LongfellowsLovers Read online

  Ky’s eyes blinked open, and Jax let his hand drifted down Ari’s soft round cheek. Great Ocean, what in the world were they going to do? She was everything to him, he’d never felt so alive as he did balls-deep inside his flame-haired witch. He was able to relax in her presence, no longer the eldest nest-child responsible for his kin. No, he was just Ky, her lover. She asked for nothing more. Of course he’d have to do something about that appetite of hers. Dwelling in the ocean burned more calories than walking about on the sand.

  He delicately stroked until her eyes fluttered open.

  “The ocean calls,” he whispered softly. “Come swim with us.”

  Ky placed a soft kiss on her shoulder before echoing his brother. “Yes, Ariana. Come swim with us.”

  Ariana rose, rubbing her eyes. She yawned and then yelped as Jax picked her up and carried her outside.

  “Jaxon,” she squeaked. “I’m naked.”

  “I know.” He gave her a teasing leer. “I like it.”

  “Ariana,” Ky added seriously, “why would you want clothes when you swim in the ocean? How could you feel the water, the life washing over you, washing you clean?” He jogged the short distance to the beach. Ignoring every one of Ari’s protests, Jax followed with Ari caught high against his chest. He carried her into the surf, far enough out that when he set her on her feet, she was up to her neck in water.

  Something brushed against her legs, and she jerked in surprise. She cried out as it brushed her legs again and Jax took off, diving under the water. She turned around and realized that Ky was nowhere to be seen.

  She knew she wasn’t in danger, knew that Ky and Jax would protect her with their lives, but she couldn’t quite squash the spurt of panic as she felt two more bumps to her legs. The opening scene from Jaws kept playing in her head. When she tried to put her foot back down, she couldn’t. Somehow she’d floated farther out into the ocean.

  She treaded water as real fear took hold of her.

  “Jaxon, Ky, where the hell are you?” she yelled into the black night sky.

  Suddenly two great sprays of water flew into the air, one on each side of her, followed by her Mermen. They leaped out of the water, one aqua tail, and one a purple so dark it looked black in the twilight. They flew through the air, spinning dizzily and laughing before they dived back into the water.

  The sight took Ari’s breath. She had never witnessed anything as beautiful as the two males as they made wide arcs up out of the water and dived gracefully back beneath it.

  Ky surfaced next to her. Tossing his wet hair back, he shot her a smile that sent heat pooling in interesting places. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling back. Somehow here, in the ocean, he seemed younger. Less tired. Less worried. More free.

  Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her, his wet tongue sliding into her mouth. He tasted like the salty water and cloves. Releasing her, he laughed. Oh Goddess, what a laugh he had. Rich as caramel, soft as velvet. The heat that had been pooling in her core spread, flashing through her body. She floated there, breathless, speechless, until he pulled her arms around his neck.

  “Get on my back, Ariana, and we’ll go for a ride.”

  Ari grabbed his neck as he turned. She wrapped her legs around his waist.

  “Remember to hold your breath when we dive.” He laughed as Ari’s grip tightened.

  He dived easily below the water. He swam smoothly, cutting cleanly through the water. He seemed almost able to read her mind, always surfacing before she ran out of air.

  She squealed with laughter when he leaped out of the water. It felt like flying. And the landings never hurt. Unlike her own clumsy attempts at diving, which ended more often than not in an ignominious belly flop, he seemed to open a path for her fragile body whenever he dived.

  She couldn’t say how long they played, chasing Jax, playing hide-and-seek and tag in the cool depths of the ocean. She only knew that when they surfaced she was breathless from laughter and Ky held her in his arms, swimming in slow circles, kissing her lazily. It must have been among the top five most beautiful moments of Ari’s life. In the distance Ari swore she heard the sound of dolphins and whale song.

  Jax must have felt left out, because it wasn’t long before he popped up next to them, floating on his back. He gave them a wicked grin before bringing up his large tail and sent a huge wave crashing over their heads. And the race was on again.

  The moon was riding low in the sky when her males led her to the beach again. She watched in fascination as their tails seemed to melt into those strong, thick thighs.

