Page 21 of Caged By the Ruthless Thief

“If that’s what you want. Are you in pain?” Mermaids who go without mating for too long can suffer. And the last thing I want is for her to suffer.

“Yes, but that doesn’t matter. They’re hormones. I can control my own darn hormones. I’m not an animal.” She wiggles to get away. I haven’t let go of her hips, and when she moves, she drags her core against my hard cock. I grit my molars together. She might not be an animal, but I sure as hell am. I want her so badly.

I flip her onto her back, my legs now snug between hers. “But you are an animal now, Sunshine. We’re both animals. Tell me you don’t want me, and I’ll go.” I’m fucking hoping I can. Because I don’t want to leave her alone in my bed. No way at all. I’d like to think that I could, but my reputation is mostly based on the truth.

I run my nose up the side of her jugular and suck on the tender spot behind her ear. My merman fangs itch to pierce her skin. We don’t have fated mates, but I’m drawn to her. She captivates me every waking minute. I want to be with her, in her, smelling her, tasting her.

I leave the tender skin behind her ear and drop my way down her body. Lifting her tunic, I pull it up, kissing around her chest, down to her nipples. I suck one into my mouth, and her back arches into me. She’s not going anywhere. I will make her scream my name a hundred times over before she leaves. I will have her begging to stay, begging for me to join her pod. That’s what I want more than anything. I’ll put up with Nico, as much as he drives me mad. I’ll risk my own life sleeping next to her with him in the same bed. But what I won’t do is live without her.

I pepper her neck with kisses. Damn, I want her so much, and not just for now. For always. “I need you, and you need me right back.” I can’t send her back to Glyden now. It’s not safe. “I need to keep you safe.”

She tosses her hair. “I am. Between you and—”

I push a finger to her mouth, cutting her off. “Don’t say the shark. We aren’t the same.”

“I didn’t mean to say you were.” She drops to the side of the mattress.

“I want you as my mate. And you need me for protection.”

Her eyes are glassy. But her fingers trail down the side of my abs, tracing each one. Her pain is palpable, but so is her lust. “I...”

“This is inevitable. Holter will understand. And when he learns how I’ve kept you safe, think of how happy he will be.”

Relief fills her face. And her lips hit mine. Never has a kiss tasted so sweet. Never have I wanted someone like this. She is it for me. I tug at her borrowed tunic and pull it all the way over her head.

11

ANNABELLE

My borrowed shirt flies off and my leggings follow. I don’t know what it is, my mermaid hormones or the relief of feeling like I’m safe, that lets me relax into the mattress, lets me only feel his hands on me. Safe. It’s a weird emotion. Because it is an emotion. Years of living with my uncle taught me what waking up not knowing if today was the day he would snap and kill me, or Marlee, feels like.

I squeeze my eyes tightly shut, blocking out the image of the destroyed Glyden portico. Nowhere in the article did it mention anything about my apartment. Only that I wasn’t in the Glyden dome and when they asked to talk to me, Ophelia sent them away.

“Sunshine?” Eros runs his hand down my shoulder. His lips pause on my neck. “Are you okay? I can stop.”

“Yes, I mean no. Oh, fudge.” I push against his arms, but he’s holding me down. And something snaps inside of me. Him restraining me has me bucking my hips up at him. All thoughts evaporate from my head. Everything but Eros. His driftwood scent wraps me up, keeping me safe, and I can’t imagine not having him. I push against his legs, splaying myself open to him.

His hand rings around my neck, tilting my chin up to his face. “You are mine, Sunshine. I will never have another day without you.”

My legs wrap around his hips, and his cock sinks deep into me. “Yes,” I whisper. I want him. I want him so much. Honestly, I’ve never wanted anything more. “Yes. Eros. Yes.” I lift my hips from the mattress, and his cock slides in. He holds me there, while my pussy spasms around him, stretching to accommodate him.

“Are you good, Sunshine?” He licks behind my ear.

“So good. I want this. I want you.” I squeeze him. And he takes off. Our bodies meld together. His rhythm takes me higher until light and sound don’t mean anything. “Yes.” I’m screaming.

A prick of pain settles in from my neck, but oh, I like it. I arch my neck to let him do it again. Blinding lights erupt in my vision as I come hard, my hips slamming up into him. They lift us both off the mattress before we bounce back down.

And that’s when I realize it...He mated me. My heart beats in triple-time. From the orgasm and from the realization of what he’s done. I squeeze my eyes closed.

The nirvana of my orgasm quickly recedes and my eyes snap open. “Get off of me.”

Eros pulls back, but he does roll off me. I’m not sure what he’s thinking or feeling because I’m not looking at him.

Reflexively, my hand goes to the spot where he sunk his teeth into me. What in the ever-loving crazy place is this? I stand on the bed like a lunatic, walking like a city mime across the mattress until I jump down and somehow don’t fall to my knees on the floor. He mated me. I clasp my hand over my mouth, holding in the swear words I want to let loose. I don’t swear. Then I drop my hands, as if ever there was a time to swear, it’s now.

I stare in the bathroom mirror at the red spot on my neck. I shake my head. “What the fuck?” I shout, even as I replay the last few hours over in my head.

I turn around, but he hasn’t followed me in here. I march back into the bedroom and search the floor for my tunic or leggings. Well, notmytunic or leggings, but the ones I was wearing. Because I don’t have anything that’s mine. Or a choice that is mine. And suddenly I remember why. These pigheaded males don’t think I can make my own choices. I wasn’t clear, and he took it as ayes, I will mate you.

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