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“Lee…” Her mouth hung open like she was readying some new retort, but I took hold of her hand and led her through the door.
Quiet murmurs drifted from closed chambers, the sound ringing hollow in my head. I glanced at my father’s empty throne, wondering how long it’d been since he’d retired to his chambers. It seemed like he liked the idea of Claira spending time with Barren and Kai even less than I did, even though it was his idea to let them have turns with her.
Let the other kingdoms think we were willing to lend her to them—what a joke. Until we got our trident back, of course. Then, in the name of conquest, he’d send Claira down for the others. After he collected them all, the war would begin.
I raked my fingers through my hair, twisting and tugging at it as we walked down the row of homes. Could I really force Claira to play into my father’s games? To let her feel responsible for the deaths my father’s greed would bring about?
No. I’d die before I let my father break her like he’d broken me.
Claira pulled the curtain to our chamber back before I had the chance, the sound bringing my mind back to the present.
I stepped inside and kicked the coverings off my feet, leaving them next to the curtain. Claira slid in behind me, and I let myself take a breath. Even if she didn’t consider me a friend, she was still willing to share a bed with me.
Fuck. Did that mean she would prefer staying with Kai?
I pulled at my hair, shaking the thought away. My pillow looked more inviting than ever, and I collapsed into it headfirst, landing in a heap over the bedroll. My ribs protested the movement, but I rolled onto my back, untangling the blankets from my legs. When I’d straightened everything out, I glanced up. “You coming to bed?”
“Yeah,” Claira said softly. She bent forward, rustling through the bags she’d carried back with her. The intense smell of the human bathing pool hit me as she pulled out wads of clothing, laying them out wherever she could find space.
I watched the shadows shift around the chamber as she moved, wanting nothing more than to pull her down next to me. When she’d emptied her bags, she sat herself on the very edge of our bedroll. I reached to guide her shoulders down into the space beside me when she suddenly spoke. “Why do you hate him so much?”
My fingers curled, closing into a fist in mid-air. I pulled it back and pressed my knuckles against my forehead.
I had loads of reasons. Because her laughs seemed to come easy when she was near him. Because he didn’t even have to try to get her to look his way.
But mostly because she’d so easily let him into a place in her heart she’d made clear I’d never be allowed.
Bracing my ribs as I sat up, my eyes landed on the shadowed curves of her neck. I gently swept her hair aside, and my gut twisted at the sight of the red dots blemishing her otherwise perfect skin. The place where another merman had marked her.
I wanted to touch them—to soothe their ache—but I didn’t dare. Although she was next to me, when I looked at those marks, Claira felt further away than ever.
“Right now,” I breathed out, pausing to swallow down a hard lump forming in my throat, “it’s because he bit you.”
Her skin trembled as I spoke, her neck arching like it was chasing the heat from my breath.
“I want to touch you,” I whispered, leaning into her neck, letting my words fan against it. Her shoulders shuddered, and I swept another layer of hair aside, exposing even more delicate skin. “But I’m… afraid that if I touch you. If I show you what you mean to me…” My breath stalled, my chest going heavy, rendering me unable to say the words I feared the most.
That my need to have her near me would be the thing to drive her away.
Just like it had driven my mother away from my father. How attachments drove all mermaids away.
“I’m not going to leave,” she whispered softly. Like she already knew all my fears. All my secrets. She turned to press a kiss on my jaw, and the soft caress of her lips was the sweetest fucking thing I’d ever felt.
It was everything.Shewas everything. My beautiful Claira.
My fingers sank into her waist as my head dipped, my lips covering the swollen dots along her shoulder. Her body shivered under my attention, but I kept going, brushing kisses up her neck. Back down her shoulder. When my mouth returned to the place Kai’s teeth had claimed, I pulled back with a growl.
“This is where he bit you.” Fury burned like an acid in my throat, my lips close enough for my words to vibrate over her skin. I’d put my mark on her, too. And not just on her neck.
I’d leave my mark in places afriendwould never get the privilege to see.
Claira’s throat strained to stifle a moan as my mouth captured her again, my lips and tongue tracing the swollen patches until I’d scribed a signature of my own across her shoulder. Minutes or hours passed as I moved down her neck, relishing every inch of skin I could reach.
My tongue flicked over the lobe of her ear, and a hand came up, entwining in my hair as if it were telling me to slow down. “Lee,” Claira breathed out, her fist in my hair gently pulling me away. I came up with a groan, the cold air numbing my spit-shined lips.
Her body twisted, falling into mine, and our bodies reclined. My arms came around her waist as we landed flat on the bedroll, her limbs squirming as she straightened herself on top of me.
Fuck, she was perfect. And the way we melded together, her delicate weight a comfort against my chest, it was like Poseidon had used the same magic to form us.
