Into the Triangle (16 page)

The sharp pain and piercing pleasure overwhelmed him, and with a shout that could no doubt be heard on the other side of the palace, Gabe came. Shuddering, he spurted cum onto Paxton's stomach and chest. Gabe came so hard a drop of cum shot right up and hit Paxton's chin.

Paxton thrust up a few more times then froze; Gabe could feel the cock twitching inside him then a flood of warmth filled him. Gabe slumped down onto his mate's chest, gasping for breath and still shaking from the aftershocks of his orgasm. He lay there with his face in Paxton's neck, breathing hard, when out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the small glob of cum on his mate's chin.

Reaching out with his tongue, he licked it off his mate's face, humming happily at the mixture of his taste and Paxton's unique flavor.

Paxton sighed and Gabe felt his hand move up over his sweaty back, running along the slick skin until reaching his hair. Gabe smiled as his mate ran his fingers through his hair, enjoying the moment of closeness while it lasted.

"Someday," Paxton murmured, "I will take you while you wear the Consort crown. To watch your skin flush, and to see your hair plastered underneath it by our exertions… to see your eyes shine like the jewels you will have on…" He hummed in pleasure, seemingly at the thought, and Gabe laughed lightly.

"Pervert. You just want to screw me with the crown on because you like seeing me in it. And, because you know I only wear it when I have to," Gabe huffed. He didn't have to see Paxton's face to see his answering smile; it was in his voice.

"Perhaps you are right, my own. Would it make you feel better if I wore my coronet too?"

Gabe snorted. "Hardly. But I'm sure you'll persuade me to wear it somehow…" he replied in a suggestive tone.

Paxton chuckled and the two relaxed again.

All too soon, Gabe felt Paxton's cock soften and couldn't stop the small mewl of displeasure from sounding as his mate slipped out completely. Closing his eyes, he relaxed completely, mind already drifting.

I'd keep him inside me forever if I could
…
although that might look weird at the next advisor meeting
.

"We should bathe, my own, before you fall asleep," Paxton suggested.

Gabe sighed at the thought of losing his comfy spot on Paxton's chest, but nodded anyway. "Yeah, we're both covered in oil and semen… not a very pleasant mix."

"Come, my own," Paxton chuckled and coaxed as he carefully moved Gabe off his chest. He climbed off the bed then turned to reach down and pull Gabe into his arms. "Let me clean you then we can rest…. We will need all the sleep we can get before tomorrow."

"What's happening tomorrow?" Gabe asked sleepily as he relaxed in Paxton's arms and let his mate carry him toward the bathroom.

"The attack on Bimini Island will commence first thing in the morning. Father Willis will be dealt with once and for all."

Gabe's eyes shot open and he stared up at his mate with wide eyes.

"Tomorrow? You're going to war tomorrow?" Gabe asked.

Maybe I'm not so tired after all
.

Chapter 16

Armor gleamed in the muted light of the undersea morning, making the dozens of soldiers preparing for the coming battle shine. Servants rushed about, delivering weapons and bulging packs to every mer. Women delivered trays of food to all the different groups.

Gabe watched all the hustle and bustle from the safety of the balcony overlooking the square. He could see the grim faces of the mer as they readied for the fight, sharpening their weapons until they shone with deadly purpose. It was a sobering and heart-wrenching scene, especially when he noticed a number of different mer—obviously civilians—approaching the soldiers to hug and kiss their loved ones goodbye. Gabe knew in order for them to go to the surface, the soldiers had to be mated and able to walk on dry land; only mating allowed the mer to use the magic of their pearls to transform their tails into feet outside the city's limits.

It was a sobering scene.

How many of them won't return when this war is done
?
How many of the mer down there will lose their mates and reason for going to war in the first place
?

Gabe's stomach clenched and sweat beaded on his forehead. He couldn't stand the thought of so many innocent mer dying… and that didn't even include the humans on Bimini Island who might also die in the coming battle. So many of them probably didn't have a clue what was really going on or the horror Father Willis was committing behind their backs.

God, he was tired. After Paxton's big revelation the night before, Gabe had spent hours arguing with his mate about going to war. But Paxton had insisted it was the only course of action the Merfolk could take. The council had ruled that by turning a blind eye to Father Willis's evil, the entire island was guilty by association. Whether they knew what was happening was a moot point to them. Personally, Gabe thought the council wanted to just exterminate the island and start over fresh with the next humans to pass through the veil. Paxton disagreed, but insisted he was going to do everything in his power to ensure his people's, and most importantly to him Gabe's, safety from now on.

They'd eventually gone to bed at a standstill, neither willing to concede to the other.

This whole situation doesn't seem fair
…
but what can I do
?

"This sucks!" an angry voice grumbled from behind him.

Turning in surprise, Gabe raised a brow at the thunderous look on Aaron's face as he stomped onto the balcony.

"What's wrong?" Gabe asked as Aaron made his way over to his side. Resting his hip against the railing, Gabe turned to face his friend. "You don't look like you're having a good morning, regardless of what that giant hickey on your neck is telling me."

He couldn't stop himself from chuckling when Aaron blushed brightly and instantly slapped a hand over the large purple bruise on the side of his neck.

"Shut up." Aaron tried to glare at Gabe, but the corners of his lips were twitching. "I'm not talking about my relationship with Leando—which is fine, by the way, and improving every day—I'm talking about all this crap." He waved a hand toward the assembled soldiers below. "Leando is down there preparing with all his men, and when I mentioned wanting to go with him, he threw a fit! Practically banned me from not only coming with them to the island, but even mentioning it again. He wants me to stay here, where it's safe, while he goes off and plays war. It's not fair, damn it!"

