“I’m more dangerous than they are,” the king reminded me again.

“You keep saying that, but it keeps not being true. The scariest thing about you is the massive erection against my spine,” I tossed back.

Rayna choked on something. Probably spit.

The king chuckled, but there was no humor in his voice. “I’m the king for a reason, Sweetheart. I rule and control the ocean. There is nothing beneath the waves as deadly as me.”

“Okay,” I said.

I didn’t really believe him.

He had a big-ass tail, but he didn’t look like he could take down a pissed-off whale or even an angry seal.

I started walking faster. He must not have noticed, because he held my pace.

“Triton can protect you,” Rayna said. Her insistence that I was in danger and her delayed statement were far from convincing. “But the selkies are a risk. We⁠—”

“Will figure everything out after I’ve had a chance to make my bride comfortable.” He cut her off smoothly.

Rayna made a sound of frustration. “I’ll inform the others.”

“Thanks.”

Rayna’s hand caught my arm, and Triton and I both stopped. When I looked at her, I found an expression on her face that I couldn’t read.

“Being Triton’s mate will come with a lot of changes, Aria. Physical, and mental. Emotional too, probably. Humans in Alterrae don’t stay human. You change. By claiming you, Triton ensured that change will make you one of us.”

I blinked.

It was going to take a lot more time to work through what she was saying than it took her to say the words.

There was a splash on the beach.

“King Triton,” a beautiful male voice called.

Something in me itched to turn around.

“Fuck,” Triton muttered.

I jerked my head back to look at the king.

“They sent a kelpie,” he said, like that explained anything.

“What’s a⁠—“

“Focus on the feeling of Triton’s hands on your waist,” Rayna said quickly, her voice entering my mind like Triton’s had beneath the waves. “The kelpie’s magic will try to seduce you away from the king. Without a complete bond, you will feel the magic intensely. Try not to react to it.”

My mind reeled from the information.

Triton turned around, lifting me with him as he did. It took a solid amount of effort to stop myself from gawking at the creature standing just a few feet from us on the sand.

He was probably half a foot shorter than Triton, but what he lacked in height, he still possessed in muscle.

On top of that, he shimmered a color that was somewhere between gold and light green. Greenish gold.

Something about him made me want to walk closer. To step into his arms. To touch him.

Triton’s gigantic hands were iron on my hips, holding me firmly in place.