Slipping a hand between us, he lines himself up at my entrance. I suck in a breath to hold, waiting for the moment he slides all the way in. Only it never happens.
"Look at me, damselfish," he tells me.
I didn't even realize my eyes had fallen closed. Now that they're open, I'm stunned by the reverent expression on my mate's face. I never knew it was possible to feel like this with a simple look. Cherished. Loved. Worshiped. Without another word, Zale sheaths himself fully inside of me, stealing my breath for a second time.
"Merciful gods, Rubi," he groans, forehead dropping to mine. "I don't think I've ever felt anything as good as you do right now."
I wish I could say something sweet or smooth at this moment, but as his hips start moving, I can't form a sentence to save my life. My mouth opens, but all that comes out is a soft moan of Zale's name. When his hips surge forward again, I lock my legs around his waist, wanting there to be no empty space between us. He obliges by dropping the rest of his weight on me, forcing me to sink further into the spongy material at my back.
A feeling of guilt tries to rise up as I think of the ways my other mates make me feel. I shouldn't be thinking of them in Zale's moment, but I can't help it. I adore the way each of them chooses to love and make love to me with their own unique personalities. The thought of them and the possibility of being with all three of them like this has my core clenching tight around Zale in a truly delicious way. He must think so too if the soft sound that slips through his lips is anything to go by.
Rising up to his hands, the angle in which this drives him hits a new spot within me that makes my back arch off the floor in pleasure. His pace is slow and sweet, building me up higher and higher. My fingertips brush across the skin of his back, and he shudders above me. Moving faster now, his hips start to drive into me with determination. As much as we're both wanting this moment to last, I can't help the pulsing feeling in my core when he pushes me over the edge, triggering his own release. His cock is still filling me full when he brings his lips back down to mine again. I get a few seconds to enjoy the moment before a fire demands attention on my chest.
Reaching up to rip it from my own neck, it scalds the hell out of my hand. The pain from both is worse than the other two times combined. Zale tears the thing from me, but the pain doesn't stop. I'm barely conscious of him yelling my name and shaking me before I blackout.
The darkness gives way to a light so blinding I have to bring my hand up to shield my eyes from it. Just as they've adjusted and can see I'm in a room I've never been in before, a voice calls out, "So good of you to call, child."
Blinking a few times, I try to make sense of the witch standing in front of me as I clear my throat and tell her, "I didn't call you."
She plops her ass down at a chair beside the table and snickers. "Of course you did, Eurybia. As soon as you claimed your third mate and tried to override my magic."
Doing a wave of her fingers, she continues, "And my work is impeccable if I do say so myself."
"What do you mean?" I ask. This feels like a dream, and my head is filled with fog.
"Your markings, of course," she says with a smile, motioning towards my neck then to a mirror hanging on the wall.
Wanting to understand at least a small amount of what's going on, I waste no time moving to stand in front of it. There I find myself staring at my reflection. I look like normal plain Jane Rubi, but I don't. Leaning closer to the mirror, I spot a faint white design in the shape of my mates' talismans. A gasp slips between my teeth before I can stop it.
Whirling on her, I demand, "What have you done to me?"
She cackles. "Personally, I did nothing. You accepted your destiny the moment you accepted those pretty mer mates of yours. Magic of this magnitude always leaves its mark on the world. You just happened to be what they chose to brand. I'd apologize, but even you must admit the beauty in my work."
I try to recall the etiquette for dealing with a witch. Do I tell her I'd rather not have the blemishes on my body and risk offending her? Or thank her for them?
Sighing, she looks to the ceiling. "No need to overthink it, child. What's done is done. Now, I do believe you likely called for me to ask some questions, yes? We don't have a whole lot of time here, so we best make haste."
I want to argue again and tell her I didn't call for her, but as the thought crosses my mind, I realize I do have questions.
"Is the curse broken now?" I ask quickly.
Her lips purse together into a thin line, and her expression says she's debating on how to reply before she finally does. "That was another's magic that placed the bind on the people of the sea. Both she and her magic are tainted by darkness."
The last is said on a quiet whisper as she glances around like the walls can hear her. A chill creeps up my spine, and my eyes flick to the dark corners of the room.
In a whisper, she informs me, "During the wars of the sea people, they were so distracted by their own follies that none of them caught onto the darkness sweeping across this realm. It took root within those of the blackest of hearts and turned them to rot from the inside out. The curse was justified seeing as that's the only thing to stop the sea people from destroying the entire realm. What they didn't see was that their rulers were cursed even before that when that darkness buried itself within their bodies and mind. They say it whispers to you and makes you do horrible and unspeakable things. Unfortunately, when the witch who placed the curse lost her son, she became an easy target for the darkness, and it consumed her entire being. So, when she went to place the curse, the desired effects were tenfold. No one truly knows what it will take for the curse to be broken. The only way to find out would be to ask the witch herself but considering no one has seen her since the end of the war, that feat would be near impossible."
"But we thought we were onto something because when we mated, the princes got their magic back. I even have magic now," I admit just as quietly.
She's already shaking her head before I'm through talking. "I told you. The talismans were of my own creation. They were there to spare the princes their sanity, so they'd be able to rule once the curse is broken."
"How?" I ask desperately. "How do we find out how to break it?"
A nervous tic starts at the bottom corner of her lips. "It's said that when she was last seen, a spell or riddle of sorts spewed from her mouth only once. Then the only word she would mutter was the number four."
"Is there a way we can find out what she said?" I ask.
Again with another quick shake of her head. "I've tried more times than I can count to go back in time to that day. I've searched the memories of one present with her that day, but the darkness inks the memory out as though it was never there to begin with."
Devastated at the news, I take the seat across from her at the table. All of this was for nothing. The Zs may have gotten their magic back and acquired a mate in the process, but we're no closer to breaking this curse for their people today than we were when they pulled me here. Choking back the tears that are threatening to spill down my cheeks, I try to pull myself together for the sake of gathering more information.
Raising my gaze to the witch across from me, I can honestly say both her pride and sadness are written across her face.