Page 65 of Bride of the Sea King

Triton gave me a soft chuckle. His lips brushed my ear. “I wasn’t going to leave it up to a vote. I rigged the outcome instead.”

My eyes widened, and I blinked in sleepy surprise. “You can do that?”

“I’m the king, Sweetheart. I can do anything I want.” His teeth caught my earlobe, tugging lightly on the single piercing there before he released it.

“How?”

He dragged his tongue slowly over the line of hoops that made up the crown on my ear. “I heard someone bring up the possibility of me helping repopulate as a joke one afternoon. After a little thinking, I realized I had an opportunity to change my fate. I brought up what I’d heard to the most vocaltraditionalist, knowing he would spread it wildly while speaking cruelties against the turned humans. It went to a vote less than two days later, and the warriors voted against the traditionalists, just like I expected.”

“Wow. You aretotallya politician.”

He chuckled. “In this situation, I suppose the label applies.”

“Why did you want a mate so badly?”

“I was entirely alone. Books were the one thing that kept me sane. When the possibility of having a partner arose for the first time in my life, I wasn’t going to let it pass by.” He kissed my forehead again, and I started to doze off. “This life may not be what you expected, but I will do everything I possibly can to make you happier than you’ve ever dreamed. That is a vow.”

I fell asleep feeling something I hadn’t in a long time.

Wanted.

fourteen

TRITON

For the firsttime since I brought my mate back from her world, I slept soundly. The few occasions I woke, it was because she’d smacked into me in her sleep. The woman never stopped moving when she was unconscious, and it made me grin every time.

When I eventually woke, she was still sleeping, so I retrieved a book with a small strip of water.

With her lying on my chest, I focused on an ancient story about the endless war between the lion and wolf shifters. No one knew exactly how it started, but both parties had grown extremely violent in the millennium since it began. I knew both leaders well, and their ruthlessness certainly hadn’t faded.

Aria’s hand slid over my abdomen as she woke, and my cock throbbed.

It would take weeks of frequent sex to convince my body that I wasn’t about to starve it of physical contact again. Maybe months. I looked forward to the day that I wasn’talwayserectaround my mate. Mostly because it was easier to think when I wasn’t hard.

“We’re naked, huh?” Aria mumbled.

“Yes.” I didn’t lower a hand to her spine and trace it slowly like I’d been itching to do all morning.

“I think I was supposed to be putting distance between us so we can learn things about each other.

“We can learn without clothes on.”

“Guess so.”

Her cheek was against my pec, and she closed her eyes as she let out a long sigh. There was no frustration in the sound—just contentment. “What do we have to do today?”

“Nothing. I can clear the schedule.”

“Probably shouldn’t. I bet your people are already talking about how you’ve been corrupted by your human womb,” she mumbled.

My eyes narrowed. “Let them talk.”

“Nothing we can do about it anyway.”

“How are you feeling? It would be wise to get you swimming again if we can.”

She moved a little, and didn’t wince. “Mostly better.”

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