Into the Triangle (9 page)

"M-mate? Me? Aaron had said that's what the pearl meant but…w-who are you, exactly?" Gabe asked, trying to wrap his mind around this odd situation. For all the emotions running though him at that very moment, Gabe still didn't know anything about this man currently cradling him close as if he was the most precious thing ever to exist. He had the feeling this mer was important, even among the Merfolk, but after his disastrous past relationship and the drama of the past few days, Gabe absolutely refused to walk into any type of commitment without all the information beforehand.

The mer's eyes opened and he immediately took a step back. "I apologize, Gabriel. How very rude of me," he said contritely.

Then, kneeling down on one knee in a very elegant and courtly gesture, the merman reached out and snagged Gabe's left hand, placing an old fashioned kiss on the back of it.

"Allow me to introduce myself… My name is Paxton, King of the underwater city of Lavantia, Ruler of the Merfolk, and your mate." King Paxton then proceeded to bow low over Gabe's hand, touching his pearl to Gabe's knuckles.

Gabe knew his eyes were wide with shock as he stared down at the powerful man on his knees before him. "
King
?" he barely managed to squeak out of his suddenly too-tight throat. He was unaware of his quickened breathing or the concerned look Paxton shot up at him. "I'm the chosen mate of a King?"

Black dots gathered in the corner of his eyes and Gabe's last thought right before he lost consciousness again was that he really needed to stop passing out in front of his mate.

Chapter 9

Gabe slowly opened his eyes, frowning when he didn't immediately recognize the room he was in. A slight memory of possibly being there before ran through his hazy mind. The light scent of salt water, male musk, and a hint of coconut teased his nose; Gabe stopped worrying and sighed, relaxing his head back on the broad, cool chest it lay on.

What the
—?

Snapping back upright, Gabe sat up and looked down into the amused gray eyes gazing up at him.

Seeing the man he'd been lying on brought everything back, and Gabe felt his face flush.

"Hello, my own. Feeling better?" Paxton asked.

"I… uh, yes." Gabe bit his lower lip, trailing his eyes over the mer before him. The merman lay back on the mass of pillows covering the shell bed as if he owned it, which Gabe admitted to himself, he probably did. Gabe's eyes widened when his gaze trained on something embarrassing.
Crap
! He winced when he saw the large, wet spot on the mer King chest, marring the otherwise pristine white shirt. "Uh, sorry about… that," he said, wincing again as he motioned toward the drool, feeling like a complete dork.

Paxton looked down at his chest. When he looked back up at Gabe, his eyes were bright with mischief and amusement. "While I have no problem being covered in your juices, I must admit I had hoped it would happen during much more pleasurable pursuits, my own." He gifted the human with a wicked grin. "Perhaps now that you're awake, we can see what other fun things we can find ourselves covered in…" He unbuttoned his shirt, revealing miles of pale, satin-soft skin and perfect, dusky-pink nipples to Gabe's appreciative gaze.

Gabe had to steady his breathing before he passed out from blood loss; his cock immediately began to fill at the promise in the other man's eyes—only to be stopped quickly and painfully by something hard and annoying inside his loincloth.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed, reaching down to cover his pinched penis. The moment he felt the object lodged inside his underwear, he immediately paled.

Paxton's eyes widened and he sat up, immediately reaching out for him. "What's the matter? Are you all right, my own?" he asked in alarm, eyes flipping back and forth between Gabe's face and his hand.

"Uh, yeah, I'm okay." Gabe took a deep breath, preparing for the confrontation he knew was to come. "Just promise me you'll hear me out about everything before you freak… because trust me, you will when you hear what happened to bring me here."

Not giving himself a moment to second-guess his actions, Gabe reached inside his loincloth and pulled out the little, palm sized box. He clutched it tightly for a moment, before holding it out to Paxton with a shaking hand.

Frowning in confusion, Paxton carefully accepted the box and slowly opened the ornate top. His gasp of shock and horror seemed to fill the room, and Gabe hunched his shoulders with the mer turned his cold, furious gaze on him. The other man looked dangerous and formidable, every inch the king he had announced himself to be.

