Chapter 11

Eleven

“ O h, Merrow, why didn’t you tell me this before now?” Sebastian put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. “If I had known?—”

“Would you really have done anything different if I had told you?” she asked. “You said you needed to put her in the dungeon to punish her for speaking so boldly to you. You told me that it was expected of you since you were king. And that you didn’t want your people disappointed in you.”

“Now, in all fairness, I never said that last part.”

“Mayhap not, but I know it’s what you thought.”

“Perhaps I did. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Dee didn’t deserve that,” she told him. “She is a gentle, kind person who never hurt anyone or anything.”

“You’re right. I see that now. I promise you, I will release her from the dungeon upon our return.”

“You will?” She looked up at him with big, sad eyes. The sunlight lit up her clear blue-green orbs, drawing him in until he felt he would drown in her beauty.

“Yes. I will. For you.” He took her hand and kissed her webbed fingers. The sun was starting to dry their bodies, and her hand shifted in his grasp. Magically she had human features now from the waist up but still the tail of a mermaid, being half in the water. He reached over and collected the pouch that held her personal shell charm. Lifting it out with two fingers, he held it up in the sunlight.

“Are you going to use that to control me again?” Her gaze fell to the shell in his hand.

“Nay, Merrow, I’m not. But I am going to give it back to you.”

“Y—you are?” She batted away a few tears that welled in her eyes.

“I want you to be in control of your own life and emotions. I want you to be able to make the choice of who you will bed, what you will do, and where you will go. I don’t want what happened to Dee to happen to you. No one deserves that.”

“So you are setting me free?” she asked, sounding even more shocked than he for what he just did.

“I am,” he said, kissing her gently on the hand, still staring into her eyes. He wasn’t sure how he was going to explain this action, or his decision to release a prisoner to his advisor and captain of the guard. Neither did it matter right now. He didn’t care what others thought of him right now. All he cared about was Merrow and her happiness. He handed her the charm. With trembling fingers she took what he offered. She tied it back into her hair, the shell hanging down in front of one partially exposed breast.

“What will your subjects think of you for this? Won’t this action be frowned upon, and make you look like a weak king?” she asked him.

“Aren’t you the one who told me not to worry about what others think and to make decisions for myself? Not because it is expected of me?”

“Yes. Yes, I did say that.” When her gaze drifted down to his mouth, he thought she wanted to kiss him. Still, he didn’t want to misread her and needed to be certain that it was her decision, not his.

“Merrow, there is one thing I will regret by having given you back your personal charm.”

“What’s that?” she asked, their bodies and faces still close together.

“If I still held the charm, I would know right now exactly what you are thinking.” His eyes focused on her lips. He wanted more than anything to kiss her right now.

“Perhaps I can help you know the answer to that.” She leaned in closer and kissed him. His heart soared. He hadn’t read her wrong after all. The kiss was proper and gentle. He liked it, but found himself wanting so much more.

“I suppose you will be leaving me now? Heading back to your sisters, or to the sea?”

“Nay. Not yet.” She smiled as if she knew a secret.

He chuckled because she looked so cute. “What is it?” he asked. “Why don’t you want to leave?”

“I heard you tell Farrimond not to wait supper for you. And to close the gate if you don’t return tonight. Why did you say that?”

“I guess I was hoping to spend the night with you in my arms. I see that it was too bold to have such hope that it would really happen on its own.”

“Was it?” she asked, looking around. “Where did you plan on spending the night?”

“There is a cave behind the waterfall,” he told her. “It is private and no one ever goes there. The floor of the cave is covered with soft moss.”

“Would you show it to me?” she asked, surprising him once again.

“I will carry you there in my arms if you’d like me to.”

“Nay. I will swim while you collect our clothes. I will meet you there.” Her smile was infectious, making him smile now as well. She slid back into the water and with a flip of that mighty tail, she disappeared into her underwater world once again.

With Merrow’s shell charm back, she felt invigorated and was no longer under the control of a human man. She’d been sure Sebastian was planning on keeping her charm to control her and get what he wanted. But to her surprise, he suddenly changed from being an ogre to having a heart. He had even brought her to the water, knowing that a sea nymph needed this more than anything else. Such kindness gave her hope for all humans, not just him.

The backside of the waterfall was private, just like Sebastian said it would be. She made it there before him, hoisting herself out of the water, waiting to dry and turn into her human form once again.

“My, you are a fast swimmer.” He appeared behind the waterfall carrying their clothes as well as his weapon belt.

“You have no idea what you say. Take me to the sea and I will show you just how fast I really am.”

He put down the clothes and walked over to her, reaching down and picking her up in his arms.

“What are you doing?”

“I am helping you get inside the cave.”

