Meriel and Kai arrived in Tyverna at nightfall, after an uneventful day on the road. Other than the occasional far-off drone of ogres, there wasn't much going on. Many of the villages along the way were badly decimated or completely razed to the ground. There was even one that was nothing more than scorched earth as far as the eye can see.

"What happened here?" Kai said. "This can't all be Cora."

"Yes it can," Meriel replied. "You have no idea what kind of evil this woman is."

"Believe me, I've seen my share of evil," Kai assured her. "We need to be careful, Meriel."

They made their way cautiously into Tyverna, where they located an inn with a tavern below it and found a room for the night. Meriel sat down wearily on the bed, taking off her boots and leaning to one side to rub her backside.

"Ugh. I haven't ridden that long before, ever. I feel like my spine has been ground down to nothing."

Kai moved over to sit next to her on the bed. His hands went to her back, kneading and pressing in all the right places.

"Lay down," He said, pushing her onto her stomach. He proceeded to massage her thoroughly, starting from her shoulders and working his way down until he reached her backside, where he prodded and rubbed as she groaned loudly.

"That feels...so...good..." She said.

He smiled as he worked. "Remember that time you got into a snowball fight with Leo and he walloped you so badly, you were sore for a week?"

"I remember you the next day when you saw my bruises - shouting because he was my uncle and you couldn't wallop him back."

Kai smacked her butt lightly. "I didn't know you'd started the fight by putting snow down his pants."

Meriel let out a long sigh. "That really does feel good."

"I'm great with feet, too."

She moaned at the thought. "You've got the best hands."

Kai froze for a moment, then he continued.

"And by that I mean you can rub me anywhere you like." She looked up at him, giving him a cheeky grin.

He stopped rubbing again. "Meriel."

"What? I'm not allowed to flirt with you?"

He sighed. "I just don't know where you think it can lead, that's all."

She rolled over and glared at him. "Because you won't let it lead anywhere."

He reached out, taking her hand. "Meriel, you don't realize what you're asking."

She sat up, leaning back on her arms. "I know exactly what I'm asking."

He reached out, touching her face. "If you had a little more experience, you'd realize - "

"Experience?" She looked at him incredulously. "What did you think I was doing while you were off doing God-knows-what for three years? I was getting experience. With lots of other men!"

"Meriel - "

"You think you're the only one I've kissed? Or touched? The only one to touch me?"

His face clearly showed his shock. "How many men are we talking about?"

"Plenty! What, did you think I was sitting here, pining away for you?" She jumped up off the bed, her arms waving wildly as she spoke. "Did you think I was saving myself just so you could come back and tell me you won't touch me? That would have been bloody pathetic, now, wouldn't it?"

She took herself off to the water closet, slamming the door behind her. Kai sat in stunned silence for a moment, unsure of how to proceed. Finally, he walked over, knocking cautiously on the door.

"Meriel?"

"Go away, Kai."

He clenched his jaw. "I'm going down to the docks for awhile. I'm going to see if I can get some information on your father's ship."

She opened the door immediately. "I just need to get my boots on."

Kai shook his head vehemently. "You're not coming with me. It's too dangerous down at the docks at night.

"Why? Because I'm so girly and inexperienced?" She said nastily.

His eyes narrowed. "Just stay here and I'll be back soon."

"I'm not a baby, Kai. You can't order me around."

He took a deep breath in, clearly praying for patience. "I'm not ordering, I'm asking. I'll get more information if I'm not having to fight dock scum off of you."

"I can take care of myself." She lifted her chin stubbornly.

"I'm going." His tone brooked no argument. "And if you try to follow me, I'm hauling you back here and spanking you like a wayward child." She opened her mouth, ready to protest and he put his hand over it. "Do you understand me? You're not following me."

She nodded angrily, pulling herself away from him and slamming the door in his face. Kai took a deep breath, before moving out the door and into the hallway. He waited a few moments, to be sure she wasn't following him, and then he made his way toward the dock.

###

Young Timothy MacTavish couldn't believe his luck. He'd come out to the tavern with his mates as soon as they'd made port, and other than the plentiful grog, the evening was coming out to a loss. His turns at dice had gone badly, and he might as well end the evening a little early.

He was about to push away from the table and find his way back to the ship when he saw her coming down the stairs. Holy God, where did she come from? She was trying to avoid being noticed, but it wasn't going to work. Not with that face and that glorious, dark hair. He couldn't help but notice how her breeches hugged her bottom as she stepped down. He glanced around to see that nearly every man in the tavern was watching as well.

