Chapter 27
Caspian’s POV
“No.” Marina’s voice comes down like a gavel.
I emit a beleaguered sigh, resting my hands on my hips as I stand outside Viviane’s front door, staring down a very uncooperative mermaid. “Please just give me a chance to explain.”
“Explain what?” Marina bites back, “that you want to announce to the entire city that you’re dating my daughter?” She arches one brow, “Your own uncle found out and kidnapped her. What do you think the pack will do?”
“It’s just one date.” I attempt, placating.
“Bull.” She snorts, “If you turn up to that ball with my daughter on your arm, you’ll be naming her as a candidate for Luna. It will be in all the tabloids, all the newspapers. She’ll be a target for every jealous she-wolf and rival you possess.”
“The difference between James and the pack is that he was emboldened by his position.” I explain patiently. “He thought he was untouchable because he’s my uncle. But the entire pack just watched me take down the strongest wolves in Asterion on live TV, to come after her now would be suicidal.”
“Either you’re too privileged or too young to understand the lengths disenfranchised people will go to – the risks they will take – for the sake of power and status.” Marina scoffs. “There’s no danger in failing if you have nothing to lose.”
“And either you’re too angry or too unfamiliar with shifter culture to understand that what James did is unheard of in pack society – or it would be, if Viviane were formally acknowledged as my mate.” I implore her to understand. “Going public with Viviane will protect her. Until I do – as long as she’s a nobody – she’s an open target.”
“That’s only true if we stay in Asterion.” Marina counters, eyes flashing.
Smothering the growl my wolf is trying to unleash, I keep my expression neutral. “I could tell you that I won’t permit you to take Viviane to another territory. I could remind you that your daughter is legally an adult and free to make her own decisions. But you already know that.” I rumble, “What I will tell you is that making Viviane leave won’t protect her from harm – it will only do more.
You’ll be pulling her out of her senior year at school and forcing her to start over somewhere new. You’ll be separating her from her best friend, the only home she’s ever known, and her mate. You’ll have to start over from scratch, and you have no way of knowing whether you will be able to successfully build a secret life in a new city. The only certainty is that you won’t have the Pack Alpha on your side, determined to keep you safe, as you do here.”
Carefully watching Marina’s expression, I continue. “The ball doesn’t have to be a formal announcement, it can simply be a statement to the pack that Viviane is under my protection.”
The mermaid cocks her head to the side. “Do you know why Viviane’s interest in you bothers me so much?”
“Because I’m a wolf?” I presume.
Marina rolls her eyes. “I wasn’t always an invalid you know.” She begins, “At least, not like now. When we first came here, we lived in a refugee settlement with other mermaids who escaped farms like the Bloodstone’s. And before you ask, no I will not tell you where it is.” She snaps when I open my mouth. I didn’t know there were such places in Asterion.
“We lived among mermaids who had been free much longer than Viviane and I. I saw children who didn’t know how to be happy, to be safe or accept peace. They sought out pain and trouble, because it’s all they know.”
I dip my head, acknowledging her concern. “I hear you, but that isn’t Viviane.”
“It doesn’t always happen immediately.” Marina shares solemnly. “Our pasts can sneak up on us at the worst times.”
“Your daughter is the sweetest creature I’ve ever met.” I profess earnestly, “I cannot see her seeking pain that way, being so self destructive.”
“We are all different people in love.” She states simply.
“That’s true enough.” I concur, “But I can tell you this much: separating a shifter from their mate is guaranteed heartbreak. I don’t know how the Gods fated a mermaid for me, but I know what happens when the bond is denied. If you’re worried about Viviane’s happiness, keeping her with her mate is the best thing you can do.”
Marina glares at me for a long moment, before her shoulders slump in defeat. “Fine. She can go to the ball, but I won’t agree to anything more.” She crosses her arms over her chest, “And so help me, if anything happens to her on Friday, I will not be accountable for my actions.”
“Understood.”
Viviane’s POV
Caspian is waiting outside the boutique when we exit, leaning against the car with a wolfish grin stretched across his handsome face. My hands weighed down by shopping bags, I approach him warily, suspicious of another surprise.
“Hello gorgeous.” He greets me, pulling me forward as soon as I’m in reach, “Did you find a dress?”
“Yes.” I confirm shyly, still feeling odd about him spending money on me, even though he has plenty to spare.
“Good,” He chuckles, kissing me soundly. “You’re going to need it. Marina agreed to let you come to the ball.”
