Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
RILEY
Ihad a fucking tail and nipple pasties that weren't pasties at all.
Not to mention when I opened my mouth, if I wasn't careful, a stomach curdling screech escaped, or my words had some kind of hypnotic effect on Jax.
I didn't understand what I was doing exactly, but it had something to do with my intentions with the words.
Being in the water didn't bother me at all. In fact, I was so relaxed I wanted to swim around some more. Breathing underwater was weird at first, but once I got over the mental part of it, it became natural. There were gills inside my mouth; I felt them with my tongue.
As we got closer to the cliff face, part of the rock slid to the side to allow us to pass through. I'd never seen anything like it before, but tritons did appear to be more technologically advanced than humans, unless common citizens weren't privy to all the technology available.
It had seemed like all of a sudden, the world went from giant, clunky computers in the nineties to laptops, smartphones, and civilian built rocket ships.
"I'll need to program you into the system so it will let you in." Jax let go of my hand as we entered the cave and turned to face me.
"Now what?" I floated in the water in front of him as his eyes raked over my new body.
"You're breathtaking."
I glanced down at my tail as I swished it to stay in place in front of him. I didn't even know how it worked and it felt weird, but I could have watched it move all day.
"What are we going to do?" I met Jax's eyes that had gone half-lidded as he watched me. "I don't know what I'm doing."
His arm wrapped around me and pulled me closer, our tails and chests touching. My entire body reacted to the feel of him against me.
A pair of feet landed in the water by the platform, and then Morgan dropped into the water, shifting. He grunted in pain and then his eyes landed on me. Time stood still as he took me in, and then he swam to me and pulled me to him.
"Fuck, vixen." He buried his face in my hair. "We were so worried you guys were trapped in the facility."
"Where's Blake?" I pulled away from him and floated between them.
"He left about five minutes ago when the call went out for all hands on deck. A submarine was attacking?" Morgan's eyes traveled south and stopped on my breasts. "So where are your nipples?"
Before I could think to respond he reached forward and touched where they should be. They were definitely there under the scales and hardened as his fingertips danced across them.
I swatted his hand away. There was no time to explore this new body while Dylan was attacking in a submarine, demanding I join him.
I swam to the platform and pulled myself up, my arm strength surprising me. As soon as my body left the water, I shifted back and looked down at my naked body as two pairs of eyes watched me from the water.
"I need to go back and check on things." Jax took off before I could argue against it.
Morgan pulled himself up and shifted back before I could get a look at his tail. He remained lying on the cement as I stood and got a towel.
"Are you going to get up?" I looked down at him with his eyes shut and his lips pressed together. "Does it hurt?"
"More than I care to admit." He released a shaky breath before his eyes opened and he slowly stood. "I'm supposed to shift a few times a day. This was my first time today, later it will hurt less."
We went upstairs, and after I showered and got dressed, I joined Morgan on the couch where we planned on studying while waiting on word about the attack.
Studying paled in comparison to what was currently going on in my life. Being a siren was making me reevaluate a lot of my goals. Now that I'd shifted, I wondered if a college by the ocean was a better choice for me.
If we didn't get the knife back, I wouldn't have a choice but to be near the water with easy access to Jax, Morgan, and Blake. They calmed me more than the knife even did.
"I don't think I've ever seen you study." I sat down next to him and opened my own book. "I'm so far behind."
"I figured I might as well try to get my grades a little higher since my chances at being a soldier are virtually zero." His shoulders slumped. "School doesn't come naturally to me like it does Blake or even Jax."
"What are your options if you aren't a soldier?"
"Pretty much academia unless I just want to stay in the Pacific City. Blake plans to go to college. He wants to be involved in political bullshit." Morgan rolled his eyes. "Jax is going to be an admiral, but I'm not sure if he has decided between which track he wants to pursue yet."
"Track? And why an admiral? Don't you move up through the ranks?" I shut my book because learning about tritons was much more interesting than economics.
"Being an admiral is a bloodline thing. The ones with the strongest genetics are grandfathered in." He shrugged. "He can apply to be sea only or hybrid, like his dad."
I scrunched my nose. "I can't picture Jax being like his father."
