21. Nico

I catchmy Little Krill as she comes down, taking her to her side. Eros's cock is still in her.

"Here, Belle." Holter feeds her another packet of protein gel. We're all on the same page about that. This isn't something we can rush. As much as I don't want Castor here, and as much as it irritates me how well he fits in with us, I'm not going to let that change the experience of today. Pods need to be together, especially after something like today. This is who we are meant to be as a pod, as a nation. This is our culture and our way. Even if it wasn't, I would fight for this for Annabelle, Holter, even Eros now. We are in this—whatever this turns out to be—together.

Annabelle's skin is covered in sweat, and it's the sexiest thing I've ever seen. I brush her hair away from her neck. There on her scalp, at the edge of her hair, are a few little scales. Deep purple. Fuck, they're the sexiest thing I've ever seen. It's a small spot. I kiss it, and when I look back at it, they're fading. I look up, and the only other one who saw it was Castor.

"Nico?" Annabelle rolls onto her back as Eros moves off the bed to get things to clean her with. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is perfect, Little Krill." I'm not going to tell her now. Later, when she can process that more changes are coming. Telling her now would get her back in her head, after we've worked so hard to get her in the moment. Away from the world where uncles steal you away, where buildings explode, or force fields fail. No, I want her to feel love, peace, and nothing else. Nothing else.

Holter follows Eros off the bed, leaving Annabelle with Castor and me. Castor snuggles next to her, their bodies touching lengthwise. And she's up on her elbows, her lips on mine. Her kiss is long and languid, a slow line from her heart reaching out to me. I'm the breathless one when she pulls back and turns to Castor and kisses him. I move to go behind her.

"No." Her voice is clear. "Lie down."

I smirk. "Yes, I like it when you get bossy."

"You haven't seen anything yet."

She takes my cock in her hand and sinks onto me in one motion. I swear my eyes roll into the back of my head. When I open them again, Castor is behind her.

Holter and Eros are back. Holter kneels next to us, his cock standing erect.

"Open that sweet mouth of yours for Holter, Little Krill." I pinch her nipple.

And damn, when she licks her lips and pushes him into her mouth, the greedy noises she makes almost make me come. She's focusing on him, and damn, I don't know how he's lasting. There's a gurgling noise when he hits the back of her throat.

Holter holds the back of her head. He groans, and she guzzles him down. Our mermaid is ignited. We're in it for the long haul. Holter slides out of her mouth. His release spills down her chin.

"Sorry, I got carried away." Her hand lands on his chest.

"Never apologize for what you just did, Belle." He slides off the bed but turns back and kisses her.

"That's hot," she says. And laughs. "I don't sound like me."

Then it's like she remembers my cock is inside her. Her hips gyrate, and she takes my hands and guides them, rising up to meet her with every round.

Castor has lube on his fingers. He makes eye contact with me, and I hold her steady. "Are you ready for him?" I ask her.

"Yes." Her heavy breath warms my neck.

"Hold still." Castor gives her butt a light slap.

She rests her head on my chest. And I hold her still when she squirms.

"Are you doing okay there, Annabelle?" Castor slowly sinks into her.

She's tight even after all the time Eros spent with her. Fuck. It feels so good. She's even tighter now. We wait, Castor holding her from behind. My fingers tighten around her hips.

"I'm ready." She throws her head back, her messy braids landing on Castor's shoulder. It's so sexy. She's my everything. My heart squeezes when I watch her hooded eyes close in pleasure. I could watch her for hours, but Castor begins to move, and I match his thrusts. It's so good, I can't control myself. I'm hammering up into her like a giant piston.

"Nico, stop. I want this to take a good long time. That's what she needs," Castor growls at me.

I freeze. He's right. I can see it on her face. If I keep going, she's going to come too soon.

"You're so incredible, Annabelle." Castor's slow, rhythmic movements move us up the mattress. "Are you doing okay?"

She mutters something unintelligible into my chest. Drool dribbles from her mouth. I brush her hair away from her cheek and cock my head. Her eyes flick to mine. She manages to lift her head and kisses my chest.

"She's good. Keep going, Drakos."

"Castor," Little Krill adds.

I glance down at her, wondering if she wants him to stop or keep going. She shakes her head, closes her eyes, and drops her head back to my chest.

"Gend," she says clearly.

"Yes. So much so." I run my fingers over her braids. She's the most precious person in the world to me.

"Tilt her," Castor demands. I know exactly what he wants. And when I lift her just a bit, the pleasure is unfathomable. I can't control myself any longer. I must move. With each jerk of my hips, she tightens around me, spasms sending me higher until I can't take it anymore. She licks the spot on my neck where my mate's mark is, and I fire off. Little Krill and Castor follow me into bliss.

We jerk and shake until I can't breathe or move. I'm holding on to her like we might all drift away on an errant current.

"Whoa," Little Krill says. Without lifting her head from my chest, she slicks her hair away from her face.

Castor pulls out of her. It's like a chasm opens inside of her, and I'm shaking at the loss. She raises her chin. Her eyes are so pale blue.

"Are you crying?" The second I utter it, I know it's the wrong thing to say.

Silent tears roll down her cheeks. "I am. But not because I'm sad. Well, not really. You know."

"He doesn't," Castor says, moving to her side.

She lays her hand on my cheek. "You do, though," she whispers.

It's about Castor again. My heart stops beating. I shouldn't have let him in here. But the look she gave me... I thought, one more time. Maybe that would be enough for her to have him. One more time. But then he goes and makes her cry.

She rolls away from me to him, and the air freezes around me like I'm trying to swim through frozen water. "Annabelle." But she's kissing him. When she pulls away, I can't see her face, only the back of her frazzled braids.

