Chapter Four
The water embraced Pearl as if she were its long-lost child. Her slender body cut through the waves, and she dove into the dark depths. Even so close to shore, there were dangers, but right now, she felt sublimely reckless, immortal, as if nothing could hurt her or harm her. She struck out perpendicular to the shore, angling ever out towards the open water.
Behind her, she heard a great splash as Luciano entered the water, and hidden in the darkness, Pearl smiled.
What's wrong with you? a small part of her wailed. You've never done this before, why are you doing this now?
She didn't have an answer for that. Not at all. Right now, she was simply acting as she had been made to do.
With the ease that came of long practice in the swimming pool, she doubled back and circled behind Luciano's splashing, as silent and deadly as a shark. She could no longer see him in the darkness, but she could hear him just fine. More than that, it felt as if there were some kind of gravity pulling her towards him. She could no more lose him than she could overlook him in a bright room where he was the only inhabitant.
Underneath the water, she reached out, and her slender fingers closed around his heel, touching just for a moment before he thrashed back towards her. She let go just as he twisted around, and then she was circling him again.
She felt as powerful and enduring as the sea as she swam lazy circles around him. If mermaids were real, this was what they would have felt, circling drowning men and holding the power of life and death in their hands.
Sometimes she reached out to touch him, her hands sliding over his shoulder, his waist, his powerful thigh. Once she managed to sweep her fingers through his wet hair, drawing a harsh cry from his lips.
She wondered if his patience would break, making him curse her for her literal tease, but there was only a kind of desperation to his motions, following her as quickly as he could only for her to be gone immediately after.
Pearl found something in her that loved this game, holding all the power in her hands, but just as she was beginning to grow tired, everything changed.
She reached forward, expecting to touch him square in the center of his back, but there was nothing there. For a moment of panic, she wondered if she had somehow lost him. People could drown in far more fortunate circumstances, and for a moment, her blood ran cold.
"Luciano," she started to cry, treading water, and then suddenly there were strong arms around her. For a moment, they both went under, and then Luciano traded the hug for hanging on to one wrist. He did not hold her tightly, but she could tell his hand was as implacable as a manacle; she would not be able to win her way free.
"Come," he said, and he struck off for shore.
"How did you grab me?" she asked, slightly peeved and breathless all at once.
"You had a pattern after a while," he said with a soft laugh. She wondered if there was something slightly sinister about it. "I finally caught on and guessed right."
They were silent until they returned to shore, and as soon as their feet were underneath them, Luciano scooped her up in his arms, carrying her bridal style up to the tree line.
"Our clothes are back that way," she said in alarm, but he only chuckled.
"We don't need them right now."
To her surprise, he led her to a quiet space where the beach met the trees. It was sheltered by an outcropping of rocks that shielded it from any view save the one from the open ocean, and to Pearl's surprise, there was a blanket spread out there.
"When did you have time to do this?" she asked as he laid her down on it.
"I was here before you and your would-be suitor appeared," he said with a slight smile. "I didn't know I would be hunting mermaids, or I might have set up a sturdier base camp.”
Her body had that slightly languorous buzz that it always had after she swam in the ocean. It seemed like the least important thing in the world that she was naked. She rolled over to look at him, aware that he could see everything from her two pert, small breasts to the dense tangle of hair between her legs that guarded her womanly secrets. He stood over her with his arms crossed like a prince reviewing his prisoner, and she looked up at him with a slight smile.
"So you have caught me then, my prince," she said softly. "Tell me, what happens now?"
The moon had come out while they’d played in the water, and now by the silvery light, she could see him lick his lips. It pleased her that she could make his mouth dry, and she leaned back on her elbows, not caring to hide herself from his gaze.
"I think I should inspect you," he said finally. "I've never seen a mermaid like you before. Probably you're worth a great deal."
"Not to anyone that matters," Pearl said reassuringly. "I'm afraid that unless you are willing to take a great loss, you are stuck with me."
"Stuck with you... I don't know if I like the way that sounds. It might be more precise to say that I have won you, and now I don't intend to let you leave."
