A Mermaid's Heart (Paperback)

When Ebby discovers a coven of mermaids torturing a handsome human, she's determined to set him free. But one small kiss to renew his breath-spell has her teetering on the brink of ecstasy, drawing her to the one thing she's avoided all her life—a mate. Mermaids don't bond for life, but Ebby can't deny the irresistible hold Cruz has on her. He's strong, clever, and immune to the other mermaids' song. For the first time in her life, she dreams of a home and family.

Yet the other mermaids are relentless, and swear if they can't have him, then no one will.

Together, Ebby and Cruz must overcome deadly odds to survive. And happily-ever-after? That may require more than either of them has to give.

Reader Note: Detailed love scenes and dangerous mermaids. Guaranteed HEA with no cliffhangers. Intended for mature audiences.

Ebby peered between the veins of a sea fan toward the orgy of mermaids in the kelp clearing. They passed a deeply tanned human between them, his muscular frame adjusting to their undulations with surprising agility for a land creature. His hands squeezed their breasts or pulled them into coital embraces with what seemed like an uncanny sense about how to prevent the orgy from becoming a violent, competitive frenzy. The current drifting toward Ebby reeked of sex, heightening the uncomfortable urgency low in her belly.

Finish already.

Two years ago, she’d chosen to be female. Not out of any biological urge, but because mermaids were obviously the stronger sex. Mermen like her da were destined to live out slow and miserable death-sentences, bound to the first female they mated with until their mate’s unfaithfulness caused their hearts to literally break. Although Ebby was undeniably female now, she refused to be like her mother, killing humans and subjecting mermen to inevitable misery.

With thoughts of her mother’s behavior always on her mind, Ebby’d managed to remain a virgin—an unheard-of feat among the females of her kind—and merely watched these orgies from a safe distance, waiting until the unwitting human men were used up and abandoned. Then she swept in and towed them toward shore. Unfortunately, most were killed during the orgy. Those she found who weren’t already dead always expired of their wounds during the journey toward land.

But that didn’t stop Ebby from trying.

The man she was watching now had held up remarkably well, and she thought she saw signs of the mermaids tiring of him. If she could rescue at least one man from his demise, her abstinence would be worth it.

The mermaids’ seductive song rose and fell, Urokotori’s crimson claws stroking the twin prongs of the fish harp she wore around her neck. They rubbed their bodies along the human’s, pulling at Ebby’s instincts as surely as they pulled the male’s. She slid one hand over her own pale breast and tweaked the sensitive coral nipple. A shockwave of pleasure rippled into her core.

Pinching her nipple harder, she let her other hand creep to the aching folds of her vulvar slit. Her tail twitched as she rubbed, her blood heating as she watched the man’s length slide in and out of a mermaid. On the verge of climax, the orgy drifted close to her hiding spot and red-tailed Urokotori spotted her through the fronds.

“Come on, Ebby.” The other mermaid clamped her bony fingers around Ebby’s forearm, dragging her hand from her breast and pulling her free of her hiding spot.

Behind her, still half-buried in the sand, Ebby heard her pet mantis shrimp, Kato, shimmy himself deeper beneath the sand. The other mermaids laughed at her for keeping such a useless pet, but Kato had bonded to Ebby of his own accord, not because Ebby compelled him, and Ebby loved everything about him.

“We’ve all had our turn.” Urokotori flung Ebby forward into the man’s arms. “He can be your first.”

The other two mermaids stopped their songs, pointed teeth gleaming between kiss-swollen lips. Lutana jack-knifed and stroked the man’s backside with her gleaming golden tail fin. “Humans are so willing to play.”

“He has inspiring stamina,” Selachii agreed, her amethyst eyes hooded with satiation. Her triggerfish minion wriggled between the grotesquely scarred rip in her freckled tail fin.

The man’s gaze met Ebby’s, and she was struck by eyes that reminded her of pebbled tidepools. Was that a glint of alarm she saw? He’d been so willing and confident during the orgy, never hinting at fear or exhaustion.

The three mermaids encircled Ebby and pushed the nearly spent man against her. His long, lean thighs brushed her tail, the tip of his erection leaving a trail of fire along her skin. She’d never been this close to an aroused man before.

Urokotori commanded, “Sing, Ebby.”