Page 25 of Making Out With Mermaids (Haven Ever After #6)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

BETMAL

T he following afternoon, Ama’s at Herschel’s with Morgan and her cousin, and I’m alone at home. The house is quiet without her here, but her scent saturates every surface. The house and workshop are happy; they love having her here too.

But I’m not fool enough to think the issue with Caralorn is over. My primary concern is that not having some sort of resolution means my mate remains anxious.

We can’t have that, and we can’t travel full-time just to steer clear of him.

I spent the morning in the workshop, organizing some of the party details assigned to me by Morgan. The plans for the launch party are coming along brilliantly. I also ordered Ama a little present that I pray shows up in time.

I sit on her rock for a while, staring at her pond and considering all the possible ways this could play out with the king. Truthfully, it’s not that I’m worried he and his guard could best me in a fight. There’s really no chance they could decimate anything in Downtown Ever.

It’s the effect such an event would have on Ama that worries me.

The hurt would ripple through her, affecting her and Thatraeia, and I’m not willing for that to be the outcome.

I dress and head deep into my closet to a small chest where I keep family gems and jewels. I pick through the gold and silver until I find what I’m looking for, then I slip it into my pocket.

Half an hour later, I stand at the lake’s edge, drawing oxygen into my lungs to saturate them before I enter the water. I’ve got a plan. I can only hope it works.

Saying a prayer to the old gods, I dive into the water.

Without Ama’s quicker swimming, it takes me the better part of a half hour to reach the merkingdom. But by the time I near the borders, guards appear from the murky depths to surround me.

I don’t see Malakat, but I stop in the water to address the guard who appears to be leading the group. I recognize him from our earlier run-in with Caralorn.

“I’m here to request an audience with the king. I’d like to settle our differences, if it’s possible.”

The guard cocks his head to the side and stares at me. He swims closer, glittering onyx eyes dropping down my body as he takes in my soaked, billowing clothes.

“So…you must really believe Amatheia to be your mate? I can’t imagine you’d have come down here otherwise.”

I nod. “She is, and I do. This situation with her uncle is gutting her. She misses her cousins and her people. I don’t want that to be how this ends. I’d like to speak with him. Please.”

The male swims closer still, a spear in one hand, long black hair waving in the water behind him. He sneers at me.

“I hope you’re right, Vampire. That you will love and cherish her for all of her days. Because Amatheia is the gentlest, the kindest of our people. I can’t imagine how she feels being caught between two worlds like this. You better be worth it.”

Oh.

Oh.

I wonder if Ama even knows the guard views her in this way? That he sees her for who she is, and perhaps not for what her uncle wishes she was.

“Then why did you never help her?” I grit out. “You must all have known she was in pain for decades, yet you didn’t lift a fin to make it better.”

His expression darkens, but he doesn’t respond to my accusation. “Come,” he barks, turning and swimming for the city.

I follow dutifully, refusing to start a fight despite my frustration. We glide through the beautiful, shell-encrusted towers of the merkingdom until we reach the palace and enter through arched coral front gates.

The lead guard spins to face me. “His Majesty is holding public court today. It’s a chance for any merfolks to bring grievances to be settled. This is a good time and place for you to make whatever request you came here to make.” He grins wickedly. “You’ll have to wait your turn, though.”

Great.

Perhaps he thinks I’ll run out of air and give up.

And when I see the line of merfolk waiting to speak to their king, I understand why he mentioned it. Dozens of beings are ahead of me.

The guard drops me at the back of the line, flits toward the king and bends to his ear, whispering. Caralorn stiffens and glances toward me, frowning as he looks down the long line of merfolk waiting to be heard.

The only advantage I may have here is that we’re in public. The king’s response will have to be more diplomatic than if we were in private with just his guard. As I wait for my turn, I take the chance to observe the room.

Amatheia’s cousins swim around, offering sustenance to those waiting in line. They’re greeted with deferential nods and quiet murmurs of thanks. Eventually, the green one—Malakat—joins her father on the dais, glaring at me.

