This plan has to work. Dante should be here with him. And me!
“Oh look, no wonder you wanted to come this way. There’s Dante now.” Pam nudged me in my ribs as we walked down the beach with our food.
“It was Julia’s suggestion, remember?” But I hadn’t argued against it, hoping to see him. I regretted listening to her.
Dante had his hands on the hips of one of the resort’s regulars, a middle-aged woman with a big fat diamond on her left hand who always came without her husband. He coaxed her through the proper stance while she stood on a surfboard laid out on the sand. The woman’s barely there bikini wasn’t great surf attire.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mrs. Courtland actually get on a board in the water,” Pam pointed out.
“As much money as she throws at lessons she should be a pro,” I griped.
“His job could be worse. With that body he could give Channing Tatum a run for his money and be in the next Magic Mike,” Julia said.
I grimaced. “Yeah. Point.” At least he was clothed. Somewhat. The sun gleamed over his tanned limbs and toned back, highlighted by the sweat glistening on every muscle.
“Don’t worry about it, sweetie. They’re always throwing themselves at him.” Julia rubbed my arm.
“I’m not upset,” I lied, failing to conceal my forlorn expression.
“You are, but it’s okay to be a little upset. Come on. We have a Netflix marathon to watch and we’re dragging you along for the ride.”
Wine, chocolates, and movies. It sounded like the makings for a perfect girls’ night in.
***
I writhed beneath him, our legs tangled in the sheets, his heavier bulk a warm blanket over my healthy curves. Dante’s lips were the perfect cure for a sleepless night, his hands the only remedy for my insomnia. With one hard thrust, he claimed me and slid to meet the perfect depth.
“Do you know how much I need you?” he whispered against my lips.
My answer escaped in a groan. My body trembled, captive by the frenetic rhythm of his thrusts, his balls slapping against me. On the brink of climax, I buried my nails into his back and gasped his name as he drove forward again.
Riiiiing.
My dream hottie evaporated. The only thing sprawled over me was a rumpled blanket. A dream. He hadn’t visited me that night to apologize for his abrupt exit, and my wild imagination had worked my body up to a feverish state of excitement in his place.
Riiiiiing.
“Crap!” I dove for the phone on the bedside table and plucked it from the cradle. “Hello?”
“Hi, Alessa! Did I wake you?” My mother’s cheerful voice spilled from the phone.
I blearily rubbed my eyes and squinted at the digital clock. A quarter to ten. “Yeah, but I was about to get up soon anyway.” I crawled from the bed and onto my feet.
I wished a call from my mother was enough to douse cold water on my arousal, but it wasn’t. It only made the phone call awkward instead. Slick and wet with my need, I peeled off my damp panties and tossed them into the laundry bin.
“If it’s a bad time I can call back,” she offered, sensing my distress. “I wanted to let you know my flight is booked for the summer.”
“Huh? Flight? What flight? Where are you going?”
“To visit you, silly.”
Her announcement took me by surprise.
“Mom! You could have at least let me know so I could get you a room on my employee discount,” I wailed over the line. Reservations usually came at a three month minimum.
“I didn’t want you to spend your money on me, sweetheart. I’ll just stay with you again. I thought it would be nice to finally see the island in the summer, even if it is the busy tourist season. Don’t worry. I won’t interrupt your work. I can fend for myself and enjoy the sights.”
“It’s not my money. It’s a discount,” I rationalized.
A fist pounded against my front door. I pivoted on a foot and moved into the main room, my modest couch and television the reason I hated the idea of putting mom up at my place. A glance through the windows revealed Dante on my porch.
With her in town, our baby-making plans would have to be put on the backburner if I wasn’t pregnant by the time she arrived.
“Hey Mom, I gotta go. Someone from work is here. Email me your details, okay?”
“Sounds good, sweetie. I’ll see you soon.”
I disconnected the call and pulled open the door. “Hey,” I greeted, my voice breathy. Dante wore his usual, board shorts and an unbuttoned top. Today it was a solid peach color he pulled off without any loss to his masculinity.
