Chapter Eight

Icrawl up the beach with nothing but my hands, but the motions are effortless despite the weight I drag behind me. The sun is high, the sand hot, but the area is secluded. I fear not regardless; anyone who stumbles across me now would think that they discovered a goddess, a fantasy fulfilled before their untimely demise.

The drying is the worst part, like an itch you scratch, only to find the source originating from somewhere else. But as with all of life's transformations, discomfort serves as a necessary catalyst for growth. I smooth out the sand, rubbing it between my fingers as the itch fades and a low burn starts at my hips, steadily traveling lower. I let the heat engulf me, giving myself up to the sun like a sacrificial offering as I lean back. I knew what I was giving up, but I do not miss the cold.

For the heat holds me like a lover, and I let myself believe as I spear my toes into the sand, that it will do so forever.

I couldn't remember if I dreamed, but I woke up feeling better than I had in weeks. Nautical nightmares had plagued me for months now, some so terrifying I'd woken up on the floor or clutching the bed spread so hard I'd nearly ripped it to shreds. But today I woke gently, floating to the surface to the sound of the waves and a warm heat against my back, and I reached a lazy hand behind me to see if I'd fallen asleep next to the radiator.

My fingers brushed hard muscle and soft fabric, and my eyes popped open as images of the night before flooded in. Cee's house, the pool, Kai, my kitchen counter. I flushed a bright pink, that deepened to a scarlet crimson when Kai groaned and tugged me closer, pressing my hips back into his.

"Little star," Damn his morning voice was sexy as hell. The grip he had on my emotions was as tight as the one he had on my body, but I didn't want him to release either. No, I wanted him closer. I reached behind me, threading my fingers into his hair and twisting my head around for a deep kiss.

"I dreamed of you last night," he said into my ear, then he nibbled on the soft shell of it. "I dreamed of your legs parting for me as I buried my tongue inside you. I could feast on you for days and never tire of your sweetness."

Well, shit. Why did he get all the good dreams?Fortunately, I was more than willing to make the most of our reality in these precious morning hours. His hand moved around the curve of my hip, fingers trailing lower into the waistband of the bathing suit and his shirt that I hadn't taken off last night. They were so deliciously close to sating the fire he'd kindled, but I forced myself to grasp his hand, threading our fingers as I twisted to face him. "Nuh- uh. This time I want to taste you."

My words lit a fire of their own, and his eyes burned as he squeezed my hand and curled the other around the nape of my neck, leaning in for a whispering kiss, "By all means, I could never deny you what you want."

With a wicked smile, I threw my leg over his waist, pushing him onto his back and sitting up to straddle him as his hands slid down, pulling me higher and over his rigid length. I gasped as the fabric, and him, rubbed against my center.

I fumbled with the band of his sweatpants as I tugged them down, somehow not surprised that he wasn't wearing underwear. So much for Cee's silk boxers. The thin material of my bikini was all that remained between us, one string already open from Kai's ministrations. He fiddled with the other, clever fingers loosening the tie and slipping it from beneath me.

He finally got his fingers between my legs, and growled as they slipped over my center. "You're wet, little star."

"What if I went for a morning swim?" I countered weakly.

"I'd call you a liar for this is not salt water." Two fingers glistened in the dawn as he ran his tongue over them. "It's far sweeter."

I saw stars as he dipped his fingers down once more, stroking over my clit, the pressure so exquisite from our tight position that I was already on the precipice. I nearly cried in frustration as I grabbed his hand before he pushed me over the edge. "You first," I reminded him.

I leaned over, my hair falling like a curtain as I trailed hot kisses down his neck, lingering at a soft spot at the base of his throat that made him growl. It drove me wild, knowing that I was responsible for his pleasure, that my touch was causing him to lose control. His hips bucking against me of their own accord pulled out some long-slumbering, untamable part of me, and she wanted more. I bit down, then laved at the reddened skin with my tongue. I followed my hands between his pecs, down the mountainous ridges of his abs, the hard indents of his hips, my lips following the trail with little nips along his skin until he was right where I wanted him.

He was hard and thick against my hand. I skimmed my fingers over his length, and he hissed. "Blessed sea and stars."

I slid down his body with a grace that wasn't my own, slipping into a seduction so potent I felt as high as Kai looked. Wetting my lips, I flicked my tongue over him once, twice, then took him fully in my mouth.

