Bliss (20 page)

Then the two of them were gone as quick
ly as they had materialized. Relief pooled into Saad’s limbs. He sank onto the cold concrete floor. With the help of Master Odeon, he gathered his strength to stand, hating that he’d let fear of the unknown mark him.

“What just happened?” he asked, not quite believing the two powerful beings were gone.

“History has finally happened,” replied Odeon, walking away to check on the latest batch of vaccines they’d been working on to reverse the heightened effects of what he’d done to the sharks.

Saad rubbed his weary eyes. Somethin
g wasn’t right. First he got a visit from his mother and now her sisters. Things weren’t making sense. Why would he be…bait? Bait for what? His mother certainly wouldn’t come after him to save him.

“Don’t be so sure about that,” replied Master Odeon, reminding Saad he’d forgotten to form a shield to protect his thoughts. Feeling more like a
freshling
than he had in a long time, he raised his shields.

“What
happened here?” he asked, walking over to where Odeon stood.

“This vaccine should do it,” replied Odeon, as if
he hadn’t heard the question. Then he sighed and turned to face Saad. “Did you never wonder why you were different?”

The intensity of the knowledge
contained in Odeon’s ancient eyes momentarily startled Saad. He blinked. Sure he had wondered. Who wouldn’t? It wasn’t as if the mystery around his birth was a secret. But what did that have to do with who he was now?

“It might be time for you to ask your father some reall
y personal questions about how you came to be,” said Odeon, turning his back to Saad.

The
old Titan picked up a vaccine. He calmly walked over to the holding tank and, without flinching, jabbed the needle deep into the first shark that scented him.

“Now we wait,” said Master Odeon.

Saad had a sinking feeling that Odeon’s words weren’t referring to the shark. He didn’t like that one bit.

Kassandra admitted being a Siren was cool. After swimming away from the deadly Tartahounds, Darius had taken her into the deeper realms of his kingdom. A tingle deep within her soul overtook her as they breached the outer barrier. Darius told her how the barrier worked to keep humans out of their world – a realm which she now had to make her home.

She
noted his brief surge of fear when she asked about the use of technology and its impact on his world. He assured her the warrior guards...the same guards she had shyly passed in awe, were vigilant for any attempts from human technology to breach their barriers. He even admitted they had had to destroy a few human probes that had made it through the barrier.

Kassandra sighed in exasperation.
Vigilance was great, but not when she was determined to find a way home to the land.

“You mean to tell me that not once in the past century
have humans ventured into your kingdom?”

“No, what I’m telling you is
that those who have were either claimed by the sea or they were killed. It’s that simple,” he replied.

There had been a wealth o
f information in that one simplistic statement. “Was that what happened to me? Was someone trying to kill me because I...I saved you and took you to that other undersea kingdom?”

“Yes,” he replied, matter-of-factly.

“Who?”

“My father.”

That stopped Kassandra cold. Darius’
father
was the one who had tried to kill her?

“
Your father tried to kill me, but you saved me,” she said slowly. “Why?”

“Leave it,” he grumbled.

“Ahh, we’re back to the beginning. You saved me because of your honor,” countered Kassandra, as she glided over to a large red flower that resembled a tulip. “What do you call these?” she asked, wanting to change the tone of the conversation back to a more neutral one.

His shout, “Don’t touch that!” froze her.

“Humans call it a red-gilled nudibranch, while we call it the eye-flower, and this one is breeding,” he said, gliding closer.

She eyed him
, hating the intense longing she felt when she was with him. She never tired of seeing him in his natural form. His hand reached out to rest on the small of her back, and it did more to warm her than she would have thought possible. It took unimaginable willpower to force herself to pay attention to his words.

“When this plant breeds
, it can release prickles that dig deep under the flesh and cause the person to hallucinate for days. And trust me, you don’t want to hallucinate the life of this plant.”

She giggled. “You mea
n you actually hallucinate the plant’s life?”

“That’s it. The prickles ar
e memories from the plant of its growth, change and anything that happened around its surroundings. Take my word on this, it is not fun. I like to view it as being bored to death.”

Kassandra could explore
this side of Darius for days. He took pride in his kingdom and never tired of explaining how things worked in the seas.

“Darius is that you?”

