MERCILESS (The Mermen Trilogy #3) (10 page)

CHAPTER NINE

While Roen rested in his room, healing slowly from his wounds, Liv went downstairs to the library and took care of poor Lyle. She gave him a little water and then left him lying there flat on his back, snoozing like a log, but he’d probably be up and about in minutes. Liv then dashed into the enormous chef’s kitchen, just off the dining room, and started dividing up the water into empty jars and bottles she scavenged from the cupboards. She’d wanted to give Roen every drop she had, to heal him faster, but she had to think about everyone. Roen would want that.

Liv then packed up the water and went to find Amelia.

“How did you get this?” Amelia asked, standing in the doorway of Jason’s cottage, blinking at the bottle in her hand.

“Doesn’t matter,” Liv replied. “Please, just be sure you give it to as many men as you can.” She simply would have to trust that these women would act honorably and fairly. But just in case… “If I find out anyone gave more to any one man than Roen got, I’ll kill them. You hear me?” It sounded harsh. Yes, it did. But she’d just agreed to give up her life for that water, and the man she loved only got enough to keep him from dying.

Amelia nodded. “I’ll see to it.”

“Thanks.” Liv turned to leave.

“Thank you, Liv. I can only imagine what you had to do to get this. I know the men will appreciate it.”

All she’d really done was manage to buy more time. If the plane got here soon, that would buy them a little more. However, after another day or so, they’d all be right back in the same boat. Liv suspected the island was merely waiting for the opportune moment to make her grand scheme known. What would she demand this time?

World domination and an endless supply of wrinkly old assholes for her pond?
She mentally cringed as an extremely distasteful and very literal image popped inside her head.
I will never eat Fruit Loops again.

Liv gave Amelia a solemn nod. “Let’s all just focus on getting through this.” Liv hiked back to Roen’s and up to his room. There wasn’t much left to do now. Just wait. Wait and spend what little time she had left with Roen.

She walked through the doorway of his bedroom and made a sharp, appreciative exhale. His mattress was still on the floor, but he no longer looked like a man on his deathbed. His olive skin had returned. His lips were pink and plump. He looked more beautiful than ever, including those big strong arms lying over the blanket tucked tightly around his body.

“Are you going to stand there staring or come over here and kiss me?” he said, in a deep groggy voice.

Liv blinked at him and smiled, the joy in her heart too overwhelming for words. She felt like running and throwing herself over him and doing very, very naughty things—things they’d yet to do. But he was in no condition for that. Still, she wanted him so badly it hurt.

“Stand here and stare.”

He cracked open one gorgeous hazel-and-green eye. “Then I’ll have to get up for my kiss.” He started peeling away the blanket.

“Don’t you dare move.” She walked over and kneeled beside him, touching his forehead, careful not to show her true emotions on her sleeve. “How do you feel?”

“Alive. Alive and grateful to see you here with me.” He smiled, and it was the most gorgeous smile she’d ever seen him make, despite his heart-stopping dimples being masked by a short brown beard.

She reached for his bandage and lifted up one edge. The skin underneath was bright pink, but the missing chunk of his shoulder was growing in. More importantly, the bleeding had stopped. “It’s almost healed. Do you have any idea why you’re all sick?”

He shook his head. “At first I wondered if we were all going to turn into some sort of monster, but now it’s fairly obvious we were all dying. I wonder if…” He winced as he moved a little on the bed. “I wonder if the water is a lifetime commitment.”

No. Fuck no.
“You think
that’s
why you’re all sick?”

“I don’t know. But if it heals us and keeps us alive longer, would it be so strange that there’s a reverse effect once we cease to take it?”

Liv hung her head. So they were addicted in a sense. And if the island fed off of them—their…energy…or life force…or whatever corny New Age word she was supposed to call it, then there was no way to break this cycle.

Great. It’s like email spam.
No matter what they did, the crap just kept on coming.

That led her back to her biggest question yet: what did the island really want? If she was weakening and starving, then why wasn’t Crazy Dirt forcing her hand and simply demanding the men give her what she wanted: their allegiance and for them to let her back in. Or re-bond or whatever-the-mer-hell they called it.