“Morning, Alessa.”
We studied each other in silence, each waiting for the other to talk. He didn’t invite himself in, and I didn’t offer.
“I tried to call you last night,” I said quietly.
“I had something to take care of.” His eyes dropped to the phone in my hand then crept up my t-shirt clothed body. Thin cotton failed to disguise my nipples, but the weight of his gaze on them restored the hot longing inspired by my dream. I tugged self-consciously on the hem. “Should I come back later?”
“Oh, no, come on in. Did you need something?”
“Yes.” He stepped inside, nudging me back by his sheer presence, and pulled the door shut behind him. “You.”
“Whoa, hold up a second buster.” I threw both hands up and pushed at his chest. His perplexed expression might have been funny if I wasn’t so incredibly insulted. “You don’t get to show up for sex whenever you feel like it. I’m not your personal fuck-puppet.”
“You agreed—”
“I agreed to carry your baby, yes. It still doesn’t mean you get to hit me up for sex and bounce back to your beach bunnies.”
Dante’s expression fell, washed away as if I’d splashed him with ice water. “Alessa—”
“Don’t ‘Alessa’ me,” I fired back at him. “I’m still going to do this.” Because the idea of motherhood had gained momentum, like a speeding mack truck with blown brake lines. “And I haven’t changed my mind, but I’ll be damned if...” I inhaled deeply and took time to gather my thoughts. Dante watched me in silence without interrupting again. “I need to know, Dante. Are you still sleeping around with the guests?”
“Why would you ask that?”
“I saw you yesterday during Mrs. Courtland’s lesson and I know, for the past three years, she’s slipped you her room key. We all know.”
“So? It doesn’t mean I’ve ever made a visit to her room,” he bit back at me. “Is that how little faith you have in me?”
“Oh come on, Dante, you’ve dallied with plenty of girls. You’re hot and you’re single, so it’s not like it’s a big deal.”
“I haven’t slept with a client in two seasons,” Dante said. “Not last season. Not this season. Not once.”
A sick feeling churned in my gut, lying beneath the fleeting sense of elation. “No one last year or this year?”
“No one.”
But me.
He took my hands gently, dwarfing them with his larger fingers. “We don’t have to do this, Alessa. Asking you to birth a child for me put you in a shitty position. Let’s forget it. The last thing I want is for you to feel used in any way. Leaving this island with your friendship matters more to me... than... than anything,” he confessed.
I shook my head. “No, I’m being dumb. I guess it hurt my feelings when you walked out yesterday. I’d just thought...”
“I offered to cancel,” he reminded me, a fact forgotten while I sniveled in my pity party.
“And I should have graciously accepted.”
He raised my hand to his mouth and kissed my fingers, sending electric tingles across my skin.
“I’m sorry. For assuming the worst about last night,” I whispered.
“I have a gift for you.”
I blinked. “You didn’t have to do that.”
Dante smiled. “I know, but I wanted to.” Releasing my h
ands first, he pulled open the velcro flap over his pocket and reached inside.
A gorgeous necklace glittered in the sunbeams filtering through my living room window. Pearls and small shells hung on gold wire, forming an elegant piece suitable for an underwater princess. A multi-hued scallop shell dangled at the center, red streaked with orange and cream.
“Dante, this is beautiful,” I squealed once I found my voice.
“True mermaids wear something similar,” he said. “You resemble one.”
Dante fastened his gift around my neck, pressing a kiss against my nape before he stepped back. The central pendant hung right above the hollow of my breasts. Nothing in my jewelry box compared to the unique piece, which meant...
“You made this for me?”
He nodded. “I searched the ocean floor after rebuffing Mrs. Courtland. I wanted to find something special for you.”
I pictured him awake throughout the night hunting down little shells. Suddenly, the vast amount of pearls and polished stones in his grandfather’s inventory made sense. Dante found them. He found all of them. “Thank you. It’s the loveliest thing anyone’s ever given me,” I whispered with my chin low. It was too pretty to look away.
