Chapter 21
“What just happened?” My mate is still staring at the closed bathroom door.
The scent of her is sweet, tinged with confusion and anxiety I sense through the bond.
All of it mixed with a lingering lust that matches my own.
If I hadn’t felt her arousal, I would have stepped in when Anderson advanced, but it was clear she liked the older alpha’s attention. I don’t blame her.
I pull her to face me and kiss her cheek. “That man wants you.” Her skin is warm beneath my lips as I move down her neck, a little thrill trilling through our bond.
“Dean Anderson? No. No way. He just—”
I cut her off before she keeps lying to herself, a difficult falsehood to maintain when his desire for her was so evident.
“He wants you. He looks at you the way I do. Hungry. Desperate. Willing to do anything for a taste.” I pull her close enough that she feels the extent of my need.
“You could see the effect you were having on him, starfish. Don’t deny it. ”
I lick a stripe up the valley of her breasts, exposed in the dress she’s wearing. “And you want him, too. Don’t you, my mate?”
She doesn’t answer my question, only whimpers, and her aroma deepens. “What is your scent, starfish? It smells of a fruit I’ve never tasted before.”
I suck on her pulse point as I cup her tits through her dress. Her nipples are hard, ready for my needy mouth, so I oblige them, pulling aside the top of her dress and sucking on one tight point through her lacy undergarment.
“Pina… oh god… pina colada.” She arches into my touch. “It’s… it’s a drink. I’ll get… fuck, Caspian… I’ll get you one sometime.”
I chuckle darkly. My mate is so responsive.
“Mmm, well until then, maybe I’ll need to get my fill straight from the source.” I try to drop to my knees to worship her, but she stops me, gripping my shirt and tugging me to stand.
“Not here! In a public bathroom! Who knows what’s on that floor? What if someone walks in?” She looks around, nervous, but her protests die out when I suck at my bond mark on her neck.
Regardless of the risk, my mate needs a release—an escape from everything that’s happened tonight. Spinning her, I pull her back tight to me, so we’re facing the mirror.
I band one arm around her chest, dragging the other down her body until I reach the apex of her legs. Maneuvering under her dress is easy, and one drag of my knuckles against her sex tells me she's more than ready.
“If you won’t let me taste you, at least allow me the honor of hearing you fall apart on my fingers, starfish. Watch as your alpha takes care of you.”
She’s not the only one who needs this. After seeing how the older alpha looked at her, I’m desperate to claim her. She can have whoever she wants, any alpha or beta she desires. I won’t put up a fight as long as they please her. But I need her to remember she’s mine, too. First and always, mine.
She whimpers, but nods, eyes locked on mine in the mirror. I slip her undergarment aside, granting myself access to her dripping cunt. “So wet for me, my mate. So needy.”
Her eyes roll back, and I slide one hand up to collar her throat. “Don’t close your eyes, starfish. I want you to see what I do to you. Look at yourself. Such a lovely mess.”
Another whine escapes her as she rolls her hips, trying to grind on my hand, chasing her climax.
Usually, I’d want to take my time, tease and edge her until she’s a pathetic puddle of omega, pleading for my cock, my knot—anything to make her come.
But since my mate is worried about being caught, I decide to have mercy on her.
I plunge two fingers into her core, fucking her with them as I grind the heel of my hand over her clit.
She moves with me, using me for her pleasure.
Her peak comes quickly, her pussy clenching around me, warning me of her impending orgasm.
I cover her mouth as she comes, hard, screaming into my palm.
Since my arm is no longer holding her in place, her body thrashes, and a clang sounds when something hits the floor. Worried Madison was right and someone may see us, I push her against the wall, covering her with my body as I work her through her climax.
We needn’t have worried, we remain alone in the restroom, but that still leaves a question about what made that sound.
Reluctantly pulling my fingers from the warmth of her sex, I drag her arousal across her lips so she can taste herself, before greedily sucking the rest off my digits.
I will have to try this drink that she spoke of, but I can’t imagine anything tasting as good as this.
Madison rights herself and readjusts her clothing, then sucks in a breath. I follow her line of sight and see the gold and black cuff she was wearing on the floor. Not only that, but it’s cracked open along the seam.
Madison bends down, carefully retrieving the bracelet, eyes watery as she rises. “My aunt gave me this. She brought it to me after one of her adventures. I should have been more careful.”
I bring her into my arms, purring softly to calm her. When I do, I get a closer look at the damaged piece of jewelry. Except, it isn’t damaged at all.
“Madi, look.” I gently pry the item from her fingers, then turn it to show her what I saw. “It isn’t broken. It’s open.”
“What? Bracelets don’t open randomly,” she argues.
“Starfish, look closer. It has split apart between the gold and black portions. There is something inside.”
Her eyes widen, and she takes the cuff to inspect it closer. With careful pressure, she opens the jewelry further, then gasps. Intricate engravings cover the inside of the hidden compartment.
As I look closer, I realize I recognize some of them. A lot of them, actually. But it isn't until my mate pulls out a triangular talisman that I put it together.
“Wait, I’ve seen that before.” I hold my palm out flat, asking for the item, and she places it in my hand. “My mother has something like this. They’re very rare, used for finding underwater cities.”
I turn it over, revealing a symbol surrounded by four familiar runes on the edges, just like I expected. “Usually one of these symbols would be glowing to show which direction you should go.”
“Like a compass?” My mate’s eyes light up at the unfamiliar word.
“What is a kump-ass?” My brows pinch together. Madi giggles like I’ve said something funny. I hold up the stone talisman. “We call this an i’xal.”
“Well there’s no way I’m gonna be able to pronounce that correctly.
A compass is a device that shows you which direction you’re headed in—north, south, east, west…
” My mate trails off when she realizes I don’t understand her terms again.
Instead she changes tactics, leaning over my shoulder to get a closer look. “Maybe it’s broken?”
“Maybe.” I turn the i’xal over, examining the other side more closely, but there’s nothing of note there.
When I flip it right-side up, Madi points to the symbol in the center of the runes. “What’s this mean?”
“This symbol is Toxack.” I think for a moment what it would translate to in her language. “In English it roughly means ocean guide.”
“Well that’s… on the nose.” My mate giggles again, and I can’t help but think I’d do anything to make sure she laughs all the time.
“Maybe this i’xal is different from the other ones I’ve seen.
It could be designed to find one particular city specifically, or maybe it needs power of some kind.
” I’m not sure the theory is sound, but excitement thumps in my veins, a certainty that whatever this is, it’s the first step in a journey that will give us both all the answers we’ve been looking for.
“If we can get it working it might lead us to,” we both look at each other, “Ocearus,” we say at the same time.