by Megan Hussey
“Very astute observations,” Beth nodded, adding silently, “I think I’m going to have an orgasm. Here and now.”
Woody was less impressed.
“So you love books,” he allowed with a shrug. “Do you know customer service?”
It was Landon’s turn to shrug.
“I am basically a man who lives off the land and the water,” he added these last words in a low, cryptic tone. “I’ve never held much in the way of a job. I have, however, volunteered many days at the Paradise Bay homeless shelter, sorting clothes for and serving meals to our less fortunate residents.”
He paused, staring out a nearby window to observe a sparkling seascape of pure bronzed sand and sparkling gem blue waters.
“The trick is always to make every customer feel like a guest, and every guest feel like a monarch—even if they come into the building wearing rags. They’re still a person, and they deserve respect.”
“Oh don’t even say it,” Woody interrupted, throwing a harsh look in the direction of his glowing girlfriend. “He’s got the job.”
~~*~~
Chapter 3
***
Late that evening, a lone figure splashed in the waves of Paradise Bay, immersing himself in the aquatic element that served as his second home.
“Well my first home actually.” The solitary man shut his eyes tight, diving deeper into the comforting catacombs of sweet aqua. “And most of the time, I never want to leave.”
“Who,” he wondered, “would not want to live in this rich aquatic paradise, this tropical haven of rainbow-colored guppies, diamond hued dolphins, and schools of golden starfish and sea horses, all of which swam in peaceful communion among luxurious lines of gold and lavender coral.”
To this lone man the creatures of the sea were much like his friends and brethren. He felt far more at ease with the creatures of the sea than with his neighbors on land.
“Sometimes I wish I never had to go on land,” he sighed.
Other times though, his more human side took over, and he craved a humanistic pleasure—like reading a book or attending a movie.
“Or, for that matter, meeting a woman.” He smiled at the thought of the gorgeous female he’d met that day on the beach.
“Only it wasn’t exactly on the beach,” he shrugged, nodding toward a wise copper hued otter who swam majestically before him, “and she might not be considered gorgeous—at least not in the eyes of that disgusting cretin she calls a boyfriend.”
How could he not appreciate the smiling, bright lass with the lovely eyes as blue as the sea—and the unruly blonde hair that likened the sun itself in its exquisite golden glory?
“Which is fitting, as she sets fire to my loins.” He dove deeper toward the floor of his aquatic home, aquiline streams caressing his body, supplying the cold shower he desperately needed as he contemplated his dream girl.
He’d come into her shop that day looking for a few books, some simple diversions to help him bide the time he spent on land.
At first he didn’t pay much attention to the ‘help wanted’ sign posted at the door of the store.
The moment he met the shop’s owner, however, he wanted her—badly. Every fiber of his being needed and desired her. He’d even felt the irrational urge to seduce her right there on her own counter, and if her verbally abusive brute of a boyfriend wanted to stand there and watch, so be it.
He swore he’d seen her before on the beach. He barely knew her but she fired his blood and made his heart pound. More than that, her manner of speaking and obvious intellect ignited his mind.
He looked forward to spending long days by her side, easing the burden of her daily duties as he engaged her in endless conversations about books and the literary world.
He anticipated even more the thrill of seduction; the sheer excitement of tempting and fulfilling a wonderful woman in need of a good man.
“I could tell she liked me,” his grin was boyish as his hands made circles in the waters around him. “Hopefully she’ll like me even more when I offer her my body … I’ll be all hers, there only to fulfill her every desire and do with me just as she pleases.”
Like some of the women who’d shared his stretch of sand, he hoped she’d love his massive chest, his sculpted abs, his honed lovemaking skills …
He just wasn’t sure how she’d feel about the blasted fin.
~~*~~
Chapter 4
***
Two weeks later
An azure morning marked the beginning of another day at Siren’s Call Books. Beth arrived once again at the door of her store. This time, however, her step was light and she just couldn’t wait to turn the key in the door.
“Got to be some Freudian symbolism in there somewhere,” she smirked, swinging the door open to reveal a sight that stilled her breath.
In recent days, her modest storefront had become a place transformed, this thanks to a new employee who took abundant pride in his work.
Every day he adorned the store with a seaborne decoration; guests marveled at the sight of exotic seashells in shades of pink, ivory and fuchsia, and at the vision of shiny pearls retrieved from the depths of the sea.
The owner of the shop marveled for her part at the attentiveness of Landon, her fresh hire and newest friend. He did his duties without complaint and even asked for additional work. He also had a refreshing habit of hanging on her every word, buying and reading her books, and presenting her with an array of ebullient rainbow-hued water lilies, picked from the sea.
And today, she noted, even her shop likened a nature made wonder. The floors of her modest storefront shone with a freshened polish, and the windows that oversaw them also gleamed like crystal in the light of the morning sun.
Cast in the glory of these warming rays was a being akin to an angel, a man whose bronzed skin and golden hair shone even more luxurious in this ethereal light.
Completing the package, she couldn’t help but observe, was a downright sinful pair of blue jeans and a white button down top; both of which showed off his tall muscled body to glorious effect.
