Authors: Katherine Irons
Waterborne (15 page)
Less than an hour later, Ree had completed her survey of the island. It was, as Anuata had said, uninhabited, and Ree found no indication that humans had set foot on this sand for years. She was marooned, completely at Alex’s mercy. There was nothing to do but wait for him to return.
Of course, if he didn’t return, she’d have to resort to more drastic solutions ... building a raft or lighting signal fires. For now, she would have something to eat, drink the milk from another coconut, and try to perfect her patience.
Her sword and armor lay under the breadfruit tree where she’d last seen it. There was no sign of Anuata or of Dewi, let alone Alex and Bleddyn. She felt sufficiently alone to gather dry wood and tinder to cook her afternoon meal. And cook it she would. She’d have to be a lot hungrier than she was before she’d resort to Anuata’s style of dining.
She dug a hollow in the sand, added the shredded coconut husk, and stacked her sticks in a teepee. Glancing around to be certain no one was watching, she did what once would have earned her a spanking from her father. She took a deep breath, gathered her energy, and threw live sparks from the tips of her fingers. The tinder smoked and then burst into flame, and in half an hour she was enjoying fire-roasted fish and crabs. She was just licking the last of the crab juice off her fingers when she heard Alex call her name. She got to her feet as he stepped out of the trees, and in spite of herself, her pulse began to race and she felt her cheeks grow warm.
He was just as beautiful on land as under the sea. As incredible as it seemed, the Greek god striding across the sand toward her was as real as taxes. Just looking at him made her imagination start working overtime.
If I was going to be stranded on a desert island with someone, I can’t think of anyone better, she thought. Damn but he’s a fine piece of prime—
If I was going to be stranded on a desert island with someone, I can’t think of anyone better, she thought. Damn but he’s a fine piece of prime—
Her welcoming smile faded. Something was wrong. Alex wasn’t smiling. He looked mad enough to take a bite out of the nearest coconut, shell and all. “Alex?”
“I want the truth out of you.”
“What truth?”
The green eyes flashed lightning. “In the tunnel. You knew they were coming. How did you know?”
“A hunch. Woman’s intuition.” She took a step back.
He grabbed her wrists. “Not this time, Ree. I want to know who and what you are. And this time, there’ll be no more lies between us.”
CHAPTER 15
’E
nakai lay stretched on a raised couch in her bedchamber while Caddoc massaged her naked body with sweet-scented oil. “Ahh, that feels good,” she said. “Lower ... around the base of my tail. Yesss.” She moaned. “Lovely. You do have your uses, Atlantean.”
nakai lay stretched on a raised couch in her bedchamber while Caddoc massaged her naked body with sweet-scented oil. “Ahh, that feels good,” she said. “Lower ... around the base of my tail. Yesss.” She moaned. “Lovely. You do have your uses, Atlantean.”
They had spent the better part of the evening engaged in rather imaginative sexual games, games that often involved her very talented rudimentary tail and the amazing things that ’Enakai could do with her tongue. Despite the vigorous encounter, Caddoc was still as eager for more. When she’d first summoned him, he’d been afraid that she would be angry with him because they’d allowed Alexandros and the woman to escape ... and because of the men he’d lost under his command.
Not that the setback was his fault. He’d proved time and time again in Atlantis that he was worthy of command. He simply hadn’t been assigned enough adequate fighting men. Battle in the confines of the tunnel had been difficult, because Alexandros was able to defend his back with a wall. The struggle had been fierce, but he would have been successful if his brother’s reinforcements hadn’t attacked the Lemorian troops from the rear.
The fairy informer had failed to tell them that the human was a trained swordsman. No one regretted missing the opportunity to end his half brother’s life more than he did, and Caddoc would not accept the blame for an aborted mission.
Nevertheless, Alexandros must still be in Lemorian waters. He and the human female wouldn’t get off so easily when the next patrol came upon them. The queen hadn’t mentioned the incident since she’d summoned him to her apartments. She might not even know what had happened, and Caddoc had no intentions of mentioning it to her. Losing her favor was the last thing he wanted.
’Enakai turned her head to look up at him through a thick curtain of unbound hair. She was very beautiful, this purple-skinned woman, even if she was someone older than he preferred. Her body was lithe and sinuous, and her knowledge of how to please a man was admirable. He felt himself growing hard as he stroked and squeezed her ripe flesh.
“Harder.”
“Your wish is my command, lovely ’Enakai.” He ran an exploring hand roughly between her thighs, thrusting first his fingers and then a fist into her. “I do have my uses, don’t I?”
She cried out and he shuddered with anticipation. ’Enakai was one of the few females that he’d ever met who shared his pleasure in the darker aspects of sexual play. “Is this what you want?” he shouted. He spread her legs and rammed his erect member deep into her cleft.
