Chapter 30 - Rivern
thirty
Rivern
Once the mer realised I wasn’t going to open my eyes and fall for her magic, I was knocked unconscious.
And once again, I wake up to another splitting headache.
I’m growing less and less fond of the mers.
I know Dove needs them to set Fury free, but do we truly need him free? Here I am, going along with this crazy scheme as if it doesn’t bother me that my bonded is in danger. When in truth, it’s becoming increasingly clearer that it’s Fury who needs a swift head-knocking.
We all presumed that this would be easier … No one expected to be strapped down naked to a bed. Least of all me. The only person I want to see strapped on a bed is Dove while I lick her from head to toe. My cock jolts at the imagery.
Maybe we don’t need Fury. I’ll take the wolf because he’s proven to be useful. Fury, though, has caused my bonded too much harm.
Why can’t we leave him on that island? He’s bonded to Dove. Surely, that won’t affect her long-term unless the old stories are true—the ones about bonded pairs becoming sick when they are too far from each other.
There’s no way I’ll intentionally put Dove in harm’s way, so that only leaves me with one course of action—follow through with saving the God.
Maybe he will come in handy with all of that power.
“Goddess, save me,” I groan.
Dove. That’s who I need to focus on—saving her before anything or anyone else hurts her. She is my number one priority, so, before opening my eyes, I seek her out—my love.
She’s there, alive.
For now, that is enough. There’s a chill down the bond, however, I can’t do anything while plastered to a bed, which only serves to aggravate me more. My body is on high alert.
Fingers trail down my chest, landing on my lower stomach.
My eyes fly open. I snap my teeth at the pink-haired mer who tried to catch me under her spell.
She is looking at my cock. She eyes it like she hasn’t seen one before, chattering with the other mer females standing at the foot of the bed, watching my naked form.
What is going on?
My cock only lusts after one woman. It makes no sudden moves for the women surrounding us. If anything, the hand moving on my stomach is causing a creeping feeling of insects moving under my skin—it disgusts me.
Moving my legs and arms in unison, I jerk upwards, making the shell bed I’m on groan at the movement. Goddess, finally, some give. Maybe if I keep doing that, the bed will break. The green rope might be indestructible. Surely, this shell is not.
I start my jerky movements, shifting my arms and legs upwards to put a strain on the joints of the bed frame. My ankles and wrists scream silently in pain. That doesn’t stop me. I keep going, my passion for finding a doe-eyed, sharp-witted woman pushing me forward.
The pink-haired mer stands abruptly, ushering someone from the side of my enclosed bed.
“Goddess, what now—?” I would recognise that almond-coloured torso anywhere.
“Her Majesty Calypso of the mer clan has asked that you stop your actions. Otherwise, she will have to put you back to sleep again.”
Did he seriously threaten me?
Anger is written plain on my face. I continue my jerky movements, pulling at the bed around me. A shriek comes from the end of the frame, where another groan emits from the shell casing, followed by a snap.
Yes.
Before the bed can fully collapse on the both of us, Gideon uses his hands to reinforce the roof of the clam before it falls on my head. Instead, it falls onto the ropes below, narrowly missing my legs.
I sigh with relief at that narrow escape.
Roughly pulling at my legs, I find them free, too. Bless the Goddess.
Springing into action, I put my face right in Gideon’s, grasping his stubbled cheeks. “Dove,” I whisper. “Remember her, the little human you are lusting after each day? Chestnut hair, light green eyes, a constellation of tiny freckles over her nose and cheeks.”
“Green eyes? Freckles? Dove?” Gideon ponders, turning the words over like he’s hearing them for the first time. His amber eyes sink into mine. The scar on his eyebrow pulls upward, trying to remember. “She needs us? Me?”
The dumb act is starting to irritate me.
Hands encircle Gideon’s waist, blue claws enticing him backwards.
With time no longer on our side, I pull back one golden-lined hand and slam it down into Gideon’s face.
“Motherfucker,” I swear loudly. “What is your face made of, rock?” I question, holding my hand to my naked chest. One doesn’t become an immortal being made of simple flesh and bone, it seems.
Incisors peek out beyond full lips, a growl ripping free, stopping the mers in their tracks.
Sucking up the pain, I go for another shot. This time, when I fly forward and make contact with Gideon, his claws are out. With force, he pushes us onto the ground, pinning me on the hard floor opposite the bed.
Breathing heavily above me, another deadly growl rips free of his chest. “Dove?” It’s carnal savagery, the change working through his body. He glares from his perch over me, a clawed hand holding mine against the rock below. I wince at the pain from my sore wrists.
“Yes, Dove. She’s ours.”
I don’t know why I say ours. It feels natural. It’s like breathing to tell this scary, naked bastard on top of me that my bonded also somehow belongs to him.
“Mate,” he snaps the word before he fully transforms above me.