Page 6 of Tempting Triton
I roll backwards off the bed towards the other side of the room to put as much distance between us as possible. What the hell is happening right now? The further away I get, the less I feel like I’m about to spontaneously combust, and the more my head clears.
I frantically search for something I can use as a weapon, realizing the room is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. For starters, the bed is a giant clam, and I’m ninety percent sure we’re under freaking water!
Light filters down from the surface and through roughly hewn not-windows to flicker over the walls. They’re not windows because there is no glass, just holes that look out into clear blue water, sea life cruising past and flitting through a reef of bright and colorful coral a short distance away.
The giant clam, which rivals a king-size bed, sits in the center of the room, its mantle a fluorescent blue that frames a soft peach mass inside. Glowing green coral surrounds the room, casting an eerie glow over my surroundings. A floor-length mirror leans up against a wall, the glass tarnished and speckled from time. Strings of Neptune’s pearls drape from the ceiling like a bougie canopy. The ethereal and completely unimaginable scene stealsmy breath away. Literally.
I double over, my chest constricting against the water sitting in my lungs, as my brain registers that I should not be able to breathe underwater. My eyes bulge as I fight the reflex to take in a deep breath of air. My hands go to claw at my throat, black spots dancing in my vision. A blur of glimmering green scales dashes towards me before two hands cradle my cheeks. Bright green eyes ringed with flecks of gold flick over my face, looking concerned beneath pinched brows. Before I can protest, he smashes his mouth against mine, and my body ignites.
Warmth spreads throughout my body, starting from inside my chest and radiating out to the tips of my fingers and toes. Even my ears feel like they’re burning. My hands forget their plight at my neck, dropping limply onto the warm skin of the stranger’s wrists where he cradles my face. A whimper slips out of the back of my throat as my skin begins to tingle beneath my ears. The kiss morphs from a chaste touching of lips to something ravenous and wild. My hands travel upwards to curl my fingers in his hair while our mouths and tongues dance together. My body has a mind of its own as the stranger’s hands slip from my face, only to find their way to the curve of my ass. I bring my legs up around his waist, andhe drives us backwards until my back is flush against the stone wall. I gasp on impact, regaining some clarity, and a throaty groan escapes the stranger as our mouths disentangle.
My core is throbbing with the need for more, but my brain reboots, and I know that this isn’t right. Something isn’t right. My swimming career hasn’t left me much time for romantic relations, but surely my body shouldn’t be having such a visceral reaction to this stranger. My hands drop to my sides, reaching for something I can use as a weapon. Anything. My fingers graze against something bumpy and rough, I assume one of the fluorescent corals littered throughout the space. I internally pray it’s not attached to anything and give it a tug, relief flooding me and driving the lingering sexual haze away as it comes away easily. I tighten my grip and bring it up in what feels like a slow-motion swing, before crashing it down on the stranger’s head.
He drops like a sack of potatoes, my body promptly floating to the floor as his hold on my ass slackens. We lay tangled in a heap of limbs and tail as I try to calm my racing heart, the adrenaline coursing through my body urging me to escape.
6
Elena
Ileave the unconscious merman lying on the floor as I squeeze my body out through a window rather than take the door deeper into wherever I am being kept. My broad shoulders scrape the sides of the stone before I’m shooting off, using the external wall to propel myself away as I kick off it. I know I’ve probably beaten my own personal record with how hard I push my body to move, muscle memory kicking in as my arms and legs glide through the water, propelling me further and further away from the castle under the sea. A glance over my shoulder reveals a vibrant coral castle that blends in with the reef beyond. Tall, knobby spires that just skim the surface of the ocean are wrapped in long, floating tendrils of seaweed teeming with sea life. I can’t decide if this is a fairytale or a nightmare.
It’s not until the coral castle is a speck in the distance that I realize I don’t know what direction I’m going in. For all I know, I could be heading further out to sea rather than towards a shoreline. It also occurs to me that I haven’t had to pop my head out of the water to take a breath, yet mere moments ago, my lungs were screaming at me for oxygen. Now, they no longer burn with the need for air; instead, I feel invigorated.
I kick up, swimming towards the light filtering through the surface so I can find my bearings. My head breaks the water, the warm sun basking me in a rich golden glow as it inches towards the horizon. Dusk is nearing, and the last place I need to be is in the water when darkness descends. When you spend the majority of your life in the water, you gain a healthy respect for its natural inhabitants.
Water laps at my chin while I tread, slowly spinning in circles until I can pinpoint a shoreline in the distance, thankfully already in the direction I was heading. A rocky cliff face crests the water, bleeding out into pearlescent sand dunes, where the mangled shipping container rests like an ancient tomb, half-submerged in the sea.
Ifall into a steady rhythm of strokes and kicks as I swim towards the shore. An ache begins to form behind my ribs, intensifying the further away from the coral castle and the merman I get. I pause to rest, treading water again, confused at the pain. It feels almost like a stitch, but I haven’t worked myself that hard. As I keep myself afloat, the sun dips a little lower, its slow descent marking the impending darkness, arriving sooner than anticipated. I can’t afford to wait around for this stitch to subside, so I push off again. My breathing begins to take on a ragged edge, the pain behind my ribs flaring with each stroke.
