33

SOLEIL

I wake up in a soft bed with even softer sheets, blinking the sleep from my eyes and trying to orient myself. Where am I?

I don't even remember getting into bed. In fact, the last thing I remember is being at the club with Mark, taking shots, lots and lots of shots then dancing... more like doing the bump and grind before we kissed.

I groan in misery before my eyes snap open at the memory of what came after or should I say who – Brice. I sit up and look around hurriedly, immediately wishing I hadn't. My head hurts and my mouth is dry. If this is what being hungover feels like then I'm never drinking again.

"About time you got up," I hear his voice boom through the room.

I don't even have the energy to face him right now. The last thing I remember is facing him in the mirror as I washed my date's blood off my hands.

"I need water," I croak out.

I swing my legs off to the side and try to stand up before I'm hit with a dizzy wave. Not a good idea. I sit back down. Despite the sudden ringing in my ears, I still hear the door open and close. I can only hope he's gone to get me some water.

I flop back, my feet dangling off to the side mid air, and take a few deep breaths trying to recount last night. I remember everything from the dance to arriving at the club. Mark stopping for a brief chat with Tshepo and Brice making out with the red head.

Argh! I hate to admit that was upsetting which led to me taking shots when we settled in with the Saints - they are anything but. I was drinking, dancing, grinding, kissing, then all of a sudden being dragged into the men's bathroom.

After that, nothing. Yes, I remember Brice hitting Mark and me trying to stop the blood then washing it off but everything after that is a complete blank. Do I have a head injury or something?

More like selective amnesia, my subconscious rebuts.

Well, that part of my brain hasn't changed so it can't be that bad. How did I get here and why does my body hurt? If I'm here with Brice then where is Mark? I have a feeling I don't want to know.

I sit up slowly and look down at the oversized white tee I'm wearing. I scan the room for my phone, bag, clothes – nothing. It's neat and clean with everything put away.

The door opens and Brice comes in with a bottle of water, a glass of OJ, and a pack of Panado. He sets them on the nightstand. I reach for the pills first, throwing them back and guzzling half the bottle before he takes it away from me.

I look at him like he's lost his mind snatching the bottle like that.

"Juice, it will help replace the lost electrolytes," he answers my silent question.

I raise my brow with a slight smirk because look at who's been studying his biology. When the glass is empty, I feel a lot better now that my stomach no longer feels hollow.

"Where are we?" I ask, my voice much smoother.

"We need to talk."

"No shit Sherlock," I quip sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "How did I get here?"

"Take a shower and meet me downstairs," is his only response.

He leaves me alone in the room staring after him. I look out the window and notice the rising sun through the sheer curtains. It's still early which means I still have time to contact Gogo and Aunt Michelle before making the drive back home to arrive at a decent hour.

I head to the bathroom to freshen up. My mouth tastes like filth and after digging through the cupboards I find an unopened toothbrush. As I strip off the tee and my panties, I notice bruising on my back and legs. Did I fall?

"Wow! I'm seriously never drinking like that again," I voice out loud.

Once I'm done, I dig around the walk-in closet for a fresh tee and one of Brice's boxers because I can't seem to find my belongings. I head out of the bedroom and wander through the hallways of what appears to be the upper floor of this all-white beach house.

"Brice," I call out as I approach the stairs.

"In the kitchen," he calls back.

My stomach grumbles at the suggestion of food. I pat my tummy apologetically for what I've put her through.

I trail the voice to where I suspect it came from and find him perched on a wooden bar stool with a black mug in hand. He leans on the all-white marble island that matches the white paint of the room lined with white backsplash and some more white cabinetry. Although it lacks colour, it's spotless – up there with Gogo's standards and my nightmares. Which reminds me...

"Uhm, where are my clothes?" I ask sheepishly.

I hope he doesn't bring up my state of undress. I didn't ask for permission. I just helped myself to his wardrobe.

"In the trash."

"What do you mean?" I raise my voice in aggravation.

Now is not the time.

"Don't you remember throwing up all over me?"

