Chapter Thirty-Six
Tristan
Tristan followed the pull toward Austin, growing excited as their connection thrummed through his body.
The north had been necessary and painful, and it had stretched their bond like a tether pulled taut to breaking.
It hadn’t broken, mercifully, and Tristan took that as a sign that neither Hal nor any other merman had managed to win over his siren in the meantime.
He’d fantasised many times about what he’d do to any who dared even look at Austin while he was away, and Inx had kept the Troop far from him when those dark moods descended on him. All the darkness fled now. Austin was close.
Sand gave way to rock and aquatic growth.
Many creatures had already made their homes in the new landscape, flora and fauna alike.
Cutting through all the growth was another new scar.
Tristan stopped in surprise, examining the tear in the earth.
It was deep, gouging through the rock face so that as Tristan advanced, where the water should have grown shallow, it remained deep.
There was enough space for him to easily fit, and he hummed in delight to see it led directly to their nest.
Austin’s presence pulled him onwards, though he resisted it long enough to swoop down and check that the rocks were stable. He’d set them all carefully before leaving, so there was no risk of one rolling onto Austin again.
A pulse hooked into his ribs. Impatience, Tristan guessed with a smile.
He followed a trail of glow stones to something even more astounding: at the same level as the nest, far below the waterline, was a perfect square carved into solid rock.
Neat brickwork lined the edge. Tristan peered into the well-lit tunnel.
It was like the tunnels that led from the ocean to Hal’s palace, except this one was huge. Wide enough for Tristan to easily fit.
Tristan advanced into the tunnel, following its straight path. It went forward, then up.
Feet crossed at the ankles waited in the pool as Tristan emerged, purring in delight as he set eyes on Austin. That purr faltered as he actually looked at him.
He noticed first his thigh, adorned in that pretty piece of jewellery that suited him so well.
Austin also wore the glittering body chain Tristan had been tormented with glimpses of through sheer clothing.
But this was no mere glimpse. Silver links and blue gems clung to skin, all on open display. Austin wore nothing else.
Tristan drifted closer, studying the silver gauntlets climbing up Austin’s beautiful, delicate wrists, and he followed his arm to his shoulder, up the column of his neck, across the fine line of his jaw. Finally, he reached his eyes, indecently aroused.
“Austin.”
Austin turned his pointy chin aside, looking away.
Tristan moved there. Austin looked the other way, ignoring him.
“Austin,” Tristan said again. He boldly cupped his siren’s ankles, running his hands up his calves, feeling the shiver of Austin’s response. “Has Eli been massaging you well? Has anyone given you difficulty?”
Tristan had received two letters from Austin while in the north, to his utmost delight.
In one, Austin went into great detail about the polar bears he was saving, and in another, he mentioned that he had invited the stableman with the ugly horses to operate out of their estate, from which Tristan surmised that the flattened stables had been rebuilt.
“The tunnel is large enough for me,” Tristan said.
“I’d hardly build a tunnel you can’t fit in.” Austin finally spoke, and it gave him away. Tristan’s skin prickled in delight.
His grip tightened on Austin’s legs. He is very pleased to see me, Tristan thought with no small happiness.
He pushed aside his reservations and carefully kissed the top of each knee, warm and blissful.
He traced the jewellery on Austin’s thigh, his gaze drawn once more to his body adorned in finery.
Inevitably, his gaze was drawn where he was trying not to look.
He stiffened.
A chain was clasped snug around the base of Austin’s cock, a second chain looping behind his balls.
It was made of the same fine chain as his body jewellery, interspersed with the little blue gems. Tristan stared, mouth watering as Austin’s cock twitched and grew.
It rested so elegantly over his thigh, pressed to his hip.
Tristan’s cock slipped free of his tail, a potent need gripping him. He leaned in, carefully guiding Austin’s legs over his shoulders, and explored the chain against Austin’s cock with his tongue.
Austin’s skin was warm and briny, impossibly sweet.
Tristan struggled to bring his impatience to heel.
He wanted to drag Austin into the water and smash his mouth to his.
He wanted to demand Austin shift, so Tristan could lock them together and spill inside, or else climb over his siren and add semen to the decorations clinging to his skin.
But more than any of that, he wanted to make Austin feel so blissfully good that he forgot being bedded had ever been anything but joyous.
