Aella's Song (2 page)

“Technically, it wasn’t a question, it was a statement. And it doesn’t matter what we are doing here, Aella,” Damon said with a smirk.

Pythias swum up behind her, pulling her into his arms again. She squirmed to get free. She would never admit it, but she loved the feel of his arms around her. Poseidon had seen to it that she had a sheltered upbringing so her experience of interacting with others was limited.

“But that does bring up a new question. Now that we are here, what are we to do with you, little one?” Pythias breathed in her ear.

Aella wriggled in place, attempting to dislodge the strong arms from around her waist. His hot breath blew in her ear, freezing her for a moment, before he bit down -- ever so lightly -- on her earlobe.

She couldn’t hide the moan, her body tensing. Pythias chuckled darkly, tightening his arms and holding her closer. She closed her eyes, unable to keep them open.

Pythias released her ear, nibbling down her neck. She couldn’t stop herself from arching her neck to allow him easier access. He placed his mouth firm against her neck, sucking up what was sure to be a mark against her pale skin. She shouldn’t be doing this, she knew she should tell him to get his hands off, but the minute he touched her with his lips, she was lost.

The sun shone brightly down on her face, providing a crimson tint beneath her eyelids. Her lips curved and she relaxed back into his arms. Suddenly, the bright light was muted, and she sensed a presence in front of her.

How could she be so stupid, forgetting about Damon? Her eyelids popped open, she peered up at Damon so close to her. He didn’t say anything, just watched while Pythias licked a path along her shoulder.

“Wait…” she gasped.

“I don’t really think that’s what you want, Aella,” Damon replied, a smile finally curving his full lips.

Pythias slid his hands up, covering her breasts with his palms. Damon moved to grasp her hips, holding her in place. Two very clever thumbs brushed over her nipples, causing them to peak – hard.

“I don’t think this is a good idea, I don’t even kn-know you,” she panted, pressing back into Pythias despite her words. “I think we should just talk…”

She broke off, moaning when both men brushed the lengths of their tails against her. The feel of the slick scales caressing her body was enough to send her crawling closer to an orgasm.
What are they doing to me?
She panted, lost to the feeling. Damon growled, snapping her out of her haze.

“Why now?” she asked, resolute.

“If she can still think, you aren’t doing your job, Pyth,” The words were a low murmur.

Pythias snarled softly in her ear, pinching her nipples hard. “I’ll have to rectify that mistake.”

She arched up, crying out.

He bumped into something behind him, jarring Aella in his hold. He must have hit the edge of the pool. With a powerful heave, he hoisted himself out of the water, bringing her up to land in his lap.

Her backside tingled, heating for a moment, before two tanned legs appeared to either side of her tail. She flicked her fin, trying to bring up the image of legs in her mind. It took longer than normal, she couldn’t concentrate when Pythias kept running his fingers over her breasts and down her stomach. He stroked the spot where her skin melded into scales and she twitched in his arms.

Finally, she managed to hold the image in her mind. Looking down, she watched the aquamarine scales dull in color, shrinking and splitting until she was looking at milky-white skin. She wiggled her toes, dropping her head back at the exquisite feel of Pythias’ muscled legs along her own.

Damon heaved himself up beside them, the muscles in his forearms tensing and bulging in the most interesting ways. He had already shifted, his own tail replaced with powerful legs. This close to them, she saw that Damon was larger than Pythias. Not by much, but enough that it was noticeable. She figured if they were standing up, he would probably be a few inches taller. Damon leaned in close to them, bringing his right arm around to effectively trap her in Pythias’ arms. He sniffed at her neck, unerringly finding the spot that Pythias had been mouthing earlier. It was still sensitive, the skin just shy of bruising. He licked along the mark, opening his mouth to scrape his teeth along her skin.

Aella gasped, opening her mouth but unable to form any words. She was trapped in place, but strangely, she didn’t want to be released any time soon. They could keep doing whatever they wanted if they kept making her feel this way. She’d been fantasizing about them for longer than she cared to admit. Was she really willing to just throw all that away the first time they showed an interest in her?

