Chapter 13
Ro
I tuck the photo into the back pocket of my jeans and smile as I hurry eagerly toward the library. The photograph will be the first memento of our courtship. Although I wasn’t expecting to have it waiting for me in a discreet little envelope at the hotel’s front desk this morning, it was a pleasant surprise. So pleasant that I nearly extruded in my pants in the middle of the sidewalk. I chuckle, imagining my mate’s face if she were at my side to witness it—or perhaps seeing the wet smear on my clothing when I meet her. She would doubtlessly turn delightfully red, and if I were lucky, I would catch the flavorful notes of her arousal on the air.
Lust fills me with every step. It had been that same lust that had provoked me into demanding a copy of the picture, and it burns through me anew.
I hunger for it... for Keri.
She would probably not be pleased to know how much I intentionally bait her. I don’t think she yet suspects the entirety of my interest in her or my intentions, which just makes me wish to tease her more and draw her deeper with the lure so that our magic continues to meld together. I am teasing her with her own need, forcing her to confront her true desires. And I am content with this plan.
Humans, after all, are strange creatures. They try to ignore what they want and pretend that what boils through the blood does not exist. They are slower to act than fae in this way. All of the fae are quick to embrace the exquisite pull of love and desire. Aquana are even quicker to heed the call than most. Like most fae, I treasure these days of courtship as much as I look forward to binding our lives together and the long life we shall share. A few hundred years does not feel like enough.
My pace quickens with my eagerness to see her again, but when I enter the library, I am disturbed that Keri is not waiting for me at the front like she usually is. Instead, Lynn glances up at me from behind her desk, and I am greeted by the hiss of conversation somewhere nearby between my mate and another male. It is unpleasantly loud in my ears despite its low volume, and it makes my fins twitch and flare at the aggression in the male’s voice. I have no doubt that Lynn cannot hear it for she shows no sign as she watches me storm past the desk. I track the voices back between rows of books to the nearest corner of the building. There is a room there with glass walls facing me.
A growl rises in my throat as I see the male standing far too close to my mate, gesturing wildly as his voice drifts clearly to me through the glass and open door.
“Really, Keri, what were you thinking? If it weren’t for the fact that he asked specifically for you, I would pull you out, effective immediately. I knew that this was a bad idea. Not only do you lack the experience or knowledge necessary for this sort of study, but this shows a remarkable lack of judgment. What made you think the instructions to ‘collect a specimen from the subject’ meant giving a hand job to the merman?”
“Aquana,” she corrected softly, making my lips twitch briefly in amusement despite the protective anger rushing through me as I rapidly close the distance between us. “And I’m sorry, Mr. Clarence. It was a simple misunderstanding. I mean, shit, you had me putting my hand on his dick and checking it out. My hand was already there, and the next instruction was to get his semen, so my mind just followed along to the natural conclusion.”
“You’d better hope that he was infatuated enough by that handy to return. If you’ve fucked this up and he doesn’t, you will not only be out of a job, but I will have your name delisted from the Arcane Society, and I will personally see to it that—”
“Enough!” I hiss as I storm through the door.
The male—Mr. Clarence—startles as he whirls toward me, his look of anger melting away to be replaced with a smile. I glower at him because I am no fool and take exception to the way he is looming over Keri. His smile deflates into a look of surprise as I feel my back sail snap up. The sharp fins that run down my arms follow suit. My claws begin to lengthen dangerously, and an angry shriek rips from me as the male throws up his arms fearfully.
His magic spills from him without direction or focus, but it still slams into me like shards of glass. It’s not enough to keep me from tearing him apart—but, fortunately for him, my mate is. She grabs my arm and yanks me toward her until I am brought down closer to her height and facing her. Her eyes are wide with fear, and I wince, certain that I must, in part, be responsible for putting that look there.
