Ocean's Birth

by Carlton, Demelza

  I laughed, but my merriment turned to a breathless moan as William's fingers entered me once more. He didn't need frozen fruit to coax my moaning into another blissful scream. I could scarcely believe it when he kissed his way up my thigh to make me fall apart again.

  "My turn, my turn!" I insisted.

  "Lass, it's your turn all night, I promise."

  I flashed my best, wicked smile. "To eat dessert." I glanced at his obvious arousal. "Lay it here." I patted my breasts.

  William knelt beside me and did as I asked. Hot and hard and undeniably male...my insides ignited even more as my eyes feasted on what I longed for. More than his hands or his mouth...but I could tease, too. I reached for the jug of chocolate sauce and poured it along his length. A warm trickle ran down the side, leaving a trail down my breasts to my belly. Laughing, I returned the jug to the tray and nudged the dish of ice cream. Another wicked thought came to me and I quickly popped a heaped spoon of the cold confection into my mouth, followed by another.

  I turned back and kissed the tip of his manhood, feeling the heat through my lips even as the ice cream froze my tongue. Then I sucked him inside.

  "Oh my God, lass, what did you...aargh!" Wordless exclamations were all he seemed capable of uttering after that as he tangled his fingers in my hair and thrust into my throat.

  I sucked harder, tasting ice cream, chocolate and him. An irresistible dessert indeed. I hummed my satisfaction and reached for his balls, gently stroking as I felt him tense.

  "Lass, lass," he gasped, but there was no stopping his climax, nor did I intend to. I drank down his essence, mixed with the sweet cloy of chocolate and ice cream, before I let him pop from my lips. "That was...that was...amazing. Ah, but you've made a terrible mess. I should help with that."

  I glanced down. Chocolate was smeared across my chest, coating one nipple a darker brown than the other.

  "Here." William shifted the dessert tray and set the washbowl on the edge of the nightstand. A soaked chunk of sea-sponge swam in the wash water. "After what you just did, it's definitely my turn again." Instead of the sponge, he seized the sauce jug, turning the streaks of chocolate into a sluggish stream across my breasts as I squealed in surprise. "And I'd like some ice cream, too." The spoon vanished into his mouth, but the sparkle in his eyes told me he had more mischief in mind.

  His cold tongue lapped at my breasts, laving the chocolate from my skin in great, sweeping strokes until all that remained were my darkened nipples.

  "More ice cream, I think."

  I attempted to catch my breath as William reached for the spoon, but I cried out as he tipped ice cream on one breast and then the other, crowning my nipples in creamy white. He plunged his fingers inside me as he took one nipple between his teeth, sucking and thrusting with equal power.

  I closed my eyes, unable to think, to resist, to do anything but drown in sensation as he turned his attention from one nipple to the other and his thumb circled the bundle of nerves at the juncture of my thighs. A hoarse scream ripped out of my throat as I peaked, higher than ever before, hardly able to believe that the best was yet to come.

  "I'll have to remember the trick with the ice cream, lass. Just watching your reaction while I...well, you see what you do to me." He gestured and even I gasped in surprise. How had he recovered so quickly? Or had I been so lost in his loving touch that time had flowed past me without me noticing?

  "Yes, oh yes," I murmured, reaching for him.

  He grabbed the sponge and squeezed the water from it. "Ah, first I promised to take care of the mess. And as I made it worse, I owe you that." He stroked the sponge across my belly, a strange sea-caress from my land-bound husband. Apalala squirmed and kicked it, her fluke-clad feet showing clearly through my skin for an instant before she subsided. William laughed and teased her again. She grew tired of the game before he did, perhaps frustrated by the confined space she moved in, and William turned his attention to my breasts once more. The nerves in my swollen nipples sparked at the slightest touch and though William's strokes were feather-light, it still felt like he was scrubbing me raw. When he was done, the sponge splashed back into the murky water and he grinned at me. "I know just what will soothe those." He held up two raspberries, ice crystals still clinging to them. "These were hiding under the spoons, so I missed them. Still frozen." Gently, he pressed one to my nipple, enveloping it in soothing coolness before doing the same for the other. "I might leave those there for the moment." I glanced down to see that he'd slipped them like tiny cups over my nipples, where they seemed quite secure. "Now, I believe it's your turn, if you want, lass."