"Explain," the King demanded, gray eyes dark with anger. "How did you come to hold so many of my countrymen and women's mate pearls? Stealing the pearl of another is a death offence, so talk quickly Gabriel. Being in the presence of a stolen pearl is a punishable, and you are in the possession of at least a dozen here. Explain!"

Gabe swallowed hard.
Does Paxton think I stole them
?
Great, now he probably regrets every choosing me as his mate and now he'll throw me away, like William and my parents
. Tears burned in his eyes, but Gabe refused to let them fall
. I didn't even get another one of those kisses
… he thought, miserable. But perhaps it was for the best; at least this way, Gabe's heart hadn't become involved and he could leave with his dignity and pride intact.

"I didn't steal them," he said softly, ducking his head and staring at his hands as he twisted them together in his lap. "Well, I did, but not in the way you're thinking. I stole them from the guy who originally stole them from the people they belonged to."

He then began to explain about Father Willis and his control over the humans on Bimini Island. Gabe told the mer everything that had happened since they parted at the lagoon; the kidnapping, the horrible revelations Father Willis revealed about the owners of the pearls, the strange storm, everything. Throughout it all, Paxton's face remained expressionless.

"I don't know what exactly happened. One minute the priest was getting ready to rip my pearl out with a pair of pliers then I felt like my blood was on fire and there was a flash of light. The next thing I knew, Father Willis was on the floor and his goons were snatching him up and heading back to the village. Without Mary's help, I would have been strapped down on that table until they came back to finish me off. I did the only thing I could think of; I grabbed the box they left behind—the one with Aaron's friend's and Mary's pearls—and picked up my friends, heading to the only place I could think of that would be safe."

He glanced up hesitantly at Paxton, but the mer's eyes were unreadable as he stared down at Gabe.

Gabe sighed. "So, I took the pearls and my friends, and brought them here, to you. I-I don't know what you'll want to do with me now you know everything, but please, they're innocent. Don't hurt them. Especially Mary. Please, if you can help her, do it! You have no idea the horrors she's been through. And Aaron was devastated to learn his friend had been killed… I think he loved Douglas, more than even he realizes…"

Gabe trailed off and ducked his head again, awaiting judgment. The silence between them stretched out into minutes, and Gabe closed his eyes and fought the urge to fidget. His heart was breaking the longer Paxton just continued to stare at him, not saying anything.

A soft finger underneath his chin caused Gabe to jump in alarm, but he dutifully opened his eyes and lifted his head as directed.

Paxton's eyes were soft and sad as he stared down at him, as if sensing Gabe's fear.

"The power you describe—that defended you from that evil priest—was me. I felt your need and fear, and answered by sending my power through our bond. The storm was my anger, manifesting itself in a physical way… as King of the Sea and its people I have power over all storm elements." Moving slowly, he edged closer and wrapped his hands around Gabe's trembling form, pulling the younger man to his side. "Oh, my own, I am sorry for the trauma you have experienced. I knew it must have been something bad, for you to call on our bond so soon, but nothing in all my years could have ever prepared me for something like this."

He held up the now-closed box of pearls and shook his head. "You must understand my shock, my own. For each Merfolk are born with only one other pearl that matches the one they bear on their foreheads. Once it is given to their chosen ones, there is no chance for them to find another mate. The fact that this man, this evil monster, is stealing the mate-pearls from their rightful owners, killing the human mates, and collecting the pearls for his own nefarious purposes, is alarming, to say the least. Yet it explains so much, as few chosen mates ever come to the sea. We always assumed they chose to stay on the surface and the island, not that they had been killed. Many a mer has been disappointed over the years, choosing a mate but never bonding with them. The only thing I could think of is how wronged these mer and mates have been treated and it clouded my judgment for a moment—but I do not blame you."

"B-but you looked so mad…" Gabe said softly in uncertainty, even as he cuddled into Paxton's arms, clinging to the strong mer. He couldn't describe the relief he felt at being in his mer's arms again.

Maybe we can work this out
…
maybe there's still hope he wants me
.

