Page 103 of Of Rime and Ruin
Shit. I thought my magic didn’t work on merfolk minds, only animals. So why is it working on him now? Suddenly, I crave the answer.
Part of me spirals toward him. I surround his mind, brushing against his conscience as I continue to sing my spell. I inflect the tune, adding words. “Hello, Beasty. Did you miss me?”
Aethan hisses. His head tips to the ceiling as his jaw clenches, working hard. The blue scales crawl over his strained knuckles.
“Nahla,please. Don’t do this.” His voice rumbles, deeper than usual, taking on a gravelly timbre.
“Do what, Your Majesty?”
I skirt the edges of his mind, scanning for weak points. His outer defenses form a hard shell, cold and firm as iron.
“Stop. Singing.” He pushes out of his chair, rising to his full height. Glowering, angry Beast. My core floods with arousal.Shit.
“Come out and play.”
He comes around the table, prowling toward me with the starved look of a predator. With his foot, he drags the leg of my chair, swiveling me to face him head-on. He bends low and frames me with his hands. The scent of him washes over me, peppermint and snow, and my eyelids flutter. Every nerve in my body rises to greet him.
Yes, Beasty. I’m right here.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he grunts.
A coy smile spreads my lips. “Don’t you, Aethan?”
“No.”
“Take me for a swim.”
“No.” His nostrils flare. “You don’t know the risks. I could”—he chokes out the words—“hurt you.”
Hurt me? I don’t fucking care. Let him try. Let him do his worst. I need him. I want him, all of him, as much as he can give me.
No more secrets.
I clench my diaphragm and strengthen my Voice, forming the command with my mind and mouth. “Come.”
I pierce the shell of his psyche, bursting into the world of his emotions. Desire. Anger. Desperation. Yearning. The clouds of his thoughts rise to greet me, swirling and sucking me deeper. Ushering me in.
Aethan’s eyes widen. His grip tightens on my chair and his breath comes more quickly. He touches his forehead against mine.
“You,” he gasps. “You will ruin me.”
I grasp him by his ears, and hold him in place. Our noses slide together. My song swirls between us, building as the mental connection strengthens through our touch.
“Please.” I close my eyes and nuzzle closer still until our lips rest a scale’s breadth apart. “Let me in.”
War rages within him, the fury against the hope. A storm of ice and flame. Then Aethan closes the gap and kisses me. Hard. With a desperate growl of surrender.
Chapter forty-three
Aethan
Fuckit.
Nahla’s mouth is glazed with hot chocolate and cream, complementing her sweet taste, and I devour every inch. Suck the plump curve of her bottom lip. When I growl, she trembles in her chair.
Her spell dies out, muted by my kiss, but it’s too late.
She has awakened the Beast within me, and our connection lingers.
