MERMADMEN (The Mermen Trilogy #2) (16 page)

Liv felt her nostrils flare with outrage. “I’m going to pretend, merman, that I didn’t just hear you say that.”

“Why do you say merman like it was an insult?”

“Why do you say woman like it was an insult?” she barked back. “Wait. You know what? I don’t have time for this. Where’s Shane?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because,” she replied hastily, “I think that’s where Dana went. She’s got some sort of thing for him—okay? I don’t know why.”

Roen frowned, his face flushed. “I cannot deal with this right now.” He pushed past her, then stopped and reached for her wrist. “You’re coming back inside.”

“No. I’m not!” She jerked back her hand.
Damn, he has a grip.

“Liv, the island is doing something to the men. I need to return to the great hall. You also need to stay away from me. Far away—please go into one of the guest rooms.”

“What kind of something? And why do I need to stay away?”

Roen walked faster than she could keep up. Those big long, muscle-packed legs were much more agile than they appeared. “I’m not sure yet. Their eyes burn. As for staying away, I’m not in control. Not even a little bit and your smell is driving me mad, woman.”

Liv tripped, but caught herself. “Is the island doing it? And I don’t know what to do about my smell. I’m sorry.” Why were they having these two very different conversations at the same time?

“Maybe—I don’t know.” Roen stormed up the staircase, taking them two at a time. “Go into the guest room and lock the door—the need for you is killing me.”

Liv was not about to hide from Roen. He was the one person she knew would never harm her.

“How is she doing it?” Liv panted, only halfway up the staircase. Because if it could happen to them, it might happen to Roen, too.

“That doesn’t matter. Getting her to stop does,” he called out from somewhere upstairs.

Liv followed the sound of his voice. “You can’t give in, Roen.” She walked past the guest rooms, turned down a long corridor with gleaming black tile floors, and stopped in the doorway, her heart doing a little flutter.
Oh my
. The room was enormous with a large stone fireplace and velvety furniture upholstered in rich dark reds and browns. The flooring, made of dark stained wood, made the room feel intimate and cozy, just perfect for shutting out the world.
Or making love all day long.

“This is your bedroom?” she asked.

“Yes.”

She’d only seen the guest rooms and that included the night she’d spent with Roen when he’d resisted completing the Claiming Ceremony.

“It’s, um…nice.” She gulped.

He had an extra-large, four-post bed with a giant mural on the ceiling of a lonely mermaid perched on a rock, looking out over a wide ocean toward an island off in the distance. The silhouette of a man stared back at her, and the longing in the maid’s eyes told a story of utter loneliness. Imagining Roen falling asleep each night looking up at that mural broke her heart. Imagining Roen in this big empty bed by himself felt even worse.

“Liv?” Roen snapped his fingers.

When she looked up at Roen, who now held two corked glass bottles in his hands, she knew he’d caught on to what she’d been thinking. His eyes moved several times between the bed and her face. Then the bed and her breasts. She saw the unmistakable sign of his semi-arousal pushing out his suede, followed by the air filling with that strange vibration, signaling he wanted her as badly as she wanted him.

Liv closed her eyes and took a deep breath, telling her body to stand down.
Especially you, nipples.
No doubt, they were poking out through her black dress.

When she opened her eyes again, the look of pain and despair on Roen’s face broke the camel’s back.
This is ridiculous.
She couldn’t take him lying alone every night when she loved him so much it hurt.

And now that horrifying, ominous feeling in her gut told her something bad was coming. Something that would separate them permanently.

God, she wanted to tell him, but how the hell would that help anyone? By making him paranoid or triggering a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Surprisingly, all her earlier apprehensions about being with him vanished, and she completely understood what he’d been trying to say earlier. There wasn’t going to be a tomorrow or later. This was it for them. How, she didn’t know. But God help her, she couldn’t bear the thought of never knowing, or worse, deprive him of that memory if she were the one who didn’t survive.

“This is torture, Liv. And I really can’t handle it right now—I’ve got to go.” Roen headed for the door.

Liv sucked back her heavy thoughts. “I changed my mind. I want to sleep with you,” she blurted out
.

“What?” Roen halted halfway out the door.

