Page 5 of Tempting Triton (Mated Myths #2)
Elena
M y body burns from within as heat courses through me. My mouth opens to gasp, but the air feels thick and gluggy. I sit up in a rush, not registering a presence looming over me until my head bashes into it. I yelp, pulling back to rub at my forehead as the other person groans in pain.
Wait.
Sun-tanned arms cage me in, lean and corded with muscles, that lead up to a shock of curly blond hair that sways around him like a halo, shielding his face from view.
Definitely a ‘he’ judging by his tanned and very naked torso on display, defined muscles bunching as he rubs at his head.
Sections of his skin ripple in a luminous green sparkle on the bony curves of his body; his shoulders, elbows, collarbones —
I shudder, need pulsing deep between my thighs.
My subconscious tells me I should rub my body against his while my conscious is screaming WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?
! I freeze beneath him, common sense finally making itself known.
I’m on a bed, with a man I don’t know, after being kidnapped and stowed away in a shipping container.
“Who are you!?” I try to screech, but my voice comes out dull and muted. I bring my knee up between his legs instead in a bid to hit him right where it hurts. Self-defense 101.
“Oof!” He lets out a burst of bubbles on contact and another groan as he rolls off me, floating down to the floor beside the bed with a flash of fins.
Bubbles? Fins?!
I attempt to scramble up onto my hands and knees, the movement lagging.
My brain is telling my body to move faster, but it’s like my limbs can’t compute.
I peer at the stranger over the edge of the bed, my mouth popping open like a stunned mullet.
I blink a few times, unsure if I’ve suddenly lost my mind.
His back and forearms are adorned with spiny fins, and either the man has a fish tail like a goddamn merman, or I’ve finally lost it .
I roll backwards off the bed towards the other side of the room to put as much distance between us as possible. What the hell is happening right now? The further away I get, the less I feel like I’m about to spontaneously combust, and the more my head clears.
I frantically search for something I can use as a weapon, realizing the room is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. For starters, the bed is a giant clam, and I’m ninety percent sure we’re under freaking water!
Light filters down from the surface and through roughly hewn not-windows to flicker over the walls. They’re not windows because there is no glass, just holes that look out into clear blue water, sea life cruising past and flitting through a reef of bright and colorful coral a short distance away.
The giant clam, which rivals a king-size bed, sits in the center of the room, its mantle a fluorescent blue that frames a soft peach mass inside.
Glowing green coral surrounds the room, casting an eerie glow over my surroundings.
A floor-length mirror leans up against a wall, the glass tarnished and speckled from time.
Strings of Neptune’s pearls drape from the ceiling like a bougie canopy.
The ethereal and completely unimaginable scene steals my breath away. Literally.
I double over, my chest constricting against the water sitting in my lungs, as my brain registers that I should not be able to breathe underwater.
My eyes bulge as I fight the reflex to take in a deep breath of air.
My hands go to claw at my throat, black spots dancing in my vision.
A blur of glimmering green scales dashes towards me before two hands cradle my cheeks.
Bright green eyes ringed with flecks of gold flick over my face, looking concerned beneath pinched brows.
Before I can protest, he smashes his mouth against mine, and my body ignites.
Warmth spreads throughout my body, starting from inside my chest and radiating out to the tips of my fingers and toes.
Even my ears feel like they’re burning. My hands forget their plight at my neck, dropping limply onto the warm skin of the stranger’s wrists where he cradles my face.
A whimper slips out of the back of my throat as my skin begins to tingle beneath my ears.
The kiss morphs from a chaste touching of lips to something ravenous and wild.
My hands travel upwards to curl my fingers in his hair while our mouths and tongues dance together.
My body has a mind of its own as the stranger’s hands slip from my face, only to find their way to the curve of my ass.
I bring my legs up around his waist, and he drives us backwards until my back is flush against the stone wall.
I gasp on impact, regaining some clarity, and a throaty groan escapes the stranger as our mouths disentangle.
My core is throbbing with the need for more, but my brain reboots, and I know that this isn’t right.
Something isn’t right. My swimming career hasn’t left me much time for romantic relations, but surely my body shouldn’t be having such a visceral reaction to this stranger.
My hands drop to my sides, reaching for something I can use as a weapon.
Anything. My fingers graze against something bumpy and rough, I assume one of the fluorescent corals littered throughout the space.
I internally pray it’s not attached to anything and give it a tug, relief flooding me and driving the lingering sexual haze away as it comes away easily.
I tighten my grip and bring it up in what feels like a slow-motion swing, before crashing it down on the stranger’s head.
He drops like a sack of potatoes, my body promptly floating to the floor as his hold on my ass slackens. We lay tangled in a heap of limbs and tail as I try to calm my racing heart, the adrenaline coursing through my body urging me to escape.