Page 11 of Sea and Sky
“If anyone has questions, direct them to my guard, Damon.” The prince’s eyes didn’t leave Kyler. He waved Kyler to a table. “Sit.”
With a swallow, Kyler followed the prince’s orders. There was no way the prince knew he was mer. Kyler had been careful. Except for perhaps a few of his schemes, where the victim may have gotten an eyeful of tail in his escape.
Kyler’s seductive haze washed over the prince, but he didn’t give a reaction. No lustful eyes, no lip licking, no blown pupils, nothing like what usually happened. Strange. Perhaps he was immune.
“Tell me what you know of merfolk.” The prince had an easy smile, and he directed it right at Kyler, making his cock take interest.
“What makes you think I know anything?” Kyler swallowed again, but the lump in his throat wouldn’t budge. He should have kept his mouth shut. Then he wouldn’t have royalty watching him. Royalty that smelled like leather and apples. Like he’d strolled through an orchard before coming to the tavern. Kyler imagined one of the prince’s long, thick arms reaching for an apple above him, plucking a plump red one from a limb and biting into it, juice running down his chin.
He had to keep from looking into the prince’s eyes, beautiful silver and violet. He wanted to try finding the little flecks of color he had heard were hidden inside. But best to look anywhere except the handsome face.
The prince caught a barmaid’s attention and ordered two drinks. “I believe you know something because you’re concerned for the well-being of the mer. You’ve seen one, haven’t you?” The prince leaned closer. “What was it like?”
Kyler wasn’t entirely sure he was allowed to talk to royalty. It never came up in Captain Vex’s never ending set of rules. But he’d already initiated the communication. It’d be rude to stop now.
“It was a long time ago. I was a child.” Kyler tugged at his collar. It felt more restricting than the trousers. He glanced at the prince, then back to the table.
“Still you remember something?” That deep voice rumbled through Kyler. Obvious glee in the prince’s words.
“I—yes. Uh. Iridescent violet scales. Webbed fingers.” Kyler twisted his hands together under the table. Why’d he say that?
Prince Gavin gasped a sound of surprise and leaned in even closer. He was like an excited puppy, if puppies were at least seven feet tall and muscular. “Did it have blue skin?”
“What?” Kyler’s word came out sharper than he meant. Why would mer have blue skin? How ridiculous. The question pulled Kyler out from under whatever spell it was the prince held over him. At least for a moment.
The prince tipped his head, studying Kyler. “The books say if it’s an ocean mer, it’ll have blue skin. Green for river mer.”
Kyler cocked a brow, questioning the prince’s intelligence. “Pirates say merfolk come in the same colors as humans, and that’s what I’ve seen too.”
“Pirates?” The prince narrowed his eyes.
Barnacles. Why did he mention pirates? “I need to get back to the…” Kyler scuttled to the edge of the seat, but before he could get away, the prince snatched his left hand and turned it over.
“Not a pirate,” the prince mumbled with obvious relief at not finding a P or X brand on Kyler’s wrist.
“No. Not a pirate.” Buttechnically, yes. Kyler tugged his hand from the prince’s calloused grasp and rubbed it. Not that it hurt, but it gave him something to do.
The prince’s brows knit together.
Kyler’s palms itched. If Prince Gavin had taken Kyler’s right hand, he’d have seen the binding spell.
“Other hand. Sometimes the branders confuse the sides.”
“I’m not a pirate.” Kyler flicked his left hand over the right to activate the shield that covered Vex’s binding spell. Then he presented his hand.
When the prince took Kyler’s right wrist, his thumb caressed him, as if testing the softness of his skin.
“Forgive me, I had to be sure. That mad man with the red flag and white teardrop—”
“It’s not a teardrop,” Kyler mumbled. “It’s… supposed to be…” He motioned his hand as if to pleasure himself, wanting the prince to figure it out without speech. He didn’t want to say the word out loud. Cum. A horrible flag to symbolize stealing innocence, and luckily the ship wasn’t Captain Vex’s. Kyler couldn’t bear being on a ship with a despicable captain like Reynolds.
The prince’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. “I should have known. He’s been hounding our shores for people to sell into the sex trade. Our navy hasn’t been able to catch him, though.”
Relaxing, Kyler settled back into the seat. “No, the sexmagictrade. Fear and anger are potent. Or so I hear.”
The prince cocked his head, studying, eyes flitting over Kyler’s features. Kyler squirmed under the scrutiny. He pressed his fists to his thighs, keeping his legs from bouncing under the table.
“Your hands again.”
