Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Three
Grady
Sometime around eleven o’clock, the older members of the crowd start yawning. Usually, I’d be one of them—I’m an early-morning guy, after all. But every time I look at Vivian, and at the ring sparkling on her finger, I’m hit with a jolt of adrenaline so intense that I wonder how I’ll ever settle down.
When Molly starts to drift off, Noah claps his hands. “All right, folks!” he bellows. “Party’s over. We’re turning into pumpkins. Out you get.”
I reach for Vivian’s hand. “Any chance you want to come to my place tonight? We can come over tomorrow to find new homes for the gnomes.”
“Oh, I figured they’d come live with us. After all, the Gnome Gloam here is pretty full, and we ought to start one of our own, don’t you think? Gnome Gloam 2.0?”
I like the sound of that.
She brushes a kiss against my cheek. “And yes, I’m staying over tonight. Let me just pack a quick overnight bag first.”
I gather up my things and collect my dog, who has had strangers feeding him table scraps all night and is, therefore, both bloated and gassy. I say one last round of farewells to everyone, including Molly, who is a little tipsy and insists on hugging me three times before we leave.
“You better take good care of her,” she says, not bothering to lower her voice. “I read a lot of true crime. Don’t make me get ideas.”
Between my knee and my dress suit and the sheer volume of gnomes I had to transport, I drove over tonight, although I did make sure to park farther down the street to ensure that Vivian wouldn’t spot my car. She hauls her duffle over her shoulder—it’s the most she’s ever brought with her for a visit, and I wonder if that’s just because this is the first time she could pack without earning scrutiny from her family… or if she plans to stay longer than a night.
We haven’t discussed the details of what happens next, and I’m in no rush to do so. We’re getting closer to the end of the season, and I won’t be anywhere near as busy during the off-season. I can finally finish unpacking. Maybe set up a crafting room for her or convert the pool house into a workspace so that she can have a place that’s all her own where she can run her business without being disturbed.
I’m ready to drag Vivian to bed, but when we pull into my driveway, she hops out and grabs her bag. “I’ll let you get Blade sorted out and meet you out back, okay?” She rushes to the front door without waiting for my response.
Blade is exhausted from so much excitement. Halfway back to his room, he drops to the floor, rolls onto his back, and refuses to move another inch. He’s too heavy to drag or carry, and even a handful of treats accomplish nothing since he’s already had so many snacks tonight. In the end, I’m forced to abandon him in the hallway, belly up and snoring, and hope that he doesn’t get into too much trouble when he wakes up.
The back lights are on, as are the pool lights. There’s a ripple of something moving through the water. I wonder if Viv’s decided on a nighttime swim. I imagine her naked body slicing through the water as she swims laps, and every hair on my body stands on end.
“Hey,” I call under my breath as I pad barefoot across the pool deck. “What are you—oh.”
Viv’s arms are hooked over the edge of the pool, letting the tail she’s wearing wave behind her. The end of her blue wig float on the surface of the water.
“Hey, sailor,” she teases.
I walk over to where she’s floating and look down. Unlike the full-coverage suit she was wearing the day we met, this tail rides low on her hips. Her back is bare. When she looks up at me, I can see down the front of her chest; she’s wearing nothing but clamshell pasties.
“Hey,” she says. “I’ve been working on this in my free time. A new one, just for us. No buckles, no zippers, nothing that can get stuck. Want to see the best part?”
“I thought this was the best part.” I admire her breasts, the planes of her stomach, the curve of her hips and ass.
“Oh, no, this tail has some exciting features. Why don’t you join me and I’ll show you?”
I’m still wearing my best suit. Rather than yank everything off and leave my clothes in a heap, I take my time removing and folding each item, arranging everything on the deck chair so that it’ll stay dry.
Viv watches me from the water, her chin propped on her folded arms, eyes dark with something that makes the heat crawl up the back of my neck. I’ve been on the receiving end of plenty of appreciative stares in my life, but this is different. This is her. My soon-to-be motherfucking wife . And I swear to God, the way she’s looking at me makes me feel like I could walk on water.
“It’s a good thing Blade isn’t here, or he’d be nipping at my skin,” I joke. “Maybe stealing a lick or two.”
