Humming with excitement, I turned back to him to find his shirt was gone as well. He was far more brash than Eryk, so he pulled his pants off and went in the water nearly naked.

I unclipped my cloak and folded it up, then placed it inside the rowboat. I didn’t want it to get covered in sand. I pulled off one of my tunics but left the emerald green one on. It was long--long enough to cover my bottom.

So I took off my pants and waded into the water in nothing but the tunic.

Both men turned to watch me.

I was aware of their stares as I paused with the water kissing my thighs. I looked around, trying to soak in as much of the moment as I could. This might be the last beautiful place I ever laid eyes on, and I was sharing it with two handsome men who I knew cared for me, despite their inability to spare me my death. For some reason, I couldn’t hate them for it. I sympathized with them, and wondered how they would feel once I no longer existed. Would they mourn me? Would they resent their choice?

The way they were looking at me suggested they most certainly would. As I joined them in the deeper waters, I held that thought close. I would be missed, at the very least, and that would have to be enough.

I let myself sink below the surface. The gentle pull of the waves that rolled to the shore tugged and pushed at my body as I floated; suspended in the water and in time. I could hear the soft bubbling of the water as the men moved towards me. The sand tickled my toes when I put my feet back down on the bottom.

For the first time in longer than I could remember, I felt at peace for just a moment as I dove beneath the warm water. Then something grazed my thigh.  

I shot upwards and my head broke the surface.

“Was that one of you guys? Not funny,” I sputtered, as I swiped water from my eyes. But as I looked wildly around, I saw Dimitri and Eryk a good ten feet away, watching me with amusement in their eyes.

“Relax, Princess,” Dimitri said, “they’re not going to play with you if you’re screaming like a banshee.”

“They?” I stammered.

Eryk waded towards me, his green gaze running over me, missing nothing. “Yes, they. Stay still and let them come to you. They’re trying to say hello.”

I did as I was told, but my heart was hammering in my chest and my whole body was itching to make a break for it towards the shoreline. If they weren’t scared, I shouldn’t be either but…Ironhaven wasn’t close to an ocean, and I was still unfamiliar with the creatures that inhabited the sea.

I swallowed hard and closed my eyes as I felt the water around me shift. Something was close by.

“Reach out your hand,” Dimitri whispered, closer now.

With a muttered prayer, I let my hand wander away from my body to float in the open space in front of me. Something pressed up against my palm and I sucked in a sharp breath, barely resisting the urge to yank my hand back towards my body.

“Very good,” Dimitri said, “the hardest part is done, Princess. Open your eyes and meet your new friend.”

I opened my eyes.

In the water before me was the pale gray head of a dolphin. She--and, somehow, I was certain she was female, I could feel it in her gaze--was watching me with her snout out of the water. Her mouth was open in a smile that showed rows of teeth that, for some reason, didn’t frighten me.

“Wow,” I breathed, placing my hand on the tip of her snout, “she’s beautiful.”

“Yes,” Eryk said, “they all are.”

It was then that I looked around. The water was full of gray bodies swimming around us. There had to be at least two dozen of them. One swam up behind me and prodded me gently in the middle of my back. I chuckled, feeling instantly at ease, as it encouraged me to lift my feet from the bottom.

I did, and soon it settled beneath me and swam forward, pushing me through the water at an incredible speed. I squealed with delight as I raced through the water until it slowed and I sank back down. I couldn’t touch the bottom here, but I wasn’t frightened anymore, as more dolphins swam up to greet me.

I sucked in a great breath and dove underwater. I opened my eyes to behold a sight of six dolphins swimming in lazy circles around me, rolling onto their backs and showing me their white bellies while flapping their fins at me.

I swam along beside one of them and mimicked its body roll. Its belly touched mine and, as I swam along beside it, I forgot all of my worries. I was here, in the ocean, with magnificent creatures, and everything else felt very far away; like a dream.

When I broke the surface for air, it was to see the creatures swimming off toward the open sea again. I watched, feeling humbled and grateful that I’d had the chance to experience this.

I turned to find myself face to face with Eryk, who was wearing a rare and beautiful smile. The water made his eyes look almost aqua colored, and before I knew what was happening, his hands were on my waist and he was tugging me toward him, his smile fading.

“I know it’s hard to believe it right now, but we’re not going to let anything happen to you, Princess,” he murmured gruffly. “This I vow to you.”

His words barely registered when, a second later, he dipped his face low, pressing his mouth to mine in a kiss that made my heart ache and my toes curl. He tugged me closer, until my body was crushed against his, and all other sensations paled in comparison to the warmth and power of his body.

When I felt the soft caress of Dimitri’s lips on my shoulder, all thoughts of reason and consideration sizzled away. I wanted nothing more than to succumb to the touch of both men…let the fantasy of this day continue for just a while longer.

