Tempting The Gorgon: A Gorgon / Vampire Romance

Chapter 11

Iwasn’t sure what to expect when Arch mentioned meeting friends of his, but it sure as fuck wasn’t stopping far away from land and setting an anchor in what looked like a makeshift harbor of rocks up the coast about fifteen minutes from where we boarded the boat.

I also knew immediately after departing that I for sure was not a fan of boats.

I hoped Arch wasn’t too keen on water as a means of transportation.

“You good over there, Vinni?” he asked.

I heard a hint of vulnerability in his tone, and he looked like he might be second guessing this adventure.

“I’m fine,” I answered a little too brisk. I took a deep breath of the saltwater-scented air and tried to calm my breathing. “I’m just finding myself a little queasy on this boat.”

Arch turned paler, even though I didn’t think it was possible as I was sure he already was the translucent shade at the cosmetic counter.

“I mostly needed to drop some things off. We’ll make this a short trip and get you back on solid land.”

I saw the worry on his face and wanted to reassure him I was fine and could take as long as we needed, but my stomach was in direct opposition to that plan. And as if the universe wanted to remind me, a bolt of nausea started in my system, and I rushed to the edge of the boat to vomit.

“Oi! What the hell!” a voice shouted from below, but I couldn’t open my eyes before another round of sickness was expelled from my stomach. “Wade! Save the youngin’s! We’re under attack!”

I heaved again until the last of it seemed to be gone. I slowly came back into my body, ignoring the stomach cramps that followed the nausea. I tried to ground myself despite not being on solid fucking land and started with focusing on my feet and working my way up through my muscles and bones until I reached my stomach. I thought I might heave again until I felt a warm palm rubbing circles on my lower back. My hearing came back next, and I heard Arch’s voice in my ear.

“Get it all out, temptress. I’ll get us back to solid ground in a few minutes, I promise.” He kissed my temple. “I’m so sorry. I should have given you some anti-nausea meds or something. I wasn’t thinking.”

I heard that same unease in his tone that was the opposite of the overly confident vampire I’d come to know.

“I’ll be fine,” I croaked, ignoring the vomit taste in my mouth.

This is horrible, Asir started.

Why is everything spinning?Baal added.

I take it back. I hate him!Faddei, normally Arch’s biggest fan, exclaimed.

I have to agree with the small ones this time, Luxor said.

You are all being a bunch of babies and no doubt making Vinni’s nausea worse with your own. Knock it off now, Titi scolded the others.

Ugh, I groaned. But I did start to feel the pressure on my entire body dissipate as they tampered down their own reaction to the sea.

“Is the lass alright there, mate?” I heard a deep Scottish voice say and jumped at the noise, not realizing others had joined us on the boat.

“The lass can answer herself, and she is just fine,” I gritted out. I hated people to see me vulnerable, even if this vulnerability was keeping what I ate earlier inside my body.

I turned toward the voice and saw two males on the boat that weren’t previously there. They were on two feet but stood as naked as the day they were born. They were muscled in all the right places, and I couldn’t help but take in their rather impressive… appendages.

“Put those monsters away in front of my female before I chop them off and give them to her as a courting present,” Arch snarled before sparing me a look that said he wouldn’t be apologizing for the litany of inaccuracies he just spewed. “Wrap those towels around yourselves now before I drown you in your own waters,” Arch growled, throwing two towels in their direction.

“Daddy! Daddy!” I heard a voice from the water on the other side of the boat. My instincts had me running at the sound of a little girl in the water.

Was she drowning? Why were they just standing there?

“Ignore Daria,” one of the males said, the one with dark-blonde hair that was cut to his shoulders and slicked back from the ocean water. “She’s a drama queen.” He rolled his green eyes even as they gleamed with pride.

“Takes after her pa,” the other male with darker hair and a bright red beard said, telling me he was the one with the Scottish accent I heard earlier. Which also meant he was the one I puked all over.

Kill me now.

The Scottish male’s dark-brown hair was cut at a similar length to the blonde male, and his hazel eyes looked me up and down slowly, clearly admiring the view. “I may be havin’ to take the title meself, but I don’t think I’m dramatic in sayin’ yer the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.”

