Page 33 of The Hunt

Chapter Nine

They were still naked.Neither of them had opted for clothes, but there was nothing quite like being kidnapped by a fucking mermaid and nearly drowning to put a few things into perspective.One, being naked wasn’t a big deal, especially when she was with her mate.

Jaxson had not let go of her hand, and they had started on their journey once again.They hadn’t spoken since she wrapped herself around his body and kind of made a fool of herself.He wasn’t judging, though.Calliope had just needed to hold her mate.To know he was close, that he was near.He didn’t let her drown, or get killed.

“You know, it’s driving me crazy, but I cannot remember any of our games having a mermaid taking me prisoner and attempting to drown me,” she said.

“I know.”

“Does this mean something?”she asked.

He came to a stop.She looked at him, and he seemed as shaken up as she felt.

“I think it does.”

“We don’t want to know, do we?”she asked.

He ran fingers through his head.“It could mean we’re getting close but not close enough.I mean, I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you.It just isn’t acceptable to me.”

She put a hand on his chest.“Hey, come on, it’s fine.”

“No.It’s not.None of this is fine.This fucking game is not funny.They could have killed both of us.”

“But, we’re both here, and we’re safe.”She went onto her tiptoes and kissed him.“I don’t want you thinking like this.You saved me.I don’t even know where that mermaid was taking me.He freaked me out, and he could have been a little more polite about it, don’t you think?”

She was trying to lighten the mood.

“Calliope, I clawed off his hand.”

She nodded.“You’re not in the mood.”

He pulled her in close, and she smelled his earthy scent.It wasn’t the scent of dirt, just air, the forest, and all things natural.Jaxson had always smelled so good to her.

“It could be manifesting,” Calliope said.

“What?”

“The Hunt.It has taken inspiration from our games.It was a mermaid.”

“We never had an actual mermaid in one of our games.”

“That is true, however, they were mentioned.Maybe it is designed to kind of speed things up a bit.”

“Speed things up?”He shook his head.“Moments before, we were like, touching each other, bringing each other to orgasm, and that is not working fast enough for them?”

She hadn’t anticipated him being quite so annoyed.

“It’s fine.”

“No, none of this is fine, okay?This is all just bullshit.That is exactly what it is.Bullshit.”

She pressed a hand to his chest and then wrapped her arms around him.“I’ve got you.”

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