Page 28 of Marked By the Sea

“Riftan,” I cried.

“I did not bed her, but I won’t lie to you. She approached me, hinting at ending it, but I refused. I had no intentions of breaking it off. I would have done my duty, but even as I told myself that, I came to you. My mind and heart have been at war since the moment I saw you on that yacht.”

“Oh, thank the gods,” I whispered. Riftan smirked as he squeezed my hand. He was opening up, and it made my little heart happy.

“I denied the truth even as I compared her to you. She fell short in every area. You are special, but no matter how many times the guys tried to tell me, I didn’t want to hear it. You were a complication I had no idea how to handle.” With one hand, he held my hand, and with the other, my other hand.

“I thought I knew what I wanted, but when I came here and heard his voice, my heart stopped. I don’t know what the future holds, but I can’t go forward without you.”

“Finally,” Rowan sighed. He dropped his head to my shoulder, and I poked him in the side with my free hand.

“Let him have his moment,” Hexon chuckled. His fingers ran up and down my spine soothingly, but it had the opposite effect—causing my nipples to harden.

“Ooh, someone’s turned on,” Rowan teased in my ear. A tentacle wrapped around my ankle, and the other around my thigh.

“I’m talking here,” Riftan groaned.

“Go on. Our treasure will ignore all distractions and focus, won’t she?” Hexon murmured in my ear, and my pussy clenched in response. I had just been attacked. This was not what I should be feeling right now. But all I wanted was for them to put their hands on me, to hold me, to make me feel good and forget the bad. It didn’t help that Rowan was making out with my ear. I bit my lip as I stared at Riftan.

“Mm-hmm. I can’t,” I breathed.

“Can,” Rowan chastised.

“Can,” I repeated.

“I can’t leave you here to fend for yourself. I can’t be the reason you’re in danger. To answer your question,” Riftan started, glaring at his brothers before continuing, “I was holding back because for the first time since I’ve stolen someone, I wanted to offer you something I’ve never given anyone else: freedom.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, I gasped. And I wasn’t the only one. Rowan stopped what he was doing, and the tentacles froze. My faerie zoned in on our merman.

“You’ll let her stay here? Start a life together?” Hexon asked hopefully. Rowan’s head whipped to our kraken, but before he could say whatever he was about to say, Riftan spoke first.

“In the hideout? Is she our secret? No, she’s my queen. Our queen. And I won’t keep her imprisoned here. She will sit on a throne at my side.” Riftan’s anger was palpable, but I was still stuck on his words.

“You would… let me go back?” My voice quivered. Turning from Hexon, Riftan gave me a curt nod in response.

“If that’s what you wish,” he gritted out. My parents would be happy, but I wouldn’t. Nothing would change. They would still treat me like their little science experiment and try to fix me. There was nothing back there for me.

“And if I don’t want to?” My words were a ghost of a whisper. There was a pause of silence. Then his breathing quickened. His chest rose and fell rapidly. As did the others.

“Tell me you want to be with me. Choose us. We’re already yours.” Riftan didn’t ask why I wouldn’t want to go home or why I’d want to stay. It was as if he were afraid of what I’d say.

“I choose my mates,” I said without hesitation.

“Then I’ll take you home,” Riftan growled.

“It’s not that easy,” I laughed.

“It is.”

“It isn’t,” Hexon and I said at the same time. We both looked at each other before the merman demanded his attention. Anger rippled through Riftan’s features, but Hexon didn’t back down.

“I’m taking her home.”

“She’ll drown,” Hexon snarled.

Something cackled in the air between them, and then they were standing.

“I can’t go in the wa—”

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