To Kalli, for being an awesome friend and reading my books even though it weirds her out that there are sex scenes.
If you would like to purchase this on Amazon, click the external link! Paperback is also available.
"No. Just no. You aren't...what? No. There is no way that you're just... It's impossible. This is some weird-ass heaven waiting room. Or, you know what? I bet I'm not even dead! I'm probably in some friggin' reality show and they're trying to see when I crack and I think I might have just now and this can't be happening—"
Swirling, ocean blue eyes stared at her as she ranted, and Mari really did feel like she'd lost her lid. There was no other explanation. The cruise, the cheating, the sinking—it had all been a ruse by some messed up TV show, and now they were throwing another shock her way.
Mari didn't believe she was dead anymore. They didn't have large men with tails in heaven; it just wasn't heard of. No, whatever the hell was happening right now? It wasn't real. Couldn't be. She refused to believe that it was.
She nervously laughed, flicking her hair away from her face. "Alright, bud. You can take off the tail. I'm going insane, so wherever you're hiding the cameras, you can take them out. No need to record this, really."
The guy on the ground frowned at her. "I don't know what you're saying."
"Really?" she asked, her voice high-pitched and near hysterical. "Because I really really think you do! C'mon, get up. Don't just sit there, show me where the cameras are."
He exhaled, just sitting there with that damn tail thumping against the ground rhythmically. It moved like it had a mind of its own, flowing against the ground like a solid form of water. There was no way to describe what it looked like—the costume artists had done an amazing job, she thought wildly, her chest pumping with panic.
She vaguely noticed the orb of light settle on the guys shoulder, or the way he reached up to touch it like a...like a pet. His hand disappeared into the orb, and the light around them throbbed excitedly.
Her eyes could barely believe what she was seeing.
"Seriously, get up. Please just...take off—take off that damn tail and get me out of here!"
"I can't take off the tail," he said. She closed her eyes at the dark sound of his voice, at the anxiety he was causing her.
"Do you want me to help you? I can do that. If you get me out of here, I can definitely do that for you." Mari started to move forward, wondering how she was going to begin getting that thing off of him when her hands were shaking so much. She pushed her hair behind her ear again, trying to breathe through the tightness in her chest.
Her hands were just about to touch the long, sweeping tail when it jerked away from her. Actually, it really didn't jerk. It flowed , like a filmy piece of material would when billowing in the wind.
It curled defensively around his body, and she watched with her jaw dropped as he arranged himself so that he was sitting on his knees. As he moved, she noticed several things.
First, the back of the tail seemed to be peeling. The scales, which were pressed tightly together on the top of his tail, were flaking and they looked cracked, dried, like they had been rubbing against something rough. Which, she surmised as she looked at the ground, they had been.
Second, the effort it took him move. Either the tail was incredibly heavy, which she wouldn't have doubted, or he was incredibly weak. She wouldn't have doubted that either. He lurched forward, barely catching himself, and that was when she saw his shoulders.
They, too, were peeling. It wasn't scales, though. Chunks of skin looked like they'd been ripped off and then left there, not completely stripped away. Her stomach lurched at the sight of open flesh and exposed muscle, her shaking hand covering her mouth. God, how much must that hurt...
He must have noticed her reaction because he immediately straightened, even though the tightening of his lips showed how much it hurt him to do so.
"Oh my...God. Are you alright?" she asked thinly, taking a step forward. Suddenly, the TV show was taking a turn for the worst. What kind of show would air so much gore and blood? She hesitantly stepped forward, even as he moved back as much as he could.
Trying to get away from her?
"I'm fine, just...stay away from me." The guy stared at her, an odd light showing in his eyes. She froze. So fake mer-guy was hostile? Mari bit her lip, watching him.
The ball of light shot forward, flittering around in front of her. She jerked back, shocked.
"Akrina, leave it," he commanded with what strength he had. She could hear in his voice how weak he was, and her heart clenched for him. The orb moved back to his shoulder, then he trained his eyes on her.
She met his stare, at a complete and utter loss for words. He obviously wasn't going to help her. She suspected that he couldn't.
"How did you get here?" he demanded, his tail flexing behind him, drawing her attention.
"I... I don't know. How did you get here?" At her question, the orb began to jump around. He touched it and the thing calmed.
"I'm asking the questions here, mortal. Answer me honestly. How did you get here?" The sudden strength took her back. His shoulders, despite the obvious pain, straightened with authority and he stared at her as if he were her superior.
She frowned. "Mortal? Okay—I already said I don't know how I got here. Now answer me a question, yeah? Where are the cameras." If he could point them out to her, she'd believe she wasn't going insane. First she was dead, now she was on a TV show—and seeing the state of his well being, she was beginning to doubt that either of those were the answer to her situation.
"I don't know what a camera is," he said indifferently. "You must know how you came upon me. Did she bring you here?"
