The Cursed Doubloon

by B. T. Love

  “Well that is technically what you’re doing, isn’t it? You didn’t make it very far in our race.” I tried using humor to overcome the tension that was forming inside of me but it was useless. All I could think about was how I was pressed up against his body, a man’s body, no longer with a heavy tail swishing in the water below us. His trousers were tight and slicked against him and I could feel everything about his manliness through the layers of my dress. My blood was boiling.

  “What is wrong, my Grace? You’re not even looking at me.”

  I hadn’t realized it but my eyes were cast down at the water, avoiding his stare. “Oh, no, nothing’s wrong,” I said, meeting his gaze.

  “It saddens me that you are so afraid to be with me.”

  “I’m not afraid to be with you.”

  His eyes formed into two sad-looking orbs of gorgeous color. “Then what is it?”

  “I’m, I’m just nervous. But in a good way, not bad.”

  “Why are you nervous? I’m just holding you and laughing with you. Nothing more.”

  “But I want there to be more.”

  A smile tugged at his mouth’s corner. “You do?”

  “Absolutely. I’m just so used to you being a merman. I never thought we would be able to physically be together. And now here we are, you with the body of a complete man. I’m overwhelmed.”

  “Overwhelmed?”

  “Yes, overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with . . . lust.”

  “Lust?” he said, his eyebrows rising with surprise. “Wow. Well, you should feel how I feel then.”

  “And how do you feel?” I asked, pulling myself more tightly against him.

  “Well, why don’t I show you instead of telling you?” Without waiting for my answer he kissed me deeply, his tongue parting my lips and dancing with mine. I became like putty in his hands. His fingers traced along the backside of my body, exploring what they could through my heavy attire. I wished in that moment that I was naked so I could feel the strong grasp of his hands directly on my skin.

  “Gracie!” my father’s voice echoed from the ship. “We be pullin’ anchor shortly!”

  “Oh lord,” I said, breaking away from our kiss. “When will we not be interrupted by that man’s screaming?”

  “I guess that means we need to get back on board.”

  I glanced over at the rock we had tried to swim to earlier. “I have a challenge,” I said, looking back at Ladarius’s handsome face.

  He smiled through labored breaths. “I never said I liked challenges.”

  “You’ll like this one.”

  “Oh you think I will? Okay then, let’s hear it.”

  “I still want to race to the rock. I want to see if I can beat you wearing this heavy dress.”

  “But I have no idea how to swim with legs.”

  “Then I shall give you a quick lesson.”

  “And what exactly is at stake here if I lose?”

  “Hmm,” I pondered aloud. “Well, if you lose you will go sleep below with the crew tonight.”

  “And if I win?”

  “If you win then you will sleep with me.”

  His head dropped with a laugh of shyness. “Will I actually be falling asleep with you or can I take ‘sleeping’ to mean something else entirely?”

  “Well maybe you need to win so you can find out.”

  “Are you going to let me win? Because that’s cheating. And I do believe it would bruise my ego a bit, you letting me win because I am now a poor swimmer.”

  “You are not a poor swimmer; you are the strongest swimmer I know. Now, you’ll use your arms in the same way as you did before but you must match your legs to the same motion. So when you open your arms to take the stroke you’ll open your legs as well and push them closed when you close your arms back down to your sides. Here, I’ll show you . . .” I tried my best to show him but it was a little hard to see, especially with all the fabric surrounding my body.

  “I thought that was what I did but it didn’t exactly work out for me.”

  “You’re probably not used to two separate parts moving below you. Try it again.”

  He kicked off of the sandy floor and treaded slowly along the top of the water. “Like this?”

  “Yes, it looks like you’ve figured it out!”

  “But I’ll never win the challenge going at this pace.”

  “Well, try holding your breath and swimming below the surface.”

