Page 56 of Caged By the Ruthless Thief

“You must have done wonders for the new Poseidon if he was willing to have you wear this. But it’s beautiful, just like you. I’m glad the rumors of you not being in the city were just rumors. I’m honored to have danced with you. You are delightful, and I would love to talk to you sometime.”

I smile. Because I have enough males to talk to for quite a while, thank you very much.

My eyes skate across the rest of the dance floor. Another male is coming toward me. I smile and shake my head at him. There are plenty of mermaids on the sides of the dance floor. I’m not going to play by the rules either. He inclines his head as if he understands but is still coming for me.

I don’t know what this dance is. There’s lots of jumping, and I’ve somehow gotten myself stuck in the middle of the floor, with couples jumping and swinging around me. I’m stuck in a whirlpool, the churn of the dancers keeping me locked in the middle. My would-be partner is dogding to the left, and a mass of males in front of me is moving to the right. If I didn’t know better, I would say it’s the hive mind keeping him away from me.

“Excuse me,” I say to a mermaid in a bright pink and orange gown. She’s wearing earmuffs over her elaborate braids shaped like kittens. I point my hands and squeeze between her and another mermaid in a bright blue gown, close to the color I’m wearing. I know that all of Glyden is going to be furious at my dress.

I push harder, and I see them. Three sets of eyes. The most beautiful thing I’ve seen in a long time. Holter’s are bright blue in the low golden light. Nico’s hazel eyes are on fire. Holter steps forward, but Castor grabs his arm. It’s Nico who’s making his way over to me.

I don’t know if it’s minutes or seconds, but I get my blue shoes unstuck from the marble dance floor and make my way to them. My pulse thunders in my throat. I’ve never seen him like this before, and I can’t quite read what he’s thinking, but I force myself to walk to him. Part of me wants to run to him. The other half wants to run the other way. But the entire time, I can’t let others know that I haven’t seen him, that I haven’t been at his bedside where I belong, helping him get better. The room parts, and he’s there.

“Little Krill,” he growls. He smells good, like him, but also different. His salty musk has mutated to something more savory. Firmer.

“Nico.”

“What is this?” He pulls at my sleeve, and it rips away, dangling at my wrist. “Don’t test me, Little Krill. We’re more than willing to strip that dress off you and show this ballroom who you belong to.”

His words cut me across my chest. I’ve been worried about him, how he made it through the chasm, and he’s concerned about the color of my dress? I should kick him in the balls, only my mermaid bits are on fire. He could take me right in the middle of the room, with the dancers doing their kicks and jumps. I almost wish he would.

“Nico.” I slide my hand between his arm and my sleeve, caressing the side of his face. He freezes. “Nico,” I say again, this time on my tiptoes, whispering it into his ear.

He pulls on my other sleeve and tosses it to the side of the room.

I have to use my other hand to hold the dress up over my breasts. The back is flapping open. “Don’t.” I hold up my free hand when he comes for the fabric again. Everyone is watching, but the only ones I care about are Holter and Castor watching from beside Nico. Eros is behind me, somewhere. I picked up on his gaze a few times during the first dance. He promised he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. A promise that felt empty at the time. But he swears he’s going to hold true to it.

Nico pulls my hand away, and before my dress can fall, Holter has me in his arms, my breasts pressed to his chest. I wrap my arms around his neck. He smells different too, but I huff him in. My angel.

“I don’t want anyone else to see your perfect body, Belle.” He picks me up and carries me into an alcove.

“Where are we going?” A cold shiver races down my spine, mingling surprise with trepidation. I need his touch. I need everything he gives me. Each touch, each mark, is proof that he’s still alive.

“Nico’s right. We need you out of that dress. You’re ours, and we are going to mark you right here.” He places me on a soft mattress. Like everything here, it’s huge, but this one is orange, and its less bean bag chair, more cloud mixed with a mattress.

And I’m salivating. I’ve been so worried about not going right to them. Telling them how I couldn’t stay away, how I never want a sea witch to erase my memory, that I’ve forgotten how much I need them. I need their touch, their scents, and their cocks.

Holter’s touch holds all the promises of my future. My eyes flick to Nico. The scar on his neck is red and angry, like he ripped the bandage off to come here tonight. I’ve been on edge for the last day, visualizing what this would be like.

We wanted a statement. And that’s what we’ve made. We are unified, and we are here. But now I don’t care about statements. I only care about them. About Nico being healthy. About connecting with Holter and with Eros.

Eros. I’ve agonized, wondering how the guys will accept him. My eyes follow the line down Nico’s chest to his back.

A loud rip happens, and the rest of my dress is stripped away. I’m lying on it, but in the next breath, Nico yanks it out from under me and tosses it onto the floor. Holter’s got his jacket off, and I guess we’re doing it. This is the Veiled City version of “Hello honey, I’m home.” I’m naked but for the organza scarf at my neck. I told Marina once I was reunited with my other mates that she could tell people. I’m sure Marina is faster than announcing it via the block.

“Wait. I have something I need to say.” I push up on my elbows, but this darn mattress is so squishy, I’m rolling on it like it’s a waterbed.

“You’re here, Belle. That’s all that matters.”

“I’m not sure you’re going to feel that way when you see what I have to show you.” I’m making this worse. I have a habit of always making bad news worse. I think I’m helping the person I’m talking through their issues, when really I’m making whatever it is bigger. Not that this isn’t big. This is enormous. Gigantic. I should have told them when I talked to them. But then, we didn’t want to talk too long. All of them were adamant that my location be kept a secret until even more security measures were put in place at our apartment.

From where my body is sinking into the orange puff, I can only make out Nico and Holter. Castor was here, but now I don’t see him.

Nico reaches for my scarf, one knee on the bed, the other foot on the floor. But I shake my head and remove it before he can touch it. I turn my neck, showing him the fresh mating mark. Nico goes still. Not a good sign. It’s never a good sign when he goes still.

“What is that, Little Krill?”

Holter’s here, naked. He moves onto the mattress. “You don’t need to ask that, Nico. You know what it is.”

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