I roll my sleeves up first, feeling her gaze track the motion like she’s taking notes. Next, I pop open the buttons of my shirt, dragging the fabric over my shoulders slow enough to make her breath hitch. The second my bare chest is exposed to the humid night air, her eyes drop lower, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. Jesus. That little move nearly undoes me.
Her gaze heats my skin everywhere it touches. “If he was here, I’d tell him to get out of my line of sight. Daddy’s taking his clothes off, and he’s hot as hell.”
A smirk tugs at my mouth, but I keep it in check. I’m trying to play it cool here, but my pulse is hammering like I just sprinted down the ice. Knowing I have her undivided attention, that she wants to see me like this, just as much as I want to be seen? It’s a high I never saw coming.
I toe off my shoes next, then slide my belt free with an unhurried pull. She shifts in the water, her mermaid tail catching the light, and I almost laugh because only Viv could make something so ridiculous look downright sinful.
“You always undress this slow?” she teases, her voice warm and lilting.
“Only when I have an audience.” I let my slacks drop, stepping out of them with an ease I don’t quite feel because holy hell, she’s still looking at me like I’m the only man on the planet. And it does things to me. Twists me up, makes my chest feel too tight.
Her eyes drag down my body, slow and indulgent, before flicking back up to meet mine. “I have to say, Coach, I’m impressed.”
I chuckle, shaking my head as I fold my pants and place them neatly on the chair. “That so?”
She hums, letting her fingers dance along the water’s surface. “Mmhmm. All this discipline, this control. If it were me, I would’ve cannonballed in by now.”
I smirk, but I know the truth. My control is paper-thin at best, and Vivian Abbott is the only person who’s ever had the power to tear it to shreds.
I take one last look at her—wet hair, glowing skin, mischief dancing in those ocean-blue eyes—before stepping to the edge of the pool.
I slip into the water alongside her. It’s only five feet in the deep end, so I don’t have to bother treading water as I approach. The sun has been down for a while, and I still heat the pool this time of year, so the water feels warmer than the night air.
“So? What’s the best part?” I ask.
Viv gestures to her tail. Her legs are mostly straight. “When I’m swimming, it’s like this.”
“Okay…”
“But watch.” She pulls herself over the edge of the pool and bends her legs at a 45-degree angle. The thick material over her suit hinges open with her movements, giving me an excellent view.
I whistle and reach out to touch her. I slide two fingers across the pink seam of her pussy, glistening in the rippling light of the pool. She gasps when I trail my fingers upward, circling the pucker of her ass.
“Oh, fuck,” she whines.
I chuckle and lower my hand. “I can see the appeal of this new tail. Excellent design. I bet you could make a killing selling these online.”
“Grady.” Viv looks over her shoulder to glare at me. “Now is not the time to discuss business ventures.”
“No?” I bob backward in the water. “What time is it, then?”
Viv clicks her tongue. “Do you want to fuck a mermaid or not? Did you think about it that first time we met? Don’t even tell me you didn’t wrap your hand around your own cock to fantasies of me.”
“Well, when you put it like that…” I swim back toward her, grip her hips, and bury my face in her exposed flesh. Her pussy tastes like chlorine at first, but the more I lick her, the more she tastes of herself. I don’t use my fingers at all this time—at this angle, it would be pretty much impossible anyway—and instead alternate between teasing her clit and licking into her, teasing her open. In the water, I feel weightless, and the faint current from one of the pool jets is enough to leave me aching and hard, desperate for contact.
But not yet. When I finally take a breath, I replace my tongue with my fingers. There’s something to be said for having her also at eye level, watching my fingers probe into her, seeing how she spreads and opens for me, how she clenches around empty air when I pull my fingers free to lick them clean.
Vivian moans my name as I press my mouth back to the opening at the back of the tail. I lick her clit until her spine draws taut like a bow. When she’s almost there, I lean back and yank her off the edge of the pool back into the water. Vivian yelps, but I’ve got a good hold on her. I guide her back to my chest and use one arm to position her legs, while my other hand guides me inside her.
Everything’s slower in the water, and because I have to keep her at a certain angle or risk the opening in the tail closing around my dick, I have to move slowly. That’s fine by me. Within moments of slipping my cock inside her, Vivian bucks and whines as she comes around me. Water splashes around her face, but her head is on my shoulder.
