“Until I met you, the only fear I had was of never finding you.” Orion looks into my eyes miserably and I want to cry too. I swallow, trying not to fall apart.
“And now …” I wonder if I want the answer to this question but I just have to ask it, curious as ever.
“Of falling asleep with you next to me. What if I made you up? What if I went crazy from the loneliness and I wake up … and you’re not there?” his reply strikes at something within me. I remember myself, sitting in a window seat imagining my father, what he’d look like, walking through the garden gate a hundred times. I feel my heart plummet in my chest, needing him to know I am real.
“I’m not going anywhere Orion.” I answer simply with the only response I can think of. I’m not used to having to comfort a grown man, let alone one who is so complex. I want to laugh at the absurdity of his statement but I can’t. I can’t because I realise after a few moments I’m just as terrified of exactly the same thing. How would I feel if I woke up and he was a dream? It isn’t even worth thinking about as my heart palpitates at the mere idea.
“It’s not just that. What if I can’t make you happy? What if I can’t be … whatever you need me to be?” He looks up at me and for someone so old he looks so incredibly young. I sigh and wonder to myself if this relationship will be given the chance to develop naturally. It isn’t exactly starting under normal circumstances.
“It’s okay. We have all the time in the world. We don’t have to rush into this Orion. We can make our own rules.” I promise him these things but I have no idea if I can actually deliver. I’ve never been in a relationship before. What the hell do I know about making up rules or the speed at which I should take things?
“I just …” He starts ready to launch into another worry that’s been plaguing him and I stop him, raising a hand. He pauses looking at me with surprise.
“Here, look.” I move away from him and he looks up, intrigued. I glide gently through the water with flicks of my tail, keeping myself upright as I take hold of the jar of glowing liquid that peppers the ceiling above. A kind of algae I think. I unscrew the lid and his eyes widen. I pour the thick jelly over my hand and turn to him, keeping eye contact as I move and place my hand onto a low, blank piece of wall next to the waterfall.
“Now you.” I state, sure of myself for the first time in what feels like days. Orion smiles, his eyes alight with hope as he moves over to me eagerly. He looks so young like this, and I can’t help but want to keep him smiling. After a few more moments, we stand back and look at our handy work. My small glowing handprint sits next to his larger one, so permanent in their fixture upon the rock.
“Thank you.” Orion turns to me, cupping my chin. He kisses me. I feel a weight of expectation lift and my soul unfurl, stretching itself out and becoming more comfortable in the skin that prickles at the tenderness of his touch.
“No, thank you.” I whisper, my pulse racing in that way it can’t help. Together we hold each other, moving around in slow circles, tails entwined like lock and key, my head over his heart, slow dancing under the lonely stars of years gone past.
We leave the painted ceiling of the underground cave behind us, swimming through the open ocean for what feels like only minutes as we build up an increasing, ebbing speed. Orion slashes through the water much faster than I do and as I watch his form pulsating with the rhythm of his stroke, I observe again that his tail is much longer than mine is. Is it because he is taller than me,? I wonder. We pass over things you would never see with human eyes, secret caverns hidden in rocks, cliff faces covered with reef activity and boats having met a dire end at the sandy sea floor. Fish and tiny creatures pass us by, none the wiser for our presence. A fish the size and shape of a dinner plate turned on its side rises to my eye level.
“An Opah,” Orion says as I watch it move through the water. I am in awe and I vow that if a fish with so little streamlining can swim that gracefully, so can I.
“You know everything.” I compliment and he smiles graciously.
“Not everything. You are still quite the mystery Miss Pierce.” He grins and I smile back, reminding him quickly of what lies ahead.
“We have all the time in the world.” I feel a grin spread across my lips as I realise how true this is. I do have all the time in the world. I am immortal now.
“No amount of time will ever be enough, Callie. I’ll always want more. More of you.” he vows, pulling my hand from my side and placing a kiss upon the back.
