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Halie stretched, and smiled when her chest pressed into Delphinos’ hard body. Eyes still closed, she sniffed his scent. How could a daimon smell like home and sex and freedom at the same time?
She was happy to be back here and in the arms of the male beside her. Yes, she had a prophecy to fulfill and the future of Vythos to save—no pressure there—but she also had a life, and the parts of it that included Delphinos were all sorts of sinfully delightful.
His morning erection dug into her stomach, and she arched into it, making him thrust against her in his sleep. His robe was coming off today, and she’d be riding him before breakfast, thank-you-very-much.
She’d just undone the double knot of his sash, when there was a knock on her door.
“Halie? May I enter?”
Shit. “Dad? Two minutes.” She shook Delphinos by the shoulder, until he cracked open an eyelid. “My father,” she whispered.
“Where?” Delphinos’ voice was rough with sleep and unbelievably sexy, but there was no time to explain. Father was known for his kindness and good judgement, but he was rather on the impatient side, for an ancient deity.
She held onto Delphinos’ robe and shoved him out of bed with a hushed, “Hide,” before wrapping the sheets around her in a makeshift chiton. “Come in,” she called out, not looking to see where Delphinos landed or what form he chose to take. They’d hidden their trysts for the better part of four decades, since Byron turned out to be yet another Mr. Wrong and she sought solace in her childhood-friend’s arms. By now, Delphinos had mastered hiding from her parents or the occasional nosy maid.
Her father entered and shut the door behind him, then closed the distance to her bed in a few long strides. With the exception of his white hair and beard that were done in intricate braids, he looked like a man in his forties, as he had for as long as she could remember. “Did I wake you? I apologize. Your mother insisted I wait, but I bear good news,” he said.
Did one of her sisters step up and get mated in her stead? Was Halie free for another century? Her heart bounced in her chest, but she bit back her optimism. It was her turn to find a mate, or she’d condemn the merpeople into three childless centuries.
Father’s pale-blue eyes glimmered over his full white beard. “The witch cast the bones again last night. She says you will meet your final mortal suitor by the next moon.”
Final? He’d be the one written in her stars. But so soon after Joss? In the past, several months or even a couple years went by between potential mates, and she had almost an entire year before her time was up.
She tried to match the happiness shining in Father’s eyes. “Really? That’s wonderful.” A fist closed around her heart. Finding her mate would allow her to traverse Vythos and Earth alike, without risking her memories or her identity, but she’d never again feel Delphinos’ embrace. The moon was full last night; she had one month before she gave true love’s kiss to the man she would spend the rest of her life with, and left Delphinos behind.
One month.
Unbidden tears prickled her eyelids, and she wiped them furiously with the backs of her hands. This was good news. She’d soon fall madly in love with a human, and Delphinos would be free to seek his own destiny.
Her father sat down beside her, gathered her to his chest, and rocked her like he used to, when she was a child. “I know this has been an ordeal for you. You have had your heart broken and your hopes dashed repeatedly, and we all recognize your sacrifice. But the end is nigh. Your happiness is around the corner, and with it, our salvation.”
Or a hundred-year reprieve. Their salvation would only be guaranteed when all Nereids—Nereus’ daughters—found their intendeds.
Still worth it. “I know, Father. Don’t mind me. These are happy tears.”
He ran his fingers through her hair and lifted her chin, to look her in the eye. “Your happiness means more to me than anything. Anything. If you would rather not go ashore again... we will make it.”
She knew he meant it. Which made it even harder to admit she didn’t want this fate shoved upon her. “The witch said it’ll be true love. I’ll be happy.” If she repeated it enough times, she might believe it.
Father kissed her cheek. “Thank you.” His lips twitched. “I will let you get back to bed. Do not be too long; your sisters want to hear all about the latest earthly fashions.”
Halie forced a smile and followed him with her gaze until he left the room. Then she leaned over the side of the mattress and scanned the sheetrock floor. “Delphinos?”
A small orange crab crawled sideways out of a hole, and without much fanfare turned into the naked gorgeous man with moss-green hair and emerald eyes she couldn’t get enough of.
She held his gaze and slid the sheets down her body. She needed his touch, the connection, for as long as she was allowed to enjoy it. Her heart ached at the thought of never again having him inside her—never spending another night in his arms—but today, she could have him. Today and for a couple short weeks, they could pretend destiny was theirs to carve out of lust and endless intimate, moonlit conversations.
She was such a drama queen. Worse than a puffer fish. She and Delphinos would lose nothing, because they were just friends. Except for the amazing-sex thing. Which she’d definitely miss. Though it had to be good with her soulmate too; they’d be perfect for each other, right?
Perfect, like Delphinos’ pearl-white skin, and those fin-sharp cheekbones. Like his emerald eyes that saw right through her.
Could he see how she wanted to get lost inside him?
No serious thoughts. Their days were numbered. And this was about sex.
She arched her back and waggled her eyebrows. “Well?”
What hooded his eyes wasn’t lust, but anger. “Shouldn’t you meet up with your sisters?”
“They’ll wait.” She skated her other palm down her throat and between her breasts, to her stomach, then lower. “Come. Be with me. It’s been too long.”
He pierced her with his gaze, his long tresses framing his clenched jaw. “Mustn’t you find your human, then? I hear you have mere weeks left.”
“I have a whole year. The prophecy was clear about that.” She reached for him, but he stepped back.
“Your father said you don’t have to do this. Haven’t you endured enough pain? Enough loss? So there are no births for three hundred years. So what? You have eternity. You’re immortal. Is a couple weeks—Tartarus, a year, even—long enough to make sure a man is worth binding yourself to forever?”
“This is unfair. You know I have no choice.”
The witch who’d foreseen the births of Nereus and Doris’s fifty daughters and single son sought Father out when monotheism prevailed, to tell him his girls held the fate of Vythos in their palms. Each had to be mated to her true love within a century of the last, or their people would be childless for three hundred years. Unlike the king and queen and their spawn, mermaids weren’t immortal. They had several times the lifespan of humans, but their numbers would thin without new births for that long.
“There’s always a choice,” Delphinos said.
It was hard, arguing in favor of an idea she hated, but she had to make him accept it, if only to convince herself. She rolled her eyes. “I don’t get what your issue is. Glauce is perfectly happy with Anri, and they only knew each other three weeks when they got married.”
All her mated sisters were happy, as far as she knew, but she saw Glauce more often. Probably because Glauce loved flaunting her happiness—as well as reminding everyone that her love story had been immortalized in books and movies. As if the entire Vythos didn’t know she sank the poor man’s ship so she could save him and make him fall for her.
“Not like I’m making a great sacrifice; I’m going to fall in love with someone who’ll love me back.” She looked at Delphinos challengingly. Say something, she screamed inside her head, but they were in human form, and he couldn’t read her thoughts. Which was good, because she had no clue what she wanted him to say. That he was in love with her? Pfft. Their relationship wasn’t like that.
Delphinos scoffed. “Right. Before her hundred years are up, she’ll give her heart to a single man, who shall love her upon dry land.” He spat out the part of the prophecy that referred to Halie, as if it tasted bad.
She hated seeing him like this. Why couldn’t he enjoy what they had while it lasted? “He doesn’t have my heart yet,” she said, willing him to understand... What?
He took a step toward her, and for a split second Halie believed he’d gather her in his arms and make her body sing with pleasure. But he didn’t come any closer. He squeezed his eyes shut, and when he opened them again, they were as cold as the stones they resembled. “No.” He shook his head. “I won’t be here, waiting for that.”
He strode out of the room and slammed the door behind him.