Page 22 of Dry as a Fish
"Because I enjoyed.... I liked..." I flushed as I tried to find a way to say it. "Because I feel things."
"Ahhh, so I'm one too," Delphon nodded.
"No!" I laughed, sudden and abrupt, his words shocking me from my mental spiral. "Guys can't be sluts!"
"That isn't fair," Delphon's voice took on a low growl. "I enjoyed how you moved against me on the swim over. I would walk on shards of glass to be able to taste the nectar between your legs."
I laughed again, this time from a mixture of surprise and embarrassment. "You can't do that!"
"Ah, disappointing," Delphon sighed, even as the smile on his lips let me know he wasn't put off by my abrupt rejection. Then his tone took on a more serious level. "Listen, If the word slut can't apply to anyone, and it is used to describe someone as less than another, then that word is a word of order, of control. It is meant to restrict, to separate one type of person into the 'other' and deny you the pleasures of the flesh so that you settle for a life devoid of passion."
A shiver ran over my skin, a cool draft from somewhere. I lifted my hands and crossed them over my chest, rubbing my palms up and down.
"Let's get in the soak," Delphon said, his eyes drifting to the goosebumps on my arms before moving back up to meet mine again. I suddenly realized that all this time I'd been standing there topless, he had been focusing on my face.
I nodded, and he stepped back from me.
I had been so focused on his gaze and his words that I hadn't realized that in changing back from a tail to legs and not putting a sarong around his waist, he was naked. His body was just like a human man's, if that man was a champion swimmer with ripped abdominals and strong latissimus dorsi that stuck out from the sides of his ribs like wings. I turned around before my gaze drifted lower and quickly shoved the rest of my wetsuit down, pulling it off my feet. I grabbed the edge of the salt pool and put one foot into the water, barely suppressing a moan as the warm water closed around my calf.
I stepped into it, finding there was a bench seat carved around the edge for me to sit down on.
The hot water crept into my bones, causing me to relax intothe pool that was the absolute perfect temperature. I let my hands drift on the surface, buoyed by the salt in the water.
I sat down and glanced over at Delphon to see him standing with his back to me.
I watched him for a moment, admiring the way the muscles on his back connected down to his hips, to his firm, muscular buttocks. His strength was visible at every angle, in every form. He didn't turn or look back over his shoulder. I wanted to assume it was because he was giving me privacy to get into the water, but thinking about it, that didn't make sense. His people were constantly going between one form and another, so they likely were more casual about nudity than I was. How would he know that turning his back would make me feel more comfortable the first time I went skinny dipping?
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Giving you privacy," he said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because you made a big deal about the sarongs being inappropriate clothes for your family, and then you changed into clothing that completely covered your skin when we visited your family," he said. "That and you became uncomfortable when I watched you pull your top down and then called yourself a term that is used in a demeaning manner by your family. I assumed that you would prefer me to look away."
"Oh," I said, stunned by him yet again. He had observed all that, taken it in, and changed his behavior. I'd seen the fire in his eyes as I pulled down my top, and I loved it even if it triggered discomfort in me that had been simmering inside my entire life.
He was still standing with his back to me.
"Will you join me?" I asked.
He turned around, the wicked smile on his face a devilishjuxtaposition from the politeness of his words. "I would love to."
He put both hands on the edge of the pool and hopped into it, pointing his toes as they entered the water, which minimized the splash. I watched as his legs shimmered, shifting from two limbs to one, his tail fanning out at the end. The pool was huge, and looked a lot deeper in the middle, but he settled in next to me, not touching me but stretching out his arm behind me so that a mere shift in either of our positions would bring his fingers in contact with my back.
I shifted, bridging that distance.
His fingertips brushed against my back, in the space between my shoulder blades, sending small shivers of pleasure through my back from the gentle touch. I let out a sigh, and he continued to move his fingers, deliberately stroking me in gentle motions.
"Are you..." I hesitated again. The questions I wanted to ask were so bold, but he made me feel bold. He made me feel like I could ask anything, say anything, and it would be okay. "What you did in the water... are you trying to seduce me?"
"Yes," he said, with no hesitation. "You are my heartsong song, and I will do everything in my power to entice you to sing for me. You can stop me at any moment with a no, or a stop, or pushing me away with your hands, but if you don't give me a clear no, I will do my best to arouse you until I get a yes. You are naked, I'm naked. We're alone, and I am extremely riled up from our swim over here. I promise you I will take this as far as you let me. With that in mind, do you want me to seduce you more? Now is a great time to say no, and I can go take a cold swim and calm down."
I bit my lip, wanting so desperately to say yes and feeling equally ashamed of that desire. The intensity of his words wasstoking the flame within me. He was here, desperate to have me, and I... loved it. This all felt so wicked, so wild, so decadent. It felt like everything I'd never done but secretly dreamed about.
"Or," he said, continuing past my silence, his fingertips drifting up to touch the back of my neck.
"If it feels too slutty to say yes, is there something that would absolve you of that responsibility? What gives you the permission to take what you want out of a moment?"