“What?” I blink, bracing my hands on his chest. “How?”
“I can be pretty convincing when I want to be.” He teases.
I can’t withhold my smile, letting the incandescent beam spread wide. “I’m starting to see that.”
Caspian’s thumb strokes my cheek, “Gods what I wouldn’t do to make you smile like that every day.”
I blush and drop my head, shivering when his lips graze my ear a second later, his deep voice like rough velvet, “Do you want to keep shopping, or would you like to come back to the Pack House for a while?”
I shift restlessly, heat pooling in my belly. Even so, I can’t look him in the eye. “The Pack House.”
I’ll never get used to the way my body responds to Caspian. Every time we’re together, it’s as if I’m taken over by some hypnotic force, transformed into someone I do not recognize. I can’t get enough of the feelings he provokes, his hands and lips creating sensations my body has never experienced before.
I want to disappear into his embrace, luxuriate in the sultry heat of his arms and let his mouth and hands draw untold pleasure from my sensitized flesh. Even now, as he trails kisses down my throat and slides his powerful hands beneath my top, stroking his nimble fingers up my sides and over my breasts, I only want more.
It’s a drunken chant in my mind, more, more, more.
I’ve lost track of my surroundings, my world reduced to the couch where we now lay. A war could be raging outside and I’d have no idea – all I know is that I’ll die if I’m parted from my mate now. I rock my hips into his, riding a wave of lust building to some unknown crescendo and relishing Caspian’s purr of approval.
I’m panting with desire as I help him strip off my shirt, arching into his laving tongue and nipping teeth. My legs are splayed wide, Caspians hard body settled in the cradle of my hips. I’m pure liquid beneath him, consumed by carnal craving and wishing this moment would never end.
His hand slides down my belly to tease the swollen nub at the apex of my thighs, rubbing in small, tight circles and making my hips jerk reflexively. No one has ever touched me this way before – it’s so unlike Mordred’s cruel, grasping fingers. No, Caspian inflicts torture of a completely different kind, making me writhe and moan with utter selflessness, giving me pleasure and asking for none in return.
I urge his hand beneath my skirt and inside the elastic of my panties, my chorus of “more,” now a frantic whisper on my lips. Caspian groans, returning his mouth to mine with a searing kiss.
The moment his fingers meet my bare cleft, my entire body goes rigid. My eyes snap open, and my begging abruptly changes from exaltations of lust to whimpers fear. “No!” I cry into Caspian’s mouth, pushing at his shoulders.
He rears up in surprise, gazing down at me with glowing, glazed eyes. His breath heaves as he studies me in confusion, as if trying to remember who I am and why we’re here. He’s in heat again. I think frantically, this isn’t Caspian, it’s his wolf.
“No.” I say again in a small voice. “I’m not ready, Caspian. It’s too much.”
Slowly the clouded look in his eyes clears, the piercing glow fading to their usual light blue. He gingerly rises off of me, getting to his feet and slowly striding toward the bathroom with carefully controlled movements. I watch him go with waning panic, understanding now that staying still and quiet is critical to bring him out of the haze.
He disappears into the small, adjoining room and seconds later the unmistakable sound of the shower begins. I pull on my top while I wait, trying to slow my racing heartbeat and figure out what just happened. Every time I think I’m past this, my body proves me wrong.
After a few minutes the shower cuts off, and Caspian emerges. He crosses the room in nothing more than a pair of trousers, water still dripping from his skin. As soon as he’s within reach, he kneels down in front of me, “Are you alright?”
I nod weakly, “I’m sorry, I thought –”
“Don’t apologize, kitten.” He interrupts gently, “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I offered something and then took it back.” I remind him. “I sent you into heat.”
Caspian smiles sadly and shakes his head, taking my face between his hands, “Sweetheart, you tried something you thought you were ready for and realized you weren’t. That’s all.” He rumbles sternly, “And I went into heat because my stunning, delectable mate was in my arms. It’s not your fault, it’s just instinct.”
I slide off of the couch so I can cuddle against him, sighing when he welcomes me with open arms, “How long will it last?”
“Heat?” Caspian clarifies, pulling me into his lap.
“Yes.” I confirm, snuggling in. I’m so relieved and contented it takes me a moment to realize he’s gone still. I look up at his rugged features, seeing only a reluctant grimace. “What?” I ask with trepidation.
“My wolf won’t be satisfied until he’s marked his mate.” He reveals soberly.