Even more amazing was the fact that the hunky angel could read, and his book of choice was ‘Love on High Seas’, a novel she’d written and published five years ago.
She grinned in spite of herself as the literate angel—one she also knew as Landon, her new employee—devoured with wide azure eyes the content of her favorite book. His aquiline gaze scanned the pages, seeming to treasure every word.
“So, my good sir,” advancing across the floor of her store with brisk confident steps, Beth greeted her employee with a welcoming smile. “Think you can tear yourself away from my book long enough to continue your already masterful task of cleaning up this place? Or would you perhaps like to buy a copy with your employee discount and take it home?”
Her smile broadened as Landon rose to his feet and tossed her book to the ground, putting his hands to better use by running them down her back as he drew her into his arms.
“Yes, Madame, as a matter of fact I do want to buy that amazingly sexy tome and take it home,” he whispered against her lips, searing her with a gem blue gaze that likened the sea itself. “Along with the brilliant, even sexier woman who wrote it.”
Beth’s mouth fell agape at this assertion, only to be seized seconds later in the depths of a passionate kiss.
Landon’s full, soft lips covered and massaged her own, easing her into a pleasurable trance as his tongue invaded her mouth.
Her shock abated seconds later as she joined the rhythm of his kiss, her own tongue entangling with his as she sank against the surface of his massive chest.
Wrapping her arms around his muscled shoulders she leaned into his kiss, reveling in his citrus-tinged scent and relishing the feel of his luxurious blond strands as they brushed her own broad shoulders.
She didn’t relish the feeling moments later, as he drew back to stare deep into her eyes.
“I want more,” she hissed, her hungry han
ds enclosing his muscled shoulders and pulling him closer still.
These same hands rose to her lips seconds later, to still their errant words.
“What am I saying?” she shook her head, struggling to clear it of its horny haze. “I have a boyfriend, one who also happens to be your other manager …”
“And as far as I can see,” Landon interrupted, rolling his eyes heavenward, “he reeks equally at both jobs.”
Beth laughed in spite of herself, laying a playful slap across his bulging chest.
“He can be a royal d-bag most of the time,” she admitted, lips pursed. “Ah, but he’s my d-bag.”
She paused, wincing at the awkwardness of her own sentiment.
“Does that in any way qualify as a romantic notion?” she pondered aloud.
She grinned in spite of herself as a laughing Landon pulled her into his strong arms, swaying her back and forth as he pressed his lips against her forehead.
“You are too precious, Woman.”
He tightened his hold on her waist, leaning forward to whisper in her ear:
“You could always have an affair, you know. A fun, exhilarating little fling to take your mind off of things. I could show you such pleasure, Bella. I’d do whatever you want …”
Even as her heart pounded and pussy gushed with the effects of his provocative words, Beth’s heated body stiffened in the arms of her brazen seducer.
“This is madness,” she breathed, more to herself than to Landon, “I barely know you.”
She took in her breath as he seized her plump chin between two tender fingers, lifting her head until their gazes locked.
“Oh I think you do,” he whispered, searing her with a narrow-eyed gaze that made her clit throb from want of him. “You knew me from the first moment you saw me—I could see it in your eyes.”
She gasped as her tempter pulled her flush against his tall muscular frame.
“I can sense your every desire, feel your every need …”
She inhaled his crisp, citrus-tinged scent as he fingered her cheeks, their tips soothing the telltale flush that betrayed her desire.
“… I know your every fantasy when I look into your eyes. And by God I vow to fulfill them.”
“Criminy, where did you come from?” Eyes widening in wonder, Beth ran her curious fingers across the stranger’s face, her touch tracing the lines of his carved cheekbones and his full, sumptuous lips.
“I came from the waters of the deep blue sea,” he whispered, cradling her in a sweet embrace as he erased all distance between them.
“Well the waters of the deep blue sea just lost out,” Beth hissed. “I’m keeping you.”
“I’m yours,” Landon growled in return, swooping down to seize her lips in another passionate kiss.
For just a moment, she allowed his lips to ravish hers, his tongue to plunder her tender mouth as his hands ran like the waves themselves down the length of her back.
Then, with a heated sigh, she stepped away from him, her body again stiffening as her mind raced to justify her actions.
“I-I can’t do this,” she looked her tempter straight in the eyes, shaking her head from side to side. “I’m not myself when I’m with you.” She accentuated a deep, sustaining breath with the squaring of her substantial shoulders. “It’s probably just because I haven’t been feeling well.”
She warmed in spite of herself as Landon met her words with a concerned expression, one he’d never seen grace the face of her longtime love interest.
“You did seem in pain yesterday when I met you,” he acknowledged, raising his hand to her forehead and flexing his fingers across her skin.
That was just what one would call pained physical arousal, Beth trembled beneath his touch, just managing the words:
“I suffer from migraine headaches.”
Tsking his empathy, Landon drew her to his side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“Well, you know my dear,” he whispered in her ear, “there are two good cures for those. The first is some good ol’ fashioned salty sea air.”