“Ro—stop! What the hell are you doing?” Her gaze snaps to the male, and my anger flares anew at the apologetic look she gives him. “I’m sorry, Mr. Clarence. Ro overreacted a little. We still don’t know much about Aquanas and what might set them off, but Ro and I are making progress. He wouldn’t have attacked you if he knew who you were and that you weren’t going to hurt me.”
My eyes narrow at her. “Of course I mean it. No one will threaten you. I will not allow it,” I hiss. “He thinks to make you beg fearfully? Then I shall return the favor.”
“I see,” the mage mumbles and gives a sharp, humorless laugh. His eyes cut between us as he smooths his layers of clothes and smiles far too widely at me. “I’m sure that this must have looked alarming to you since you and Ms. Thane-Durmont have gotten so close these last few days. I find it admirable how protective you are of her. Rest assured, she didn’t have anything to worry about, certainly not from me or anyone else in the Arcane Society,” he adds with another of his false, ingratiating laughs that sends an unpleasant itch beneath my scales.
“Mr. Clarence is my employer, Ro. He was just chiding me for a mistake I made. It’s fine.”
Keri may be fine with it because she sees it as normal, but I am not. I do not understand the purpose of an “employer” except that he presumes a certain amount of control over her, and this I dislike even more. I growl softly as I watch him, but Keri is squeezing my arm tightly between her small hands, so I snap my teeth shut and give him a begrudging nod. His smile widens as his entire bearing relaxes.
“I actually came by because I was hoping to meet you, Ro’karek,” he says jovially with a terrible accent that places the emphasis and clicks in all the wrong places. “I wanted to make sure that you weren’t offended by Ms. Thane-Durmont’s, ah, actions. She was a little confused as to what I requested, and we all are aware that fae do not like to be touched without permission.”
I grunt, amused in spite of myself. “She was invited... repeatedly,” I point out.
“Oh... well, I suppose that changes the entire matter,” he replies hurriedly, and behind me, Keri coughs to hide her quiet laughter. “I’m thrilled that you two are building such a comfortable rapport.”
“I’ll say,” Keri mutters behind me, but I don’t quite understand her quip and so choose to ignore it.
“Since I have you here, I did want to tell you that, with the purpose of furthering relations, I have approved Keri’s request to give you access to the dolphin pool. It’s our hope that it will help you both in carrying out further observations beyond the constraints of our tanks... and hopefully acquire some more explorative information that may come up in a slightly more natural setting.”
I find his words strange, but Keri stiffens by my side and threads her fingers with mine as much as she can, and I feel a pleasant pressure on my webbing. As pleasurable as it is for me, I sense that she’s finding some strength in my touch, as she almost seems to anchor herself to me by our joined hands. She is nervous, though, despite that. I can feel a tremor moving through her, and I wonder if she is thinking of what could so easily happen between us in the water.
I know I am thinking of it, and my cock presses against my sheath in response as I imagine myself circling her in the water and the brush of my fins against her supple body. A pool big enough for a dolphin to swim comfortably would be more than enough room for me to flirt with my female and lure her in for mating.
“That’s wonderful,” my mate replies with a sweet voice, and my gaze snaps over to her in surprise.
That is until I realize that she is not responding to my fantasy but to the words of the male who preens happily over what he has offered us. Part of me wants to refuse it so that my female has no reason to thank him in such a way. It is unseemly to thank him as if she owes some debt to him. If he attempts to call on a debt, I will slaughter him. I bite back my unhappy hiss because my mate seems to genuinely be pleased. Her excitement sends an electric current through her energy that infuses through the lure that connects us.
I rumble softly as I look down at her. Her excitement is catching because my anger fades and now I’m once more eager to get to this pool.
“There is another issue I wanted to speak to you of as well,” she continues. “Apparently there is a supplement for aquatic fae that allows them to stay on land for longer periods that the Underidge coven has developed. Unfortunately, it seems that they are tightly controlling its distribution, making it difficult for those of some species, like Ro, to get access to it.”
