Page 17 of Making Out With Mermaids (Haven Ever After #6)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
BETMAL
T wo days without my female have been abysmal. Abemet and Morgan took me to Herschel’s last night for a delightful meal, but the moment I was alone in the house, the sorrow nearly ate me alive. The house is covered in flowers, the fridge is stocked with Ama’s favorite seaweed kimchi and a salted cheese I think she might like. There’s more fruit cut and ready to go.
Everything is ready, but I pace anxiously. I’ve always trusted my gut, and my gut tells me a showdown with Caralorn is coming soon. I need to speak with Amatheia about it today. I’m ready to put an end to her worries over this.
She should be available this afternoon—assuming nothing has happened in the last two days—so we’ll get a chance to talk about it. I’m going to ensure she has time to paint, and then we’ll come home and discuss what’s next.
As if my thoughts summoned her, my comm watch rings, her name rising above it in hologram form. Excitement and relief shatter me in equal measure. I can’t wait to see her.
Directing the comm watch to answer her, I greet her with all the excitement I feel.
“Darling, how are you?” My voice sounds husky and needful to my ears.
“Hi!” She sounds breathless and excited. “I just left the lake, and I’m on my way to your place. Can we talk for a minute before we get to work? Things have…happened.”
“Of course,” I purr, calling my wings and heading for the back door. “I’m on my way.”
“I’d love to walk,” she continues as I bullet up into the sky.
I catch a current and zip toward the lake. “I’ll walk with you then. Please, darling. I’m desperate to see you.”
She laughs. “Of course, Betmal. Come find me.”
And just like that, I’m hard. Hard and aching, because the idea of playing sexy hide and seek in our house does things to me. We hang up, and I reach down to adjust my cock. It throbs with the need to take things further with her, to play in a way we haven’t gotten to yet.
But after our trip, after all of that teasing, after so much want and need…now is our time.
Catching a current, I relish the sunshine on my face as I bullet over Downtown Ever and toward Shifter Hollow. I swoop around a corner to find her jogging toward me—jogging!—looking for all the world like she never had a single issue with her leg.
When I alight in the middle of the road and stop, allowing myself to peruse her beautiful figure, she laughs.
“Way to make a female feel sexy, all that intense ogling.” She shrugs, looking at me with a smirk. “Must be that vampire male sex and blood thing, hmm?”
Gods, the teasing. I love the teasing.
Stalking toward her, I don’t stop until my chest hits hers. She reaches for me, grabbing the lapels of my shirt. I grasp her throat in one hand, sliding the other up the back of her neck and into all that glorious dark hair. Guiding her slightly backward, I arc her body against mine and bury my nose in the hollow at the base of her throat.
I breathe in deeply, her caramel and crisp sea scent filling my nostrils. It brings me peace, soothing the jittery places inside me that feel hollowed out when she’s not around.
I drag my tongue up the side of her neck and bite her earlobe softly. “I missed you,” I murmur. “So much, ma siréne. I was in utter misery without you.”
She rubs her head against me, dragging her jawline along my mouth, teasing me with luscious, soft skin. “I missed you too. But we’ve got a problem.” Dark eyes flick to mine. “Stefan arrived, and Caralorn hosted a formal dinner. I told my uncle I wanted no part of it, but he would not budge. We have to do something, Betmal.”
I stand straighter, pressing a soft kiss to her plump lips. “That arrangement is not your future, darling. I’ve got a plan, but everything is ready for you to paint today at Higher Grounds. Why don’t we tackle that first so your day begins with fun, and once you’re done, we’ll go home and talk about handling this once and for all, hmm?”
She leans into me, sliding long arms around my neck. Nuzzling the tip of my nose with hers, she teases me with a mouth so sinful, I can’t stop dreaming about it.
“I’d like that. They won’t notice I’m gone until tomorrow.”
“Deal.” I nip at her lower lip as a needy groan rips from me. My cock throbs against my thigh, desperate to finally, finally take things further with her.
Amatheia looks into my eyes, her lips pulling into a sensual smirk. Standing on her tiptoes, she brings her mouth to my ear, her lips brushing along my sensitive skin. I shudder, holding her body tighter to mine.
“After we deal with this,” she whispers, “I want you to teach me what makes you feel good. I can’t stop thinking about it, Betmal. I want to know what it sounds like when you lose control.”
A guttural groan rips from my throat, followed by a growl that pulls goosebumps to her skin. I reach up and grip her hair, holding her taut against me.
“I’ll teach you everything I know, ma siréne. I cannot wait. Watching you paint all afternoon will be a delicious tease.”
“Mmm.” She slides a hand down between us, running her fingers over the length of my hard shaft. “Delicious, indeed.”
“Fuuuuck…” I can’t hold back the groan as she slowly jacks me right in the middle of the street. I rock into her grip, heat and need spiraling inside me as the bloodlust begins to take over, my fangs descending and filling with venom. I snarl, yanking her head back to bare her neck to me. “Need to bury my teeth in your throat. Now.”
With a laugh, she pushes out of my arms and walks backward toward Downtown Ever, a devilish glint in her eyes. “Well, we can’t do it right this very moment, darling . What is it you told me in Arcadia? Something about how taking it slowly was exactly what we needed? I believe you agreed with the sentiment at the time…”
“We did that for several days,” I say. “I’m done with slow.” I wink at her. “Not to mention, you told me you were done with it as well.”
She spins around and glances over her shoulder at me. “Perhaps after we work and plan, you can show me just how fast you’d prefer to go, when given free rein.”
Snarling, I watch as my mate walks away from me, hips sashaying, long legs disappearing up into a ruffled jean miniskirt that barely covers her ass. I stare as the barest hint of cheek peeks out from underneath the tiny slip of fabric.
“I do believe you shortened that skirt,” I mutter, more to myself than anything.
A laugh echoes back from in front of me.
Jogging to catch up with her, I slide my arm around her waist and walk with her in companionable silence to Higher Grounds. Earlier today, I dropped off her easel, paints and paintbrushes. Alé promised to set them up in a sunny corner, and her first subjects should arrive in the next half hour or so.
It’s a risk to take this time to paint, but I’ll stand watch in case Caralorn figures out where Ama disappeared to. I’d rather get to him first, but she and I need to discuss that plan so we can enact it quickly. I won’t have him ruining her time with me.
When we arrive at Higher Grounds, the coffee shop swings the door open for us, the front bell dinging to announce our arrival. Alé looks up from behind the countertop, smiling as we approach. He waves at Amatheia’s favorite table next to the pickup counter.
“Everything’s ready for you there. The shop has been so excited all morning, wiggling the floorboards at anyone who came too close to your things.” He rubs the countertop lovingly.
Overhead, the ceiling tiles flutter and fan out from a chandelier in the center.
Amatheia pats the counter next to Alé’s hand, looking up at the ceiling. “Thank you, beautiful girl, for protecting my spot. Are you ready for a bit of fun?”
I don’t miss the joy in how she looks at the coffee shop, or the free way she moves. Alé smiles at her new prosthetic, seeming to note how easily she’s getting around. There’s a visible weight off my mate’s shoulders. She hasn’t looked this happy since I first showed her our backyard cottage.
Now, she smiles at Alé and me. “Thank you both.” She steps closer and goes up on her tippytoes to brush her lips against my cheek. “You staying to watch?”
“Always,” I whisper, closing my eyes to fully relish the feel of her mouth on my skin. “Always and forever, ma siréne.”