’Enakai howled and bucked against him as he seized her by the hair and yanked it, and the pain in her voice lent as much spice to his lust as the feel of her long fingernails cutting furrows in his leg.
“And I would have more ...” He squeezed her breast and hammered at her, leaning close and catching the skin on her neck between his teeth and biting down until he tasted her blood. “... If—”
“If?” she teased.
He withdrew and drove deep again, repeating his assault with even greater vigor. Pleasure-pain boiled in his veins. “If you would ...”
She shrieked as he squeezed her breast hard, pinched the taut nipple between his fingers. His breath came in hard gasps. He could feel release, feel the enormous wave of ecstasy coming, and he drove into her cleft with every inch of his male pride. She fit him like a glove, her tight muscles contracting around him, her inner ridges scraping and squeezing, adding to his excitement.
Lemorian physiology,
he thought.
So imaginative.
Lemorian physiology,
he thought.
So imaginative.
Abruptly, ’Enakai’s body stiffened and went into spasm. With another howl, she arched against him, straining and wiggling, milking his last essence before finally collapsing face down on the couch.
Frantic to reach his own climax, Caddoc made two more vigorous thrusts and felt the dam within him burst. Carnal exhilaration rocked his body, and he groaned as fiery waves of gratification transported him, sending his mind reeling and causing his tongue to protrude and his eyes to roll back in his head. He slumped forward, crushing ’Enakai with his greater weight, finding still more enjoyment from her obvious distress, and he trapped her under him.
After a time, when his brain cooled, he pulled out of her, wincing as the ridges that had given him so much joy when he was fully erect now scraped against his tender flesh. He glanced down, pleased to see the remaining tumescence and the dripping proof of his virility. He took hold of his member and guided it so that he could watch his seed drip over her buttocks and her now-swollen and pulsing, primal tail.
“Enough.” She panted, attempting to squirm out from under him, but he pinned her down, glorying in his dominance of the high priestess and queen of all of Lemoria.
“I could do so much more for you”—he whispered hoarsely—“give you so much more if you would lend your support to my cause. If I were high king of Atlantis—”
Something sharp pierced his thigh and he gasped at the pain. Leaping up off ’Enakai, he saw that she had driven a six-inch-long needle of bone into his flesh. Blood welled up to stain the water. “Are you mad?” he screamed. “Look what you’ve done!” He jerked out the needle and threw it away before clamping his hand over the injury and staring down as blood continued to seep through his fingers.
“Do you never cease?” she demanded, sliding off the couch and away from him. Her mouth was swollen from his earlier love-taps, and her eyes heavy-lidded with sated passion. Yet, the expression in her eyes was oddly reptilian.
“You stabbed me!” he accused.
“Yes, and I will do worse before I’m done.”
“’Enakai,” he began, unsure of her sudden change of mood. “What—”
“Enough!” she snapped. “You bore me with that tired refrain.” She fixed him with her dark, penetrating stare and pointed a finger accusingly. “You are a small man, Prince Caddoc, small in courage, in imagination, and in intelligence. How much of a fool do you believe I am—that I would risk my soldiers to help you claim a throne you’re incapable of keeping if I handed it to you on an oyster shell?”
Caddoc stiffened and drew himself up to his full height. “How dare you insult me, you Lemorian bitch? Who was your mother? Your father? You may have been chosen as high priestess, but the blood of Poseidon runs in my veins. My house—”
’Enakai flew at him and ended his tirade with a slap across his face. “Stupid man! You are here at my sufferance! You live by my sufferance! You claim to be a prince—a great Atlantean warrior! And yet, you cannot kill one man and woman in a cave. It should have been like spearing fish trapped in a tidal pool. You had them outnumbered six to one at least. You had the benefit of surprise.”
“It wasn’t my fault!” Caddoc protested. “Alexandros is—”
“Is one man weighed down by a human female.”
“You don’t understand. I—”
She slapped him again. “Stop talking. Don’t speak unless I ask you a direct question.” Her eyes narrowed to mere slits as his whole body tensed. “Raise a hand to me in anger,” she hissed. “I dare you. Touch me and my archers will fill you so full of arrows that you’ll look like a blowfish.”
At that instant, he hated her, found her repulsive, but he knew how to hide his feelings. “My queen ...” he soothed with oily affection. “I would never—”
“You are a weakling, Caddoc. Your pitiful hag of a mother possesses more strength in one finger than you have in your whole body.”
“Please, my precious, for what we have meant to each other ...”
She spat. “Sharing
shenji
?”
shenji
?”
Caddoc winced. His Lemorian wasn’t the best, but the word she’d used for their sexual liaisons was the crudest of slang, usually referring to intercourse with a male prostitute. “You liked it well enough,” he replied, stung by her insult of his prowess.
