6. Harven #2
Her pink tongue darts out and licks a speck of goo from her prong. Her lips curl in disgust, but I’m fascinated by her mouth. Everything about her torments me. I hadn’t properly appreciated her tongue when my mouth was on hers.
What would that slick muscle feel like against my—
“If breeding is all you need me for,” she continues, “it hardly seems necessary to change so much.”
“I—” Swallowing, I try to hide the raging lust in my voice. “I want this to be your home. Not a prison. As my mate, I wanted you to have some semblance of normalcy. I’ve spent years studying your kind, trying to figure out the best way to keep one in comfort.”
Her smile is as sharp as broken glass.
“I’m sure all those corpses would be happy to know that—had they lived—they could’ve enjoyed all these luxuries.”
The room plunges into icy silence.
Forks hit plates with sharp clanks. Tension gathers like a receding wave ready to drown us. My tentacles whip along the floor in anger.
Mate or no, I refuse to allow anyone to question my authority. Or speak to me that way, especially in front of my council.
My mate has much to learn about respecting my authority.
“How dare you—” Nixie begins to hiss, but Hyra's glare silences her.
Breathing deeply, I turn my full attention on Eve. I don’t particularly care for the entitled tilt to her mouth. She’s goading me, but I’m too tightly wound to not take the bait. If she wishes to discuss this now, so be it. The sooner she understands my reasons, the better.
“I understand that you may see it as wasteful, but I had no choice.”
“Because of your curse?”
My blood runs cold.
Every mention of it elicits the same response no matter how many years have passed. Every time I think of it, it calls up memories of that fateful day. Of the blood and death that followed to bring her here. To save her and my people, we had to make sacrifices.
It’s something beyond her mortal comprehension, yet I want nothing more than for her to understand.
“Yes.” I unclench my jaw with force. “A Kraken King could’ve sired heirs with anyone.
The mating bond had existed, but it wasn’t necessary for procreation.
My father sired Princess Hyra’s father with his first mate.
Then he sired my ten other brothers with reincarnations of her soul, or his favored Pearl, just as I was.
“Once I assumed power, things were different. I couldn’t breed as he had. I was to bear the curse the Sea Witch laid upon my family to atone for our bloodline’s misdeeds. At the time, I didn't know how severe it was. I foolishly thought it wouldn’t take as long to find you. And without you—”
Her eyes flash, but I won’t be perturbed. I’ve already shared more than I intended. She doesn’t need to know the gory details of my rise. The truth of how the curse fell on my head. My fingers curl around the edge of the table to stop me from grabbing her and forcing her to understand.
“If my line cannot continue, then my life will be for nothing.”
“What about their lives?” Eve snaps, blue fire raging in her gaze. “What about mine? All my hopes—my dreams—are gone because some cursed thinks I’m supposed to spread my legs for you without complaint?”
I bare my teeth as my tentacles tighten, ready to strike.
We are two predators sizing each other up, deciding who will strike first. Hurt the other one the deepest. I can’t let it be me. She is young. She is human—she can’t possibly understand the life I’ve endured. All that I’ve fought for and lost to give my people even the slightest hope.
If I can’t produce an heir, none of what I’ve sacrificed will matter.
“That is not—”
“I won’t do it,” she hisses. “I’d rather die than fuck a monster like you.”
My lips curl in a feral smile. If she thinks I'm a monster, then let me prove her right. She needs a reminder of her place, especially in front of my court. She already hates me.
“A true monster would’ve already had you, despite your objections. Remember that, human mate.”
Eve rears back as if I’ve struck her. Her anger deepens until she’s burning with it. I’ve never seen something so vengeful. My cock shouldn’t be getting harder. My eyes shouldn’t be straying towards the upper swells of her breast that tease the top of her dress with every ragged breath.
And I most certainly shouldn’t be thinking about pinning her to this table and fucking the attitude right out of her. Maybe after I make her come with my tentacles, she'll learn a bit of respect. I’d surely enjoy it. She wouldn’t fight me for long.
A passion burns beneath her anger. I can tease it from her if she would only—
Glass shatters at the end of the table.
I jerk my gaze away from Eve to take in Nixie’s broken goblet. Her face twists in anger.
“Foolish nymph,” she spits, then backhands the young servant. “Pick it up.”