“And the second?” Beth did not resist as her new employee lead her away from her job duties—and, or so it felt, from any semblance of a normal life.
“Well as for the second,” Landon purred, sending a cloying wink over his shoulder as he guided her out the door. “It’s just as healing and substantially more fun than the first … only it’s not quite as clean and old-fashioned.”
Soon Beth found herself ensconced in paradise, caught up in a tropical dream that soothed and succored her senses.
A glance upward revealed a diamond blue sky illuminated still further by the regal majesty of a pure gold sun.
She looked down to behold a carpet of ingrained bronze; one lined with a myriad of seashells in shades of scarlet red, sunset mauve and of course the purest ivory.
Before her she saw the spectacle of a nature made wonder that expressed itself in rolling waves and pure, sun sprinkled waters.
And the man who stood at the edge of the beach? Well he seemed the very picture of tropical splendor. His long silken hair shone a greater gold than even the sun itself, and his laughing eyes held the tint of the sea.
Furthermore, he seemed intent on showing her the other similarities that rendered him one with the sea.
She watched enraptured as he unbuttoned the front of his crisp white shirt; sliding it off one shoulder at a time to reveal a massive golden chest, bulging shoulders and washboard abs.
“I feel better already,” she surmised, biting her lip as he closed all distance between them.
“Close your eyes,” he whispered in her ear, “and I’ll make you feel better still.”
His lover did as she was bidden, and within seconds her senses were seized in a firestorm of desire.
She felt his strong magical fingers as they set to work on her temples, freeing her head from the pain and tension that constantly held her captive.
Even better, she felt the heat of his hard succulent body as it pressed itself shamelessly into hers.
She sniffed the pure and salty sea air as it did its part to cleanse her mind. Even better, she inhaled the crisp citrus scent of the man who continued to rub and knead her skin.
Just then she surrendered and did nothing but feel.
Searing her lips with a hard, hot kiss, Landon slid down her body with an impassioned growl, groveling at her feet and teasing her toes with some animal kisses.
He kissed and licked his way under her skirt and up her legs, setting a fire that created a wetness at the juncture of her thighs.
The same place where he now blew a kiss that drove her over the edge.
“By the power of the sea,” he whispered against her nether curls, “let the siren heal you.”
“What the …” Beth frowned at this mysterious sentiment—but when his lips made delicious contact with the surface of her heaving clit—well that made a bit more sense.
She let out a scream of unmitigated ecstasy as he licked her folds, opening them to reveal a hidden pearl that he kissed and suckled with intense passion.
The hands that had rubbed her beleaguered head now unleashed their magic on her heaving thighs; his lips, meanwhile, devoured her clit as her pussy gushed its approval.
His tender ministrations, enhanced still further by the flick of his tongue against the surface of her sensitive skin, set a fire that spiraled upward through her belly until her nipples flew erect; she moaned low and deep in her throat as her world tilted on its axis.
As Landon continued to lick and kiss her bulging feminine fruit, her eyes opened wide to take in a glowing panorama of sun, sand and sea; she greeted the vision with a banshee’s scream and the deepest orgasm she’d ever experienced.
Doubling over to grasp and pull the locks of his perfect golden hair, Beth reveled in the exquisite feel of a full-bodied climax.
Emerging with a wicked smile from beneath her billowing skirts, Landon held his arms open to his quivering lov
er; a woman who regarded him with wide eyes as she collapsed in his arms.
“Who are you?” Her voice low and awed as he lowered her body to the sand beneath them. “Where did you come from?”
She gasped as he covered her body with his, staring deeply into her eyes as he pulled her closer to him.
“Just think of me as a siren from the sea,” he whispered, cupping her plump cheeks in two gentle hands. “One sent to lure you from the shore, and away from the one who hurts you. Let me tempt you away with my siren’s call.”
Beth’s eyes flew wide as her siren let loose with a low and wordless melody; a beautiful song that became one with the air as his listener writhed beneath him.
As she enjoyed the romantic melody that fell soft upon her ears, she lifted her fingers to caress his bulging chest and tickle the surface of his sculpted abs.
Then, with a wicked smile, she reached for the belt buckle that secured the waist of his sinful tight blue jeans.
“Make me sing,” she urged, her fingers venturing lower still to tease the base of his long hard cock.
Surging in response to her intimate touch, Landon’s cock stirred the threads of his snug fitting jeans; with an impassioned growl, he grasped the edges of her ebony sundress and pulled the garment down her shoulders, revealing two heaving breasts he covered with his lips.
Burying his head in Beth’s chest, he suckled her breasts and nibbled her nipples, all the while wiggling his way out of his confining blue jeans until his shaft sprang erect between them.
“Oh my,” Beth arched her hips upward with a passionate moan, a move that engorged her tit between her lover’s lips and locked their hips together.
“Oooh,” Landon growled with a smile, his hands rubbing her thighs and sides with long, luxurious strokes. “I think you’re the siren, baby.”
Beth’s girlish giggle charmed her paramour as he raised her head from her breasts, charming her in turn with an azure-eyed gaze that mirrored the sea.