  "I want you," I said simply.

  "Then you shall have me, lass." He reclined on the bed, his manhood extended in a mute invitation. No, a promise. With William's help, I eased into his lap, revelling in the feel of his skin on mine. Something cold tumbled to my thigh. I glanced down and caught a glimpse of glistening red.

  "You're so hot, lass, you melted the ice just by touching them." He lifted the raspberry to my lips and I took it as he sucked the other off my breast. "I'm burning for you already." Grinning, he surged into me, then out again, sweeping me away in a never-ending swell of pleasure that was ours alone.

  Locked together, William and I formed a perfect union of sea and shore. We were the waves and the sand, shaping and defining as we clashed, sucked and stroked one another, parting only to rush together again in a maelstrom of passion that churned to foam on the surface. But in the depths below, our unquenchable love still swam and we rose together as one, our cries at the pinnacle of bliss mingling with the stars.

  Afterward, he spooned close to me, a ridge of hard muscle along my back. All muscles but one. "I only wish we could do this all night, every night. But I worry about tiring you too much. I know you need more sleep now."

  "I wish we could, too. Aren't you tired?"

  "You wore me out, lass. At least, for a while." His arms tightened around me.

  I sighed in contentment. "William?"

  "Mm?"

  "When...when you're ready for more, wake me, please. I wake every hour or two during the night anyway."

  "If you're sure, lass. God, I love you."

  "Mmm." I sank into sleep.

  It seemed barely a moment later before I felt an insistent pressure against my back, though the risen moon shining through the window told me I'd slept for hours. "Lass?"

  Not just insistent. Hot and pulsing with arousal. As was I. "Oh yes, William. Please."

  He seized my hips and a lance of lava pierced me, setting my desire alight. Over and over again, stoking it into roaring flame. "Oh yes. I love you, William. Oh, William!"

  Twenty

  Sarah watched me slip on my shoes with a troubled expression. "If you're not feeling up to it, stay home and rest, lass. Will might worry, but you and the baby come first. It's not like you won't see him. He'll race up the hill to check on you, you wait and see."

  "I'm fine, honestly," I protested. If Apalala would only stop squirming around so much and settle a little, this pregnancy would be a whole lot easier to bear. Not for the first time, I wondered if Sarah had made a mistake in calculating my due date. I wasn't sure if my daughter would have the patience to remain inside me for another two months. If that meant a shorter sentence for me as a whale, I welcomed it. I wanted to make love with William again without Apalala kicking him.

  Sarah fussed around me every step of the walk to the Club, making me want to scream at her to leave me alone. I could always sing...

  A high-pitched whistle shrilled across the padang. "Send him off!" someone hollered.

  "The crab's not on their team, man!"

  "I don't care whose team it's on! The ball's not a damn coconut and the beast tripped me deliberately!"

  Laughter erupted as the robber crab was forcibly removed from the playing field before the men resumed their football game.

  One of the men from the Miharu Maru took a shot at the goal. His kick flew straight, rising
over the Malay goalkeeper's hands and soaring toward the net.

  It seemed everyone held their breath.

  A red crab inching its way along the goal chose that moment to dangle over the side by one claw. The ball collided with it and the crab dropped to the grass, but the ball bounced away.

  A cheer rang up, followed by Warwick's shout, "That's not fair! It would have gone straight in! Spectator interference!"

  The crab ambled off the field, seemingly unhurt, as an argument ensued between Warwick and the Chinese mandor acting as referee. The mandor finally lost patience and blew a blast on his whistle, stabbing a finger in the direction of the field as he pulled what looked like a yellow notebook from his pocket. Warwick subsided and stalked away.

  "If the boys have to contend with the wildlife in their games, so do the men," Sarah said, nodding in satisfaction. "That robber crab punctured three footballs last week."