She held up her chin.
You’re a grown woman, Liv. And you want him. And you sure as hell won’t live with yourself knowing you never gave this man what he wanted, too.

“I want you to make love to me right there in that big bed.” She wanted to show him with her entire body how much she loved him. “And after that,” she said evenly, “I want you to fuck me hard like a goddamned animal.” Because that was her other fantasy, and if this was it, she wanted both flavors of Roen. His soft and sweet side and rough and mermanly side.

Roen’s big green eyes were wide while he gulped. “Now? Because, dammit, Liv, I really have to—”

“No. Of course not now. But as soon as you take care of your men and we find Dana, it’s on.”

He looked at her suspiciously. “What made you change your mind so quickly?”

She couldn’t tell the truth: That she feared something terrible was coming and this was their last chance to be together. “I can’t function like this. I practically orgasm every time I’m in the same room with you and not getting any release is driving me mad. I mean, seriously. Roen, if being apart was bad, this is worse.” That had sounded convincing, right?

Roen stood there staring at her. “You want me to fuck you,” he said, his voice filled with disbelief.

“Yeah. Well, make love first. Then fuck—wait. You’re not going to throw out another excuse, are you? Because—”

“No!” He pushed out his hand. “I only wanted to make sure I heard you correctly. I’m in. And now I’m going to be as hard as a rock until I have you. Not that I’m complaining—neverthefokemind—I need to take care of this—” he held up the bottles “—and then see our elders to discuss the terms we will offer to the island.”

“What? Roen, no. Don’t throw in the towel. You’ve gotten this far, and your men are behind you.”

“I am not throwing in the towel,” he said. “But we must attempt to reason with her quickly before things get out of hand.”

Yeah. Good luck with that.
She sure as hell admired his optimism. He never quit.

“I’m going to go find Dana,” she said. “I’ll meet you back here.”

Roen growled. “You need to stay. It isn’t safe for you to be running around alone, especially when the maids are no longer deterred by daylight.”

“I need to find my sister—like you said, it’s not safe.” She stepped in closer, narrowing her eyes.

“Fine. Come with me. We’ll drop off the water in the great hall, and I’ll take you down into the prison. It’s near there.”

Smart man.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

It wasn’t at all what Liv expected, although now she understood why Roen was freaking the hell out.

“I’ve never seen so much blood,” she whispered, shocked with horror. And she’d never seen anyone claw at their own face. She covered her mouth, holding back the bile while her mind scrambled, unsure of what to do or how to help.

The unaffected men—about half of those in the room—quickly moved from victim to victim, pouring water into screaming mouths.

Okay, okay. I can do that.

She stepped forward, but Roen pulled her back. “No. You’ll only get hurt, and we have plenty of help now.” Roen passed his bottles to one of the men, grabbed Liv’s hand, and tugged her outside before leading her into a densely wooded area. “We need to hurry.”

“Roen, this is bad,” she said, once again trying to keep up with his long strides. “Do you think you have enough water for everyone?”

He ducked under a branch and held it up long enough for her to pass. “I don’t know. But if she hits us with another wave of whateverthehell this is, we’re screwed.”

“Why don’t you just ask the island what she wants?” she panted, jogging behind him after he passed.

She still couldn’t believe what she’d witnessed. Between that and the Love Boat massacre this morning, she didn’t think she’d ever sleep normally again.

Roen mumbled a long string of swear words. “Can we focus on finding your sister? Because I need to find the elders, and then—” He paused for several moments. “Dammit, woman. Why didn’t you agree to sex earlier?” He grumbled something about crisis and trying to think with an erection and how there wasn’t time.

“Umm…”
Because now I know something horrible is coming, and I really might not see you again.
“I’m sorry. I know my timing was bad. Forget I said anything.”

“Like hell I will,” he growled. “You opened the door, and I want in.”

Okay. That was an interesting metaphor.

Roen and Liv came upon a grass clearing containing a small, windowless brick shack, about ten by ten feet. He yanked open the steel door, flipped on a light switch, and then grabbed a set of keys hanging on the wall.

“The holding cells are down there.” He pointed down a narrow staircase. “Wait here while I look.”

