Page 50 of Seduced By the Mermen
“And when she tilted her neck to me, I found it impossible not to let my teeth scrape along her skin.”
Delmar explodes. His flat palms push on Alexei’s chest, sending him off-balance into the backside of the sofa. “You mated her?”
“No.” Alexei does a somersault over the sofa and comes up on his feet. “Poseidon, no. I wouldn’t have let it go that far. Never again.”
I’m not the only one glaring. Because when he joined our pod, he did it without asking. Her or us. It was amazing Sterling didn’t end him right there and then.
Alexei rounds the sofa. “I’ve changed. You know that. That was a long time ago.”
“Yes,” Forrest says. He’s the first one to agree, always the diplomat.
Delmar’s in shock. Anya had asked that we never talk about it again, that to be a strong pod we had to love each other. We didn’t talk about it, so much so that I guess no one thought to ever tell Delmar when he joined. He loves everyone, but from thefurrowed brow on his face, I’m wondering if he’s reconsidering his positive outlook on, well, everything.
“Blair isn’t Anya. We can’t treat her like she is. She’s human, yes. But she’s also stronger than she knows. Still we need to move slowly,” Alexei says.
“Slowly, as long as your cock is in her?” Delmar growls as the elevator door opens. Then his eyebrows shoot up. It’s just registered with him.
“Whose cock is in whom?” Zion asks. Both Alexei and I have showered. Showering off her lavender scent was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But it had to be done. Sterling is going to send us all to the chasm when he finds out we’ve taken the next step.
“Clark’s,” Delmar says before Alexei can get it out.
Zion glares at me. We’re all pod mates, equals. But like my birth brothers, I have some that I consider closer than others. Zion is one of those, my best friend. He’s also completely enraptured with Blair, and after today, I am too.
“Is that so?” Zion drops a satchel—one he normally takes to work—on the sofa and sits. “And how did that go?”
“Well,” Alexei says, taking an apple from the sofa table and biting into it.
Delmar growls. “Pod meeting. Tonight, no excuses, twenty-two hundred. I’ll tell Sterling.” He thuds down the hallway.
“Well, that should go well.” Forrest glares. We haven’t had a pod meeting in years. Frankly, we haven’t behaved like one in years. We’re more like roommates with a staff.
The last place I want to be this afternoon is the job site, but like Grayson and Zion, I have a job to do and not going isn’t anoption. I’m zipping around the construction site, checking the progress. The workers have gone home. Tomorrow’s a holiday: the Feast of Liberisca. Most businesses are closing early today, and schools are off. It’s one of a string of holidays. But this one means more to me. It’s the celebration of the end of lifetime appointments. Celebrating free elections. It’s a big podlet holiday, with school performances and lots of treats for them.
Hale, the construction lead of the Tinom dome project calls to me.
I swim over to him.I didn’t think anyone would be out here today.
Just a Driftwood and a Mason. We’ve got no podlet performance to go to tomorrow.
Well, I do. My sister’s podlets.My nephews and niece are in the same school where Delmar teaches. I just nod instead of bringing that up. I have no idea whether Hale or any of the Driftwoods have nephews or nieces.
Hale holds himself in place, holding on to a beam.Construction is going well.
A few more weeks and it will be time for the force field dome and dry work.
He nods.
I’m waiting for him to bring up Blair. How did they find out she was going to be at the tea shop this morning? I really want to know.
Tinom’s going to be putting up another new dome. Much of the governor’s family is funding it. They want it to be the most amazing dome in the city. Something extraordinary.
I’m not looking at him. He’s floundering, pushing at me.I’ve heard.
Yes, well, I hope I can put in a good word for you?
I do my best always, Hale.
Yes, I’m sure you do. You’re good now. But one day you could be remembered as the most talented architect in the world.