"'She'?" Mari mimicked, growing more confused with each word. He didn't know what a friggin' camera was? Mari closed her eyes, taking a calming breath. "I don't know who 'she' is, but the last thing I remember before waking up on that shore over there was my cruise sinking."
He digested the information with a calculating look in his eye, then adjusted himself. Even from where she stood a couple feet away from him, she heard the soft gasp of pain come from him when his back collided with the cave wall.
Her heart went out to him.
Why? she asked herself. Why did she care at all? This guy was an actor, he'd been trained for this type of thing. He couldn't be in any real pain, because that would mean she was either dead and this was real, or this was... just real.
It couldn't be though.
Guys with tails, glowing balls of light, and underwater caves were not real, never had been. In the stories her mother used to read her, they were, but here? Hell no.
"Okay, seriously, this is getting old. Just take off the damn tail and help me get out of here. Neither of us need this, okay? I have an ex-boyfriend to kill and I can't waste all of my time answering stupid questions."
"My questions are not stupid, woman. They could very well mean life or death for you. However you came here, you need to leave. If, in fact, she did not bring you here, then you need to leave immediately or you can kiss the surface goodbye."
The urgency in his voice had her heart jumping. "Who the hell is this 'she'?! Why can't you just make them come and get us or something? You have a mic on you, right? Just... Just call them already!"
"I don't know what you're saying," he growled, running a hand through black hair in an act of hopelessness. The locks were long enough that they brushed against his jaw, and as he pushed them back, she saw a single streak of royal blue threading through his hair.
"Do you want to be stuck here for forever?" the guy asked, his voice holding a sense of foreboding.
She shook her head. "I just want to leave..." A small whisper in her mind told her that this was feeling way too real to be a dream or reality show, and that leaving wasn't going to be simple.
"Then go, damnit! Go back the way you came and don't come back." His command was brutal, angry. A flash of bitterness entered his eyes, before he was waving the orb of light at her. "Go, Akrina, lead her back."
It flitted towards her, resting near her shoulder. That slimy sensation of someone wrapping their fingers around her wrist came back, and she screamed, jerking. "Don't touch me," she growled, ripping her wrist away.
"Take her back," the guy ordered over her refusal, his voice containing all the authority of a king. The hands wrapped around her wrist again, dragging her.
"Stop it!" she cried out, trying to fight it. "Stop—What happens when I go back? What about you?" Mari pulled against the tug, fear coursing through her. Could she even leave without him? Why was he trying to get rid of her so badly? Why didn't he just take off the damn tail and lead her away himself, or at least try to leave with her?
"I have to stay here. You, however, need to go. Get away from me, and get back to the surface. Hurry, before she comes and finds you here." He stopped speaking to her, whispering to himself, "I don't want to know what she will do to me if she sees you..."
At that, she dug her heels into the ground and forced the orb against pulling her away from him. "If you don't let go of me," she threatened, barely believing she was talking to a thing of light, "this will be the last time you shine."
The grip on her abruptly dropped, and she ran back to the man on the ground.
"What's your name?" she demanded, her thoughts rushing. Just to save herself a sliver of sanity, she was going to pretend this was a dream. If it wasn't a dream, then so be it—but she was sure as hell going to act like it was, or she'd lose her mind.
He sharply pulled away from her. "I can't—"
"God damnit, just tell me your name," she insisted, trying to keep the shout out of her voice.
"It's...Ambrose," he whispered, as if he'd forgotten his own name and just remembered it. She paused. Stared at him. Then breathed out slowly, reaching to touch his hip, the place where the scales met flesh.
"All right, Ambrose. Here's what we're going to do. This tail is going to slid off of you, and then we're going to get to the shore before 'she' finds us. Then you're going to do a cool TV- guy trick and we'll be on land, with hundreds of people clapping and saying, 'You just got jipped!' or something stupid like that. Understand?"
While she spoke, she noticed the way his eyes watched her lips, as if he were reading them. She stopped talking and his eyes flickered to hers. "Are you deaf?"
He shook his head. "Ah...no, I'm not deaf. My ears are just not as...enhanced, as they are underwater." She bit her lip, hating how believable he was.
Then she realized something. "Why aren't you in water?" She touched his hip again, testing trying to find the flap of material that would give-away the beginning of the suit. As her fingers smoothed over the skin, she couldn't for the life of her find the end—or beginning.
A deep exhalation feathered over the top of her head and she looked up again—
And was struck by the intensity of his gaze. He pointedly looked between her and her hand, and she slowly removed it. "Why?" she asked again, taking the hint. She took her hand away and knelt in front of him, unable to stop her gaze from traveling over his tail.