Liv started pulling her hand away, and he caught it. “Where did you get the water, Liv?” he said, sounding very displeased.

She looked away. “I think you know the answer to that.”

“Then let me ask another way: What did you trade for it?”

“Nothing,” she lied—yes, right to his face. What else could she tell him? That she’d be dead soon, like the elders in that pool? “The island is probably going to be overrun by crazy treasure hunters soon. I guess she found the strength to make some water for you.”

“You’re lying. I can see it in your eyes,” Roen growled.

“Roen, you have to trust me; I’m doing what I have to.”

He gave her a look, slipped his hand behind her neck and pulled her to his mouth. His lips were warm and soft, but his short beard was rough and deliciously masculine.

She sighed with ecstasy. There was so much emotion in his kiss that it went straight to her heart and made it swell.

She quickly pulled away from him before she completely lost all control of her emotions. She was just so damned grateful to see him again—breathing, smiling, alive.

“Roen, how did you survive? Shane said you’d drowned at sea.” She’d assumed it happened during this thing they called the “Great Swim” a two-thousand-mile race in the ocean. The winner would get control of the island. The loser would be executed if they’d not died already. But Shane never completed the race because he’d decided to take Liv on “vacay” and expected Roen to die—the man was not a great swimmer. So ironic, given he was a merman.

“I nearly drowned, but a maid came to my rescue. She told me how to break the connection with the island, and when I figured out that I could help the men with this information, I turned around. She carried me most of the way and then got injured fighting off a shark to protect me.”

Wow.
“She didn’t try to eat you?” Not only did the maids devour almost anything, but Roen looked especially delicious. Even now, her body felt all hot and tingly for him. Those thick muscular arms. The way his strong neck sloped down into broad, powerful shoulders.
If I were a maid, I’d totally want to gobble him up.

“No,” he replied. “And when I was told you’d been thrown to the maids, I assumed she was you. That you’d been bitten by one of them or by one of the men and transformed somehow.”

So strange. “What happened to her?”

“We had you—I mean her—in the tank downstairs after she’d been injured by that shark. But she escaped and attacked me—took a huge bite out of my shoulder—and Lyle killed her.”

“That’s why you thought I was dead.” Lyle had said she was a ghost.

“Then who was she?” Liv asked.

“I don’t know, but she said she loved me. Those were her final words.”

Liv covered her mouth. Unless Roen had another mate on the side, that only left one other woman in the world that would protect him and say she loved him.

“Was she your mother?” Liv asked.

“I watched my mother die in the hospital. At least, that’s what I remember. I remember them putting her casket in the ground, too.”

So many things in this world of theirs wasn’t what it seemed. That included the fact that Roen had also believed his brother had died. Turned out, he was here on this island all along.

“But if it was her,” Roen said, his voice filled with deep regret, “Lyle saved my life. She was too hungry to control herself. He had no choice but to do what he did. Even though I know he won’t see it that way.”

She covered Roen’s hand with hers. “I’m so sorry, Roen.”

“Not as sorry as I am for believing that the island would really let you leave.” He looked at her expectantly. She knew what he wanted, but she didn’t want to talk about it.

“I’m here with you now. That’s all that matters.”

“No. It’s not, Liv. Where is he?” Roen growled.

Liv looked away. She didn’t want to relive the moment.

“Did Shane…touch you?” he asked.

She shook her head solemnly. “No.”

He sighed with relief then turned his attention down a predictable merman path: revenge. “Where the fuck is he, Liv?”

“Please, can’t we talk about this later? You have no idea what I’ve been through and how much I need to be with you—nothing else.”

He took a deep breath, frowning.

Stubborn merman.

“He’s not a threat anymore. And I’ll tell you everything, but right now, I just…” Her words faded, and she pinched the bridge of her nose, fighting back the tears. Their hours were numbered yet again, and she didn’t want to waste them crying or feeling sorry for herself. She didn’t want to think about how she’d traded her life for one more day with Roen.

Of course, I would sell my fucking soul for just one last kiss from this man.