“I can walk there myself.”

“Can you?” He nodded at her tail.

“Well, as soon as I dry off I can.”

“Mayhap, I am not willing to wait that long.” He carried her inside the cave, laying her atop a patch of soft, green moss.

“Oh, I see what you mean about this patch of moss. It truly is soft. Almost like a bed.” She ran her hand over the amazing surface.

“Not quite a bed, but it will do.” He went back to retrieve their things, putting them down and sitting next to her. “Are you cold?”

She shook her head. “Undines are used to the cold water. What about you?”

“I am not immune to the cold, however, I can think of a way to warm up quickly.” He sat down next to her.

“What would that be?” she asked playfully, knowing exactly what he meant. It was something she was truly looking forward to because she couldn’t wait to be intimate with him again.

He kissed her then, and this time ran his hand up and down her tail, caressing her in the most amazing way. Her senses as an undine were heightened. His touch pleased her immensely.

“I like that,” she whispered against his lips. “It feels nice.”

“What exactly does it feel like to you? I want to know.”

She could only think of one thing to explain, and it was to make him feel the same way. “I suppose it feels something like this.” She used her hand to rub her fingers up and down his manhood, getting a rise out of him. Instantly, he became hard.

“Oh, I doubt it feels exactly like that,” he said, sounding ever so sexy. His hand was on her breast next, fondling her and exciting her at the same time.

“How do I remove this?” he whispered, speaking about her bodice. He nuzzled her neck and played with her hair.

“There is no way to remove it. Just like my tail. As soon as I dry off, they will magically disappear.”

“I’m not sure I can wait that long.” He laid her back, straddling her body with his, but holding himself up by his elbows so he wouldn’t smash her.

“I think it is working,” she said with a giggle. “I am getting very hot now.”

He flipped back off of her and tore off his braies, throwing them to the side. She looked down to see his engorged manhood. It was a vision of manly beauty. Merrow couldn’t stop herself from reaching down and taking him into both hands. She moaned, coming to life with excitement since sea nymphs had a strong sexual appetite, liking to mate with men of all kinds. She hadn’t had one now for fifty years and was hungrier than most her sisters in a situation such as this.

“I think you’d better stop that, or I’ll be finished before your legs even appear.” He flipped back atop her, straddling his bare legs around her tail, pressing his chest up to hers. “Ooooh, this is a new experience,” he said, rubbing his length against her mermaid-type body. “I think I like it.”

“I like it too,” she admitted, squirming with desire beneath him.

“I hear that sirens of the sea are very lust-filled creatures.”

“Yes, they are, but I am not a siren.”

“Oh.” He stopped moving.

She smiled and continued. “However, I must say that mermaids, undines, sea nymphs, and the like have very hungry sexual appetites.”

“I can see why.” He glanced down to her tail. “I would imagine it would be frustrating not to be able to spread your legs.”

When he said that, her body temperature rose so much that she was dry instantly. Her tail disappeared along with her sea nymph clothing and her legs appeared. In this form, she was naked.

“That’s better,” she said, wrapping her legs around his back, surprising him with her action.

“You’re naked,” he pointed out.

“Yes. And so are you,” she answered. “Isn’t that usually the best way to couple?”

“As far as I know, it makes it a lot easier.” He kissed her on the mouth, then let his kisses trail lower. Before she knew it, he was fondling one breast, slipping her taut nipple between his lips. He suckled her and used his tongue to arouse her even more. She squealed with delight beneath him, liking it, but feeling too constricted.

“Sebastian. I need you to get off of me.”

His hands stilled and she could feel the rapid breathing of his heart against her own chest. “Did I do something to displease you?” he asked, sounding cautious, but genuinely sorry if he had. He also sounded a little scared that she was going to stop their lovemaking before they’d had a chance to find their release.

“Don’t worry,” she told him with a wink. “It is just that sea nymphs are aggressive during lovemaking and don’t like to be constricted by being on the bottom.”

“Really?”

“I’ll let you be the judge of that.” She pushed him to the bed and crawled atop him, spreading her legs around him like she was about to ride a horse. Desire dwelled inside her, and this man had fed that need with his kindness when he brought her to the waterfall, and then gave her back her shell charm. This was a man she was interested in coupling with, not the man he was when she’d first met him. No human man she’d ever heard of had given back a sea nymph’s personal charm, hence giving up control over her. No man she’d ever met had changed so much in such a short time. This side of Sebastian Ravenwolf wasn’t greedy and evil. This part of him was kind and giving. That was exactly what she wanted in a man but thought she would never see.

She leaned forward and kissed him the same way he had kissed her. Her mouth trailed down his chest and she licked his nipple, causing it to turn to a hard nub. He laughed.

