by Vivian Arend
A place?
A person?
Alexia sat in the crashing surf, the wildness of the weather calling to her core, chaining her to the shore like a siren’s cry. She lay back, the grit of the sand under her shoulders delighting her with the coarse texture. A wave broke over her, soaking her to the skin.
The medallion around her neck flared and light exploded from within its depths. Motes danced, light swirled, sparkles flew around her and caressed every inch of her skin. Heat wrapped around her, stroked her torso, lapped at her neck like the touch of a lover.
The sky disappeared.
Chapter Two
Alexia opened her eyes to find she lay on fluffy cushions set on a thick mat of sea grasses, the rough roof of a cave overhead. A few feet away down a sandy shore there was ocean water, the surface smooth and unbroken, the storm’s madness calmed by the shelter of the cave. Darting moonlight sparkled through the entrance, dancing lights changing the hanging stalactites from fearful objects to ones of beauty and peace. She tasted salt on her lips, the scent of something ripe and wonderful filled her nostrils, and she turned to follow it.
The back of the cave was a solid rock platform. A low wooden trunk was set like a table with a bowl of fruit and a flickering candle. Suddenly ravenous, Alexia picked a ripe strawberry from the offering and bit down, its flavor exploding in her mouth. She sat amidst the cushions and ate. Slowly, deliberately, each sensation peaking higher and higher on her taste buds. She watched the water lap at the shore.
It must be a dream. She’d seen this place so many times since she’d started to come to the coast. Ever since she’d fallen in love with the ocean, she’d had dreams involving this cave. Dreams of dolphins and blue lights and endless need that had her waking dazed, restless and aroused.
The cave filled with the brilliant blue glow she’d seen around the medallion earlier. It swirled past the entrance and poured like liquid silver through the air, flowing throughout the cavern. It touched her in passing and paused, frozen in midair like a bit of the Milky Way torn from the sky and tossed into the small cave.
The light brushed her feet, swirled around her ankles and twisted its way up her legs. Touching, caressing. A tingling sensation moved with the light as it floated over her skin, and Alexia froze as her body was momentarily enveloped before the light shot to the far back corner and bounced down to form into the solid body of a man.
His skin was smooth. Blond hair fell to his broad shoulders, muscles well defined in his arms and torso. Brilliant green eyes smiled at her and her heart leapt.
“Joshua?”
He paced forward, long limbs eating up the distance between them, and Alexia sucked in a gasp of air. He was naked, his skin shimmering with a warm light like the haze of a hot summer’s day. She debated retreating to the water, but there was no time before he knelt at her side, his hand reaching for hers.
“Alexia. I’ve waited for this day. It’s been far too long in coming.” He lifted her fingers to his mouth and kissed her knuckles lightly, his eyes staring into hers. Her body responded to his presence, her nipples tightening, her passage flooding with moisture. She was no blushing fourteen-year-old, he was no youth.
It was a dream and she was so ready for it.
He lowered their joined hands to brush his knuckles over the metal of her necklace, his smile warming her even more.
“It looks marvelous on you, my lady.” His voice was low and husky.
Alexia frowned. My lady?
He wrapped his other hand around her neck and drew them together, and all her concerns washed away as their lips touched.
Heat. All-consuming heat filled her. His lips branded her skin as he stroked his tongue into her mouth, salty and sweet and addictive. Alexia trailed her hands over his shoulders, his back, tracing his muscles while their mouths connected. He pressed them closer, rotated her in his arms until she cuddled in his lap. His cock pressed into her buttocks, moisture painted on her skin. Its rigid length lit a fire within her she wanted stoked. She wanted to be touched and petted until all the need filtering from her core had been met.
She pulled back slightly, her lips still brushing his skin. “I’ve seen this cave before. You’ve been in my dreams but we’ve never—”
“We’re together, as we should be. You don’t have to figure out every detail. You know it’s right, let go and enjoy.”