The servant falls to her knees as Hyra snarls at Nixie. The nymph clutches her dull green cheek as she begins to weep softly. Her webbed fingers pick through the pieces of glass that have fallen to the floor.
Nixie sneers over her with feral glee.
“What is wrong with all of you?” Eve breathes.
Licking my lips, I glance between Nixie and Eve. The siren’s cruelty doesn’t surprise me. She loathes everyone who isn’t me.
It’s something I didn’t care to question, as her job was to serve me. Yet, as I watch the frail sea nymph shake with quiet sobs and slice her skin on the glass, unease prickles my neck.
I’m seeing it all unfold through Eve’s eyes.
My world is a cruel one. It is the haves and the have-nots.
Power and protection are earned by force.
There is no room for weakness and certainly not softness.
If I had been a gentle male, Eve would be suffering for it.
It’s my cruelty that keeps her safe. She can hate me for it, but I won’t apologize.
Still, I can’t help but regret the words I just snarled at her. My stomach feels as rough as the stormy sea.
To have said that in front of so many—
I extend a hand toward where she tightly grips the fork and soften my voice.
“My mate, please let us eat. We can talk again in the morning. After you’ve rested.”
Eve shakes her head and pulls away from my grip. Rising on sturdy legs, she walks towards the end of the table. Crouching beside the nymph, she takes the young female's hands.
The glass drops to the marble with a soft clink.
“What is your name?” Eve asks.
Her voice is softer than I’ve ever heard it. Those around the table don’t know what to make of it. They eye her as if she is a predator from the sea’s depths. Accusatory stares are thrown at me, but I ignore them all, transfixed on my mate.
“Leri, my—my—”
“Eve is fine. Will you escort me back to my room, Leri? I’ve lost my appetite.”
The servant looks towards me. Teeth grinding, I dip my chin sharply. Leri rises alongside my mate. Eve gently takes the nymph’s wrist. Blue blood seeps down her arm.
Reaching to the bottom of her dress, Eve tears off a piece. She presses the silk into the servant’s hand. Gasps ring out. To bestow such fabric on a servant, especially to tend to her wounds, is unheard of.
Anger is the last thing I feel as I watch her bind the female's fingers.
“Here. We’ll need to clean it properly.”
“T—thank you.”
Eve smiles, and I nearly fall to my knees. If she would ever look at me like that, I could die a happy male. But I don’t deserve it. Gods, I’ve been such an unrelenting fool.
Anguish weighs me down like an anchor.
Nixie sneers at the two of them as they walk past her chair. Eve holds her stare, unafraid and beautiful. Not many would go up against Nixie, but Eve is as fearless as she is lovely.
“No need to worry about me taking your place beside the king.” Her gaze hardens as it lifts to me. “You two are perfect for each other.”
Threading her arm through Leri’s, she leads the trembling nymph from the room. My tentacles fall limply to the floor. The fight leaves me entirely as I watch her go. Her citrus scent fades from my lungs with each step.
For all my knowledge about humans, it seems I know nothing at all. Nothing that matters when it comes to Eve.
How did I make such a mess of everything?
“She’s not worth it, my king,” Nixie states, gripping her fork hard enough to bend it. “Give her to the sea. Once she is gone, the gods will choose a new mate and—”
“Silence!” I roar, slamming my fist onto the table.
Glasses rattle, and shards of marble crash to the floor. Nixie slinks back into her chair. No one else dares voice their agreement. I see it gleaming in their gazes all the same.
Fools, all of them.
The sea will not give me another mate. Eve won’t be reincarnated to spend eternity with me. I only have this one chance with her, and I’ve ruined it.
Icy fingers squeeze my skull.
The need to roar loud enough to bring the castle down pounds through me. I want to rage—to spill blood. I need to fuck this anger away, but as I look over my Pearls, I know they won’t satisfy me. Only Eve will. I need to taste her fire and feel her come apart beneath me.
Until I do, I will suffer this potent desire.
Thousands of humans have met their untimely death because of me.
I’m a cruel male. I’ve never claimed to be different.
That softness Eve showed to Leri is not something that I possess.
All these centuries of fighting and searching have twisted me into this creature.
If she expects me to change, she will be disappointed.
A humorless laugh leaves me.
Perhaps this is the Sea Witch’s final punishment. It wasn’t enough to place my mate among the humans so that I may never find her. Gyll had a far crueler fate in mind:
For me to find my mate and realize I’ll never be worthy of her.