Page 29 of Sunken Empire

It feels lame to return the sentiment after such a long pause, but Zeph saves me with a chuckle and quick kiss to my lips.

I can feel the excitement flowing through him, and I can't help but ask, "Your curse is broken, isn't it?"

In response, I feel him pull from my body right before there's a flash of gold over his shoulder in the water. Exhilaration shoots through me, but I'm quick to figure out that it's his magic reaching out to play.

Pushing him back, I point towards the barrier. "Go, I'll be here when you get back."

When he rushes me, I expect a rough claiming of his lips, but their pressure is soft. A promise to return before there's a flash of gold, and I'm alone in our pool.

Lazing on my back to stare up at the barrier, I try to get a feel for Zephyr's magic. Zanthus' was easy. It came to me. His brother's, however, is there, but it feels wild and untamable. Clasping both mental hands around the golden thread, I give it a tiny tug. It takes a few seconds, but I start to see a few colorful streaks outside the dome, and it brings another smile to my face.

As soon as I see a school of fish, I let go of Zephyr's magic, content to relax and wait on my mate to come back to me. An inky blackness blots out the light for a moment before it's gone, and all is right again. It happens so fast that one could say I’d blinked and imagined it. Although I know I didn’t, and that knowledge is enough to have my heart beating rapidly behind my ribcage.

Being so distracted, I hadn't felt Zeph sneak underneath me. His tail brushes against my bare back a second before he yanks me down. I suck in a lungful of water in surprise. It instantly flows right back out, but that doesn't stop the sputtering as I kick back to the surface again. My useless coughs continue as the sensation still burns through my chest.

"I'm sorry, little siren," Zephyr apologizes as he surfaces and pulls our bodies together. His hands rubbing a soothing pattern up and down my back helps ward off the rest of the hacking.

He lifts my chin to capture my gaze. "You do realize you can't drown, right? Even if you could, I'd never let you."

"It's not that I thought I could drown," I tell him. Trying to explain the feeling is impossible so I don't even try. Instead, I just squeeze his torso tighter and kiss the bottom of his chin.

One of his hands skims up my arm, snagging something along the way.

"What's this, little siren?" he asks, grasping my gifted bead between his fingers.

"Zanthus gave it to me," I admit proudly.

A deep hum resonates through his chest as he stares at my gift like he's lost in thought. It's obvious when he comes to whatever conclusion that has him puzzled because his face morphs into a god-like beauty with nothing more than a smile. He doesn't give me a chance to inquire either. Lifting my body up his chest, he grabs the back of my thighs, wrapping my legs around his waist.

I can feel the moment his tail shifts back to human legs, and it's not just from the appendage already standing at attention and poking me in the ass. Striding through the water, he has us on the shore fast enough to let me know he's a man on a mission. I'm surprised when he doesn't bother stopping to grab our clothes. Zanthus is going to strangle him if one of the other mermen gets a glimpse of my naked ass.

Turns out that is an unnecessary worry because he races up the stairs that lead into their suites in a flash. We've barely made it through the door before he's dropping me softly to a waterbed. It makes me laugh, feeling the movement underneath.

"Haven't these things been uncool since the nineties?" I ask.

He holds up a finger as he paces once then twice at the foot of his bed. I laugh again as I lay back and the mattress jiggles. Of course, with the motion, it's not the only thing. My breasts bounce with each wave, and it momentarily distracts my playful mer mate. Corners of his lips turned up, he spins toward the closet, leaving me alone in the room. It only takes half a second before all of that sexy tanned naked skin is making its reappearance.

Hopping up on the bed, he makes the water go crazy and then sits back on his heels to watch my breasts bounce again.

"Out of fashion or not, I now believe this has to be one of my best investments ever," he confesses, crawling the rest of the way up to where he can straddle my body with one knee on each side of my stomach.

This mating thing must've turned me into a sex-craved maniac because it takes me a moment to break my stare with his cock practically in my face to glance up at him. A sly grin greets me, admitting our position was no accident.

"Zanthus got to give you a mating present, so it's only fair I do the same, right?" he asks, acting as though I've already answered.

Clasping two of the hoops from his ear, he undoes them both and offers them in an open palm. Which quickly closes tighter than a clam's shell as my hand lifts toward them. Bending his torso down, he starts removing the studs in my ear as he asks, "Are these important? We can save them if they are."

I shake my head, but he's already putting them on one of the shelves of the headboard. Then, turning his focus back, he's got both hoops hooked and closed through my ears before I can protest.

"Zeph, I can't take your earrings," I try anyway, letting my fingers play over the cold surface.

He chuckles deeply. "Of course you can, and you are. They were melted and formed with gold from our original clan leader's crown. Mother gave them to me when she realized I was going to be as much of a free spirit as she was."

"Now I really can't," I whisper.

Stopping my hands from moving back to my ears, his smile turns sad. "She would've loved you, little siren. Maybe as much as my brothers and me. Keep them, please."

How can I possibly argue with that?

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