by Charlie Hart
Then West presses me against a wall, our fingers laced once more, as he rocks against me, with my legs wrapped around him. My breathing is ragged and my body shaking.
And then I take all of them again.
I keep telling them what I want. Come on my breasts, cocks in my mouth, my thighs spread, my pussy licked. With each command, they obey.
They want this of course, but it’s like each time I tell them what I want next... they give me more power. More strength.
I wipe West’s salty come from my lip, my skin glistens with sweat and my limbs are weak, but my core is awake. Alive.
I don’t even know what it means. We fuck ourselves into oblivion; until I have exhausted them all. And I remember hearing Chloe joke about having jelly legs after her long nights with her lovers but my legs are strong. In fact, with each release these men give me, the faint green glow on my legs intensifies until everything, waist to toes, glitters.
“Do you see that?” I ask, sprawled out on the bed with the guys. When no one answers, I sit up, realizing they are all passed out.
But for me? I’m wide awake. It’s like I’ve had three iced coffees before noon.
Not wanting to wake the guys, I reach for a discarded t-shirt and slip it over my head. Then I tiptoe toward the doorway.
I rest my head on the doorframe, my heart thrumming as I look at the four of them. I swallow, feeling greedy. Are all these men really for me?
But I didn’t have a choice. Not really. This was meant to be, as crazy as it sounds.
I walk past a bedroom with two bunk beds in it and go into the bathroom. I quickly clean myself up, looking in the mirror and try to see if I remember the girl in front of me.
But it’s like I changed overnight. And not just like... I did change. My legs are freaking me out, not to mention my sexual prowess and my appetite for risky endeavors.
Running my hands through my hair, I turn away from my reflection. If I try to actually understand this, I’ll only end up more confused.
I climb up to the main deck, my breath catching as I take in the gorgeous sunrise.
My head falls back, and I want the morning sky to soothe my worries. However, the view does nothing to ease my confusion.
What the actual fuck am I doing here? I don’t think an orgy with four strangers was exactly the kind of risks Chloe was talking about last night when she said I could be all kinds of badass with this new tattoo. I basically just asked for an STD, or probably worse.
I’m insane. Last night, I literally let the ocean sweep me away.
Bright pinks and purples streak the morning sky, and the waves crash onshore, relentless as ever. I want to understand. Something.
I lift my head, blinking back the tears that forever threaten to roll down my cheeks.
And that’s when I see him.
Poking his head out from the white foam of a wave.
I shake my head in disbelief at the seal. His head bobs in the water, his dark eyes locked on mine.
My pink hair whips in the wind and for a moment I consider how many more risks I want to take before I swim home.
But this seal is like a lighthouse in the eye of the storm raging in my heart.
A beacon.
A safe haven.
It makes no sense, yet I find myself moving to the edge of the boat, raising a leg to the railings.
My heart catches, as with a backward glance, I think about the men below deck. The men who gave me a night I will never forget, a night that changed me.
But then the seal barks, calling for me.
Even if a large part of me wants to stay right here on this boat, knowing the men will wake up and have their way with me all over again--a stronger impulse forces me to turn back to the water.
I can’t stay away.
I dive into the current.
Chapter 8
Eric
I wake up feeling like part of my heart has been torn from my body. I lurch forward, reaching for her... but Harlow isn’t here. Instead, there’s just a pile of naked guys.
“Dude!” West shouts at me. “Don’t even.”
I move my hand away, realizing I was unintentionally touching him. We may have been more than okay sharing Harlow last night, but there is still a line in the sand. These are my teammates. Nothing more.
Except after last night, I doubt that is the truth. It sure as hell felt like more as Harlow took each of us, repeatedly. Her flesh against our flesh, her skin glowing more and more as she came against us.
Damn, I’m getting hard thinking about it. Which is not cool considering my bedmates.
I get out of bed, reaching for my shorts, and pull them on, wanting to know where Harlow is.
Needing to know where she is. The urge to protect her is fierce, and after our night together like she’s rooted herself in my muscle memory. I am less of a man without her here.
She isn’t in the cabin, and before I even start a pot of coffee, I climb the stairs to the deck.
“Harlow?” I crane my neck, moving quickly, then with intensity. She isn’t here.
“Hey,” I call down to the guys who are all beginning to get out of bed. “Is she in the bathroom? The shower or something?”
I hear movement and then Crew calls up. “She isn’t here.” He bounds the steps quickly, as do Kai and West.
“What the fuck?” West asks. “Where’d she go?”
We lean over the railing and look out to the sea.
“No way, she wouldn’t have,” Kai says. “That’s suicide. We’re in the middle of nowhere.” His voice shakes--and Kai is the cockiest SOB I’ve ever met--he doesn’t waver. Until now.
“She isn’t entirely human though... is she?” West asks quietly. It’s strange because even he seems shaken.
Like without Harlow, we don’t know how to be ourselves.
“I don’t know what she is,” Crew says. “But what she did last night... I mean, what we all did, it wasn’t of this world. I’ve fucked a lot of women and that wasn’t sex... that was...,”
“Love.” My voice, shockingly enough, is steady. Like the truth, when uttered, leaves a calm on the boat that should be rocking with fear.
