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Chapter 19
Gill kneeled at the bank, scooping a handful of water and drinking it. The stream wasn’t very deep—perhaps halfway up my calves. Rocks decorated sections of the banks and even the stream itself.
Nemo carried Fin into the water.
“Sea god,” Fin exclaimed as he lay back in the stream, the water bubbling over his head and shoulders. He pulled the cloth containing the dark pearl from his pocket and placed it on the bank.
His blue eyes had paled, along with the rest of him.
I smiled, glad we’d made it to the water so he could heal. Each time he’d grimaced along the way, I’d felt pain, too.
“I’ll get us some food,” Nemo said, squeezing my shoulder, leaving a sweet kiss upon the crown of my head.
For a while, I sat with Fin, not caring if my dress or boots got wet. I held his hand, and we sat in silence until the skin of his blisters began to peel. Fresh skin reformed in their place, creating pink spots.
I glanced at Gill, who had stripped off his shirt to rinse it in the water. His muscles glistened with the water he tossed over his chest.
“Checking out this god of a merman?” Gill’s waggling eyebrows implied all the wrong intentions.
Suddenly, a crippling shyness overcame me, and I ducked my head, watching him from beneath my hair. He made me feel like a teenager with a crush on a handsome merman way out of my league. Where was that deep, darker part of me when I needed her?
“Don’t be shy, Princess,” Gill said as he scrubbed his shirt and skin. “We’ve already seen each other’s asses naked.”
“I don’t want to see your ass again,” Fin said.
He laughed, and Gill tossed a bit of mud at him, and they did it back and forth until they tired of their little game.
I burned up when Gill took off his pants and flashed me a wicked smile before resting them on the banks. Sea god, he was bold. But that was what I admired about him. Plus, he was sexy as hell. Probably just as sinful.
“Bring your sexy, royal ass over here, and scrub with me.” He tapped the rock beside him. “Your dress is stained and highly inappropriate attire for a princess.”
He was right. Parts of my dress were smeared with charcoal, and sections of it had burned away. It reeked of smoke, too. Damn the fire. I’d need to take it off and wash it. That meant getting naked. Fin and Nemo too had seen me nude. But something about Gill made me nervous as hell all of a sudden.
Regardless of my nerves, every instinct inside me demanded I go to him. But my head said otherwise. I glanced at Fin, not wanting to leave his side.
“Go on,” Fin said, patting my leg. “Check out his fine ass.”
I laughed, smoothed hair from his eyes, and kissed his forehead.
My feet carried me over to Gill, and I kneeled beside him. Together, we washed our clothes, me still dressed and him naked. Some of the soot came out, but I suspected the fabric had burned and was left with a permanent stain.
I had to use every ounce of restraint I had not to keep looking at him, admiring every inch of him—the angle of his jaw, the lines of his stomach muscles, his flexing arms…even the package between his legs. Sea god. He was perfect.
“Like what you see?” he asked.
My insides lit awake from the sound of his voice.
When he looked my way, he did more than simply undress me with his eyes. His gaze said he was imagining ripping off the rest of my clothes and positioning me on all fours as he claimed me. Just as I had presumed, he reached out and tugged on the string of my corset. My breath caught in my throat. He tore it off in moments, leaving me bare and vulnerable. The back of his knuckles brushed along the skin of my arms. A spark ignited in my chest and then heat exploded across my whole body.
“This is hot,” Fin said.
Fire tore through my body. Was something going to happen between Gill and me while Fin watched? Something about that idea had my libido tingling. I’d wanted an audience ever since we visited the tavern to find Blade. The thought turned me on more than anything.
Gill leaned in to kiss me, and I reached for him. Our heads smacked together, and we pulled away. Pain cracked down my forehead, and I massaged it.
Shellfish. Why did this always happen? Right at the intimate moments.
It didn’t seem to bother Gill, and he smiled, returning for another smooch. My anxiety got the better of me, and I retreated.