  “Oh my Goddess, that was so much fun,” she panted, flopping back on the wet sand, letting the water roll over her thighs.

  Jax dropped to all fours over her and placed a kiss on her wet nose.

  “You’re a total water goddess.” He grinned. Dropping back so he sat on his heels, he took her hands and tugged her into a sitting position. “And now, my little mermaid, I want you on your knees, because if you thought that was fun,” he gestured to the moonlit water, “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

  * * * * *

  After a long shower, which included numerous kisses and caresses under the hot spray, the three lovers collapsed on the bed. Her males surrounded her, like a sexy merman/Ariana sandwich. A girl could get used to this kind of treatment.

  “So then the king found his secret stash and Jaxon got to spend the next month scraping barnacles from the outer walls of the palace.” Ari laughed until her sides were hurting. For over an hour now her males had regaled her with stories of their childhood. The workings of their world. The intricate family structures they had.

  “I would have loved to have seen that,” she commented absently, suddenly missing her sisters.

  “Don’t be sad, Ari,” Jax said, seeming to catch her sudden melancholy. “We’re mated now. You will see it all for yourself when we take you there.” He stroked her hair reassuringly.

  Ky nuzzled into the crook of her neck and added, “You should sleep, beloved. Tomorrow will be a long day. The journey is long, and the king will want to see you.” His tongue traced a hot pattern behind her ear. “And your mates will need your attention.”

  Ariana stilled her heart racing. A long day tomorrow? A journey? The king? They couldn’t possibly mean… No, that couldn’t be. She was human, no gills and no tail. She couldn’t survive underwater. And she couldn’t leave her family.

  “I’m not merkin,” she said cautiously. “I can’t live with you underwater.”

  Jax kissed her forehead. “Of course you can. When we gave you our seed it transformed your body. With just a little practice you’ll be able to breathe the water as easily as if it were air. You’ll be able to live with us, in our home.”

  Ariana sat up.

  “You don’t understand. I can’t live with you underwater. I can’t just leave my family, my friends, my home.” Her voice was gaining urgency, her stomach was knotting up. Dear Goddess, how much did she want this? But it wasn’t meant to be. She too was raised in a strong family and there was no way they would allow her to disappear beneath the ocean forever.

  Ky was strangely quiet and stiff as he moved to a sitting position as well. “We are your family, Ariana. We are your home. You mated with us. You took us into your body and accepted us,” he said, his tone calm and even, almost emotionless. “Merkin only mate once. The Great Power chose you for us. Without you, we will be…” He trailed off, and Ari felt her heart break. Her proud warrior wouldn’t admit his fear of being left alone. But still…

  Ari climbed to the end of the bed. She turned to face her lovers. Her heart hurt even more at the sight of their beautiful faces, seemingly set in stone.

  “Please try to understand. I want to be with you, the Goddess knows how much I want to be with you.”

  “Then there is no issue.” Ky’s voice remained level, neutral. “You want to be with us. We will have you with us.”

  “You don’t understand. I have responsibilities. I have a l
ife in another world, far separate from yours.”

  “We can’t let you go, Ari. We quite literally can’t survive without you.” Jax gave her a sad smile. “And we can’t let our story be recorded,” he said quietly. His face no longer impassive, he looked solemn.

  “Jax, I need to record your story. No other humans will know, but I can’t keep you a secret from my family. I can’t betray my family, my Guild, in that way.” She reached a beseeching hand toward her mates, pleading for their understanding.

  “Enough!” Ky’s sudden outburst practically knocked Ari off the bed. Scrambling to her feet, she listened in disbelief as her serious, controlled mate roared, “You will not tell anyone, because you no longer belong to this world. You belong to us, and as such you belong in our world.”

  Ari's heart was breaking, but she could feel her own anger coming to a boil.

  “How dare you tell me where I do and do not belong?” She pointed an accusatory finger at both males. “You never told me what having sex with you would do, what it would mean. You never gave me a choice.” She knew she was stretching the truth, but once she started she couldn’t seem to stop. “Oh no, you just whipped out the pheromones and took what you wanted.”