Dimitri’s lips were still pressing soft kisses to my skin when his hand wandered down my back to lift the hem of my tunic. His hand found the heat between my legs, where he stroked the insides of my thighs teasingly. I spread my legs for him as Eryk’s tongue pushed between my teeth and his kiss grew more demanding.

Dimitri’s fingers grazed the apex of my thighs and I moaned into Eryk’s mouth. His shaft was swelling, growing ever harder against my hip, and I instantly remembered the way it felt when he was inside me.

Excitement like I had never known fluttered through me as Dimitri fell in closer behind me. His fingers traced my silky folds ever so gently under the water, and I leaned into him, my shoulder blades pressing against his broad chest.

Eryk took the hem of my tunic and pulled it over my head. He draped the wet shirt over his shoulder and admired my nakedness for a moment, before returning his lips to mine in a kiss that felt like fire.

His tongue tangled with mine for a moment before trailing down my neck to my breasts, which he cupped in his hands as he drew one nipple between his lips. He delighted me with soft nibbles and swirls of his tongue as Dimitri put a hand around my throat to tilt my head back so it was resting on his shoulder.

I found myself looking into his bright blue eyes, and the smile he wore wasn’t the cocky one I was used to. It was slow, and knowing, and made my whole body tense with anticipation.

Then his finger slid inside me.

My eyes closed as he worked in and out of my tight channel. All the while, Eryk was there, kissing and nipping at my skin.

I was only dimly aware of the fact that we were alone in the water now. The dolphins had disappeared, and the sun was slipping below the line of the horizon in a riot of color. The only sound was the crashing of the waves on the other side of the cove wall against the cliff, the water lapping at our bodies, and our harsh breaths.

Dimitri’s mouth sealed over mine when he eased another finger inside me. I moaned softly as he spread me open with his fingers and plunged deeper, in long, hard strokes. His fingers curled, pressing against something that made my legs quiver. I moaned again, this time powerless to the quivering that took over all of my muscles.

The men held me up as I cascaded into bliss.

Dimitri continued his dizzying rhythm as Eryk reached down to rub my swollen bud. Having the two of them touching me set my skin on fire.

“To shore,” Dimitri muttered as he pulled away.

Eryk took my hips in his vice-like grip and dragged me flush against him as we made our way to shallower water. I hooked my legs around his waist as he lifted me into the cool evening air.

When the water was only halfway up his calves, he released me, his cock dragging against my center as I slid down down again. Then, he turned me away from him and pressed me to my knees in the soft, spun-sugar sand. The water lapped around my elbows and thighs as got to his knees behind me.

His fingers traced my open slit up and down, pausing to swirl around my clit, and then dip inside me before performing the routine again. I was so wet and slick…so damned ready to feel him throbbing inside me. Every time his finger slipped inside my folds, my muscles strained against him, tightening in preparation for a release that he was making me wait for.

As Eryk tantalized me, Dimitri fell to his knees in front of me. His cock, swollen and curving upwards, was inches from my face.

My body knew what to do…what I was aching to do as I stared at his smooth, hard member. I looked up at Dimitri as he took his shaft in one hand and began rubbing himself. He met my gaze as I parted my lips for him.

He didn’t need any more permission than that. He angled his hips towards me and I took him in my mouth, rolling my tongue over his tip, and pressing it against the bottom of his shaft as he eased into my throat, inch by inch.

“Fuck, woman,” Dimitri breathed, head falling back and eyes closing.

Eryk shifted behind me. The water danced around my thighs as he inched closer. The tip of his cock brushed against me and I arched my spine for him. He pushed into me, spreading me open, and didn’t hold back the way he had the last time he entered me. This time he pushed his whole length in until I couldn’t take any more of him. I moaned, the sound muffled by Dimitri’s cock, and Eryk remained buried deep inside me.

Helpless to stop myself, I began bouncing backward on his cock. If he wasn’t going to give it to me, I was going to take it. He groaned behind me as his hands clutched at my bottom and spread me open. I imagined he liked the view and I couldn’t deny that it somehow made it easier to take all of him.

Dimitri’s grabbed fistfuls of my hair and held me in place as he began moving his hips in slow thrusts, fucking my mouth. I looked up at him, holding his gaze the whole while, until I was overcome with pleasure once more as Eryk began riding me in earnest.

His thighs slapped against mine, drawing out my pleasure, making me quake and shudder and beg for more, until the pressure inside me erupted.

Every nerve-ending fired at once, sucking the breath from my lungs. As I climaxed, Dimitri pulled out of my mouth to let me give voice to the ecstasy in a series of broken cries.

It felt like it went on forever as the world spun around me madly.

When it was finally done and the last of the tremors ceased, Eryk drew his still-stiff cock from me.

