Tidal Wave (6 page)

“I just want what’s best for you,” Michael insisted.

“Go!” she ordered in the same tone she’d heard her Gram use earlier in the day.

He scrambled to his feet and straightened his clothing with dignity before he bowed slightly in her direction. The menacing look he threw at his younger relatives was less respectful but Alexia let it go. She wanted Michael out before she lost all control.

The click as the door shut behind Michael echoed in the room, Anthony’s agitated breathing loud in the silence. Joshua swept a hand through his hair and took a calming breath himself. He’d never thought Michael would resort to violence to try and claim the Keeper.

Delicate fingers slipped into his hand and his heartbeat doubled. Alexia was here, he was here.

Anthony was still here.

His cousin’s expression held a mix of anger and awe, and Joshua empathized deeply. With Michael’s departure, the sexual tension returned, a heady sensation that tangled Joshua’s limbs and clouded his mind. In her every move and glance, Alexia sent a clear message of arousal and need, one he wished nothing more than to answer immediately.

Completely. Forcefully.

He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it lightly, tonguing the tender flesh between her knuckles.

“You have a good right hook, my lady,” Joshua said, soft and low, his voice gravelly as lust raced through his body.

Alexia’s eyes were huge in her pale face. She moistened her bottom lip with her tongue and a flush covered her skin.

“Now what, Joshua? Now what do we do?” He had to strain to hear her quiet voice, embarrassment coloring her prettily.

He raised a brow, his fingers stroking hers. “Anthony explained. You are the one who must decide what you need. We will do whatever you ask, whether it’s a walk on the beach or a game of cards. We could sit by the fire and tell you stories about what it’s like to travel underwater.”

As he spoke Alexia pulled away from him to stare out the window at the ocean. Her body sagged and she hugged her arms around her body tightly. Her head dropped to the cool glass for a moment and Joshua hesitated. Perhaps it was all too much too fast.

She
knew
what she needed to demand of them. It was a part of who she was, the heritage in belonging to the line of the matriarch. Now that the medallion had begun to awaken her body to the change, there was no turning back. Her longing for transformation would drive her need for sex higher and higher to the point of overwhelming lust.

Every inch of Joshua’s body urged him to step forward and take her into his arms, but he held back. He had to let her be the one to decide. “We could say good night, and let you sleep and think about things until the morning,” he said, attempting to keep the reluctance out of his voice.

Anthony cleared his throat. “We could…” His gaze flicked to Joshua as if asking permission. “We could…”

“Hold me?” Alexia whispered. She turned her back to the windows and squared her shoulders.

“Ummm, yes.”

“Kiss me?” she breathed as her head tilted to the side.

Anthony swallowed hard before nodding.

Alexia smiled, a mischievous expression crossing her face. She stepped closer to Anthony but looked at Joshua. “Make love to me?” she purred.

Groans tore from both their throats as she reached for them. Joshua stayed back, letting Anthony take Alexia into his arms first.

The anger he expected to flare at seeing anyone touch Alexia arrived, but far more tempered than he’d believed possible. Anthony’s tender adoration for her was so clear in his every movement Joshua felt a tentative peace as he watched their lips meet. He didn’t want it to happen. He’d give anything to be all she needed.

But he wasn’t. Not yet. Perhaps not ever.

Anthony kissed her again, a hesitant caress. Joshua watched a trickle of blue shoot from his cousin to brush Alexia’s skin. The magic of St. Elmo’s fire would make her strong. Along with the chemicals from both of them, she would able to transform and survive underwater and lead their people.

What Joshua could give alone wasn’t enough.

This night had to happen. He would share, for her sake, this one time.

Please let it be only this one time.

Joshua moved to stoke the fire higher, pull cushions to the floor and open the curtains to let the ocean witness their lovemaking.

Alexia wondered briefly what she was doing in Anthony’s arms while Joshua wandered the room behind them. It was so different from anything she’d experienced before, the need welling from deep within calling her to keep these two men at her side. More than called, demanded. She longed for Joshua, a heady all-out desire that shocked her to the core, but she wanted Anthony as well. Alexia had never been one to fool around indiscriminately, always keeping sex in the context of long-term relationships. But there was no denying the urges sweeping through her now, harder and hotter than she’d experienced before.

It had to be something to do with the medallion, with the dolphins.

