Affair on the Beach

Chapter 13

I told time by staring at each healed wound on Xavier’s body. Every time a wound closed and less blood seeped into the pool was a minute closer to when I got Xavier back. A second more until his eyes opened again and looked at me. I’d lost count at how many wounds he actually had, and these were only the ones I could see. The big one that slashed diagonally over his chest and torso had stopped bleeding, but it remained open. I swallowed my nausea whenever my gaze landed on it, and I had to push back my instincts to dial nine one one and have an ambulance take him to the nearest hospital. I reminded myself constantly to believe in the healing powers of the pool.

To keep my hands from shaking, I busied my fingers with the task of brushing his hair away from his handsome face. He had a deep gash just above his brow. Once in a while, I cupped water from the pool in my hands and poured it over the wound. I had to repeat the process five times before the wound closed completely.

Xavier was so still. If it weren’t for the compression of his chest, I would have been more worried than I already was. And that was saying something because the worry currently coursing through my veins was enough to make anyone else faint. A tick had developed in my right eye, probably caused by having to stay absolutely still. I didn’t want to jostle Xavier as he healed. His face may look calm and young, but I believed he was in great pain. No one suffered that many wounds and several broken bones without feeling any pain.

Hudson said before he left to find the lunatic Zander that Xavier would be fine. With his wounds healing, I slowly believed him.

I was dozing off when a series of snaps startled me. I searched for the source of the sound and noticed Xavier’s limbs straightening. He screamed. His bones were relocating. He thrashed around. I quickly wrapped my arms around him and held him steady. It was no easy feat since he was strong even in his weakened and unconscious state. I was still in my bikini, so getting wet wasn’t a problem for me. The water in the pool sloshed with every move he made.

“It’s okay, Xavier,” I whispered into his ear. “Everything is going to be okay. You’re just healing.” Tears blurred my vision. I couldn’t bear to hear him in pain. His groans bounced off the walls of the tiled room. “Please, Xavier, calm down. Let the water do its job.” I rubbed his scaled chest with my hand, which seemed to help. His breathing remained ragged. He collapsed back against me and I hooked my legs over his shoulders and arms to keep him in place in case he decided to thrash around again. I resettled his head on my thigh and stroked his hair away from his face.

Some color had begun to return to his cheeks. His skin looked tanner now than the deathly gray it had been when Hudson submerged him into the pool. What could have happened to him beneath the waves that caused his body to look as macerated as it did? The rocks must have been sharper than shark’s teeth to spit him out half eaten. I shook my head to clear away the morbid thoughts. He was out of the water and he was healing. That was what mattered most.

To keep myself occupied, I decided it was the right time to explore my feelings for this handsome god of a man who enjoyed surfing and who seemed to enjoy me too. I still didn’t understand what he saw in me, but I knew what I saw in him. That first day I saw him coming out of the water after a swim was my favorite memory of him. The sun glinted off the water droplets rolling down his muscular, tanned skin. I choose to think that I fainted from the heat and not from ogling him. Then I woke up in his arms. That feeling of floating had stayed with me long after he’d put me down. He’d carried me often after that, but the first time was the best. And when he said my name, I was so captivated. I think that was when I realized I was truly attracted to Xavier Solomon, the god.

I bent down and kissed his forehead. His skin wasn’t clammy anymore. Another good sign that he was regaining his strength. He was coming back to me.

When he left me at the bonfire, granted I didn’t understand why at the time, I was hurt. I didn’t know why I was so hurt. Now that I think back to it, I wasn’t supposed to have hurt as much as I did. Yes, he stole my first kiss, but I shouldn’t have felt as devastated as I did to even pick a fight with Rony. Did I already have feelings for him then?

I frowned and shook my head.

Many of the books in my collection told the story of love at first sight. Technically, most of the romance novels I’d read involved love at first sight scenarios. That couldn’t happen in real life, could it? My heart skipped a beat, causing me to touch my chest. Was I really already in love with him? What was it, four days since we’d met?

“It can’t be,” I said to the room.

I stared at his face for the longest time without blinking. My thoughts returned to dissecting my feelings for the merman healing between my legs.

That night on the beach when I found out what he was could easily have turned my world upside down, but it was his kisses and caresses that had me hot and bothered. I wasn’t afraid of what he was. Why should I be? I was sure he was dangerous in his own right, but what man wasn’t?

Then he taught me how to surf, which was the most fun I’d had in my life. More fun than reading my novels. He was patient, the smile on his face never left every time I made a mistake. When I was on the board with him, I never felt in danger at all. I knew he would protect me, keep me from falling into the water. He didn’t mind how many times I wanted to paddle out into the water. We kept surfing until it was time for me to help out at the Shack. I think he would have surfed with me all day if I had asked him to.

