Page 23 of Sunken Empire

One of his hands rubs a light soothing path up and down my back, making me squirm in his lap.

By the time my hips are within his grasp again, he's adding, "Yes. We can have sex when we've got fins. Though, it's purely mating. It doesn't feel anywhere near as good as this."

At the arch of his hips, he slams me down and a moan of his name falls from my lips. He doesn't leave any room for conversation after that. I ride the waves of pleasure my sexy, brutish merman has set me on. My breasts bounce in his face with every thrust, and it isn't long before Zanthus jumps at the opportunity. His lips close around one nipple and when teeth graze the sensitive bud, my release hits me like a ton of bricks.

It's possible I scream his name loud enough to shatter windows, but I can't be sure of that. For Zanthus follows me into that pleasurable bliss, and the moment he starts filling me, a bright blue light flashes around us, almost blinding me in its intensity. Then a zap hits me so hard, my body goes limp in his arms, and there's nothing I can do about it.

"Rubi?" he asks with a worried demand in his tone as he gives me a soft shake.

I can hear him and feel his hands on me, but it's like I'm paralyzed, unable to even lift my pinky finger. It only lasts a few seconds, but it's long enough that I start to panic. Before it really sets in, everything snaps back into place, and my chest starts burning like we've set it on fire.

"Owww!" I scream, reaching to put the fire out. "It burns! It burns!"

Zanthus's hand comes between us right before there's a sharp tug at my neck and his necklace goes flying across the floor. It's no sooner come to a stop when it bursts into a bright blue cloud of debris. He drops us to the bed, covering me with his large form.

When he's confident the show is over, he raises up to stare at me, wondrously dumbfounded.

"What was that?" I ask, trying not to flinch as the skin pulls tight at the burn mark across my chest.

Dipping down, he pecks me on the lips as he answers, "I believe that was you breaking part of the curse."

I'm so giddy with temporary relief that I ignore the pain and wrap my arms around his shoulders, yanking him down for a real kiss. Our bodies shift, and I can tell he's ready to go again. Well, so am I. Except moving again has me hissing in pain. I reach up to touch the spot, but Zanthus tugs my hand away.

"Don't touch it, love," he gently orders, pulling himself up and out of the bed. I don't like the missing warmth, but he doesn't give me a chance to object as he says, "We need to go find my brothers and get that healed."

I let him ease me out of the giant bed and set me on my feet. Contemplating how bad it's going to hurt to slip my shirt back on over this burn, I don't notice Zanthus walking into the closet on the other side of the room. No, I'm too busy trying to look down to find the wound. Since the necklace didn't hang down too far, I'd have better chances of licking my elbow than I would seeing the damn thing without a mirror. Before I can go in search of one, Zanthus is back with a soft robe in hand.

"I'm assuming the Keep meant this for you," he states, holding it open for me to slip my arms into.

"Are you sure you just don't like walking around in pink silk while no one is watching?" I tease.

He chuckles as he brings his naked chest against my back and puts his palm against my bare stomach, not allowing me to tie the robe closed.

"Have I told you how much I love to hate that roguish mouth of yours? Maybe we'll find a good use for it later," he whisper promises in my ear.

I try to twist my head around to capture those lips again, but he stands to his full height with a chuckle. As he starts toward the door, I follow behind him, trying to tie a knot in the robe's waist.

Then it hits me.

"Wait!" I demand. "I can't go out there looking like this."

"Why?" he asks, turning around to glance over my body.

Waving a hand over myself, I give him the ‘are you dense’ stare before hissing, "I'm naked underneath here. They'll know what we've done."

His chuckle is dark and rolls over my skin, begging me to take him right back to bed.

"They're already going to know what we did, princess," he remarks. His eyes are carefully trained on my face, so I know they don't miss the wince there.

That cockiness starts to fade as he questions, "Having regrets?"

Ignoring the pain in my chest, I close the distance between us and throw my arms around his neck while reaching up on my toes. When he still doesn't lower his head like I want, I jump, locking my legs around his waist. Thankfully, his hands catch me under my ass cheeks; otherwise, I might not have been able to hang on long.

Slanting my lips over his, I let my words touch his tongue. "Never."

My heart jumps at the smile that takes over his face. Successful in one moment of victory, my heart still pounds because I've got to find a way to dull this pain and face the other two.

Zanthus's finger hooks underneath my chin where it fell when my feet hit the floor again. "Stop fretting and thinking like a human. They're not going to feel any different."

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