If this was the only time she got to experience these two mermen, was she really going to turn them down? Aella didn’t have to think long before she knew what her answer was going to be.

“Do you still have questions you want us to answer, precious?” Pythias whispered in her ear, before grazing his lips along the opposite side of her neck from where Damon was.

She whimpered, trying to shift her mind. Damon was smoothing his palms along her hips, dipping between her thighs to tickle along her sensitive flesh. She was completely bare, open to his perusal when he looked down to where his fingers were playing. Teasing touches glanced above her clit, so achingly close but not quite there. She shifted in place, trying to beg wordlessly for him to touch her where she was aching.

Aella moaned, tilting her hips, pressing into Damon’s hand. Pythias was intimately close to her from below. She squirmed in his lap, causing him to groan.

“Yeah, I think she’s into it now, Damon,” Pythias grunted.

Damon lifted his head, staring past her to look at Pythias behind her. He lifted his free hand, bringing it past her head.

Turning to the side, she shifted to keep them in focus, Damon’s hand playing so close to her clit forgotten for the moment. Damon had placed his other hand behind Pythias’ head, the two men staring intimately at each other. They locked eyes, both men panting harshly. They didn’t make any other moves, obviously content to stare deeply at each other. She was sure they were communicating in their minds, they had a look of deep concentration all of a sudden. What were they saying that they didn’t want her to hear?

She panted, blinking to bring the cavern into focus.
Wait… focus? Phocas!
Where was Phocas? She looked up to the opening of the cavern, blinking quickly to clear her mind. She must have made some kind of noise because Damon started, turning his head to look at her.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong? What just happened here?”

Damon backed up, letting both Pythias and her go. Pythias froze beneath her, not moving. She didn’t know what to do. Should she get off him? Would that be awkward. Snorting inelegantly, she realized that things couldn’t get any more awkward than they already were.

Phocas chose that moment to surface beside them, peeking his little nose above the water to study her.
Well, looks like I was wrong.
She huffed. Things definitely could get more awkward. Phocas was just way too much like a little brother for her, and there were certain things that she wasn’t exactly comfortable having him see.

A second and third head popped up beside him, two of the other monk seals. Aella struggled to shift off Pythias, but he held her in place. Heat flushed up her neck, blooming on her cheeks. She was ready to bury her face in her hands when Damon stopped her.

“There’s something wrong with them,” he said, his voice tight.

“What?”

“The seals with Phocas. Look at them. They don’t look right,” he clarified.

Aella wiggled forward, ignoring the long, drawn out groan from Pythias. Studying the little faces beside Phocas, she realized he was right. There was something off about the seals.

Pythias grabbed her around the hips, thrusting her into the water, following her in. She trod water, clumsily trying to move her legs. With a grunt, she shifted her lower body, bringing back the vibrant scales. It just felt so much more natural like this.

Aella studied the seal closest to Phocas. He looked sick, his skin dull and almost lifeless. Concerned, she threw out her hand, grasping the fingers that reached out to meet her. Glancing to the side, she realized that Damon had grabbed her hand. He squeezed, comforting her with his presence.

“What’s wrong with them? Phocas has been here the whole time.”

Damon studied her. “Not quite. He left after we arrived. You mustn’t have noticed.”

She turned her face, feeling the blush heat her cheeks. Great, of course she hadn’t noticed because she’d been crawling all over them at the time.

“I need to know what happened to them.”

“We’ll find out what happened, Aella. Together,” Pythias murmured, brushing aside her hair.

Chapter Two

“Where would they have gone?” Damon asked, staring at the little ones in front of them.

The seals in question were bobbing in the water, blinking large, soulful eyes at Aella and the two men.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, moving away from Pythias and Damon to swim closer to the small creatures. “Where did you find them, Phocas? Where are the rest of them? Can you show me?”