I blushed.

No one had ever been that sweet to me before.

The afternoon at the market? If Zander hadn’t interrupted us, I think we would have found out more about each other. I liked that he was so open, answering all the questions I had for him. And who wouldn’t want a guy who knew what looked good on a woman? If he wasn’t secure in his masculinity, and if I didn’t know he could kiss like a pro, I would have wondered for a second if he swung for the other team.

My blush flamed when the night I gave him my virginity came to mind. I couldn’t have asked for a better first time with a man. He took my body to levels of sensation that was enough to shatter me, and when I did unravel at the seams, he stayed to hold me. I’d never felt wanted until I’d met Xavier Solomon.

My brow furrowed.

What was wrong with him? No guy was perfect. I put aside the fact that he was a merman. That didn’t matter to me. But what was wrong with him? What was he hiding? Doubts blossomed in my chest. There was always a catch.

Xavier’s eyes fluttered open as if he’d heard my thoughts.

“Xavier?” I said, afraid he’d break if I spoke any louder than I did.

He inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly. He blinked several times, looking around the room, gaining his bearings. The wound on his chest was nearly fully healed. It was the only one left. I breathed my relief, which had him looking up at me. He smiled my favorite half smile and reached up to touch my face.

I hadn’t realized I was crying until he brushed away my tears with his thumb. I bent my head and teardrops splashed on his cheeks. His eyes softened. He tilted his head up. Not quite reaching me, he moved his hand to the back of my neck and pulled me down so my lips met his.

The kiss was heartbreakingly sweet. His lips were gentle. His tongue didn’t demand entrance. I was the one who let him in by parting my lips. I needed to feel the friction of our tongues touching. I needed the contact to tell me he was real and not just a figment of my imagination; that he wasn’t still in his healing-coma-like state.

When I couldn’t take the kiss anymore in fear of completely losing myself, I pulled away. I took his unturned face in my hands and said, “I thought I’d lost you.”

He stared at me in wide-eyed wonder.

“I would never leave you, Tamara,” he finally said, his voice soft and hoarse.

I shook my head. “I thought you were going to die.”

“But I didn’t.”

I took his hand and placed it on the center of my chest. I knew he felt the quickening of my heartbeat. “I don’t want to feel that scared ever again.”

He twisted around so he faced me and winced.

“Don’t move!” I yelled, surprised.

Xavier ignored me, taking my face in his hands. I held on to his wrists tightly, using him as my anchor to this reality. This wasn’t a story in a book. This was my life. And as he looked into my eyes, I realized that I didn’t care if he seemed too perfect. I didn’t care that it had only been four days and that I knew next to nothing about him. I loved this merman holding my face in his hands. I loved him too much to think rationally about it.

Rony was right…again.

I couldn’t separate myself from the feelings I felt. I did subscribe to the fantasy. And as unbelievable as it seemed, the fantasy in the books was actually standing in a pool before me, his golden-blue scales catching the light just right, making him seem more mythical than he was.

An equally scary thought made my heart ache. Did he feel the same about me? Maybe for him what we had was just a distraction from his life. Maybe when I went back to the city and he went back to wherever he’d come from, there would be nothing between us anymore. That was what happened in real life. We’d enjoy each other for now and when time came to separate we would return to our lives. But I didn’t want to return to my old life of reading romance novels every chance I got. Now that I got a taste of real life, I didn’t want to stop living it anymore.

“What’s the matter, Tamara,” Xavier whispered, returning my thoughts to the tiled pool room. He kissed the tears away from my cheeks.

I bowed my head and sniffed. Then I dried my tears with my hands and plastered a smile on my face. Now wasn’t the time to bring up how I felt. He was alive and healed. That was the most important thing.

I smiled through my tears. “Welcome back,” I said.

“Glad to be back.” He smiled his wonderful half smile before he kissed me again.

I surrendered myself to the feel of him. He moved closer until my breasts were flat against his scaled chest. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and opened my legs wider so he fit comfortably between them. He ran his hands down my neck to my shoulders and arms until they landed on my thighs. He rubbed the length of my upper legs. Desire pooled hot in my stomach. I ran my fingers through his hair in an effort to keep his lips on mine. Deep and demanding were our kisses now, like we provided breath for each other. I moaned into his mouth and arched my back further so the entire length of my upper body touched his. Then I remembered he was still healing. I broke the kiss despite my rising need for him to be in me right at that moment.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, bewildered at my actions.

