Dressed in nary a stitch of clothing, the reigning queen of the Mer sat cross-legged amid a pile of soft cushions. Her hands rested on her knees, palms up. Bronze braziers filled with a variety of small crystals were positioned around her. Her eyes were closed.
Jake had to struggle not to stare. It was almost impossible not to look at her. An involuntary shudder rippled through him. To look upon her was to look at perfection.
And he’d love to have a taste of it.
The tips of Magaera’s fingers twitched. She did not open her eyes. “You dare disturb my meditations?”
Jake offered a quick and reverent bow. Magaera expected it from all her subjects. “I have news.” It took every bit of nerve he possessed to keep his tone neutral.
Magaera angled her chin. “My soldiers, have they returned?”
Even though she couldn’t see him, Jake shook his head.
“No, my lady. The news I bear is not what you might have expected.”
Magaera opened her eyes and jerked her gaze toward his face. “What?” Her blue gaze was as intense as a sun gone nova. She seemed not to notice or care she was utterly exposed to his eyes. In her world the Mer accepted their bodies and were comfortable with nudity.
Jake’s lips felt strangely numb. He’d witnessed what happened to people who had incurred her wrath. If Magaera wished to twist him into a thousand tiny little pieces, all she had to do was think about it.
Straightening his spine, he cleared his throat. “Your soldiers have failed to take Tessa.”
Magaera’s countenance immediately lost its tranquil composure. Her eyes narrowed into threatening slits. “Impossible!” She snorted with displeasure. “Send them to me!” The crystals surrounding her snapped and crackled, turning as dark and black as coal. Their energy was being sucked up, consumed by a hungry predator.
Jake shook his head. “I can’t do that.”
Reenergized, she frowned. “Why not?” Her tone was brittle with irritation.
“They have been taken hostage by the humans.” He proceeded to explain the debacle as he’d witnessed it.
Anger flickered across Magaera’s face. “How can that be?”
Jake forced himself not to flinch. “I don’t know. But if Tessa can somehow persuade them to let her return to Ishaldi, she might attempt to rally the support of those who do not support your command of the Mer people. If she gets to the rebels, to the members who seek to restore the Tesch Dynasty to the throne—there is a chance she could seize command.”
Magaera twitched her shoulders; her loose hair moved smoothly against them. She tossed it back with an impatient hand. “The Mer will never accept peace with the humans,” she snapped. “We must have a care, though.” Her eyes narrowed in thought. “Our position in your world is still unstable, at best. We must regain control.”
Jake spread his hands. “I’ve been thinking on that.”
Surprise brought her up cold. “Oh?”
Jake ambled a little closer to where she sat. “Back in Ishaldi you mentioned there was a piece missing from the Jewels of Atargatis.”
Magaera toyed with the pendant hanging around her neck. “You speak of the scepter?”
Jake absently regarded the drained crystals. Touch them now and they’d disintegrate, nothing left of them but ash. Long ago the Mer had learned how to sustain their physical selves by feeding their bodies with energy contained within crystals. Unfortunately the practice had a devastating consequence on their world.
Ishaldi was dying.
The survival of Magaera’s people was at stake. She would listen to him because she had no other choice. “Yes. Didn’t you once say it was the most valuable piece?”
A frown pleated her brow, as if she questioned his motive for making the inquiry. But someone had to blink first in the showdown.
Her mask of determined indifference slipped out of place for a moment. “Yes,” she finally admitted.
Jake had to keep prodding, a careful but insistent bit of maneuvering. A fast thinker, he’d always had a knack for turning things around to his benefit. “What does this piece do, exactly? Why is it so important?”
Her suspicious expression tightened. “It gives the bearer control over land and sea. With the scepter in hand, a queen becomes a goddess.”
“And if you had such empowerment at hand, would you know how to use it?”
Magaera stiffened with offense. “Of course I would!” she snapped, clamping her jaw into a steely ridge. “Were it in my hand now, I would grind your people under my heel.”
