7. The Sex Cave

7

THE SEX CAVE

PACARI

" I trust you," she said.

Humans have a purpose. Our two species have a natural symbiosis—they gain pleasure, we gain magic.

But that's not what I want from Teresa. I want her trust. Her passion. Her honesty and desire.

I don't want to share her with the sea witch. All that pleasure of hers should be mine.

Never once have I felt unhappy with my little friends. But the nudibranch is wearing on me, because without him I could take this woman's pleasure in peace. But as long as the Lantern Witch's spell wraps about him, he is a spy. If she finds out that I have taken a human's pleasure without sharing it, I fear her retaliation .

"Fuck me, it's freezing," she laughs, wrapping her arms around herself.

My own body heat won't be enough, so I offer her my jacket. As a creature of the depths, cold does not bother me in the way it does humans. The jacket is to blend in.

"Won't you get cold?" she asks.

"Would you turn down a cuddle if I do?" I ask, batting my lashes playfully at her.

She rolls her eyes, trying to hide her grin.

Along the Cliff are the old caves. Nearly a hundred years ago, humans used them for some sort of smuggling trade, but now they've fallen into disuse. Inside one is where I keep my human clothes and the tools of my trade when I am here.

I spot an abandoned towel on the beach and snatch it up. Teresa shivers hard, even underneath my jacket.

She is talkative as we make our way to the beach, joking often about me being a serial killer.

"Just promise you'll give me the best fuck of my life before you kill me," she jests.

I don't like the idea of killing her, but I promise the first part.

A sinking feeling fills my belly as we get closer to the cave. I know I shouldn't be doing this—getting lost in a human whose pleasure I cannot reap for magical means—when an entire ecosystem relies on me.

But I cannot help feeling there is something tied between us. It's not every day a human discovers me on the beach just after a transformation—what's more is that I didn't act on the opportunity to seduce her there and wipe her memory.

I swallow hard, leading Teresa over the rocks using the light of the full moon, careful to make sure she doesn't slip. To take her pleasure will be its own reward. She giggles and stumbles into me, finding excuses to touch. The nudibranch-dog struggles to get over some of the rocks, so she happily takes the creature in her arms. With her wrapped in my jacket and the stolen beach towel, the sight so adorable, I feel a pang in my chest.

A few moments pass in silence as we trek across the soft sands, comfortable yet full of tension.

"Why do you think you're forgettable?" she asks.

So much for comfortable silence.

"Are you looking to prove me wrong?" I ask with a cocky grin.

"I genuinely don't know how I'd forget this interaction," she says plainly, giving the nudibranch-dog an aggressive pet. "Cute guy, cute dog, mysterious locale in the middle of the night…"

If only .

We reach the edge of the water. I turn to her, pull her in my arms.

"If you don't want to get wet, I can carry you. The tide's too high—there's no other way."

She barks out a laugh and says sarcastically, "Sure you can carry me. You're fit, but not that kind of fit."

I give her a kiss and a smile before stepping into the water. I feel my skin shift, ready to transform back into my natural form. It itches to hold it back.

"Hop on," I offer, sitting back against the rocks so she can sit on my shoulders.

"You believe this, Slugger?" she asks the dog in an incredulous voice.

"If you want to swim with me, I won't stop you," I shrug, winking at her as I slide away.

"Wait no! Come back," she whimpers.

A tickle runs down my neck at the whine in her voice. I like it too much. Just as much as I'm going to love having my head between her legs. I watch her fingers as she slips them along each foot to take off her shoes. Fancy. They're teal like oxidized copper, with three straps reaching to the ankle and a copper-colored toe. She loops the straps together before motioning me over.

With a grin, I hold my back to her, hands ready to help her on. She steps over my shoulders slowly, afraid to put all her weight down. As soon as she's mostly over, I pull her legs and settle her more stably against my neck and shoulders. She yelps in surprise, one hand shooting down to grab at my forehead for support. I wrap my arms around her thighs, giving them a squeeze.

"I've got you," I assure.

"Unbelievable," she mutters. "You can't keep getting better."

The compliment sends warmth through me. I tread across the water to the cave entrance only just visible in the full moon.

"Calm down, Slugger, we're okay," she murmurs to the nudibranch-dog as he squirms against her.

He too wants the water. It's a good thing she's holding him tight, or she'd be in for a surprise. Maybe. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure if the Lantern Witch's magic over him works the same way my own transformative skills do.

My bottom half has completely transformed at this point. I've lost the battle with my biology. With Teresa's silky-soft thighs warming my neck and cheeks, with the scent of her literally on top of me, I was too distracted to hold it back. My sifon , too, perks to action. Teresa threads her fingers between the hairs on top of my head—for support, but to me, it feels divine. An unusual feeling as the hairs tug at my scalp. All I can think of is how I will worship her, the sounds I can't wait to extract from her, the wetness between her legs I wish to drown in .

"Fuck, that water is freezing!" she shrieks as a wave catches her feet. "How are you not an icicle?"

We reach the edge of the cave, providing just the right distraction so I don't have to answer.

Normally, when I seduce humans, I don't bring them back to my cave like this. But my desire for Teresa is so strong, I find myself acting beyond the ordinary. I kneel so that she can step off of my shoulders, which she does carefully. As soon as she's down, she sets her shoes on a rock jutting up higher from the rest.

"It might be a little slippery in here," I warn.

"Are you suggesting I should hold tight?" she asks with a giggle.

