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“Something wrong?”
“It’s just…” she started, her brow creasing as she stared into the darkness, “I feel bad about leaving Kai alone in the pool back there. He looked so spaced out when we left.”
The corner of my jaw ticked, sending my molars grinding in irritation. Of course it had something to do with Kai.
I didn’t know what I was expecting when I first broke into their little hideout, but Kai’s scraggly arms fastened around her shoulders like a hungry lamprey sure wasn’t it.
Nobility or not, if I’d had my spears with me back there, I might have hurled one through his fucking jaw. It wasn’t like King Darias would notice one of his sons missing anyway.
Fury flared through my chest as I recalled how they’d looked, all cozied together in the strange bathing pool.
The flushing of their faces. Claira’s soft lips opened slightly, panting out breaths.
The liquid rage pounding through me veered south, and I shifted my stance to adjust my infuriating human cock.
“He doesn’t need you worrying about him.” I snaked an arm around her waist, drawing her close, inviting her body to feel how much I ached for her. Claira’s worrying turned into biting, and I stroked a thumb over the edge of her bottom lip, coaxing it out from between her pearly teeth. “Do you know how worried I was when Barren showed up? When I realized you weren’t with him?”
“Oh, please.” Her lip popped free as she broke into a soft smile. “You weren’t worried. You were just annoyed that I went off with Kai.”
She wasn’t wrong. I let my thumb linger over her slightly swollen lip before replacing it with my mouth. The kiss was abrupt, just a quick taste, and instead of satisfying my ache, it made me crave her even more. “Guilty. But I don’t like it when you worry. Especially when it’s not me you’re worrying over.”
Her lips pursed, and I pulled her hips tighter to me, leaning us both against the side of the warehouse. Cold metal iced my spine, but I didn’t care. Not when Claira was here, letting me hold her so close.
“I can’t help it,” she sighed, a slight pout forming on her lips. One of her palms pressed against me, her fingers spreading over my chest, and my dick steeled harder than the metal at my back. Long eyelashes fluttered as she turned her gaze from where our hips connected, up to where her palm rested on my chest. “I’m just worried he’s going to drown or something. He’s a terrible swimmer.”
“Good,” I threw back, tipping her chin up to show her my playful smirk. “Let him.”
Why did she care so much about Kai? He was an excitable little parasite, and if his brothers hadn’t managed to kill him yet, an oversized tub of water wouldn’t be able to now. I leaned in for another kiss, but Claira pushed me away.
“Why do you have to say things like that?” she shot back, prying my arms off her hips. “Geez, Lee. You know he’s my friend.”
What?
All my playful humor drained in an instant, my arms dropping like weighted anchors at my sides. “He’s your friend?”
She huffed. “Why do you sound so surprised? He’s treated me better than anyone—” Her voice cut off with a gasp as our eyes met, her soft lips quivering like she wanted to suck everything she’d said right back into her mouth.
Too late.
Her words had hit their mark, landing like a blow to my gut. I recoiled back, ignoring the frigid bite of the metal behind me. Cold brought numbness, and I’d welcome anything that might deaden this fucking pain in my chest.
I wasn’t good enough for friendship, yet Kai, a merman she’d just met, she consideredhima friend?
My throat constricted. “Oh, he has, has he?”
Kai, who already had everything he needed and then some. Was his enormous family not enough for him? His freedom to enjoy the perks of nobility without the responsibilities his title should have demanded.
He’d shown up for his own selfish reasons, deciding to stick around, playing the nice mer like that was his intention all along. And she’d fallen for his little game.
Must have been nice not having an entire kingdom relying on you. Weighing you down. Forcing your every move.
Claira’s arms came around me, snatching my spine from the biting metal. “I just mean—He’s nice,” she whispered, her voice going tender. Was this her idea of cheering me up? Well, with her arms seeking me out for once, it might have worked. Just a little. “He hasn’t tried to use me.”
So she still thought I was using her? Maybe I was. But not because it was what I wanted, but because it was what my duty to my kingdom demanded.
“He came all the way out here out of the goodness of his heart? No ulterior motives?” My head shook, my laughter tasting bitter in my mouth. If only she’d heard my father’s conversation with King Darias. Then she’d know what kind of merman Kai really was. “You’re smarter than this, Claira. But if that’s what you want to believe, go right ahead.”
The lights inside the warehouse deluminated, drawing my attention to the door. “I think it’s time to wrap this up and get some sleep. We’ve got a lot to do tomorrow.”
