by Magan Vernon
I didn’t stop walking until I kicked open the door to my left, then threw her down on the large white bed. “If I’m going to have you, this moment deserves a bed.”
I whipped off my shirt and watched as her eyes scrolled down my chest, the smile growing on her face.
Leaning down, I crawled onto the bed and crouched over her, but she put her palms to my chest and shook her head. “Legs off too.”
“What?” She couldn’t be serious. Sleeping was one thing, but being intimate? No way.
Maya put her hand on my cheek and traced my jaw line. “Besides Googling you I also did some research on making love to an amputee.”
I winced. I hated that term.
“I found chat rooms and other forums. Men with injuries said it felt better when they didn’t have the prosthetics on. I may have only felt you, but Calder, I want to see all of you. You’ve seen me, now let me see the man I’m falling in love with.”
I swallowed hard at the words ‘love’. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d said that to anyone. I barely knew this girl, but in my heart I knew I was already in love with her.
Slowly I leaned back and then stood at the end of the bed, pulling down my jeans. I sat back down and unhooked my prosthetics. I’d worked hard on my upper body but never went without my legs unless I was in the shower. Now, with nothing on but my boxers, I turned toward Maya, keeping my eyes shut.
Her fingers trailed along the scarred tissue of my legs and I involuntarily flinched. Without my prosthetics, there was nothing below my kneecaps. I could barely look at the scarred flesh myself, so I was surprised when Maya’s lips caressed the sensitive skin, kissing a line up one leg then the other.
I felt the bed shift before her hips straddled mine and I felt her wet center on my boxers, only thin material separating us.
Opening my eyes, I stared into her beautiful face with her chest pressed to mine. “Now that’s better, isn’t it?”
I growled, pushing her back on the bed, using one arm to steady myself and the other hand to peel off my boxers. Maya helped, springing my erection free so I pressed against her belly button.
Damn was she beautiful with all of her tanned skin and creamy flesh.
“Maya, I don’t have any protection, but I can promise you that I haven’t been with anyone else and I’m tested regularly for my job.”
“I’m on the pill and I trust you.” She smiled slightly before she hooked her legs around me and then used her hands to guide me inside of her with a muffled moan.
She felt even better than I thought she would. Wet. Warm. And all mine.
I rocked back and forth inside of her, her breasts bouncing against my chest the harder I pushed.
Each one of her sweet little moans escaped her pouty lips and into my ear, making it hard not to finish.
“Roll with me, baby,” I whispered and turned onto my back, pulling her with me so she was straddling my lap while I sat up.
Maya moved slowly at first, pushing me into her up to the hilt then back out again. I wanted her to find her release before she pushed me over the edge so I moved my thumb to her clit and my mouth to her nipple, sucking and circling the hardened bud with my tongue as I made the same motions with my thumb on her sensitive flesh.
She rode me harder until she screamed, coming hard on my dick. I didn’t stop until I felt her build up to another eruption and come again. Then I moved both hands to her hips and kissed her fiercely, moving her tight little body up and down until I moaned, finding my release inside of her.
We stayed like that for a few moments. Still attached and our hearts beating and breaths in sync.
Then Maya lifted up her head. “I guess we should clean up and go to bed.”
She stood up and immediately I missed the feel of her. I crept to the edge of the bed and grabbed my legs. “I have another idea first. Follow me.”
Still naked, I put my legs on and reached my hand out to her.
She arched an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”
“Do you trust me.”
She sighed and took my hand, letting me lead her downstairs and to the back door, opening it up to reveal a small pool that had views of the ocean but trees that gave us privacy.
“Since you’ve seen all of me. I want to see all of you,” I said, sitting at the edge of the pool and taking off my legs before wading in.
She widened her eyes, swallowing hard. “Calder, I don’t know…”
“Do you trust me.”
This time it wasn’t a question. It was a statement.
She looked around as if she was expecting someone to jump out of the bushes before she slowly slid into the pool.
Her entire body shook before a light gray hue took over her lower half and it shimmered into a seal tail that splashed at the water.
I smiled, keeping one hand at the side of the pool then hooked the other around her waist. “C’mere, you.”
She yelped when I pulled her toward me, the soft, slick skin of her tail brushing against my legs. “You’re beautiful. Did you know that?”
“Even with a tail?”
I kissed her forehead. “Even more so. Because it’s you. You showed me that I can be me, all of me, around you. That I don’t need to hide or be worried. I want you to know the same thing. You’re mine, Maya. And I’m yours.”
She splashed her tail against the water. “I just wish I could control it, like Luz talked about. Maybe I could swim again if I could control it.”
I ran my fingers down the smooth surface of her tail. “Well, we have that map, we could always meet your siblings and talk to the other people in your rook. I’m sure they could help you out.”
Raising an eyebrow, Maya looked from her tail to me. “We?”
I kissed her cheek. “Yes, we. May. I’m not going anywhere. I’m falling in love with you too and when I said you were mine, I meant it. I’m yours and you’re mine.”
She kissed me fiercely and pressed herself against me. I wished she didn’t have the tail between us because I wanted to take her again right there in the pool.
