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Her stomach churned at the thought. Her people weren’t against eating meat, but they also didn’t ruthlessly kill creatures simply for food either. And they used every part of the animal they slew, putting nothing to waste, in order to thank the gods for providing what was needed. But she was in a completely different world now, and she could only imagine Hudson mocking her for a simple prayer.

Lifting the chunk of meat to her lips, she paused. Hudson stared at her curiously, that insane quirk of her lips pulling up the right side of her mouth.

“What?”

“Aren’t you to pray over your food? Thank the gods? Or are you that far from your people that you’ve given up your ways?”

Kyree tried to decipher the tone. Was it challenge? Was it comeuppance? She held still, trying to figure it out, but she couldn’t parse it. Hudson wasn’t being gentle or kind, such a shift from what she’d been merely moments before.

“I didn’t want to disturb you,” Kyree finally answered.

Hudson’s smile blossomed fully in a split second. “Don’t change your ways just because you’re here with me and not at home.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Kyree responded. She shifted her stance, folding her hands together and pressing the meat in her palms up toward her head. She closed her eyes—a risk she was willing to take since she sensed Hudson’s immeasurable curiosity—and whispered her prayers of thanks.

When she opened her eyes, Hudson was right in front of her. Kyree gasped. Hudson’s blue eyes locked on Kyree’s, and she picked up the meat and brought it to Kyree’s lips, as if she was feeding her. Confused, Kyree parted her lips and took a small bite. The flavors hit her tongue first, a sharp iron of blood, but then filled with a fatty undertone that brought the juices to her tongue.

She’d never had a fish like this before. She hummed her pleasure as the flavors continued to swirl around her tongue.

“That’s what I like to hear from any mer,” Hudson murmured in Kyree’s ear. “Pure, unadulterated pleasure.”

Kyree’s breath caught. Was this a spell that Hudson was weaving? She’d heard of mer with magic before, though she’dnever met one. What if Hudson was that kind of mer? What if she could ensnare them to want to stay?

“Don’t think bad thoughts about me, Kyree,” Hudson whispered, pressing their cheeks together. “I only want what’s best for my people.”

Kyree frowned. “Who are your people?”

“Talons,” Hudson said on a sigh. “Though I’m more of an outcast than part of them.”

“Then we are similar.” Kyree slid away, putting some space between them. When Hudson was that close, it made her brain spin.

“I do suppose you’re an outcast. Exiled?”

“Willingly.” Kyree lifted her chin. She glanced at Honour before looking directly back at Hudson.

“Honour doesn’t know.” Hudson scooted closer again, folding their hands together.

Kyree took another bite of the meat, and let it go that Hudson was this close. Perhaps she needed the closeness to have a true conversation. “She doesn’t understand my tribe.”

“To be fair, your tribe is isolated. Does any other tribe understand their ways?”

“How do you know so much about us?”

Hudson hummed a laugh, her lips curling upward again. “I’ve had an encounter with another exiled deep sounding mer.”

“An encounter?” Kyree asked dubious. There weren’t many exiled mers out there, but she supposed there were enough that they would have sought companionship rather than living alone. She would have done the same thing had she been kicked out of the tribe.

Well, wasn’t that what she was doing now?

“Yes, an encounter.” Hudson pulled her lip between her teeth. “A delicious encounter.”

Kyree instantly knew where the conversation was going to swing around to now.

“She showed me ways your mer fuck that I’ve never dreamed of before.” Hudson pressed a hand to her own chest, cupping her breast. “In Talon, mermaids are there for the pleasure of mermen, and nothing else. We’re there to serve, not be served.” Hudson flicked her thumb over her nipple. She laughed quietly. “Can you believe I was twenty seasons before I first experienced pleasure at my own hand? I didn’t understand it was a possibility.”

Kyree gulped. Her eyes were drawn to the movements of Hudson’s fingers against her skin and scales, sliding to the slit in the front of her tail as she teased the edge of it. Was Kyree going to get a full view of what exactly Hudson masturbating looked like? She wouldn’t be surprised if that was what happened next.

“You were freed by your experience of that?”