  He took in a deep breath and then sunk down, disappearing from view. A few seconds passed and he was still swimming, or at least I hoped he was swimming and not drowning. To my delight his head finally popped up far from where I was. “My goodness, Ladarius! You got all the way over there?”

  “Ha, that I did! I guess I can swim with legs; I just do it better below the surface. That’s what I’m used to, after all.”

  “Then I guess you are ready to race me then?”

  “Yes, I am. Would you like me to give you a head start?”

  “Oh, you are rather sure of yourself now, aren’t you?”

  “I know when I am good at something.”

  My chest tightened at his remark. “I’m sure you do. And no I don’t need a head start; that would be cheating. Besides, don’t you want me to lose this race?”

  “Don’t worry. I have complete faith in you that you will lose this race.”

  “Because you’re assuming I want you to sleep with me in my quarters?”

  “No, because I am much faster than you and I will win. Whether you want me to or not.”

  His cockiness was infuriating, and irresistible. I pulled my shoulders back and drew in a breath of air for the count. “Okay then. Let’s see what you can do. Three . . . two . . . one . . . go!” I kicked off through the water and worked my arms as hard as I could, trying to get to our destination in a respectable time. I actually didn’t want to win—I wanted more than anything for him to be with me in my room that night—but at the same time I wanted to beat him at the challenge to prove how much of a strong swimmer I was.

  “Are you going to get here anytime soon?”

  I stopped my strokes and looked ahead at the rock in front of me. There Ladarius was with a casual smile across his face and his arm draped over its small surface.

  “Are you serious?” I huffed through tired breaths. “You’re there already?”

  “That seems to be the situation, yes. And that also means I won the challenge.”

  “You know, I wonder if you even had any trouble swimming in the first place.”

  “Well I guess you’ll never know, will you?”

  “No,” I smiled. “I guess not.”

  “Gracie!” my father yelled once again. “Gracie, we be leavin’ handsomely!”

  “Ugh, that man. Alright Father! Be there in a moment!”

  Ladarius left the rock and swam in my direction. “I would ask if you would like to race me back to shore but I don’t want to leave you stranded in the water all by yourself.”

  “Well aren’t you the arrogant one . . .”

  “Ha! Only because you seem to enjoy it.”

  “I do not!” I happily argued. “I live on a ship amongst a whole crew of arrogant men and I can’t stand them one bit. What makes you any different?”

  He reached me in the water and encircled his arms around my waist. “Do you feel anything when I touch you, Grace?”

  My stomach fluttered, his closeness igniting the familiar warmth deep within my loins that he was always responsible for. “Yes,” I breathed against him.

  “That’s what makes me different from the arrogant men on your ship. If they were to ever touch you, heaven forbid, then you would push away from them and most likely throw yourself overboard.”

  “You are right about that,” I chuckled.

  “But when I touch you,” he continued, “you don’t push away from me at all. In fact, you are drawn to me, like a little moth that is seduced by the dancing flame of a flickering candle.”

  His words,
though presumptuous, were true. I was drawn to him; I was seduced by him. Everything he did affected me in ways I never felt before. Even when he just stood in front of me without touching me I was entranced by everything about him, like in my room earlier that night.

  “Everything you said is true,” I agreed willingly. “I am more drawn to you than any other man on this earth. So much so that it rattles my nerves.”

  His face displayed the smile of a man who had heard what he wanted to hear. “Good,” he said with a confident nod. “My feet can touch the bottom now, so let me carry you out of this water and keep you warm like I had promised I would do. I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.” His arm left my waist and he leaned down, scooping me up into his possession. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he slowly brought us out of the water, sucking myself to the warmth of his skin, delighting in the feeling of being against his shirtless body.