I wasn't as brazen as Cee in her hay days. I could count the number of times I'd done this on one hand, and the ones I enjoyed on less. They had either been ambitious to the point where I couldn't breathe, or had pulled me off too soon, eager to finish the act rather than savoring the pleasure. Dennis had never even attempted anything beyond missionary, not willing to ruin the ‘great thing we had going' by trying something that would turn us both off, all without asking for my opinion. There was no excitement, no passion. I wondered for the millionth time why I had stayed with him so long. I had been so concerned about if he liked me that I never stopped to wonder if I liked him.

Kai stirred my soul into a frenzy, made it sing songs I didn't know existed. He drove me out of my mind with passion and curiosity, and he had the intellect to match. Now, I wanted to be the one to drive him mad, and that buried part of myself stretched and purred like a lap cat.

I took him deeper, and his hips flexed, his features swathed in rapture. He panted, hands winding into my curls, but he didn't try to move me, instead he held on, like he was afraid I would vanish. "Fuck, Maren, don't stop. Your mouth, watching you… blessed waters, you feel so good." his words trailed off into a string of something that sounded like crashing waves on a white-sand beach, a language that was familiar by feeling more than sound.

I was sure I had Cee to thank for some of his new human vernacular, but combined with his own language… I was close to my own release just from listening to him. The words both familiar and foreign, like the tides on the sea, only drove my passion higher.

I felt his body tense. One last slow lick, then I was prowling over him like a tigress. He'd fallen back to his elbows, dark hair hanging in his face, the muscles in his neck straining as he fought for steady breaths. The way he looked at me, like I'd hung the moon and stars in the sky just for him, had me feeling unexpectedly self-conscious. He pushed up on his forearms, his lips tangling with mine, exploring, claiming. "You taste like the sea," Kai growled, and I shivered, reaching down to grab him once more.

"I taste like you," I corrected him, watching in delight as the muscles of his neck flexed when he threw his head back.

He had no more capacity for speech, his next words flowing directly to my mind "I am the sea."

He came with a roar only stifled by the press of my lips to his so we wouldn't wake the rest of the house. All the while I kept my pace, only slowing once I felt him begin to come down. I raised my hand to my lips, keeping my eyes on his as I trailed my tongue over my hand.

"I'd say your taste is sweeter." I hardly recognized my voice, like I'd slipped into the consciousness of someone else, some lustrous sexual goddess that radiated confidence as the feel of him under me stoked the fire in my core.

As if sensing my thoughts, Kai's nostrils flared, and I felt him hardening against my thigh. I raised my brows, a cheeky tilt to my lips.

"I'm about to take that smirk right off your pretty mouth, little star." True to his word, he pulled me on top of him and I could do nothing but follow the movement and pressure of his embrace. He rose higher, the head of his erection sliding over my folds.

Banging from his bedroom door came with the sharp reminder that neither of us had locked it the night before, and I jumped, my hair tumbling down my back as I scrambled for the closest blanket.

"Time to get up, Kai. We've gotta get Maren and hit the road!' Cee's voice called.

"Something tells me she'll be ready when we are." he replied, laughing as I whacked him with the back of my hand.

Cee grumbled something along the lines of "I would know if she ever answered her damned phone."

The handle turned, and I shouted. "Cee! Some privacy please!"

She froze with only a small slit of darkness between the door and the frame. "Maren."

"Yes."

"You're here," her voice was flat.

"Yes." I wanted to vanish into thin air.

"With Kai."

"I'm here," he affirmed.

There was an awkward pause of silence before the door slid shut. "Well okay then! I'll see you both for breakfast." I didn't have to see her to know that she was grinning like a devil on the other side. The smugness was etched into every word. I heard her footsteps retreat down the hall, and I dropped my head to Kai's chest with a groan.

"That was not how I thought the morning would go." Our eyes met, and we burst into a fit of laughter, collapsing back into the soft sheets.

I expected to be spared some humiliation until noon, but we'd already been caught with a proverbial hand in the cookie jar. And if we still had time before breakfast…

"I'm not sure what you mean. This is officially the best morning I have spent in your world," I rolled my hips in response, and a breath hissed out of his mouth, "Little star, please." he begged. I didn't think he did that very often. "I only have so much willpower."

"Then that's far too much."

"If we take too long, she will come back," Kai warned, but didn't stop me as I undulated my hips, using my knees to angle up to the right spot that made us both shudder.

His hands relaxed on my waist, trailing up the sides of my ribs. I shivered at the tickling sensation, releasing a small gasp when his fingers moved the thin triangles of my bikini top to the side. "She can wait five minutes."

He hummed, considering as he stared at my breasts like they were a fine piece of art. "Whatever you wish," his voice tailed off on a husky rumble. Then his mouth closed over my nipple, and there was no more breath left in me for talking.