But I loved this woman. Tail or no tail. I knew we were in it together, forever.
Chapter 13
Maya
I woke up exhausted yet refreshed at the same time.
Not long after our swim in the pool Calder and I ended up in bed and there wasn’t much sleep going on.
It had been a very long time, but Calder was better than any man I could imagine.
I was nervous at first, I’ll admit, to be with a man who was missing his legs, but he showed me that there was more than just being an amputee. The fact that he still wanted me after seeing me shift made me love him even more
Love. I still couldn’t believe I said the words to him and when he said it back my heart swelled. There was no turning back now. Like he said, he was mine and I was his.
We had another day in the villa and as much as I wanted to spend all day in bed with him, I thought it might be nice to see some of the island.
Calder was curled up on his side, his broad shoulders and muscled back to me.
I leaned over and kissed the area between his neck and shoulders. “Maya?”
He turned over, looking up at me with sleepy eyes. “If you’re wanting to go another round, you’re going to have to give me a minute. You gave me quite a workout last night, and a few hours ago.”
I smiled, shaking my head. “I’ll let you rest while I go to the main lobby and check out some of the excursions. Maybe we could rent some snorkeling equipment and find a secluded place? I mean if you’re comfortable with that and all. If you don’t want to, we don’t have to.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I think I’m willing to try, but are you sure you’re comfortable with that?”
Leaning in, I pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. “With you, I’d do anything.”
He turned over. I could feel his morning wood pressing against me. “When you talk like that you’re making me want you to never leave this bed.”
I playfully wiggled my hips against him. “So does that mean yes to snorkeling?”
He smiled. “Now you’re just teasing me. Go get the snorkeling stuff and hurry back. I guess if we’re going to stay here we should see something other than this bedroom.”
I gave him one last kiss before I shimmied into a pair of shorts and a tank top. We’d both slept naked in bed and it was the most free I’d felt in a long time. I could be myself with him and he could be himself with me.
I knew we were still in the honeymoon stage and it wouldn’t always be like this, but for now, I was enjoying the afterglow.
It was a short, brisk walk up the hill to the main building, but I took my time. I wanted to enjoy every moment of every thing.
The flowers smelled sweeter. The air was warmer. The sky more beautiful. Maybe it had always looked this way, but to me it was as if the world had changed overnight.
The lobby was cool and smelled like tropical flowers. There were a few tourists milling about in Hawaiian shirts, but it wasn’t overly crowded.
The TV was on in a lounge area and, of course, Jay Morningstar’s face was plastered on some morning news show. This time they headlines read “Swimming’s Golden Boy isn’t so golden.” I stood and read some of the captions. Something about him partying in the Olympic village and photos of him underage at a club, hooking up with some Brazilian gymnasts who may or may not have been passing a bowl around.
I shook my head before going toward the concierge desk. I guess the spotlight went to some people’s heads. Deep down he was probably a good kid. Swimmers didn’t get much of the spotlight. Maybe he’d get tarnished enough that he’d forget about the partying and just focus on swimming again.
And maybe I could too.
If I could figure out how to control my shifting, there wouldn’t be anything stopping me from getting back in shape and getting in the pool again. Maybe not the Olympic team, but at least something. The thought scared and exhilarated me at the same time.
Thinking about my future in swimming, I browsed the rack for some snorkeling brochures, thinking how much I’d love to see Calder in the water. I’d never actually experimented too much with swimming with my tail but now that I had someone with me, maybe I could actually see how fast I could move.
I practically ran out of the lobby, giddy to get back and show Calder the excursions I found.
I wanted to get back to the villa as soon as possible and maybe even get a few laps in the tiny pool. Before I could get on the trail back to the villa, a short, balding man stopped me before I could get any further.
“Excuse me, ma’am, do you speak English?” he said in a twang.
I stopped running and slowed to halt in front of him. “Yeah. How can I help you?”
He pulled out a map from his front pocket and held out it in front of me. “Can you tell me where this town is? I can’t make it out without my glasses.”
I leaned over to see where he was pointing, but before I could read anything, a searing pain radiated from the back of my head and everything went dark.
***
I dreamt I was drowning.
When I woke up I was fully submerged in water. My body seethed in pain with my arms flush against the glass case I was enclosed in. I was barely able to lift my head up out of a small opening and gasped for air. Only my head could get out of the tiny opening.
Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I looked around the room. It was a small space with four gray, dark walls and a cement floor with only a tiny window in the corner. I was in a tiny water tank, like a small shower or an actual fish tank that was standing vertical. It was barely as tall as I was and my tail curled up toward my shoulders, barely giving me any room to move.
Automatically I reached for my necklace, but it was gone. I’d kept it on since the moment I got it, even when making love to Calder. Now I felt naked without it.
I sucked in a deep breath and looked around, beating my tail wildly against the glass.
Don’t panic. Don’t panic. There has to be a way out.
“Looking for something, sweetheart?” A low voice said.
I looked up to see the silhouette of a man and the glow of my necklace.