I grunt at a burst of pain, pausing again as frustration tugs at me. I’m an Olympian, for crying out loud. I should be able to swim a few hundred meters to shore. With a determined growl, I begin again, switching to a backstroke in a bid to ease some of the pressure in my chest. Each stroke gets harder and harder, my legs falling in the water as soon as my pace slackens. The pain is wearing me out a lot quicker than I usually would tire, and it still isn’t lessening.
The sky fades from a soft golden glow to a dusky pink as dark approaches. Panic sits beneath my skin, waiting for me to give in and let it take over.I can do this. I attempt to backstroke again, spluttering as waves lap over my face.I must be getting closer to shore. I begin to pant, the pain causing spots to dance in my vision. I grit my teeth against the burn radiating from inside me. What is this? It’s unlike any kind of stitch I’ve had before. I sink beneath the waves again, yet this time, my feet touch the ground. Relief pours out of me in a sigh. I turn to face the shore, dragging each step in front of the other and using my arms to push the water out of my way. It feels achingly slow, but I gradually emerge.
The sun is just kissing the horizon, the last of its rays holding on to the tiny shreds of light that guide me further ashore. I gasp over and over, my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, clinging to its last breath. I clutch at my chest, the pain unbearable as I stumble out of the water at last and collapse on my knees, face-planting on the wet compact sand beneath me, eyes bulging until the pain causes me to pass out.
7
Triton
Asharp pain in my chest wakes me abruptly. A quick scan of my room reveals that my mate is gone. A headache throbs behind my eyes, and I rub at the spot where she hit me. The broken coral lies on the floor beside me, its glow snuffed out when she removed it from the wall. My fingers come away sticky with the deep crimson of blood on my fingers. A hiss escapes my bared teeth at the sight. A sharp pain tugs at my chest again, the pain so intense, it can only be from a broken heart. I did not even get to tell her my name. But the moment we shared as I shared my essence with her again—the way she clutched at me and the feel of her tongue against mine—it took me by surprise. I am eager to do whatever that was again. I groan, wiping my hand over my face as I contemplate what to do. Do I stay here and hope that she returnswhen she realizes the mate bond will not let her get far, or go after her?
I cannot tell if she wants me or not. She would not have hurt me and left if she did, but the way her body responded to mine would say otherwise, as well as the scent of her arousal that floated towards me as our tongues danced. A bitter sadness sinks in my stomach. It has been so lonely here. My kin left long ago to migrate to warmer seas for the cold season, but I was just a pup, and it is custom for us to stay behind, to grow into strong Mer and be ready to join them when they return. They left Ichó to care for me, but then the barrier came up, and the way home to Aeolia was lost to them. To have found my mate now, when I have long lost my own family, is a Fates’ blessing. Surely, they mean for me to have a companion. It is with this thought that I make up my mind and decide that I must follow her. I must bring her back and show her that the Fates want us to be together.
The pain in my head eases with every moment I wait; however, the pain in my heart only intensifies. I will bring her back to me and show her that I can give her the love she requires, and perhaps over time, she will learn to love me back as well. With a swish of my strong,thick tail, I do not waste another moment, darting out a window instead of going through the door. I sniff, scenting my mate in the water, and trace it right back to where I first found her.
With each strong swish of my tail, the pain in my heart lessens. It must know I am getting closer to my mate, the pull of the mate bond anchoring us together. I swim over the once-floating metal tombs, now depressed into the sand at the bottom of the sea. The doors are open and gaping, the insides dark and ominous. The mate bond tugs me ever forward, not allowing me to stop and explore what sunken treasures lie here. The water shallows, white sand glistening beneath me. Specks of it sway in the tide, casting light beneath the water as the sun reflects off them.
I scent for my mate. Sea daffodils wisp around the salty brine of the sea, thick in the water like oil as I draw nearer. I see her legs first, half-submerged in the water, her upper body sprawled across the dampened sand as the tide laps her face and retreats again. Terror rips through my body as I drag myself up beside her on the shore, ignoring the burning of no oxygen, and tug her body onto my lap. She has to be fine; I would have felt it if she had left the realm of the living to join Hades in the underworld. Pain twangs in mychest, reminding me of the ache that has since subsided, but her chest rises and falls with ragged breaths.
I brush the loosened golden strands from her face and lean over her, placing my lips against her soft, pink ones, just briefly. She takes a sharp inhale, eyes springing open as she gasps for air before quickly passing out again. Three thin lines slice open on both sides of her throat just beneath her small, rounded ears. I hold her tightly against my skin, cradled like a pup, aching to be as close to her as possible as I shimmy our way back into deeper water. I will take her back to my home and care for her until she wakes up, and maybe this time, she will listen to me before lashing out with her violent limbs.
Ichó approaches from the direction of my home as we pass back over the darkened metal tombs beneath us, bumping his nose against my mate and clicking at me in question.
“She is my mate, Ichó.”
With a flick of his tail, he darts away, unimpressed with my new female.Grumpy old cetacean. We near the castle, the pink coral bright against the blue of the water. Ichó has disappeared somewhere to sulk, but he should be pleased. Now he has two people to care for instead of just me. I take the entrance and swim up to the one brightspot inside this long-abandoned castle. I deposit my mate on my bed and lie beside her, waiting for her to wake up and hoping it will not be long. At least my essence should last longer this time, as it should each time I share it with her. Only her.
8
