Page 5 of Tempting Triton
I pass over the reef, Ichó at my side. The water cools as the bottom of the ocean drops off, the darkness of the deep looming beneath me the nearer we draw to the invisible barrier. Silence echoes around me, causing a shiver to run down my spine. I draw up to a wall of incandescent shimmer that marks the barrier and swim parallel to it, checking for anything amiss, when a sharp tang bites the inside of my nose.
Blood in the water.
My head flicks up, nostrils flaring as I am drawn to the scent like a shark to its prey.
The pull is undeniable, the scent intoxicating. I abandon my task and hunt down the cause. My body is not my own.
I am but a fish, and something, or someone, is reeling me in, tugging at my line and leading me to a treasure at the end of the scent trail.
I lick my lips, my mouth salivating, desire pulsing through me. Nothing will stop me from finding my treasure.
Ichó clicks at me in alarm, recognizing that I have taken over our body and Triton’s mind, before darting away in a flash of tail.
I maneuver beneath strange slabs of metal floating at the surface, lacing the water with a metallic bite, but still, a different scent sings to me.
I am so close to the shore now. Two hunks of steel breach the water and rest in the sand. There are threads of blood scents mingling together, signifying different creatures.
What has happened here? Ignoring the twisted metal to my left, I ease forward slowly. My hunter’s instincts are on high alert. I press my face to the steel wall, the metal cool beneath my skin, and inhale deeply. My treasure is on the other side.
There is a tear in the wall at the base of the metal box, and the scent here is the strongest. Gripping the jagged edges, I shear the metal away, the steel no match for my strength while in the grips of the blood frenzy that stirs me from my slumber.
The metal gives way, revealing a tanned foot and calf, bruises already forming around the ankle where it must have been pinned between the sharp rock and the wall. A thin stream of blood floats away from where the rock has pierced the skin. I dash forward, gripping the ankle between my fingers, and run my tongue along the ragged cut. I groan in ecstasy at the same time the owner of the foot groans in pain, and my heart twinges, a sharp stabbing sensation that makes me whimper and shakes me out from under the spell of the blood frenzy.
My eyes and thoughts clear as if a veil has been lifted and logic returns once more.
A foot. A leg.
I pop my head above the surface of the water, tracing those limbs up to the face of their sleeping owner.
A human.
The stabbing pain in my chest intensifies, a tug that instantly tethers me to this human now that I have looked upon them.
My treasure. My mate.
My hands reach out for her, an overwhelming need to have her skin pressed against mine. As I pull her against me, a little frown forms between her brows before softeningas our skin melds together and her cold body leeches my warmth. She lets out a sigh, her breath tickling the crook of my neck, causing little goose pimples to erupt across my skin. I shudder, the apple in my throat bobbing as my skin heats up to an almost unbearable level. Arousal floods my body at my mate’s nearness, an unfortunate side effect of the bond, ensuring we cannot be apart for long before desire becomes an almost painful thing.
Tilting my head towards her, I gingerly place my mouth against her cold lips. Saltwater drips from my skin onto hers where our mouths meet, and I breathe my essence into her. She whimpers, her hands subconsciously reaching around my neck, pulling me to her. I freeze, but the mate bond has me hesitant to pull away; the feeling of her soft lips against mine is like a shock from an electric eel. It takes a lot of effort to separate myself from her, her whine turning to pained gasps as gills slice open on both sides of her neck, and the essence I shared with her settles beneath her skin.
5
Elena
My body burns from within as heat courses through me. My mouth opens to gasp, but the air feels thick and gluggy. I sit up in a rush, not registering a presence looming over me until my head bashes into it. I yelp, pulling back to rub at my forehead as the other person groans in pain.
Wait.
Sun-tanned arms cage me in, lean and corded with muscles, that lead up to a shock of curly blond hair that sways around him like a halo, shielding his face from view. Definitely a ‘he’ judging by his tanned and very naked torso on display, defined muscles bunching as he rubs at his head. Sections of his skin ripple in a luminous green sparkle on the bony curves of his body; his shoulders, elbows, collarbones—
I shudder, need pulsing deep between my thighs. My subconscious tells me I should rub my body against his while my conscious is screamingWHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!I freeze beneath him, common sense finally making itself known. I’m on a bed, with a man I don’t know, after being kidnapped and stowed away in a shipping container.
“Who are you!?” I try to screech, but my voice comes out dull and muted. I bring my knee up between his legs instead in a bid to hit him right where it hurts. Self-defense 101.
“Oof!” He lets out a burst of bubbles on contact and another groan as he rolls off me, floating down to the floor beside the bed with a flash of fins.
Bubbles? Fins?!
I attempt to scramble up onto my hands and knees, the movement lagging. My brain is telling my body to move faster, but it’s like my limbs can’t compute. I peer at the stranger over the edge of the bed, my mouth popping open like a stunned mullet. I blink a few times, unsure if I’ve suddenly lost my mind. His back and forearms are adorned with spiny fins, and either the man has a fish tail like a goddamn merman, or I’ve finally lost it.
