22. Eros

I leanedagainst the door to the bathroom, watching Castor and Nico play with Sunshine. She was on fire. There is nothing sexier than a mermaid giving in to her urges. And when it's your fucking pod, your female? Damn, it's like my insides wanted to open up and spill out. I love her so much. I want everything for her. I would bring her anything she wanted... go to the ends of the earth. I fisted the cloth I'd warmed to clean her up. But she didn't need it yet, not with them still playing. I waited and watched until she broke apart. Damn my heart. I'm so lucky. Lucky to have her, but at the same time, guilt pulls at my consciousness. She's my everything, but that doesn't mean I'm not thinking about my family. It nibbles at the back of my brain. It still is, even now that I'm sitting on a little stool next to the giant tub.

Marina. I keep hearing what Tristan Bellucci said to me in his apartment, before I went to Boston. "No, no. I die and she's dead." I push it back. If the Kraken want Marina for a mate, they're not going to kill her. And Michio... I haven't even contacted my mother yet. Michio had to have known what was going to happen. Why would he tell our parents not to come to the Veneratia? It doesn't make any sense. I put the now cold cloth on the counter.

"Enjoy the show?" Castor raises his eyebrow at me.

"Immensely. The next best thing to being in her when she shatters is watching it happen." I smirk and stand. The way Sunshine looked at the asshole in bed with her? Yeah, she needs some time alone with him.

Castor steps into the shower, rinses, and grabs a new warm cloth for Sunshine. I grab his arm, stopping him from going back into the pod room.

His eyebrows rise. "What?"

"Give her some time alone with him. She's far from done. You saw the look in her eyes. There will be plenty of time for us, but they need this moment."

"I might never?—"

"For sure, if that's how you want to think about it. You're going to let him decide your fate? Are you going to let me decide your fate?" I push the door to the pod room shut and turn back to the golden prince.

"Fuck no." Castor nods as he says it. He doesn't even realize he's doing it.

"You sure? You're going to have to fight with Nico for what you want. You've said it, but that's not going to be enough for the blubber brain. Hell. You know him better than anyone."

Castor nods, this time the right way. He's giving the right message to me and to himself. "He's complicated. But that's how it's always been. I mean, I see it. I see what everyone else thinks about him. But it's?—"

"It's different because you're closer than brothers. I can say I understand, but I don't, not really. My brothers are brothers." I love them, but I can see it's different between him and Nico.

"I suppose." Castor glances back to the pod room.

"Give them some more time."

"Where's Holter?"

"She gets hungry in the middle of a mermaid frenzy. Even the gel doesn't do it for her. He's making her some food. He'll be quick."

Castor nods. It feels like he's always been around, but the time we've had without him feels like forever too. "Right."

"Let's see if we can help him speed things up for the next round." I pull out the robe that Sunshine likes so much. The first time I suggested it, she wasn't sure, but she's more than sure now. I put it on the counter next to the cloth. "Grab a towel or a robe. Let's see if we can help Holter."

Castor pulls on a robe, and we head out the side door, leaving Nico and Sunshine to have some time alone. Perhaps she can knock some sense into him.

My stomach roars. "That smells amazing."

"Good," Holter throws over his shoulder.

"Where are your trays?" Castor opens and closes cabinets while Eros and I stare.

"Does he think we have a golden tray service?" Holter laughs. "We use our hands, prince."

Castor hangs on to the last handle he had in his hand. "Golden tray service? Fuck you. I was just looking for a way to get it back to the bedroom quicker. I don't want to be out here with you two cod fish."

Holter picks up the serving dish. "You guys get the rest, if you can manage without a tray." He laughs and heads down the hall.

Back in the room, Nico's lying in the middle of the bed, alone.

"Where's Sunshine?"

"Bathroom."

I nod and put the collection of things I brought from the kitchen on the bedside table. I head into the bathroom. Sunshine's washing her own back. Her own back! "Can I help you?"

She turns and smiles, but I can tell she's been crying.

"What did he do? I know an awful lot of people have tried to kill him, but I can be the one to finish the task. Just say the word."

"I know you're joking." She purses her lips at me.

"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. That depends on what he did."

"He's just oblivious. And I love him so much but..."

"I get it." She told us her thoughts, that we couldn't tell Nico. "Did you tell him?"

"I did."

"And?"

"And it was like shouting into the Grand Canyon." Her hands rise to the ceiling, and she shakes them.