"No," I answer.

My hand is up, ready to shut down this conversation, and my eyes are closed in mortification.

"Do you remember making out with Mark?"

"Do you remember making out with that red-head bitch who was not your date?" I throw back feeling both petty and annoyed.

"Are you jealous?" he smirks.

"Are you jealous?" I repeat back in a mocking tone like a 6 year old.

"Yes. Let's table that for now. Your dream, do you have those often?"

Wait.

"What?"

Hold up. Wait a minute.

Brice was jealous of me? That made me feel... good. I suspected it but this is the first time he's admitting to it.

"You know the dream you had last night where you were with... Clovis. When you were attacked."

How random. Is he trying to deflect or something? What is he even talking about?

He honestly sounds like a crazy person until the imagery comes back to me slowly. It felt so real... more like a memory of a past life than a dream. I shake my head at the idea. It sounds impossible but somehow, I know it's real. But how does he know what I was dreaming of?

"How do you know about that? You weren't there."

I've only had one other dream similar to the latest which involved Brice. Last night he didn't make an appearance. I may have mentioned him in passing but it was Hidde I was with. What a mind-fuck.

"I took a dream walk. It's kind of like reading your mind in live stream vision instead of searching for a particular moment. Have you had any others?" he continues.

I'm flabbergasted.

"We need to discuss boundaries and privacy. I don't like you invading my privacy. Just because you can read my mind doesn't mean you should."

I take a walk around the kitchen looking for the fridge and a distraction. I'm starving and I don't really want to talk about the time I dreamt of having sex with him or how heartbroken I was that he was sending me away.

I finally find the fridge that blends in with the cabinetry. It's fully stocked. I take out a carton of eggs, bacon, and a loaf of rye bread. They're from Woolies – the good stuff plus it's organic.

When I turn around, he's right behind me and takes the produce out of my hands, places them on the island and stands as an obstacle between me and my sustenance.

"What are you hiding from me," he asks crossing his arms. "Who's baby were you carrying?"

The look in his eyes is crazy. Like he's waiting for me to give him a reason to lose his mind. It probably wouldn't take much. I suspect he has a few screws loose already.

"It doesn't matter. They're just dreams. It's my wild imagination blending people from my real life with my fantasies."

He grips my jaw in a tight hold.

"No, they're not. These ones are fucking real. Were you fucking me and my cousin?"

"What? No!" I wrestle my way out of his hold.

I mean Hidde isn't a bad looking guy but the thought of having sex with him is just... I shake the thought out of my head.

"Then who's baby were you carrying Soleil!" he shouts.

"Oh my gosh! Stop shouting at me. It was yours."

He goes deathly silent regarding me with those grey eyes, a storm brewing within them.

"You're lying."

I roll my eyes. Of course, he doesn't believe me. Even I'm having a hard time believing them myself.

"You can see for yourself if you want," I offer up.

Brice doesn't hesitate as he approaches me and takes my face into his hands. His eyes change colour and hypnotise me within a grey and blue kaleidoscope as they shift shades.

I find myself reliving that night in my chambers, upset and refusing to eat, crying myself to sleep only for him to burst into the room and kiss me senseless before he strips me naked and discovers my growing belly. How he made love to me afterward and promised me safety with every thrust.

I come to in the present moment, standing face to face with a younger Merovech but nonetheless the same man. His heat filled gaze scorches my face. I take hold of his wrist trying to pry his hands off me but he doesn't budge. It's like he's seeing me for the first time.

"Brice? What is it?" I ask.

"What were you doing with Clovis. I would never let you out of my sight."

Is he accusing me of being unfaithful? What a prick.

"Well, you sent me away," I fire back.

"Bullshit!"

"Take a look then," I permit, motioning my hand in a permissive gesture.

His eyes lock on mine once more, their gradient shifting as I recall the memory of waking up in that prison cart being wheeled away from the castle. My threatening of the soldiers before I was let out by Clovis who explained that my exile was for my safety even though that ended up backfiring.