Tristan took Austin in his mouth, swallowing him down, setting a steady, predictable pace that Austin could follow easily. Austin’s thighs tightened, warming his ears and neck. Tristan hummed his enjoyment as Austin’s cock butted against the back of his throat, and his siren began to sing.
The moans made him falter; it was impossible not to. Austin’s voice made him feel as though he were ascending to a higher plane of existence.
“Tristan…” Austin’s fingers carded through his hair, tugging the band out so he could grip long strands. “I’m going to—”
Tristan kept going until Austin’s breath caught, his body tensing and his hips lifting in jutting thrusts. He spilled down Tristan’s throat. He swallowed and kept going until Austin’s cry turned sensitive. Then he licked Austin clean and raised his head.
Austin’s lips were wet and parted, pants falling warm across Tristan’s face. His silver eyes shone as they locked on Tristan, meeting his gaze at last.
Tristan slipped Austin’s legs off him, pushing them apart as he lifted himself from the water, high enough to kiss that lovely mouth. “I missed you.”
“Your cock is stabbing my belly button.”
“Indeed.”
“Take off my jewellery. I’m afraid of what might happen if I change with that on my cock.”
“You are divine,” Tristan answered. And carefully did as Austin asked. “Did Hal help connect your nest to the ocean?”
“Hal is not allowed near my nest.”
Surely Austin hadn’t done it himself? Tristan checked Austin’s smooth fingers, then shook his head at himself. Better to look inside his mouth for evidence. “Charybdis?”
“No. He’ll only come when I’m afraid, or very angry. Your absence only made me moderately angry, and very annoyed.”
“Forgive me,” Tristan said. He smiled to himself when Austin growled at the wording. He was glad to hear that nothing grievous had upset Austin in his absence. And he seemed good, too. Tristan snuck a feel of his ribs as he helped remove the body jewellery, and they were well filled in.
Austin, who missed nothing, caught him by the throat. “Am I a horse whose condition needs to be assessed?”
Tristan went still. “No.”
Austin’s pinky brushed the edge of Tristan’s gill, sending a ticklish sensation over his skin. Austin’s eyes slid down his body, assessing. “You seem uninjured.”
“Nothing touched me.”
“And none have touched me,” Austin replied. “Except Eli, for massages. And the matriarch likes my tail. Ah, and Dew helped polish my tail too. Sometimes I sleep with Liam.”
Tristan felt his gaze sharpen and leaned into the hand around his throat.
“To protect him from that rodent,” Austin explained.
“I will send a guard and relieve you of that task.”
“I’m not sure Liam would like that.”
Tristan leaned harder into Austin’s hand.
Tristan would make the request of Hal. His brother had servants for every task imaginable in the city.
A seductive creature to keep the man’s bed warm shouldn’t be hard to find.
Though it would have to be a seductive creature that Austin liked.
Otherwise, he’d be in bed with Liam protecting him from them as well as the cat.
Austin finished scanning Tristan, eyes settling on his cock, waiting hungrily in the water. A little growl started, Austin aggrieved at his size.
“I am not trying to put it inside you,” Tristan promised. No matter what form Tristan took, he didn’t think even his tip would fit into Austin like this. His siren was too delicate and lithe a creature.
Austin released his throat. “All went well?”
“All of the dangerous ghouls have been found and dealt with. I’ve left Inx with a team to dispatch the remaining smaller kin, which they’ll be able to do without issue,” Tristan explained.
At Austin’s push, he moved back, letting him slide into the water.
Tristan could only hold himself back a second before he crowded Austin against the wall, nuzzling his cheek, pressing kisses all over his face. Austin held still and let him.
“The marriage?”
“Going as well as one might expect. I suspect it will be a generation before the animosity truly settles and their child inherits both countries and unifies them.” Tristan found the soft skin beneath Austin’s ear of particular interest.
Austin let out a hmph. “Did you have your memories of me eaten?”
Tristan hesitated. “No. No ghoul touched me.”
“But you wouldn’t remember if it had, would you? That’s the whole point.”
Tristan pulled back to meet Austin’s eyes. It wasn’t worry, but something sharper and more dangerous shining in silver. Austin cupped Tristan’s face. Smiled, sweetly. “Did you let a ghoul take any of me from your mind?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”