  Ky exploded to his feet. Grabbing Ari’s arm, he flung her to the bed, following her down to crush her into the mattress. She felt his ragged breath on her cheek, his cock a steely bar pressing into the softness of her tummy.

  Chapter Eight

  “Sex?” His voice was a feral growl. “You think what we shared was mere sex?” He ground his hips against her. “It was much more than sex, Ariana, and I know you felt it too. When you look at us, when you open your sweet thighs for us, that isn’t sex. We don’t fuck you, mate. We love you. And you know that beyond any words.”

  “How can you spend a single day with me and know this for sure?” Tears were slipping from her eyes, wetting her tangled hair.

  “Ariana, beloved, we knew deep in our soul the moment we saw you that you were ours.” Ky’s voice was implacable. “You belong to us, mate. Just as we belong to you. We aren’t human, our needs, our love doesn’t follow the conventions of your kind. Why is it that human beings believe that love happens in a specific timeframe? That long courtships are what matter? You live here.” He laid his hand over his heart. “The minute we saw you the connection was made and now you want to break what is now our lifeline.”

  She shook her head, trying to shake his resolve. “Nothing is ever that simple.”

  Ky framed her face with hard hands, forcing her to look him in the eyes. “You are wrong, beloved. It is that simple.” What she saw in his eyes squeezed her heart. In those deep-purple eyes, she saw the truth. Hell, she too felt it in her heart, her very soul, part of Ky and Jaxon lived there. It was more than a feeling—it was like an actual piece of them were there.

  Ever the peacemaker, Jax smoothed his hand over her hair. “He’s telling you the truth, love. And you know this truth in your heart. It was written by Fate and nothing, not even your doubts, can change it.”

  Ky’s teeth grazed her neck, marking her possessively. “Even now your body is begging us to take you again, just as we are ready to have you again.”

  And, damn it, it was true. Involuntarily Ariana relaxed under Ky’s heavy weight. Since the moment he’d pinned her to the bed she’d been softening, going hot and liquid inside. And he knew it.

  With a supple twist of his hips, he wedged his thighs between hers. One long stroke embedded him fully inside her. Her head arched back in ecstasy, and Jax caught her mouth in a blistering kiss.

  Ky slid his hands underneath her thighs, gripping firmly, and pumped, short, fast digs of his cock into her clinging, burning sheath. He pounded into her as though trying to mark her, trying to bury himself so deep that he’d be a part of her forever.

  Jax continued to kiss her, cupping her jaw with one hand while using the other to guide her hand to his cock. She clutched at it, dragging her hand almost roughly along the swollen length, drinking in his throttled moan of ecstasy. Ky pounded into her, a confusion of sensations as Jax slid his hand down her body, tweaking her engorged nipples before sliding down between her thighs, plumping her clit and circling it. The pressure was more than she could stand and her body convulsed as she came hard. Her climax triggered theirs, and her name fell from their lips as they filled her, surrounded her and completed the circuit.

  * * * * *

  They woke her in the night, Jax sliding into her silken folds, latching on to one nipple. Ky had moved to her side and latched on to the other. Jax pounded into her relentlessly, marking her body and soul as surely as Ky had done earlier. He had to make her admit that she was theirs.

  They had to make her understand that she belonged with them. Without her, they would never again know true love, lasting and soul-deep, burning love for another female. This was a one-shot deal, Jax knew, and he wasn’t about to give it up so easily.

  His hands dug into her ass hard, and she melted, sending her liquid heat rushing across him.

  Ari’s orgasm triggered his own. He gave one final thrust and ejaculated deep within her, filling her one last time with his seed and his spirit. Spent, he collapsed over her, breathing in the salt and spice of her skin before falling over to the unoccupied side of the bed.

  “Stay here,” she whispered brokenly. “You can both stay with me.”

