“Fuck!” Zane’s yell echoed around the cavern, bouncing off the walls as I fell apart, taking him with me. I struggled to contain my magic, but despite my best efforts, it exploded from my chest, raging above our heads in a violent firestorm. Embers rained down and sizzled when they hit the water, but like always, we remained untouched.
I didn’t understand why. One day, I would ask Alaric why this always happened. He knew way more about magic than I did, so perhaps he could explain the phenomenon.
Maverick grunted, and a flood of heat burst across my back. He uttered a long, low groan and then sank down into the water.
For a few long moments, nobody said a word. I ignored the raging firestorm. It seemed better to pretend it had nothing to do with me. Besides, the heat warmed my cooling skin.
“Reel your magic back in, pet,” Zane said in an amused voice. He lifted me, and I winced at the discomfort when his cock slid out.
I sighed while focusing on drawing each tangled strand back into the box in my chest. To my surprise, it seemed easier this time. Maybe Alaric’s lessons had finally sunk in? Not that I was giving him any credit. He didn’t deserve it.
Another glimpse of him at the inn popped into my mind. This time, he stood at the bar talking to a hulking male with a tangled beard and a pissed-off expression. I wondered why the mage remained on the island when he’d been so desperate to leave.
Then I shook my head. This was just my feverish imagination pining for the one male who didn’t want me, not an actual vision of the mage. I was an idiot.
“Zane, go check on Kai while I clean our mate up. He’ll need some swim time.”
Zane rolled his eyes as he stretched luxuriously, apparently sated and bursting with magic now that we’d had sex. The mating mark glowed brightly, and he grinned when he saw me staring at it.
“That tells everyone I’m yours, pet. So while I will still siphon lust from other magicals if they feel horny around me, which for the record is something I can’t avoid, my heart belongs to you.” He preened for a moment. “Inspiring lust is my cross to bear. I mean, look at me! Hot or what?” Maverick muttered something about vain assholes, but I rolled my eyes before insecurity struck.
“What if I’m not enough for you?” It wasn’t like we’d be having sex all the time. And besides, he graduated in the summer, so what would happen then?
My happiness faded fast as my thoughts spiraled. Zane shot forward and cupped my jaw.
“I will never leave you, pet.” His pale blue eyes darkened until they were almost black. “You’re mine, and if anyone tries to steal you from me, I’ll kill them.”
35
Kai
The mating frenzy consumed me. All I could think about was completing the bond and making her mine. The longer I stood in the entrance to the tunnel, the harder it was to stop myself from tearing back into the cavern and stealing my mate away from the other two fuckers.
Blood dripped from my palms where my nails had broken the skin. The sharp pain helped distract me from the waves of heat attacking my every cell as the urge to mate the witch ripped through my body.
Her soft moans filtered out from the pool cavern, adding to the sweet perfume of her arousal. Lust cramped my belly, and my cock ached, weeping for our mate.
A low growl of frustration broke free.
This was insane.
The rational side of me knew the witch could never be mine, but instinct overrode common sense. It didn’t matter that I wassupposed to choose a mermaid. My soul wanted the witch. Fate had decidedshewas my soul-bonded mate.
My mother would understand, I told myself. Not that I really believed it, but hoping perhaps she would accept a witch as my bonded mate.
I paced up and down while trying to resist the urge to go to the witch. I could feel her lust building in every cell of my being. Taste the slick of her arousal on my tongue.
My cock throbbed and ached as the mating barbs along the shaft readied themselves to hook our chosen one. Once inside, those barbs would lock me in place while the mate bond sealed.
Those barbs were why merpeople didn’t normally mate other species. To a non-mermaid, the barbs on a male’s cock would be incredibly painful. Potentially even deadly. At least for humans. But soul-bonded mates were the exception.
Fate had created us to be together, so the barbs on my cock would enhance my mate’s pleasure while locking me in place so my seed took root in my mate’s womb. Or so I’d read while researching the topic once I realized Raven was my soul-bonded mate.
Not that I’d planned to accept the bond, but curiosity had won out.
The more I paced, the closer I drifted to the pool cavern’s entrance and the harder it was to keep a lid on my mating frenzy. Instinct rode me hard. Why hadn’t my two fathers warned me about this?
It was damn near impossible to remain in control when my body so desperately wanted to steal my goddess-given mate away from the other two miscreants and make her mine.