“Should I leave now?”
“No. Please stay. We should talk anyway.” With my hand in his, I guided him to the couch then fetched glasses of passion fruit juice from the fridge. He tried to coax me onto his lap, but I settled beside him instead, hoping to conceal my lack of panties.
“I still want to do this, Dante, but I think we need to clear some things up,” I said.
“I’m listening.” He plucked at the hem of my t-shirt, having a look before I could swat his hand away.
Damn. He saw. “So, while your, uh, alpha male thing is sorta hot, you can’t just show up whenever you feel like it for a quickie.”
“Who said it would have been quick?” Dante grinned.
Double damn.
Obviously quickie wasn’t in his vocabulary. Sometime later, deep into the afternoon, he had reduced me to a sweaty and limp pile of useless limbs. Sprawled facedown on my bed with Dante stretched out beside me, I was reminded of my dream. He stroked his warm hand over my back while I drifted in and out of consciousness. Each time I dozed off I startled awake, only to find he was still beside me.
“My willpower is weak,” I mumbled against the pillow. “I was going to resist you.”
Dante peppered kisses across my shoulders. “Come out with me for a swim. I want to make it up to you for yesterday.”
“I can’t even move off the bed and you want to swim?” I laughed and managed to flop over onto my back. “Besides, I think I’m supposed to lay here and let your guys have their chance. Tomorrow?”
“I’ll give you an hour.”
“Masochist.”
Dante leaned down and kissed me. “I’ll settle for a movie at IMAX, but tomorrow, you have to let me put you on a board.”
Noooooooo, I thought. “I don’t have the balance for that!
“You’re in luck because I happen to be an excellent teacher.”
Chapter 7
~Dante~
I looked forward to every passing moment with Alessa. We visited each other every day and made love frequently, but I could never kiss her enough to sate the ache she created in my heart.
The inner stallion in me wanted more than sensual matings in her bed, and every time I caught her performances at the mermaid tank, the drive to claim her grew more irresistible.
I didn’t know how long I could last. How long I’d have the restraint to keep the wild beast in me at bay. The past weeks had been both heaven and hell, worsened when she revealed our first attempt at pregnancy ended in failure. With no alternative, we tried again.
“How do you know she doesn’t want it?” Teo asked me. Swimming no longer distracted me from the pressing need to make Alessa mine, so I’d abandoned my trunks and weighed them to the bottom of the ocean with a rock before hurrying to Teo’s island. My father’s useless proclamations rang in my ears, making me desperate for advice from a man who would understand.
Feline eyes peered at me from the thick foliage bordering the garden where we chatted. Teo’s free range jaguars always kept out of sight whenever I visited; I hadn’t yet earned their trust. Or they were waiting for me to let down my guard to eat me. I hoped it was the former.
Bright pink hibiscus bloomed from several bushes and the sweet smell of orchids floated on the balmy afternoon breeze. Behind us, a hot spring pool gently bubbled. Teo’s home was an island paradise.
“While you have the privilege of living beside your mate every day of the year, I’m not so fortunate, Teo. I’ll be away in the ocean half of our lives. No woman wants that.”
“Allow her to make her own decision,” Teo insisted. “A smart woman knows what she wants, and Alessa is no exception.”
Teo’s mate arrived bearing a tray in her hands. The voluptuous human woman wore a scarlet sundress, neatly coiffed black waves against her bare shoulders. For her comfort, Teo and Kekoa kept spare clothes around for shapeshifting visitors. I wore a modest pair of board shorts and a big smile when the scent of sugar and vanilla reached my nose.
“Are you boys hungry?”
“Cookies?” Teo straightened in his seat, resembling an eager school child.
“I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation but...” Marcy bit her lower lip. “I think my husband is right this time. This rare, singular time,” she repeated for emphasis while lowering a plate of still warm cookies in front of the dragon. He sulked until she set the glass of milk beside them.