  The ship was already moving away from the rock wall that had been hiding us from sight as we made it back on board. Ladarius joined the crew while I retired to my room to get out from the weight of my dripping attire. Once dry, I rummaged through what little clothes I had and found my gowns for sleeping. The first one, though thick and comfortable, wasn’t very appealing to the eye. The other was perfect for when we were sailing in places with humid nights: thin and gauzy. It was chilly where we were and I had been wearing my thicker gown when I slept, but tonight I wanted the delicate transparency of the thin one so Ladarius could see the fine outline of my figure and the darkening on my breasts. I slipped my selection over my head and let it fall down the length of my body.

  Opening my curtains, I watched Ladarius laugh with the other men on deck as they guided the ship in the direction it was to sail throughout the night. Lanterns were hung in various spots and illuminated the muscles on his shirtless back as he pulled solidly on a rope. What a very attractive man he was; he made my blood boil just watching him. And knowing that he was soon to come find me lit me up inside, making the intimate parts of my body tingle with the anticipation.

  I left my window and sat on the edge of my bed. My fingers laced together on my lap and twisted around each other with nervousness. I needed an outlet, something to do to keep my mind off of his impending presence. My hairbrush was close, so I took it and ran it through my damp hair, hoping desperately to make myself look better than I must have looked. I wanted to impress Ladarius as much as I could on our first night together. But, I knew he thought I was beautiful no matter what. He had even watched me vomit over the edge of the ship multiple times and he still thought I was exquisite. I chuckled at the thought.

  A light knock tapped against my door. I straightened my posture and crossed my arms over my breasts to conceal them through the paper-thin material. “Who is it?”

  “It’s me.”

  I shivered instantly at hearing Ladarius’s deep voice. “Come in.”

  He opened the door and stepped timidly inside, closing it behind him. “Were you laughing a moment ago?”

  “Yes, I was. I was remembering the multiple times you have watched me vomit over the ship, only to still be captivated by me.”

  He smiled. “I am captivated by you; it’s hard not to be. Out of all the mermaids and human women I have seen, you are the most spectacular of them all.”

  “I feel the same way about you.”

  “And I am a lucky man for that reason.”

  I smiled at his sweetness and the space between us fell silent. Looking at him, he didn’t seem to be the least bit anxious to be in the room with me, knowing that he was soon to be in my bed. As for myself, I was filled with jittery butterflies that felt as if they were swimming through my blood.

  Ladarius’s eyes roamed over my attire. “You’re in a gown,” he pointed out quietly.

  “Yes,” I said hesitantly while glancing down at my crossed arms. “I needed to get out of my dress. It was freezing being out of the water with it slicked to my legs. And it was quite heavy.”

  “I could imagine.” The corner of his mouth rose with a smile. “May I join you on your bed?”

  “Um, yes,” I agreed, my voice quivering more than I wanted it to. He sat beside me and I cleared my throat. “Aren’t you cold? Your trousers are still very wet.”

  “I’m comfortable, actually. Pulling on ropes and running around on deck stirred my blood and made me warm.”

  “Well that’s good. And I’m glad the sea is calm tonight or else that could have caused some more problems for you and the crew to have to handle.”

  The small talk between us was ridiculous. That was the first time Ladarius and I had trouble getting to the point of something. I knew what was going to happen between us in my room, on my bed. I just didn’t know how to get from talking about small things, to doing the actions of big things. Experience wasn’t something I had much of in that department. Ladarius on the other hand was quite the mature man, seasoned in the enjoyment of lovemaking. I was waiting for him to make the first move, mostly because I couldn’t find the courage to do it myself.

  He shifted slightly to face me, pulling his leg up on the bed and leaning his elbow against it. “You look very beautiful.”

  “Thank you,” I laughed with shyness.

  “It’s the truth. The candle light accentuates the delicate features on your face and the womanly curves of your body.”

  “But I am dressed still. How can you know about the curves of my form?”