Forty or so minutes later, I swim to the bottom of the dais and stare up at my mate’s uncle.

King Caralorn glares at me, eyes narrowed and both fists balled, even though his arms rest casually on his throne. “How dare you return here, bloodsucker.” The king’s voice echoes underwater. I can almost feel the entire room freeze under his wrath.

I smile. “I’d rather not have the threat of your retribution hanging over Ama’s head like a dark cloud. She has been working on a project with me to create a book for our haven, a welcome book to replace the former packets. She’s worked incredibly hard, and we’re throwing a launch party for the first book next week. I’d like to invite you, and her cousins, of course, a formal goodbye from you to her, if you will.”

The king sneers, “Painting? Launch parties? Take a look around, Vampire. We have more important things to do than attend your lander events. She’s due to be married, you know. She is not free to be with you. Or have you forgotten?”

I swim up the first few steps. Malakat and the guard come closer, spears pointed in my direction.

Sighing, I look the king in the eyes. “I thought you might say something like that, so I’ll offer you a bit of advice, and a gift.”

The king growls, rising from his throne to swim to the step above me. When I glance down at his tail, there’s still an obvious gash, knitted together with crude stitches.

“Get out,” he hisses.

“I will, in a moment.” I reach into my pocket and withdraw a flat golden amulet. The etching on the front features a merking in a chariot, holding a whip as he roars at the horses that carry the chariot forward. I offer the amulet to the king, who snatches it from my hands with a mighty roar.

“The amulet of Osayrus! How came you by this?”

I smile at the king. “I knew Osayrus well. We were friends when he was alive, your great-grandfather and I. Perhaps you weren’t aware that, after the great battle for which this amulet was created, I was the one who ordered its creation. Osayrus spoke of the amulet in his now-famous writings, but it always remained with me. He felt it important for something of his fame to remain on land, where he led his army to victory. I’d like for your kingdom to have it.”

The king sneers, “What other mertreasures do you hold? Hmm?”

“Just your niece,” I say with a smile. “Although ‘hold’ isn’t the right word. She blesses me daily with her presence. Which is why I’d like, again, to invite you to the launch party, so you can give her your blessing. It will be a night to remember, a celebration of her skill and hard work. And I know it would mean the world to her if you came.” I glance up at Malakat. “All of you.”

Dark lashes flutter against Malakat’s green skin, and her emerald eyes flick to her father. “Father, should?—”

“Silence,” he hisses, clutching the amulet until his knuckles turn white. “Get out, vampire.”

I dip my head to him, then take another step up until our chests nearly brush together. “I’m a father too,” I whisper. “I know how difficult it can be, and you raised far more children than I did. That takes its own kind of bravery.” I stare hard at him. “But the ultimate bravery is in letting go when your children want to travel a different path than that which you wanted for them. Please come.”

A vein pops in the king’s temple as he flares both nostrils, gills flapping wildly as his ears twitch at the tips. “Get out!” he roars again, shoving me toward the bottom of the dais.

His words ring in my ears as I give him a last, sorrowful look, then turn to swim out of the room.

The guards follow me all the way to shore, watching as I drag myself onto the black stone beach and suck in great lungfuls of air. Even for me, more than an hour underwater is almost too much. Stripping my wet clothes off, I call my shadow wings and bullet up into the sky, leaving the lake behind.

That experience was…frustrating. But I hope the king will consider the gift and my words and choose to do what’s right. Amatheia is worth it. She deserves it. I had to try, for her sake.

Hours later, I stand in the kitchen, plating a charcuterie board with all the things I now know are her favorites—seaweed kimchi, local honey from the Community Garden, rice crackers, brie cheese, big chunks of salted sausage. She comes in the door with a laugh, speaking quietly to the house as she paces through the hallway toward me.

When she arrives in the kitchen, I sink against the countertop and stare, eating her up with my eyes. “Gods, you are so fucking beautiful,” I murmur.

A blush tinges her cheeks, and she walks across the kitchen, jumping up into my arms. I kiss her as I set her on the countertop, wrapping both arms around her and sliding my hands into her hair.