Like the moss, there were veins filled with glowing light traveling in intricate designs. The length of it was as long as she was, and the fin of the tail was...like a cloud. It was close enough that she could feel the moisture around it, and close enough for her to see that it wasn't actually a cloud, but a very filmy, thin fin. The whole of it was a soft blue, almost turquoise, but the ends were shriveled, as if it were dried out.
The rest of the tail was turquoise as well, but a darker shade. It led to a surprisingly nicely curved butt, and then to lean hips...that were connected to an amazing torso. He was, quite possibly, the largest man she'd ever seen in her life. And compared to her brothers, and even WWE wrestlers that she'd met because of them, that was saying something.
She bet that if he stood to his full height, he'd be near seven foot— and completely filled out. His arms were the size of her thighs, shoulders as wide as a doorway, and hands as big as basketballs. Despite his size, as she sat next to him and running her hands all over him like some horny freak—which she wasn't—Mari didn't feel an ounce of fear.
How could she, when the whole time he had been pushing her away and telling her to leave for her own safety? Even when he sat there, obviously in pain. Her heart turned over, and she nearly forgot that this was all a dream. The look in his eyes, while direct and strong when he'd tried pushing her away, was filled with defeat. Like someone had stripped him of all hope.
If she was leaving at all, it wasn't going to be without him. Whoever this 'she' was, well... She could kiss Mari's dainty ass. Her mama had raised her better than to leave an injured man behind, and she wasn't going to shame her family—even if it were a dream.
"Well?" she asked. "Why aren't you in the water?"
He shut his eyes, and for a second she thought he wasn't going to answer her. A couple seconds later, he flicked one of them open and grated, "Do you really think I can move anywhere without making my condition worse?"
She frowned. He had a point. "What if...I tried carrying you?" The second the suggestion was out of her mouth, she realized how foolish she'd sounded. Carrying a three hundred pound man through a dark cave—sure, that sounded plausible. About as plausible as a unicorn shooting out of her head.
Mari looked around her, trying to find something that would make it easier for him to escape.
His hand touched her shoulder, making her whip around to meet his eyes. "What?"
"I can't leave here, mortal. If she sees that I'm gone, there will be hell to pay for both of us when she finds out. I can't put that upon you," he whispered, taking his hand back. The sorrow in his eyes stilled her The fact that he was willing to let her go without saving himself made this moment feel...sad. Dangerous. Panicked.
"I'll be fine. This is all a dream, so nothing can really happen to me," she said, trying to keep the doubt out of her voice.
He smiled sadly, inching away from her again. "If this were a dream, wouldn't you just stay here until you woke? You know this is not what you want it to be. If you want to live, you need to escape—and soon."
The orb jumped between them, bouncing. Were they talking to each other?
Ambrose met her eyes as it skittered away, and she saw the stark fear there. Not for himself, she suspected—but for her. The way his shoulders were stooped, the way he refused to let her near him, was all she needed to know to understand that he didn't care about himself anymore.
She gently touched his shoulder, flinching when he did. God, whatever had been done to him... Mari stared into his eyes, forcing the thoughts away. "I'm not leaving you here to be eaten by the female fish-version of God. All right? We'll find a way for you to get to the water."
"I'm not leaving here," he said, moving out of her grasp. "Just go."
Mari sighed and plopped her ass right next to his. "This is a dream. So I'm going to sit here until I have my way and you cooperate with me. If 'she' comes, then whatever. I'll wake up soon, remember?" As his eyes widened and met hers, she grinned mentally at herself. Reverse logic had always worked with her brothers, so of course it would with Ambrose.
His churning blue eyes morphed into stark blackness. "Fine. You die here. When she sees you, your screams will be the last thing you know."
A chill worked its way down her back, accompanying the disbelief. All right, so it hadn't worked the way she'd thought it would and he was just going to back off.
Great.
Just great.
She flicked her hair away from her face, climbing on her knees and facing him. "Ambrose, come on...you can't stay here, not if you're being abused." There was no doubt that he wasn't. The marks on his back were not from the cave wall, that was for sure.
His gaze hardened to the point of being stony. "What happens to me does not matter. If you want to witness a nightmare, be my guest. But it will be the last thing you see."
She stared at him in silence, unable to think of something to say back.
Mari didn't have a chance to a second later. The room began to glow red, a dark, terrifying blood red. The hardness in Ambrose's eyes left, replaced with terror. "Go," he hissed, shoving her. She fell to her side, catching herself on her palms. She ignored the stinging, staring at him helplessly. Leaving him was out of the option...
The room filled with the red haze, a mist suddenly surround the area that they sat on.
"Get to the water," he shouted at her, eyes flashing with pure fury.
Mari took one last look at him before the slimy hand sensation forced her back to the shore.
She didn't fight it this time.
Check out the blog specifically for Captive! There's going to be special offers and updates, so click the external link to chill with me!
Early update, prolly a bad idea?
Please VOTE and leave opinions on this chapter. I'd love to know what you guys are thinking.