"What happened to our baby?"

"Brice!" I call out, this time managing to break free from his hold. He looks disoriented and confused. "I don't know and this looks like it happened a long time ago, a very long time ago, if it even happened at all."

"Why didn't you tell me you were my wife?"

"Honestly, I thought you knew but you didn't care." I shrug.

The night I woke up from the first dream calling him by a different name, he wasn't surprised. It's like he simply wanted to confirm what I'd said.

"I thought you were a concubine or consort."

"A concubine, Brice?" I shout indignantly, throwing one of the eggs at him.

He unfortunately ducks and I miss my mark. The yellow yolk adds some colour to the walls.

"When I asked what I called you, you said – and I quote – 'a weak bitch'. What else was I supposed to think you were?"

I shake my head speechless as I open the various drawers looking for a frying pan and oil. I give up. This boy is honestly something else.

"You have no respect. Even for your so-called wife. Where's my phone and my bag?"

I need to get out of here. I will get something to eat along the way. Maybe stop by a garage for a pie.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know." I hurl another egg.

I miss again. Damn him and his quick reflexes.

"I left in a hurry."

"Where the hell are we? Where is Mark?"

"We're in Plettenburg Bay and last I heard, your boyfriend was on the way to the hospital."

I'm speechless. I leave the kitchen and walk around the house looking for a telephone. Not that most people have a house line these days but if Gogo has one I can only hope these people are as old fashioned. I can't believe this. I'm going to have to take a flight to get back home.

"Soleil!" Brice calls out. "Soleil, we're not done talking and you must have thrown up the last of your sense if you think I'm letting you anywhere near him."

"Well, I'm done talking to you!"

I turn the corner and race up the stairs.

He follows suit.

I find my way back to the bedroom and the walk-in closet filled with men's clothes. I need pants to go outside. I grab a pair of sweats with drawstrings but before I'm able to put them on, Brice snatches them out of my hands.

"What do you want from me?"

"I want you to talk to me. I want you to stop pissing me off. I want to understand what's going on between us."

"What us? You were Hailey's date one minute and making out with another chic in the next. You think I'm a weak bitch and a concubine. Clearly, you have more women than you know what to do with and I have no interest in being one of them so if you'll excuse me, I want to go home."

"They're not my women."

"Yeah right," I chuckle without humor.

"Listen to me." He pushes me against the wall trapping me between his arms. "My history with Hailey is complicated."

"Then uncomplicate it for me," I demand crossing my arms in an attempt to put some distance between us.

He steps back and takes a hold of my hands, dragging me out of the closet and taking a seat on the bed. He tugs me towards him and I settle onto his lap.

"The start of high school was not just about passing a grade and moving onto a new school, it was also an introduction into a world I never knew existed. When I was 14 – in Grade 8 – I lost my virginity. I had sex with a mermaid and was introduced into a world of pleasure."

Even though Brice is telling me about his past, I feel my jaw tightening in irritation. I knew he was not innocent, but what girl wants to know the gory details of her crush or past lover or whatever the hell it is we are to each other?

"I was 14 and she was an adult no older than 30. I wasn't some horny teenager that got lucky. It was something I had to do to prove that I was a man to awaken the power within me. It didn't make sense to me at first but it did after. I started to remember things from the past and with those memories came abilities that you've borne witness to."

"Like the teleporting?"

"Yes, but that came later. Sex was a rite of passage - an awakening. I had a guide to direct me on this path to my higher self. Even though the sex was pleasurable it was never emotional. It was merely a means to an end. The climax was merely a ritual to access a higher realm where I could tap into my dormant power.

"With that kind of reasoning, high school girls didn't interest me. They were too inexperienced. One week I was rescuing you from the clutches of the ocean and the next week I was copulating with a siren.

"My tastes had grown coarser and, in some ways, more refined. I didn't want a novice, I needed experience – something new, something different, something to take me to the next level. Around grade 10 is when the girls in our grade began to mature and develop but there was none bolder who caught my attention quite like Hailey."

