Page 9 of Tempting Triton (Mated Myths #2)

Triton

I chó pulls my mate alongside him and back through the window, depositing her on the bed. Warmth unfurls inside my chest, seeing her in my space—a space only Ichó and I have ever been in. Now, my mate is right here in front of me for a second time, and I do not want her to leave again.

She eyes me warily, pulling the plate of shucked oysters onto her lap before greedily slurping them down. I swallow, my eyes tracking the movement of her throat, my own feeling parched despite being surrounded by water.

Ichó flicks his head between us, noting her trepidation and my sea puppy eyes.

“Fools.” He clicks at us and leaves the same way they entered.

I sigh. I do not know why I even bother having a door.

The platter clatters to the floor .

“It can speak!”

I tilt my head to the side as I study my mate curiously. She hugs her knees tight to her chest, eyes wide as she stares after Ichó. My mate, who knocked me over the head with a piece of coral, is scared of a dolphin?

“Of course he can speak. His name is Ichó.”

Her head turns to look at me, her blue eyes sparkling as they reflect the sunlight filtering through the breaks in the coral. Beautiful, just like the depths of the ocean.

“What do you mean ‘of course he can speak’?” She repeats my words in a deeper tone, and I cannot help but be amused.

“Is that what I sound like?” I smirk. “All animals can speak.”

“Not where I come from.” She huffs.

“Perhaps you are just not listening?”

A small growl vibrates in her throat before she launches herself in front of me, her slender finger jabbing at the skin of my bare chest. My beast stands to attention—the part of me that controls my ferality at the scent of blood and prey in the water is interested in this ferocious female that beats and growls at me.

“Listen here, you overgrown fish!” Poke .

“First, you kidnap me.” Poke .

“Then, you kiss me without asking.” Poke .

“And now you’re implying I’m stupid ?!”

Before she can poke me again, I reach out to grab her hand to stop her, but she yanks it out of reach and crosses her arms over her chest, her eyebrows scrunched in anger.

“Overgrown. Fish?” I mumble.

I do not think anyone has ever argued with me, let alone said anything so shocking. I keel over laughing, hands clutching at my sides.

“Overgrown fish!” I wheeze.

I meet my mate’s gaze again. A red flush spreads across her cheeks, but not because she is embarrassed. She is furious. I can tell by the way her knuckles whiten as she clenches her fists at her side.

“Could you just stop!?”

My laughter dies as her hand whips out to slap me across the cheek. It does not hurt; the water slows her momentum so that it is more of a tap than anything damaging .

I think she has also taken herself by surprise as she kicks away, horrified at her reaction. She snatches her hand back, cradling it against her chest, looking at it as if it is a sea snake that might sink its poisonous fangs into her sun-kissed skin.

Now, my beast is very interested in this curious female. So much so that it seizes control of my body, no longer happy to sit in the back seat of my head and observe.

My upper lip curls back in satisfaction when she realizes the change. Her eyes flick between each of mine, the once playfulness of our gaze now has a sharpness to its edges, her disbelief at what she has done twisting into nervousness as she senses a predator in her vicinity.

I move into her space. Into her. So close that I can feel the small mounds of her breasts beneath the tight material that covers them as they press against my skin. She freezes beneath us, and I hum while I run our nose up the side of her throat to nip at her earlobe before whispering in her ear.

“My, my, aren’t you a thorny little thing?” Our voice is rough and gravelly.

I reach up with our thumb and thrum at her lower lip.

She stutters, her lips warm and moist against our skin.

Triton is but a passenger inside our body in this moment, but I can feel his eagerness nonetheless.

Our heartbeat feels ragged, beating wildly in our chest, as I slide our hands down the backs of her arms, grab hold and spin her, reversing our positions to press her against the wall, reminiscent of our earlier interaction that had her arousal spiking around us and set my teeth on edge. I want to take a bite out of her.

It is this action that breaks her from the spell of having a predator in her midst, my mate remembering how fierce she is—her head no longer cowed in submission but staring me down, her angry sea-blue eyes meeting my kelp-green ones.

If I could purr like a humpback whale, I imagine my body doing exactly that right now.

She shoves me backwards, but this time I am ready for her beautiful, violent limbs, grabbing hold of her hands and pulling her with us as I float backwards onto our bed.

“What is wrong with you?!” she shrieks, slapping my chest and pushing away from my body.

“Wrong?” I frown.

My beast fades into the recesses where it resides as the words wrong, wrong, wrong echo in my head, pushing my consciousness back to the forefront and in control of my body once more.

“Yes, wrong! You can’t just go around kidnapping strangers, and kissing them, and—and licking them without asking!”

“You hit me! Twice!” I reply, indignant.

“That’s beside the point.” She huffs, placing her hands on her hips. “You kissed me without my permission, so really, you deserved the slap.”

“What is kissed ?” My brows draw together, thinking back over our interactions. I cannot think of what this ‘kissed’ could be. I can, however, understand her anger at being taken against her will.

“That’s what you’re hung up on? What is kissing?!”

We look at each other, confusion etched on my face, her cheeks turning a ripe shade of pink the more she yells and waves her hands around. I sit and wait patiently for her to tell me what is ‘kissed’ and when it does not seem like she will explain any time soon, I grow frustrated.

“I saved you. You are my mate.” It is true, is it not? I scented her blood in the water, which led me to her. I mended her wound, though she has not even noticed that her ankle no longer pains her.

“ I beg your pardon? ” If it is possible, her face turns an even deeper shade of crimson, and I am still waiting for her to explain what is ‘kissed.’

I cross my arms across my chest. “You need not beg, my mate. I will get you whatever you need.”

Her eyes bug out of her face as she tugs at her hair, pulling strands free from where it is tied at her crown, and screams, more to herself than at me, I think .

I do not know what I have done wrong, but I do not want my mate to hurt herself.

I rush forward, gently prying her hands free of her hair, and to my surprise, she lets me.

It seems she has yelled all her steam out, her hands falling limp in mine as her shoulders slump.

My mate is a chaotic and violent little creature, but perhaps all humans are this way. I would not know, as the barrier was in place before I could go and explore the world.

“Are all humans so… emotional ?”

She screeches, her shoulders tense as she pulls her hands out of mine. I think I have said something to offend her. Again .

“Oh, ho, ho, no way. No, sir.” She wags a finger at me. “You do not get to kidnap me, and then kiss me without my permission, and then tell me I’m being emotional .”

I grimace. No matter what I do or say, I seem to keep upsetting my mate, and I still do not know what ‘kissed’ is. I mull over our interactions. Perhaps it is when I shared my essence with her?

“I am… sorry? I do not mean to offend you. Perhaps I can explain?” I spread my palms face up in front of me as a gesture of peace. She considers me for a moment, her hands on her hips as she taps her foot.

“You have one minute, and if I’m not satisfied with your explanation, you will let me leave, you hear me?” She plays with something tied around her wrist and looks back at me expectantly. “Time’s ticking.”