Page 11 of Anchored to the Storm

Holy shit.

Wide-eyed, Styx stared. Not with fear as much as amazement.

After she dropped from the air, precisely sinking back into the water, Styx shook his head, appearing jealous. “Have fun with Mrs. Possessive. I’m not sticking around to see what happens next.” He turned and headed back to the clubhouse.

It quickly dawned on me that I was in over my head. “Help?”

He flipped me a finger over his shoulder, then went back to eating his apple.

“Asshole.” I jerked as Saleeni began swimming back to me like an alligator. Her eyes were brimming at the water’s surface and locked on their target. Gulp! “Easy, girl.” I was literally treading in unknown territory. “Let’s talk about what’s, uh, coming next. Cool?”

She disappeared under the water.

“Or not.” I peered about, hoping to see a dock or a boat to crawl on for safety. “Fuck-fuck-fuck—” But there was no need for a rescue. I groaned deeply when a tongue pressed to the top of my jeans and made its way upward. My mouth was already open, waiting for her invasion, before it finally found home.

Once it did, I aggressively wrapped Saleeni up in my arms, not sure who was in more danger. Me or the sensational creature I wanted to eat alive. Guilt for being sexually aggressive faded as the urge to possess intensified to a boiling level. Tongues fighting and lips sucking, our kiss was violent. Air was barely even necessary. I didn’t want oxygen. Only her. Only her mouth, her body, and one other thing I was still trying to figure out.

I believed I was frustrated when my arms curled under hers to reach up and over to grab her shoulders, but the purr returned, echoing from inside her throat. The more it vibrated against my chest, the more a ravenous ache grew inside me. It built to a ferocity when her mouth pulled from mine so she could let her head fall back again, offering me her neck. Before, I had kissed it. This time I lunged. Mouth open wide with a desperate need to bite down.

I jerked back when visions of breaking her skin excited me. “What the fuck?”

Saleeni paid no attention to my reaction. She appeared lost in lust. Her eyelids heavy, she lifted her head, no longer exposing her neck, revealing a set of fangs that glistened in the moonlight.

A part of me was horrified; however, another part of me growled with my heightened sexual appetite. I wasn’t sure why, but I longed for this, grunting my response, “Do it if you dare.”

She dared. A hand was suddenly twisted in my hair, yanking my head back and forcing my gaze to the sky. Then razor-sharp teeth slashed the right side of my chest. It stung but made my dick scream for more. I groaned as she continued her delicious attack.

When it ended, her tongue licked the wounds, and fingers loosened on my hair. I felt high as if experiencing Grampa’s LSD.

Feeling out of my mind, yet spookily focused, I sensed it was now my turn. That’s when a pain in my upper jaw consumed me. My front teeth felt like they were rearranging, slowly. I went from an unimaginable sexual moment to one of intense pain and confusion. I tried to talk through the agony, “Sa-een—” but it was impossible. My mouth hung open, and blood began to drip out, the crimson droplets plopping into the ocean.

Saleeni jolted from her daze and held my cheeks. “Mad-G?” She tried to catch the blood as if wanting to pour it back into my mouth. She seemed to understand that blood was important for me to have. Like when she was so young, wrapping my hand in the water⁠—

Oh no. I held up my left hand, now wrapped because of the blood bonding with the Misfits.

Everything that was happening no longer felt divine and mind-blowing with a side of sex appeal. Now it became alarming. I was floating in water, trying to fuck a mermaid even though I didn’t know how, my mouth dripping blood because my body was altering in some way. I had recently done what now felt like the unthinkable. I might have infected my friends with whatever I was becoming. No, no, no, no…

Saleeni was rushing me back to the seawall as I asked, “Hav’ I hur’ my frien’s?”

Leaving me to tread water, her tail swooshed hard, and she rose out of the water. Facing the clubhouse, she let loose a shriek in the night.

She dropped back into the water, maneuvered to scoop me in her arms, then swoosh went her tail, and I was lifted onto the wall. She didn’t sink away this time. Next to me, her arms kept her planted at the edge.

Another shriek was sung out, all while I attempted to speak through the pain. “Wha’ are we?” I tried to wipe blood from my mouth. “I share’ my b’ood wi’ ’em!”

Eyes locked on me, Styx was running across the yard. “What happened?”

Propped on one arm, Saleeni smacked the top of the concrete wall, over and over. “Bad! Bad!”

Grateful we had no neighbors to witness this unravel, I tried to explain to Styx, “I migh’ ‘ave hur’ Mi’fi’s!”

In a rush, he took off his T-shirt and started wiping my mouth clear of blood to see where my injury was. Then he gawked at my chest. “What the—” He looked to Saleeni with wide eyes. “What does this symbol mean?”

Symbol?

Mouth throbbing, I peered down and saw my fresh cuts had already closed. The lines where I had been bleeding, due to her teeth, were now black, like her skin had turned when angry at Styx for interfering… The symbol was like no artwork I’d ever seen. It was actually badass. I had been marked by her. The image looked ancient appearance, like something you would imagine on the wall of a cave from many centuries ago.

Sadly, Saleeni couldn’t offer any answers. She seemed as baffled as we were. Tears slid down her beautiful cheeks as she stared at her artwork, ashamed she’d also been lost in a trance.