"Fortune favors the forward," He mumbled to himself, and he got to his feet and ambled over to her. "Are you looking for some company, Miss?" He asked, giving her his most winning smile.

She looked taken aback for a moment, then she glanced around the room. "I was just coming down to get something to eat," She said. "But it appears there are no free tables."

"Not this time of night," He said. "But you're welcome to sit with me and my mates."

"Thank you," She said with a smile. "You're very kind."

"Do you fancy a bit o' grog? It's not too bad here - they don't water it so much as other places."

Meriel studied the young man with appraising eyes. He was good looking, in a young-ish sort of way. His hair was a reddish-blonde and he seemed to be someone who smiled a lot. He'd do.

"I'd love to try the grog, thank you." She allowed herself to be seated, surprising her companion and his mates when she assured them that there wasn't a game of dice that she didn't know. And over the course of the next ninety minutes, she cleaned out their coin purses and even joined them in the singing of a couple of rowdy sea shanties.

And that was exactly how Kai found her when he walked in, with a tankard of grog in one hand and her arm around young Tim MacTavish, who was more than appreciative to have it there.

He walked over to the table, and all the men looked up. The cold fury in his eyes was evident to all of them. He reached out, taking the tankard out of Meriel's hand and placing it on the table. Then he grabbed her hand and started to pull.

"Hey!" She protested. "I'm not finished."

"Yes, you are." He pulled her again.

"You can't order me around," She said. "Remember? We had this conversation." She let out a giggle. "Now go find somebody else to occupy your time. I certainly have." She smiled winningly at young Tim, leaning in and kissing him with enough ardor to have curled his hair.

That is, until Kai grabbed her by the back of her cloak and physically lifted her out of her chair. A second later, he had her stuffed under his arm as she shrieked and pounded on him all the way up the stairs.

Tim watched them go with a sigh of regret. He wasn't stupid enough to get between a big bloke like that and his errant woman. He was probably her husband, and Tim wasn't one to poach. Well, not often, anyway. He returned to his grog, chalking her up to another loss for the evening.

Meanwhile, Kai was dropping a wildly struggling Meriel right in the center of the bed, hard enough for her to bounce twice. She let out a shriek, flailing her arms and catching him across the face by accident. He pulled back with an annoyed look, then he started pulling her boots off even as she tried to kick him.

"Stop fighting me!" He said crossly. "I'm just getting you ready for bed."

She laughed, covering her mouth as she muttered, "You don't know how to get a woman ready for bed. I should probably give you lessons." She poked a finger in the center of his chest.

He looked really, really annoyed. "Stop." He grabbed her finger.

She looked around. "Where's Tim? He and I had plans, you know."

Kai's eyes narrowed. "Don't push me, Meriel." He reached down, pulling the covers back. "Now get in the bed and sleep this off."

She rolled her eyes at him. "No. I'm not drunk, you idiot. I only had one tankard."

"No?"

"No. Besides, this is your bed. I took the liberty of renting a separate room while you were gone. So I'll just go to my room now." She got up, dodging his hands and walked barefoot to the door. "If I'm lucky, I can catch Tim before he leaves." She shot him a tight smile and twisted the doorknob, opening the door.

And that quickly he was reaching over her and shutting it.

"You are not going down there."

"I bloody well am," She said, turning and poking him in the chest with each word. "And you. Leave. Me. Be."

"Why did you rent a separate room?" He asked, crossing his arms.

She looked at him wide-eyed. "Did you want me to bring him back here? In the bed you'd be sleeping in?"

"You really were going to -" He didn't finish.

"Yes, I really was," She insisted. "You're certainly not going to do it." She flounced back over to the bed. "I could sleep naked and paint a map on my body and you'd give me no more than a passing glance." She sat down, pulling her knees up under her chin. "I just wanted to feel like a woman. Even if it's not with you."

Kai listened to her impassioned speech with clenched fists and tension in every muscle of his body. It took every bit of control he had to keep from going to her, and even that gave out on him when he saw the tears spill over and slide down her face.

"Meriel..." It took him two steps to get to the bed and a heartbeat later he was kissing her, hard and she was wrapping her arms around him and giving him every ounce of it back. He kissed her over and over, barely coming up for air. He felt like he'd never get enough of her.

