Page 22 of Tempting Triton
“Human females, yes. But some choose to remove it, some keep it natural, and some, like myself, prefer an in-between of sorts.”
“And what are these?” I trail my fingers down below the curls and across the soft skin that parts like an underwater trench to reveal a pink nub. “And this?” I lightly pinch it between my fingers.
Elena lets out a soft moan, “Clit. That’s the clit,” she mewls.
“You failed to mention how sensitive this clit is in your anatomy lesson.”
She snorts. “I didn’t exactly intend on you getting up close and personal with one, let alone mine.”
“And now?” I roll her clit between my fingers much like her nipple, causing her body to jerk, her hips thrusting towards me. Her chest rises and falls rapidly. I have my mate worked up over such a small action, her body so responsive to my novice touch.
“If you don’t stop talking and start touching, I will scream, Triton.”
I smirk. “Perhaps I want you to scream my name.”
“That’s not what I me—” My Elena’s protest morphs into garbled nonsense as I bury my head between her legs, my nose nestled in her soft curls as I flick my tongue around her clit, curious to know if it is as responsive to my mouth as her taut nipples.
21
Elena
This merman.For someone who has only known about the existence of the clit for a handful of days, he sure knows his way around one. Triton’s eagerness to learn how my body responds to him all but makes up for his lack of knowledge and the differences in our anatomy.
His tongue swirls against my clit again before sucking at it. His teeth graze ever so gently against it, and I recognize the pattern from earlier. I chuckle internally before another moan slips out; it seems my merman has discovered a winning combination. I tense. My merman? Is that what he is now? Is that what I want him to be? I groan. Now is not the time for another existential crisis over our mate bond. My body and brain have been at war, with the bond between us igniting our hormones every time our bodies are all but an inch too close.Urging us to lose control, urging me to let him have me, body and soul, and right now, I just want to come.
But I can’t. I’ve lost the momentum of the moment, my brain taking over in its spiral. The arousal cannot be soothed with the mate bond between us. I’m too in my head, my body has become tense, and Triton notices the change. He pauses what he’s doing, removing his head from between my legs, and I curse my brain. It can’t just let me have one orgasm. We can go back to stressing about our situation as soon as this godforsaken itch is scratched.
“What is wrong, my Elena? Have I done something to displease you? Did I bite too hard?” Triton looks at me, stricken, equating my tension to something he may have done or not done correctly.
I sigh. “It’s not you. Well, I mean—it is, but not in the way that you think.” I reach for his hand at my waist, pulling him to meet me back at eye level. He tucks me into his body and wraps his arms around me in a hug. I smile softly into his chest as he does something that is an entirely human action to him.
“It is the mate bond?” Triton mumbles into the top of my head.
I huff and nod. “I like you; I really do. I just don’t know if I’m ready for this to be the rest of my life.” It’s easier to talk to his barechest than to his eyes, not wanting to see if there’s hurt in them. Like a coward.
“There are so many unknowns. How do I leave everything I know behind? We don’t even know how long I have left to decide, until this is permanent,” I cry, gesturing to the gills beneath my ears.
“My Elena, we do not know if you will be able to get home again, at least until after we finish inspecting the barrier. Let us tackle one problem at a time.” Triton strokes my hair, helping to ease some of the tension in my shoulders.
“Would it make you feel better if I do not share my essence with you once it has run its course? I do not think it will last too much longer, and then you can take some time above the surface to think. We may know the answers to some of your other worries by then. I do not want you to feel like being with me is the only choice you have.”
I sniff, my throat tight with emotion. “But what if your essence wears off while we’re out at the barrier?”
Triton tips my chin up, so I have no choice but to look him in the eyes. “Then I will swim you back to shore.”
“But—”
“My Elena.” His tone is firm. “If that happens, we will figure it out together. One problem at a time.”
Triton is right, focusing on one problem at a time might stop me from feeling so overwhelmed and helpless about my situation.
Barrier first, gills second, and the rest of my life, third.Ugh.
“The water feels cooler today,” Triton notes as we exit the warmth of the cave waters fed by the Pierian Spring and continue our journey back out to the barrier.
“Does it only feel that way because the cave was so warm?” Worry fills me at the thought of the temperature affecting Triton the way it had before, almost making him comatose. If that were to happen while we were out at the barrier, we would be up shit creek without a paddle to say the least.
“Perhaps.” Triton is thoughtful, before spinning to face me, a wicked smile on his handsome face. “Last one to the barrier is a rotten oyster!” He flips in the water, flapping his tail in such quick bursts that he’s so far ahead of me before I even register what he said.
