Page 83 of Cursed Waters

It wasn’t like this underwater, where mermaids craved power and mermen craved the illusion of companionship. No, this was something more, something better.

I felt the base of my shaft tighten, her mouth driving me closer to completion with every slide of her lips, and fought back my release, my hips twisting away.

Not yet.

I couldn’t let myself spend before I’d had the chance to explore her. To drag my mouth over every inch of her skin, finding the places that would make her cry out, just as she’d done for me.

When she came up for air, I reached out to caress her cheek, my fingertips practically vibrating with anticipation. She glanced up at me, curious, and I wet my lips.

“My turn.”

27

Claira

Leander flipped me over, and as soon as my back touched the bedroll, his face was burrowed into the curve of my neck.

“I wasn’t finished,” I huffed, but he started peppering kisses down the scoop of my tank top, the urgency in his movements letting me know just how much he didn’t care. He eased back with a chuckle and shushed me with the point of his finger.

A little taste of my own medicine.Cute.

His lips were already swollen from countless kisses, and dammit—their shine set off his hair, making him more blindingly gorgeous than usual.Freaking mermen. The golden flecks in his eyes lit with excitement as he went for the top of my jeans.

Grunting out his impatience, he pulled on the zipper, yanking it in the wrong direction. “Don’t—don’t rip them,” I whispered, fighting the urge to shoo his hands away. “I just got this pair this morning.”

“Then how about giving me a hand?”

He wantedmeto do it?

A sly smirk played over his lips as I slowly slid a hand to my zipper. He took my hesitation as an opportunity, brushing light kisses down the inside of my elbow as I worked the zipper. Would he ever grow tired of kissing me?

“Thanks, beautiful.”

Beautiful?A flush of heat spread across my face. That wasn’t an endearment I was accustomed to hearing. Especially not from someone as gorgeous as him.

Leander’s eyes turned down to my stomach, and I squirmed underneath him, feeling suddenly embarrassed. Seeing him exposed in all his golden perfection was one thing, but him seeing me? The thought made my belly tumble and twist under the weight of his gaze.

Swallowing down my nerves, I slid my pants down over my hips. Leander’s clear eyes flashed with wonder, and he stood straight up on the bed.

“What are you doing?” I asked, gawking up at him. It was amazing how tall he looked, his body literally towering over me.

“I thought we were discarding our pants?” he said plainly, and his pants dropped straight to his ankles.

Well, okay then.

His cock bounced in the air above me, and I swallowed hard, wiggling my jeans the rest of the way off. He snatched my pants up with his, and I muffled a laugh as he wrapped them both into one giant wad and flung it at the back of the shower curtain door. “I don’t think that’s how humans usually do that.”

I mean, it wasn’t sexy, but it worked.

The plastic curtain was still rustling as he settled back on top of me, and warm hands came around the uncovered skin of my hips, his fingertips kneading over my flesh like he was studying human legs for the very first time.

A low hum deepened his voice. “No?” Even in darkness, his eyes were as intense as his father’s. The way the golden flecks smoldered and spun with emotion had me totally mesmerized. His chin turned down, and it took a second for me to snap out of their spell. “What is this?”

I followed his eyes down to my pink panties, and the blush sitting over my cheeks flared into an inferno. They weren’t fancy—just a solid cotton pair—but they were the only layer left between us.

“They’re, um, my underwear,” I said, wondering if I should turn this into a teaching moment. “Humans are supposed to wear them.”

“Underwear,” he repeated, a curiosity lighting in his eyes. His chin lowered as if he were inspecting them, the movement sending golden waves of hair bouncing in front of me. Focusing on a rebellious little cowlick I’d never noticed before, I reached for his hair just as a finger swiped over the middle seam of my panties. An unexpected jolt shocked through me at the touch, and I let out a tiny yip of surprise.

---