  Anne waved from the Club balcony and we ascended the stairs to join her for tea and cakes. The cinema was set up for the showing of some film about a grand hotel, but the men who operated it hung over the balcony, watching and cheering on the football match.

  "Who's winning?" Sarah asked Anne as she settled in her seat.

  "Our shore team, two goals to one. Without that crab goalkeeper, we'd have been even with the ship team. Probably a good thing they sail tomorrow – or they'll all be insisting on another match in the morning." Anne sniffed. "Jackson said they started loading at dawn to make sure there'd be time for today's match. They've been looking forward to it all week and never have they loaded a phosphate ship so fast. He's going to make the matches a regular thing – ship versus shore, he says. And perhaps South Point against Settlement on the weekends, to make sure the men get enough practice."

  "Whose idea was the match?" I ventured.

  Anne and Sarah exchanged a glance. "Your husband, who else? My husband can suggest all manner of things and no one will listen to a word of it, but when Mr McGregor mentioned how he and his friend Mr Warwick wanted a football match, suddenly every man on the island volunteered for the team."

  I breathed a sigh of relief. My song and silly solution to the fighting had been successful. And no one would ever know but me.

  A cheer rang out and a mob of men surrounded William, clapping him on the back. "Three-one," announced the mandor. Even from across the padang, William caught my eye and grinned at me.

  "William is hard to resist," I said softly.

  Anne laughed. "A newlywed and nearly a mother. Her head's gone soft. What shall we do with her?"

  Sarah shrugged. "Wait until it's time for the baby to be born. She won't be so misty-eyed about men then. She'll be cursing him for touching her, not to mention putting the baby in her belly."

  They laughed together, but I bit back my smile. Me, curse William? Never. I loved the man too much for that. I couldn't wait to place Apalala in his arms and see the love in his eyes for our daughter.

  Soon the Islander would arrive and we'd sail for Fremantle together. The time couldn't pass fast enough.

  Twenty-One

  "...And this is your cabin, Mrs McGregor," Captain Hughes continued, throwing open the door of the cabin I'd shared with William on our honeymoon.

  For two weeks I'd watched the Islander drift offshore, my worry growing as my time approached. At this rate, I'd have barely a fortnight in Fremantle before Apalala entered the world. But now my tension eased.

  I surveyed the room, from the twin beds that William would push together the moment he arrived to the stacked trunks in the corner. Thinking of the deckchairs and how useful they might be at night, I scanned the room, trying to work out if there was space for one in here. Well, both William and I would need to open our travelling trunks, but the rest could be moved to the hold, if there was space. So two in the room and...

  I blinked and began counting them. No, that couldn't be right. Only mine were here. "Where's my husband's luggage?" I blurted out.

  Hughes coughed. "Mr McGregor isn't travelling on the Islander to Fremantle. He only booked passage for you two ladies." He managed a sickly smile. "I'm sure you'll have a much easier voyage without him."

  Hughes still thought William a wifebeater, I realised, when he was nothing of the sort.

  "Then you thought wrong," I snapped, waddling along the corridor as fast as my furious legs could carry me. "I won't leave the island without William."

  "Mrs McGregor, your husband said – "

  "I don't care what he said to you. If he wants to try ordering me about, he can issue his orders to me. Send word to him that I refuse to travel on the Islander without him. Tell him he can find me at home." I swept down the gangplank, letting my face freeze into a cold mask to match the icy hand of fear closing around my heart. I couldn't leave William here with Mother around. When she learned I'd slipped through her fins, she'd vent her fury on him.

  I wondered what William would say if I told him he had to come with me, because he was in mortal danger from his murderous, mermaid mother-in-law. He wouldn't believe a word of it. What man would? And so it should be. Though for a moment, I wished it could be different. Not to have to keep my true form or my people's existence a secret from my husband...ah, what a dream. A silly fantasy, only fit for fairy tales.

