“Why should I believe you’re a princess?” he says, his grin tight. He lifts the pendant. “If you really want this, come and get it.”
Taking a deep breath, I wade into the water. It’s shockingly cold. He’s holding on to the log with one hand, the other still dangling my pendant in front of me, luring me like a fish to the hook.
In a quick motion, he hangs my pendant around his neck and reaches for me, grabbing my wrist—the one without the iron bracelet.
His hand is cold, ice seeping into my flesh where he’s holding me, and it makes me feel sick. He’s not human. But his grip is like a steel manacle around my wrist, dragging me inexorably toward him. Up close, he’s even more impressive, with shoulders like bulwarks and a chest made of hard lines, broad and muscular. And his eyes… they are like chips of the sky, a blue so vibrant and true that it mesmerizes me.
Those eyes dip to my mouth and his lips part on an inhale. Then he hauls me against him and I cry out in surprise.
He kisses me.
His lips are on mine, soft and insistent, his face so close I can see every detail—the sweep of his dark lashes over his eyes, the dark brows, the light flush on his cheekbones.
I want to fight it, but at the same time, I don’t. His chest is cold as ice, and his tail splashes behind him, reminding me of what he truly is, but his lips move over mine and pleasure courses through me. I find my arms winding up around his neck as his tongue parts my lips and delves into my mouth, sending more shocking pleasure down, down the core of me, letting it pool between my legs.
Even with the cold water lapping at my thighs, seeping into my undergarments, his cold hold on me, heat flares inside me. I’ve never felt anything like it before. Is this magic or is it desire, plain and simple? It’s so hard to tell.
So hard tothinkwhen he’s still kissing me, a sound rumbling in his throat, his hand releasing my wrist to curl around the small of my back and haul me closer. Merman or not, I can feel how aroused he is, that rod of flesh I’d seen earlier grown very large and hard now, pressing into my stomach. It makes the heat in me flare hotter.
I may be a sheltered princess, but I know about cocks and that they give men pleasure. I’ve seen things at the palace growing up. It seems that mermen are no different.
And it’s fascinating and I want to touch it, but he distracts me when he licks the roof of my mouth, exploring every secret place that makes me moan with need. His other hand comes between us and finds my breast over my bodice, stroking it through the fabric of my gown. My nipple pebbles and need unlike any I’ve ever felt pools in my belly, between my legs. I never thought that having a man touching me there would feel so good.
He nips at my lips as he kisses me, his fingers toying with my nipple, and I cling to his neck, lost in the sensations rushing through me. He’s rocking against me, I realize, his hard cock rubbing against my belly, and that feels so good, too. I’m caught between his hand and his cock, while his mouth plunders my mouth again and again. The pressure between my legs is painful and I need… I need him to…
A flick of his thumb over my nipple sends a jolt of lightning through me, and the pressure breaks, the pleasure drawing me under, drowning me. I moan brokenly against his lips, rubbing myself against his hard body, and…
Oh Gods. What am I doing? What…?I pull my mouth away and he growls, his gaze very dark and dazed. “Stop.”
“Selina…”
“Let me go,” I demand, putting my hands on his cold, hard chest and pushing.
It does nothing, it’s like pushing at a brick wall, but after a long moment, he removes his hand from inside my gown and releases me.
I stumble backward in the water, panting hard, still dazed from the pleasure he made me feel.
He licks at his lips, frowning at me. That mighty tail hits the water of the lake, splashing more water, wetting my clothes.
“You lied,” I whisper. “Kissing didn’t work.”
“It’s working,” he says mildly. “The curse isn’t easily lifted. It takes time. It takes work.”
“Time?” Gathering my sodden skirts, I stumble out of the water, away from him. “If you think I’ll let you kiss me again, you’re out of your mind.”
Kiss me and touch me and pleasure me like this… Like I never thought possible.
His brows knit. Gone is the easy grin from before. “I will wait. Until you come back.”
“Why should I?”
“Because I am a damn good kisser. Because I can make you come so hard, you’ll see stars.” He shrugs. “And because I’m not giving you the pendant back just yet. So that you will return.”
“You can’t do that!” I shout as he swims backward and starts sinking into the lake. “It’s not fair.”
He laughs.
“Wait! I don’t even know your name? Who are you?”