  “I’ve studied you for a long time, my Grace,” he said, bringing his hand to rest against my cheek. “I know the contours of your physique; I am very much aware of every feminine curve that forms you.” His fingers traced down my neck, leaving a trail of goose bumps behind as he made his way to my shoulder, carefully pulling the edge of my nightgown down to expose it. “I’ve seen how you move in the water.” He stopped a moment to place a kiss against my bare skin. “I’ve seen how you can bend and how flexible you are.” His fingers pulled some more at the fabric, dragging my gown lower until almost exposing my breast. I closed my eyes, letting the sensations he was stirring up inside of me break free. “Do you know the one thing about you that I haven’t discovered yet?” he asked. “The one thing that I want to know desperately?”

  “What?” I managed with a whisper.

  “How much you can arch your back.”

  I opened my eyes and was met with the intense stare of a man on fire. His mouth was inches from mine and I could feel his warm breath slightly shake when he released it. For the first time that night he seemed nervous. Nervous, but still confident. He leaned in and our lips connected. I responded easily to him, welcoming his tongue to explore my own. His fingers continued their journey and wandered into my gown to feel the fullness of my breast. I moaned into our kiss, feeling completely intoxicated by his gentle touch on an area that was so private.

  I was not a virgin, but Ladarius made me feel virginal. My minded roamed back to the time when he had told me that I would have my virginity back when I was with the man I loved. He was right. In a sense I was getting it back being with him, because that’s the way he made me feel. And I was about to lose it to him.

  My confidence was growing with his. I smoothed my hand along the strong muscles of his bare chest and down to his stomach. When I reached the wet fabric of his trousers I continued to explore, grazing my fingers past the laces and running my hand over the manly prominence that was pushing against the constricting material. I wanted to free him. I tugged on the strings, desperately trying to untie them.

  His lips broke away from mine and he stood up in front of me, his hands dropping to his laces, pulling them free with determination. My eyes devoured every inch of his manhood as his pants fell to the floor.

  “Does what the curse left me with please you?” he asked, honestly searching for my approval.

  My cheeks reddened. “Yes, yes it does.”

  “Good,” he smiled. “Hopefully it will please you in other ways as well.” He stepped closer and knelt down
in front of me, keeping his eyes locked with mine as his hands found my ankles and carefully began moving up beneath my gown. When he reached my calves I trembled, and my eyes closed when his fingers rounded my knees. His hands felt rough and masculine yet touched me with a gentle tenderness and docility. I moaned pleasantly when their warmth moved up my thighs; I opened my legs, silently begging him to explore deeper.

  “You enjoy that,” he pointed out matter-of-factly.

  I smiled, my eyes still closed. “I do.”

  “What about this?” His hands smoothed higher up, his thumbs turning in and barely grazing the sides of the place I wanted him to touch the most. I breathed heavily as he pushed his body closer into the space between my legs and ran his hands further up beneath my gown, roaming along my stomach and reaching my breasts.

  I opened my eyes and looked down at him, smiling out of the corner of my mouth. “You are teasing me.”

  His lips mimicked mine. “That I am. You don’t expect me to just dive right in, do you?”

  “Well you are good at diving.”

  “That’s very true. But I want to make this a night you will never forget.”

  “I can assure you I will never forget this night.” I leaned down and kissed him deeply before placing my hands on his shoulders and moving him back; it was my turn to make a move and show him the passion I was feeling. His hands came out from under the fabric of my gown as I stood up in front of him. He stayed on his knees, waiting to see what I was planning. I gathered the thin material in each of my hands and pulled my garment up my body and over my head, leaving myself completely exposed in the candle light.

  His breaths deepened as his eyes left mine and focused straight ahead on the space between my legs. “Grace,” was all he could manage to say. He ran his hand up and along the inside of my thigh until he was met with the slickness of my arousal, and he rubbed my sensitive flesh, bringing me to sigh with pleasure as he let his fingers glide inside of me. I tightened around him, feeling overtaken with the fullness and strength he was giving off with every stroke he made. I pouted when he pulled them out but then sucked in a satisfied breath as I felt his tongue follow the same path and land between my legs, giving me even greater pleasure than before.