Liv watched him disappear and held her breath, listening for any sign of Dana. “Roen?” She popped her index finger into her mouth and nibbled on the nail.

“Liv!” she heard Roen call.

She hurried down the stairs, turned the corner, and entered the cement-floored room with prison cells laid out along the edges, about twelve in total. Shane stood inside a cell with his hands on the bars. Dana stood outside, looking guilty as hell.

“What are you doing here, Dana?” Liv was furious. Why didn’t Dana ever listen?

Because she’s your sister?

“I needed to see him and hear his voice,” Dana replied sheepishly.

“What can I say?” Shane said, his voice low and cocky. “I’m irresistible.”

Liv stormed to his cell. “You! You disgusting pig. Stay away from my sister or so help me, Shane, I will go mermaid on your ass.”

Shane laughed.

“Liv,” Dana protested, “it’s not his fault. I came to him, remember?”

“Because he’s brainwashed you,” she replied. “They have that effect on women.”

“Then why aren’t I into that one?” Dana pointed to Roen. “Or that one.” She pointed to Jason, who sat on the cot in his cell across the room, enjoying the show. “Okay. Never mind. I’m into them, too.” She sighed.

“Dana,” Liv shook her head, “these are not nice men. That one,” Liv pointed to Shane, “tried to drown me. He kidnapped us from our parents’ anniversary party.”

Dana rolled her eyes. “And he apologized for tha—”

“He was about to make me have sex with him in public to provoke Roen into a fight.”

Dana’s eyes lit up with fury, and she swiveled toward Shane. “You were going to have sex with my sister?”

Shane shrugged. “Maybe. I am a merman. We don’t get a lot of catfish, if yanno what I mean.”

“You’re disgusting.” Liv grabbed Dana’s hand. “And this conversation is over. Time to go.”

Dana reluctantly started to follow when Roen asked if everyone still had water rations. They replied, “Some but not much.”

“Why? What’s going on?” Shane asked.

“The pool of sacred water has dried up and the men are being afflicted with some sort of madness.”

Shane rubbed his short black beard in a pleased sort of way. “So we have maids who now swim in sunlight, and mermen who are being driven mad. Sounds like the island is sending you a clear message about who’s really in control.”

“We’re not backing down. Whatever the price, things must change,” Roen said sternly.

“Hmmm…” Shane said. “If only you knew what might get her to agree to what you’re after.”

“And you do?” Roen asked distrustfully.

“Yes, and if you let us out, I’ll tell you what she wants, since we all know she no longer speaks to you.”

“Roen,” Liv protested, “he can’t be trusted to—”

Roen held out his hand. “He’s required to tell me the truth, or I’m permitted to execute him on the spot.”

“What does she want?” Roen asked.

“Let me out,” Shane replied smugly.

Roen still held the keys in his hand and reached to unlock the cage.

“Don’t, Roen!” Liv protested.

Roen pulled her aside and whispered in her ear, “As vile and underhanded as his behavior with you was, he didn’t break any of our laws, Liv. The elders say I must let him go. Might as well get something for it.”

Liv snarled, “How about I get to kill him? That’s something.” Sadly, she almost meant it. Shane was dangerous.

“Yes. That certainly would be,” Roen agreed, “though it will have to wait.”

“I heard that,” Shane called out, still grinning like the asshole that he was. “I have to say, my feelings are hurt, Liv. I thought we had something special.”

To Roen’s credit, he ignored Shane’s juvenile taunt and stuck to business, opening the cage. “All right, Shane. What will get her to change her mind?”

Shane strutted out and bellied up to Roen, who was about four inches shorter but twenty times more intimidating, further proof that real strength came from the inside.

“She wants me to take leadership,” Shane said.

“I already said you can have it,” Roen pointed out. “And I suggest you back off before I break one of your legs.”

Shane laughed and stepped back. “Glad you’re up for a fight because that’s what she wants, for me to challenge you according to our laws. Otherwise, the men will not consider me the rightful leader. If you do that, the island will agree to consider a more peaceful solution along with some of your changes.”

“Like what?” asked Roen.

“Like reconsidering spreading this madness.”