Page 21 of Dry as a Fish
"Go look," he said as he shifted his weight, rolling his tail over the moss as if to absorb the water.
I took a step, almost tripping over one of the fins that encumbered my feet. I glared down at them. They were attached to the suit, and I couldn't remove them without shimmying out of the whole thing, but I didn't have anything on underneath. I looked around the room, realizing there were no towels or sarongs or anything anywhere. I took a few more awkward steps, making it over to the edge of the pool. I peered down into it, realizing the pink edge was just the tip of the iceberg. It was a large, deep, hot pool carved into a massive pink rock, the water streaming into it from the far wall of thecavern, and running out of the pool in a small stream that led down into the opening we'd climbed up. I couldn't see the bottom in the center of it, just a dark hole.
I ran my finger along the edge and, on an impulse, lifted my finger to lick it.
"Is it salt?" I asked.
"It's a salt soak tub that I made," he said from behind me. "I found the hot spring streaming from the wall and the salt deposit. It took me ages to carve the pool, but selling the chunks I've brought out of here has provided a lot for my family and community."
I took in the size of the pool. I was no stranger to hard work, and it was clear that he wasn't either if he had carved this entire thing out by hand himself.
"You did this all yourself?" I asked.
"It was a surprise for my heartsong," he said. "It was important that I do it on my own."
I turned to look back at him.
He was standing there, naked, with a piece of moss in his hand held in front of his crotch. His body was so beautiful, carved and glimmering in the light, displaying the strength and dedication of a man who used his body to its maximum potential. That smouldering heat inside of me flared, burning brighter, and I shifted, pressing my thighs together as if I could stem the tide of my desire.
"No sarongs?" I asked.
He looked embarrassed. "It's been just me coming here. I should have thought to stock it in advance. I can go back and get some while you enjoy the water."
He took a step towards the opening.
"No," I said, my voice sounding rough and raspy in my own ears. I cleared my thoughts. "No, please stay."
I undid the top of the wetsuit and began to pull it down over my shoulders.
His entire body went completely still as he focused on me with every inch of his attention.
"Sloane," he said, his voice soft, with more meaning in that word than if he had written pages of poetry.
I slid the wet fabric down over one of my arms, then the other, holding it pressed against my chest for a moment. He swallowed audibly as he stared at me. I let my arms drop down to my hips, and the fabric blocking my chest fell down, exposing it.
"Sloane," he said again, the heat in his voice a match to the tempest raging within me. "You are so beautiful."
I could feel the flush over my entire body like I'd been dosed in hot water, a joy rushing through me, a delicious delight at being seen and wanted and desired by a man I chose to let see me. But at the same time, part of my heart recoiled from those words. How could he mean that?
"I'm not," I whispered, shaking my head and looking down as I hooked my thumbs over the edge of the wetsuit. He was only saying that because I was displaying myself to him in a way I was taught never to do. I'd been brought up to know that males were uncontrollable beasts that would take one look at a naked woman and fall upon her like she was an oasis in the desert.
What I was doing now, stripping in front of him, was me committing to being taken, being used.
I didn't realize he had closed the space between us until I felt his hands on my cheeks, lifting up my face until I gazed up into his eyes.
"Sloane, you are gorgeous," he said. "There isn't an inch of your body that doesn't radiate with your immeasurable soul.You shine from within with a song that has bewitched me and drawn me to you with undeniable attraction."
"But I'm a slut," I said, airing the poison that had rooted in my heart. "Sluts are ugly."
Delphon stroked one thumb over my cheek, his eyes searching mine. "Why do you think that?"
"Because..." I hesitated as too many answers collided with each other on their way to my mouth. I thought that because running away from my family meant I was a bad person, that there was something wrong with me, because I could stay and be what they wanted me to be, so I was the other thing. There were only two options for what a woman could be: good or evil.
None of those answers sat right.
How could I be bad for wanting to experience what life had to offer?
The world was vast, far greater than I had realized. I was in a magical realm where I could learn to cast spells, galavanting around with a bona fide merman! There it was though, the thing that made me a slut was the ache that remained between my legs, desperate to be filled. All he had to do was press himself against me and I would part my legs like a wanton whore.
