Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (9 page)

He gazed deeply into her eyes,
searching her soul. What he saw there reassured him more than her
heartfelt reply. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,
my love.”

And with that, he wrapped Naia in the
comfort of his golden brown tailfin and drew her into the center of
the cavern with him. The need to possess her raged through him. He
was about to make her his and his alone.

As she leaned into him, he felt her
erect nipples rubbing against his chest, making his loins
stir.

She tangled her delicate fingers in
his long white hair and drew him closer. Their eyes locked and a
low, guttural groan escaped his lips as she kissed him.

His warm hands lingered as he slowly
traced patterns across her skin, igniting a flame inside her. Her
nipples started to tingle and she felt a warmth forming within
her.

She realized something inside her was
changing. It wasn’t the tingling in her breasts or the heat of her
passion for Atargatis, but something different, something she had
never felt before. Unsure of what she was feeling, she pushed it
aside.

His hand paused on her breast and he
stroked the taut peak. The subtle moans that escaped her increased
his growing passion. He lowered his head and kissed between her
breasts then slowly ran his tongue up to her neck. He heard her
breath hitch as he kissed and nibbled on the soft skin just under
her earlobe.

His fingers gently grazed her arms,
her shoulders, and her back. His skin burned feverishly where they
touched.

His hand traveled down the curve of her breasts, the
soft swell of her stomach and lower, leaving a heated trail
everywhere he touched. Slipping between her opening, his fingers
found her folds, fondling and teasing them, opening and readying
her more for him.
Her head fell back as he
caressed her. Her folds were slick and smooth to the touch. He
teased her until she cried out in pleasant agony then he slid his
finger deep within her. Closing her eyes, Naia moaned and arched
into him. As she did so, he felt the opening beneath his scales
separate and his cock emerge.

As they continued to float in the
center of their secret place, her hair shimmered in the soft light
as it danced through the water. Her skin was soft, beautiful, and
radiant. He grew even harder for her and knew it was almost
time.

Naia felt it again. The strange
sensation was running through her body. It felt incredible and she
liked it. Opening her eyes, she noticed her skin was starting to
glow. It startled her.

“
What’s happening to me?”
she asked.

“
It’s okay. There’s nothing
to fear. It’s part of the mating. The light comes from within you,
proving to me you want to mate and that this is your deepest
desire. The light will travel through you, into me, and it’s what
binds us for life and gives us our magical abilities.”

The sensation wasn’t painful but it
was beginning to overwhelm her. “I have a sudden need to have you
inside me,” she whispered.

Her arms circled his back and she
pressed her fingers hard into his skin, pulling him tighter against
her. As he held her closely, she seductively ran her fingers up his
arms, delicately following the mer markings on his right arm until
she reached his shoulders. Hooking her arms around them, she buried
her face in his neck and kissed him gently. She felt him grasp her
hips as he readied himself. He entered her slowly, only stopping
once he was deep inside her. She could feel all of his strength and
love within the confines of his muscular arms and never wanted that
feeling to leave her.

She moved rhythmically with him and
allowed herself to go to the place she was meant to be. Opening her
eyes, she watched him in the dim light and reveled in his beauty as
he moved with her. With every breath, she felt herself coming one
step closer to release.

Atargatis guided her movements with
his hands while keeping them afloat with his tailfin. He felt her
warmth encompassing his throbbing cock with each stroke. He felt
the pressure building and he could feel it in her too. Her inner
light was becoming more radiant with each passing moment of
gratifying pleasure.

Naia’s insides were a swirling mass of
waves, robbing her of every coherent thought, and she felt herself
losing all control. Her skin was getting brighter and she was
starting to tremble.

Atargatis’s strokes became deeper and
faster, and as his movements increased she felt the light slowly
creeping from her limbs, pulsating as it moved through her.
Starting from the tips of her fingers, the glow under her skin
retracted until it was past her elbows, then past her shoulders
until it completely gathered into the center of her chest. She felt
its force churning inside her like a violent storm, becoming larger
until it felt like she could no longer hold its power. For a split
second she felt a sharp pain, then an overwhelming blast of energy
shot through her, releasing the light. It reverberated down her
arms, into her hands, out through her fingertips, and straight into
Atargatis’s body. It sent him jolting backward a bit, but not
enough to where he left the safe haven of her sheath.

His entire being was now glowing like
hers once had. The radiant light pulsed from dim to bright. It
would remain inside him now, coursing throughout his body until
they completed their mating.

As they came back together, their
bodies met with shuddering ripples of ecstasy as they both reached
the peak of their orgasms. It engulfed them and as they came down
from their release, Atargatis’s light faded away until it was
completely burned out.

Naia collapsed against him. Her body
was spent and although she felt drained of her energy, she was in
complete control of herself again.

She felt comforted knowing that from
now on, they would always be together. Now that they were mated,
not even the interference of their families could truly separate
them. They were each other’s future.

Atargatis swept her into his arms and
swam them over to the kelp bed. He gently eased down pulling Naia
along with him. As they lay across the soft velvety leaves he
wrapped her in the security of his tailfin. They spent the rest of
the night making love and murmuring words of the passion they felt
for one another.

They knew for now this was all they
had. When the light appeared above the surface, they’d have to go
their separate ways, but only temporarily. Once they found a way to
tell their families what they had done, they would be together
again and this time it would be forever.

