“The goddess I based you off.”
“Which goddess?”
“Amphitrite, the goddess of the sea. Immortal, conjurer of creatures, wife of Poseidon, and mother to seals and dolphins.”
I brought my hand to my hair, touching the crown of coral, shells, and starfish. I wanted to ask Sully so many questions. I wanted him to teach me how to use imagination to sketch a fantasy that exceeded any reality I could picture, but I also couldn’t deny the power ebbing in my veins. A supernatural gift, given to a goddess of the sea, that swept me from who I’d been as Eleanor and ensured I became whoever Sully said I was.
I was Amphitrite. I was better and worse and neither.
I was his version of a mermaid, and pure desire coursed through me.
I wanted him to touch me.
I wanted to make him beg.
I wanted this to be real. To truly have the ability to breathe salt and command mythical monsters like the hippocampus.
Dropping my trident to the seafloor, I swiped my hand through the water. “Stand. You don’t have to bow to me.”
“But I do.” Sully’s head fell even lower, his torso bending over his scaled leg where he kneeled. “I bow because if I don’t, I’ll beg.”
“Beg for what?”
“For your attention.”
“But you have my attention. You have all of it. I’m mesmerized by what you’ve created here.”
“And I’m mesmerized by you.” He lifted his head, his gaze flashing with shadows from the deep. “I’m mesmerized enough to take what I so desperately want. I’m drunk on your beauty, and I’m running out of control.” His hand drifted to his bare cock, fisting himself. “I bow at your feet because I’m desperate to fuck you. I’m achingly hard to have you. I’m going fucking insane with the need to call you mine.”
“I am yours.”
“Not yet, you’re not. Not until my cock is deep inside you. Only then will you be mine in all realms. Shore and sea.”
I shivered, bubbles popping on my effervescent dress.
His voice had sound waves that stroked me. His honesty and hunger made me wet and throbbing.
The role-play he’d promised—the merman he’d conjured who would beg at an empress’s feet—made me slip into my own charade. Cocking my head, sending my hair floating around my head in kelp strands, I floated down the sandy stairs to the ocean floor where he kneeled. “And you think you’re worthy of fucking me?”
“No.” He shook his head. “But it doesn’t stop me from asking.”
“You can ask, but you won’t receive.”
“Deny me and I’ll stop asking. I’ll just take.” He gritted his teeth, the flash of iridescent scales on his cheeks and neck gleaming in the sea. “I asked politely. I gave you a gift.” He waved at the opal-shimmering hippocampus. “I know I’m not royal blood, but I do know what you need. Let me fuck you, and I’ll give you the best fucking release of your life.”
Snapping my fingers, I summoned my trident through the water. The golden magical fork skimmed toward me, settling into my palm with just a thought. “You don’t know what I need.”
“I do.” His nostrils flared as his hand worked his cock. Splices of reality invaded with myth. He might play a man pleading for mercy from a goddess he desired, but he was also my husband who knew exactly how to make me shatter. A husband who didn’t take no for an answer because he knew no was a lie. “Give in and let me pleasure you, Jinx. Keep denying me, and I’ll just straight up fuck you for my benefit.”
“You’d use me?”
“All goddamn night.”
“How? Tell me how you’d take me.”
His face contorted as he squeezed the tip of his cock. “You want graphic? I’ll give you graphic.” He shuddered, his voice turning into gravel. “Say no again and I’ll bend you over that throne and shove my cock inside you from behind. I’ll gag you so you can’t say no. I’ll ride you until you break and beg for more.”
His eyes flashed black. “And when you beg, I’ll give you everything. I’ll give you tears and bruises and the best fucking orgasm you’ve ever had. After you’ve come, I’ll force you to your knees and make you lick me clean. I’ll fuck your mouth all while you cry for more. I’ll tie you up in seaweed so you can’t get away and take my time torturing you.”
I ran a hand over my achy breast, making him stiffen. “And if I won’t let you have me?”
“Then I’ll die. I need to come. Now.”
“Then come.”
“Not until I’m balls deep inside you.”
“Pleasure yourself in front of me,” I commanded. “Let me see you come, and I might consider letting you fuck me.”
He growled under his breath. “That’s how you want to play this?”
“I want to watch.” I licked my lips. “I want to see you punish yourself, so you’re worthy of touching me. I want to watch you come undone, all while you wish you were inside me and not on your knees.”