Lords of the Deep (26 page)

Moreover, the coliseum wasn’t rounded as she’d first thought, but rather formed a crescent.

The females all settled on their choice of ledge and stared expectantly toward the open end of the coliseum.

Realizing they were awaiting the arrival of the males, Angie stared as anxiously as any of the others, hoping to see Miles and Damien.

She didn’t know that she would, she realized abruptly. She knew they’d planned to attend, but it hadn’t occurred to her until that moment that they would probably
participate
in the ritual.

She wasn’t sure of how she felt about that, but her belly tightened uncomfortably.

Seeing no sign of the men, no longer completely certain that she wanted to see Miles and Damien, her attention wandered after a while. The mermaids seemed to be restless, too, she noted, feeling uneasiness begin to waft through her, wondering if they’d expected the men to be waiting, or to arrive directly behind them, or if they were just impatient.

They’d spread out, she noted absently, wondering why they weren’t huddled in little clusters chattering with one another to pass the time.

She discovered her own group had also spread out. Felicity and Alys had moved several yards to her right and left and Deirdre and Millicent had taken a seat above and behind them.

The two older women were talking—or at least, Deirdre was talking to Millicent. Millicent was focused on watching the open end of the coliseum. She half rose from her perch abruptly, tensing, and Angie whirled to see what it was that had caught her attention even as she heard a low hum she realized were sounds coming from the mermaids.

Her heart nearly collapsed in her chest when she spied the mermen surging toward the coliseum.

It would’ve been an impressive sight, she thought, if it had been only the mermen.

But they were dragging a giant squid—thankfully a very
dead
giant squid.

Chapter Twelve

Angie surged up from her seat to crane toward the men in search of Miles and Damien before it even occurred to her to consider whether it might draw unwanted attention to her. With a mixture of relief and renewed fear, she saw that all of the women had leapt up from their perches in alarm.

It didn’t make her feel better that it didn’t seem to be a typical part of the mating rites for the warriors to arrive dragging a dead squid.

And bearing a fallen warrior.

Angie’s heart squeezed painfully in her chest. She struggled with the urge to burst into tears as the horrible fear washed over her that it might be Damien. She couldn’t tell anything from such a distance beyond the color of his caplet—which was dark.

But then most of them were dark.

Miles was far easier to spot as the only one among them with fair hair. Relief surged through her when she saw that Damien seemed to be directly beside him.

Clutching her heart, she settled on the ledge again, trying to regain control of her emotions, trying to convince herself she really had seen Damien and he wasn’t hurt—or at least didn’t seem to be.

Leaving the squid just beyond the open crescent, the men carrying the fallen warrior moved to the center of the arena. Silence fell and then she heard a crooning sound begin low and gain strength. Glancing around, she discovered the women were singing.

The men stood stiff and silent in the center of the arena surrounding the fallen man until the mermaids had sung their song and then he was carried away again. When the men carrying him disappeared, the mermaids began to shout, slapping their tailfins rhythmically against the stones where they sat until it became almost a roar and Angie realized it was praise for the men who’d fought and won.

She felt her throat close with unshed tears.

She’d thought the test of manhood was nothing more than symbolic. She hadn’t really thought there would be any danger for them.

And yet one had died and she saw others who’d been injured in their fight to the death with the horrible monster—with nothing but swords!

She was almost more horrified when she saw that was what the men had lifted in response to the salute for bravery the women had given them—swords!

She supposed it wouldn’t have been quite the same if they’d been carrying automatic rifles or something of that nature, but
swords
!

And she far preferred to have them alive and well than proving they could out maneuver a damned giant squid and kill it with …
knives
!

She didn’t suppose anyone else shared her sentiments.

As soon as the mermaids had finished their song of praise for the conquering warriors, they thrust their swords into the soil point down and shot up from the floor of the arena. Angie’s heart clenched with a mixture of excitement and awe as it hit her that they’d begun the mating ritual.

And she had a perfect seat to watch!

She’d thought, under the circumstances, that she would probably be forced to watch from a distance, but she was right in the thick of things!

It was a crying damned shame she didn’t have Miles’ recorder!

For some time, it seemed that they were completely focused on acrobatics. They soared upward, flipping and cutting the water at amazing speed, dipped turned, dove for the ocean floor as if they would drive themselves into the dirt and abruptly switched directions at the last possible moment.

Enthralled at the sheer beauty of them, Angie simply gaped at them for a time before she caught a glimpse of Miles and Damien among them. Warmth flooded her. They were so amazing! So beautiful! It was enough to take her breath away just watching them.

She wanted to clap when they finally stopped as if at some signal, facing the mermaids on the ledges, but she managed to refrain—barely. Miles and Damien, she saw, had ended up directly across from her. She didn’t try to keep from smiling at them, certain that, at least, wouldn’t be noticed.

They startled the pure shit of her when she smiled at them, though. Instead of smiling back, they abruptly puffed themselves up as they had that day in her room, spreading their fins wide and turning a deep red. She braced her hands on the ledge, struggling with the urge to leap up and run as they stared at her with grim faced intent.

She thought she might have if Millicent hadn’t abruptly clamped a hand on her shoulder. “Flash them,” she said, “if you mean to show your interest … and only then.”

Angie gaped at her, but although she thought she’d understood what the woman had said, she was
sure
she hadn’t. She
seemed
to be directing her to entice them over and she’d only come to watch.

When she glanced around again, she discovered that
all
of the males were doing as Miles and Damien had.

