Page 82 of Hunters and Prey

“No more than thirty-five.” He held her gaze, watching the mild confusion on her face grow to open bewilderment. “You can’t be over forty. You’re far too young.”

“Good genes, I suppose. I’ve always looked younger than I am. My brother says I inherited all the luck, but I think having two teenagers aged the fuck out of him.”

A moment of silence passed between them, companionable and easygoing silence filled only with the gentle rustle of her uniform against his boxers and T-shirt, their soft breaths.

“Why are you single, El? You’re funny, witty, successful. I could sit here for minutes longer spouting adjectives about you, but you get the point. You’re a catch, sweetheart. There’s really no one?” He touched her cheek and smoothed his thumb over her jawline, loving the feel of her soft skin under his hand.

“No. There’s no one. No boyfriend, as you land-walkers call it. No potential matches. I doubt there ever will be.”

“Don’t tell me Atlantian men are intimidated by a strong woman with some drive.”

“No. It’s nothing like that. It’s just each time I meet a man that I’m attracted to, he isn’t for me. If that makes sense. I…” Her gaze rose to his face again, then she licked her lips. “I always fall for the wrong ones.”

His pulse picked up speed, but only managed to send all of the blood to his dick instead of his brain. “What makes them wrong?” he asked, positive he knew the answer.

“I was in a courtship once. Our parents arranged it when we came of age, and I adored him. He was charming and gentle, a wonderful priest to our people. I thought we were meant to be together, but the problem arose when we couldn’t agree about kids. I…I love my career, Matt. I love rushing onto the battlefield to save lives. Having a child means I’d be out of action for years, not only to birth our child, but to nurse and nurture him or her as an infant deserves.”

“You’d have to sacrifice what you worked to achieve.”

She nodded. “I didn’t want that. We mers live for a long time. I told him in three or four decades, I’d be ready.”

He could surmise the outcome and her ex’s reaction without her filling in the blanks. It pissed him off. “He didn’t love you then. If he was unwilling to compromise, he didn’t love you, and you deserved better.”

“Would you have understood, in his place?”

One of his hands fell to her waist. He squeezed. “Yes. You said it yourself, El. Mers live for a long time. Me, maybe I’d be disappointed, but that’s what adoption is for. Still, that’s only one situation. No one swears off relationships after one fuck-up.”

“My friend Manu was heartbroken. He needed time to heal, and I wasn’t what he needed. My magic only works on physical wounds.”

“So you struck out with a pal. He’s the artillery commander, right?”

“Right.”

“Currently sneaking the dick to your future queen, right?”

She laughed until color flushed to her face. “Yes!” she rasped, making him grin back at her.

“Wasn’t meant for you either.”

“Then who is?” It felt like a trick question.

Not a trick. A test, maybe. Earnest, violet eyes watched him, lips half-parted, so soft and inviting.

Something wild and reckless came over him, driving him to slant his mouth over hers. Though he was prepared for the worst—for her to screech and slap him in rebuff—her fingers plunged into his hair and anchored him in place, the taste of her sweet on his tongue, her body grinding down against his erection.

The hottest mermaid in the ocean was dry-fucking him on the edge of a bed in his private stateroom, and all he could think about was how much he was dying to get inside her. To taste her. He needed her stripped bare.

Groaning, he took ahold of her hips and guided her, both cursing and loving the friction between them.

“Part of me wonders if we’ve both had a little too much wine to do this.” He wasn’t wasted, but he had a pleasant buzz coursing through him. His hands moved of their own volition, contrary to his desires, cupping her ass and squeezing as her feminine heat pressed snugly against his dick. Leggings and cotton boxers proved an insufficient barrier.

“I’m Atlantian,” she whispered against his cheek, still kissing her way across his jawline until she reached his ear and took the lobe between her teeth. She nipped. “I’m a high mer. It takes more than a bottle to inebriate me, Matteo.”

“I—”

“I am completely sober. And…” Her lips found their way back to his mouth, then the sweetness of her tongue flicked between his teeth. He sucked the tip, groaning and loathing his lack of self-restraint.

He wanted her. If he was honest with himself, he’d wanted her all along, since the first moment he saw his flame-haired warrior gazing back at him through the screen back at the base.

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