Page 22 of Chasing Tail
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll like it better when I know we can trust them.”
“What more do you want them to do? They are princes, Taron. They are letting us sleep here, and they made food for us. Neither of us would be this close to mermen princes, and the mermaid court would have had you executed for threatening one of them. All three of them are probably used to touching anyone they please and getting away with it because of who they are. They have been pretty respectful of your no touching rule.”
“I know. I get that. I’m just not there yet.”
I had an idea, and I didn’t know if it would make things a million times worse. But, I still needed to try. I didn’t want Taron to be uncomfortable here, and I didn’t want him hurting the brothers. We needed to be a team to pull this off. I was starting to feel bad about lying to them. Taron and I both had given them every reason to kick us out of their home, and they hadn’t. So, I wanted to be a little honest with them.
I was done eating, and the meal was delicious. Taron might not trust them yet, but I was mostly there. When I visited the mermaid court, the important people there didn’t do anything for themselves. They also treated their servants like garbage. We all heard this spoiled mermaid princess thoroughly berate a servant because her kelp wine only had half a glass. Like she didn’t have a perfectly good tail to swim herself over and refill her own goblet.
Forrest, Callum, and Beck were the first land royalty I’d met, but I had this feeling they were spoiled everywhere. The brothers weren’t like that, and maybe I was stupid for that being one of the reasons I trusted them and was starting to like them. There was a lot to be said for simple kindness.
I set my plate down and stood in front of Taron. I’d done this with plenty of mermen, but sharks didn’t do this. It would be Taron’s first time. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his.
Taron might not have done this before, but he instantly reacted. He grabbed me, yanked me into his lap, and deepened the kiss. Taron was a better kisser than half the lothario mermen I’d snuck kisses with who bragged about being the best. I couldn’t help letting out another moan. I didn’t want to. I wanted to keep doing this. I pulled away from Taron and looked him deep in the eyes.
“What was that for? I liked that. I want to keep doing it.”
“An experiment. One we’ll explore later when we’re alone. Do you trust me?”
“Of course.”
I pulled away from Taron and looked at the brothers. Callum and Forrest looked uncomfortable, but Beck looked like he wanted us to continue so he could watch.
“Should we leave you two alone?” Forrest said, clearing his throat.
I shook my head and launched myself at Forrest. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his. Forrest didn’t react like Taron did. He stood there and did nothing. I didn’t hear Taron growling, and he hadn’t yanked Forrest away from me. Taron was behind me, and I couldn’t see him, but that was a good sign so far.
“Kiss her,” Beck said. “I’m not sure why she’s in a kissy mood, but she’s trying to do something, and I think it’s working.”
“It’s a weird process, but he’s right. Normally, I don’t agree with anything Beck has to say about kissing women, but you need to kiss Kishi, Forrest.”
Forrest was so damned sweet. I just grabbed him and kissed him without giving him any warning, but he kissed me back like he was worried about being rude about returning my kiss. It was a sweet kiss, but not a bad one. Forrest definitely had practice.
I pulled away and looked at Taron. He was still seated and looking at us curiously. He wasn’t scowling like literally every time the brothers got close to me. Callum was closer, so I moved to him next.
I’d give it to Callum. They seemed to realize I was kissing everyone, even if they didn’t quite know why. Callum’s eyes were hooded like he really wanted me to, but he didn’t grab me like Taron did. I enjoyed it when Taron did it, and kind of wanted him to.
Callum let me approach and wrap myself around him, but once I was there, he totally took control. I never let a single merman boss me around, and there were plenty who were afraid of me. I would never have allowed that under the sea, but it was pretty fantastic when Taron and Callum did it.
I stopped kissing Callum and got immensely turned on when Beck didn’t even wait for me. He immediately pounced.
“If beautiful women are giving kisses in my house, I refuse to be left out.”
Every inch of my body was pressed against Beck’s, and he kissed me like an expert. I wasn’t quite sure why I started all this. I could just feel in my gut that if I kissed Taron, and he saw me kissing the brothers, it would somehow settle his mind a little. It was a strange idea that came out of nowhere, but we managed, and when I looked at Taron, he looked a little more settled.
I didn’t regret doing it because it seemed to make things a little better for Taron, but I was pretty sure I’d just opened a brand new oyster. I wanted to kiss Taron again, and I enjoyed kissing the brothers a little too much. But I needed to push that aside because that wasn’t what we came here for.
I settled myself back into my chair and grabbed some of the remaining bread. Taron’s eyes were glittering and solely focused on me. Then, the brothers all started clearing their throats.
“I’m just going to get back to my potions,” Callum said.
“I’m not sure what that was, but I hope it settled something. I’m going to go back to the palace and see if I can get information from Father about the shipwreck. He never really notices when we aren’t there unless he needs something. He’s eventually going to ask us to do something nasty if he’s lost his best ship. I also want to steal some of his maps.”
“You both do that. I’ll entertain our new friends. There’s plenty here I don’t think they’ve seen.”
Beck led us both to the couch, and we sat down. Taron pulled me close to him, but I didn’t mind.
“Do you feel a little better, Taron?”
“Yes, because they kissed you and stopped. I want to kiss you again and find out what happens after.”
Taron had always been one of my best friends, and I knew better than anyone that sex could ruin that. Still, I was curious and wanted to explore things with him.
What happened on land could stay on land when we went home.