“You were a novelty, but one I tire of. And now, when you were given an opportunity to be of use, you allowed Prince Alexandros to slip through your fingers. He killed one of my greatest healers and your Samoan bodyguard as well. But you didn’t stop him. You failed me, and killed nine of my best warriors doing it.”
A bad feeling came over him as anger gave way to apprehension. Caddoc’s heart thudded against his ribs as bile bubbled up in his throat. He could taste the pickled eels that he’d eaten at his last meal. “I told you,” he hedged. “It wasn’t my fault.”
“No? Doubtless you were wounded in hand-to-hand battle with this brother of yours. Where are your wounds? Why are you the only one who escaped without a single injury?”
“My skills kept me safe. Someone had to give orders. What general—”
“I am no warrior, but I command armies, and I know a sniveling coward when I see one.” She turned her back on him, picked up her robe from the floor, and wrapped it around her. “Any Lemorian commander who failed as utterly as you have would pay for his poor judgment with his life.”
Caddoc’s bowels clenched and he felt the urgent need to empty them. “’Enakai, you can’t mean ...”
She pushed the hair out of her face and stared at him as if he was a piece of offal that had stuck to the bottom of her sandal. “Guards!” She clapped her hands together once, and four female soldiers appeared. They arrived so quickly that he realized they must have been standing behind the screen, listening and perhaps watching all that had transpired between the two of them. Shame filled him. He searched for words to defend himself, came up empty, and looked at her gape-mouthed.
“What? You are silent, at last, little man?”
“This is all a misunderstanding. It could have happened to any commander. If you’d give me another chance ...”
“You must be punished, Caddoc,” she said. “And since you have begged my protection, you fall under the laws of Lemoria. Why should you not die in the lava flow as one of my own would do?”
“You cannot! My father was the high king of Atlantis, and my brother Morgan is now Poseidon. If you murder me, you’ll start a war between the kingdoms.”
’Enakai looked thoughtful. “You’re outlawed. Why should Poseidon care if your life is ended? And sacrifice to our goddess is not murder. It’s a great honor. You would be assured a place in paradise.”
Caddoc’s mouth tasted of salt, and sweat seeped through the small scales on his neck. “Consider what you do. A family feud is one thing, but to have Lemoria execute a royal prince of Atlantis would be another altogether. The last war between our nations lasted for eleven hundred years.”
She waited, listening.
“Nine common soldiers may have died fighting Alexandros, but how many more Lemorians will die against the might of Atlantis?” he rambled on. “There are many more of us than of your people.” He saw doubt flicker in her eyes, and hope swelled in his chest. “Give me another chance to capture Alexandros. Give me more men, and this time I’ll bring you his foreskin on the end of my trident.”
’Enakai shook her head. “How can I have one law for an Atlantean turncoat and another for my own men? You failed. You caused the death of good men, and you returned without a scratch. The sacrifice must be made.”
“Does it have to be me?” Caddoc begged.
“A prince, even an Atlantean, is a noble offering to our goddess. It will end your shame and bring great rewards to Lemoria. Think of it as a blessing.” She smiled at him. “All men must die, but to die in a great cause ...”
“But what if I found someone to take my place?” he asked.
“Your brother Alexandros? That might be satisfactory, if we had him here. But we don’t, and even now, he may be beyond our reach. It’s too bad you let him get away. I could have considered substituting his life for yours, but ...”
“I’ll find him. I promise you, I’ll bring him to you. Alive, if you wish. Surely, your goddess would take one prince for another.”
’Enakai pursed her lips. “You bargain like a conch trader, but your hands are empty. You would exchange promises for living flesh. Sadly, you must die, Caddoc.” She lifted a hand and two of the big warrior-women seized his arms. “On the next turning of the tide, you will carry our prayers to the Great One.”
“No,” he argued. His stomach churned. In a moment, he would vomit all over the queen’s exquisite inlaid floor. “No. This is a mistake. It will bring war. My brother Poseidon loves me dearly.”
“But ...” ’Enakai raised a ringed finger to her lips. “Your mother is a guest here, is she not?”
“Yes, yes,” he agreed.
“And your mother was wife to Poseidon?”
He nodded, not certain where this was leading.
“So, she may rightly bear the name of queen, can she not?”
“Yes!” Caddoc agreed, choking back the remains of his last meal that rose in his throat. “Queen Halimeda, favored wife of Poseidon. Her blood is royal.”
“And she is female.”
Slowly, Caddoc understood. “My mother would be acceptable to you? She could take my place as sacrifice?” Fear warred with denial. But the idea, once planted in his mind, leaped from spark to full flame. His mother was old, a shadow of her former self, twisted and feeble. Useless. What better thing could he do for her than provide her a glorious death? “Yes,” he said eagerly. “A queen must be more pleasing to a goddess than a mere prince.”
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