“But—”
Joshua lowered her to the mat, his long body stretched beside her. “You are the Keeper. You hold the medallion and the heart of the people. But you are still Alexia. You still choose for yourself what you want, what you desire.”
He ran a finger down her torso, slipping the nightgown open as his gaze feasted on her body. Alexia shivered. His words echoed her grandmother’s, that it was Alexia’s choice and decision. Whatever that meant.
“What do you choose, my lady? Do you want me to leave and you can enjoy a retreat here in the cavern by yourself?” He rolled over her, his body firm, his erection pressing into her belly. Joshua lowered his head and kissed her collarbone, his tongue lapping along the delicate line and back up her neck. He whispered into her mouth. “Or do you want me to stay and keep you company? We could visit. Build a sandcastle. Play a game.”
His mouth descended again and Alexia wrapped her arms around him, pulling his torso into contact with hers. She swept her tongue into his mouth, needing to taste his unique flavor, needing him to touch her intimately. They kissed, teased, wrapped around each other until he rolled away, breathing hard.
His eyes glinted like emeralds and Alexia raised a hand to his cheek. Should she say what she really wanted? “This is a dream I’ve longed for, Joshua. I want you to stay and make love to me.”
The answering flash in his eyes delighted her, as did the smile that was quickly hidden as he dropped his mouth to her skin, his tongue tracing designs as he cradled her body closer to his, fingers smoothing her shoulders.
Joshua held her tenderly in his arms, unable to take his mouth off her skin for more than a moment. He’d watched her furtively when possible over the years, never again coming in contact with her after that first unexpected touch on the beach.
His brothers had gotten in so much trouble for provoking him into asking someone for a kiss. They’d never dreamed Joshua would pick the one girl on the entire beach who would cause a tidal wave of trouble. When the Keeper found out her granddaughter had been touched by one of the people without permission, the ensuing storm had taken weeks to calm. Finally convinced it was nothing but an innocent prank, Victoria had kept much closer tabs on her charge. Alexia returned home before Joshua had found a way to meet with her again. Something had drawn him to her in the first place, and he had been intrigued by their short interlude.
Every summer afterwards when Alexia had come to visit, Joshua had found himself shuffled off to distant relatives. He knew his parents were keeping the two of them apart but at the time he hadn’t fully understood why. His brothers weren’t banished, only him. The torment grew as he aged and upon his end-of-summer return, he’d had to listen to the stories praising Alexia’s quick wit, caring heart and maturing body. She had memories of activities with all his family yet none with him but that one sweet, brief interaction. The past few years she hadn’t visited Jaffrey’s Cove, as she worked to earn a living.
No more. She had haunted his dreams for too long. She was a woman grown, and he was tired of waiting for official permission to court her. When the medallion had touched her skin today, he’d felt it, a warning beacon preparing him for the summons. When she’d dipped it into the salt water of the ocean, he’d been hiding nearby, already shifted into the form of his body people called St. Elmo’s fire. His lightning-quick response of surrounding the trigger eliminated all others from hearing and answering her call.
She may not have been aware she had summoned lovers to her side but he knew it, and his actions ensured he alone was available for her to choose this time.
He stroked her
cheek, watched the blood rise to flush her skin. It wasn’t proper etiquette to deny her a choice of partners for her first encounter with the merfolk, but tradition be damned. He wasn’t going to let any of his randy brothers or cousins near her tonight. Unless he was mistaken, she had no idea that the single men of the pod would have surrounded her, overwhelmed her, as the magic of the medallion opened her to the cravings of her merfolk blood. He was certain that being taken by more than one lover before she understood where the need came from would have caused her mental anguish, if not now, in the clear light of the morning.
Instead he chose to protect her, and if that meant he gained in the process, so be it. He would be the first to bring her to the heights of passion, make her skin glow, hear her cry in delight.