Phocas blinked, a long and slumberous movement, strangely quiet. He nodded his head, diving under the water. She immediately followed him under, conscious of the larger bodies of the men behind her. This had nothing to do with them, but she was glad they were there. If she was alone… well, it didn’t bear thinking about.

She had never seen the seals like this, their coats were dull and they seemed so listless, hardly moving around at all. This wasn’t how they normally acted, there had to be something wrong with them. What should she do?

It wasn’t that she didn’t know how to handle issues when they came up, but she was more used to having her father take care of her. She wasn’t sure she wanted Poseidon to pop in here when she was with both Damon and Pythias, though. He may have his share of women but Aella was still his baby. He’d never approved of any man she’d even thought about being close to.

Should she call her father after all? She really didn’t want to talk to him about this. He had entrusted the care of the monk seals to her. If she couldn’t do this without his help, he might decide to take them away from her.

The two men halted, Damon throwing his arm out to stop her in place. Damon and Pythias exchanged a glance that seemed full of hidden secrets.

“Have you tried contacting your father?” Damon asked.

“I’m not calling my father just because there’s something going on with the seals. It wouldn’t take much for him to come in here thinking he was riding to my rescue. Trust me, Poseidon would be taking over everything in a matter of minutes and he’d never let me leave my room again. I’d be locked up forever with him saying he couldn’t trust me outside. Besides, there’s the little matter of the two mermen who’d he probably try to kill just for looking at me naked.”

Pythias had a frown on his face, looking off to the side. He looked back at the two of them, shaking his head.

“I can’t reach anyone, Damon. There’s something going on here.”

Damon closed his eyes, obviously trying to send a mental call.

“Fuck. I was afraid this would happen.”

“What? You were afraid what would happen?” she asked, confused.

Pythias shook his head, pointing their attention back to the seals. “We don’t have time to figure this out right now. One thing at a time, okay.”

“No, it’s not okay,” she said resolutely. “What did you think was going to happen?”

“There’s more going on here than you realize. When the gods are involved, things are never as easy as they appear. When we were sent to come here and see you, we knew this was a possibility. We knew we could get caught up in something bigger.”

“What’re you saying? That this has something to do with my father? Why would he block the three of us? And what do you mean you were sent?” She swished her tail, furious, as she stared Pythias down.

Damon sighed heavily, moving off to the side, watching Pythias and her square off.

She wanted these two men, men who actually had the gall to stand up to her, to put their hands on her. Aella couldn’t believe how much that though excited her. Even if they were acting like jerks by hiding the truth from her. Had her father sent them? Were they here at all because they wanted her? What was she supposed to think? There was something bigger going on here, and she’d eventually get to the bottom of it.

“You do know that we’re all on the same side, right? Why don’t we just figure out what’s going on and then you two can go at it,” Damon said, rolling his eyes when Pythias sent a glare in his direction.

Aella shook her head. “I’m not going to sit around and listen to the two of you. For all I know, you’re the one that’s blocking me.”

“You know that’s not true,” Pythias gritted out between clenched teeth.

“Do I? Prove it,” she shot back, flicking her tail back and forth. Gods, they were driving her crazy. She needed to think. Backing up, she managed to evade both men when they reached for her.

Damon reached out a hand, halting when Phocas threw himself between them. Shaking his head, he butted his nose against Damon’s chest twice in rapid succession. She pulled Phocas to her gratefully, hiding behind the small body.

Following Phocas, she ignored the two men, unbearably conscious of their massive presence behind her again. She wasn’t a fool. Could she trust them?

Turning the corner, the view in front of her was obstructed at first. The walls of the tunnel turned around on themselves, normally creating interesting paths, but now it was just frustrating.

The view opened up, the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean showcasing everything within its depths in one terrifying glance.

She screamed, crying out, unable to believe what was in front of her. Pythias immediately grabbed her close to his chest, bringing his strong, comforting arms around her. She burrowed back into him, closing her eyes briefly.

“What happened here?” Damon whispered, a thread of rage evident in his voice.