“Love?” West cocks a brow. “Should sound insane, you know, but it doesn’t. I don’t know how to explain it, except when I was in her presence, I felt like I had no control over myself. Like, I would do anything for her. Forfeit my life for her. I swear, it’s supernatural. The pull she has on me.” He runs a hand through his wavy hair. “That’s fucking nuts, right?”
Kai raises his eyebrows. “Except it doesn’t sound crazy to me.”
Crew nods slowly. “Not to me either.”
We face one another, brows furrowed, faces written with something fierce. Harlow is gone.
And we must find her.
“Where to?” Crew asks. “Because I swear, I fucking need her.”
“Down, boy, easy now,” West jokes. Then he clears his throat, smirks and says, “But yeah, we need her here. Now.”
“She’s from Oahu,” Kai says with a scowl. “Let’s go to Waikiki and ask around. Not exactly fond of that city--a little too touristy for my taste--but it’s somewhere to start.”
Crew rolls his eyes. “Do you always have to be so fucking full of shit?”
“Now’s not the time, guys,” I say, urgency in my voice. “We need to focus. Try to remember anything you can about her that will help us when we dock.”
“Fuck,” West says, running a hand over his jaw. “I remember she was pretty much perfection, that help?”
I swallow. Hell, I’m blinking back tears. “How could we have lost her?”
“The thing is,” Kai says with the practicality only a former law student could possess, “she wanted to go. I don’t think you can hold back that kind of force.”
“What if she’s lost in the ocean, not on dry land?” Crew asks.
I press my hand to my forehead, gathering my thoughts. “Then we’re gonna be looking for our mermaid for
a long ass time.”
Chapter 9
Harlow
At first, I use a sidestroke against the waves, but then my head ducks below the water and I slice through the ocean. My legs move quickly, in unison.
I open my eyes, seeing the seal in the distance, stopping every so often, looking back at me, before moving again.
It wants me to follow.
I do.
I open my mouth and breathe in deeply, the salt water filling my lungs and expanding my chest; hinting at a past I never knew.
This is where I belong.
If my legs didn’t seem to propel me forward at the speed of freaking light, I don’t think I would have kept swimming. My body seems to think this is the only option.
As I move through the turquoise sea, my eyes opening, and my lungs filling with seawater, I start to question my sanity. What the actual hell is going on?
I woke up sweaty and sex-crazed, my arms and legs entwined with four men I just met. Then I dove headlong into the ocean following a mammal.
I’m in one of the guy’s t-shirts, so I don’t feel totally exposed as I pass brightly colored fish, turtles, and oh my fucking god, a shark.
Right. A shark. I mean. I’ve grown up on Oahu and swum most days of my life, but this is something else. This is deep and dangerous and yet … exhilarating.
A pod of dolphins swims past me, making noises that I seem to understand.
Not possible.
I don’t speak freaking dolphin.
Their calls are sweet and soothing. They seem to be asking me to breathe, in and out, to trust the water and my place in this vast sea.
I lose sight of my seal as I take in the dolphins who are welcoming me into their home.
There is a dozen of them, circling me, shimmering grey and white bodies, singing a song that penetrates my heart.
I spin in the water, my hair caught in the current, I move easily and without effort--my real-life horrible dance moves are long gone. In the water, it’s like I move with grace. With power.
My face aches, I’m smiling so much--but how could I not be? All colors of fish surround the dolphins as we move to a melody only we can hear.
And then the seal comes toward us, and the music fades, the creatures-- great and small--disperse, and the seal’s eyes meet mine.
Follow me, they seem to say.
I go where he leads.
I don’t know why, except that his eyes are on mine and I know it is more than coincidence.
The seal is here for me.
I need him to be.
With my eyes fixed on him, we swim toward shallow water. Eventually, I can touch the sandy sea floor with my hands and feel the heat of the mid-morning sun penetrating the water.
Up ahead, I suddenly lose sight of the seal.
No, that doesn’t make sense.
I followed him here.
He has the answers to the questions. At least, that is what my insane brain keeps telling me but maybe my mind is just playing tricks.
The water is so shallow now, that I’m standing, walking out of the water, unsure of where I am. I’ve been swimming, and before that, I spent the night on a boat, and now I have no idea where I am.
But I can certainly guess I’m not back in Waikiki.
This beach is empty. My home beach is filled with umbrellas and massive hotels. As I step from the water, I feel the hot sand between my toes, and I can’t help but relax. There is something about the heat crawling up my legs that will always bring a smile to my face. Looking around, I see that this beach is tiny and for a moment I think I’m alone.
Then I see someone watching me.
He sits on a rock at the far end of the beach and I walk toward him, trying to figure out where I am.
Palm trees sway and the sand is hot on my feet. I look down at my legs... Still sparkling green. I swallow. I’m seriously out of patience for this whole body-changing-over-night-thing. I need to know what the hell is happening.
Tugging down the hem of my t-shirt, I force myself to stop feeling so self-conscious as the man up ahead watches me.