Joshua leaned in and cupped one tender breast, his palm rubbing the nipple to bring it to a hard peak. Her skin warmed him and he pressed another kiss on her mouth, the feel of her tongue stroking his sending a tingle down his spine.
Her big brown eyes danced with mischief when he pulled back, his thumb continuing to brush her nipple as he stared into her eyes. Alexia responded, molten with need as she slipped one leg between his to press their hips together intimately. Moisture from her pussy smeared his thigh, hot and sticky.
“Hmm, Joshua.” She rocked her hips and dragged her core over his raging cock, rubbing like a cat in heat. His blood pounded painfully through his groin and he fought back the urge to flip her and mount her right then and there. He slipped a hand down to cup her mound, his fingers parting the short curls to slip into her scalding heat.
Alexia purred in his arms, her hips rising to thrust against him. Joshua smiled with delight at how responsive she was, how intensely sensual her every move. She cast a spell over his heart as well as his body, and he wanted nothing less than to please her completely.
Joshua stroked slowly in and out of her passage, curling his fingers to touch the sensitive spot deep within her. He lowered his mouth to her breast, took the enticing tip into his mouth and gave it a soft lap. He rolled his tongue around the tight peak before suckling. Alexia shuddered under his touch.
Continuing to thrust his fingers into her sheath, he kissed his way down to her belly. She had gotten a piercing sometime and a deep blue stone glittered against her warm skin. He tugged it with his teeth before pressing another kiss to her body. Under his lips, her breath quickened as he approached the sweet nectar between her legs. Alexia waited for him to touch her, her heartbeat erratic as he slowed and took a deep breath. The scent of her body filled him, the aroma of sex and woman and heady desire. He kissed the delicate inner thigh on either side of her core, his fingers barely moving now, simply filling her. She squeezed at him, her pussy trying to pull him in, make him pump into her. He chuckled.
“Your scent is driving me wild and I can’t wait anymore. I need to taste you, Alexia.”
Her answering moan made him grin madly as her fingers threaded through his hair and attempted to drag him closer to her wet opening.
Joshua removed his fingers, and she complained briefly before he tucked in tight and covered her with his mouth. He exhaled, hot and slowly over the moist tissues, making them open further under him. His tongue dipped into her core then swirled around the hard little nub peeking from its protective hood. She tasted wonderful, sweet like the strawberries in the bowl he’d prepared for her. His tongue laved her slit from the very base of her body to the quivering tip and her hips shook.
It took incredible effort to continue at the slow taunting pace, but the sounds of delight Alexia made were all the reward Joshua needed to continue. He pressed his erection hard into the mat to resist rising over her and driving himself like a spike into her warmth. The tip of his tongue thrust deep in her sweetness, lapping at the honey pouring down on him. His fingers curled around her clit and caressed in circles until Alexia gasped and her core pulsed in waves around his seeking tongue. He continued to feast until her body relaxed. Rising above her, his erection nudged her body as he kissed her deeply, his tongue penetrating her mouth as it had her pussy moments before.
Alexia was the one to adjust her hips to let him slip between her wet labia. She was the one to wrap her legs around his body and pull on his shoulders to encourage him to press into her passage until he was buried to the hilt, his balls solidly against her.
She felt so good. Hot, wet, welcoming pressure. Joshua’s whole existence centered on the amazing sensation experienced by his sensitive cock as he rocked his hips, sliding back and forth between her legs. Nothing had ever felt as good.
Nothing had ever felt like Alexia.
She hummed with approval as he pumped. Joshua caught one breast between his teeth and nipped at the tip. Between them, the scent of sex rose, the heat of their bodies mingled and a sheen of sweat made them glide skin over skin with greater ease.
Joshua stared into her eyes as he adjusted their position, lifting her legs higher to fill her more completely on each thrust, unable to keep the speed slow as his body demanded he take her harder. He dropped a hand to her core, wet his fingertips in the combined moisture of their bodies and then stroked her clit in time with his penetrations.
