Page 9

T hey were still naked . Neither of them had opted for clothes, but there was nothing quite like being kidnapped by a fucking mermaid and nearly drowning to put a few things into perspective. One, being naked wasn’t a big deal, especially when she was with her mate.

Jaxson had not let go of her hand, and they had started on their journey once again.

They hadn’t spoken since she wrapped herself around his body and kind of made a fool of herself.

He wasn’t judging, though. Calliope had just needed to hold her mate.

To know he was close, that he was near. He didn’t let her drown, or get killed.

“You know, it’s driving me crazy, but I cannot remember any of our games having a mermaid taking me prisoner and attempting to drown me,” she said.

“I know.”

“Does this mean something?” she asked.

He came to a stop. She looked at him, and he seemed as shaken up as she felt.

“I think it does.”

“We don’t want to know, do we?” she asked.

He ran fingers through his head. “It could mean we’re getting close but not close enough. I mean, I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you. It just isn’t acceptable to me.”

She put a hand on his chest. “Hey, come on, it’s fine.”

“No. It’s not. None of this is fine. This fucking game is not funny. They could have killed both of us.”

“But, we’re both here, and we’re safe.” She went onto her tiptoes and kissed him. “I don’t want you thinking like this. You saved me. I don’t even know where that mermaid was taking me. He freaked me out, and he could have been a little more polite about it, don’t you think?”

She was trying to lighten the mood.

“Calliope, I clawed off his hand.”

She nodded. “You’re not in the mood.”

He pulled her in close, and she smelled his earthy scent. It wasn’t the scent of dirt, just air, the forest, and all things natural. Jaxson had always smelled so good to her.

“It could be manifesting,” Calliope said.

“What?”

“The Hunt. It has taken inspiration from our games. It was a mermaid.”

“We never had an actual mermaid in one of our games.”

“That is true, however, they were mentioned. Maybe it is designed to kind of speed things up a bit.”

“Speed things up?” He shook his head. “Moments before, we were like, touching each other, bringing each other to orgasm, and that is not working fast enough for them?”

She hadn’t anticipated him being quite so annoyed.

“It’s fine.”

“No, none of this is fine, okay? This is all just bullshit. That is exactly what it is. Bullshit.”

She pressed a hand to his chest and then wrapped her arms around him. “I’ve got you.”

He held her tightly, and it was strange but she knew what he needed. Jaxson needed to hold her and just feel her alive and waiting for him.

“Damn it, Calliope, I don’t want anything to happen to you. Nothing can happen to you. I can’t stand the thought of it. You’re my ... everything.”

She felt tears sting her eyes, and she pulled away to smile at him. “I am? I’m your everything?”

“Yeah, you are. I wasn’t sad when the elder told us we were going to be mated. I was relieved. I’d missed you so freaking much. I kept trying to figure out how to bridge that gap between us, and nothing seemed to be working.” He stroked her cheek. “I love you.”

This made her gasp. She knew they had said it before, but they had been under extreme circumstances. “You love me?”

“Yeah, and I’m not going to hide that from you. I’ve loved you since we were kids. I love you now, and I love you still.” And he pressed a kiss to her lips. “I will always love you. You mean everything to me.”

She never thought he would say something like that.

“And I don’t expect you to say anything right now,” he said. “You don’t have to. I behaved so badly, pushing you away. I’m going to earn back your trust, and maybe one day I will earn back your love.”

Calliope wanted to tell him she loved him. She had never stopped. Yes, there had been times over recent years where she kind of hated him a little, because he’d been a giant ass. All of that had changed, though.

Jaxson took her hand, and they started to make their way through the forest, which once again was getting thicker. Something was strange.

“Jaxson?” she asked.

“I feel it too.”

“But this can’t be right, right? I mean, every single time we’ve encountered a life-threatening situation, that was it, until nightfall and the morning. Surely, we get a break, right?”

Only, Jaxson didn’t have to answer, as it was like something reached up out of the earth, wrapped it’s claw around her ankle, and started to pull her down. It wasn’t a monster. This was quicksand.

Panic flooded.

“Calliope!” Jaxson screamed and reached for her hand, but she saw the ground about to give way.