She twists her neck back to me. "Nico. I know this is hard on you. I want to give you enough time for you to come to your senses on your own. But what if that never happens? What if you never realize you hold the answers in here?" She lays her hand on my chest.

"Answers?" I've given her an answer. She knows my answer. No. Veto. Does she really think I'll change my mind? I never change my mind. I hold her chin between my thumb and forefinger and stare into her eyes again. She does. She really thinks I will change my mind.

"Yes. There is another reason why you said no. It's not that you think Castor won't be king."

"I don't care if I'm king," says Castor. "I told him that."

Annabelle puts her hand on his leg. And I smirk at her polite action of telling him to clam up.

"It's not that," she says, "and it's also not that you think Castor coming into the pod will cause us or me harm."

I glare at her because she's wrong. Those are exactly the two reasons why. I told her as much. And I know Castor. He might say he doesn't want to be king, but he does. And this isn't something you can change your mind about. Once Glyden has our time as king, we won't get it back for decades. He thinks he's in love. But I don't want to have to see him harden into regret. No, I'm protecting both of them.

"Look at him, Annabelle. He's never going to understand. He's never going to believe that I want you more than being king. He's the fool." Castor flips her to him. "I'm not lying when I say it. I don't care. If you want me to leave everything and go live with you in Boston, be an exmanti, as the Skyrothasians call them, I will. I. Love. You." He kisses her chin. "And he's too thick-headed to believe anyone but himself."

I watch him roll to the edge of the bed, on his way to the bathroom.

"I'll be back in a minute. Can I get you anything, Annabelle? A hammer to clock him over the head with?"

She smiles at him. "No, I'm good. I'm going to clean up."

Castor pauses, stretching at the end of the bed. "Smells like Holter's making you some real food."

"I'm hungry." She licks her lips. "Make sure you come back."

"I will, because I'm not done."

"I'm not either." She winks at him, and we both watch him leave the room. Her hands clench at the rumpled sheets between us. When she turns to me, her blue eyes are turquoise. "You're going too far, Nico."

"It's what I do."

She pushes on my shoulder, and I let her push me down onto the mattress. Her eyes are wild. "You are more than the old you." She climbs onto me, straddling me. Her hair is wild. My hands go to her ass, holding her down on me. Fuck, I just had her, but I could have her again. Over and over. A mermaid's hunger isn't easy to fulfill, but I'm here to try for it. I'm here to keep her loved forever.

"The old me wouldn't have let him into the pod room. The old me wouldn't have let him anywhere near you if I thought a hair on your head would be out of place when he left. Tears... Fuck no, Little Krill. I won't let anyone hurt you."

Her face twists up in anger. "So, only you are allowed to hurt me?" Her hand swings at my cheek, but I catch it with my fingers wringing her wrist.

"No." I hold her wrists.

"No to me hitting you or to the hurt?"

"If you want to stick a knife in my neck, Little Krill, I'll let you. I'm addicted to you. But I'm not going to let him hurt you."

"Nico, that's what love is. When you love, you risk getting hurt. There must be something wrong with me." She smacks her head with her other hand.

"There's nothing wrong with you." My forehead furrows. Her arm is relaxed in my hand. I bring her wrist to my lips and kiss it.

I ignore the bathroom door closing with a click.

"Isn't there? I love you. That clearly means there must be something wrong with me. No, that's not fair. Nico, you've changed, you've really changed. I can see it. Hell, I'm sure everyone can see it. I wanted you to figure out why you didn't want Castor in the pod on your own. But I don't want to lose him. I know you need more time, but we don't have it. I wish we did. I wish I could give you all the time you need to understand on your own. It's just not possible." She puts both of her hands on my chest, elbows locked. She whispers, "Castor has always been someone you looked up to. Someone you think is better than you." She shakes her head like I let her down. "But he's not. He's different. As different as you and Holter, or you and Eros. You don't need to compare yourself to him."

I glare at her. I glance at the rest of the bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchen beyond. Like I have the X-ray ability of a pervisculum and can see the rest of the house. She thinks I compare myself to Castor. A male who has had nothing but privilege his entire life. A male who was the second-best at goal-scoring behind me. He didn't get better grades than me. He's not the reason I've done anything in my life.

Annabelle's chest rises and lowers. "You know what? Maybe you can trust me—know that I know things too. It's fine..." She leans to roll off me, but I grab her arms, pinning them to the side of her body, holding her on me.

"I don't?—"

She pats my chest with her loose hands. "Take a deeper look, Poseidon. You're not dumb. You can pull this off." She cocks her head to the bathroom door.

I release her, my fingers freeing her, and nod. I honestly don't know what she's talking about.

She crawls off the bed but then flings herself back on and kisses my belly. "I love you, but you're impossible, Nico Portsmouth." She saunters out of the room.

"I love you too," I whisper and stare at the ceiling.

I never thought I could feel the things I feel for Annabelle. I thought sex was just that. Sex. The times that Castor and I were invited to join a pod, it was never like this. I've never felt like this. They weren't like this with their mate. It was just about sex. But then, their mate wasn't Annabelle. I don't even remember what happened in any of those pod rooms; it's like my brain is protecting me, making me a virgin until I touched Little Krill. There was no one before and there will be no one after. When I kiss the tip of her nose and she breaks out into that smile before she closes her eyes... It's the thing that keeps me going. It's the thing that I want more of. I want languid days of nothing. I want hours of her in our arms, of laughter and of Eros making me mad so she can break the tension.

Her words echo. I don't want Castor in the pod because I don't think I'm as good as him? That can't be.