MERMEN (The Mermen Trilogy #1) (16 page)

Sensual aches swept through her body, effortlessly untying those knots of apprehension as they charged their way between her legs. The weight of his strong, hard body on top of her, the heated touch of his hand, and those determined lips surrounded by bristly stubble left Liv paralyzed by her need for him.

“I want you,” he growled in a low husky voice. “I can’t stop thinking about you.” Roen reached for the front of her towel and kissed his way down to her chest, peeling back the white terry cloth, exposing her chest.

A moment of self-consciousness flickered inside her head. She knew the last few weeks had thinned her normally curvy body, but Roen’s deep throaty groan as he looked at her bare breasts relieved any timidness.

His mouth slid over her right nipple, sucking and kissing, while his other hand massaged the left. She’d never felt anything so delicious, like that buzzy energy amplified the pleasure of his touch. She began to see why women would give themselves voluntarily—a strange, strange thought. But not as strange as how empty her body felt and how badly she craved the sexual pleasure he could deliver with that thick cock between his legs.

Roen’s hand slid down her torso and between her thighs. The moment his thick warm fingers slid between her soft folds, gliding over her throbbing bud, she let out a soft moan. Roen began kissing his way down her stomach while his fingers found their way inside her, pushing gently at first, not so gently after a few seconds. When his mouth and heated tongue joined with the deep penetration of his fingers, Liv writhed on the bed, her hips pressing harder into him. What the hell was he doing? It felt so damned good.

His tongue worked at a relentless pace, sliding and kneading with exquisite pressure as that warm hand pumped. She felt her body slipping further and further away from reality and from the situation, leaving only her and Roen, there on that bed, their bodies’ rhythms the only thing that mattered. In that moment, if he wanted to fuck her, her only objection would have been him stopping what he was doing with his mouth.

She glanced down at Roen, whose eyes were closed, seemingly lost in the act of pleasuring her with his mouth. She was about to pull him up, to tell him she wanted him inside her, but she watched his free hand slide down to grip his erection. His size, from the glimpse she’d seen, was pure magnificence—thick and long and so hard that it could’ve been cut from marble.

She’d never watched anything more erotic, and in that moment, she felt her nerve endings wind up and burst open, shooting waves of hard contractions pulsing through her core. A moan escaped her mouth as she grabbed fistfuls of sheets and arched her entire body toward his vigorously sucking mouth.

After a moment, she looked back down at Roen, whose green eyes had been watching her come with intense pleasure. He crawled his way up her body, still pumping his long thick cock with his large hand at a leisurely pace as if enjoying every second. When he laid his body over her again, she was sure he planned to push his way inside and make her come all over again, but instead he kissed her hard, the taste of herself all over his mouth. His hand stayed between them, pumping his cock for several moments and then he broke away and pushed up with one arm. He looked down at himself as he exploded, shooting his cum onto her stomach. Liv had never watched a man come, and she’d certainly never imagined she’d find it so sinfully erotic.

Eyes closed, Roen stilled for a moment, releasing those final drops, and then lay to her side to catch his breath. Meanwhile Liv’s head spun in delicious, post-orgasmic circles, urging her to sleep.

No. Don’t sleep. You have to do something to convince him to leave with you.

Roen abruptly stood from the bed and went to the bathroom, returning with a warm, damp washcloth. He wiped her clean and threw it into a basket in the corner before laying down beside her again. She still hadn’t really moved, perhaps because she was too in shock, perhaps because her body was still floating around somewhere high up in the clouds.

Roen didn’t touch or kiss her. Instead he lay naked on his back, staring at the ceiling, an intense expression on his face.

“Why didn’t you…” Her voice trailed off. It was a stupid question. Obviously, neither of them carried any birth control. In fact, what had she been thinking? Because she would’ve let him. No question about it.
This place is messing with my head.
That didn’t mean the pull to be with him wasn’t real; it simply meant that being reckless wasn’t her style.

“Have sex with you?” he said.

“Yeah.”