Jake smiled inwardly. More than Magaera’s beauty, what intrigued him most about her was that she held nothing back. She had a spine of steel and would not hesitate to take down anyone who might stand in her path.
He gave her another careful nudge. “What if I told you I could put it in your hands?”
Clenching her hands into fists, Magaera’s gaze sharpened. “Do not tease me with false promises,” she warned. “If you know its location on this earth, tell me now.”
The wheels in Jake’s mind were turning a mile a minute. It was a parry and thrust, each of them determined to keep the upper hand. It helped that he had the home-world advantage. Better yet, he believed he had the craftier mind.
“I know Tessa doesn’t have the piece,” he admitted, puckering his lips thoughtfully. “But I know how to find out.”
Comprehension dawned across her face. “If you could indeed deliver to me the Scepter of Atargatis, I would reward you well.” She arched a brow. “Very well.”
Suddenly docile, Magaera rose to her feet. It was difficult not to stare as she undulated toward him, her tall, sleek body radiating female heat. The air around her stirred as she walked, shimmering with electrical sparks that she alone seemed to generate.
Standing before him, she tilted her chin up. Her hair spilled over her shoulders like liquid gold, highlighting the porcelain whiteness of her skin. Though she might have been over seven centuries in age, she showed barely any hint of her true measure of years. Her breasts were firm and round, her belly tautly ridged with muscle. Her nipples were hard little beads, surrounded by flesh that was soft, supple, and lush with promise. The shadowed cleft between her thighs enticed.
Her hand rose, palm pressing to his cheek. She regarded him from beneath a sweep of thick lashes. “I have always found you to be a most pleasing human,” she murmured. “It would be fitting for a queen to have a consort, a prince worthy of standing at her side and not behind.”
Jake considered her words. Though alien to his world, Magaera wasn’t a stupid woman. Of the eight Mer who had accompanied her, only four remained. Her pool of guardians was effectively halved, and Tessa had been snatched out of her reach by a foe she didn’t fully understand. She needed more than a human ambassador.
She needed an alliance with a strong man who shared her goal of returning the Mer to their rightful place on earth.
Raw aggressive ambition moved her.
Check.
And mate
, he thought.
Despite their recent defeat, reckless exhilaration sped through his veins. This might work out even better than he’d hoped. In the back of his mind, though, he had no intention of assuming the lowly position of a mere Mer prince.
No, not by a long shot.
His mind schemed, hatching the plot that would put the power of a goddess under his control. By the time he got through with his manipulations, Jake was determined he would be a king.
Jake’s mouth curved upward.
As for Magaera
. . .
It would be an insult to refuse her.
And Jake Massey wasn’t exactly known for his resistance to a beautiful, naked female.
Especially one he could use.
His ego swelled even as his body heated. The tingle of desire laced with ambition burned all the way through his belly and into his groin. The bold image of two naked bodies writhing together in ecstasy filled his mind. Her moist red lips were but a breath away, easy to conquer if he so desired.
Jake molded his hand around the aching tautness of her left breast. “I am honored you have chosen me,” he murmured, brushing his thumb across the tip of her erect nipple. “I will do my best to serve you well.”
A tiny gasp of pleasure rolled past the Mer queen’s lips. Her gaze locked with his. “Do not tell me,” she urged, reaching up to thread her arms around his neck. “Show me.”
Saying no more, Jake drew her forward. His hands skimmed the gleaming litheness of her body. He understood lust. Had countless times succumbed to its throes.
But the magnetic pull between the Mer queen and him was of a different caliber. Something vastly more threatening, suffocating. Something that, no matter how many times he satisfied his needs with her, it would never be enough.
An inexplicable gut feeling that they were already connected tormented him, ate away at his denial like a ravenous demon determined to have its insatiable fill. She was a beautiful woman, but no more so than the countless beauties he’d taken throughout his life. He couldn’t recall ever hesitating to bed them and then leave them when circumstances shifted.
What made Magaera different? Or had
he
in some way changed?
Did it matter? It seemed they were destined to be together, and that was enough.
For now.