Embarrassment heated her cheeks as it dawned on her that it was part of the mating ritual.

And apparently that was the flash they’d been waiting for.

Damien, Miles and about a half dozen
other
okeans charged straight at her.

Oh … my … god!

Chains
couldn’t have kept her on that ledge when she saw the wall of flesh heading straight for her, their faces taut with intent. She bounded off the ledge and looked around a little frantically for a place to run, or hide. Before she could manage much more than that, she found herself surrounded.

She stared at them wide eyed, flipping her ‘tail’ to try to stay afloat, turning in a circle as she searched for an avenue of escape.

She didn’t recognize any of them except Miles and Damien and they looked as unlikely to help her escape, at the moment, as the others.

Millicent plowed between the men, slapping at them with her tailfin until they backed off a short distance. Grabbing Angie by the hand when the men abruptly turned on one another and began to fight, she dragged her back to her ledge. She caught Angie’s face in one hand when Angie glanced back at the fight. “Choose the male you want to sire your babe when you feel the timing is just right.”

Angie blinked at her. Timing, she thought blankly?

Babe?

They thought
she
was going to take part in the rites?

She wanted to tell Millicent she’d just come to watch. Unfortunately, the translator didn’t actually project voice through the water, nothing recognizable anyway—which, she realized, was why Damien—or had it been Miles?—had suggested they tell everyone she was mute.

“If you tire of the play, you need only come to me. Understand?”

Tired of
what
play, Angie wondered, completely bewildered?

When Millicent abandoned her and returned to her own perch, she glanced around and discovered exactly what ‘play’ she’d meant. A merman had mounted Alys on his cock was pumping the hell out of her.

…. While her mother watched with a faintly envious smile.

Oh my fucking god!

Alright, she’d discovered she actually liked it when Miles or Damien watched! But she sure as hell hadn’t counted on an auditorium full of spectators!

Not but what they seemed to be more interested in their own play, she thought, casting her gaze around and discovering she was caught in the middle of an orgy.

Hectic color filled her cheeks again in spite of all she could do when she glanced to her right and discovered Felicity similarly occupied.

Unfortunately, it was just her dumb luck that the ‘flash’ coincided with a completely innocent and accidental glance at one of the mermen who’d just managed to throw off his opponent. He locked gazes with her and surged toward her.

She felt her eyes widen with horror, but she couldn’t move. She seemed frozen to the spot … until he reached for her. She shot up from the ledge.

…. And right into his waiting arms.

He caught her tightly against his chest, curling over her and forcing her to bend forward. She felt his groin connect with her buttocks as he bound her more tightly. She uttered a strangled gurgle as she felt his cock find its way along her cleft, bucking ineffectually to try to throw him off. It seemed to excite him.

Or maybe it was the fact that the head of his cock had found the right spot and was currently trying to split her in two as it forced its way slowly inside her?

Alright, so now she
completely
understood why their cocks were prehensile and why they were all so well endowed!

He began to croon in her ear as his cock finally managed to burrow into her channel. Goose-bumps erupted all over her. He shifted his grip on her, catching her breasts with one arm and slipping his other hand along her belly until he found her clit with his finger.

Despite everything—the nearly painful entry, the fact that she felt as if she’d been impaled on a telephone pole, the audience—Angie felt heat flash through as he pinched the nipple of one breast, rolling it with fingers, and pinched her clit with the other. She groaned. It emerged from her as a long, haunting, mournful sound.

His cock began to vibrate with his rising excitement. He bit down on her shoulder, bringing her to the edge of pain, pumping his hips to drive his cock deeper, and then began a rhythmic thrust and retreat once he’d claimed her fully. She lost awareness of anything else as she felt the heated glide of his flesh along her channel, felt the vibrations of his excitement shimmying against her g-spot.

She came within moments, shuddering, moaning despite her best efforts not to.

He stilled, holding her tightly as his body convulsed with his own release.

And then he nuzzled his face against the side of her neck. “Sweet little love,” he murmured. “I knew you’d be sweet.”

Startled, Angie twisted her head to look at him as he finally, with obvious reluctance, pulled his flesh from her. A vague sense of recognition flickered in her mind, but how could she possibly recognize him? She hadn’t actually met any mermen except Damien and Miles.

The flash of recognition solidified in her mind, though, as her gaze flickered over his face and she noticed the square jaw, the dimpled chin, and this hard, uncompromising mouth.

She blinked, suddenly certain it was the
mertiz
even though much of his face had been shadowy and the reflection of the lighting in the room had prevented her from seeing him clearly anyway.

That mouth, though, she definitely remembered that—and the dimpled chin, the hard, square jaw. She stared at him for a long moment before she managed to drag her gaze away, her chaotic mind registering his height, breadth, and brawn and the remarkably handsome face that went with the cock that had just plowed her fervently.

She wasn’t certain what she was expected to do when he withdrew from her and moved away. Unfortunately, it was instinct to look for Damien for help and the moment she met his gaze, blood flushed her cheeks at the look in his eyes.

He’d watched her with the other man.

He surged toward her.

Her jaw sagged.

Grabbing her, he whipped her around, positioned her and plowed into her. Her breath left her in a grunt, but pleasure instantly erupted inside her. She squeezed her eyes shut, glorying in the feel of him inside her, the strength of the chest she was pressed so tightly against, the play of his hands over her body. “Angie,” he murmured raggedly, cupping her face in his hand and drawing her mouth to match to his.