Using a finger, she traced the back of his hand, following the raised vein up to the bend of his arm and down again. “I want to know what it's like to lie in the arms of a man."
Their gazes met. She owed him her life. But it wasn't gratitude that led her. Pure instinct guided her.
"Your arms.” She touched his lips. They were firm against her fingertips.
"Are you sure?"
Sliding her hands into his, she used their joined hands to pull his face closer to hers. Close enough to kiss. “Yes."
The kiss was electric. Tentative at first, lips closed and hesitant. Her lips tingled as Kyle's tongue traced them, requesting entrance. She granted it, and the kiss became savage. His tongue entered her mouth, dueling with hers. He withdrew and nibbled on her bottom lip. They feasted on each other, in carnal delight.
Panting, they separated, foreheads pressed against each other. One of Kyle's hands held the nape of her neck under her makeshift scarf while the other lay on her knee. Her stomach tightened at the contact, and her sex began to throb in anticipation.
"I must warn you, I'm not very experienced at this."
"Neither am I.” Her giggle was soft and joyous. “We'll just have to learn together."
He moved his hand up her thighs, causing her breath to hitch. When he reached the juncture of her thighs and touched her where she ached most for him, she made a move to pull her legs closed.
Both of Kyle's muscled thighs pressed against hers. “No. Stay open for me."
* * * *
She was hot and wet against his fingers as they slid over her folds. Her clitoris was stiff and sensitive; he loved the jerky movement of her hips as he continued to touch her. He watched her take her pleasure with her teeth digging into her bottom lip and her face contorted, as if in pain.
Just watching her in the throes of ecstasy made him hard. His manhood pressed against the constraints of his pants. But he refused to give in to his own need until he'd assisted her in meeting hers first.
He was working on primal intuition. He needed no book to tell him how or where to touch her. Being with her in this way was intrinsic.
Sliding his middle finger deep inside her, he used it to manipulate the firm seat of her desire.
Her forehead dropped to his shoulder as she arched her hips against his hand. Her body convulsed, and her screams echoed in the shack as she climaxed into the palm of his hand. Her scent was heady and tantalizing as it permeated the air.
The sight and feel of her release almost took him over the edge with her.
His hands shook as he removed her dress. “Take your hair down,” he requested.
The view of her bright red hair flowing around her shoulders, her high firm breasts and erect nipples, her thighs parted wide as she still sat Indian-style showing the evidence of her wetness, made the most erotic picture he'd ever seen.
"Now it's your turn."
"To let my hair down?” He cocked a smile at her.
Her answer was to grasp a handful of his shirt and foist it over his head. “To undress."
He was on fire and more than happy to comply. In record time, he kicked off his shoes and removed his pants and underwear.
"May I touch you?” she asked as he kneeled before her nude.
Taking one of her hands, he placed it on his manhood.
She didn't hesitate as she trailed her fingers down his length and beyond. His breath hissed from his mouth as she clutched his sacks in her hand, causing them to draw up tighter, ready to burst. He counted sheep, chickens and cows in an attempt to maintain his control, giving her time to acquaint herself with his body, as he had done with hers.
When her finger encircled his swollen shaft, squeezing and stroking it from base to tip, he sank down onto the back of his heels. He couldn't take any more. Her thumb grazed the crown, collecting its wetness and coating his sensitive skin.
"No more.” He removed her hand, kissed the center of her palm and then her mouth as he reclined her back against the towels. Moving from her mouth and down the side of her neck, he captured her breast between his lips. First flicking and circling a distended nipple until it strained up into a hard pebble, he then sucked each, one at a time, into his mouth, drawing on them as her back arched off the floor.
When she began to whimper and press her hips toward his on the brink of rapture, he knew she was ready.
Lialani parted her legs, and he settled between them. Reaching down, he took hold of his stiff member and glided it over her slick wetness. Gazing into her silver eyes, he entered her tight body. When the head of his member met with the barrier of her innocence, he kissed her, capturing her cries as he thrust his hips forward and buried himself deep inside.
Waiting for her body to adjust, he relished the experience of a rhapsody he'd never known. His very soul seemed to quake as he lay snug in her warmth. Beads of sweat rolled down his spine; he was trying to hold back, not go too fast and cause her pain.
"Please, don't stop,” she cried.
Relief poured over his skin like a cool breeze at her words. Taking his cue from her, he pulled back then slid into her to the hilt as her body pulsated, adjusting around him. Together they began the cadence of the timeless dance of unity.
In and out. Clutching her hip, he rocked his hips into hers. Their sweat and scents mingled.
Oh, my, God. I'm going to lose my mind. The words echoed in her mind as Kyle loved her thoroughly. She felt ravaged and alive at the same time. She tingled from head to toe. She never wanted it to end.
She wrapped her legs high around his waist, opening wider to his deep thrusts. His groans of pleasure vibrated along the shell of her ear. Angling his hips, he penetrated her core so fully it stole her breath as she hung over the precipice of completion. Any moment, she knew she would either faint or explode.
Still intertwined, he rolled them over until she lay pressed against him from shoulder to hip. Looking over her shoulder, she could see his knees bent as he dug his heels into the floor.