Did she want to be out of control like this? She’d accepted the medallion as a gift from her Gram. A trinket. Not some life-changing “now you are one of us” commitment. Yet here she stood in Anthony’s arms. Her hand throbbed from the smack she’d delivered to Michael’s face. Her body tingled from head to toe with the need for…something.

Kissing Anthony felt right. Sweet, tender kisses that turned her inside out. Anthony’s touch teased. Tentative at first, his lips on hers like a brush of the ocean on the shore at its very calmest. She stroked his lips with her tongue, and he drew a hand around her neck to adjust the angle of their mouths to bring them closer together. He nibbled on her lips, along her cheek to the V of her neckline and a shiver ran through her. Anthony was softness and intimate caring.

Then Joshua returned and the heat skyrocketed. Twisting her in his cousin’s arms Joshua took possession of her mouth and controlled her. Tongues met, teeth bit. This was what she’d been longing for and she urged him on, her lips hot and moist on his. She wrapped an arm around his neck to lock him in place, the fingers of her other hand still tangled with Anthony’s.

Three bodies close together, the rough fabric of their jeans brushed the bare skin of her legs and made her want more of their touch everywhere. Joshua’s hands held her hips firmly to his groin, his erection a hard ridge against her belly.

Anthony nipped the back of her neck, then lapped to soothe the pain away. He pulled the zipper on her dress inch by inch to release the garment from her body. A trail of kisses flowed downward, laving her bare skin with his tongue.

“She’s not wearing a bra,” Anthony whispered in awe as a finger brushed softly over the exposed skin of her back.

Joshua pulled away and Alexia restrained herself from following him, chasing his addictive taste. His hands pushed the straps of her dress aside and the top pooled around her hips. Anthony stroked her shoulders and down the curve of her breasts. He cradled her in his palms, lifting the firm globes to Joshua like an offering. The heat of Joshua’s stare hit her full on, and she forced her eyes shut to avoid going up in flames.

Then she was covered with caresses as her dress was lowered to the floor, and lips and hands touched her body again and again. She didn’t know who kissed her neck, didn’t care who caressed her breast. Skin to skin, moist kisses after searing hot touches. One of them flicked the pearled tip of her nipple, and her womb flooded with moisture.

“We want you, Alexia. All of you,” Joshua said before his tongue slid along the edge of her soaking wet undies. She opened her legs voluntarily, wanting more. Offering more. He pressed a kiss to her heated core, his teeth snagging on the fabric covering her. Hot breath on hot moisture combined and whirled together into a flammable danger zone. He leaned in harder with his lips, licking the length of her slit over her panties and she shivered.

Take them off, please.

She wanted his mouth on her, no barriers. Joshua sucked the fabric again, the crotch sopping wet between her juices and his mouth. Alexia tilted her hips, attempting to make him touch her more intimately, and he laughed. His hands traced over her thighs, thumbs rubbing along the inside toward her tender core. He pushed into the material, his fingers probing her pussy ever so slightly.

“Oh sweet mercy,” Alexia moaned. It was torment, the lightness of his touch on super-sensitized tissues.

Her panties slid away, and she rocked on suddenly shaky legs until Joshua’s hands steadied her. One hand reached behind her to clasp her ass, his fingers dipped into the crease between her cheeks. The other stroked her slit, fingers dragging through the moisture to settle where her clit pulsed in time with her heart.

Then his mouth descended and his tongue claimed her again.

All this time Anthony worshipped her breasts, his fingers rolling the tips between thumb and forefinger before he suckled, one side and then the other until both tingled with need.

“You’re beautiful, Alexia.” Anthony pulled back, his eyes glittering with golden flecks. She watched in fascination as he palmed her, lowering his mouth slowly to suckle. She was quivering with anticipation before the moist heat of his mouth lit her on fire. He raised his head to stare at her again. Stars swirled in the depths of his gaze.

“Your eyes. They’re alive with lights.” Wonder and delight filled her heart.

Anthony rose and moved to the side, allowing Joshua more room to settle intimately closer as his tongue lapped at her. Sensation built, pleasure rising. One man between her legs and one caressing her torso became an exquisite form of torture.

“You see the fire rising in my eyes, don’t you? It only shows in our human bodies when we feel extreme emotions,” Anthony whispered, dropping a kiss over her heart tenderly. “I’d do anything for you.”