“It’s all right, Liv. We’ll find a way through this.” He pulled her to him and held her, stroking the back of her head with his good arm.

“I love you, Roen.” She kissed his lips and lay down with him, pressing her ear to his chest. The sound of his heart was so strong now, like music to her ears.

Exhausted, and going into her third day without sleep, she drifted off.

~~~

A few hours later, Liv awoke with a gasp from a horrible nightmare. She’d been standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The mermen stood behind her as if waiting for something to happen, their eyes vacant of emotion.
What are they looking at?

Liv followed their gazes and spotted a life raft with a man and a woman aboard. Liv squinted, trying to see their faces. It was Roen and…herself. Then she watched in terror as the raft sank and they were torn apart by sharks in the water, the entire ocean turning blood red.

But when Liv snapped awake, she found immediate comfort. Roen purred like a kitten sleeping at her side.

She leaned over and kissed his soft lips. “God, I love you, Roen.”

He stopped purring and then smiled with his eyes shut. “You woke me from the best dream I’ve ever had.”

“Really? Was I in it?”

He opened his eyes. “Yes. And you were naked, doing very indecent things to my cock.”

That sounded like just the thing to erase the terrifying images of the dream she’d just had.

She glanced down at his groin, noticing a little extra bulkiness beneath the covers. “Well, I could make your dreams a reality.” She peeled down the blanket, exposing his bare muscled chest. God, he was so beautiful. Like a god.

When she completely removed the covers, she reached for that strip of suede around his waist.

He gripped her hand. “Liv, what are you doing?”

She smiled at him. “A deal is a deal, Roen.” The last time they’d been together, they’d agreed they were going to have sex.

“But what if—”

“Fuck what if.” She yanked her hand away and stripped him naked and then stood. She pulled off her dirty T-shirt and unhooked her bra, allowing him to drink her in. She didn’t want to rush because this moment needed to last forever, but her body told her to hurry the hell up. She could feel the seconds passing, and she wanted to spend as many of them as she could with this beautiful man inside her.

She slid down her shorts and panties and then stood over him. His long, thick cock stood straight up, waiting for her.

She grinned and raised a brow. “You really are feeling better.”

“I’m a merman. And you’re a beautiful woman. Whom I happen to love. I could be taking my last breath and I’d still get hard for you.”

She laughed and swooned all at the same time as she sank to her knees and gripped him in her hand, unable to believe they were finally together.

“Roen, I love you. Don’t ever forget that.” She positioned his pulsing shaft at her entrance and then looked down at his beautiful face. The only thing she wanted was to stare into the depths of those hazel and green eyes as she felt him slide deep inside.

“Liv! Are you in there?” screamed a woman. A pounding on the door jolted her from the euphoric bliss.

Fucking hell, Amelia. Just one more minute.
“Yes?” She swallowed her dread.

“The plane is here,” Amelia yelled.

“What plane?” Roen whispered.

“Food and other supplies,” Liv groaned.
And a doctor. And maid-chow.
She still hadn’t told him about the approaching boat.

Roen threw back his head. “This isn’t happening.”

Oh, but it was. And she couldn’t justify going at it with Roen when that plane had medical supplies and Dr. Fuller on board. Liv needed to talk to her.

“I’ll be right there,” Liv replied to Amelia and then looked at Roen. “I’ll be right back. You rest.”

He blinked at her. “Like foke I will, woman. I’m not leaving your side. Never again.”

His words melted her heart. “I’ll be fine, I promise. I’m just going to help the women unload the supplies.”

“I said no.” He reached for his suede wrap, nearly falling on his face.

“Roen, you’re still weak. Stay. Here. I’ll be back in thirty minutes. With food.” She gave him a “don’t fuck with me” look. “Trust me. You’re going to need your strength. Yes, I’m talking about for sex.” She dressed quickly as she spoke. “Oh, and by the way, Phil said there is a boat full of fortune hunters or tourists or something who are close. They’ll probably find this place the moment daylight hits—the island isn’t camouflaged anymore. Any suggestions on how to keep them away?” It was about five in the morning, so they only had a few minutes left until sunrise.