He came down to stretch out beside her, propping his head on his hand. His free hand brushed gentle fingers down the side of her face, trailing down her throat and then between her breasts. His light touch, never touching anything too sensitive, seemed to awaken a kind of sensitivity she had never thought herself capable of. As he brushed the back of his hand along her thighs, her knees and then up to her hips again, she had to wonder if his touch was somehow trailing fire. She moved restlessly under his hand, encouraging him to touch more and to touch deeper, but he only chuckled, pulling back and moving as he pleased. He had been the one to catch her, however, suddenly Pearl wasn't sure if she felt like playing by the rules anymore.
She reached up and laid her hand over his, pressing it snugly against her breast. She had a brief flare of need and pleasure as he squeezed the soft curve instinctively, but then he drew back again.
She thought he might scold her then, but instead, he tumbled over her, his weight pinning her to the blanket. He propped himself up to carry most of his weight on his elbows, and he gazed down on her with eyes that looked nearly black. Then his head was coming down, and he was kissing her again, this time his mouth hot and demanding. There was nothing gentle or tentative about this, nothing that wanted to explore or learn. If the kisses before had been about understanding, this kiss was like a forest fire. The heat from it rolled through her with a kind of scorching intensity, and even as Pearl clung to her prince, she wondered if there would be anything left of her after this was done.
"Perfect little mermaid," Luciano murmured. "Perfectly sweet and all mine, don't think that you can get away, my dear..."
"I wouldn't think of it at all if you could keep me entertained."
His laugh was as deep and dark as the sea itself. "I think I might be able to do that, little one."
Before Pearl could ask him what he meant, he had squirmed down her body. She didn't know what he intended to do at first, but then he was spreading her thighs, lying between them on his belly.
"God, but do you have any idea how very beautiful you are?"
She might have gotten catcallers of every stripe since she was a teenager, but the word “beautiful” in Luciano's mouth made something in her open and yield. It felt too good to have this man call her beautiful. It was too much to have him passing his hands down her thighs, exclaiming at both their strength and their smoothness.
Then he was caressing her delicate petals with his thumbs, running them up and down until she could feel for herself how very hot and wet she was. The sun had set, and the world was cooling down, but there was still a balminess to the air. The heat and humidity in the air was no match for the wetness of Luciano's tongue, however. As he held her slightly open with his fingers, his tongue slid along her furrow as if he was made for her. She felt her back arch at the very first touch of his tongue. He dipped down to taste her opening, and then he returned to the peak of her pleasure where she strained for touch, for something.
"So very perfect," he said. "Who knew that there would be something so very beautiful and grand underneath that gorgeous tail of yours?"
Pearl started to reply, but then his thumbs slid along her channel, gliding up to the apex where her clit yearned for more. Feeling the pressure that even that slight touch provided made her gasp. From how raw her throat was, she realized she had been whimpering and crying out consistently. She just hadn't noticed. She would have blushed if there was anyone on this particular beach to see.
Luciano leaned in and started lapping at her even more fiercely, and her hands fell on his head, tangling in his thick, dark hair. She hung on as best she could, and then Luciano did something so very perfectly that her body stiffened, every muscle seeming to tense into concrete. In that moment of pure and willing stillness, she cried out, her voice echoing over the water as she tossed her head back against the ground. She could feel the tension drain away finally as her body returned to normal. The pleasure that he had given her made her mind blank out with shock.
Pearl was familiar with her body. Everything she hadn't learned from her practical mother she had learned on her own. Her body was made to process this kind of pleasure, and as it rushed through her, she reached for Luciano's hand, clinging tightly as he pressed against her hard.
By the time the pleasure had subsided, Pearl's breath had cooled down as well, but the startling sensitivity between her legs and the strange ache that lived there still made her remember herself. She could almost be embarrassed by how wild and unrestrained she had been, but right now, it mattered less than tending to Luciano.
"Are you all right?" she asked huskily.
He shot her an amused look that somehow managed to have no sting at all. Pearl had a bit of a temper when it came to making sure no one was mocking her, but somehow, when Luciano laughed at her, she could sense no malice to it at all.
"That was a complete act in and of itself, darling, and if you needed to end things there, that would be fine. However, I don't mind telling you that I am far from done."
