Chapter 13

Arya

Anticipation tightened my core as I ventured across the lawn to the secret entrance to the lake. I felt almost naughty to be doing this, sneaking around with a boy just for the thrill of it. But there was also an immense freedom in that, too. No emotional bullshit, no expectations. Just having fun together.

After all the crap with Tobias, I was greatly in need of that. And after dealing with Letti for the past hour, I had even more pent-up frustration to vent. I could think of no better way to spend the rest of my day, and I was beyond excited to learn more about my mermaid's sexuality.

Kendall was leaning against the wall beside the hidden door as I approached, his eyes lighting with a heat that warmed my center and sent a flush up my neck.

"Hey there, beautiful," he said in a tone that made the heat creep over my cheeks.

"Hey, yourself," I said, biting my lip as my eagerness for this encounter built to a fever pitch.

He kicked himself off the wall and took a step forward. "How did your session go?"

I scoffed. "Ugh, I'd rather not talk about Letti."

He chuckled, licking his lips as he came closer like I was a tasty morsel he couldn't wait to devour. And I wanted to be devoured.

"Well, should we go on our little adventure?" He held out his hand.

I took it. "Absolutely."

He turned toward the door, swiped the keycard with his free hand, and held open the door for me to go ahead of him.

This time, when we reached the faintly glowing pool, I didn't hesitate to strip down to nothing. In fact, I made a show of it, loving the way his eyes burned into me with each item of clothing I discarded.

I stood naked in front of him, every inch of my exposed skin tingling with anticipation, and he continued to stare at me with that hungry gaze.

"Are you going to take your clothes off or just keep staring at me?" I teased.

"I haven't decided yet," he replied as his eyes raked down my body.

My inherent modesty finally got the better of me, and I turned my body slightly to hide it, laughing and slapping my hand playfully against his firm chest.

"Okay," he relented with a snicker.

Then it was my turn to watch as he pulled his shirt up over his head, admiring the way the muscles of his abs and pecs rolled and flexed with the movement. He rolled his shirt into a loose ball and threw it aside, proceeding to unzip his fly and pull down his pants.

I tried to appreciate the dip of the defined V above his hip and the sinews of his athletic thighs, but the pre-emptive thickness of his cock had my full attention, the sight of it popping out over the hem of his pants making my heart skip.

He glanced at me as he stepped out of them, the devilish smirk on his face telling me he enjoyed my reaction to his body.

Before abandoning his pants, he dug something out of the front pocket and extended his hand to me, opening it to reveal a familiar vial in his palm.

"Thanks," I said as I took it. "I'd almost forgotten about this part."

I hated that I still needed salt water to transform, but I appreciated that he not only didn't judge me for it but also accommodated that need. His consideration meant a lot to me.

I perched down on the edge of the pool and spilled the small amount of salt water onto my legs, willing the transformation to hasten. The more often I transformed, the less it seemed to hurt. It was still incredibly uncomfortable, and I hated the fusing of my leg bones the most, but it was easier to tolerate now than the first time, that was for sure.

As soon as I felt the shift spread up my torso, I slipped into the lake, submerging just in time for my gills to split along my neck. I took in a breath, savoring the cool feel of the water in my throat. As irritating as the transformation part was, it was always worth it for the feeling of being in my natural form.

Kendall dropped in shortly after me, sending bubbles flitting up all around him.

"I have something special to show you," he said, floating in front of me. "A place where we can find some privacy."

My pulse skittered, and I smiled. "Okay."

"Follow me." He tipped his head and then started swimming away from the Dome.

I trailed alongside him, swimming through rays of sunlight that caught in the murk as they streamed through the water from above. The idea of moving through light like this was beautiful to me. Above water, you don't get to see the rays like this. The closest you get is when they spill through a window in a dusty room.

But down here, you could practically touch the golden streaks. They were like solid bolts that you could pass through like you were the intangible one.

Just as before, Kendall led me deeper along the lake floor, those rays getting fainter and fainter, less and less solid. After several minutes, the water around us grew dim, the dips in the ground hiding pockets of darkness that were almost ominous.

I tilted my head back up, seeing a gaping blackness growing ahead of us. Apprehension gripped me, slowing my momentum even as Kendall continued.

Kendall turned to look back at me. "It's okay. Trust me."

He offered his hand again, and possibly against my better judgment, I accepted it and let him pull me further. Kendall had never led me astray so far, but nothing about that black opening appealed to me.

As we got closer, I saw that it was a narrow cave entrance, like the mouth of some giant marine beast lying in wait for two stupid mermaids to wander in so it could swallow them whole.

"Uh, Kendall, I really don't like the dark," I said as he guided me to the threshold, every instinct inside me urging me not to enter.

Maybe it was from all the years of brainwashing from Mom's second rule. She had taught me to fear the darkness, but then again, wouldn't any sane person be afraid to go into a pitch-black cave at the bottom of a lake?

"It gets better. I promise," he insisted.

I cringed, letting him practically drag me through the cave opening and along the narrow tunnel inside it. Just as my paranoia peaked and I was about to pull away and zoom off in the opposite direction, a faint green glow illuminated the walls of the tunnel ahead of us.

Intrigue replaced my apprehension as we swam further into the cave, the glow becoming brighter. Finally, we turned a corner, and I found myself floating inside a cave pocket that was filled with such bright green light that it hurt my eyes after so long in the dark.

I blinked several times urging my eyes to adjust, staring around the glowing green walls of the cave that surrounded us.

"Whoa," I breathed.

"I know, right?" Kendall said.

"What is it? How is the cave glowing?" I asked, swimming up to the cave wall to inspect it closer.

"It's bioluminescent algae. I don't know how it got down here, but for some reason, it really likes this little pocket."