“You just survived death, Xavier,” I said.

He shivered. “God, I love it when you say my name.”

“Xavier,” I repeated in a husky whisper. I loved how I made him feel. It was an intoxicating drug I couldn’t get enough of.

“I’m fine, Tamara.” He reluctantly stepped back. He receded his scales to show me unblemished tanned skin. “See?”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

He shook his head slowly, coming back into my reach. “You won’t.”

I wasn’t entirely sure if he’d meant physically. The seriousness in his eyes said more than his words ever could.

His expression changed almost immediately. “Do you want to experience how merfolk make love?”

“What?” I titled my head, unable to process what he’d meant.

He pulled me off the ledge I was sitting on until I was waist deep in the water. From the way he held me, my feet weren’t touching the pool’s floor, so we were at eyelevel with one another. I liked not having to look up at him all the time.

“You have to trust me,” he said. He continued when I still looked confused. “Merfolk make love underwater. Since you can’t breathe underwater, you’ll have to trust me to provide breath for you.”

My heart leapt to my throat when my brain understood what Xavier said. Could I really trust him not to let me drown? Could I really make love underwater without dying? I moved my gaze from his blue eyes to the blue water. I wouldn’t be able to breathe until he let me. It was the ultimate exercise of trust.

“If you don’t want to, it’s okay, Tamara.” Xavier tucked a wet strand of hair behind my ear. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I will not force you.”

I thought about it a little longer. I was scared, sure, but at the back of my mind, I was curious about how it would feel to make love underwater. I would be at the total mercy of Xavier. I returned my gaze to his eyes and saw something there that made my decision for me. I saw that he wouldn’t hurt me.

I bit my lower lip and nodded once.

“You sure?” he asked.

I answered him by unclasping the top of my bikini and let it float away then I kissed him. He groaned and tangled his hands in my hair, tilting his head so he could deepen the kiss by invading my mouth with his tongue. I pressed my breasts against his chest, rubbing my hardened n*****s against him. He pushed away from the edge of the pool to deeper water. My heart beat so fast, I thought I was going to pass out. I felt the butterflies in my stomach perform summersaults as my blood reached lava status.

Xavier let us float until he kicked off the pool’s floor so his back floated on the water. I squeaked. One second we were vertical and suddenly we were horizontal on the water and we weren’t sinking. Xavier laughed, rubbing his hands up and down my back. I used my upper arms on his chest for support so I could blink down at him.

“You ready?” He arched a brow at me.

“As ready as I could be,” I said, not hiding the shaky tone of my voice.

“We’ll take it slow.” He unclasped my bikini bottoms. I lifted my hips so he could ease the material away. When I lowered my hips, the apex of my s*x was flush over his erection. I gasped at how hard he was and how good he felt against me. I bucked my hips, rubbing myself against him. The color of his eyes deepened, his breathing faster now. Without taking his eyes off mine, he moved one of his hands over my behind to cup my s*x. He circled my c******s with his middle finger before he inserted the same finger into me.

“You’re so ready for me,” he said, moving his finger in and out of me.

I closed my eyes to savor the feel of his finger inside me. I cried out when he inserted a second finger. I rubbed my s*x against his erection to match the pace his fingers set.

“Okay, Tamara,” his voice turned husky, “I’m going to submerge us now.”

My eyes flew open. He didn’t stop the movement of his fingers. The pressure in me was building, mixing with the anticipation of being underwater. My heart was beating so hard, I knew he could feel it on his chest. I felt his heartbeat too. It was answering mine beat for beat. This increased the desire I already felt for him. Soon I would lose myself.

“Take a deep breath for me, Tamara,” he said.

The second I complied with his request, we were underwater. I had to blink my eyes several times to adjust to seeing. Xavier was a tad blurry, but I could still see him. I held on to his shoulders, my hips bucking now since he increased the pace of his fingers yet again. I gasped at the wonderful friction, accidentally letting out the precious air in my lungs.

Seeing what happened, Xavier cupped the back of my neck with his other hand and brought my lips to his. I opened my mouth and he exhaled like he was giving me mouth to mouth resuscitation. Then he removed his fingers from inside me. I moaned, but wasn’t sure if he heard me. He grabbed my hips with both hands and plunged into me with one quick thrust. I was more than ready to take him into me, but the act still surprised me enough to gasp air out again. I wasted the breath Xavier had given him, but he didn’t panic. He took my lips with his and didn’t remove them while he moved in and out of me. Every time he pulled out, he gave me breath because every time he pushed in, I breathed out.

