Chapter 3
Three
S ebastian couldn’t take his eyes off the mermaid as they sailed back to Macada Castle and docked the ship. The rain had let up slightly, but still it was coming down at a good pace.
“King Ravenwolf, my net is ruined.” The captain looked down at the mermaid who was still sitting there, unable to move. The torn net was all around her. Trying to get untangled, she had ripped the thing to shreds.
“Owaine, stop complaining.” Sebastian stomped over, his booted feet stopping so close to the girl’s hand that she pulled it away and held it against her chest. “I’ll buy you a new net.”
“Well, what about that—thing?” Owaine pointed a finger at her. “What am I supposed to do with her? Filet the girl and bring her to your cook to prepare for supper?”
“What?” The undine, as the girl had referred to herself, gasped at the notion. She almost seemed to choke on her own spit. “I’m not a fish!” she finally managed to spit out. “You can’t eat me.”
“She sure looks like a fish to me with that long, plump tail.” Two of the crewmen sidled up to her.
“I’m so hungry, I could eat her raw right now,” said the other. “Forget the cooking.”
“Before or after we have fun with her top half?” asked the first, and they both burst out laughing.
That angered Sebastian. His fist plowed into the first crewman’s face, followed by his second punch, plundering the other disrespectful man as well. They both fell to the deck rubbing their jaws.
“If I ever hear anyone say something like that again, you’ll be meeting with my blade instead of my fist next time. Do you all understand me?”
“Aye, my king.” The men answered one by one, getting back to their duties.
“King Ravenwolf, you still didn’t tell me what to do with her.” Owaine waited for his answer.
“Nothing,” he answered.
“Nothing?” Owaine shook his head and narrowed his eyes.
“I’ll take her,” said Sebastian, not wanting to leave the sea nymph with this crew. If he did, as soon as he turned his back they’d be spreading butter over her body and licking it off of her, no doubt. Damn, he cursed himself, now not able to get that thought from his head. As alluring as she was, he couldn’t say he wasn’t having the same fantasy of doing just that. Her perky breasts and taut nipples were showing right through her wet clothes, and he’d found it hard to look the other way. He reached down and scooped her up in his arms. Her hands clung to his shoulders and he felt her necklace made of shells and coral pushing up against him. Her long, beautiful and iridescent tail hung over one side while her long, unbound tri-colored hair spilled over his other arm.
He hurried across the pier, making his way past the small village huts and to the drawbridge of his castle. As he crossed, he spoke to her.
“Do you—do you have a name?” he asked, not knowing how to have conversation with a sea nymph since he’d never met one before.
“Of course, I do, you simpkin! I’m a person, too, you know.”
“Are you?” He supposed that sounded dumb, even though he really wasn’t sure if she was a person. Or just half a person. “Well, what’s your name?” he quickly asked before she could call him a simpkin again for that last comment. He glanced down at the beautiful half-woman in his arms and waited for her to answer.
“It’s Merrow. Merrow Havfine.”
“Hello, Merrow. My name is?—”
“King Sebastian Ravenwolf. I know,” she answered, surprising him yet again.
“How did you know that? Oh. You heard my men. That’s right.” For some reason, he felt flustered around her and as if he couldn’t even think straight.
“Of course,” she answered snidely. “How else would I know?”
“Well, some of the beings of Mura are magical and can read minds. I wasn’t sure if you could or not.”
She jerked a little and her body stiffened. Something about that comment seemed to alarm her. “Mura?” she questioned as he crossed the drawbridge. People came running from all directions to see her. She shyly hid her face against his shoulder. It almost seemed as if she felt vulnerable right now. He supposed he couldn’t blame her. “What is this land called Mura?” She peeked up at him with those translucent blue-green eyes that reminded him of the sea.
“Don’t you know where you live?” he asked her. “Mura is the land that the Masked Sea surrounds.”
“I have never heard of either of them before.”
“You haven’t?” He started wondering if the girl had bumped her head and lost some memory. How could she never have heard of Mura or the Masked Sea? After all, that is where he’d caught her.
“Nay. I come from the Aegean Sea. Near Greece,” she told him.
“I’m sorry, but you are making no sense right now. Back! Everyone back,” he shouted, shooing away the onlookers. He wanted to speak to this creature in private. The only place to do so would be in his private solar. He hurried into the keep and up the stairs, kicking open the door to his chamber since his hands were full.
“Where are you taking me?” asked Merrow.
“Somewhere private.” He turned and used his foot to close the door, not daring to loosen his grip, not wanting to drop the sea nymph. He walked over to his bed and gently laid her upon it. Sebastian stood up, wiping his wet hands on his tunic. His eyes fastened on her tail again. “I’ve heard of sea creatures such as you but have never before seen one.”
“Stop staring at me as if I am naught but an oddity.”