She buried her face in the curve of his neck as he held her tight against him, continuing to slam his thick shaft into her, taking her over the edge. Enticing Kyle to join her, Lialani's sex squeezed his hard length as she screamed through a devastating exhilaration of completion. Kyle roared as if his soul were being rendered from his body, and shook against her. The heat of his release coated her inside walls, marking her as his.
Chapter Five
His world shifted, tilting on its axis. During his climax, every fiber of his being shattered into pieces like a volcano under pressure that exploded into a sublime eruption. Amazed, he lay in a respectfully quiet, tranquil peace. They were joined, fitted together as if pieces of a puzzle. He gathered her into his arms and held her close.
"Your heart beats in time with mine,” she whispered into his ear.
The impact of their hearts thumping in a united rhythm filled Kyle with peace. “Always.” He kissed her shoulder.
"Ow!” Lialani cried, jerking her shoulder back.
He sat up, separating their bodies. “Are you okay?"
Her shoulder blade burned as if branded with hot iron. “I think I must have laid on something. I didn't feel anything while we were...” She blushed and smiled. “But it hurts a little now."
He turned her around and brushed her hair out of the way. “You're right, you did lay on something.” Searching around, he moved the towels to look at the floorboards. They were smooth. “I don't see anything that could have made a mark like the one on your back."
"What does it look like?” she questioned over her shoulder.
Angling his head, he announced, “Maybe a crescent or half a heart.” Kyle cleared his throat. “My back was to the floor ... at some point. Anything on me?"
Twisting at the waist, he bared his back to her. Lialani scanned him from neck to hip. “Nothing,” she confirmed.
"Strange.” Glancing out the window and seeing the darkness, a shadow of sadness reflected in the depths of his e
yes when he looked back at her. “It's time to go."
She spoke in a small voice, “I know."
He leaned forward and kissed her before they parted then both dressed in silence.
* * * *
They sailed for hours. Orange light now tinted the sky—almost morning.
Kyle watched Lialani as she sat beside him in the boat, eyes closed, a look of peace on her face as the wind whipped her hair around. Since leaving the shack at the marina, she'd directed him which way to travel then they had fallen into a companionable silence. No words were needed.
He knew she could hear the song of the merpeople. It was the only thing that separated them. The one thing that would eventually tear them apart. She didn't need him. He knew this. When darkness set in, she could have dived off Blindman's Bluff and found her people. But she gifted them both by prolonging their time together.
"Stop,” she yelled, clutching his arm.
Kyle immediately cut the motor. A hush blanketed them as the boat bobbed in the water. Something flickered out of the water in the distance. Suddenly, a rainbow of men and women surrounded the boat. Merpeople.
None had eyes for him. They all stared at Lialani, and her face glowed with awe and wonder.
One swam closer to the boat, her hair the same color as Lialani's, and spoke with a dolphin-like sound he couldn't understand—Mermish, his research called it.
* * * *
"Welcome home, Lialani."
Lialani smiled at the woman whose hair, skin and eyes marked her as kin. Home. Her heart lifted.
"We were beginning to worry you wouldn't make it.” She looked toward Kyle. “That maybe something might have persuaded you down the wrong path."
"Wrong path?” she questioned. Glancing at Kyle and remembering their night together, they were not the words she would ever use to describe the wonderful experience.
"Come.” The woman held out her hand. “We can speak better when you are whole."
She knew it was time to say goodbye. It could not be put off any longer. The heat of Kyle's body warmed her back as he approached. Turning, she saw the sorrow in his eyes, reflecting the feeling in her soul. She was elated to finally be with her people and find peace, but part of her would remain with him.
He pulled her into a fierce hug then stepped back and spoke, his voice gruff, “Go."
That one word released her. Her throat tight with unshed tears, she faced her people and dived into the water.
As quickly as she entered the water, her body shifted. Breaking through the water, she came up in front of the woman.
Reaching out, the woman's webbed hand touched her face. “It has been so long, my child. I am Shatira, your mother."
My mother. That statement threw her off balance. “Mother? But how? I've never seen you before."
"Oh, but you have, Lialani."
Perplexed, she stared at the woman.
"You will understand better once I have explained."
"Please do."
"When a merwoman gives birth, for two weeks she lives on land in search of a couple to raise her baby. Following his or her twenty-first birthday, when they fully submerge in pure sea water, the change will happen.” Shatira smiled. “Being Mer is a condition of the heart. Since our people are Landwalkers, everyone must pass his or her own test. Desire it above all else. Only a Mer whose heart longs for Pacifica can find it. I'm glad yours is such a heart."
Lialani was glad too.
Her mother kissed her on the cheek. “Here is your father, Tancar."
She turned toward the man her mother indicated. His hair was black as licorice, falling barely past his shoulders, and his eyes were icy blue, the color of tropical water.
Tancar embraced her, leaning back to kiss her in the center of her forehead. “My heart is overjoyed that you have come home, my daughter.” He brushed her hair back over her shoulders. “It is always painful when a parent leaves his child, hoping that one day she will return."