His accent reminded me of Rory, and their beards looked incredibly similar as well, although Rory’s was longer. I blushed at his words and blatant perusal of me until my mouth started filling with saliva again, warning me of a possible reprisal of my earlier vomit routine.

The blonde one elbowed him in the side. “Do you not see our blood-drinking friend about to kill your ass? And didn’t you just finish rinsing her vomit off your face?”

“Oh goddess,” I said at the word and had to lean over the ledge again to either get sick or at the very least throw myself overboard in embarrassment.

“Shut up. Both of you,” Arch said and rubbed circles on my back. “I wanted to introduce you to Vinni, but I didn’t think to check how she handled the sea before trapping her on her worst nightmare.”

I managed to laugh at his own embarrassment of the situation before another wave of queasiness took me.

“How about we plan another time to come see you in town? Maybe when we aren’t about to get hit with a huge storm?” the blonde one asked.

“Can I at least learn your names? I’m so embarrassed about this,” I said, motioning up and down my hunched over body that felt plagueish. I normally wouldn’t admit it, but I also was finding it easier to give folks the benefit of the doubt, especially with how many people I’ve met and had to work with at the club. I wasn’t quite the social butterfly Guillermo thought I could be, but I had learned to be more cordial and pleasant.

“Me name’s Wade, gorgeous.” The dark-haired Scotsman approached, grabbing for my hand and kissing it before I could protest. His wet beard tickled my skin, causing me to giggle and probably blush like anyone would with this intense focus on me from someone who looked like Wade. Arch shook his head, probably knowing his Scottish friend was overly affectionate.

“And I’m this one’s partner, Wade.” The blond one approached, but instead of kissing my hand, he offered me a slight nod of his head. I appreciated his ability to respect boundaries and hoped my smile contained less stabby-stabby vibes and more you’re-the-best-thank-you vibes.

“This is Lavinia, and you’ll be seeing a lot more of her. I actually had a purpose in bringing her to meet you besides introducing her to a couple of my friends.”

Before Arch could continue, a splash sounded and three bodies flipped onto the back end of the deck, splashing us all in cold seawater. Or most of us since Arch managed at the last moment to put me behind him and block most of it.

“I’m so sorry, I promise this is worth it,” he whispered in my ear before spinning back around.

“Uncle Archie!!” the three children squealed, running forward and launching themselves at him with more enthusiasm than they had any right to in the treacherous waters.

“Hello, my little hellions. Causing all the chaos for your dads like you promised me?” Arch said, taking his time to hug each one individually. Something in my heart squeezed at the sight of him kneeling and greeting each of them with a tenderness only someone close to a child could muster. I hadn’t spent much time with children and always felt like I didn’t know how to act, like they’d see right through my charade and know I had no idea how to speak to them at all.

“Of course!” one of them said. She had long red hair, and I noticed, unlike her dads, she wore what looked like scale-like armor around most of her body. In fact, all three of them did. It almost looked like their skin was made of scales similar to my snakes.

Ooh, who are these beauties? Omari asked.

We must say hello, like Lennox taught us! Xabat exclaimed.

Before I could stop them, Asir, Khons, Baal, Xabat, Omari, and Faddei all reached out, giving away again how long they truly were when uncoiled, and began wrapping themselves around the children’s arms.

“Whoa!!” the little girl with pink hair cried out but remained still as Asir and Khons stretched to wrap around her arms.

“Daddy look!” the same purple-haired one who ran up to Arch said as Baal and Xabat coiled around her ankles.

“Oh. My. Goddess!” the last one with bright-blue hair said, giggling and already petting Faddei and Omari that were wrapped around her arms.

“Vinni,” Arch began. “I’d like you to meet my nieces, for all intents and purposes. Pink is Kaia, purple is Daria, and blue is Jenni.”

“Hey, we are more than just our hair color, you big jerk!” The one I now knew as Kaia kicked at Arch’s shin playfully.

“It’s very nice to meet you all,” I muttered. “Sorry, my snakes have no manners.”

An echo of giggles and coos filled the air as my snakes socialized with our new friends.