Page 23 of Dry as a Fish
"Marriage," I stammered out. "That is the only time... this kind of thing... is allowed."
"You're the only person who has the ability to agree to that," he said, the fingers on the back of my neck trailing back down to my upper back. "Now let me ask you - will you marry me?"
He held out a small clamshell in front of my face with his other hand, his thumb catching the edge of it as he opened it to reveal a ring. It had a white shine to it, like it was carved out of pearl, and there was a large glittering oval diamond in the center, the size of my thumbnail. It was surrounded by several small pink and green gems. The pearl around them was carved into small leaves.
I gasped, my hands going to my mouth. "It's been a day! I've known you for a day!"
"And you still haven't said no, which means soon I'm going to lick you until you scream and then I'm going to show you what it really means to take a swim with a merman," he said. "Now is another good time to say no, and I will go take a cold swim, calm myself down, and start plotting how to court you for months so you say yes. Then again, you could just say yes now, and I'll court you every day for the rest of our lives. So, let me ask again, will you marry me?"
"I..." I stared at the ring.
He shifted closer to me, wrapping his other arm around to pluck the ring from the shell. He set the shell down on the edge of the pool, then took my hand, lifting it up as I extended my fingers. He slid the beautiful ring onto my finger.
"Say yes," he murmured. His chest pressed against my shoulder as his lips found the edge of my ear, sending shivers of anticipation through my entire body as he brushed his lips against the edge of my lobe. "Yes is such a beautiful word."
His other hand drifted down into the water, finding my knee. His fingers lightly settled down on the inside of my inner thigh closest to my knee, the heel of his hand against my iliotibial band. He lightly brushed upwards, the touch of his fingers against that forbidden flesh causing my mind to short-circuit. He made it an inch upwards before stopping. His lips brushed my ear again. "One yes, and I will show you how to connect with the universe through the explosion of your pleasure."
"You're being very pushy," I said, still staring at the ring on my finger even as the touch of his hand on my thigh caused my inner muscles down there to clench in tight anticipation. I didn't want him to stop. I didn't know if I could say the word he wanted to hear.
"Pushy, aggressive, dominant," he agreed. "You're just a good girl being preyed upon by your wicked fiancé, who intends to fill you with his seed and keep you forever."
His hand began to move, at a slow, torturous pace, trailing up my inner thigh. I parted my legs without thinking, his touch leaving trails of lightning in its wake until he stopped, just short of touching me down there, where I needed him the most. I arched my lower back, trying to shift my hips towardshis touch, but he just chuckled and moved with me, not allowing me to press myself into his hand.
I let out a soft whine.
I needed him to touch me, to do all the things he promised to do to me, and yet I couldn't make my mouth form the word I needed for it to happen.
"Hmmmm," he murmured, pulling his face away from my ear as he looked at me. Then, in a swift motion, he shifted, so he was no longer behind me, but in front of me, his arms on either side of me, caging me in as his tail pushed in between my knees. His eyes were intense, and I couldn't hold his gaze, so I looked down at his chest as he continued. "You aren't saying yes or no, are you? Well, you are responding with a yes with your body, your gasp and sighs, and parting your legs for me all scream yes. You aren't scared of me, are you? I'm not frightening you?"
"I'm not scared of you," I murmured. I believed him when he said that one no would send him away. The time we had spent together was short, but filled with so many details about who he was as a person. He was so calm and non-reactive with my family, exiting a situation that promised violence without harming anyone or losing his temper. In this moment, he had told me what he was feeling and experiencing, and repeatedly asked me to send him away if I didn't want him to behave the way he was doing. He was true to himself, to what he wanted, and he communicated with me so directly. Why couldn't I just say what I wanted?
Why couldn't I just say that I needed him inside me to answer the song in my heart that called for him?
"What if, instead of saying no, you said something else?" he asked. "What if you said a word that was so familiar to you that you wouldn't forget, but out of place in this situation?"
"Like poppy?" I said, thinking of the way the poppies would come up in the spring, filling the fields with color.
"Just like that," he said. Then he took one of his arms from the cage around me and put it back in the water, settling it back on my thigh by my knee. He began to stroke his hand upward, causing me to clench in delicious anticipation. "Say that word."
"Poppy?" I said.
His hand stopped, and he took it out of the water. "Do you understand what happens when you say that word? I will stop."
I didn't say anything, and he reached out with his wet hand and gripped my chin, tilting my face up so I had to look at him. "Say you understand."
"If I say poppy, you will stop," I said.
"Good girl," he smiled at me, his eyes dark and predatory. He ran his thumb over my lips, and I parted them. He slid his thumb into my mouth, and I tasted salt. He let out a low chuckle. Then he pulled his thumb from my mouth and put his hand back in the water. "Now, you are alone and vulnerable."
His fingers found my thatch of hair between my legs and I let out a gasp as he stroked the outer edge of my slit with one finger. I could feel the slippery slickness coming out of me, his finger finding the different texture as he gently stroked me there, once, twice, intently watching my face, the burning need raged through me, fed by his teasing touches.
"There is a wicked merman in the water who won't take no for an answer," he said before pushing back away from me. In moments, he was in the center of the large pool, the smile on his face positively sinful. "Better not go for a swim."
Then he sank out of sight, leaving only the slightest ripple behind.
I waited, my heart pounding, but nothing happened. Therewas no touch on my ankle, no movement in the water. The surface was still, and I couldn't see his form in the darkness of the bottom.
"Delphon?" I whispered.