Paxton sighed. "I am, my own. But not at you—never at you. I am angry for what you and your friends went through, and I plan to hunt down Father Willis, rip him into pieces, and feed him to the sharks," he promised, fury leaking into his normal tone.

Gabe sat up, eyes wide. "You have to be careful, Pax. Father Willis is crazy and so are the two meatheads he has working for him. Between the other box of pearls he still has and the fact that the people in the village turn a blind eye to his activities, you might find yourself facing more danger and opposition than you think."

Paxton's eyes softened and he raised one hand to cup Gabe's cheek. "I will be careful, my own. And I promise I will bring my most trusted and powerful guards with me. You needn't fear for me."

Then Paxton leaned down and fit his lips against Gabe's.

Gabe's eyes widened and he gasped into the unexpected kiss. He moaned low in his throat when Paxton wriggled his tongue into his mouth. Twining and twisting, Gabe lost himself in the wonderful fight for dominance as they dueled back and forth, building heat between them. He wasn't quite sure how it happened, but the next thing Gabe knew he was straddling Paxton's lap, hands flat on the mer's muscled chest, lost in the sensations the other man brought to his body. Gabe couldn't stop himself from reached up and twining his fingers into that long, silky soft green hair, delving deeper into the kiss and building the heat between them to almost explosive levels. He pulled back and gasped again when he felt large hands cupping his butt, and stared down at the beguiling man below him.

Paxton's eyes sparkled with lust and want, his hair mussed from Gabe's fingers running through it. Pale cheeks flushed and his thin lips were bruised from the powerful kiss.

Gabe wanted nothing more than to strip the open shirt off Paxton's shoulders and rip away his pants to lick the enchanting mer all over, but he figured they had more important things to take care of first.

Reaching down, Gabe picked up the wooden box of pearls from where it had fallen on the bed when Paxton had kissed him, and looked over at the Merfolk King.

Paxton sighed, obviously understanding Gabe's silent thoughts.

"Later," Paxton promised to him, reaching out with one hand to grab the back of Gabe's head and pull him into a quick, hard kiss. "I plan to learn every part of your body tonight; what makes you sigh, what makes you shiver, and what makes you cry out for more." Gabe gulped and Paxton grinned at him in a predatory way. Then he sighed. "Most importantly, I want to know who hurt you in the past. I see your heartache, my own, and as your mate, I will help you heal from it. But that will have to wait. I need to call my advisors and tell them what I have learned. Father Willis must be stopped, before any more humans and the Merfolk who claim them are harmed."

He gracefully rolled off the bed with ease, standing up next to it and holding out one hand to help a much-less-graceful Gabe out of the oddly-shaped bed. Gabe fumbled and flailed, finally reaching the edge of the bed and climbing out. Without Paxton's help, he didn't think he would have made it. Paxton reached over and pulled a long, fluffy black robe off a char by the bedside and held it out to the human with a small smile.

"Feel free to take that filthy loincloth off and put this on for now." He smiled as Gabe did as suggested. Gabe blushed brightly as his hard cock was revealed when he stripped out of the loincloth and pouch underneath. He could feel Paxton's gaze on him, and blushed even harder, face on fire. Having his mate look over his thin and gangly body made him nervous, so he quickly snatched the robe Paxton held out and put it on.

"I'll get my tailors on making you a wardrobe; you'll have it by the end of the week," Paxton continued as Gabe dressed. "I'm thinking lots of brown and gold, to match your beautiful light brown eyes and blond hair."

"That's not necessary," Gabe said with a smile, as he wrapped the robe tightly and tied the sash around his waist. "Just find me something someone else isn't using anymore, and I'll be fine."

Paxton nodded, but Gabe could tell he wasn't listening. Perhaps it wouldn't be that big of a deal if he gave in and let Pax get him a few things. Honestly, it wouldn't do to have the King's mate improperly attired or wearing hand-me-downs. Gabe made a mental note to do everything he could to prove he was the best option for Paxton's mate. He'd spend the rest of his life devoting himself to his mer's happiness and making sure Pax would never regret choosing him for a mate as long as Pax didn't use him and throw him away like all the others had before.