On cue, her head falls back into my waiting palms, and she exposes her mating bite to me. Hungry, I dip and suck at the tiny pinhole scars at the base of her throat.

“Need you,” I growl. “I missed you all day, ma siréne.”

“Then have me,” she commands. “I missed you too.”

I reach down and swirl my fingers over her knee. “How’s the leg? You’ve been walking a lot this week. Do we need to visit Martin for any tweaks?”

“There’s no pain, which is still a little unbelievable to me.” She grips my throat and bares her tiny fangs to me. “But my thighs burn from being suddenly used so,” she bats her lashes at me, “vigorously.”

And just like that, I’m hard as a rock, needy, aching and desperate to be deep inside her. With a growl, I yank her skirt up with one hand and shove my pants down with the other. I pull her to the edge of the counter and off it just enough to enter her with a single, deep thrust.

Ama moans, head falling back as she braces herself on the countertop.

Sweet, tight heat envelops my cock as my protective eyelid rolls over my irises.

“Gods damn ,” I grunt.

She tightens around me, the cilia inside her pussy stroking my length like a thousand tiny fists. I let my head fall back to simply feel her for a moment, but when she lurches forward, snapping at my neck and latching on, I jolt inside her.

She gasps, releasing the bite, but that desperately needy sound unleashes me.

Rolling my hips, I thrust in and out with steady, deep moves. Ama mewls and pants, eyes rolling into her head as her mouth drops open. The dark blush along her cheeks spreads to the tips of her ears and down to her chest. Satisfaction blooms hot and heavy, orgasm building fast between my thighs.

Sometimes the burn is slow, and we get hours together to play before we come.

But sometimes the burn is fast, and a hot, dirty, three-minute fuck is exactly what we need.

Snarling, I lift her ass off the counter just enough to hold her steady as I pound into her. My hips snap against her thighs as I slide one hand up her leg to grip the back of her knee. Using that leverage, I spread her wider, fucking harder, deeper as she strokes me off.

Pleasure rages through me as she tightens, rocking her hips to meet mine, her pants rising into needy cries for release.

“Betmal, oh goddess, oh fuck, yes, please!” Her voice goes ragged as she begs, and that sends me spiraling to the edge of bliss.

One hand at her throat, I yank her upper body to mine and strike, sinking my fangs into my claiming bite. Cum rushes down my shaft, cock throbbing as I unload inside her, bellowing into the hold.

Her pussy clamps around me, pulsing in rhythmic waves that tighten every muscle in my body until I’m nothing but rock-hard ecstasy. Her orgasm fades, but as I bite harder, growling into the pinch, need fills our bond, and a second lightning strike of pleasure hits us both. My cock kicks inside her, spurting seed deep into her channel as I howl, releasing the bite and screaming into the kitchen.

Rapture batters me until I’m a senseless, trembling mess. Ama goes limp in my arms, sagging down onto the countertop and throwing an arm over her face.

“Oh goddess,” she whispers, her voice hoarse, “is it just me or is the pleasure getting stronger? Because I swear I saw the depths on that one.” She rubs her chest. “And I feel you in here , Betmal.”

I chuckle and lean over her on the counter, resting my hand above her heart. It beats like a wounded bird, fluttering wildly in her chest as satisfaction fills me.

“That was exceptional, ma siréne,” I whisper, shoving up onto my forearms as my cock slips out of her channel, well used, sated and dripping. I stand and grip the backs of both her knees, spreading her wide so I can see the evidence of what we just did.

Her pussy lips are swollen and covered in cum and her honey. My seed drips in sticky strings from her channel, which still clenches in slow waves.

“Look at that mess,” I croon. “You’re so full, darling.”

“Mmm.” She looks down between her thighs, then shoots me a wicked grin. “I’m not done, Betmal. Take me to the lake so we can do it again.”