The shrill voice caused Kassandra to shiver.

“Who is that?” she asked, barely able to discern the fast approaching shape zooming their way.

“Brace yourself. That’s my baby sister, Mercka,” he said, pulling Kassandra in tight for a hug.

It seemed Darius couldn’t keep his hands off her. At every opportunity he either reached out to stroke her backside, arm or
, heaven forbid, her very sensitive tail. She would never have taken him for the touchy-feely type, but she had to admit it felt damned good.

“It is you. I knew it had to be you. I told Mother you would come back and not to worry, but did she once listen to me
? No, of course not. But Father came by to check on her, and he told me you had returned. Darius, it is so good to see you and I know you’ve got a good reason for being away for so long,” babbled Mercka, embracing her brother in an unusual manner.

First she kissed him over both eyelids and then in the middle of his forehead. Vaguely,
Kassandra heard Darius’ voice inside her head telling her that this was the formal greeting.

As if she’d just noticed
Kassandra, the vivacious Siren turned to smile sweetly at her. Kassandra noted she had the loveliest hue of orange hair she had ever seen.

“Oh... sorry about that. You are? No let me guess. Give me your hand,” said Mercka.

“That’s not necessary, Mercka. This is...”

“No, it’s al
l right,” interrupted Kassandra, holding out her hand. She caught the guarded look from Darius and wondered what could be so wrong about letting his sister touch her.

Mercka didn’t hesitate. She practically
pounced at her outstretched palm. The contact of her warm hand on Kassandra’s caused a shiver to pass through Kassandra.

“You were human. And a Seeker. That’s great. Darius
, you’ve finally found your Sokhan,” said Mercka, pulling Kassandra in for the formal embrace.

Out of the corner of her eye
, she caught Darius moving further away from her. His eyes had narrowed to slits. She could tell by his no-nonsense stance and the tick in his jaw that something was troubling him. Before she could even begin to ask questions, Mercka once again took the lead.

“So, Kassandra Delong, welcome to our family. This is just great. First, Seth finds Jamie, and you are going to
looove
her. She’s a
sensitive
Siren and of course of royal blood, not that you need that, and now Darius’ has found you – a
Seeker
. You know the only other Seeker I have ever met was...” here she paused finally taking a breath.

“Darius what’s her name? She’s the Queen of the Red Sea who came here last year for the Reign of Titles. Now, that was a great party. It was when Jamie was crowned as Queen of the
south seas. Anyway, what was her name? I’m sure it will come to me in time,” babbled Mercka, gaily swinging her arms back and forth in the water.

“It was Queen Ny’ula,” replied Darius, his voice sounding so cold and menacing that a prickle of unease crept through
Kassandra’s body.

“Mercka, I need you
to leave us for a few minutes.” He crossed his arms over his chest. His body was tensely coiled, as if he was planning to strike at any moment.

Still darting between them
, Mercka stopped. Mimicking her brother she turned towards him, “Look, Darius, don’t get upset with her. She probably doesn’t even know her own talents. It’s not like she could have told you before. Right?”

Then Merck
a stared at Kassandra. “Okay, that is my cue to leave. It was nice to meet you, Kassandra. Don’t be hard on her, Darius,” she said, darting away faster than a swarm of sardines.

Kassandra licked her lips. She
felt uncannily nervous under Darius’ cold stare. She actually backed up when he glided forward.

His hands grasped the upper side of her arms. “Let me go
,” she said, without much conviction.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

His voice was a soft, controlled hush, which did more to make her feel threatened then if he had yelled at her. She knew he was fighting for control.

“Tell you what?” she asked, knowing exactly what he was talking about. After all it wasn’t li
ke she hadn’t been warned. Saad, when he had found out about her special talent, had warned her that it would be in her best interest to tell Darius as soon as possible.

She hadn’t realized they were moving until her sensitive tail hit a wall. Somehow
Darius had propelled them into an undersea cave. His hands left her arms as they moved to claim her sleek bottom pulling her in tight to his chest.

“Oh, I don’t know
, Kassandra, that you can find lost things,” he said, his voice a husky whisper as he nuzzled her neck. All the while his thumbs patted her silky bottom. It was an incredibly erotic feeling. His thumbs continued to span her bottom, in a slow tortuous circle. She bit the insides of her mouth to stop herself from squirming more into his hands.