She started to ask what he meant, but then he lay down beside her on the blanket. With a single graceful movement, he rolled her on top of his body.
Dear god, but he's strong, she had time to think, and then she was looking down at him, mounted over his thighs and looking at his prone and gorgeous body.
"Do you like what you see, little mermaid?" he asked with a smirk, and she snapped her teeth at him.
"You know very well I do," she said with something like dignity, and he saluted her mockingly.
"Good."
Before she could see what she could do, he was lifting her. She gasped a little because while she was small, her muscle gave her some density. She was by no means light, but Luciano handled her as if she were as light as a feather. He lifted her over his cock, allowing her to feel the hard column of it between her legs.
"Put me in," he ground out, and she could sense the trembling need in him. Luciano might be a man of intense passion and stamina, but it was not endless. There was a need in him clawing at his belly, and she was the only one who could relieve it.
Holding her breath, she reached down to grasp the shaft of his cock, gasping a little at how warm it was. The skin of his manhood felt like the softest suede over steel, and she drew on it, once and then twice. Each time, she could feel him twitch against her palm, and a renewed flicker of need sparked low inside her.
"Mermaid, do not make me wait," he growled, and she could hear both threat and need in his voice.
"Yes," she breathed in response, and she guided him into her tight channel.
It had been some time since she had made love, and Luciano was not a small man. She was warm and slick and needy, but she was still tight. At the first parting of her folds for his cock, she bit her lower lip between her teeth. It wasn't pain, not really. Instead, it was an intense pressure that made her want to close her eyes. Her hands reached forward to rest against Luciano's chest, and then she eased herself down the rest of the way. God, he was large, and the pleasure and ache of it all mingled together until she couldn't tell one from the other.
"Mermaid? Do you need me to stop?" She could hear the words in his soft baritone, and a flood of something warm came over her.
"No," she said, barely aware of what words she was uttering. "I don't want to stop. I need you. Don't you see that I need you?"
It looked like Luciano was getting ready to protest again. Instead of allowing him to do so, she shifted up until she was above him again, only the tip of his manhood keeping her open. Then with a great deal of deliberation, she sank back down on him, taking him completely within her body. They gasped in unison at the pleasure of it. For her, this time, there was no pain at all, and her cheeks flushed with need.
She repeated the motion, again and again, and then Luciano lost patience. His hands came down on her hips, and then he simply held her still as he arched up into her. Pearl fisted her hands, and she found herself leaning forward over Luciano, her cheek pressed close to his chest. She could hear his heartbeat as he thrust in and out of her, and then the pleasure was simply too much. She closed her eyes tight, but all she could see was Luciano below her. She cried out his name, her body tightening again, and she shook like a leaf in autumn.
As she tensed, she could feel his cock inside her swell, and then his hands tight on her hips, Luciano thrust up inside her one final time. They collapsed into a boneless pile together, clinging to each other, still joined, and Pearl knew she had never felt anything quite so perfect as that moment.
After a moment, Luciano pulled away from her. For some reason, it felt like a loss, and she screwed her eyes up tight, turning her face away. It didn't matter that he had just brought her to the heights of pleasure. She refused to let him see her cry.
Instead of turning her towards him, as she had been afraid he would do, he simply gathered her in his arms again. With her back to his chest, she could feel his entire body cradling her and slowly, by increments, she relaxed.
"My god, but you could kill me," he whispered, shaking his head slightly. "Do you have any idea how very special you are, my little mermaid?"
"No, but I have a feeling you say that to every woman you bed."
She had thought it would be an innocent and lighthearted quip, but she felt him go still behind her. She would have turned to look at him, but his arm slung over her waist made that impossible.
"I don't," he said quietly. "Not at all. Don't you know how special you are, mermaid?"
"My kind of special can be picked up on the boardwalk every day of the week," she said with a slight chuckle. "But don't pity me. I know what I am, and that's more than most people can say."
"I don't know if I believe that," he said, and she might have argued, but he was kissing her shoulder with a drowsy sensuality that made her sigh.
I should get up and go get my clothes, she thought, but he was touching her so sweetly, so perfectly, that she could do nothing but enjoy his touch.