His fingers were fire. Dylan's touch was like nothing she had ever experienced—it was so incredibly different from having her legs caressed by a man. When he stroked that soft, glowing skin, his touch was magnified. It carried through every part of her mer-body, like his fingertips were superconductors for erotic sensation, and she was his conduit. As the newness of unexplored sensations surged the length of her body, CC felt weak and powerful at the same time. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed by the intensity of the feeling.
No, Christine. Dylan's voice came gently into her mind. Do not close your eyes. Watch me touching you. Look how incredibly beautiful you are.
CC opened her eyes. Dylan kissed her gently again, then he let his body drift down, so that his hands and his mouth could explore the rest of her. His mouth traveled from her breasts to the softness of her belly. When the warm heat of his mouth slid to her mer-flesh she had to hold tightly to his shoulders to steady herself.
Amazed, she felt herself open to him as his tongue moved down her body, coaxing and teasing alive sensations that she hadn't even imagined possible. She watched him love her and the last of her trepidation died under the heat of his touch. She gazed at her body and at the astonishing creature who held her so intimately, and she realized that it truly didn't matter what form their bodies reflected—it was love that anchored her to him, not a body or a time or place.
Dylan's mouth and hands continued to work their magic, and CC's ability for rational thought splintered. All she could do was to hold tightly to Dylan and experience the sensations that surged through her body. His touch merged with the soft pressure of the water that surrounded them until it seemed to CC that even the ocean was making love to her. Suddenly, her mind fragmented as an orgasmic rush of electricity rippled through her body.
Dylan cradled her within his arms and pulled her to the surface. He kissed her deeply. CC felt so liquid that she almost believed that her body could dissipate and become a part of the seas, and only Dylan's touch kept her connected to the physical world. They drifted in the ocean, hidden by the loving caress of the goddess's rain.
"Did that please you, my love?" he whispered against her lips.
"You please me, Dylan, more than I could ever tell you. It was a good thing that we were underwater; I think if air had touched me I might have combusted."
Dylan laughed. "Your nervousness must be gone."
"Forever." She grinned, then playfully took his bottom lip between her teeth and pulled gently. His moan of response brought to her a rush of new pleasure. "Now I want to please you," CC said.
She reached between them and took his already hard flesh in her hand. Stroking his shaft, she felt him throb and pulse with need. His breathing deepened sharply and his eyes closed.
"No," she said, her voice thick with the power of seduction. "Don't close your eyes. I want you to watch me touch you, too."
Dylan's gaze was hot as he watched her hand slide up and down his length. She kissed him again, then let her body drift down under the water until she took his golden flesh in her mouth. She felt him quiver as she let her tongue and lips work together. When she took him deeply into her mouth, his gasp of pleasure sent a thrill of desire through her. She loved the taste of him. He was salt and sea and the musky tang of an aroused man. And he was beautiful.
Abruptly, she felt him tug at her shoulders and she allowed him to pull her up. She found his mouth, and heat exploded within her at the ragged intensity of their kiss. She felt his hardness against her. Instinctively, she reached down to guide him within her, but Dylan stopped her.
"Wait, love. There is more," he said between broken breaths as she kissed the firm line of his jaw and slid her tongue teasingly down his neck.
"How could there be more than this?" She pressed against him.
"Watch," he said, his eyes dark with passion and promise.
Dylan unwound one hand from where it had been buried in her hair. Raising his arm he drew a circle in the air above them. CC's eyes widened in surprise as the ocean around them started to swirl in response.
"I command a bed in which to love our princess!"
Dylan's voice was filled with power, and it echoed against the misty night. As he spoke the seething water changed. It bubbled and frothed and somehow hardened until the two mer-creatures were buoyed up on a bed of aqua sea foam where they lay in each other's arms. It was as if they were resting inside a crested wave where Dylan had somehow halted time and the elements.
"You have magic," CC gasped.
"My magic is you, Christine."
Dylan kissed her, letting his hands move down her body to cup her breasts and then stroke her glowing flesh until CC moaned in response.
"Now, please," she panted. "Don't make me wait anymore."
Dylan shifted his weight until he lay over her, holding himself up on his forearms. When she reached down to guide him into her, he was powerless to resist.
"Christine!" he gasped her name as her heat tightened slickly around him.
They moved together easily, finding a rhythm that was at first slow and gentle. CC marveled at how well they fit. His body pressed against hers, and everywhere they touched sparks of sensation tingled through her skin. She ran her hands over the taut muscles of his arms, amazed at his power and how he trembled under her touch. Then their rhythm quickened, and CC strained upward to meet his thrusts. Her hands found the hard ridges of his back, and she let her fingernails tease, before she locked her arms around him, pressing him more firmly against her.
"I cannot wait," Dylan moaned.
"Then don't. Please, Dylan!" she urged.
With a last, powerful thrust CC felt Dylan begin to throb within her, and when he shouted her name she felt her own body explode in response. As her sense of reality fragmented into the realm of sensation she held tightly to Dylan, trusting him to bring her safely back to earth.
Chapter 21
"I love you, Christine ."
She must have fallen asleep, because Dylan's voice woke her. At first CC thought they were still lying on the bed of sea foam, but the sound of waves breaking against the shore around them and the velvet feel of sand under her hip made her realize that she and Dylan had drifted to shore. She was still nestled against his chest and he lay semireclining, with his back against one of the many smooth rocks that peppered the shore.
"I'm so glad," she said and stretched languidly. Then she laughed.
"What?" he asked.
"I was just thinking that I feel like a satisfied cat, which seemed kind of funny under the circumstances." She gestured at their entwined tails. Then she raised her eyebrows at him. "You do know what a cat is, don't you?"
He tugged a wet strand of her hair playfully. "It is a feline creature that is closely allied to human women." He looked introspective for a moment, like he was remembering something, then he added, "They are fond of eating fish." His face split, and he laughed, too.
"Not that we're fish," CC said between giggles.
"Certainly not. You are Goddess of the Seas," he amended good-naturedly.
"That must make you," she finished with a flourish, "God of the Seas!"
Dylan's face instantly changed. It took on a guarded expression that caused CC a pang of anxiety. He hesitated before he spoke, and when he did his words sounded heavy, as if they were weighed down by the sadness of painful memories.
"No, Christine. We are different. My mother was a simple water nymph who preferred rivers and streams to the ocean. My father was a human. When my mother became pregnant she went to Lir and asked that she be granted a human form so that she could spend her life with her human lover. Lir agreed, but when my mother left the waters my father rejected her." Dylan's jaw tightened, and he looked away from her. "He already had a wife and a family. He had no use for a sea creature and her bastard offspring. My mother returned to the waters, which is where I was born. But she never found contentment. She was forever returning to the river where she had met and mated with my father. When he failed to return she killed herself. Lir allowed me to stay in his crystal palace while I was young out of love for Undine, who was my playmate. When I grew to adulthood he granted me the responsibility of overseeing the waters where they merged, river and sea. I think the great sea god hoped that under my watchfulness no other river nymphs would be lost to the lust of humans. But I am not the son of immortals; I am not as you are. Perhaps you did not realize that. Forgive me for not explaining our differences to you earlier." He wouldn't meet her eyes.