Page 29 of Tempting Triton (Mated Myths #2)

Triton

M y Elena giggles when I stop her with a tug of her hand for the hundredth time so I can smother her with kisses, unable to keep myself apart from her physically despite the bond being sated and fulfilled.

She chose me. She chooses me. I vow to never let it be in vain, to do anything to make her happy.

My heart is overjoyed and full to bursting.

The water warms and turns opaque as we near the reef and shallower water, escaping the murky darkness of the depths surrounding Aeolia.

I sigh contentedly at the familiar surroundings of my home, the warmth of the water, and how the sun dapples beneath the sea, highlighting the various colors of coral and the flashing scales of darting fish.

Home. I cannot believe I get to share all this with my Elena, and I cannot wait to show her all the hidden treasures we have not had time for yet .

I take a moment to point out an eagle ray and relish the look of wonder on my Elena’s face as she takes it all in. My mate is just as fascinated with the different landscapes and creatures of the ocean as I am, and it cements the Fates’ choice in mate for me. She is perfect.

I’m hit by a mass right in the gut while I’m admiring my mate, sending me spinning as my Elena shrieks my name.

I curse myself for being taken by surprise, not usually needing to be on guard in the protected waters of Aeolia.

Being one of the most feared predators in the waters, besides Scylla and Charybdis, has made me lax.

My beast rears forward automatically, ready to defend my mate against our attacker, when the soft tinkle of her laugh reaches me.

My beast shrinks back just as quickly, letting me take the reins of our consciousness again, my vision becoming clearer as he settles himself again.

Ichó dances around my Elena, clicking and flipping, nudging at her body with his nose in excited bursts. He is happy we have returned. Or at least, he is happy my Elena has returned as he rounds on me in the agitated grouchiness reserved only for when I am being a naughty Mer.

“Hello, my old friend.” I wiggle my fingers sheepishly. “Did you miss me?”

I groan as he darts at me again, barely dodging a nose to the gut once more, but not the slap of his tail to the back of my head.

“Hey now!” I growl, rubbing the back of my skull. “Do not be like that. We were not gone that long.”

I grab at him as he flips in the water with a flash of his tail and returns for another round of beat-on-Triton, catching him around the dorsal fin as he attempts to scold me once more.

“Stop that!” I growl as we wrestle while my Elena watches on, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at us as she treads water.

“You could have sent word!” Ichó grumbles at me.

Elena snorts. “I told you he’d be worried.” She looks at me pointedly.

I let go of Ichó and grin sheepishly, scuffing up the back of my hair. “I am sorry if I made you worry, Ichó.”

“I almost sent a party to search after you,” Ichó snips at me.

It is my turn to snort. “I do not think the fish can put two thoughts together long enough to come looking for me, my friend. ”

Ichó clicks at me in annoyance. “Your kin have returned, you fool. It is them that I would have sent after you.”

Ichó’s words echo between us, but the rest of what he says fades into muffled noises, as if my ears are full of spongy coral and I am floating above a deep ocean trench, the endless darkness open beneath me. My kin are here? How?

My Elena rushes to me, waving a hand in front of my face.

“Triton?” Her voice sounds like it is coming from a far distance instead of right in front of me.

I can see her brows drawn with worry. Is my mother here?

My Elena looks to Ichó as he says something I cannot hear, my ears stuffed full of a strange ringing.

She looks back at me with something akin to sadness in her eyes and shakes her head.

Did I ask it aloud? I blink a few times, fighting back the darkness encroaching on the edges of my vision.

Is my beast taking over? Is there a threat?

I feel like a foreign being trapped inside my own body as everything around me is snuffed out, darkness encompassing me on all sides.

Cutting me off from my friend and my mate, until there is nothing. Nothing but me and the void.

“Take me to them,” I growl. The soft, kind Triton is tucked away in the back of our mind.

The mention of our mother broke him, making it necessary for me to take over to protect him from any further heartache.

My mate registers that I am in control now, a pink flush blooming across her cheeks and chest. So pretty.

A rumble begins deep in my chest as I remember the last time we were face to face and I buried my tongue in her cunt, the scent of her blood driving me to frenzy.

I follow Ichó back to the castle, this pink and orange-hued coral abomination that stands sentinel beyond the reef.

Both Ichó and my mate swim beside me in silence, not knowing how to behave, not wanting to set me off, and I grin wickedly.

These kin of ours better have some interesting stories to tell of the outside world, and news of our mother.

If she is still alive. It has never occurred to Triton that she may not be.

She is human after all, and we do not know the intricacies of a bond between a human and a Mer.

A thousand years have passed since we were abandoned, and I appeared for the first time, triggered from a young age to protect us. To protect him.

A flash of shadow passes overhead as we enter the castle.

Voices echo from within, and then male laughter.

The sound rankles me. What do they have to be so pleased about?

Do they not know they are now trapped here alongside us, and I do not want to play nice?

This is our territory, and our mate, and I will not give up either .

Ichó leads us to the meeting hall, a room we have not ventured to since we were a pup.

No reason to, nobody around to hold court for.

A group of three male Mer sit around the stone table, chatting animatedly amongst themselves.

Chatter that fades as they notice us lingering in the doorway.

They get up from their seats in a rush and bow low, and I am pleased that they already know who we are.

And their place. I take a moment to look them over before I speak.

They look like me, and yet so different.