"I'm guessing that's not a good thing."

"Sorry, right, no. Not a good thing. A very frustrating thing."

"He doesn't believe it?"

"No, not yet, but I'm guessing that he can. Eventually it will just have to sink in. But I'm not sure we have the time. When do you think Castor will have to mate someone to be able to become king? I've lost track of time. I don't even really know when the election is. I keep meaning to study up on it, but then I end up spending time trying to read Richeal's notes."

"It's okay, Sunshine. It's not a definite date anyway. The governors have to set it. The election of Glyden's candidate has to be put up by the end of the third year of Atlas's coronation. The people of Glyden put up a candidate, and then the governors confirm it."

"Right." She turns, and my hands end up cupped over her breasts. Her eyes close, and when they open, the haze of mermaid lust is firmly in place.

"Right," I repeat after her and rinse the soap from her chest. "Atlas still has a good bit of time left."

"Okay. Wait." She shakes her head. "Doesn't Castor have to campaign?"

I know what the word means, but only from my time on land doing various projects for the security council. "No, he puts his name on the list and people vote."

"Will there be lots of names on the list?"

"No. Because unlike humans, Dorians are smart. They know being in charge is nothing but a headache with no rewards or monetary compensation. Turn." She turns, and I scrub her lower back.

"Right, I suppose that's true, but why would anyone want it, then?" Sunshine looks over her shoulder at me.

"Prestige. Which is just another name for idiocy, if you ask me. My parents were so set on having one of us be a governor. Michio too—he's wanted to be one since he was little."

"Does he want to be king?"

"It doesn't really line up for another Zaffiro king in my generation. We had our shot at the king before Atlas. Oceanus Titan. He retired after he passed the crown to the next dome and then died last year. He was really too old. The stress, I think, killed him. Crazy how much pressure something like that can cause."

"Really? The thing with politics for me is that the whole getting elected process seems crazy. The actual making of a government. Helping the citizens of the country or state. That seems like something I would love. Not the popularity contest. You know?"

"No Sunshine, I don't know about that. The less I have to do for my government going forward, the better."

She nods at me. Her lips purse.

"You're serious. Did you want to be an elected official?" I would never have thought of her as a politician. But now that I think about her desire to help, her ability to see patterns in people, understanding and caring... Hell, she truly loves Nico and me. I mean, she loves Holter too. But that's not hard.

"I thought about studying government. But I knew if I was going to make it on my own, I would have to make a lot of money. Science in high school was my second passion, and I saw it as a way of making more money."

"I see." I think about the governor of Seolfor, a great mermaid and leader, Pilar Tiberius. She's done a few terms, and if things had lined up, I could have seen her as a queen. We've had queens in the past, but not for a long time. Not since the population dropped so low. Females are so protected now, I would never have thought of a mate as someone who could be governor. Before. I wouldn't have wanted my mate to be one. I would be too afraid of her getting hurt or stressed or surrounded by too many other potential mates. That's the key. But for Sunshine, I want her to help her get every last one of her dreams. I rub more soap on her skin.

"You done?" She shuts the water off without waiting for my reply.

"Never." I put my hands around her waist. I want to touch her forever.

She grabs around my neck, jumps, and wraps her legs around my waist. And I have to laugh. As much as I want to put my cock back in her amazing cunt, that's not how it works. I swipe a towel from the hook on the wall and throw it over her shoulder as I go into the pod room.

Holter's there in less than a second. He takes her from me. "Look at you. You're all wet. Let's make you wetter." He tosses her on the bed, and she bounces with a laugh. But on the side of the bed, Castor and Nico don't have the same look of desire on their faces. "Here Belle, eat this while I eat my snack." He pushes her legs apart.

Castor's eyes flash at me. And I have a feeling I don't want to know why. Then Castor walks out of the room, and I get the definite idea I'm being summoned. If this were any fucking other day, I would ignore him. Even now, listening to the little moans coming from my mate, I'm second-guessing following him out of the room. But my feet move on their own.

I catch him in the hall, far enough down to keep our conversation from Sunshine's ears. "What?" I cock my head back to the pod bedroom. He takes another step away from it, but I don't move. "Make it quick."

"There's footage of the docking dome and the administrative building. The docking dome collapsed completely."

I stare at him. My vision sheets. It's like I don't know what language he's speaking now. I shake my head. I rock back and forth on my heels.

"He's still on the list of missing. It's not a?—"

"Is he dead?"