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6
HER MOUTH WAS warm, so warm against mine. Warm like hot chocolate. Something you wanted to open your mouth and sip from. It wasn't my idea, opening my mouth, it was hers. Somehow, it was her thought in my head. I didn't like that, not one little bit. The not liking helped me keep my mouth closed tight. She drew back enough to whisper, «Do not fight me.»
I heard voices around us arguing. Help was coming, I just had to hold on. I just had to hold my shields in place and not let her do what she was trying to do. Just hold on, that was all. I'd held on when help was miles away; now it was just inches. I could do this.
She'd tried gentle persuasion, mind games, they hadn't worked. She tried force. She kissed me so hard, that either I opened my mouth to her, or she was going to cut my lip on my own teeth. If she'd been a man I would have just let her kiss me — was I really this homophobic? If she hadn't whispered through my mind that she wanted me to open my mouth, I might have done it, but she wanted it too badly. Part of me was just that stubborn, but part of me was afraid of why she wanted it so badly. I knew she was a siren, a sort of uber-mermaid. I knew that some of her magic dealt with seduction and sex. I knew that she could control the other mermaids. I knew all sorts of things from talks with Jean-Claude; what I didn't know was why she wanted me to open my mouth.
Her kiss bruised my mouth and I tasted blood, sweet, metallic candy on my tongue. The moment I tasted the blood, it hurt. She'd cut the inside of my lip on my own teeth.
She drew back. «Why fight so hard simply not to kiss me back? Are you so much a hater of women?»
I tried to shake my head, but she still held my face immobile. «Why do you want me to open my mouth? What difference does it make to you?»
«You are strong, Anita, so strong. The walls of your i
I was getting angry, and I wasn't sure what that would do to my i
«How so?»
«I've done all that vampire etiquette requires, so either let me go, or I call in my guards and they force you to let me go.»
«Do you need help to break free of me?» she asked, and her voice was singsong again.
«Unless I'm willing to shoot you, yes.»
Graham came close enough to say quietly, «Say the word, Anita, and we move her.» He sounded eager, or angry. I guess I couldn't blame him. This whole thing had gone beyond grandstanding to just plain rude.
Samuel came to our side. «Thea, this is not the way.»
She turned her head and looked at him. «Then what is the way?»
«Perhaps you could simply ask.»
A look crossed her face, as if that would never have occurred to her, then she laughed, a high wild sound, and for a second I thought I heard the laughter of seagulls. «So simple, my darling Samuel, so simple.» She released the grip on my hair so I could move my neck, which was a relief. She stayed entwined around me, but not so forcefully. We were still too close for comfort, but it was more friendly. «My deepest apologies, Anita; it has been so long since I met anyone who could withstand my desires that I simply kept trying to force. Forgive me.»
«Let me go, and I will.»
She gave that laugh again, and it wasn't my imagination. When she laughed I heard the sound that herring gulls make, and the whisper of surf. She let me go, stepped back. The moment she moved back the tension level in the room plummeted. All the guards on every side had thought the flags were about to go up. Me, too.
She bowed. «My deepest apologies. I underestimated you, and I am ashamed of my actions.»
«I accept your apology.»
She stood and regarded me with those black eyes in that pale white and gold face, as if some delicate porcelain doll had the eyes of a movie demon. «You know that we are offering our sons as your pommes de sang .»
I nodded. «Jean-Claude told me, and I'm honored.» Actually it creeped me out, but I understood that it was supposed to be an honor.
«But do you know why?»
That stopped me, because the answer was, «Jean-Claude said you wished for a stronger alliance between our two kisses.»
«We do» — Samuel joined his wife — «but there is a reason that my wife was so adamant that we bring all three of our sons to your table.»
«And that reason would be what?» I wanted to just skip this until I had more vampire backup, but I didn't think I'd get the choice.
Micah was suddenly at my side, taking my hand. I felt better. I wasn't alone. We could do this. We didn't have vamps, but we had each other. Nathaniel came in at my back, not quite taking my other hand in case I needed it for weapon grabbing, but close enough that he was a line of heat at my back. Better and better.
«I am a siren,» Thea said.
I nodded. «I know.»
«Do you understand what that means among my kind?»
«I know that most mermaids who exhibit siren abilities are killed by the other merpeople before they can reach their full power.»