A huge smile splits my face as I toss her over my shoulder and stalk for the pond in the backyard. I slap her ass on the way there, loving how her soft skin goes bright blue in the shape of my handprint. Walking into the lake, I hiss as the warm water massages my skin.

Ama shifts into her merform and splashes playfully out of my arms.

“Come and get me, mate!” she singsongs as she heads for the deeper water.

“Always, darling,” I whisper as I dive in after her.

* * *

A handful of peaceful days pass in a whir of planning and food. Morgan, Abemet and Thatraeia join us a half-dozen times to work on the plans for the launch party. In that time, I keep an eye and ear out for any sign that Caralorn might consider joining us. The lake is suspiciously quiet despite multiple attempts by Arkan to reach out to the king.

It concerns me how Caralorn mentioned Stefan despite my warnings to him.

The night before the party, Ama’s in town with Morgan doing a final taste test of the menu they picked. I stayed behind solely to wait for a package. The tracking says it’ll arrive today, and I’m anxious for that to be the case.

As the sun starts to dip behind the trees, casting shadows through the kitchen, I hear the slow clip-clop of hooves on my driveway. There are only a handful of centaurs or pegasi in this haven who would come to my home without calling first.

Concern bristles through me, and I stalk to the front of the house. Gracious girl that she is, she throws the front doors open wide.

Outside, Arkan clops to the base of the stairs and ascends them with his front half. He hands me the package.

“The driver was just dropping this off in your mailbox, trying to stuff it in there, but to be honest, whatever’s in here didn’t look like it was going to fit. I offered to personally deliver it.”

“Keeper.” I greet the male who took over the keeping position from Abemet when my son retired. “Your presence here does not bode well for my evening’s peace.”

He shrugs. “I could simply be out for a walk and happen upon this beautiful home.”

I cross my arms and lean into the doorway. “As much as I love a guest, I’d like you to tell me what’s wrong.”

He sighs and crosses both muscular arms over his broad chest. He’s wearing a shirt that says “Sorry, This Centaur’s Taken by the Perfect Female.” Normally, I’d laugh, but the half-serious look on his face has me stone-cold sober.

“You’re right that I don’t come bearing the best of news.” He glances around me. “Is Amatheia home?”

I bristle. “She’s in town. What’s wrong , Arkan?” Without thinking, I call my wings and flare them wide, ready to bullet toward downtown and get my woman.

He runs both hands over his black braided hair. “I’m hearing whispers of the merking planning…something, perhaps some sort of,” he casts around for the right word, “uprising feels too strong.” He gives me a wry look. “I know you’ve been to see him since you stabbed him, and that it didn’t go particularly well.”

Now that is curious. He must have insight directly into the merfolk through one of their own.

I wonder who. My thoughts stray to the guard who seemed to hold affection for Ama.

Arkan continues on. “Obviously, everyone in town is excited for the launch party tomorrow, and it could be nothing, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Caralorn plans to ruin it somehow.”

I pull in a steadying breath, looking for calm, although I feel nothing but storm inside.

Arkan uncrosses his arms and swishes his tail, rubbing both sides of the horse half of his powerful body. “The shifters are keeping an eye on the lake, and the protector team will be ready for anything. It’s going to be fine, but I wanted to make you and Ama aware. Ever’s behind you a thousand percent. We’ll make sure Ama’s night is absolutely perfect.”

He smiles. “I’ve been working with Abe on that surprise, per your request. It’s going to be gorgeous.”

Pride fills me. Of the havens I’ve had a chance to visit, Ever has the best community feeling.

“Thank you,” I manage, tucking the package under my arm. “I can’t wait to see what she thinks of it.”

“Alright, so,” Arkan steps down the stairs and winks, “we’ll meet you at the intersection of Sycamore and Main tomorrow at six p.m., right?”

I confirm and thank him, watching as the young Keeper walks gracefully up the driveway. He’s observant, looking around and seeming to notice everything. My son was an incredible Keeper, but Arkan is part of the new guard, something different than Abe was. It’s a good change, in my opinion.

And tomorrow is going to be amazing.

So long as the merking doesn’t fuck it up.