Page 92 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Deeps

"Why do you chortle at my words?" he asked, gazing up at me from the floor of the tub.

"Because, all of this. You, my ass, my aunt's bait and switch with that damn amulet, your tentacle dick, this is all ridiculous and if I don't laugh I'll scream, okay?"

He tilted his head and frowned at me.

"I am worried you were in more dire need of sustenance than we thought."

I closed my eyes and sighed as he turned off the water and grabbed a towel.

"Okay, sure, let's start with that."

I threwon a green and pink sun dress that reached my shins and was loose and flowy before braiding my still wet hair. The whole time Mr. Fish Man sat on the bed and stared at me, cock very much out of his pocket. I was grateful that he gave me a little space after insisting on drying me off. I took my time slathering lotion on my arms and face, and then found my comfy but cute sandals.

I was doing my best not to panic, but it's not every day that you find out that you're suddenly Queen of an underwater kingdom. Or that the king has an insatiable lust for you, which, to be honest, was the one part of this whole thing that I minded least, but I needed to think straight, and letting him keep in an orgasmic fugue state was not going to help.

"You, stay here and maybe get some clothes on? You can't go out like that," I said to him.

"This world still does not know about supernatural beings?" he asked with a slight curl to his lips as if disgusted.

"Some of us do, but the general populace? No."

He huffed out a breath.

"I suppose I can change my form to something more...mundane."

"Great, now while you slip into something more comfortable, I need to go look for something. Don't go away."

He tilted his head to the side in that adorable inquisitive look of his.

"Comfortable? It's not painful but shape changing into a mundane is not what I could call comfortable."

I chuckled at that.

How is a guy who looks like the creature from the black lagoon so damn cute?

"It's an expression, I don't mean literally."

"Ah, I see. Very well. I will not go anywhere but I will clean my mess downstairs. You should not have to do it."

His words brought me up short for a moment. Had he really just offered to clean?

Damn. That's almost sexier than his obsession with eating me out.

To avoid the growing pull to just spend all day in bed with this sexy as fuck Fish Man, I gave him a shaky smile and ran into my aunt's spell casting room. It was consecrated, and had her alter and Witches Safe. It was obviously where I'd cast the spell last night; there's no way in hell, even drunk, that I'd attempt a spell like this without a sacred circle and consecration.

The moment I hit the threshold, the scent of sea water and incense hit me full in the face.

"Well, okay then," I sneezed as it became more potent the closer I got to the circle.

My aunt had a permanent circle on the floor with a pentagram in the center. One of her artisan friends had made her special candle holders that were bolted to the floor at the four corners. The candles in them were burned down to nubs and out, thank goodness. I was here to find out what I'd done and what clues the spell might give me as to breaking whatever connection the Sea King thought we had. But as I looked around at this beautiful room full of memories and the glimmer of my aunt's presence, I broke down in tears.

I fell to my knees just outside the circle and hugged myself as I let out my grief. It always took me a while to really cry when people died, or when drastic changes happened in my life. I'd cried a bit at her funeral, and a little on the drive here. But this gut wrenching feeling like I'm crying up my heart type of weeping? I hadn't gotten around to it yet so it was no surprise that it hit me now.

I don't know how long I knelt there, sobbing so hard that my stomach ached and my chest felt hollow.

"I wish you were here," I whispered when I could get a breath. "I wish you could just hug me. I need you to help me find my way because nothing feels like it fits. But you're not here and now I have this Sea King who thinks I'm his queen."

I laughed through the tears and snot on my face, and shook my head.

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