They each have different colored scales, different tones of skin, hair, and eyes, but they are me, and I am they. My kin.

I pass them slowly, taking my time, taking stock of the three of them, before finding my place on my father’s throne.

My mate has to follow with a squeak, and I do not miss the three sets of Mer eyes that track her around the room.

Growling, I tug her into my lap, and a small huff of bubbles leaves her as she falls to sit right on my pocket, wriggling to find a perch.

“Be still, my mate, or I will have to claim you in front of our guests.” I hum into the notch beneath her ear so only she can hear me. Heat blooms on her face, and I smirk with sweet satisfaction. My mate looks so pretty painted in red .

“You are mated?” one of the males asks, curious, his eyes flicking between my mate and me, hunger so obviously etched on his face.

“We are.” My arm wraps around my mate’s waist, pulling her back further into my chest.

“Your mother will be happy.”

My head snaps up. “She lives?”

“She does.”

“Tell me of her.” My Elena startles, looking up at me at the change of tone.

I force my beast back at the mention of my mother.

She is alive. My Elena’s body relaxes into me, and I am pleased to find her upon my lap.

My beast is a possessive Mer, but how can I blame it when our Elena is as beautiful as she is, and we are surrounded by three strangers with hunger in their eyes?

I cannot tell if they want to fuck or devour my Elena, and while I cannot blame them, I will not hesitate to let my beast free again.

“It is she who sent us.”

My heart twists. “Why?”

“For you, of course.”

For me. For me. For me. My mother is waiting for me .

I bury the elation that threatens to burst from my chest. I will rejoice later, in the privacy of my room and my Elena’s arms. My mother lives.

“How did you get here? When?” I fire questions at the three Mer, who reluctantly pull their gaze away from my Elena, perched on my lap.

“We set up camp outside the barrier where we were instructed the island might be. Our patrols rotate every hundred years, and we wait.”

“Wait for what, exactly?” I lean forward, resting my chin atop my Elena’s shoulder.

“For the barrier to come down. Imagine our surprise when the island appeared out of nowhere. We could not risk it popping back up again without getting word to the Mer here, so we crossed over and came straight here. Your mother’s directions were exact, thankfully.”

“I am the only one.” All three look at me quizzically.

“There are no other Mer. It is just I,” I spit out bitterly.

Their mouths fall open before sharing looks between one another. “But it has been a thousand years— ”

“It has.” I can feel the anger deep and low in my gut. I swallow it down. It has been a thousand years. A thousand years alone, save for Ichó.

“Wh-what happened to the others? Your mother said there were others with you when they left.”

“They died.” My voice is flat. It is a time I do not like to revisit in my memories. If it were not for Ichó, I would be dead too.

I watch the Mer’s throat bob. My anger rises, and I can feel the beast pacing and ready within me. I steel myself and lock away my feelings. “What is the message?”

The Mer stammers, “J-just that she is waiting, and that she never stopped trying to return to you.”

And just like that, my heart twists and burns, tearing itself asunder. I shut my eyes against the stinging in them, before flashing them wide again.

“The barrier is up again. You are stuck here for the foreseeable future. You are welcome to make a home here in the castle, but”—I eye each one of them—“you will not come near my mate.” The three of them nod vigorously.

“I will have many questions for you later, but for now, my Elena and I have had a long journey and wish to rest.” We take our leave, leaving the three male Mer to Ichó to deal with.

I guess he will not be retiring after all, now that we have house guests.

We head back to our room, and I throw my Elena over my shoulder, eliciting a yelp from her. Grinning as I cross the threshold, I drop her down upon our bed before falling upon her.

“Those Mer are lucky I did not let my beast rip their heads from their shoulders,” I growl, nuzzling my nose into her neck before sprinkling kisses along her throat and down her collarbones, growling at the tight band of fabric restricting her breasts from me.

My Elena gasps. “Wh-why?”

“They looked at you as if you were a meal, but you are mine.”

My Elena giggles. Giggles! I expected her to be wary or shocked. Not giggles.

“It is so unlike you to be so possessive. Your beast, yes. But not you.” She runs her hands through my loose curls floating in the water.

“I did not have a reason to be possessive before. You are mine, and they cannot have you.” I bury my face into her chest, curling my arms beneath.

“Such a child.” She laughs, and I gaze up at her with a grin, before sobering.

“My mother is alive.”

She hums, still stroking my hair. “How do you feel about that?”

I roll to lie beside her with a sigh. “I do not know. My brain and my heart feel tangled up in knots. On the one hand, it is a good sign. She has lived for over a thousand years as a human bonded to a Mer, but on the other hand, how? Is there some sort of magic needed for it to work?”

My Elena sighs too. “While that’s important, and I want to know as well, that’s not what I mean, and you know it.” She looks at me pointedly.

“I do not know how to feel. I am pleased that she is still alive and that she never stopped trying to return to me. But there is bitterness in my heart for having been left in the first place.”

My mate nods sadly, her hand finding mine to give it a little squeeze.

“I want you to be here and live a long and happy life with me by your side. But I cannot help but worry you are giving up too much for me.”

“Oh, Triton.” She throws her arm over my stomach, scooching in tight to rest her head upon my shoulder.

“I choose you. I choose you in every which way you come, and in any way that means we get to be together. Maybe we don’t need to have it all figured out right now, but with the Mer here, maybe they have some of the answers we need? ”