Page 40 of Forever My Siren Luna (The Hidden Cove #2)

Cedric

This is intolerable. Absolutely intolerable.

Why? Why did I tell him yes? He has been trying to get me alone all day, and now I’m reduced to hiding in the servants' bathhouse, simmering in a hot pool of other peoples’ filth to prevent the man from tossing me over his shoulder and hauling me back to his room to complete what he has wanted for so long.

To mark me.

When we snuck off this morning together while Alpha Lachlan took over training the warriors in Meldec’s place, things got a bit heated between us while floating in the sea.

We were swimming alone near a hidden beach on the other side of the cliffs, lost in one another as we teased and splashed in the shallow depths.

Our fooling around and innocent touches turned into not so innocent touches.

He would caress my fins in their most sensitive areas, especially my tail.

I would move my tail into his bare pelvis, a thrill shooting through me seeing the impressive reaction he had to me.

All it took was one look and I was melting against him, our lips locked in the deepest and most passionate kiss. Both of us were frenzied and mad, and in that madness I agreed to what I had been avoiding for months.

I agreed to mate and mark each other at last.

A beckon call from my king for a strategy meeting is what pulled me out of the delirium, and I have been avoiding Mel ever since.

It’s not that I don’t want to be with him. I do. I do more than ever. That hasn’t been the issue for quite some time.

The issue is…. I had just got my princess back, and I wanted to make sure her relationship with her mate was restored before jumping into bed with mine.

Ela and the Alpha have made tremendous progress, but still aren’t mated, or even sleeping in the same room. How could I possibly do what my princess hasn’t yet done, especially since I feel responsible for their setbacks?

That is the main reason I have been avoiding mating Mel, but there is another.

I’m scared.

We have kissed a fair share, and done a number of other things, but have not fully mated once. If we did, neither of us would have been able to hold back from marking. It would have been impossible.

There is no going back once we mark one another.

This bond will be forever unless we want to go through the most painful kind of rejection.

That’s something I never wanted to make him go through.

I don’t want him to ever feel that heart wrenching pain.

I’ve witnessed bonds breaking with others when their mates died, and on the very very rare occasions when they faced a rejection, and never want Mel to face that kind of pain.

I don’t want to face that pain either. The pain of being separated from the one I love. I don’t want to mark and mate him, then have my princess be called back to the sea, because I will have to follow her. I will have no choice.

Just as the Delta of the pack’s main focus in life is to serve their Luna, my main objective is to serve Ela.

I am her knight, and her sword. My magic flows for her.

When she turns 20 and her magic is set free, our bond will be unbreakable, more so than the mate bond.

My magic will be connected to hers in a way that won’t allow for us to be apart.

If I have a mate that is stuck on land, and Ela one day has to take her father’s place as ruler of the Siren Kingdom, there will be no choice for me. Serving her will be my only option. Ever. Meldec will have to come second to her and that terrifies me.

At first, I thought he was a ripe ass and didn’t want to mate him for his attitude towards Sirens alone.

Now that I know him, and know how truly amazing of a man he can be, how he reads and plays with orphans, cares for the sick and widowed, and now that I truly appreciate his handsome ass, I don’t want to strap him to such an uncertain fate.

I don’t want him wasted on me when he can find another so easily.

While I stew in my oppressive thoughts, I also stew in the soupy water, trying not to focus too much on what might be floating around me. That is when a big group of kitchen servants comes in, obviously done with their shifts for the day now that dinner is long over.

Their conversation slowed and they eye me warily, finding it odd that a knight of the Luna and siren princess is in the servants' bathhouse and not the one at the other end of the castle for the elite warriors. I guess that's my cue to leave.

Good riddance to the stewy bath water. I guess I should go take a proper bath now. Maybe go for a swim in the sea to avoid my bloodhound mate? I can find some nice secluded underwater cave to rest in for the night and ward off Mel for at least one more day.

“There you are,” Mel surprised me, making me jump as soon as I stepped out of the servant’s quarters.

“Swimming ducks!” I exclaimed while I clutched my chest, turning in a fright. He was leaned against the wall, a smirk on his face. “What? Were you waiting here for me?”

“No,” he pursed his lips, shaking his head in a condescending way. “I just found a good wall to lean on. Why would I have any reason to suspect you were in the servants’ bathhouse and not our own, knowing how much you hate the water in the heated pools? I definitely didn’t follow your scent here.”

~

I narrowed my eyes on him. If he knew I was hiding here, he could have saved me from stewing in the soupy water during that time by just letting me know.

“You’re an arse,” I muttered.

“An arse?” He laughed. “For leaning against a wall?”

“You know why,” I grunted, walking past him towards the docks so I could take a dive in the briny ocean to rid myself of other people’s filth.

“I’m sorry. Did you want me to let you know you were swimming in your least favorite bath water to avoid me in vain?”