“Jaxson, step away,” she said. “You don’t want to get in here too.” According to the game she remembered, if she wriggled, she got sunk beneath the surface faster. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying not to wriggle or panic, or make any sudden movements.

“Calliope, what the fuck do I do?” he asked.

“You need to find something, like rope, so I can hold onto it, or tie it around me,” she breathed out.

It was getting harder for her to remain still as the panic was consuming her. Jaxson looked around, and then they both must have had the same thought come to mind.

“Backpack!” they both screamed in unison.

She tried to smile, but that fear was a pesky little devil, making it impossible for her to be happy. Tears filled her eyes. This was not how she wanted it to end. Looking at Jaxson, she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, being mated to him, having his babies.

They used to spend every waking moment together—Christmas, birthdays, all the festive occasions throughout the year.

They hadn’t taken the time. She hadn’t stood, heavily pregnant in their kitchen, baking cookies, waiting for him to get home.

They hadn’t sipped hot cocoa while watching it snow.

They’d not made love in the heat of the summer, out in their yard. There was so much they hadn’t done.

“I’ve got it,” Jaxson said, pulling out the rope and coming toward her.

The ground was getting larger as it was starting to sink. He tossed the rope toward her. The first one didn’t even start to come close. She was sinking down. She had been at knee level, but now she was at hip level. He had to throw the rope four times until she finally caught the end.

Tying it around her body as best she could, Jaxson started to pull, only she was barely moving. It was like the ground was holding her in place. The moment he stopped trying to pull, the ground then pulled her under, until the water was suddenly at waist height.

She tried not to panic, but Jaxson wasn’t handling it. He kept trying to pull her out.

“Don’t go under, Calliope. Do not go under.”

Her neck was right at the surface, and she felt tears spring to her eyes, only she refused to panic. This is where it was going to end for her.

“You know, I would love to one day be making you dinner, and you come home, missing me. You can’t wait to see me, and you find me in the kitchen, cooking meatballs and spaghetti, your favorite.

You put your hand on my hip, kiss my neck, and I know what you want.

Only, our kids—two of them to start—scream ‘Daddy,’ and they want your attention. ”

“Calliope?”

“I’d love for us to have a dozen kids. To have the house not know a moment’s peace, because of how many children we have. We’ll make our parents babysit when we want some time alone, but it won’t be often, because we love being part of a big family.”

“I want that,” Jaxson said.

“I want to spend Christmas and New Year’s with you.

I don’t want another birthday to go by.” She sniffled.

“You know, I sent them anonymously. I’ve been sending you birthday and Christmas cards ever since we had a falling out, and I just couldn’t bring myself to stop.

I love you, Jaxson, and I would love to be mated to you for the rest of our lives. ”

Calliope didn’t know what happened. One moment, she was about to sink beneath the quicksand, with no hope. But instead, she was shot out and landed on her back on the now-hard earth.

She groaned and looked up. Jaxson was on her, wrapping his arms around her, holding her tightly, loving her.

“I don’t understand,” he said. “You had the rope, and I should have been able to pull you out, and it shouldn’t have been able to pull you under. Calliope?”

She cupped his face and stared up into his eyes. “It’s changing. It’s making us face the facts we’ve been trying to avoid.”

“What?”

“We’re destined to be mated, and it is putting us in challenging situations.

Our games were easy. They were child’s play.

Talking about our feelings, and knowing what we want, being honest with each other, that is a whole different kind of game.

” She pressed a kiss to his lips. “And I meant everything I said, Jaxson. I love you, and I do want a long future with you.”

****

J axson looked into the fire and then toward Calliope. They had already eaten their food, and it was getting dark. Actually, there was no getting dark about it. It was already dark.

He ran his fingers through his hair, then got to his feet and moved closer.

“What does this mean?” he asked.

“The game is getting more intense. It’s going to push us in ways we didn’t expect.” She shrugged. “The only way out of this is for us to become mates, right? No one leaves here, still unmated. All couples are bound together.”

He took hold of her hand, locking their fingers together. “I’m happy to wait as long as you are.”

She offered him a smile. “You saw what happened today. I don’t think this is going to get any easier, Jaxson. This is going to get very hard.” She sighed. “We both know that. Not once but twice today, I nearly died. Tomorrow, that might be you, and I just ... I can’t stand it.”

“So, what do we do?” Jaxson asked.