It then occurs to me what this immortality means. Whatever I feel for Orion won’t ever have to end. It will live on for as long as the tide kisses the sandy shores. Will I ever tire of his scent? His touch? His kiss? I don’t think that’s possible, I muse to myself, looking over at his body, tense with the effort of swimming, muscles clean cut and defined. I bite my lower lip and he catches me staring. He doesn’t say anything as I watch his eyes glide over me in a similar way and something primal passes under his steamy, glacial gaze. There’s so much we have left to explore of each other and I feel the anticipation of the many firsts we have yet to encounter, like my immortal life stretching before me like a delicious promise. We continue to travel as shadows, a whisper in the oceans boundless volume as the clear waters flow over my skin like hot air. The sun is setting overhead as Orion grabs my hand gently with his smooth skinned palm, pulling me upwards closer to the surface. He flashes me a grin and before I am aware of what his mischievous eyes are plotting and we are caught up in a tide so powerful it sends us shooting forward as though from a giant natural sling-shot. Adrenaline spikes through my veins and my stomach somersaults as I fly through the water. This is better than any roller coaster, better than winning any race. It is as though in this moment, I know that I have always been destined for this. Next to Orion, caught in a rip tide beneath the warm ocean's caress, I am home.
We travel by riptides for most of the journey, catching them, laughing with uninhibited pleasure as we are jolted forward at epic speed by the force of the water pulling us with it. The sun is just about to dip below the horizon as I notice Orion gesturing for me to follow him with a wave of his large hand. I swim using the new muscles of my tail, tensing them deliciously so they propel me towards him as he looks at me with admiration. His hair, through all the commotion is unmoved and perfectly tousled in its normal sexy style, framing his wide brow, which is creased with the thrill. His tanned body makes me sigh a little to myself as he strokes effortlessly against the current. He holds out one hand to me and I take it in my own as together we rise towards the surface, swimming in synchronicity as the last of the dimming sunlight ebbs away from the horizon. We break the water’s surface and the air around me feels too thin, too dry. I choke a little before opening my mouth and inhaling deeply, gasping to quench the aridity of the surface.
“Oops! I should have warned you about that.” Orion apologizes, patting me on the back lightly.
“Why does the air seem so dry? It didn’t in the cave.” I complain, shocked as I resume breathing through my mouth and nose. Even this feels alien now. Gills are so much more comfortable.
“That cave is deep undersea. It’s just your lungs taking a few moments to adjust to the surface because the sunlight dries the air. You’ll be okay, just keep breathing.” He smiles and kisses me on the cheek, as our heads meet atop the bobbing waves. Cheers are carried on the salty breeze among the cry of gulls and Orion grins. Heads still close together, we turn so I can see the shore.
With my new high definition sight, I am able to make out a crowd of strangers standing on the shore, looking straight at us. Behind them is a manor house, perched on top a cliff in all its grandeur. I can’t quite work out where we are, but we can’t be that far from San Diego. You wouldn’t know it with the architecture of the manor though, eclipsed at the edges by tall trees; its design is nothing like any modern San Diegan architecture I’ve ever seen. The roof is a deep bottle green and the outside walls are Tudor in design, stark white with deep black
wooden beams criss-crossing over one another. I can’t see how far it extends back from here, but it looks at least four stories tall and the front contains many windows on each side of the double wooden doors. My attention falls back to the crowd of waving people, could they be mer?
“What is this? Are you showing me off to your friends?” I tease with a grin. His eyes glint with the promise of revenge at this assumption.
“No, if I was going to show you off, I’d do this.” He makes the wicked promise, grabbing me by the waist and pulling me under the water. I squeal as the cool water quenches my thirst once more, before feeling the tug of gravity against me as we head back towards the surface. We break the barrier of water with such speed I feel I may fly into the stars as I look into Orion’s amused expression. He begins to twist us through the air in a corkscrew, silhouetting us against the rising moon. Our bodies are intertwined as they fly through the air and the stars twinkle in the backdrop watching our play. I sigh, rolling my eyes in faux disapproval and he cannot help but laugh at my pretend lack of impress.
