitchen?” she asked as she plated two.
I couldn’t even smile. “I like you, Maxine Mayhem. I have for a very long time. Since the first time I saw your picture. Then I saw you in person. And then, when my brother brought you home, I thought he was bringing you to me.”
Her brow arched and her big, blue eyes widened as she blinked those seductively long lashes at me. I wanted to devour her as though she were the last cinnamon roll in the entire known universe.
I continued, “I want you, Max.”
She was lighting up with joy when I held my hand up and admitted, “But I can’t have you. I won’t ruin your life by binding you to mine.” I looked at the coffee cup and said solemnly, “No matter how much I want to.”
CHAPTER 7
Maxine
This monster was making me crazy! So, he had some sort of emotional storm he was going through when it came to me. So fucking what! We were both adults. Mature beings and I wanted him, situation and circumstances be damned!
I had one more argument I could make to get what I wanted. It would have to do. Isn’t it the theme of so many romantic movies all those humans make? Friends to lovers? What happens on vacation stays on vacation? Well, I was about to become the leading lady in my own personal romance where I would get this merman hooked on Max and unable to refuse or resist me when we returned.
I moved closer and placed my cup of hot tea on the counter next to his plate. I then removed the cup of coffee from his hand and sat it on the other side of his plate. I looked up at him. He was taller than last night. I was sure of it. He was already so much bigger than me, I began to worry that if he continued to grow, maybe nothing about my plans would work. Physically. I considered myself fairly flexible and reasonably healthy. Sure, I had curves a plenty, but would they help me when handling this monster? I was sure it couldn’t hurt to have a little extra to fill those big hands of his. Damn those hands were huge.
I touched his forearm and said, “Thurst, listen to me. This is my island. It is the place where I am safe and rules don’t apply like they do back home. We can be anything we want to be here. We have less than two days before that portal door appears and we have to go back to school, reality, and all the worries of that world. Right now, this is my fantasy land. It can be yours, too.”
He gulped. Before he could get a word out, I had tiptoed up to the very tips of my toes as I pushed off the counter to help propel me just a bit more so that I could press my lips to his lower lip before lowering back to my feet. His head moved, his lips chasing mine. The sensations crashed through me in sparks and surges as I finally got to kiss the man I dreamed about. The monster who would eventually make all of my dreams come true. Even if that meant he had to be pulled into a nightmare before things would get better. Things would get better. Like this kiss.
