As I look around for the door that leads to the bathing pools, I notice a ghostly attendant holding warmed towels standing in the corner. “Oh, hey,” I say, pulling Leo closer to me. “Any chance we could claim the baths to ourselves for a bit?”
The ghost nods. “It is as you wish. Please let me know if you need anything. I will be here at your service.”
“Cool, let’s go, Leo.” We walk through the fancy doors and find the tiled pools. “How about a swim?” I have fantasized about swimming with Leo many times. Now, we finally get to do it. In a gorgeous indoor pool.
We have officially arrived at Beyond My Wildest Dreams.
“It’s been a few years since I swam,” he deadpans, and I laugh as I turn around to get his help unzipping my dress.
The moment his fingertips brush against my back, time stands still, and my body tingles with his closeness. He pulls the zipper down slowly, trailing his touch along my spine as he does.
When he reaches the base of my zipper, I step away and turn around to face him before I let my dress slide to the floor in a puddle at my feet.
With only my sexy underwear left to remove, I hold his gaze as I slip those off as well.
His nostrils flare, and his eyes dilate as I stand naked before him.
“You’re wearing way too many clothes,” I say as I step forward to slowly unbutton his crisp white dress shirt.
Every touch, every breath, every movement between us feels weighted with significance and meaning. With time and legacy. With magic.
My eyes are locked with his as I slide the shirt off his broad, well-muscled shoulders. He’s wearing a white undershirt that I untuck. He raises his arms, and I slide the fabric off him, letting my hands trail the rigid muscles of his abdomen, up his ribs and over his chest. The shirt joins the rest of our clothes, and I turn my attention to his belt, letting my hand graze against the thrilling promise pushing against his zipper.
His pants drop to his feet just as my dress had, and I kneel in front of him to pull off his boxers ever so slowly.
He grips my head, digging his fingers into my hair when I use my lips to gently tease him into a frenzy as I work my way down.
Once we’re both completely naked, I stand and take his hand, turning away toward the water. I dip my toe in before taking each step slowly, walking down into the water with Leo at my side.
As my body is submerged underwater, I allow my magic to seep into my skin, transforming my human legs into a mermaid tail the same shade of turquoise as my eyes.
It took time to master my magic, but I finally learned how to control my shifting while in water so if I wanted to keep my legs I could. That’s only ever the case if I’m around humans. I much prefer to swim with people who know what I am. Nothing beats it.
Which is why I’m so excited to share this moment with Leo.
His eyes widen as I splash and swim in the pool, showing off my tail and my graceful water nymph moves. In an effort to really bedazzle him, I use my magic to transform the water into a spray of ice crystals, forming an arch over the two of us, and I pull him against me, my nipples hardening at the feel of his warm chest.
Leo claims my lips with his, and I let the ice turn to water and shower us with raindrops as our kiss deepens into raw, unfiltered need.
Since my mermaid form is only great for swimming and not much else, I shift back to my legs and all of the other body parts that go with those legs, and I immediately wrap them around Leo’s waist. I can feel his need, hard and demanding, between my thighs, and I want him so badly.
When he tries to move us to the edge of the pool, I steady him. “I have an idea.”
I close my eyes and pull the water around us, forming a kind of water bed underneath us.
I open my eyes and lay Leo down as I straddle him, the pool of water holding us up. I lean into him, letting my breasts tease at his chest and mouth, feeling his tongue against my sensitive flesh.
As much as I want him, I also want the wanting to last forever, so I don’t give in to the temptation to impale myself on him just yet. Instead, I continue to tease us both, feeding the fire of our passion with every kiss and touch, letting him feel how ready I am when the time comes.
“My love, you are playing with fire,” he says gruffly as my tongue traces the lines of muscles down his abs.
“Haven’t you heard? I’m water, not fire,” I say, smiling cheekily.
“And I will willingly drown in your beauty,” Leo says and then flips us both over so that he’s on top, tucked nicely between my legs.
“Fancy moves,” I say, squirming against him as he takes over the teasing now, using his fingers, tongue, and body to inflame the desire that’s already threatening to consume me.
When he finally enters me, my body shudders under his. Waves of pleasure wash over me as he moves in and out, his large hands gripping my hips.
My nails dig into his back, and I lose myself in the rhythm of our bodies together. Time disappears, and we spend hours exploring every inch of each other, moving into every position I can think of, using water in highly imaginative ways. In between rounds of passion, we stare into each other’s eyes and talk of our dreams, our lives, our hopes. We pretend we have forever, but we live like we only have the moment. I marvel at how beautiful our children would be if we were to have them. Then my heart clenches when I remember that’s not in the cards.
When at last all our lust is spent, and we are weak and hungry from our aerobic exertion, we finally disentangle ourselves though I’m loath to let him go.
“Can’t we just stay here forever?”
He runs his finger down my jaw and kisses my lips gently. “That’s my greatest wish.”
My stomach growls, ruining the mood, and I admit to not having eaten in… too long. All my excitement about The Ball left little time for meals.
We kiss once more then step out of the pool. I let the water return to normal and use my powers to dry us both off so we can dress.
The ghost attendant gives us a knowing smile as we walk through the Cool Room and out to the hall in search of food, drink and some dancing in the fleeting moments we have left together.
7
Once out of the baths, we head straight down to the dining saloon. I didn’t see a menu when we were in there earlier, but I noticed a few ghostly waiters and waitresses passing by with trays. Hunger gives me direction, but the internal clock in my mind that is ticking down the minutes we have left together is what truly lights a fire under my ass.
Once at Anders’ bar, I have to raise my voice a bit to get his attention. A look of annoyance flashes across his face when he realizes he has other customers as he’s currently locked in a VERY flirty conversation with three women who have fire for hair and forked tongues. I’m not sure what they are, other than extremely badass. The bartender recovers quickly enough and turns on the charm when he saunters over to take our order.
He waggles an eyebrow at us when he gets closer. “Looks like you two have had some fun. Craving another Hellfire?”
“Mixing it up a bit this time,” I say. “Whiskey neat and a pint of stout.” I’m excited to try a couple of my favorites out on Leo. Anders delivers the drinks with impressive speed, demonstrating his quick hands as well as his desire to get back to flirting.
“Hey, is there a food menu?” I ask, stopping Anders in the midst of his retreat.