As we hit the surface and return to the sea he gives me a quick wink and grabs my hand, pulling me so hard through the water I feel my arm may come out of joint. As I watch him, the person who was not one hour ago crying on me, I start to understand the emotional tumult occurring inside not only me, but him as well. We stay close to the surface and every few moments he does what I only imagined a merman would ever do, breaking the surface, arching like a dolphin before returning to my side with a challenging look in one eye. I try to copy him, landing a little less gracefully, though I do notice I hear cheers as I break the surface, making me anxious. As we approach the shore we do not, as I thought we would, emerge onto to the beach but rather Orion guides me into a cave, the entrance to which lies underneath a rock face that towers out of the water and forms the cliff on which the large property sits. We plunge deep beneath where the cliff face ends far below the surface and then make a drastic ninety degree turn creating a flurry of bubbles. We rise swiftly into an open pool of water in the floor of a cave which I can only assume lies within the cliff itself.
“Ok, now hold my hands and look up there.” He instructs bossily and I do as asked. I look to where he has pointed and above I see the moon through a glass panel that has been conveniently placed into the high roof of the cave at an angle. The effect it has on me I cannot describe as I feel a gentle tickle engulf my body. Then, I am falling through the water without any support. I splash for a few moments, struggling to keep my head above the surface before being yanked up by Orion’s strong embrace in one flail swoop.
“Whoa, I got you!” He exclaims, lifting me out of the water using the stairs. I look down and we both have legs. I sigh, legs; I know how to use these! It is then that I realise I am otherwise naked. My breasts are no longer sporting the stylish aqua scales instead of nipples; the scar over my heart is just a puckered pink line of skin. I am in Orion’s arms and I realize that he must be naked too. I dare to peek, but my own body is shielding the most private part of him. I pout quietly to myself trying to ignore the fact that I’m totally nude by concentrating on the fact he’s totally naked too. He sets me down on the stone floor of the cave and hands me a towel from a conveniently placed shelf. I wrap the towel around myself and I watch as he turns to get himself a towel from the rack. Oh my, is my only thought as his beautifully defined ass disappears beneath the white linen of his own towel. He runs a hand through his now wet hair, looking sexy as hell. I bite my lip before catching him looking at me similarly.
“What are you looking at?” I coax, turning from him and then looking back over my shoulder, trying to be seductive.
“What do you think?” He smirks and I smirk back at him, pretending to look him up and down, judging his dripping moonlit form. “Come on, you!” He scoffs, looking exasperated as he holds out his hand once more, beckoning me into my new life. He turns me towards the wall adjacent from the pool of water, I notice now that the cave is held up by strong looking wooden beams and they all converge above an opening that is supported by these same thick wooden planks. He helps me through and inside is a wooden staircase, similar to that which aided us out of the pool of water. We climb the steep passage for five minutes, the stairs twisting this way and that. I can feel Orion’s eyes on my back, so I turn and give him a cheeky grin; he returns the sentiment before urging me forward. My calves burn from the climb and I am relieved when we reach the top. Inside the Lunar Sanctum, the entrance hall in which we emerge is anything but ordinary, it is decadent and warm in colour with plush green carpets sprawling up the double width staircase and covering the cool black marble floor. The walls are white marble with veins of gold spiked through them like a luxurious poison. The room glimmers under subtle candlelight from a golden hanging chandelier. I have never been in a room like this in my entire life and my bedroom has never felt further away. I feel so out of place and the only thing grounding me is Orion’s hand in mine, grasping as though I may flee at any moment. The ceiling above is what I would imagine as being at home in a mansion; it’s painted with an underwater scene, a great battle happening beneath the waves. There are mermen riding giant sea horses and wielding tridents bigger than themselves, they’re fighting back monsters, demented versions of creatures of the deep. I gulp in the dry air, feeling my stomach knot at the thought of seeing monsters like that for myself. I take a moment, breathing slowly and steal a few steps forward, gazing upwards and spinning around trying to take it all in; just in case I wake up back in my aqua walled bedroom. I am becoming used to the ‘dry’ air as I start to feel biologically myself but my mind is struggling to absorb the scale on which this is all happening. The banisters gleam golden, polished and immaculate, and my feet go from cool to warm as I step on the jade carpet runner that climbs the stairs. The room is empty but I can hear chatter contained behind the large door on my right. I’m glad for now that we’re alone, I’m really not dressed to meet and greet.