  I huffed and puffed as I ascended the steep slope to Rocky Point, feeling as unwieldy as a whale on land and wishing I had William's hands to help me. Or even just his motorcycle. I'd see my husband soon enough – Hughes' summons would bring him home. As usual, the exertion brought on the cramping false labour pains I'd learned to ignore. I hauled my huge body up the veranda steps and paused to rest a moment on my favourite chair. Just for a moment...

  "Lass, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on the ship with Sarah?"

  I blinked my eyes open and found William smiling down at me. I stretched my sleep-stiffened limbs. I'd slipped into slumber again, a terrible habit this late in my pregnancy. "Hughes said you're not coming," I mumbled.

  "No, lass, I'm not. I have to finish constructing the chute from the incline. The last of the building materials arrived today and I want it complete before the cyclone season starts. No one else knows the plans as well as I do and some of the final details are proving tricky, as we don't want the first landslide bringing it down into the cove. As soon as it's done, I'll take the next ship to Fremantle to see you and Sarah. My sister is an experienced midwife and she'll take good care of you through the birth and help you with little Belinda when she's born."

  I shook my head firmly. "I won't leave without you. Won't let the ocean part us again."

  William dropped to his knees so his eyes were level with mine. "Maria."

  "William."

  For a long moment, he held my gaze without saying a word. If it was a battle of wills, he'd met his match in me. I wouldn't back down. Not now. His life was too important to me.

  William swallowed without blinking. "I love you, lass, and my priority is to take care of you. You and our child. You have to board the Islander with Sarah. It's nearly your time and heaven knows I'm no midwife, but my sister is. If I have to carry you aboard that ship, I will."

  I smiled. I'd won. He couldn't carry me any more – I'd grown too round and I was certain I weighed more than he did. "Carry a bag of your clothes instead and I'll step aboard willingly."

  "Lass, I can't. I have a job to do here. No one else can – "

  I became aware of warmth spreading through the cushion beneath me. I struggled to my feet and saw the dark stain on the seat. For a moment, I thought I'd lost control of my bladder, but the smell was wrong. No, my waters had broken, just as Sarah said they would. A month too early. My time had come.

  "William," I interrupted. "There's no time. The baby's coming now. You can summon the coolies' doctor or you can take me to your sister. But this baby won't listen to your arguments. She's coming now."

  Twenty-Two

  As I perched on the passenger seat on the back of William's Triump
h, the pain in my midsection returned, powerful enough to make me cry out. These weren't false labour pains any more – I knew them to be the real thing. The pain faded, though, enough for me to smile at William through my tears to reassure him.

  He jolted the motorcycle off its kickstand and kicked the engine into life. "Hold on, lass!" he cried as we set off.

  I clutched at him, but my enormous belly and the irritable child inside made it difficult for me to reach right around him like I used to. William rode slowly, careful to avoid the biggest ruts, as he turned left toward the plateau.

  "Where are we going?" I gasped out as another pain took hold. Instead of squeezing him, I dug my nails into the seat beneath me.

  He glanced back at me. "Waterfall. The Islander had to leave port when the swell came in. She's sheltering in the lee of the island, waiting for you or sunset, whichever comes first."

  Waterfall. Past the Grotto and Mother. No. Please no. Let us just ride on past without her causing trouble. We had to make it safely aboard the ship.

  I panted for breath when this pain eased, too breathless to voice my panic to William as we passed the Grotto. As long as he didn't stop we'd be all right. Don't stop.

  My next contraction seized me in a tight grip, squeezing a shriek of pain out of my throat.

  "Maria."

  I opened my eyes to meet William's.

  "Whatever happens, however much pain you're in, remember that I love you more than anything in the world, and I'd take it from you if I could."

  I burst into tears at the love in his eyes.

  And then the world went wrong.

  The Triumph shuddered beneath us as it hit an obstacle neither of us saw.

  William let out a wordless roar and flew away from me over the handlebars.

  Without his steadying weight, the motorcycle tipped over and threw me into the mud. Pain shot through my hip as I landed hard, but it was no worse than the contractions. I dragged my trapped leg out from under the Triumph as the engine spluttered into silence.

  "William?"