“But you are. Or at least you are in Mura. We don’t have sea nymphs here.” He turned and walked across the room to pour them each a glass of wine. “Tell me, what were you doing in the water?”
“Another stupid question. I’m a sea nymph. Of course, I live in the water. Is that so hard to understand?” came her muffled voice from the bed.
“I know that. But, how is it that you are from another land? How did you get here?” He filled both goblets and replaced the cork on the bottle of wine. He heard a soft padding across the floor. His instincts made him whirl around, his hand raising to catch her hand which held his dagger.
“Don’t even think of it!” he spat through gritted teeth, realizing she had lifted his dagger as he carried her and was now trying to kill him with his own weapon. Such gall! He squeezed her wrist tight in his fist, causing her to drop the dagger. It clanged to the ground and she whimpered, trying to pull away from him.
Suddenly, he realized she was standing. How could she? His gaze lowered to find two long, beautiful shapely legs and bare feet. Her body was totally naked. The necklace of shells was all she wore. Her long hair covered each of her breasts, but he saw a thatch of tri-colored hair below her waist.
He quickly released her hand and took a step backwards. That is when he noticed the blood on the floor.
“You’re bleeding.”
“Yes. My desire to kill you backfired and ironically I am the one who was stabbed by the blade. When you made me drop the dagger, it sliced open my foot.”
Sebastian groaned. “Damn. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Didn’t you.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Please, clothe yourself and I will wrap your wound.”
“With what?” she asked him, doing nothing to cover her nakedness. She seemed comfortable being this way and it made him wonder if all mermaids or sea nymphs ran around in the nude.
“You had clothes. Before.”
“Yes. And I also had a tail, pointed ears, and webbed fingers and toes.”
“I suppose you did,” he said, realizing all her sea nymph features had disappeared and now she looked just like a human. “So…your clothes disappear when you—when you…”
“When I shift into my human form, yes,” she finished for him, doing nothing to move.
“Doesn’t being naked make you uncomfortable?” he asked her, trying his hardest to look only at her face but it wasn’t easy when she had such a shapely, inviting body.
“Should it make me uneasy for some reason?” was her wry remark.
“Nay, I guess not.” Sebastian cleared his throat, feeling very uncomfortable in this position, even though he was the one who was clothed. He walked over to a trunk, opened the lid and pulled out a tunic and a pair of his breeches. He turned and handed them to her. “Here. You can wear these.”
“Those clothes are made for a man.” She looked down her nose at them as if they weren’t good enough for her. It unnerved him. For some reason all that mattered was that he please her. He didn’t know why he felt this way and wondered if it was a power of a sea nymph making him act like this. He’d have to ask her about it later. After she was fully clothed.
“Please. At least wear the tunic. You can wear it like a gown. I’ll find you a cord to tie around your waist.”
She reluctantly took it. “If you insist.”
He put the breeches back and searched for a belt or rope of some kind, but she had a tiny waist and anything he could possibly give her would be much too large and bulky. “I’m sorry. I don’t have a belt for you.” He turned to see her standing next to his bed.
“Don’t bother. I’ll use this.” She took the piece of yellow cord that held back the bedcurtains and tied it around her tiny waist. “Better?” she asked, holding out her arms and turning in a full circle.
Damn, the sea nymph had looked alluring in her mermaid form, but with legs he found her even more breathtaking. What in the world was the matter with him to be thinking about a sea creature in this way?
“Sit down and let me wrap up your foot.” He ripped a piece of cloth, using it to bind her wound.
“It was a portal,” she told him, reaching over and picking up his boar bristle brush from the table. Then she got up and walked over, sitting down on his bed. She ran the brush through her long hair.
“What?” His brain suddenly couldn’t think. He didn’t know what she meant.
“It was an underwater portal that opened up and sucked me and my s—I mean, sucked me through it, ending up here.”
She had started to say something else and stopped herself. She was hiding something from him and he thought he knew what. “Yes, we have had portals mysteriously opening and closing here on Mura for a while now.”
“Really?” The hairbrush stilled. “Has anyone like me every come through before now?”
“No. Not that I know of. Why?”
“No reason.” She slowly brushed her locks once again.
“How did you sprout legs?” he blurted out, not knowing how any of this worked. “And what happened to your tail and your sea clothes? Where did they go?”
“When an undine is wet, we grow a tail and other means to transport ourselves through the water. As well as sea clothes. When we’re dry that all disappears and we gain legs to walk on land. Like a human.”
“But you’re not. Human. Right?” He slowly walked over and picked up both goblets of wine, handing one to her.
“Nay, I’m not. You see, undines don’t have a soul.”
“They don’t?”
She put down the brush and reached for the goblet. When she did so, a shell that was woven into her hair fell out and to the ground.
“Oh!” she cried, startled, forgetting about the wine. “I lost my personal shell charm.” She started to reach for it, but he was faster than her.