Mr. Clarence’s expression grows pinches, and he sighs heavily. “This is not the first complaint I’ve heard and is a common one among the local coastal councils. As helpful as it would be for Ro to have access to the supplement, which I’ve already explained to them at length when you noted the issue on his application, they are unbending on this matter. They refuse to distribute except in case-by-case situations and only to certain species. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it. Our laws make it clear that all covens and witches have exclusive ownership of their spell work—which is for a good reason. The moment we force compliance, we enter some tricky waters that no one wants to see.”
“Of course, naturally,” Keri replies. “But if I can get access to the restricted vault’s old grimoires, there is a chance that I can perhaps replicate something close to it with my staff at the library. The Underidge coven is an old one and delves into a lot of magic inaccessible to younger covens. I believe there are a couple of grimoires in the collection from closely related old families established within the same area that have since died out. If nothing else, they may provide some clues.”
My eyes fly to my mate in surprise. I have not even revealed the true depths of my feelings and she wishes to do this for me? Although it’s likely that it is due to the effect of the lure that is creating an instinctive impulse for us to provide for each other, I want nothing more than it to be due to genuine caring on her part.
“If we can develop our own supplement, it will also prevent a reoccurrence of what happened when Ro got caught in the rain,” she adds.
Mr. Clarence nods thoughtfully. “That is a fair point. Although the vault is generally only open to members of the council, I believe I know which grimoires you speak of. I can perhaps make them available to you.” His words cut off at a repetitious melodic sound and he pulls a small phone out of his pocket. He frowns as he glances down at it. “I will get back to you regarding the grimoires, Keri. I need to take this.”
“Of course. Thank you, Mr. Clarence.” My mate tips her head toward the door at me in a silent signal as she passes him.
It seems just that quickly we are forgotten and have been dismissed by the head of Arcane Society.
Taking the cue, I follow her as the male turns his back to us, my ears pricking as he greets the person on the other end of the phone. Although he sounds pleased to speak to them, the conversation is nonsensical regarding some sort of party. Nothing of interest there. Even Keri appears disinterested as she heads out the door and makes a quick phone call of her own.
We do not go immediately to the front but to a small room nearby. It smells unpleasantly of human bodies and stale food, but I wait patiently for her while she collects her belongings. By the time we have stepped out onto the street, I’m pleased to see that there is a taxi waiting for us. I climb into it after her and find that I thoroughly enjoy being enclosed in the small space with my mate as it ferries us along the roads. I want to wrap myself around her. Even though she has not invited me to yet, I’m thoroughly enjoying my proximity to her and the sweet musk of her scent.
I am not entirely sure where this aquarium is, but it must not be too far away because we arrive there far too soon for my pleasure. I’m torn between my excitement of enjoying the pool with my mate and the incredible pleasure of being confined in a close press with her. The latter has me in such a grip that I struggle to find the desire to leave, but thankfully Keri decides for both of us when she opens the door and steps outside.
“The dolphin pools are in the larger rear structure of the building. Do you see it?” she asks, pointing to the blockish end that seems more set apart from the rest of the building.
I nod and she smiles, taking my hand in hers once more, and my lure tightens deliciously between our magic.
I do not say a word as I follow her inside. The staff give us curious looks when we enter but we are alone before long with the doors leading to the aquarium locked between them and us. The large pools that stretch across this part of the building smell like the ocean just outside the doors, and I don’t waste time stripping off my clothes as my mate’s eyes silently devour me.
The water splashes around me when I dive in, its cool embrace sweeping over me with a comforting touch as it slicks over my skin. My legs draw together as my tail reforms and fins unfurl with the bloom of my magic. As always, the return to my natural form is one that brings me incredible physical pleasure, and every part of me feels as if it is sparking with magic and life as I propel myself through the water.
I twist within it flirtatiously because I know my mate is watching, When I roll up, I capture a glimpse of her sweet face through my tailfins. She smiles at me on the other side of the aquarium glass and there is longing in her eyes. My instinct demands a response. It demands that I give her what she needs.
It is time to begin seducing my mate.