The elevator doors opened and Blake walked off, wrapping a towel around his waist. Water still ran down his chest and legs as he sat down on the couch on the other side of me.
His silence was unnerving, and my heart instantly constricted in my chest. "Where's Jax?"
Blake ran a hand down his face and wiped it on the towel before biting his lip with tears in his eyes. "He's with his dad. The facility is destroyed, and his sister..." He stopped talking as he choked on his words. "She's gone."
I sat there in stunned silence as Morgan sat on the other side of Blake, and they embraced. Jax's sister was dead because of me.
I woke sometime in the middle of the night, feeling eyes on me. Jax was sitting in my desk chair, watching me with the eyes of a fierce hunter ready to attack. My stomach clenched as he stood, dropping the towel that was wrapped around his waist.
"Jax..." I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "How long have you been in here?"
"Come here." He was still standing by the chair, his face unreadable in the faint light that was coming from under the bedroom door.
I left the warm comfort of my bed and stood in front of him, reaching forward and touching his cheek. "I'm so sorry, Jax."
His eyes shut and he leaned into my touch. When he opened his eyes, they were a stormy blue. "Get on your knees." My lips parted, and he shook his head to stop me from talking.
I drew my bottom lip between my teeth and lowered to the floor. I knew he wouldn't hurt me, but a small trickle of fear spread throughout my body. There was really only one reason he would want me on my knees.
He stepped forward but then went to the bed to grab a pillow. He threw it down in front of me and I kneeled on it.
I shut my eyes as he circled me like a shark circling its prey before it takes a bite. He stopped behind me, not saying a word. I squeezed my thighs together, wondering what he was going to do. Whatever it was, I wasn't opposed, I just wish he would let me comfort him.
Or maybe this was the type of comfort he needed.
His fingers tangled in my hair, massaging my scalp. It felt so good and I was so tired that I felt like I was going to fall asleep right where I was.
"He took her." He wrapped a handful of my hair in his fist and walked to the front of me. "He left us a message; he wants you."
I didn't need to ask who he was talking about or who he took. Tears filled my eyes and he adjusted his hold on my hair. It was a relief to hear that Olivia hadn't died, but I wasn't sure being taken by Dylan was any better. Especially since she was taken because of me.
I couldn't get a good read on how Jax felt about it, but I felt like I was facing an execution of sorts and tried to stand up.
"No. Stay where you are." He let go of my hair and sat back down in the desk chair. "Tell me why I shouldn't hand you over to him."
I sat back on my heels and looked at the floor. "I can't tell you that."
"Why, Riley?" He leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him as he rested his forearms on his bare legs. "Tell me not to give you to him."
"You should give me to him." Tears dripped down my face as he put his head in his hands and fisted them against his short hair. If he would have had longer hair, he would have been yanking on it. "He's going to do something bigger next time. I can't let people risk their lives. What if he-"
Jax stood suddenly and fisted my hair again. "I'm not giving you to him, Riley." He directed my head so I was looking up at him. "Do you understand me?"
I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded. I knew I was going to have to go to Dylan if I wanted to stop the attacks. What if he attacked the high school next? What if he found out my mom was back and went after her?
He was getting more and more desperate since he couldn't control me. The last thing I wanted was for anyone else to be hurt. But would letting Dylan free the sirens hurt people too?
"Let me hear you say it." His hand traveled down his stomach and gripped the base of his cock. "Tell me you're mine and that you won't leave me."
My eyes followed his movements to his dick before looking back up at him. "I'm yours and I won't leave you."
He shut his eyes, and his fist slid up and down his length. He wasn't hard yet, and it hardly seemed like the time to be having sex.
"Show me." He stepped forward and rubbed the tip against my lips.
"I want to Jax, but I don't think-" He silenced me by taking my open mouth as an opportunity to slide between my lips.
My lips slid up his length and I sucked, dragging my mouth back down to the tip. His hands went back to my hair, but this time, instead of grabbing it, he stroked a hand over the now tangled strands.
I traced a vein with my tongue and sucked the skin where his hand was holding tight at the base. He released himself and my hand took its place. He hardened as I trailed my lips back to the tip and sucked it into my mouth.