Mermaid's Cove

13

Moria

I always found it ironic that I was ended up with a god, since I hate people telling me what to do. He enters the room, rubbing the back of his neck with a sigh.

His body is long and lithe, his chest broad, and his shoulders wide, his waist tiny. His eyes focus on me when he walks in.

"You aren't to visit any other bedrooms but this one." He informs me, "And Moria?"

I look to at him.

He stands over my body, grabbing my face. "Be...careful."

My belly flutters. I hate when people tell me what to do and yet. "What is this time?" I ask.

His grip loosens and he sighs, kissing my head. His clothing melts off him, revealing his perfectly toned belly, the wisp of blue hair upon his belly.

"It's nothing of import, my love." He says softly, his lips brushing against mine cool. He's different, but I can't place what it is. It's hard to think, when our lips are connected. He's not kissing me. Our lips press against one another's still, taking me in. "How I have missed tasting you."

"Youin," I whisper, my fingers clinging the sheer of his clothing, our foreheads together.

"Mh...my name tastes best from your lips, my wife."

I shiver at his deep voice, inundating me. "Youin, are you okay?"

His brows raise and he chuckled into my mouth, and I adore the taste of his laughter. "I am Youin. I am always...okay."

I smile because I can't help it, but my fists clench tighter as I shake my head.

"What?" He asks softly. "What?"

"Why do I have to sacrifice so much for you? Why do I forget about it when you touch me?" I push my fist into his chest. He leans over me, holding my wrists still.

"Shhh, you don't have to think of it right now. We're together," he nudged my nose with his, finally claiming my lips in a deep kiss, his tongue sweeping my mouth. He forces my wrists up, holding them still with one of his hands. I want to protest. To curse him.

But I don't. I'm being devoured by him. He's blinding. He pulls back licking my lower lip.

"You look even more beautiful, than the day that I left you," I murmur.

His long hair curtains the room off for me, drowning the two of us in darkness. But I see his smirk.

He pulls back, and crosses the room in three strides sitting at the small table in the corner of the room. I sit up, leaning back on hands.

"Will you make me some rum?" I ask him.

He glanced at me. "It won't make you drunk."

I shrug. "It's the principle. A cigar too?"

He nods softly, the loose shape of a barrel bubbling before coming to life. I grin.

"Drink with me." I demand, looking up as a swarm of bubbles form on my head. My hat forms, with every mark, every crease, every year. I grin, and pull it down to hide my expression.

"There you are, Captain Moira. you too, are as beautiful as the day I left you." He murmurs, forming two mugs, snapping his fingers, forcing the jug into the air, filling the mugs. The air is full of tension. I sit on the other side of him at the table, drinking in the ale he's made with gusto, leaning it down with a large sigh.

"It's been a while since I had a proper drink," I lament.

He sips the ale with clear distaste. "Oh? Why?"

I shift and contemplate lying. "Not a good example for the child, Water God."

He smiles at the name. "It's not as if he can become inebriated from this drivel. It's akin to...whatever humans drink that isn't good or bad for them."

I chuckle. So he's still mostly clueless on human ways. It's still endearing. Until it isn't. Until he doesn't understand why a mother loves her child, and why empathy is necessary.

"Well...there are no children here. Just us. Drink to your hearts delight."

"And you won't even complain?" I muse.

He cocks his brow hiding his smirk in his ale. "Only a little." His eyes rake up my body, focusing in to any exposed flesh. The little bit of my chest exposed by the few open buttons on my shirt. My wrists. My face. My hands. As if he's hungry for them.

I cross my legs tightly, trying to keep my composure. Why are we playing this game? He's taken me on every surface of this room. In every position. One clone. Two.

So why the reluctance now? I would assume he doesn't want me anymore, but the erection pressed feverishly against his clothing says otherwise.

"Tell me about him," he says suddenly, his elegant fingers swirling around the lip of the mug. He glanced up at my silence and smiles. "Calder."

I shift. "He's...a sweet and caring child. A little smart mouthed but we're working on it."

"Didn't he call me a bastard?" Youin muses, his fingers making another round on the mug, disdain at the beverage clear.

"Well..." I shrug. "He's just a child."

And Youin let's it go, not because he cares about not harming children but because Calder is mine or maybe because he's his. It doesn't matter as long as the result is the same.

"You're no good for me," I murmur. "You sink me down to the ocean floor and watch me gasp for air."

He raised his brows, and pats his lap. I get up, cross the length of the table and settle myself in his lap, feel his fingers wrap around my arm.

"I am there with you. Gasping," he murmurs back, his lips resting on my shoulders. "I brought you into eternity with me. And if you were to perish, I would follow you to mortality. You are mine, and our destinies are intertwined."