«Do you know why?»
«Because in full power you can control the merpeople magically.»
«As a necromancer can control all types of undead,» Thea said.
I shrugged. «Yeah, I have some control over a lot of undead, but it's not perfect control, and it doesn't work on everyone.»
«Nor does mine work on every merperson, though it works on many. But do you know what the basis of that control is?»
I shook my head. «No.»
«Sex, or seduction perhaps.»
I crooked an eyebrow at her. «What does that mean exactly in this context?»
«It means that I hold something similar to the ardeur that you and Jean-Claude share. It attracts both my kind and mortals to me, as the ardeur attracts the dead and apparently lycanthropes and mortals to you.»
I frowned at her. «Yeah, a lot of guys want a full taste of the ardeur once they get a small taste.» I fought not to look for Graham when I said it. «But they aren't attracted to me because of it.»
She gave that gull-and-surf laugh again. «You do not know what you are, Anita. The ardeur alone does not make you a succubus, or Jean-Claude an incubus. I have met others with the ardeur , but fewer with that next level of power. You have it. Your master has it. People are drawn to you because of it. The very touch of your skin can be addictive.»
I gave her a look. «Like the touch of your skin is supposed to be addictive?»
«Yes.»
I fought not to smile, but didn't quite succeed. I licked the cut she'd made in my lip, and said, «No insult meant, but I don't crave your touch.»
«No, you fought me. You won.»
«What do you want from me?»
«I believe that my sons have inherited my powers, but there is only one way for a siren to be fully born. Another siren must bring them into their power.»
I saw where this was going, or was afraid I did. «Let me guess: the only way to bring them over is to have sex.»
She nodded.
«You can't find another siren to do the job for you?»
«I am the last of my kind, Anita. I am the last siren. Unless you have the power to awaken my sons.»
Micah squeezed my hand tighter. Nathaniel moved in so that our bodies touched from shoulder to hip. «Okay, if we're being honest, I'm a little disturbed by your pimping out your sons to me.»
«What does 'pimping out' mean?» she asked.
I sighed. Great, one of those moments when you really don't want to explain the slang. Nathaniel said, «It means to sell someone else for sexual purposes.»
She frowned, then said, «I ca
«But if you are only a carrier of the ardeur and not a true succubus, then you ca
I looked at them both. «And how do we find out if I've got what Thea wants?» I couldn't keep the suspicion out of my voice.
Nathaniel stroked my shoulder like you'd settle a nervous horse, but I didn't push him away. I was getting tense, and fighting not to get angry.
«Let down your i
I shook my head. «I don't know.»
«The thought of my 'pimping out' my sons to you makes you uncomfortable, does it not?»
«Yeah, it does.»
«If your power is not close enough to mine, then we will stay for the parties, and the ballet, but you will not have to look at them as pommes de sang . We will take our sons home and you will not have to worry over your discomfort.»
It sounded too easy. «It sounds simple, but before I say yes, what are the possible side effects of your power exploring mine?»
She looked puzzled. «I am not certain I understand the question.»
«She means,» Micah said, «what bad things could happen if she allows this?»
She actually thought about it for almost a minute. «It should be only a touch of powers, like two leviathans moving in the deep, sliding their sides against each other, then passing away into the dark depths of the sea.»
I felt calmer, as if I could feel those dark, peaceful depths.
«Should be,» Micah said. «What else could happen?»
«It could call your ardeur to the surface and you would be forced to feed.»
I was suddenly tense again, the peaceful dark depths gone like smoke in the wind. «No,» I said.
Nathaniel whispered in my ear. «You can feed from me without intercourse, Anita. It's a way of getting rid of them.»
Micah looked at me. «Only you can decide if the chance of having to feed the ardeur here and now is worth it, Anita.»
I looked at the sons. The twins looked at me, smiling, somewhere between amused and embarrassed. But it was the kind of embarrassment that any teenager would have felt if his mom did something that made him squirm. The older one, behind the love seat, looked more like I felt, uncomfortable as hell.
«You must be Sampson,» I said.
He looked startled, then nodded. «I am.»
«What do you think about all this? I mean, do you want to be brought into your sirenhood?»
He looked down, then up. «Do you know that you are the first person to ask me how I feel about this?»