“Because we are.” He squeezed my hip lightly, and finally released his hold on me when the door was closed behind us. He locked it easily, and his chiseled, bare ass disappeared into a small room that looked suspiciously like a closet.

I followed him in.

It was definitely a closet. There was a bunch of the silk skirt things I’d seen the guys wearing throughout the castle on the bottom rack. All of them were dark blue. The top rack was empty, as if the king had made room for more clothing.

Or for someone else’s clothing.

I watched the king get dressed absentmindedly, my cheeks heating.

I should’ve looked away.

I definitely should’ve looked away.

But what woman would possibly have that much self-control?

His ass was pure muscle, the thick bubbles enough to make me want to reach out and check if it was real. His erection was just as big as it had felt against my spine—massive.

Way too big to fit inside me.

Humans and mermonsters definitely weren’t sexually compatible, because that cock was otherworldly.

He stepped into a dark blue, silky skirt-thing, and the fabric clung to his backside. It managed to conceal his erection entirely somehow, without tenting at all.

“Why do you guys wear skirts?” I asked.

“We have tails.”

“Right.”

I definitely should’ve put that together.

“Why are they silky?”

“It’s sea silk.” He stepped closer to me, holding a hand out. Reluctantly, I put mine in his.

He lowered my fingers to the hem of the skirt, and I brushed them over the fabric. When I tugged lightly, my eyebrows raised.

It was crazy soft and stretchy, so how had it hidden his erection?

“It comes from sentient underwater plants. When their life cycles end, some of their magic lingers in the fabric. It connects with our consciousness lightly and reacts to our subconscious desires. So when we want it to stretch, it stretches. When we don’t, it doesn’t.”

“Damn.” I couldn’t say it wasn’t impressive.

Triton gave me a small grin. “Our silk is worth a lot of money outside the ocean. Only someone who can breathe underwater can find it. We sell it to many of the other kingdoms.”

“So you’re rich.”

“Yes. Most beings in our world are, though. Since the war, there’s a lot of money in Alterrae, and not a lot of people to spend it on.”

My forehead creased. “Why not?”

“Here.” He stepped past me, maintaining his hold on my hand as he led me out of the closet and back into the room.