Jake’s mouth swept forcefully, possessively over hers, his tongue delving boldly, hungrily for the sweet reward he’d so eagerly plunder.
Magaera’s submission.
Chapter 8
T
rapped in a brain harried by fever and a body strained by exhaustion, Gwen spent a restless night tossing and thrashing. Drifting in and out of consciousness, she was vaguely aware her body ached, throbbing from head to toe. Nausea took her over, even as a series of convulsions twisted and pulled at her limbs.
Before pain and numbness overtook her completely, a flash of absolute clarity warned that great danger was about to befall her. The sense of foreboding grew, haunting the edges of her mind with every passing hour.
Gradually, the gloom and shadows enveloping her mind receded, clarifying into figures and shapes. The world began to take on substance.
Gwen cracked open burning eyes. The first thing she knew was that she wasn’t home, in her own bed. The soft hum of the unfamiliar objects positioned around her clarified as recognition drifted through her fuzzy brain.
A hospital,
came her vague thought.
Why am I . . . ?
A large void filled her mind. She couldn’t remember.
She lifted a hand, intending to wipe away the crust blurring her vision. Except her hand wouldn’t move. Not an inch.
Panicked by her paralysis, Gwen lifted her head off the pillow. She blinked hard, trying to focus. Her searching gaze found and focused on the soft leather strap wound around her wrist.
Her head twisted in the opposite direction. Her other hand was also similarly restrained. An IV drip had been inserted, the cannula pushed deep under her skin and taped in place. Her slim white arms were marbled and mottled with huge black bruises.
The terror of waking up and finding herself restrained surged through her.
A hot and sudden rush of tears stung at her eyes. Still unsure about what had happened to her, an anguished sob tore from her lips. “No!” She twisted against the restraints, determined to free herself.
A figure rushed forward. Strong hands clasped her shoulders, urging her to lay back. “Gwen!” A familiar voice filtered through her frenzy. “It’s Addie. Settle down before you hurt yourself.”
Something in Addison’s calm authority grabbed on to her sanity, dragging her back from the abyss of panic. “Take a deep breath,” she heard her sister say. “Just lie back and relax. It’s going to be all right.”
Gwen forced herself to follow Addison’s command. If Addison was here, then things must be okay.
Breath rasping over dry, cracked lips, Gwen let herself go limp. For a moment she struggled to gather her wits, find the ability to speak instead of scream like a madwoman.
“Where am I?” Her voice rasped against her ears, a strangely unfamiliar croak. Nevertheless she understood the words. She sounded coherent.
Still holding her down, Addison bent close. Fear brimmed in her eyes. “You’re in the hospital, Gwen.” She spoke slowly and clearly. “You collapsed and then went into convulsions.” A relieved smile flitted across her mouth. “For a while we thought we were going to lose you.”
Trying to swallow, Gwen gagged. Her tongue felt like it had been duct taped to the roof of her mouth. “How long . . . ?” she mumbled.
Sensing her discomfort, Addison reached for the plastic carafe on a nearby bed table. She filled a small plastic cup with water, then added a straw. “You lost a whole day and a half.” She guided the drink to Gwen’s lips. “It’s Sunday now, already past two.”
Gwen sucked, grateful for the icy water strengthening her depleted system. It tasted like the nectar of the gods, cooling and strengthening her feverish body. She drank every last drop. A single worry coalesced in her mind as her thoughts clarified.
“I can’t be here,” she mumbled as Addison refilled the cup. “I’ve got to go to work.”
A shadow passed across Addison’s face. She pursed her lips. “It’s all right.” The silence hanging between them stretched on a moment too long. “Tessa’s talked to Brenda and she’s got it under control. She understands you might be away a while.”
Gwen shook her head. “Brenda can’t handle it now. She’s on maternity leave, for heaven’s sake. That’s why I’ve been stretched to the max—I’m already covering for her.”
Addison forced a grin, showing perfect white teeth. “She’s bringing the kidlet to work with her for the interim. And she’s hired a temp clerk to give you both some breathing space. She understands you need time to recover.” Her easy smile belied the distress simmering beneath her calm manner.