I twist my hair as I walk, wringing it out, and squinting under the bright sun.
As I approach him, he stands, reaches his hand out for mine. I let him take it; not knowing why. I mean, I don’t know this man--but hell, my mind hasn’t exactly flashed stranger-danger this week, has it?
The moment we touch though, something electric courses through me.
My eyes widen, searching his.
He turns my hand over in his own, examining the ring my mom gave me for my birthday. My thigh burns and I look down, noticing my tattoo is emblazoned in shining blue and green light.
I look back at him, my heart skipping several beats--not in fear. In knowing.
“You’re the seal... the one I’ve been following.” His dark eyes penetrate my heart. I know this man. “Who... Why... What are you?”
He smiles slowly, and his smile draws me in. I take a step toward him.
“I’m a selkie. Part man, part seal. But I’m guessing that idea doesn’t scare you as much today as it did yesterday.”
He looks down at my legs.
“I’m not a mermaid if that’s what you mean. I don’t have a fin.”
“Yet.” His word is cold. Like he knows a lot more than I do.
“What do you mean?” I laugh tightly. This entire adventure may have been thrilling, but my actual life is on dry land. Not in the ocean where I’m enchanted by dolphins.
“If you don’t listen to me, and heed my words, you’ll be trapped in the sea for the rest of your life.”
I narrow my eyes. “How do you know this about me? Anything about me? Why did you come find me last night?”
“I am your guide, but last night, you didn’t follow.”
Frowning I shake my head. “What do you mean, didn’t I follow you? I was pulled into the sea and swam toward you as fast as I could.”
“But then you were kidnapped, drawn in with a net. And I lost you, Harlow. I didn’t know if I’d ever find you again.”
“What do you know about the ship?” I swallow, emotions flooding my heart. It’s not embarrassment, but what is it?
“You weren’t supposed to be with them.” He holds a powerful stance, and I’m unable to look away from him. It’s like he knows me.
Not like the guys last night. They worshipped me. They gave me strength.
This man though, it’s like he carries an aura that is rooted in something ancient. Something I don’t quite grasp.
Yet something I understand in the most primal way.
“You were supposed to come with me,” he continues. “And now...,” The man stops, clenching his jaw. “Now everything has changed.”
“Changed how?”
“It will be harder to protect you,” he tells me, his voice softening. “Those men were after something. After you.” He pulls back his wide shoulders, and although he is a selkie, he’s the most intimidating man I’ve ever seen. No wonder I was drawn to follow him. He is all-powerful.
I bite my bottom lip, remembering Kai, Crew, West, and Eric. They didn’t pressure me or force anything last night. They said they heard my call. A call I don’t even remember making.
They said they were drawn to me, unable to fight it even if they wanted to.
But now as I look at this man, my spirit animal--my guide--the one who is here to protect me, I see everything so differently.
I gave those sailors my body and I never considered the cost.
Now it seems like the cost is greater than I realized.
Still, those men may have cast a net last night and caught me but is the man before me any different?
“Why do you care about me?” I ask, looking intently into his eyes, seeing a reflection I don’t understand. My own.
“You’re stronger than you know,” he tells me.
I step away, frustrated by his word games, the lack of concrete answers. “I don’t want nonsense. I want the t
ruth. Understanding. Tell me plainly, who asked you to protect me?”
“Someone who has been looking for you a very long time. You’re in danger and you don’t even know why.”
I swallow, this man has long hair, wide shoulders, gleaming skin. He is otherworldly, yet, as I look at my own legs, I have become otherworldly too.
“You were protecting me from the sailors?” I ask softly, not wanting it to be true. I gave them the most intimate pieces of myself ... but maybe none of it was real.
He nods solemnly, like it pains him to answer.
I wipe away a tear, my face hot and my hands sweaty. “Why did they want to find me?” As I ask the question, rain begins to pelt down against our skin. The clear skies disappear and clouds of gray sweep in with fierceness I don’t expect. Covering our heads is useless. The rain is heavy and hard.
“Because they realized how powerful you are. What your power could do if unleashed.”
I take a shaky breath, shouting over the storm. “And what could it do? This power?” My chest tightens, and my awareness of the surroundings seems to amplify. The wind begins to howl, and the waves begin to lap at my feet with vitality. The bright light of the noontime sky turns a bruised blue, and thunder rolls through the sky. It’s a rumbling roar that is no siren call.
Like a voice from the heavens. A cry from beyond.
He looks at me with urgency, placing both his hands on my shoulders. My body fills with an innate power as he speaks, as strong as the lightning that strikes in the distance, crackling over the mounting waves.
“This power can change the world.”
The force of his touch is the same as the power I felt myself gaining last night as I gave myself to the sailors. When I was with them, I felt my strength growing. I feel that same surge now.
“How?” I ask in a whisper, as my hair whips around from the wind. Ocean water sloshes over my feet, and I wish I were far from this storm. I want to be back on the dry land I know, with warm sand on my toes and my friends by my side.
I close my eyes, imagining that Chloe and I are out getting an iced coffee. I picture myself pressing a hand to her pregnant belly and feeling her daughter kick against me.