He put one knee down on the bed, pushing her onto her back as he pulled and tugged her clothing from her body. Her hands were all over him, stroking up under his shirt and then sliding down into the waistband of his pants.

"You have been busy," He gasped.

She froze a moment. "I'd rather be with you. You're the one I want, Kai."

A few moments later, he was free of his clothing, and she wasted no time, pulling him down on top of her and wrapping her arms and legs around him.

"Ohhh," She moaned. "You feel incredible."

He put his forehead down against hers. "Meriel, you need to tell me if I hurt you. Do you understand me?"

She arched up into him, rubbing herself against him. "You won't hurt me," She panted. "I know you won't."

He set his jaw, fighting the urge to bury himself in her without preliminaries. She was making this incredibly difficult.

"I don't want to do anything you don't want to do," He gritted out.

"I want to do it. I want to do it with you," She said, kissing his chest, his neck, anywhere she could reach, all while her hand stroked his back and buttocks, urging him closer to her.

His mouth found hers again, kissing her deeply, his tongue plunging inside as his lips moved on hers with barely leashed control. He shifted off to the side and she whimpered at the loss of sensation, locking her legs around him and trying to roll with him.

"Lay back," He commanded, and she obeyed him instantly, trembling as she waited in a welter of need. His hands moved over her slowly, touching and pressing every curve as he learned her. She slid her hands over the hard slab of muscle on his chest and up around his neck.

"You're so beautiful, Kai," She said, her eyes full of wonder. "I've always known you were, but touching you is just so much more."

"Close your eyes," He said.

She did as he asked, but a frown creased her brow. "Why can't I look at you?"

"Because you looking at me makes me want to take you. Hard."

She smiled, eyes still closed. "Maybe I want you to take me hard." She squirmed against him, and Kai knew he was seconds away from losing the battle. If she kept this up, it would be over before she knew he'd started. He moved his hand down, right to the heat of her, and her gasp made him close his own eyes and fight for control. He slid his fingers down, parting her and circling the bud of sensation within her folds as she arched her back and her hands fisted in the bedding next to her.

"Unnnnn..." She made a sound low in her throat. "Kai..." Her head tossed on the pillow. And her hands reached for him, pulling him down onto her again. She spread her legs wider, urging him with everything in her body and he was lost. He rubbed himself carefully against her wetness, pressing against her and feeling her tremble with the feel of him.

Her nails dug into his shoulders and her head tilted back. "Please, can I open my eyes?" She pleaded. "I want to see you."

"Open them. Look at me, Meriel." She stared at him, her eyes brilliant blue and he was mesmerized as they shifted to aqua and then deepened again to blue.

"Meriel," He put his forehead down to hers. His body shook with the effort of holding back. "I'll try to go easy."

He fitted himself to her and slid in by inches, his arms straining, and Meriel was tired of waiting. She arched into him, sliding her hands down to his buttocks and pulling him in hard.

And he froze a heartbeat later. His eyes snapped open and locked on hers with angry accusation.

"You lied."

She bit her lip, squirming a bit against him. "Sorry. I didn't think you'd actually do this if I told you the truth."

He took in a deep breath, but his body was still warring with him. "Are you all right?"

She nodded, smiling. "You feel good." She pushed against him. "Really good. Can we get on with it?"

Get on with it. He just ripped into her - he felt it, for God's sake - and she wanted him to get on with it. Not that he had a choice now. Her heat was gripping him like silken fist and he felt himself moving, pushing into her more deeply and she took every inch of him, welcoming him and moaning as if she couldn't get enough.

He tried to keep an even tempo, but she was devastating to his control pushing up against him and digging her nails into his back. He pulled back to look at her, and her pleasure-drugged eyes met his, making him nearly mad with need.

"Kai," She whispered. He kissed her deeply, still moving on her, then he kissed his way over to her neck, burying his face in it, his tongue tracing and swirling on it. He felt her lips touch his ear.

"Can you do it hard now? Please?" She whispered.

He couldn't have stopped himself if the world were afire around them - and it certainly felt like it was. He buried himself in her deeply, and she wrapped her legs around his thrusting hips, urging him on, begging with her mouth and hands and body until he gave her exactly what she asked for, taking her hard until she came apart in his arms with a shattered cry.

He followed her moments later, and she was still sensitive, unable to help the whimper that broke from her lips as he pressed her into the mattress, shaking with the force of it as he finished.