“I’ll get it,” he offered, bending over and scooping it up in one hand. When he touched it, he felt a jolt go right through him. It was a cross between an orgasm and having all his senses explode at once. His eyes closed and he wavered back and forth. He wasn’t certain that he wouldn’t pass out.
“Give it to me. Give it back to me. Now!”
His eyes opened slowly. “Don’t be upset. I wasn’t stealing it from you.” He looked down to see the shell glowing in his hand. He caressed it with his thumb, realizing it wasn’t a shell at all. It held the form of one, but was soft. Spongey. It was also beautiful. It held an iridescent hue of green like sea water and brown like sand. It sparkled and felt warm to the touch. And every time he rubbed his thumb over it, it glowed brighter and brighter. “This is interesting. My touch seems to make it react by lighting up. Why is that?”
Sebastian looked down at the girl to see her eyes closed and her head thrown back. Her nipples were hard and poking up through his tunic that she wore. If he didn’t know better, he’d say the girl looked to be sexually aroused.
“Merrow?” he asked, causing her eyes to snap open. “What’s going on?”
“My shell charm.” Her open palm reached out for it. “Drop it into my hand. Hurry. Right now.”
“All right. Calm down.” He was about to give it to her, but something made him stop and rub his fingers over it one more time. Sure enough, the shell lit up again. When it did, Merrow let out a moan of desire. She fell back on the bed with her hand between her legs, rocking back and forth.
“Merrow!” he gasped in surprise by what she was doing. At the sound of his voice, she shot up in bed, holding herself up with her arms, looking around.
“I’m sorry.” She blinked several times in succession.
“You are acting this way because of this, aren’t you?” He held the shell-like object out in front of her but she did nothing to retrieve it.
Her aqua eyes looked up at him, drawing him in, making him want to couple with her for his own pleasure. “Give it to me,” she said in a breathy whisper. “Please. And I beg you not to stroke it again.”
“Take it,” he challenged her, still holding it out to her.
“I will.” She reached out for it, but was pushed away by some invisible force. She fell back on the bed and let out a deep sigh. “You need to give it to me. I cannot take it from you.” Her voice sounded sultry but weak.
“Why not?” he asked with a chuckle, sitting down with his goblet of wine still in his hand.
“I don’t want to tell you.” A little pout made her bottom lip stick out in the most alluring way. Without even thinking about it, he found himself reaching over and pressing his mouth up against hers. She tasted sweet and tangy at the same time. Her lips were full and ripe with sultry desire. Kissing a sea nymph was an experience like no other. It was so enlivening and exciting. What he felt in that simple kiss was something that he’d never forget as long as he lived. In her kiss he found not only erotic pleasure and passion, but he felt an energy come through her that almost made him feel connected to every living thing in the entire damned sea! Sebastian couldn’t explain it, but for some reason it was…euphoric. He’d kissed a lot of women in his time, but never before had a simple kiss made him feel like this!
He quickly pulled back, afraid if he kissed her again, he would lose control. Being a king, he couldn’t let that happen. To do that would make him weak and vulnerable. He couldn’t have that at all.
“Tell me what I want to know or you’ll never get this back,” he said in a half whisper. He taunted her by dangling the shell in front of her face since he knew now that she couldn’t touch it unless he gave it to her.
“I don’t want to tell you.” She squeezed her eyes shut. He saw the struggle on her face. She wanted to tell him but didn’t want him to know, all at the same time.
“Do it!” he commanded, causing her to jerk. Her eyes sprang open, interlocking with his. Neither of them seemed able to look away even if they had wanted to.
“All right. I’ll tell you,” she said softly, releasing a deep sigh. “That is my personal shell charm that holds all my desires, emotions and…wanton pleasures.” When she said the latter, her voice dripped with lust if he wasn’t mistaken. “It is meant to help a sea nymph keep in control. Especially since sea nymphs have a huge sexual appetite that can get out of control easily.”
“Oh!” This time it was he whose body jerked. He almost dropped the damned shell when he heard her say that. Thinking about sea nymphs and sexual pleasures all at once was making him grow hard already.
She continued. “If a human takes an undine’s personal shell charm, that human holds control over the undine, able to make her do whatever he wants.”
“Whatever he wants,” Sebastian repeated softly, his eyes drifting from her to the shell in his hand. Oh, this was all too tempting. “Forever?” he asked, curiously.
“Until the object is freely given back to them.”
“Is that so?” He chuckled and took a drink of wine, liking the position he found himself in. After all, it wasn’t every day a man could control the sexual desires of a sea nymph. “Hmm, this is interesting. Very interesting indeed.” He cleared his throat, thinking how much fun he could have with this. “So, do sea nymphs have magical powers?”