"I did ... Father.” She didn't know how much more she could take; she was overwhelmed and thrilled at the same time. She glanced over her father's shoulder and saw Kyle as he sat in the boat, oblivious to the conversation but avidly watching. My love.
Her mother's voice rang out over the ocean, appalled. “You have mated with the human!"
For a moment, Lialani was confused. She thought her mother must have read her thoughts until she felt her hair pushed to one shoulder, leaving the other bare.
Kyle must have sensed something was wrong because he rose out of his seat and stepped to the side of the boat, staring at her and her mother.
"How do you know this?” Lialani questioned.
"It is there for all to see by the mark on your back."
Oh, no. No wonder we didn't find anything on the floor. Will I have to leave? “What does this mean?"
Her mother spoke, her voice laced with trepidation. “It means that you are destined to be alone. No merman can ever court you because you have already bound yourself to someone. Someone who is not of our world."
Her father finished. “Our people can only be intimate with their one true love, and at the time of the first intimacy they are united with the shedding of blood and become mates for life."
"Mates...” Lialani's voice drifted away.
Shatira clarified. “The humans use the word married. The meaning is the same. It is a bonding of souls that causes the mark."
"All mating marks are similar, but each set is unique to each couple. Yours cuts sharp in the center edge.” Tancar turned, showing her his mark. It was a red half heart with a star shaped opening in the middle. “Shatira's is the mirror image of mine, but on the opposite shoulder. Together we are one heart."
Her mother moved beside her father, and Lialani saw the heart become one.
Tears escaped her eyes. “Is there no hope?” Her parents turned at the note of pain in her voice.
"Non—” Shatira started.
Tancar cut her off with a sharp but loving glance. “There is but one."
"What?” her voice pleaded.
"If you are true loves, it is possible that he can become mer. For it is believed that the power of pure love can shift a person's very being."
"How does this change happen?” Hope that she and Kyle could possibly be together coursed through her veins.
"Does he love you?” Tancar asked.
She glanced at Kyle. “Yes. I believe he does."
Her mother touched her shoulder. “You must be very sure. Because it is death for him if he chooses to try but doesn't love you."
"Lialani, what is wrong?” Kyle leaned over the side of the boat, calling out to her.
Death. Could I risk it? She bowed her head in defeat. “I cannot risk his life."
"I'm sorry to say, Lialani, it is not your choice to make,” her father said as he began to swim toward the boat.
"Why not? Kyle doesn't even know. If we part now, at least in my heart I will know that he lives.” Catching up to him, she held onto his arm and implored him. “Please, Father."
"You have mated with him. The choice is not even mine to withhold from him,” Tancar finished. He then turned to Kyle and waved him down.
She stared, frozen as Kyle moved closer to her father's outstretched hand. When he was within reach, Tancar placed his hand on the center of Kyle's forehead and spoke.
"Kyle is your given name?"
Lialani watched Kyle's eyes open in shock as he realized he understood her father.
"Yes,” Kyle confirmed.
"I am Tancar, Lialani's father. There is a concern among us."
"Which is ... sir?"
Tancar explained the situation to Kyle.
"If there's any chance that I can be with your daughter forever, I'm willing to do anything to make this happen."
Shatira swam over to them. “If your love is not pure,” her look intense before she continued, “you will die."
Kyle looked at Lialani's mother. “I understand."
Kyle nodded his understanding.
Grabbing his hand, Lialani allowed all her love for him to show. “Kyle, you do not have to do this."
"Yes. I do.” He fixed his eyes on hers, quietly stepped away from the edge of the boat then touched his hand to his heart and patted, mimicking a heartbeat. Seconds later, he dove into the water.
"No!” Lialani screamed, preparing to dive down after him.
Her father restrained her. “You must have faith, my child."
* * * *
Kyle swam hard toward the dark ocean floor. Flames seemed to shoot through both shoulder joints as he pumped his arms, proceeding with all his might. Light flashed in his eyes, blinding him as pressure began to build around his head, yet he continued. Fighting in the direction of the abyss, Kyle refused to give in to the thoughts of death trying to intrude into his mind and pushed forth.
Darkness surrounded him, and pain amplified in his lungs as if any second they would burst. Then his eyes cleared. The water became transparent as glass; miles ahead of him, he could see the ocean floor and the crustacean scurrying along its bottom.
In his excitement, he sucked in water and filled his lungs with a glacial sensation. Kyle gawked as he noticed the change to his legs. His two limbs were now a single broad sweeping fin of emerald and azure.
Enthralled, he allowed himself a small celebration punctuated by several jubilant twists and turns before he headed back toward Lialani.
Kyle broke the surface directly in front of the merwoman he loved. The tears streaming down her face caused his throat to constrict. “Don't ever doubt our love,” his words came out in a passionate whisper as he caressed her cheek with his webbed hand.
"Together,” someone called out.
Understanding what they wanted, Kyle turned until he and Lialani stood with their shoulders aligned before all the merpeople.
Shouts and cheers rang out around them as everyone beheld their joined mated mark as one—a heart with a diamond in the middle.
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