They laid there for several long moments, taking big, gulping breaths of air. Kai finally rolled to the side, throwing an arm over his eyes.

Her hand reached out, taking his.

"Are you very angry at me?"

"Yes." He squeezed her hand. "Are you really all right?"

She levered herself up on one elbow. "Do I look like you killed me?"

He glanced over at her with a smile that faded away instantly. "Good God. You do."

Meriel glanced down at the blood smearing her thighs and the bed beneath them. "Wow." She stared up at him. "That looks a lot worse than it feels. Promise."

"It had to have hurt." He said, gesturing down. "Look at you!"

"I barely felt it. I was liking it all too much."

Kai rolled himself off the bed, heading into the water closet for a basin and a cloth. He made short work of cleaning them both up, but there wasn't much that could be done about the bed, unfortunately. He pulled the case off his pillow, laying it across the stain. Then he laid back down, pulling her onto his chest.

"You never had anyone else," He said. "Why not?"

She stroked his chest, rubbing her face into it. "I never found anyone I wanted to do this with."

They were silent for awhile, each lost in their thoughts. Kai cleared his throat.

"Would you really have brought that boy to your bed?"

She laughed. "My grog addled brain had decided that if I had a little more experience, you might actually do this. It seemed like a small price to pay."

"You could have just drawn me a map. I kind of like the idea..."

Meriel laughed again. "I'm sorry I got angry and I'm sorry I provoked you. But I'm not sorry we did this."

"Me, either." He leaned down, kissing the top of her head. "Are you sure I didn't hurt you?"

"A little," She said. "But not in a bad way. Why were you so worried? I never was."

He let out a sigh. "It's more than that, Meriel. You don't know what I can do. What I'm capable of."

She kissed his chest. "Oh, I think I have a good idea now. And I'm quite impressed."

Kai pulled her up so that she was facing him, side-by-side on the bed. "I have a certain...gift. And when you touch me - when I touch you - it's...difficult for me not to use it."

Her confusion showed clearly on her face. "I don't understand. Do you mean you do this - " She gestured down at their naked bodies, "Differently than human men? I don't mind. It's not like I have a basis for comparison, after all."

He chuckled. "No, the fundamentals are the same, though I am a lot stronger, I suppose. I worried I was going break you the whole way through."

"I'm a lot stronger than I look," She said, raising her brows.

"I know that, Meriel. Believe me, I know." He kissed her forehead. "No, I mean I can do something they can't do."

"And that is...?"

"I can speak with the power of the sea." She looked at him blankly, so he went on to elaborate. "I can issue a command, any command in a certain tone of voice, and you'd want to obey it. You are especially susceptible, being born on the water, but the fact that you trust me would make it nearly impossible for you to deny me."

Her eyes grew wide. "You could have made me do this?"

His jaw tightened. "Yes. And when I'm losing control, I can't always keep from doing it. I worry that I'm going to make you do something you don't want to do. That I'm forcing you. You respond to me so completely, and I have to wonder how much of that is me, and how much of that is you not having a choice."

She reached up, running her fingers through his hair. "You think I can't want you without that? That I behaved like I did because I was told to?"

He didn't say anything. Meriel pulled his head down until his lips almost met hers.

"You are so stupid." She giggled. "If that were true, I wouldn't be wanting you so much when you're not around. I swear to God Kai, I've wanted you from the minute you kissed me."

His relief was palpable. "I've wanted you, too. But I can't bear the thought of using this on you. Even if I don't mean to."

"Well, I'm not complaining," Meriel said. "You certainly didn't have me doing anything I didn't want to do." She leaned in again. "And hard."

He pulled her close, hugging her tight. "I'll try to keep that in mind."

"Kai?"

"Hmmm?"

"Did you ever use that voice on me? Outside of bed, I mean?"

Silence.

"Kai?" She sat up. "Kai! You did!"

He looked sheepish. "I might have made you apologize to your parents a couple of times. Only because I knew how much happier you'd be if you did."

She laid back down. "I guess I'll forgive that."

"I can use my powers in other ways, you know." He laid down beside her, splaying his fingers low on her stomach. "I can tell you that you like whatever I'm doing to you."

She gave him a look. "I don't need any help with that. I already like it."

"But I can tell you that you like it a lot. An awful lot." He grinned at her, narrowing his eyes. "And that you're going to like it for a very, very long time."

She looked at him with startled but intrigued eyes.

"Okay."