“That tickles,” he told her. “Mayhap we’ll leave that move to me when I kiss you.”

“Whatever you like.” She ran her hands up and down his sturdy chest, licking his skin, getting lower and lower. He started to say something to her but stopped when she took his erection into her mouth and pleasured him with her lips and tongue. He squirmed beneath her.

“Merrow, you are driving me mad,” came his voice through his heavy breathing.

“You don’t like this?” She used her hands to pleasure him more.

“Oh, I like it. Too much. But you need to stop that, because I cannot hold back much longer.”

“Oh, you mean to you want to make love the usual way.”

“I’m not sure what is usual for a sea nymph, and I am up for trying anything you suggest. However, at the moment, I am ready to explode. Please, let me enter you now.”

“Let me help.”

Taking him into her body, Merrow felt his warmth and his strength as he filled her completely. His thrusts started out gentle, the touch of his hands against her skin like a feather brushing the surface. This felt right. Merrow moved her hips, the way an undine did to swim, and it seemed to make him squirm even more beneath her.

“Oh, you have no idea what you are doing to me you naughty little sea nymph.”

“Do you like it?”

“Do I!”

She liked it too, and that made her happy. There was no harm in spending time together, coupling the way a man and a woman were meant to do.

They did the dance of love, their movements fluid like the water, but their bodies both burning for each other like her special times, bathing in the sun. Something came to life inside her that she’d never felt before. All that mattered in this time, in this very moment was to give this man pleasure and to feel that same pleasure in return. However, this seemed to be going far beyond any of her expectations.

“Merrow, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You couldn’t hurt me, my lord. I hope I don’t hurt you.”

That made him chuckle as they continued to kiss while they coupled. He pulled back long enough for her to hear his reply.

“The only way you could possibly hurt me is if I find my release before you experience yours.”

“How about we find it together, then?” she asked, feeling her heart about ready to explode, from not lust, but love. All the love she felt for her sisters, her underwater home and the creatures that walked the earth and swam in the sea, was here now within her. She experienced joy, happiness, and a carefree feeling that everything would be all right. Merrow wanted Sebastian to feel this way too. She wanted to feel these emotions together.

Their rhythm picked up and their hips moved faster and faster. She didn’t hold back, but moved atop him the same way she did when she moved her hips to swim through the water using her tail to propel her. Their bodies made a slapping noise as they came together. The sound excited both of them. Her heart beat faster, and she noticed his breathing change. So did hers. They were climbing the precipice and about to reach that peak of fulfilled desire. Together.

Sebastian growled loudly like an animal, the sound calling to her in a primal way, until she released screaming noises that she hoped wouldn’t scare him off.

She cried out. So did he. Colors exploded behind her closed lids and her senses, since she was a sea nymph, were enhanced more than ever before. She could smell the scent of happiness, taste the flavor of joy. Merrow could feel the overwhelming emotion spilling forth, filling the air all around them. This seemed more than just lust and sexual fulfillment. She felt the two of them come together as if they were part of nature. Part of each other. Like they belonged together. If she didn’t know better, she’d say that possibly what she was feeling…was love.

Sated and spent, she rolled off of him, cuddling up and resting her cheek against his bare chest. Breathing hard, he reached out and smoothed down her hair. His hand almost touched her shell charm woven into her locks, but he was careful and pulled his hand away at the last second. If he had touched it, she wasn’t sure that it, as well as she, wouldn’t shatter in his arms.

“I’ve never coupled with a sea nymph before,” he whispered, kissing her atop the head. “I must say it was exhilarating. After that, I am not sure I will ever be able to couple with a human woman again.”

It was meant as a compliment, she was sure, but for some reason his words made her feel empty and sad. Part of her wanted to claim him as hers. She didn’t want to share Sebastian with any human woman. But to want that was selfish she supposed. After all, she was about to leave Mura forever and go back home. Sebastian would want a wife and queen here on Mura. He would need a woman who could not only satisfy him, but remind him that he didn’t need to care what anyone else thought about him and that he didn’t need to listen to anyone’s feelings but his own.

Merrow was an undine. She belonged in the Aegean Sea, not the Masked Sea. Her home was with her forty-nine sisters and her brother, not in a castle with armies, living on land, and eating in a great hall. He needed someone who could fill that position. It should be a woman who could serve as queen of Macada Castle, as well as wife to the king. That is, a woman who could bear him as many heirs as he wanted.

She was Merrow Havfine, from a different world, she reminded herself. Just a poor girl who was at the wrong place at the wrong time and was accidentally sucked through a portal. That is what brought her to Mura, and that same portal would take her home now as well.

She could never be the woman that Sebastian needed and wanted.

Nay, never.

Or could she?