  “If I could, I would spend my life with you on the earth’s surface.” He knew Ky would willingly do so, too. “But the ocean’s call is too strong. Our bodies couldn’t tolerate extended periods on land. Too long on dry land and our bodies, accustomed to the buoyant salt sea, would become consumed by a pain that would grow more and more excruciating, until we had to seek the ocean or die of it.”

  Her tears stained his chest and he had to hold back his own. Chancing a look at Ky, he felt his brother’s pain as clearly as his own. Ky was pale, the angles of his face stark and unmoving.

  They clung together and she whispered, “I’m so sorry. I would give anything.”

  Anything, Jax thought, except what they needed her to give. Surprisingly it was Ky who stroked her hair, whispering that everything would work out, soothing her aching soul. Jax closed his eyes and held her tighter still, praying to the Great Power for some answer, some escape from the pain. He wouldn’t have given Ariana to them only to take her away. He wasn’t cruel like that. He loved the ocean dwellers. They had wonderful lives and rarely had to suffer from anything. You could find no happier beings on the planet than those who loved below.

  * * * * *

  The morning sun broke through the window, sending shards of golden light to poke at Ari’s closed eyelids. She groaned and turned, reaching out. The bed was empty. She felt behind her and the sheet was cold there as well. Suddenly wide-awake, she sat up, looking around. The smell of the ocean was gone from her room. Ky and Jax were gone from her bed. Gone from her life.

  She fell back on the bed, fisting the sheets. The pain in her heart drove her to her side, holding her knees to her chest as great shudders coursed through her body. It wasn’t fair. Why did the Goddess allow her to fall for these two men only to strip them from her life so quickly?

  They were gone. Gone because she was afraid to leave her family and her life in order to be with them. Gone because none of them were willing to find a compromise. Gone, and Ari felt their absence like a physical wound. There was a hole in the vicinity of her heart. It wasn’t like the kind of heartbreak a woman feels when she breaks up with a boyfriend. This was more powerful, deeper, and she’d never be the same again. The hole would never fill and happiness would only be felt by those around her. Happiness would never touch her soul again.

  She’d felt Ky’s withdrawal last night as he soothed her to sleep. Deep down she’d known that they’d be gone in the morning. Still, she hadn’t anticipated the soul-deep agony of waking up alone.

  Gone. Her lovers, her mates, were back in the ocean where they belonged and she was here on
dry land. They’d said that they could have only one mate, that without her they would be alone forever. Ari knew that the same was true for her. She would never love another, never feel a bond like the one she’d had with Ky and Jaxon. Hell, she didn’t want to. Not when severing the bond caused such pain.

  Closing her eyes, she remembered every moment they’d shared. Every touch. Every caress and kiss. Helpless, she gave herself over to the tears she’d been trying to hold inside and cried like a woman who had lost everything.

  * * * * *

  Poseidon hadn’t become King of the ocean dwellers by being blind. Or stupid. His sons floated before him, each the image of their beautiful mothers, radiating suppressed anguish like toxic chemicals.

  They’d mated, and what should have been an occasion for celebration was instead cause for alarm. For they’d mated with a Longfellow. And not just any Longfellow, but an Historian, a woman who would expose them and end existence as they knew it.

  His beloved sons, fierce warriors and cunning strategists. Their pain cut through him, becoming his own. As he studied them thoughtfully, it occurred to him that the Great Power would not have bonded them to one unworthy. That perhaps there was more here than was immediately discernible. When the boys approached him, his anger thundered under the water, shaking rock and coral lose. Schools of fish scattered to hide, for they knew their king was angry. Now looking into the eyes of his sons, he saw their souls were broken, they were only half merkin and doomed to a life of loneliness and sorrow. Something that was a rare idea down here in his peaceful kingdom.

  Closing his eyes, Poseidon listened.

  * * * * *

  Ariana stood on the beach and swallowed back tears. Her flight was due to leave a few short hours, but she couldn’t leave like this. What should have been a summer romance had become so much more. She couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.

  She waded into the ocean, not stopping until the cool water frothed gently around the tops of her thighs, teasing her pussy beneath the light sundress that billowed around her. In the ocean’s embrace, she felt closer to her males, her mates.