“Nay. Not really. Besides a tail or legs emerging, that is.” She said the words but since he was holding the shell that controlled her, he could tell she was lying. She had some kind of power but wasn’t telling him about it. He wanted to know more, but his erection was getting uncomfortable. He decided not to press her about it right now. After all, he held all the power now that he had her personal shell charm. He could find out whatever he wanted to know later. Being a king, Sebastian craved as much power as he could possibly get, even if it was only power over a nymph of the sea.
“Have some wine,” he said, handing her the goblet.
“Nay, I don’t want any.”
He rubbed his thumb over the charm. “Have some wine, I say.”
Her head slowly lifted and those plump lips parted seductively. “Of course, my king. Whatever you want me to do,” she said, taking the goblet from him. She drank down the wine in three gulps and handed the cup back to him. “Did that please you?” she asked him.
“Well, nay. I mean, not exactly.” He played with the goblet, looking into the depth of the empty cup. He’d just controlled her, but for some reason it didn’t make him feel as good as he thought it would. Something about it just didn’t feel right. Sebastian couldn’t understand it. Since when did power and control feel wrong? This is everything a king craved. It should have made him happy. He needed to get away from this girl and come back when he had a clear head.
“Where are you going?” she asked him as he headed for the door. “And why haven’t you given me back my shell charm yet?”
“I need to decide what to do with you.” He looked down to the shell charm in his hand, feeling confused and conflicted. Then he closed his fingers over it instead of giving it back to her. “I believe I’ll hold on to this for now.” His eyes sought her out and then his gaze returned to the undine’s most precious possession, now in the palm of his hand.
“Nay. Please. Just put me back in the sea where I and my sisters belong.” Her voice was frantic. She was begging.
He looked back at her once again. “Your sisters?” He raised a brow. “So, there are more of you then?”
She gasped and her hand covered her mouth but slowly dropped to her side. “I mean me. I meant just me.” Her cheeks were red and he knew the effects of drinking the wine so fast must have made her careless with her words. She’d slipped up and told him one of her secrets.
“You asked about your sisters on the ship as well. Tell me about them.”
“There’s no getting anything past you, my mighty king, is there?” She sounded angry now. Merrow reached over and picked up her goblet from the table and downed that entire cup of wine as well, banging it back down when it was empty.
“You had sisters that came through the portal with you, didn’t you?” Sebastian took two steps back into the center of the room. “There are more of you here. That is what you’re worried about. You don’t want me to find them. That is why you asked me if we had more than one net on the ship. Isn’t it?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” She was acting cocky again and he didn’t like that. He was a king and all his subjects needed to treat him with respect. He didn’t tolerate lying.
He held up the shell in his hand and rubbed it hard, purposely showing her that she could no longer keep the truth from him. “I want to know everything, you little devious sea nymph. Tell me now. Did your sisters come through the portal with you or not?”
She looked at him with hooded eyes, slowly getting up off the bed and making her way toward him as if she were a predator stalking her prey. “Yes, my lord, that is correct. I had two sisters come through the portal with me and I will do anything to find and protect them,” she told him in a monotone voice. It almost didn’t even sound like her. Perhaps it was because she was telling him against her will. Mayhap he’d rubbed the charm too much or too hard.
Merrow gripped him by the front of his tunic and pulled him to her, slamming her lips up against his. She kissed him, bit at his lips, and her hands wandered over his body. She ripped open his tunic, her fingers gliding over his chest and biceps. Her fingers dug into his muscles, and then her nails scratched his skin. He meant to pull away, but she just kept on going. Her hands were at his belt, her fingers gliding over his clothes, causing his manhood to become even more erect. Dammit, he was so excited! He realized he had brought this on by rubbing her charm. He also realized that he really liked it. Damn, now she was controlling him. He couldn’t have that. There was no way he was about to let her control his sexual urges even if that is all he could think about at the moment.
“Nay. Stop!” He pushed her away from him, releasing a deep breath.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, batting her long, curvy lashes. “Isn’t that what you wanted when you rubbed my shell charm so hard that it almost broke? And if you say no to me right now, I will know you are lying. We both see the proof.” Her gaze slowly raked down every inch of his body, stopping at his protruding form sticking out from beneath his breeches.
“This is over. For now,” he told her. “Now stay here. I am locking you in the room for your own protection.”
“Give me my shell charm and I’ll leave here on my own accord. I promise you will never have to see me again.”
Sebastian never felt as confused as he did right now. He should have probably just given her the damned charm, but stubbornness made him cling to it even tighter now.
“I think not, my little mermaid. And don’t try to control me again, because I’m a king and you will never succeed. I am much too wise and strong and powerful to fall for your little games. Ever.”
He turned and left the room. When he was locking the door from the other side, he swore he heard her talking to herself inside the room. It was just a mumble, but it sounded to him as if she said, “We’ll see how wise and strong you are when my father finds out what you’ve done.”