Gabe nodded. "I know what you mean. I tried to talk Pax into letting me come along last night when he dropped the 'we're going to war tomorrow' bomb on me, but he refused to even listen. I guess when they talked about confronting Father Willis, I didn't realize it meant going to war with the whole island. And now Pax won't let me come with him! I mean, I understand why he's worried, given what happened before, but I'm just as concerned about him as he is about me! I know he will have people protecting him, but I'm his mate and I want to be beside him when he confronts the man who tried to kill us."

Gabe scrubbed a hand over his face in frustration. "I can't stop thinking about the fact that there are people going to die and for what? One man's obsession with gaining control and power? It pisses me off to no end!"

"But what can we do?" Aaron asked.

Gabe shook his head. He didn't have an answer to the problem unfortunately.

"This is ridiculous!"

Aaron and Gabe whipped around at the sound of the angry voice, eyes wide when they saw Mary storming onto the balcony.

She came right for them, red hair flipping about her shoulders. "Can you believe they're actually going to war? I know they need to stop Father Willis, but this is crazy!" She pointed out over the railing to the masses of people below. "I know for the sake of all the lost and future mates that something needs to happen, but not at the expense of innocent people." Mary shook her head as her blue eyes filled with tears. "I don't want people to die in my name, because of what happened to me and the others."

Gabe immediately moved over to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I know Mary. Aaron and I feel the same way. But what can we do? Father Willis has such a hold on the people of Bimini there's nothing the mer can do to convince them otherwise. If they went up there, spouting off about the evil Father Willis has done, the people on the island will never believe them. Hell, the mer emissary would probably be killed on sight. It was one of the reasons the mer didn't try to negotiate before declaring war. I mean, even if
we
go there and show them all the evidence we have against him, I don't know they'd do anything."

Aaron cocked his head and looked at the other two. "Well, that's not exactly true. I know of plenty of people who aren't happy with the control Father Willis has over the island. But they never say anything because the priest's followers are a crazy bunch. But even some of them might change their minds if shown enough evidence. Make them doubt enough and they're bound to at least listen. Gabe, do you still have that box of pearls?"

Gabe nodded. "It's locked away in the safe in Pax's and my room, but he showed me the combination a few weeks ago. I can get it easily enough, why?"

Aaron suddenly grinned, and Gabe had a sinking feeling he wasn't going to like the plan his friend was coming up with. "You said Father Willis has a second box. What if we show them ours and show them Mary, who everyone knew before, and lay it all out there for them to make a decision on. If they still refuse to believe us, then we let the mer go to battle."

"I don't know…" Gabe hedged. He didn't like the idea of facing the people on the island, especially after everything he'd been through.

"I think we have to at least try something…. It could mean the difference between life and death for all of them," Mary said, motioning down to the gathering mer. Then she motioned up toward the sea and the sunlight shining through the water from the surface. "And it will mean a difference for all of them up there too."

Both of his friends looked toward him, and Gabe sighed at the determined look in their eyes. He knew why they were both against going to war.

Back in the real world, war and death were almost too common. Here in the Triangle everything was pristine and untouched by the same hardships and drama prevalent outside it. If not for Father Willis, none of this would be happening, and now hundreds of people's lives were in danger for one man's madness.

But it shouldn't be that way
…
I'm not going to let Paxton be in danger if there's something I can do to prevent it from ever happening
.

"You're right, we have to do something. But how will we get back to the surface and the island without someone noticing?" Gabe asked.

"Leave that to me," Aaron said with a sly grin. "Leando's got all sort of neat stuff in his room, including some maps that should be able to tell us how to get to the surface. He'll be so busy planning the battle he won't notice a map or two going missing."

"I'll go pack us some supplies and see if I can procure us a couple of those big seahorses," Mary stated, right before she turned and hustled away, presumably to do just that. Gabe had seen the giant seahorses a number of times through the windows of the palace, but he'd never had a chance to ride one. He'd wanted to, but with all the craziness that had happened since crash landing in the Bermuda Triangle, he hadn't had the chance; now he wondered if he should be disappointed the first time he'd gotten to ride the magnificent beasts was when trying to stop a war.

Maybe if everything works out, I can convince Pax to go riding with me some other time
.

"All you have to do is get that box, Gabe. We need it if we're going to have any chance of showing the humans Father Willis is evil and a murderer."

Gabe nodded. "I'll get it, but keeping this crazy scheme from Paxton and the other mer isn't going to be easy."

Aaron grimaced. "Yeah, but if we don't do something to stop this, we may lose them to the war anyway."

"At least if this all works, we can grovel and get them to forgive us, even if it takes for the rest of our lives," Gabe replied. Aaron nodded and they headed inside, splitting up once reaching the main hallway.

They were humans on a mission to save both the Merfolk of Lavantia and the humans on Bimini Island before it was too late.

* * * *

Gabe carefully opened the bedroom door, peeking around the corner to make sure the coast was clear before sneaking into the room.

Nothing seemed out of place… the sound of the assembling soldiers in the square could distantly be heard through the open balcony doors. The rumpled bedding on the large, shell-shaped bed proved the maids hadn't been into the bedroom to clean yet.

Taking a deep breath, Gabe shut the door behind him then walked swiftly toward the big dresser on the far side of the room and the large painting over it, behind which he knew the items he was looking for were hidden. He'd barely crossed the room however when the door behind him suddenly opened.

Jumping guiltily, Gabe spun around and tried not to flush at the questioning look on his mate's face as he entered the room.