It took several thrusts for me to get used to the breathing rhythm Xavier had set. It was exhilarating to trust someone else with every breath I took. To have him breathe for me was the ultimate turn on. I wrapped my arms and legs around his body, surrendering myself fully to what he wanted to do. My blood was so hot in my veins that I was afraid the water around us would start to boil.

The pressure built in me again just as I began to feel light-headed. So this was how merfolk made love. In that moment, I was completely his. Xavier controlled the air I breathed in and the pleasure my body experienced. It was a heady combination. When he stuck his tongue into my mouth in time with one deep thrust, I completely fell apart. My muscles convulsed around him. He picked up his pace and lost himself in me too.

The next time I opened my eyes, I was panting on Xavier’s chest while he floated on the water’s surface. I coughed several times to dislodge some water from my lungs, and he patted my back.

“You did good, Tamara,” he said.

The joy in his voice resonated in every sated muscle of my body. I made him happy in that moment and I didn’t want the feeling to stop.

“So that’s how merfolk make love,” I said after a few more calming breaths.

“The basics of it.”

I rested my chin on my hand so I could look at his face. “You mean there’s more?”

Mischief colored his eyes. “Much more.”

I grinned. “I like the sound of that.”

Xavier groaned as if in pain.

“What’s wrong?” I searched his face. “Does something hurt?”

He shook his head. “You slay me, Tamara Winters. I don’t know if I have the stamina to go another round tonight.”

I couldn’t help the naughty smile that spread across my face. I hopped off from on top of him and pulled him to the edge of the pool. “In that case, I think it would be best if we just sleep for the rest of the night, what do you say?”

“I like the sound of that.” He used the same words I did, and I felt a delicious tremor run across my abdomen.

Out of the pool, I wrapped myself with a bathrobe and took the towel from his hands when he stiffly reached for one. He may be fine in water, but on land, it was obvious he’d just survived from a near death experience. I pushed the thought away. He was fine. He was alive. That was all I needed to think about.

“Let me,” I said.

He didn’t argue and merely stood still. I briskly dried his body. I wasn’t there to seduce him into another s****l encounter. He was clearly spent and needed the rest. I may want him twenty-four seven at this point, but I still had my limits. I wanted him back to a hundred percent as soon as possible.

Xavier’s eyes were already closed by the time I finished drying him. He was sleeping on his feet. I smiled as I put the towel away. My poor merman all tuckered out. I took his hand and led him to his bedroom. When we reached his bed, he had his hands around my waist while he rested his cheek on my shoulder, blowing air on my neck, which I felt all the way to my groin. Naughty boy! I slapped his roaming hands playfully.

“As much as I want to continue playing, Xavier, you need to rest,” I said.

While I pulled away the bedcover, he squeezed my ass, making me yelp and jump. I whirled around and put my hands on my hips. I gave him my sternest expression, even if he looked so adorable half asleep in his feet. His hair fell over his forehead.

“Come on, you.” I pulled him to the bed. He fell face first, and the moment his body landed on the soft mattress, he was already soring softly.

I took a second to admire his naked form. I still couldn’t believe I had the power to turn him on. I shook my head in disbelief and covered his body with a sheet before I pounced on him. I pulled the robe tightly around me and looked around his room. I had no clothes in his house.

I debated my need for clothing for a minute. It was already dark out, but I wasn’t about to prance around Maverick Bay in the morning in my bikini. I may be confident, but I still had ways to go when baring my body in public, no matter how delicious the man beside me was.

Making up my mind, I left Xavier’s house, resolving to pick up an overnight bag and returning before he even knew I was gone. Plus, Hudson’s house wasn’t that far. I would be ten minutes tops.

The street was deserted this time of night, and I was grateful for it. I didn’t want to have to explain to anyone why I was in a robe outside at night. I looked up at the starry sky and smiled. A lovely lightness came over me. Every step felt lighter, and I actually wanted to burst out into song. Was this what it felt like to be in love? Giddiness came over me. I wanted to shout it out to the rest of the world that I loved Xavier Solomon. Granted, I didn’t know if he felt the same for me, but right now, it didn’t matter. I just revelled in the feeling of finally feeling love for someone else. I wasn’t living vicariously through the heroines of my novels anymore. I wasn’t imagining their feelings anymore, I was living them, and it was freakin’ fantastic.

I jumped.

But when I landed, a cloth came over my mouth and nose. I gasped, breathing in the sweet smell permeating from the damp cloth. Soon my eyes rolled to the back of my head and I collapsed.