Thomas swallowed hard for a minute. He backed away, dropping his eyes respectfully.
“Is your hand okay?” Anthony pointed to the bandage, letting the youth off the hook. Heck, he remembered what it felt like to be seventeen and around Alexia.
The youth’s chin flipped up and he grinned maliciously. “This? Just a scratch. Got it when a bunch of us decided to knife Marley’s tires.”
Holy shit, the kid was a handful. Anthony snorted. “I never heard that, Thomas. Never heard a word of it. Hey, you keep your eyes and ears open for me, okay?”
Thomas flicked a salute, and with one last quick glance at Alexia, he jogged off down the boardwalk.
Chapter Twelve
The warm night air blew around her body as Alexia stood on the deck staring at the ocean. Less than a week since she’d arrived to “help” her Gram. Less than a week to have her whole life turned upside down and sideways, to fall in love with two men and a whole race of people she hadn’t known existed. She wrapped the robe a little tighter around her body, the silky smoothness caressing her skin even as she longed to throw off the garment and stride naked into the water.
She laughed at herself. More things had changed than she’d realized. The shy little girl had become a wanton exhibitionist.
A pair of strong arms surrounded her and she turned, nestling in tightly to Joshua’s embrace. His kisses bathed her neck and she hummed with pleasure.
“Are you ready?” He touched her forehead with a final kiss.
Was she ready? She thought so. Anthony had reassured her she would be able to transform soon. She was showing all the signs and simply needed the catalyst of the call to push her over the edge. Alexia shivered at the thought of being surrounded by the men of the pod.
“Hey, don’t worry. We’ll be there, Anthony and I. We’re never going to leave you.” Joshua leaned back and looked at her with such tenderness in his eyes her heart ached. “I have to make a confession. You know how we told you we follow the dolphins in our mating habits? How some merfolk don’t have life mates?”
Alexia nodded. Her skin felt tight and tingly over a heart already stretched to the breaking point. Joshua’s emotions covered her like hot molten lava.
“I lied. You’re mine and I’m never giving you up. We’re meant to be together. We were always meant to be together.” Joshua dropped to his knees and held her hand. “Alexia Colten, will you marry me?”
Her throat was choked tight with emotion as she stared at him. She wanted this, wanted it badly. But… “What about Anthony?” she whispered. He was in her heart as well and she couldn’t give him up. Not even for Joshua.
Joshua snorted. “Since he says he’s so good with words he can ask you himself.”
“You mean marry both of you? That’s not possible. It’s not legal.” Alexia tugged on his hand, trying to pull him up.
He refused to budge. “You don’t want to marry me? Is that what you’re saying?”
Now he was being frustrating. What did it matter what she wanted if she couldn’t have it? “Of course I want to marry you—”
Joshua leapt up and swept her into his arms, covering her with kisses. She giggled and returned his embrace, her mouth rejoicing as the taste of him poured through her system.
A soft cough interrupted them and Alexia pulled back with a grin to face Anthony. He held a single red rose in his hands and he smiled sweetly as he approached.
“I see I’m late for the party. Joshua, you ass. You said you’d wait for me.” Anthony punched his cousin lightly on the arm before facing Alexia and dipping his head respectfully. “My lady. For you.” He handed her the rose as he dropped to his knee.
Alexia’s heart swelled and overflowed, tears rising in her eyes as Anthony kissed her fingers. His expression showed his longing and the heat hidden deep within him that rocked her to the core. It couldn’t be true and yet it was.
“Will you marry me, Alexia? Let us stay together forever and raise a family? Let me support you as you lead our pod into the future? I’m lost without you.”
Joshua muttered in the background, “Now you know why I wanted to go first. Damn poetic English teacher…”
Alexia waved a hand at Joshua and sniffed back tears of joy. She dropped to her knees and threw herself into Anthony’s arms, kissing him and accepting his kisses.
One week. A whole new life.
Amazing.
The moonlight sparkled on the surface of the water as she approached the shoreline. Alexia was alone, for the moment. Joshua and Anthony had kissed her back at the house and left her to initiate the call on her own.
Her skin tingled harder than ever, and she stopped to stretch her arms and rotate her wrists, a pale blue shadow dancing over her skin. She longed for the water, but more than that she was excited beyond belief. Every step she took made her pussy throb as blood rushed to swell her labia, her breasts tight and aching for a touch. The whole situation would have been funny if it wasn’t so frustrating.
She needed a lover with every inch of her being.
Her robe slipped from her shoulders, and she dropped it to the sand above the tide line. Alexia stepped into the water, the cool caress on her feet and calves contrasting with the heat racing through her. She stopped when the water reached her thighs and held up the medallion. The weight seemed heavier on her palm than before and she squeezed it tightly, little bits of blue radiating from between her fingers. Whatever she had received from Anthony and Joshua seemed to have affected the medallion.
Hopefully it had been enough for her blood.
Turning to face the open ocean, Alexia stepped forward until the tide covered her chest. A bright blue light flashed as the medallion sank under the waves and she took a deep breath. Whatever needed to happen had begun.
The sexual tension in her body spiked and she gasped. The water cradled her like a lover, a fleeting brush against her tender and sensitive skin. The muscles in her back and her arms tightened in painful ripples. Flickers of light from the medallion shot out in flares, wrapping her torso in long fingers that glowed with the reflected light of the moon.
Alexia swayed in the pull of the current.
Waiting. Longing. Needing.
In the distance she saw them approach. Beautiful bodies leaping through the waves, like she’d seen so many years before. They came to her, to her side, and she held her chin high and watched with pride.
They all came. Every one of the men she’d seen on the dance floor, everyone she’d met over the years growing up, the boys of summer now grown men. Her body pulsed with desire as she rotated and watched them enclose her in their midst. Anthony had thought some of them might stay away, but she swore there were more than ever standing naked in a circle around her, hard bodies and smooth skin glistening in the moonlight.
A streak of blue raced over the water toward her, and she laughed as Joshua changed and joined the throng, his bright green eyes sparkling at her. It was so right that he arrived in his fire form, and she held out her arms and pulled him to her, the touch of his body easing the pain of arousal while he lit her heart on fire.
“Is he your choice, my lady?” a deep voice asked. She turned to see Braden step toward her. “There are others here who would serve you as well.”
She held up a hand to stop him from touching her, the thought of his caress turning her stomach until she felt his intent. His emotion swept out, no secrets kept. He was on her side and approved of both Joshua and Anthony, but he was concerned there was danger. He moved closer and she let him move into position as a guard beside them, trusting her instinct.
Joshua stiffened, and she smoothed a hand up his neck and reached to kiss him. She brushed her lips over his ear and whispered, “Trust me.”