Page 21 of The Princesses of Ruin
“We’ve attracted attention,” Emerald says as he pulls away. “I will tell my king what I have seen.”
The ga’hanoi’s upper body ripples as its thick limbs conceal it once more. The water shifts, pushing the monster back toward the other selkies. It blooms like a sinister flower of sharp petals, then surges into the darkness. Crimson gives me one last snarl, and Onyx bows her head before they all disappear back to the depths.
Reina wraps her arms around me, pressing her hands to my chest and her cheek to my back. I pull down my spines as she squeezes herself against me.
“That went well.”
I grunt and click in annoyance. “It most certainly didn’t. If the ga’hanoi are working with the selkie clans, something is very wrong in the deep sea.”
“Weren’t there supposed to be five selkie representatives?” she asks.
“There were. Topaz and Amethyst did not show despite confirming with my mother that they would.”
“And the ga’hanoi? What…is it?”
“It’s a shape-shifter, a liar. It takes a selkie shape to confuse its prey.”
“Its prey?”
“Selkies. They’ve preyed on us for centuries.”
“And you shape-shift like it?” she asks.
I grumble. “It’s one of the many reasons my clan has lost reputation of late, because of me…because of my many forms.”
“You can transform into the likeness of a predator, and you’ve mated the enemy.” She swims around me, her hands trailing across my shoulders. “You really are testing diplomatic limits.”
Her smile is brilliant, and it eases some of the ache in my chest. “I was hoping to get an answer today. We’re running out of time.”
She nods, her hair flowing gently. “I know how to make you feel better.”
Her nails scrape down my chest to the bulge of my groin.
I groan into the feel of my mate’s desire. “We’ve attracted attention. A sha’kara.”
She hums. “We’ve dispatched one before.”
“And I lost two limbs.”
“They grew back,” she says, her lips whispering over my neck.
Her hand presses more firmly against me and my will wavers. “Let me take you home.”
“Or take me to the shallows. I still have yet to taste you in this form.” She nips my throat.
I squeeze her sides, my claws poking into her flesh without piercing it. She is more durable than before. Perhaps I could let her…
“That feels like a yes.” She moans, her mouth vibrating against my collarbones as her fingers slip through the protective folds around my cock.
I pull her legs around my waist and spin us toward the shallows. The sha’kara won’t risk beaching itself, and no other creature of these depths would interrupt a mating selkie. It’s not the cover of shore, but it’s at least far enough away from the Deep that I feel comfortable.
Reina giggles as rocky sea bottom gives way to brighter sand and plentiful fish. An outcropping of coral makes for a private spot, and I crowd her against the stones it rests upon.
“Taste me, you say?” I ask, pulling down her lower lip until she opens her mouth. She leans into my thumb and sucks it into her mouth. Her blunt teeth nibble softly, and I sigh in the contentment her affection brings.
“Let me hide your worry for a time,” she says, and I can’t help but smile.
“Did I speak wrong?” she asks as she slithers down my body, keeping her legs wrapped tight around my tail. She kisses my stomach, then my hip, until her lips rest just over my yearning cock. I flex the muscles of my protective opening, trying desperately not to show her just how much I want this.