He lifted me effortlessly into his arms and strode farther up onto the shore, laying me down across the sand. It was cool, but I didn’t care. I stretched my hands above my head and let my legs fall open in a wanton invitation.

This time, Dimitri was the one who settled between my legs as Eryk went to his knees beside my head. He placed a hand on my cheek and turned my face to his cock, which jutted between us. I opened my mouth and let him fuck my throat while Dimitri put a hand under each of my knees and lifted my legs in the air.

When he entered me, I moaned around Eryk’s cock and closed my eyes.

I had wanted this for so long, and I relished in the way his cock slid in and out of my wet folds. He leaned into me, pushing my legs farther back, and braced himself with a hand on either side of me. I took all of him and pushed past the tightness that snapped inside me. It passed fairly quickly and was replaced with the pressure that I knew would lead, yet again, to the promise land.

Dimitri pushed his thumb down to my clit and rubbed it in slow circles. My hands tightened into fists as I moaned.

Eryk growled, pushing his cock deeper, muttering his approval as I sucked and licked his heavy member. His hands caressed my breasts as Dimitri lifted my legs higher so that they were resting on his shoulders.

“God, look at you,” Eryk groaned. I sucked harder, drawing him so deep into my mouth that the head of his cock battered the tender flesh at the back of my throat.

His cock suddenly swelled, and he grunted, a sound that sent pleasure and a sense of power shuddering through me. I sucked harder, urging him on until he shouted my name and stiffened, coming in a hot rush, jetting silky liquid into my mouth. I swallowed hard and held on tight, on the razor’s edge of another climax.

Dimitri was still deep inside me. He leaned over me, forcing my legs back so far that my knees touched my breasts. He grabbed my wrists and pinned them against the sand, which bit fiercely into the back of my hands. And then he plunged forward like a man possessed, taking me hard and deep.

Pleasure mingled with pain in the most delicious of elixirs and I cried out as I broke apart beneath him. Fresh wetness bloomed inside me and around Dimitri’s massive cock as my channel gripped him. He felt it, I was sure, because his thrusts became even more unbridled until he was gritting his teeth and began to quake. A moment later, he let loose inside me, coming in hot spurts as he shook above me.

Long moments went by before the men pulled away, leaving me to catch my breath. When I opened my eyes, I found them both looking down at me with something like tenderness and possessiveness in their eyes.

I was too shaken to stand, my body still recovering, and the thought of trying to walk was daunting. I was sure my knees would give out beneath me.

“I’m going to get our stuff together,” Eryk said, “then we should head back to the ship. This cove isn’t the safest of places at night.”

I sighed and closed my eyes. “So soon?”

Dimitri took my wrists and pulled me up, then gathered me in his arms. “Come on, Princess, while he gets our things together, we’ll get all that sand off you.”

“Careful,” Eryk called over his shoulder as he bent to begin collecting our clothes. The muscles in his thighs and back flexed and I didn’t bother to hide the fact that I was admiring the dark lean lines of his body. “Predators will be hunting soon.”

“Predators?” I asked, as Dimitri waded back into the water.

“Sharks,” Dimitri winked, “among other things.”

“Other things?” I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck and holding on. “I’m fine with having a bit of sand on me, honestly, it’s not that uncomfortable.”

Dimitri promptly dropped me in the water. When I resurfaced with a nose full of salt water, I splashed him. His laughter filled the cove and despite the trickle of fear that had formed in my belly, I laughed, too. The sound of his joy was too contagious not to partake in it.

He played like that for a minute and then stopped, his face growing serious. Then, he slowly began scooping the water in his hands and letting it fall over my back and shoulders to chase the sand away.

“I still mean what I said to you,” he said quietly, resting his hands on my waist and pulling me against him. His cock was hard again and pressed against my stomach.

“Me, too,” I whispered, knowing he was talking about when he told me he loved me. “Maybe even more now.”

He smiled softly and rested his forehead against mine, and closed his eyes. I stared at his dark lashes. Water still clung to them. His cheeks were decorated in drops that glistened against his skin. He let out a slow and even breath and I stayed with him like that until Eryk called over to us to hurry up.

We walked back to shore, where we dressed and climbed back inside the boat. I sat on the floor between Eryk’s knees with my cloak wrapped around me. Dimitri rowed, glancing back over his shoulder every now and then to make sure he was striking a straight course back to the ship, which floated out in the open water.

The stars were appearing in the sky overhead and the horizon had gone completely dark. I snuggled up tighter to Eryk, who rested his hands on my shoulders and began giving me a massage. I rested my cheek on the inside of his thigh and dozed off listening to the water slap against the side of the boat.

In my dream, I was back on the sandy beach in the middle of summer. I was surrounded by the men, warm in their embrace. In that place in my dream, I was happy.

I was safe.

I was fulfilled.

If only dreams could last forever…