Her arms wrap around my neck now that she has set down both the dog and the shoes.

"Come on in," she purrs against me.

Our mouths find each other next. It's a risk, but she's distracted, so I climb up onto the cave floor. She giggles, trying to keep her lower half away from mine.

"Don't get me wet," she says.

"I thought that was the point."

She is intoxicating, how she moves against me, the feel of her hands all over my torso. I pull her closer and she yelps at the cold water against her pelvis.

"Let's get you out of those wet shorts," she mumbles against my lips.

She tries to push away, but I hold her close. Her fingers struggle with the drenched cloth. We laugh, both of us working to free my lower half from its wet prison.

A flash of green underneath reminds me that I am half-shifted—and I hope she thinks I'm wearing green underwear. If I let her see me as I am in the moments before her climax, she'll know what I am. She may freak out. And I won't yet have the magic to wipe her memory.

I capture her mouth with mine once more, pull her hands from my waistband, and guide her deeper into the cave where the light barely reaches. The darkness will keep my secret.

"I need to taste you," I tell her, sliding down to my knees.

"Sto-hop," she whines.

When I look up at her, pausing my actions, she looks back at me in confusion.

"No, I didn't mean stop. I just mean—fuck—this is unreal—you're just—you're perfect," she stammers. "Please keep going, oh my god."

Her fingers lace through my hair as I kiss down her stomach. I push the hem of her dress up, in awe of the shape of her thighs underneath. The lacy underwear she has on makes it hard to see the wetness between her legs, but I can taste her arousal in the air. I groan with desire, kiss up the inside of her thighs, nipping and sucking along the way .

"Stop teasing," she begs.

My eyes meet hers, and the desperation in them seems a reflection of my own. I hold her gaze as I press my mouth to her mound, my lids growing heavy as I get my first taste of her. She moves her hands to her waistband, but I brush her hands aside, slowly pulling at the lacy fabric. Her legs rub together impatiently.

"You'll have to stop that if you want me to take these off," I say. "Spread for me."

She whimpers, but obliges, muttering a curse under her breath.

I drag a finger along her mound, astonished at how smooth the skin is. As the panties reach her ankles, she steps out as I pull them completely off. She cannot see nearly as well as I can, but even without the dim light from the entrance of the cave, I would be able to see how gorgeous she is. I take it all in, fascinated by her wanton need.

One hand holds the bottom of her dress to her stomach as the other massages her breast, neckline pulled down to expose herself. Maybe she thought she could get away with that without my being able to see. I delight in my ability to see the dark for a moment, to watch that frustration and lust frank in her face, before pushing her legs wider to accommodate my own needs.

When my lips meet her cunt, she lets out the softest, sweetest sound. As I drag my tongue to explore, the sound deepens into something infinitely more carnal. Her hips roll against me as she searches for just the right sensations, and I'm all too happy to accommodate her. Each sound tells me what she likes best, what she needs more of. And the taste of her—I can already taste the potency of the magic within her sex. I need more, so much more.

I pull her leg over my shoulder. She lets out a yelp, hands reaching for stability.

"Are you trying to drown yourself?" she asks with a breathy laugh.

"Yes," I growl, lapping at her cunt. "The way you move… Fuck my face as much as you like, Teresa. I want to swim in the oceans of your pleasure."

She grinds down on my face. My tongue finds its way to her opening, licking around her labia to tease before plunging inside.

"Ungh, fuck, that's your tongue?!" she moans in rapture.

I cannot fight my smile as I fuck her with my tongue. She is so responsive, so honest in every reaction. Often I have felt my features were fine as they are, but tonight I feel as if every part of me is perfectly made for her pleasure.

My sifon struggles in the wet pants, desperate to suck up her pleasure as my tongue does. I want her magic for my own. It pains me to remember that if I take her here, the Lantern Witch will demand the bounty.

Teresa pants and begs, cries out with unabashed pleasure as my tongue fucks her needy cunt into orgasm.

"Unbelievable," she sighs, giggling.

She slumps against the wall, and I look up from between her legs in awe. My ears ring from the way her thighs squeezed my head. I feel dizzy from pleasuring her. Delighted. I lap up her wetness, greedy for every bit of her, until she groans from overstimulation and pushes me away. She pulls her leg off my shoulder and slides down to my level.

"Let me do the same for you," she begs, pulling my mouth to hers.

My lips are still wet from her climax, which only seems to encourage her further. She's as hungry as I am.

As she pushes me back against the floor, ready to fight my pants once more, it hits me again.

I do not want her to forget me. I don't want to share her.

I want her for myself, only for me.

With another kiss, I push her back up, suddenly grateful that the water made undoing my pants so difficult. It's for the best, as well, for she'd discover what I really am.

"I should get you back to your friends," I say .

"What?" she asks. "I don't understand."

Fuck. What do I tell her?

"The tide… is rising. We have to get out of here before we get stuck."

In the dim light, I can see the confusion and upset clear on her face.

"If that's all it is," she says slowly. "I didn't do something weird to fuck this up, did I? Make a dumb noise or something?"

"No, you're perfect," I tell her, pulling her in for a kiss.

I'm fucking this up. I don't want her to hate me, but I refuse to share her with the Lantern Witch. Until I collect the witch's due, I can't be with Teresa.

I don't know what it is about her that has me so enraptured, but until I figure it out, I want her for my own. And that means collecting what magic I can from others instead.

Maybe when this is all over, I can explain myself to her. Show her the garden so she understands why.

If she doesn't hate me for it.