I shift on his lap and look to the ceiling for help because there is no way my God is a part of this. My jealousy doesn't want him to utter another word of their sordid history but my curiosity won't let me rest.

"She was not a virgin. She took charge and I liked it. She talked a big game and delivered, but more importantly, her energy was different from anything I'd ever felt."

"What do you mean by energy?"

"Her sexual energy."

"Okay..." I'm at a loss.

My hands are wrapped around his neck for balance. I tighten my hold despite my creeping urge to slap him. He squeezes my waist and soothingly rubs my back as he continues.

"Fast forward to last year when I invited her to my home in France. My parents were fine with it but insisted that we invite her family as well. They wanted to know who her people were since they weren't one of us."

"What do you mean by one of us?"

"They were Celtics not Franks. We value bloodlines. Anyway, I was just happy to have her around. Mermaids and sirens aren't quite like human women and I can't live exclusively in their world. Moreover, it gets tedious meeting new ones and trying to figure out their motives. Even though they are not from the land of men, they still have their own ambitions. I soon got sick of the pump and dump. I began to value my relationship with Hailey and thought we were moving beyond the physical."

"So, I'm sure you can appreciate my relationship with Mark which is not just physical."

I can't help the interjection. My jealousy is getting the best of me.

"Don't," Brice warns.

"What's the point of this story? How did you graduate from sex buddies to siblings," I ask trying to get us back on track.

He takes a deep breath in and out, breaking our stare off. A haunted look comes over his face. He looks disturbed.

"One night, I was sneaking into her room and as I was walking down the hall to the door I could hear the bed creaking and sounds of moaning."

Damn, did she cheat on him?

"Through experience, I recognised the vibrations of a couple having sex but refused to believe it. She was cheating on me under my own fucking roof. I just needed to know who it was. When I entered the room, it was charged not only with the smell of sex but fear and violence. As I approached the bed unbeknown to her, I recognised the man as her father rocking on top of her. Even though her eyes were wide open she wasn't looking at me. It's like she wasn't there."

I feel sick.

I feel guilty.

No one deserves to be raped by their own kin, let alone their own father. My eyes mist over in horror.

"I lost it. I pulled him off of her and started hitting him. The sound of my fists smashing into his face were not enough. He was vocal and fought back at first then he went still -  silent. I didn't stop. I only realised what I had done when my father knocked me out with a fire extinguisher. When I came to my senses, Hailey was on the bed crying with a sheet pressed against her naked body.

"I nearly killed her father, but my dad called the hospital and got him the best treatment. Better than he deserved. He was in a coma for a few months, but my family covered it up. My mother took Hailey under her wing. She was pissed at her husband who cared more about appearances and Hailey's mother who seemed more concerned about the survival of her husband than the wellbeing of her own daughter. That's when maman decided to adopt her and my father obliged. He didn't want his reputation tainted by this sordid ordeal and he wanted to keep his wife happy.

"Witnessing what happened to her, I became protective. She opened up to me about her family life and she told me I was her first – the first man she willingly gave herself to – but I couldn't be with her again. I understood her sexual energy for what it was - dark and tainted, forbidden and evil. There is something sinister about sleeping with kin. It draws in dark elements. If I continued, I would be no better than the father that had raped her. She used to call me daddy and I loved it until I understood why. She was trying to replace old memories of him with me."

Brice was quiet for a few minutes and I was at a loss for words. My father was the most protective and loving figure that I knew. To have that relationship violated...

"Brice I –"

I didn't know what to say.

I was not expecting that.

All of a sudden I felt so stupid for being jealous of Hailey. She deserved better. I was taking away the one person she'd come to know as loving and protective.

"I took her as my date because I had already agreed to be her partner when she started planning for MD the year before. I wanted to keep my word despite the change in our relationship. Otherwise, I would have taken you once you put that spell on me."

"I honestly didn't think magic was real," I say in a poor defense.