Time stood still. Joshua had no idea how long they’d been making love, only that his mind never wanted him to stop. His body couldn’t hold out much longer. His balls tightened, pulled into his body, and he quickened the pace again, pounding hard into her heat.
Alexia cried out, a flush of red spreading over her chest, and her sheath grabbed at him, squeezing tightly as she reached another climax. Joshua let out his own cry of relief on the next thrust as he released his control and let them join together in the ultimate of physical pleasures.
Bodies united, pleased, sated.
She tugged at his shoulders, pulling his torso over her to bring them together, hearts beating wildly, chest to breast.
“Hmm. That was lovely.” Alexia sighed, her hands running lightly over his skin.
“You are lovely.” Joshua kissed her delectable mouth one more time before rolling off to the mat, twisting their legs together to keep in as close contact as possible.
Alexia closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensations thrilling through her. Her pussy still felt him inside, stretching and rubbing the sensitive tissue. Her breasts buzzed and her skin tingled.
It had been wonderful.
She hoped she would remember this dream in the morning. There had been so many involving Joshua, and yet all she ever recalled were images of bright eyes, the feeling of soft caresses, and the haunting sounds of dolphins calling to one another over the ocean waves.
Perhaps this dream would be different. She rested her head on his smooth chest and relaxed as his arms wrapped her close and she faded off to sleep.
The shutters slamming made her sit up with a start. She raced to the window and closed it tightly, forcing it against the harsh wind that rocked the house. The storm was in full swing, the waves churned to harsh whitecaps and the crash on the shore deafening in its volume. Alexia leaned into the window to stare at the madcap ocean, surging like a live creature struggling for freedom.
It was cold in the room. She glanced down to see she stood naked and barefoot on the hard wooden floorboards. Alexia puzzled for a minute. She was sure she’d thrown on a long nightgown before bed in case she needed to rise and comfort her grandmother.
She turned to where her suitcase rested in the corner of the room, and spotted the gown. It hung from the wardrobe, the shimmery material draped over a hanger.
A trace of memory flitted past. She reached and touched the fabric. It was damp to her fingers, and when she sniffed, the scent of salt water was strong. A trace of strawberries lingered as well.
Alexia turned back to the bed and took a slow careful look over the whole room. There was a faint trail of sand and water leading from the French doors to her bed. She had gone to the shore tonight, hadn’t she?
She couldn’t remember.
She pulled a dry gown from
her suitcase, dressing quickly before crawling back under the covers and snuggling deep beneath the quilt. The familiar sound of the storm was reassuring in spite of feeling there was something she needed to do.
The last thing she remembered seeing was the glow of St. Elmo’s fire dancing on the railing outside the house.
It made her smile.
Chapter Three
“I don’t want to sell, you know.”
Alexia nodded. Again. Gram had started at the breakfast table, insisting that even though she wanted to move out, there was no reason Alexia couldn’t simply take over the house.
“I don’t need to sell, either. I can afford to give you the house.”
Alexia rubbed her fingers along her forehead and pulled into the nearest available parking spot. “Yes, you’ve told me that. But I don’t have a job here, and even if you did give me the house, I would need a way to support myself.”
“Tosh. You could arrange to do massage therapy at the clinic in Jaffrey’s Cove, or you can sell the things Unca stashed all over the place. There’s more than enough for any girl to live on for a good long time.” Gram was out of the car awfully fast for an old-timer and Alexia raced to catch up.
“But they’re your things, Gram, and if we sell anything, it goes to paying your expenses. Where are you hauling me? And what’s the hurry?”
Gram dodged through another group of tourists, pulling Alexia by the hand at breakneck speed. It obviously wasn’t because she’d grown too frail that grandmother wanted to abandon the house. Alexia was led up a short set of stairs and dragged through a beautiful metal lattice gate into a refined business-like setting.