“You dogs and your freaky noses. You could smell me, so I’m sure you could smell the sweat and muck I was bathing in as well,” I snapped.

“Oh, I could. I imagined re-washing you the entire time I was waiting for you to call it quits.”

“Like I said, you’re an arse,” I snapped.

His deep chuckle flamed my irritation, at him and myself for reacting to it. My body begins to relax and tense up again in certain muscles, all reacting to his throaty laughter.

“Ah, your scent suddenly got so much sweeter,” Mel had to comment, like the ass he is.

“Don’t you have someone else to bother? You’re the damned Gamma. Doesn’t that mean you have responsibilities all throughout the day?”

“My only responsibility right now is to make sure that you don’t back out of what I was promised this morning.”

"I think that promise is unfitting now. The Luna and Alpha you serve are still not sleeping in the same bed. We can't beat them to it. It would be rude."

"Ah. Well, I am thrilled to let you in on a little secret.

The Alpha just informed the guards that he will be staying with you princess tonight.

He gave them the night off. Problem solved.

" Mel grinned triumphantly. "They are sleeping with one another.

We can do the same without the worry of being called rude. "

I frowned, wishing I hadn’t gotten swept up in the moment during the morning swim. I can't use Ela as an excuse if she is in bed with her mate.

With a sigh, I stopped and turned to face my mate. This is silly. I just need to tell him what he will be signing up for. He will back out on his own.

“Mel….”

“Ced,” he smiled mockingly, resting his hands on my waist and pulling our bodies closer together so we are mere inches apart.

“You’re not getting out of this. Luna has already told Lachlan to give me the week off after tonight.

She went to such great lengths to convince him he could go without me for that long.

You aren’t going to throw away your princess’s gift for an overdue vacation, are you? ”

I cringed inwardly. “No, but you might want to,” I whispered.

His brows furrowed. “I doubt that.”

“I don’t,” I muttered stubbornly.

He chuckled deeply, leaning in and pressing his lips to my ear. “Try me,” he whispered in a husky breath before pulling away.

Damn it.

Here it goes. “You won’t be the only one I’m bonded to, Mel. It won’t be fair to you to make you stuck with an uncommitted pairing.”

He looked down at me confused. “Do you have another mate you’ve kept hidden from me?” There was a note of jealous hostility as he gripped my waist tighter. I almost smiled at the look on his face.

Almost.

“No. No other mate.”

He breathed out a sigh of relief. “Okay. Then explain.”

How do I explain this?

“You know how Cherum will forever be tied to Ela?” I waited until he nodded, then continued, “It’s the same for me.”

“I already knew that,” he said with a voice full of amused relief. “So, what’s the issue?”

“The issue is she could one day be called back to the sea. There is a strong possibility of that. Where she goes, I must follow, even if my mate is restricted to the land.”

Mel's brow shadowed his mesmerizing eyes, full of questions. “Why would she return to the sea? She is our Luna.”

“She is also the Sirens' next ruler. She is to follow her father as the Queen of his kingdom one day. Like Cherum has some unbreakable tie to his Luna, my magic will be for her and her alone once her magic comes in. You can not be my number one. Ever. If she were to rule after her father, I would have no choice but to go with her. It would be like dying for me to be without her then.”

Understanding crossed his face. “Is that what you are worried about?”

“That’s not some minor worry, Meldec. It is a very real possibility.”

A solemn smile lifted the corners of his lips and he leaned down to press his head to mine.

“You are right. It is not some minor worry. It is an issue we will face when the time comes. It’s also why we shouldn’t waste another moment arguing about this now.

Regardless of what happens in the future, you will always be my first choice, Cedric. Always.”

My eyes went wide in surprise. “But….. but, I can’t do the same.”

He shrugged, looking unconcerned. “I’m not asking you to. I’ll take you anyway I can get you, whether it be a lifetime or just days. You may be hers, but I’m yours.”

More powerful words have never been spoken to me.

Heated moisture builds behind my eyes, threatening to break free and leave burning trails down my cheeks.

“If I have to spend the rest of my life wading around the ocean on some ship for a chance to catch a glimpse of you, so be it. It would still be a mate bond worth cherishing.” He chuckles lightly. “I’d have company too. I doubt the alpha would just let his Luna leave him so easily.”

I laughed along with him. “No. You’re right. The man is even more maddening than you.”

“His sense of smell is much greater as well,” Mel grinned. "No bathhouse could keep him from his mate."

For a moment, once the humor dies and all that’s left is this immense sense of bliss, we just stare at one another, the tingling sensation from the mate bond like a polarized magnet between us.

He hums contently, deep in his chest, wrapping his arms around me as he hugs my body to his. “Are you ready to finally make me yours?”

A tear breaks loose as I bury my face in his thick shoulder, letting his scent intoxicate me further than I already am.

“Yes. But I believe you promised to bathe me first.”

His throaty laughter vibrates between us. “I never break my promises.”