Chapter Two

Crehon Ariskan stood by the ocean’s
edge watching as the small waves lapped at his sandal covered feet.
A cool breeze came through, molding the thin white linen of his
tunic against him, and rustling the palm fronds that lined the
beach behind him as it passed by. The sun’s beams lay across the
current causing the sea’s surface to sparkle. Closer to the beach,
the water was a crystal clear turquoise, but the farther out his
vision stretched the darker the water became until it was almost
black.

Even
though this
eiar
morning couldn’t have been more perfect now that the cold
nights were coming to an end and the buds on the trees were just
beginning to blossom, his brow furrowed at the thought of the
unexpected ultimatum placed before him.

How am I going to deal
with something of this magnitude?

This was bigger than anything he had
ever dealt with in his short reign as the Emperor of Atlantis, and
his warriors would look to him for guidance.

He was standing here now patiently
waiting to speak with Atlantis’s secret ally to formulate a
resolution.

Close by
a shift in the movement of the water flow caught his attention and
pulled him from his thoughts. The surface around the small area of
water began erupting waves and eventually turned into a ringlet of
white frothy foam. A few moments later the water started to
displace and spray upward, then it folded over itself and fell back
down to rejoin the surface. In the middle of this watery ballet,
a
long,
helical
tusk
ed spear
slowly arose out of the depths.

Crehon knew of only one being in the
Atlantic Ocean Territory who owned such a prized weapon, his old
friend and now ally, Atargatis, General of the Oceanic Royal Guard.
The spear was crafted from the tusk of a Narwhal and given to the
King of Oceania, as a gift from the King of Arcteria, ruler of the
Arctic Ocean Territory. The king had passed it down to Atargatis,
his son, some years ago.

As Atargatis continued to rise above
the surface, beads of salt water dripped down from the top of his
head, then down his shoulders and chest, until he looked as though
he hadn’t been wet at all. His white hair was completely dry except
for the ends which were still submerged below the
surface.

Crehon could see Atargatis was
grinning broadly, and under normal circumstances he’d ask him why
he looked so happy, but today there was a dire calamity that needed
to be dealt with.

“
So, my land brother, why
have you summoned me to the surface?” Atargatis asked
smiling.

“
An envoy arrived late last
night while Atlantis slept,” Crehon responded. “It carried the
Ambassador of Cythera, Hektor Alexios. He brought a message from
Emperor Ethos.”

Cythera was an island country just
south of Sparta in the Mediterranean Sea. They’d always been
envious of Atlantis’s vast wealth and trading routes.

“
What does he
want?”

“
He is
giving me demands. Either I submit to him and Atlantis becomes
Cythera’s vassal or he will annihilate us. The Cytheran naval fleet
has already set sail. If I give in to his wishes the ambassador
will send word and the fleet will return to Cythera. If I do not,
then they will continue on their way and will wage war against
Atlantis. He has given me until sundown on this day to give him an
answer.” Crehon’s fists tightened until his knuckles turned white.
He was trying to tamp down his inner turmoil.
Was he making the right decision? Would his people suffer if
he made the wrong decision?

“
I will not be diplomatic
about this. By the Gods, I will never surrender Atlantis.” He
paused for a brief moment and took a deep breath before continuing.
“I have already made my decision; we will fight to protect my
people. The Cytherans shall meet with a beautiful
death.”

“
You know we will fight
with you. What do you need from us?” Atargatis asked
grimly.

Crehon paced back and forth, stamping
down a path in the sand along the water’s edge. The occasional wave
would reach up and smooth the sand back to its original state, only
to be flattened once again by his pacing.

“
They will be here within
ten days. During this period, we shall create a plan to attack from
the surface and the depths of the sea. With my fleet, and your
warriors, we shall send the Cytherans to the bowels of the ocean.
My army will be staged on the shore to defend Atlantis from any
ships that slip past our ocean defenses.”

“
Ten days’ time?” Atargatis
interjected.

“
Yes, this will provide
ample time to have our forces prepare for battle. Since Ethos does
not know of your existence, they will not suspect an attack from
below. Victory will be ours my brother. Atlantis shall not fall on
this or any other day!”

Swimming in closer to where the edge
of the sand dropped off and became a wall of coral reef, Atargatis
perched himself against the rocks. He felt his mer magic draining
quickly and knew he only had a few more moments above the surface.
Before long he’d have to sink below the barrier that protected the
kingdom. It was only visible to mers. Once beneath the security of
the barrier, their magic was no longer needed and they could
breathe freely under the water. Only the King, his Queen, and the
members of the Royal Guard were versed in this knowledge. As far as
the other mers knew, they were not able to breathe beyond its
boundaries. It was the King’s way of controlling his merpeople from
randomly going above the surface.

“
I’ll have a meeting with
my Captain right away. We’ll discuss a strategy and then send word
up to you of our approach. But for now I must go, I’m needed
below.” He did not lead on to his impending need to get back to the
water’s depths for air. He and Crehon were old friends. But the
fact of the matter was, Crehon was human, so under no circumstance
could he share his weaknesses with him.

Slipping off and away from the rocks
he had rested against, Atargatis swam back toward the area in which
he first appeared. He turned and yelled back towards the beach
where Crehon had already started walking away, “Fear not! Victory
will be ours!”

He then launched himself a couple of
feet above the water, flicked his golden brown fin, and dove
straight down, descending below the surface.

Chapter Three