What is going on?
She could tell he was mad. Deep down, boiling angry at her. But his actions, the slow, seductive feel of his tongue traveling down her throat were doing strange things to her mind and body. She was craving something. Something she couldn’t describe. The unbridled current of desire left her breathless in sweet anticipation.

“I want you to know something, Kassandra. You are mine
, and I intend to claim you,” he said, reaching out to tweak both nipples. Pain and pleasure clashed like a thunderous wave deep inside of her.

“Look, Darius, I know you’re angry with me
.” She tried to push him away, but all it ended up doing was freeing his mouth from her neck so he could claim a breast. The sensation was like being speared with a hot iron poker. She felt as if she were melting. His tongue rolled around her pebbled nipple nearly causing her to scream in pleasure. She could feel his hands holding her bottom seeking something, and then she felt it. He had found her opening. Without any preamble, he placed a finger deep inside her.

Then her body acted on its own. Her tail wrapped around him, drawing him in tighter to her. Her breasts swelled even more and she thrummed with a deep craving that shook her normal, shy
demeanor. It was a real physical ache. Her breathing was becoming labored. She shook her head, hoping for clarity.

“Darius, we can’t
.” She croaked out the words, not even sure what they could and couldn’t really do. After all, she didn’t even know how Sirens…did it.

He spun her around so fast her hair swirled into her face.

“Face the wall.”

There was nothing gentle in his voice. The commanding tone of it terrified yet secretly thrilled her at the same time.

“Spread your arms.”

When she hesitated he briskly positioned her arms into place with her palms flat up against the wall of the cave. Her backside was to him and when she attempted to look over her shoulder he turned her head back to the wall.

Kassandra tried again for reason. “Darius, whatever you’re doing, stop it. I can explain,” she said, trying not to give in to the urge to wiggle her lower half.

She felt strangely exhilarated, which scared her even more than
Darius’ actions. She realized she should be fighting him more, but that wasn’t what her body really wanted. And, it would appear her brain had long ago shut down. She silently hoped it would reboot soon. Otherwise she might end up regretting what she was doing, or about to do.

The hot feel of his breath on her neck caused her to moan
, and then all rational thoughts fled.

“Oh, sweetlips, I am positive you can explain it, and I will explain all of this
, but sometimes actions speak louder than words.”

His words were a soft, light caress as he nibbled on her earlobe. Who knew earlobes
could be so sensitive? Kassandra wondered momentarily what other delights she’d discover about her body if she let Darius have his way with her.

Then both of his ha
nds slid down her bare back. She felt the tips of his fingers scale down her backbone, touching and teasing as he went. Then the tips of his fingers glided over the hard ridge separating her waist from her tail. She felt him move. His heat leaving her backside made her feel bereft.

Then the moist
ness of his tongue licked her hard ridge and she couldn’t stifle the groan. She was so incredibly sensitive in that spot that she couldn’t stop her body from wriggling. She felt her tail bucking on its own as if it was anticipating something. Then his tongue moved lower. His two hands pushed on her bottom forcing her painfully aroused breasts up against the cool, rough wall of the cave. She felt sinfully wanton. The rough feel of the wall on her nipples only served to heighten her pleasure.

Momentarily she wondered what he was going to do but then she felt it. The feel of his tongue deep inside of her wet opening overwhelmed her senses. She keened out a note that sounded foreign yet alluring all at once. Then she was groaning and grinding her body for more.

Swiftly he moved up. He was hot and hard as his body flanked hers. Overwhelmed with the loss of control and the feelings taking over her rational brain, Kassandra experienced a moment of panic.

“Darius, you’ve got to stop,” she groaned, realizing how ridiculous that sounded
as her body continued to twist and squirm for more.

His hand moved to her front to play with
one of her already pebbled nipples, while his other large palm cupped both her breasts. Her body was being bombarded with so many new sensations she felt overloaded. Just when she was sure she couldn’t take any more of it, he released her breast. Then his throbbing erection rubbed up against her sensitive tail.

She yearned to look. To see all of him and hold him in her hand, but
she sensed he was barely able to control himself as it was.