It wasn’t until he stepped into the dim light of the single light bulb overhead that I recognized him as the guy from Ace’s. The one in the rugby shirt who acted like he was too good to be there.
“What do you want with me? How did you find me? Why do you have my necklace?” I demanded.
He laughed. “My, my, you have a lot of questions and you didn’t even answer mine.”
He dangled the necklace in front of my face.
“I was looking for my necklace,” I tried to keep my voice strong, but it came out in a stutter.
He smirked. “You’re awfully cheeky for someone who I can drown just as easily as I did your father.”
My breath caught in my throat and I stared at him open-mouthed.
The man smirked, putting his hands behind his back. “I guess you weren’t told what happened to him? Hmmm? He wouldn’t tell me what he did with the map to your rook, so I got rid of him. I’ve been looking for this damn thing for over thirty years and here it was on some bartender’s neck. I would’ve had it earlier, if that damn cripple didn’t get in the way, although I would’ve needed a seal to read it for me, so it worked out in the end.”
I blinked slowly, staring at his eyes. Those dark blue eyes that hovered over me, as strong hands pulled at my necklace. I wasn’t going to dignify him with an answer, not when he spoke like that. If he needed answers, he wasn’t going to get them from me.
The man grabbed the back of my head, yanking my hair so it felt like it was ripping from the roots. “Now, Maya, tell me what the damn map says and you won’t end up like your father.”
He held the necklace up to the light and just like at the gem shop, the jumble of words surrounded the room.
I still couldn’t read it. None of it made sense.
“Please. I don’t know what it says. I don’t know anything about shifters,” I pleaded.
“Liar!” He screamed into my ear.
I whimpered, wishing I could be brave, but I’d never been so scared in my entire life.
“I can’t. I’m sorry. Please just let me go,” I whispered, my bottom lip quivering.
The man let go of my hair, ripping out a handful as he pulled away. He didn’t say a word, just grunted before he went back into the darkness and closed the door behind him.
Chapter 14
Calder
I woke up, reaching my hand automatically to the other side of the bed for Maya’s warmth, but came up empty. Opening my eyes, I sat up, looking toward the open door of the bathroom but still no Maya. I grabbed a pair of boxers and slid them on before fastening my legs. I went downstairs, thinking maybe she was making breakfast again, but no such luck. Okay. Maybe she was in the pool.
Not in the pool.
Okay, maybe she ran out to the lobby to get some brochures. Or at least that’s what I think she said in my half-asleep haze this morning. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt then slid on my shoes before grabbing the key card and headed out the front door. I made it to the front lobby which was full of people gathering around for a tour.
But Maya wasn’t among them.
I approached the concierge, trying not to panic. “Excuse me, sir, did a woman from Villa number four come in? Maybe ask about a tour? She was short, tan. Dark hair and very dark eyes.”
The man in the suit thought for a moment then nodded. “Oh, yes, I remember her. I can’t forget those eyes. Black as night yet beautiful as the sky itself.”
I let out the deep breath I didn’t know I was holding in. “Oh, good. Did she book a tour or something?”
The man’s face fell. “No, I’m sorry, sir. She spent some time looking through the brochures then went back outside. I saw her briefly talking to a man with a map, but when I looked again, she was gone.”
A man with a ma
p.
A SEAL team I was working with had gone on in Mexico a mission. There was a prostitution ring that was picking up young tourists by asking them for directions.
“Thanks, sir,” I muttered before I turned, running outside.
I scanned the parking lot. Then the thought hit me.
The guy in the parking lot pulling at her necklace. Luz talking about poachers. Maybe this wasn’t a random kidnapping.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I pulled up my contacts.
“I was wondering when you were going to call me,” Tex’s southern drawl came through the speaker.
Did he already know something was up? He’d talked about tracking devices he’d put on some of his SEAL friends and their wives but only with their permission. Maybe he wanted to track me after my little incident in the ocean.
“Did I say I was going to call you and forget about it?”
Tex laughed. “No, Benny told me you were hanging out with the new bartender at Ace’s. I figured you were calling to talk about dating advice.”
I shook my head, even though I knew he couldn’t see it. “I wish that was what I was calling about. That bartender from Ace’s? Her name is Maya.”
“I know. I already have her pulled up, have since you needed to get her address. What can I help you with, Doc?”
“Maya’s missing. We came to Mexico for…um…a trip…and she went down to the hotel lobby and now she’s gone. The concieriege said he saw someone asking her for directions and, I don’t know, Tex, I need to find her. Can you help me?”
Tex’s breath blew into the phone, making a crackling sound. “You know I can, Calder.”
He was the best with finding anything on a computer. I used to think guys like him only existed in movies, until I saw him work for myself.
The last time we’d had an actual conversation was after his girlfriend Melody was taken by a crazy stalker chic. He said that he was forced to take off his leg and protect Melody without it. Our phone call had been interrupted by an emergency at the university clinic, so I didn’t have time to ask him what he’d done or how in the hell he’d been able to protect his girlfriend without his leg. Now that I had my own problems with protecting Maya, I wished I’d called Tex sooner.
