Surrender to the Sea (Lords of the Abyss Book 4) by Michelle M. Pillow Page B

he can keep me out of the water. It was that hubris that put us down here. ’
    ‘ You were standing right beside him when it happened, your majesty. ’
    ‘ Shut your mouth. ’ The dark-haired one slapped the redhead.
    Laurel tried not to think or move as she watched them from below.
    The redhead smiled and hovered in the water. ‘ That wasn’t a complaint. I like immortality. Thank you, my queen, for making it so. ’
    The dark-haired mermaid looked somewhat pacified at the comment. ‘ Lucius’s tyranny is coming to an end. This is my world. My rules. No one locks me inside the dome. He’s a fool to think he could keep me contained for long. ’
    ‘ It feels good to be in the ocean again. How I have missed it.’ The voice was new. She could only assume the blonde spoke.
    ‘ Almost as much as I missed the hunt. ’ The redhead looked as if she would swim upward.
    The dark-haired mermaid stopped her. ‘ Not yet, but soon. ’
    ‘ We need new stock. Our slaves grow tiresome. None of the men even try to resist my will. I want new toys. ’
    Something tickled Laurel’s hip, and she glanced down to see a thin, long, translucent worm coming out of the base of the dome. She bit her lip, trying not to scream as it continued to touch her.
    ‘ Quiet. Do you hear that? ’
    All three mermaids turned their attention downward in her direction. Laurel tried to think of ocean sounds. She held very still.
    ‘ Someone’s coming. ’
    The three women darted off into the distance.
    Laurel’s heart raced as she pulled her body along the rocky base, away from the worm’s hole and from the angry Olympians.

Chapter 18
    ‘ L aurel ? ’ Brutus’s voice caused her to move faster.
    She used her entire body to swim toward it. ‘ I’m here. I’m here. Please, get me out of the water. ’ She crashed into his arms and hugged him tight. ‘ I don’t like being out here without you. Mer— ’
    ‘ You told the king we were mated? You are my wife? ’ He gently held her face. The words tumbled out of him as if they’d been burning inside his brain since he’d left her, just waiting to be spoken. Now that Vitus was delivered home, he appeared eager to resume their conversation. ‘ You are sure I am who you want? You have thought this through? You do not feel forced because of what we did? ’
    When he touched her, she felt safe. ‘ Yes. I want to be with you. How can you even ask that after what happened between us? I felt you when you were gone. I sensed you were in trouble. I knew that you needed help. I drowned myself so I could come out here and find you. ’ She glanced away and then back again. ‘ And you? Am I who you want? Are you mad that I told the king? It just came out, but I don’t want to take it back. ’
    ‘ I wanted you from the moment you kept me from breathing surface air, when your red box blocked my assent and our bodies brushed for the first time .’ The light dusting of scales next to his eyes darkened slightly. ‘ I wanted you when you drifted beneath the water, and I was able to hold you and breathe against your lips. I wanted you when you opened your eyes and looked at me, when you lay unconscious in the healer’s home, when you first spoke my name. I want you all the time. I can think of very little else. Through everything, I have felt you in me, and it makes me more alive. You make this curse I am under bearable. I love you, Laurel. I want you for the rest of this eternity. ’
    The honesty in his tone and the earnest expression in his eyes filled her with such hope and love that she had to kiss him. Her lips pressed against his. Their tongues touched, slipping beyond the borders to their lips. Not needing to pull away to speak, she said, ‘ I love you, too, Brutus. ’
    The connection she felt to him was unlike anything she’d ever known. He swam backward as he kept her in his arms. His hair drifted around her.
    ‘ Vitus? ’ she asked.
    ‘ With the healer. I do not think the arm can be