Page 22 of Rock of Stages
When I told her about the mating bite, she leaned forward, perking up even brighter than her already curious nature.
“I’m familiar with a bond between mates,” she said. “For me, it felt a tether to you when I found you in the ocean.”
My chest filled with warmth. She felt our bond since the beginning, reaffirming my belief that we were destined to be together. I’d do whatever it took to be with her.
“Tell me how it works with gargoyles.” She tilted her head.
“The urge usually comes when we’re in bed,” I explained and her eyes grew as wide as twin moons. “The pressure to mark you will grow strong. But I’d never do it unless you’re okay with it, Naiya. It’s a permanent bond. It will connect us, even when we’re apart.”
“Even if I’m in the ocean?”
I shrugged. “That I don’t know.” I smiled. “Since I don’t know of any gargoyle/mermaid matings.”
A gleam of uncertainly flashed in her eyes. “What if that means it won’t work for us?”
“It will,” I assured her. “I know it—because you’re the one.”
We were happy.I was the happiest I’d ever been, and time didn’t just fly by, it rocketed past at warp speed. All too soon, the ship neared her pod—and with it came the parting I’d dreaded.
She was swimming back to them in the morning.
My fears surged forth as we stretched out on my bed in my tiny cabin. Her silvery-blond hair splayed across my pillow like sea foam. There were so many threats in the sea, from predators, such as sharks, to slimebags, like Angus, and Ivoiced my worries about them all. The underwater world left me incapacitated—it was one place where I couldn’t protect her. And that disturbed me more than anything else.
“The ocean is far more full of wonder than danger,” she assured me.
“What about Angus?” I asked, the name bitter on my tongue.
She touched my cheek. “Miles away. We’ve sailed far since then and he’s probably still near the island.”
I worked my jaw. “And…the merman your father wants you to marry?”
Her face tightened—I’d clearly struck a nerve. “That will never happen.” Her eyes burned with determination and then she fixed them on me. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
She glanced at me with those ocean-deep eyes, and I reached for her, yearning to feel her one more time and carve her deeper into memory. Our lips met, slow and deep. I slid my hands over her soft skin, down her smooth legs, incredulous that it would soon shift back to a long tail when she returned to the sea.
I kissed down her throat, her breasts, and lower still. She arched toward me as I played with her with my fingers and tongue. She ran her fingers through my hair and then cried out as she shattered on my tongue. How I loved feeling her unravel for me. My beast stirred beneath my skin, desperate for more.
I buried myself inside her, rocking in and out with greater demand as something primal uncoiled deep within.
“Naiya,” I rasped, mouth trailing down her neck, to the spot where instinct pulled me like a magnet. “It’s here… I need to…need…to…” I struggled to speak, my voice strained and gravelly. “Mark you.”
Her lips parted, her breath catching. “The mating bite?”
I nodded, no longer able to speak as I fought the overwhelming urge to bite.
One pounding heartbeat followed another as I waited, desperately waited for her response. If she said no, I might never recover.
“Yes,” she said, barely audible, and turned her head. “I’m ready.”
My beast surged forward, urging, and my fangs extended. I kissed the curve of her neck and moved toward her shoulder, where her flesh pulsed like a beacon, drawing me to it. I bent down and pierced her skin. She gasped and tightened around me.
The second her blood touched my tongue, magic flared inside me. Her essence—light and sea—dancing with mine. A connection spun, wild and fierce and—eternal. My heart thundered, senses flooded, and I drifted to a place beyond. I pulled back and carefully sealed the wound. She released a wondrous sigh and then clutched my shoulders.
“The tether,” she whispered. “Deeper.” She wrapped her legs around me and encouraged me to move. “I feel you.”
I growled as my beast rose, invigorated, after I’d claimed Naiya. The pressure intensified and I drove into her, relentless, until I exploded inside my mate with a guttural cry.
