Bride of the Sea Monster - Eve Langlais Page 0,21
laugh more often than I recalled doing in the past. During dessert was when shit got serious.
Despite hearing the story from Shax that morning, I paid keen attention as Ian spoke about both his parents leaving when he was young. His dad because of the curse. His mom—
“She drowned herself?” I couldn’t help but repeat it incredulously. Shax hadn’t specified. “That’s awful.”
Ian feigned nonchalance. “I don’t really remember her.”
Still. It had to hurt. To know that he hadn’t meant enough for her to stay alive. “She shouldn’t have left you.”
“She loved my dad and was heartbroken when her love wasn’t enough to save him.”
Left unsaid was the fact that she didn’t have Farseer blood. The cruelty of the curse on Ian’s family plucked at me even harder. No wonder he was determined not to have a child. That this vile malediction would end with him.
I thought that was the saddest thing of all.
“What about you? You haven’t said anything about your family.” He changed the subject.
I launched into a recital of my childhood, the way I got punished before I’d even committed an infraction. The surprise of my mother’s passing. Railing against fate and having to learn that sometimes things were just meant to be.
When we finished a bottle of wine—only one and not enough to make me drunk—Ian walked me to my room where I planned to spend the night. The full moon already bathed the sky, and the baying and roaring of the shapeshifters on deck sounded. Best to stay out of their path lest one of them try to mount me in the throes of moon madness.
Stopping by my door, I glanced up at Ian, his strong jaw, his bright, clear blue eyes. That sexy, blond hair that had a permanent surfer vibe to it. I itched to touch it. But that wouldn’t be fair to him. I shouldn’t give him false hope.
“Thank you for dinner,” I said.
He shrugged. “What can I say? I slaved all day.”
My lips quirked. “What are you going to do for the rest of the evening?”
“Probably go back to my room and read Moby Dick. Got to get ready for my own big ocean debut.”
He jested about his imminent demise, and I frowned. “Day after tomorrow, we’ll be in Atlantis.”
“And?”
“Your uncle says we might find an answer in the library there.”
“Doubtful. My uncle has been looking my entire life.”
“Because he loves you.”
“He does.”
A silence stretched between us.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” I said questioningly.
He didn’t reply, but he did lean in and give me a kiss. Quick and hard on the lips. “Bye, Sasha.”
Off he strode, his tall, lanky frame eating up the hallway until he disappeared from sight.
I went into the room and leaned against the door, my lips tingling. I’d forgotten how it felt to have Ian kiss me.
How it ignited my senses.
Just the night before, I’d been ready to sleep with him. Heck, I’d married him. And then didn’t even give him the sex that should have been the automatic result.
A man about to lose his life to a beast. Who would never again feel the touch of a woman.
The very thought had me pacing. Balancing the reasons for and against.
For: The man deserved a last sexual meal.
Against: I wasn’t a whore.
For: He made me tingle.
Against: I’d brought my vibrator to handle tingles.
For: I liked him.
Against: I liked him.
Sigh. Why did this have to be so complicated?
Why indeed.
And had I so soon forgotten that he’d already declared himself uninterested? However, that was only because he’d thought I planned to give him pity sex. What if I gave him lusty, I-need-to-jump-your-bones sex? Surely, he’d be okay with that.
The problem was possibly being rejected again.
The future chose that moment to show me an image, a possibility.
I lay on the bed, naked, my body bowing, my fingers digging into the sheets. I panted as pleasure coursed through me. As his tongue plied the flesh between my legs. He lapped and tasted. Nibbled and teased.
“More.” I groaned.
I needed more. And he answered, rising over me, his muscled body gleaming with sweat, his eyes a passionate storm.
Ian covered me and filled me, and I screamed as I—
The vision abruptly halted, leaving me shaking. With desire.
What the hell? I’d never had such an intense vision before. Not one where I was actually present. Feeling it.
Oh, fuck me, it felt good.
“Is this your way of telling me to stop fucking around and get laid?”
My power remained quiet. It had made its point. Which was why I found