“You didn’t ask me to.” She hadn’t asked him to do anything he’d just done, but he’d done it anyway. And it was incredible. “It’s the law. The woman must ask to be fucked.”

“Oh.” She was about to say she’d remember that next time, when they were hopefully armed with a box of condoms, but there wouldn’t be a next time.
Not if you don’t convince him to leave.

“That and I care about you too much,” he added.

Her heart fell down a deep dark hole. He could’ve told her about the “law” but hadn’t. Likely to protect her from making this mess any bigger than it already was.

“Roen?”

His eyes glanced at her for a moment but quickly returned to staring at the ceiling.

She wanted to beg him to come with her, but she already knew he wasn’t going to leave. Was it really because of his brother, or was there another reason?

“Is your brother all right?” she asked.

“Yes. He’s happy here. It’s his home.”

“So he never wants to leave.”

“No,” he replied.

Then staying to help Lyle wasn’t the reason. “And you?” She hoped his answer might be different.

“No.”

She hadn’t expected him to tip his hand at any plans for escape, but there was no doubt in his voice. It sounded like he wanted to shut the door on her having any hope.

“I don’t believe you,” she said.

“You don’t have to. It won’t change a thing.”

“I don’t think you understand how much—”

“Don’t.” He looked at her like he wanted to say something but caught himself. “The sun will be up soon, and I have a long day ahead.” He shut off the lamp on the nightstand and coldly turned his back to her. He was trying to tell her to leave now. He’d said that she needed to run out the back and head to the beach before it got light out.

Liv lay there for much longer than she should’ve, resisting the urge to stay and “ask” him, to spend just ten more minutes with him.

Roen’s hand slid over hers and gave it a comforting squeeze. The gesture nearly broke her.

Dammit, Liv. If you care anything about him, you’ll get the hell off this island and bring back help.
Even if it required force because he was too delusional to help himself. It was the only way.

“Good night, Roen. You’ll be in my dreams.”

She heard a faint chuckle—as if the thought pleased him. Within a few minutes, Roen’s breathing turned steady and rhythmic. This was it. She slipped from the bed and grabbed the black dress hanging in the closet, slipping it quickly over her head as she tiptoed from the room.

With every step she took, the cells in her body protested more violently, screaming at her not to do this.
But you’ll be back for him. You’ll see him again
, she told herself. Then why did she feel the bond between them ripping away?
There’s no other choice. If you stay here, you’ll die.
Or worse, as Roen had told her.
And if you stay, who will send help for him?
The moment she stepped foot on his ship and alerted his crew, she had to believe the entire world would descend upon this godforsaken place looking for him. A man like Roen—powerful and wealthy—was the type of man people would expend considerable resources on to rescue.

As silently as possible, she followed the stairs back down to the dining room and into the kitchen. The entire house was dark and quiet, but Roen’s men couldn’t be far.

With only a bit of moonlight shining through a window over a bank of stainless steel sinks, she felt her way through the kitchen until she reached the back door. Liv carefully pulled it open and slipped outside.

Just a few yards from the house, Liv found a narrow trail leading down the hill. Bright white rocks lining each side of the narrow path reflected the bit of moonlight, guiding the way. Once far enough away, she began a fast walk, hoping to God she didn’t come across any of those damned monsters. Or another sharp rock.
Ouch!
Without shoes, every little twig and stone seemed intent on finding their way between her toes.

I don’t need my toes, I just need to live
. For her family, for Roen, for herself.

After about thirty minutes, the familiar sound of crashing waves roared in the distance. She was close, but Roen had said not to get into the water before the sun came up. Not that she intended to. But it wouldn’t be long now. The sky had already turned from a dark gray to a deep lavender.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going, landlover?” said a deep voice.

Liv turned and saw a man with darkish hair down to his waist, covered head-to-toe in tribal tattoos, leaning against a tall pine tree just a few feet away. She didn’t recognize him, but that didn’t matter. The look on his face set off every female alarm bell in her body.

“Guess Roen didn’t get lucky last night, which sounds like a forfeit on his claim. Must be my lucky day instead.” His eyes flashed to her now completely healed shoulder, which showed no signs of Roen’s bite mark.