“Where is Javier?” I twisted around and searched for their little boy. I’d given the child a ride in the water a week ago and found myself longing even more for a foal of my own. I hoped for a little colt with Alessa’s gray eyes.
“Down for his nap,” Marcy replied. “Otherwise he’d be out here eating all the cookies with his daddy. Don’t worry, I saved him some.”
“In that case.” I helped myself to several cookies from the plate. They were warm and gooey, filled with cheesecake and caramel centers. The sweet delights melted on my tongue.
“Anyway.” Marcy ran her fingers over Teo’s hair, combing her slim digits through his shoulder-length waves. “You men need to trust us to know what we want sometimes. Don’t make decisions without consulting with us.”
I washed down a couple more cookies with my glass of milk. “How long has it been since you both became mated?”
“Nearly ten years now,” Marcy said happily. Teo swept the woman into his lap and fed her a cookie. They were the definition of contentment, the kind of peace any shifter would aspire to possess for himself.
“I have no regrets about the path our lives have taken together,” Teo said.
I wanted a semblance of his life for my own. Hours later, when leaving their home after dinner, the ocean raised my hopeless spirits and carried me toward the resort. Thoughts of Alessa weighed heavily on my mind, along with my inner beast’s yearning to make her mine and to be owned by her in return.
***
My stallion’s possessive and jealous nature made attending Alessa’s shows unsafe for the people around me. For the third time in a row, I missed her performance, but this time, I had a damned good reason. A surprise for her. The girls all squealed when I cracked the dressing room door open to shout inside.
“Keep your swimsuit on, Alessa! We have plans!”
“Dante!” She popped into view and squeezed outside to shove her palm against my chest. The color flushing her cheeks matched her hair. “Do you mind, pervert?”
“I didn’t step inside,” I grumbled. “I didn’t think you’d hear me through the door.”
“I would have heard you loud and clear.”
My eyes swept over her body, lush curves, thick thighs, and rounded hips perfect for childbearing. The green bikini bottom snugly clung to her fair skin. I hardened in seconds.
“Maybe I couldn�
�t wait to see you.”
“Maybe you need to learn to wait a few minutes,” she shot back. Her voice softened and a smile crept onto her face. “Why do I need my suit on?”
“Because, despite how much I’d like you to be without it right now, I want to introduce you to some of my friends.” I set my hands on her hips and squeezed, enjoying the pliable flesh beneath my fingers.
“We have most of the same friends, Dante.”
“No. My friends.”
When the understanding dawned on Alessa’s face, her mouth formed a small ‘o’ of surprise. “Let me grab my stuff then.”
After a stop by her house for her to dump her belongings and fetch her digital camera, we headed down to the dock and borrowed Teo’s spare boat. He’d given us permission to meet on the cove at his personal island. Less than a half hour later, we reached Teo’s dock and I moored the boat in place.
“You ready?”
“I’m not sure. Do they know you’re bringing a human?”
“They know everything about you,” I confirmed.
Alessa shot me a skeptical look then we made our way onto the wooden dock and across the sand. With her camera secured in an expensive, waterproof case, she’d hoped to capture the afternoon with us magical creatures in digital form.
I’d never allowed anyone to photograph me before, but I knew my father would flip his shit if he found out.
Screw him, I seethed internally. Let her take a hundred photos.
“Dante? You okay?”
“Hm?”
“You looked...” She gestured helplessly with a hand, a worried expression causing her lips to press together in a thin line. “Upset.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re n—mmph.”
I kissed her, hard. Pressing my fingers against her ass, holding her tight against me, letting her feel the hard-on she could inspire with only a press of her lips alone. Thinking about my father dampened the mood, but being with her chased away his unjust expectations. I palmed one full breast and slipped my hand between it and the bikini triangle cupping her flesh. She moaned into my mouth, question forgotten and her lust unmistakable.
Making Waves (Mythological Lovers) Page 6