"The only reason I was with the siren at the after party was because Hidde thought it would be a diversion away from you. He noticed how attached I'd gotten, and he could see how I was acting at the dance. He didn't want me to lose control but that ended up happening anyway."

"Wait, are you telling me Red is a siren? As in those seductresses from the sea?"

"Yes."

"You've been talking about sleeping with sirens and mermaids so those things are real?"

"Yes."

"Damn. She was... very attractive," I begrudgingly, admit.

"She's 50. Fuck her. She has nothing on you."

I felt all warm and gooey at the compliment. The siren was beyond beautiful. Brice didn't have to flatter me.

"You don't have to lie to me."

"I'm not. Your energy is different. It's not seductive. It's innocent, pure, and charming. You smell like a newborn – a virgin."

"That sounds so wrong," I say, trying to get off him but his hold keeps me in place as he laughs off my concerns.

"Seriously though – you smell good. As I told you before I was used to sleeping with women who have experience – from high-end escorts to seafolk. Their energy is luscious and filled with indulgence – it's extravagant. Nothing was off limits and money was no object.

"Hailey's energy was dark and violent. It was only after that fateful night that I began to understand the deeper connotations of sex beyond simply indulging in it and chasing the high. I haven't slept with anyone since. At first, it was the initial shock then it was to store up my energy – to retain life force for my trials."

"What do you mean by trials and life force?"

I swear he was speaking a different language. Like one of those crystals, energies, and chakras enthusiasts.

"All I can say is that when a man busts a nut he expels his life force which can be used for creation or harnessed for other things. I needed to harness it."

"For what?"

"I've told you enough."

"Yeah, you've given me a mouthful. Your world is riveting, borderline insane and I need to get back to mine - my boring, seemingly normal, life."

"Stay."

"We're in a different province for crying out loud! I can't. "

"Why not?"

"I never asked permission for starters. I don't even have clothes Brice, no money, and my phone is missing. I need to communicate with my family before they start to worry. I wouldn't feel comfortable staying here."

"Fine. I can give you 48 hours to sort yourself out and then you come back to me."

"I don't even know if my gran will say yes. I had other plans."

"Cancel them."

"Brice..."

He stands up, settles me on my feet, and wraps his hands around my waist drawing me flush against his body. Those grey eyes of his bore into mine.

"We've only just begun to scratch the surface. You only dream when you're with me. Come back to me wife."

My heart squeezes and my stomach flips. When he leans in to kiss me, I give in, brushing his lips with my own, allowing his tongue to duel with mine.

"Please," he implores when he pulls back.

I feel this sudden attachment to him. Suddenly, I don't want to go even though I know I have to.

"Fine," I relent.

He leans in one more and this time when we embrace I feel a shift between us beyond the vertigo that rolls through me when he transports us.

When he pulls back, we're standing inside what looks like a hotel room.

"You promise?"

"Yes." I promise.

The vulnerability he displays has me smiling like a fool which is quickly wiped off when Hidde walks into the room.

"Look who decided to grace us with his presence."

"48 hours Soleil," he reminds me before turning to Hidde. "Let me know once she's home."

"Yes, Your Highness. Of course, Your Highness," Hidde replies in annoyance.

Before I can say anything to Brice, he's gone.

12 | 01 | 2024

WC: 4178

Thank you so much for 72k reads!!

When I wrote Hailey's chapter and revealed they were siblings soon after, I knew this was the backstory. Hope any questions regarding this particular story thread have been answered...

Things are going to get sexual moving forward and sex is one of the themes of this book. I want to depict all aspects of it not just the physical, but the psychological and spiritual side as well because some people are out here doing strange shit.

I'm seriously in two minds about the daddy kink - it can be hot but it's also weird 😫😭 What's your take on it?

Dedicating this chapter to:

lovelykyhn 🌸

PatricStar8 🏵

CarylApelka 🌻

blkjuptrlnd 💮

gabrllea 🌹

Kaif12s 🌼

starvrss 🌷

lknowbish 🌺

Dela_Vega101 🥀

RosemaryWimberly9 💐

Happy New Year everybody!