“This is the Lunar Sanctum, well, one of them. We have these secretly located all over the world so that we have somewhere to reside on our three nights a month comfortably.” Orion explains, taking my hand and leading up the plush covered stairs delicately.
“What, you mean when you aren’t stalking the beaches, looking for girls to seduce?” I say sarcastically and then the logistics of Orion stumbling upon me on that night hits me. Where did he get his clothes from? Did he know I was going to be there? If so, how? While I ponder this, we are walking ever more quickly, as I make sure to keep my towel hoisted around myself, down a corridor that spans westward from the main hall. The walls are a jade green and the carpet is cream, feeling like velvet upon my naked feet as I pace briskly next to Orion. I look at him, wondering why he hasn’t responded to my quick comment. I nudge him as we turn yet another corner and continue into the labyrinth of jade coloured corridors with mahogany doors sporting gold handles lining both sides.
“Oh, yes, sorry. I’m trying to remember which way … ah here we go.” He says half-heartedly and I hope I haven’t offended him.
“Do you come here often?” I pry, tentative as we halt outside a door that looks just the same as all the others.
“To this Sanctum in particular, no. To all of them in general, I have visited occasionally, but I haven’t really had any reason in particular to stay on land for that long. It depends on the occasion really. For a normal ritual, I usually don’t make it my business to attend, family functions yes, special celebrations yes.” I nod in acknowledgment, pondering on how many mer family members he has.
It is then, as he opens the door before me, that I feel an unfamiliar pang of guilt, remembering my own family. Kayla and my mom. Will they think I’m dead? Am I dead technically? I feel so disconnected already from the life I have lived for 18 years.
I sigh and look forward into the room behind the door. It is huge; the ceiling is high and set in the wall furthest away are two double glass doors that lead out onto a balcony overloo
king the ocean. I step in through the door that Orion is holding open. He looks impatient, still holding his towel round his waist and dripping onto the carpet. The carpet is white as are the walls with silver specks of glitter dotted here and there. In the centre of the room is a four poster mahogany bed, it looks to be a California King in size and the sheets and drapes are matching in luxurious white. Above, there is a small elegant crystal chandelier that refracts fragmented light onto my face, I am staring, my mouth slightly open.
“I’ve never been in here with anyone before.” He expresses coming in close, still holding the towel around his waist. I am nervous, breathing a little more quickly. He notices my unease and places a strong hand on my arm.
“The room across the hall is yours, if you should want it.” He whispers, smiling down at me kindly before walking toward a mahogany wardrobe and opening it lazily. “Ah, always prepared.” He smirks to himself knowingly and beckons to me. “Get dressed.” He orders, gesturing towards the rail of dresses before me. I look into the wardrobe, while he turns and goes to another on the opposite side of the bed that matches. The dresses are, of course, beautiful; silks and satins in many different colours. At the bottom of the wardrobe are shoes and on the shelf above the main rail are underwear sets.
“How do you afford all this?” I ask before I can stop myself, thinking back to my diamond tears falling through the water. I finger the silk of an aqua, floor length gown. How many tears had Orion shed for this dress? He looks over the bed and smiles at me quizzically, as though it is the oddest question I could ask.
“You have all this change going on around you and you are worrying about the details of how I afford things?” He raises an eyebrow.
“I’m sorry, it’s just this place … it’s just …”
The Kiss That Killed Me (The Tidal Kiss Trilogy Book 1) Page 15