Then, from the corner of Liv’s eye, she spotted a set of lights off in the distance, moving back and forth over the water.
Searchlights! It’s the ship.
But the sun still wasn’t up, and God only knew what would happen if she got into the water.

The man reached for her arm and lowered his mouth, flashing his white teeth, intent on sinking them into her.

Hell no!
Liv jerked away and ran as fast as she could toward the ocean. Whatever was in it might deter him from coming after her and the sun would be out in a matter of minutes.
You can make it. You can make it, Liv.
Arms pumping and legs thrusting, Liv ran for her life. Ten feet from the water’s edge her body tumbled into the sand. The bastard had tripped her from behind.

He flipped her over, and Liv screamed, “Get the hell off me!”

The man’s hard features became visible as the sky became lighter. He had a thick scar across his right cheek and a ruthless look in his eyes. “That’s right, landlover, fight. The island said you would. She also said I could break the laws if I caught you.”

Liv assumed he meant the worst and twisted and kicked with everything she had. However, her malnourished body was no match for this colossal beast. He moved to straddle her, pinning her hands above his head. With a sinister gleam in his eyes, he slowly moved his head toward her neck.

Fuck!
He was going to bite her. These men were lunatics.

“Nooo!” She released a bloodcurdling yell and felt his teeth sinking into her skin. Suddenly, her face was covered in warm wet liquid. Liv thought it was her own blood, but the man began screaming in agony, falling to her side. Blood was everywhere—in her mouth, in her eyes, covering her face.

Then she saw them: five black forms descending on the man like hungry wolves.

That blood’s not mine.
Liv blinked, her mind trying to make out the shapes of the animals. But the way they moved and slithered together over the man as he screamed, his limbs flailing and punching, made them difficult to see.

Suddenly, the sun broke over the horizon and a few small rays of light washed over the water and beach. The animals howled and hissed, quickly retreating into the water.

All but one.

No longer feeding, the monster came into focus, its wide yellow eyes glowing against charcoal black skin.

Ohmyfuckinggod
. Liv wanted to run, but she couldn’t.
It can’t be. It can’t fucking be…

It wasn’t just a monster; it was a woman. A woman who looked like she was coated in thick tar, whose hair hung in ropes of drippy black seaweed. But she wasn’t exactly a woman either. The thing had humanlike features, including breasts, until halfway down its body. From the navel down, however, its skin was scaly like a fish. Instead of legs, it had a long tail that bent back like she had knees somewhere underneath that horror-show costume.

Liv screamed at the top of her lungs, and the thing raised its index finger to its bloody mouth. “Sssshhh,” it hissed. The sun brightened across the thing’s face, but unlike the others, it didn’t seem affected.

“Wha-what do you want?” Liv whispered.

“I have a message from the island.” The woman’s voice was raspy and low. “You may leave, but you must promise never to tell. Not about the island. Not about any of us. If you do, our men will come for you. They will know, and they will come for you. Do you understand?”

Liv nodded without even realizing it.

The creature smiled, displaying a set of razor-sharp pearly whites, and then reached down, snatching something from around the dead man’s neck. She chucked it at Liv. “Drink it. It will stop the bleeding on your neck.”

Liv’s hand moved to the spot where the man had bitten her. She didn’t feel any pain—too scared out of her mind for that.

The beast reached for the man’s limp arm and began tugging him toward the ocean.

Holy shit. She’s taking her kill with her.

“Wait,” Liv said. “Are you what happens to the women who come here?”

The thing just looked at her with a pained expression. “Sometimes.” Then it slowly turned and pulled the bloody body with her, disappearing into the waves.

It took several moments for Liv to believe what she’d actually just witnessed. It was all too surreal—the horror of watching a man torn apart by goddamned mermaids. But not mermaids at all—not like the ones in fairytales, anyway.

Ohmygod. The boat!
Liv got to her feet and spotted the ship off in the distance, perhaps even a bit closer now. Yes, she could make it, but those things were in the water.