I lifted my hand to touch the glowing rock surface, surprised to find it smooth and not at all grimy like I'd imagine algae to be. When I withdrew my hand, my fingertips were glowing with the same green light.

"So weird," I said in awe. "And so beautiful."

I felt the disturbance in the water before I felt Kendall's warm hands on my shoulders as he came up behind me. "You're beautiful."

His face nuzzled into my hair, and his lips traced kisses along the side of my neck, sending shivers darting over my skin that had nothing to do with the chill of the water. I craned my neck to the side, giving him better access, and his lips opened over my neck, his tongue coming out to lick and suck on my skin.

All the anticipation I'd felt coming to meet him came flooding back with a vengeance, my core tightening with a naughty need that I couldn't wait to embrace. I moaned as he sucked on my neck, nibbling on my earlobe with the faintest scrape of his teeth on my sensitive flesh.

His hands slid down my upper arms and back, scooping up under my arms and gently raking his fingertips until they found my breasts. I arched into him, pressing my ass against his pelvis as his skilled hands kneaded my suddenly aching breasts, intensifying the need in my center.

"You have the most amazing tits," he cooed against my ear, his warm breath heating me all over.

With heavy, fluttering eyelids, I glanced down at his fondling hands, surprised to see that my hardened breasts were covered in the glowing algae. I let out a deep, gravelly laugh that was laced with the lust he was igniting within me.

"Aren't you full of surprises?" I said huskily.

He hummed his appreciation into my neck. "Are you ready for the best surprise of all?"

He pressed his hips into me, the hardness of his cock nudging me with a thrilling promise.

I gasped, my pussy throbbing with demand for it. "Yes," I whimpered.

He trailed one hand down my ribs and around the back of my hip, caressing the bulb of my ass before slipping a finger into my entrance there. I panted at the sensation, melting against him as his finger slid in and out, hooking over my G-spot and caressing it with the precise amount of pressure.

I rocked my hips with the rhythm of his fingers, desperate for more than that.

"Kendall," I pleaded. "Give it to me."

He grunted in satisfaction. "As you wish."

With painful slowness, he removed his finger, and I craned my neck over my shoulder to watch him grip his smooth cock and ready it to enter me. I distantly noticed that his cock was covered in the same smooth, iridescent green scales as his tail, but when he pushed it inside me, I didn't care what fucking color it was.

His thrusts were slow and languid, his hard cock filling me so perfectly and coaxing a deep pleasure from my inner walls as it stroked against them. His left hand still groped my breast as his right hand gripped my hip, pressing me firmly against him.

"Oh, fuck," he groaned against my neck, the pure and raw desire in his voice making me tighten around his cock.

"Fuck me harder," I whimpered, the slow pace of his thrusts driving me insane. I needed more. I needed rough. I needed wild abandon.

And my plea was all it took for him to lose control and give in. His nails dug into my hip as his thrusts came harder and faster. His arm wrapped around my chest, clutching me against his back as close as possible as he pounded his cock into me relentlessly, mercilessly.

His moans and grunts of pleasure were a filthy melody against my earlobe, intensifying my own pleasure and need.

I never wanted this to end. I wanted to draw out this pleasure for as long as I could. But the power of his thrusts overwhelmed me, forcing me over that pinnacle and rendering me helpless to the orgasm that exploded inside my center.

I cried out, but he didn't stop, his hard thrusts slamming into my quaking walls again and again, making the sensation last and build until I was already close again.

Our tails tangled around each other as he fucked me harder and harder. His other hand came to grip my other hip, and I fell forward, pressing my hands against the algae-covered rocks for support as he destroyed me over and over. And my orgasms just came again and again, crashing into me like waves over a rocky beach.

I was a slave to this pleasure, a captive to his forceful cock. My mind was hazy and numb to everything else, and my arms were practically moosh as I struggled to hold myself up against the cave wall.

Finally, I felt his cock strain inside me, his thrusts slowing and intensifying until, with one final slam, he buried himself inside me as far as he could go and let out a deep groan of satisfaction. His warm cum spilled into me, and I came one final time with a whole-body tremble that threatened to annihilate me entirely.

Slowly, we wafted to the cave floor, both of us spent and panting and completely limp. He held me like that for a long time, still buried inside me.

Eventually, he pulled out, and my mind returned to me enough to be concerned that he'd finished inside me without protection. That sex had been mind-blowingly amazing, but the last thing I needed right now was an unwanted pregnancy to worry about.

He must have seen the concern on my face. "Don't worry. I used water manipulation to form a barrier inside you. I can pull it all out."

Before I could say anything, I felt a strange bubble in my core move and slide out of me, and with almost morbid fascination, I watched the little foggy bubble rise and float away into the darkness.

"Okay, that's gross, but also fucking brilliant," I said, and we both laughed as he lay back down on the cave floor beside me.

"I didn't mean to finish in you, but fuck, you just felt too damn good," he said, gently scraping his fingers up and down my arm.

I snuggled up against his chest as I tried to catch my breath, only then noticing that we were both covered in glowing green. I couldn't help but laugh at the ragged shape of us.

"Omigod, we look like the creature from the black lagoon," I giggled, and he threw his head back in a laugh.

"We'll definitely have to get cleaned up before we head back," he said. "But for now, I'm really enjoying seeing your sexy little body glowing like a sea goddess."

I nestled into his firm chest, exhaustion taking hold of me rapidly. This was the way it should be. Things with Kendall were easy, and I could see myself falling for him eventually if we kept doing this. Would that be the worst thing?

For now, I wasn't going to worry about any of that. I wasn't going to worry about the asshole dragon that played yo-yo with my heart. I wasn't going to worry about the mer-bitches that wanted me dead. I was just going to savor this moment of freedom, because I never knew when the next disaster was coming around the corner.