A sensation like an electric shock hit her, pure energy settling on her body like a winter coat. Heavy, but comforting. She closed her eyes and still the haze of blue light surrounding them lit her vision. It was familiar and reassuring even as it sent her arousal through the ceiling.

Joshua flicked her clit with his tongue, two of his fingers buried in her sheath. He slid them in and out slowly compared to the extreme pace of his tongue, the contrast forcing her further toward nirvana. Anthony sucked a nipple into his mouth and his touch sent her over the edge. Her pussy convulsed, another flood of moisture dropped to cover Joshua’s fingers. She moaned, a long, low satisfied sound, and Joshua chuckled. He planted a final kiss on her pussy before he rose to drop one more on her lips. He tasted of her juices and his own unique flavor, his mouth firm against hers before he stepped back and stroked her cheek.

A thrill shot through Alexia as she watched Joshua’s expression. His face reflected the things she felt in her heart. Desire, hunger, yes, but also a deeper longing for companionship, for love. She lifted her hand to touch his face, letting her own emotions show. Their gazes locked and something sweet passed between them.

Anthony settled her carefully on the pillows and cushions gathered in front of the fire. The hard edge of desire that had ridden her all day had dulled slightly with her orgasm, but her body still called for them. Needed them intensely. She stared in amazement at the pale blue light hovering around the men, not so much above them but a part of them.

“We’ll take care of you, Alexia.” Anthony lay by her right side, Joshua reclined on her left. Their hands flicked her skin like shooting stars to leave trails of scorching heat in their wake. A part of her mind warned she should feel embarrassed with two men touching her. Should feel guilt over the urges pushing her to take control and demand their bodies worship hers. Anthony continued, “Merfolk don’t get STDs and you’re not fertile right now. We’re not going to use any kind of protection because it’s not needed.”

She glanced at Joshua. He nodded. “You need the chemicals, and they’re in our semen. I swear you’re safe.”

She shouldn’t be willing to agree so quickly. It was outrageous, but so were the emotions flaring through her body and mind. She stared into Joshua’s eyes. Whatever the connection was between them, she was never going to let him go. He was tied to her, whether he knew it or not.

But Anthony? He was the companion of her youth, a friend, not someone who’d made her hot and bothered. Why did she want so badly to start chewing on one end of him and not stop until she’d reached the other end? Her mouth watered at the thought of his naked skin under her tongue.

They said she would know what to do. She found her fingers wrapped tightly around the medallion that was all she wore. Magic pendant or merfolk blood, there was little she could do at this point but let the instincts drive her.

And instinct told her to taste Anthony.

“Why am I naked and you still have all your clothes on?” she teased, playing with the front of Anthony’s shirt. He stilled his body and let her undo the buttons one by one, her knuckles stroking his smooth skin as he shrugged the fabric over his shoulders.

Blue light floated away into the air like a fine powder under her fingers, but it never grew less. Behind her the rustle of fabric told her Joshua had stripped as well, but she ignored him for a moment to let her hands and mouth do what they longed for. She crawled on top of Anthony and straddled his torso, her wet curls heating to scalding against his skin.

Anthony smiled at her, his eyes glowing even brighter as his gaze traced her body. She leaned over and kissed him, his mouth tender and soft, his tongue touching hers in brief flicks.

Then she gave in to her longings and licked his jawline, tasting the sweet salt of his skin. The burst of his scent filled her head and her nipples tightened again, her breasts tucked against his firm chest.

As she kissed her way down Anthony’s body she became aware of Joshua again, his heat rolling over her, calling to her. She sat and reached for Joshua. Their mouths met and she feasted on him, biting and attacking. Demanding his passion in return. They devoured each other until she broke away, gasping to drag air back into her lungs. Anthony’s hands caressed her breasts and she laughed out loud.

They worshipped her and it felt so right. Joshua’s hand stroked the swell of her hip, Anthony fondled her breasts. Both of them spoke quiet words of love and honor that met her needs as much as their touch did.

The blue light grew more intense and she sucked in air. Her arousal spiked and the room faded away. Suddenly there was nothing she needed more than to taste the erection that swelled under her hips. She shuffled back, scrambled at the buckle of his belt, tearing at the fabric separating her from Anthony’s cock.