“I’ve got you,” I tell her. “You’re safe.”
She grips my arms as if for dear life. I take slow, measured steps, guiding us toward the metal stairs. Once we reach them, I hook Vivian’s tail—and therefore her knees—over one of the steps and guide her hands to the guide rails. Since I’m not the only thing keeping her afloat anymore, I’m able to move more freely, holding her hips steady as I continue to move inside her.
Viv sighs her pleasure and lets her head roll back onto my shoulder. The damp blue hair of her mermaid wig clings to my chest. I run one hand over her stomach, over the swell of her breasts, caressing her beneath the water. I can’t reach her clit from here, but I can tell from her ragged breaths that she’ll be able to come again. This angle won’t do it for me, but it feels so fucking good that I’m not going to complain.
Viv suddenly pulls away from me.
“Now you get up there,” she orders.
“As you command.” I release her and pull myself up, grabbing the metal rails with my hands to hold on.
Viv takes a moment to disentangle herself. Once she’s free, she moves over to me and grins up from between my spread thighs. She licks up my length, and my cock jerks against her tongue. The air evaporating from my skin leaves me more sensitive than I was only moments ago.
Using the strength in my biceps, I hold my body weight up for her pleasure and mine. Viv grips the edge of the pool and takes me in her mouth, her whole body bobbing up and down as she swallows me. I release one hand so I can rest it on the back of her head and look down at her.
“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve thought about you in that fucking tail?” I rumble.
As if she senses I’m about to lose my shit, she reaches around the ladder and pushes her finger against the pucker of my ass, swirling it around the sensitive nerve endings. I see fucking stars.
“And watching you like this, without the top or the clips… I want to come all over your perfect tits. God, Viv, I love you so damn much. You have no idea how I… How I… Fuck!”
At my rambling, she sucks my cock down the back of her throat and works it just like her finger is working my ass. The moment it penetrates the tight ring of muscle, I come so hard that my vision blurs. Vivian laps up every drop of my cum while the world around me shifts to a swirl of turquoise and aquamarine.
My body becomes a noodle, only one hand gripping the silver metal to keep me from drowning.
But what a way to go.
Viv pulls back, grinning up at me. “I’d say that this was mostly a success. Although, I think I should add a waterproof vibrator. I’m so turned on right now, but my clit is locked up like it’s in Fort Knox.”
“So let’s bust you out,” I say.
“Easier said than done.” Vivian wiggles gracelessly over the edge of the pool and flops toward the towels she left out. “This thing is difficult enough to get on when it’s dry, but now that I’m wet? Good luck.”
“I’m sure we can handle it,” I say with ill-deserved confidence.
I’m wildly wrong. Even with two pairs of hands and our combined strength, the tail is determined to cling to her skin.
“Good lord,” I grumble when we finally manage to peel it over her hips, “this thing is harder to get off than a condom.”
From there, though, it’s easy. Alas, all the pulling and flailing, combined with the late hour, has left us exhausted. Like Blade, we barely have the energy to make it to our bed, leaving her tail and my suit right where we left them.
“I guess there’s still room for improvement, huh?” Vivian murmurs as we snuggle up beneath the sheets.
“Any time you want to test a new tail, I’m up for it.” I yawn and guide her head to my shoulder again. “I hear there’s a market for furry costumes, too. Maybe it’s time to expand to a new market.”
She laughs. “Maybe. We could set up a sex room for product research. Really explore our options.”
“I’ll get on it in the morning,” I promise.
Viv doesn’t laugh. When I turn my head, I see that her eyes are already closed, her mouth open, her breathing deep. I adjust the blanket, making sure she’s fully tucked in. I feel something hard beneath the fabric. Frowning, I lift the blankets to see what I touched.
That’s when I realize she’s still wearing the clamshell pasties. I gently take them off, trailing kisses to her perfect tits as I go. Her eyes flutter open when I suck deeply on one nipple and then the other.
Then I move down her body and feast on her slick flesh like a man possessed. Or a man in love. Either way, I bust that needy little clit out just like she wanted earlier, except this time, she’s fisting my hair and screaming my name.