Chapter 29 #2
“It’s amazing how such simple things can be so miraculous,” she said finally. “I think that’s what drew me to food in the first place. All the small miracles.”
“I like that.” I smiled. “I never thought much about food until you arrived.”
“How can that be? You’ve shown me so much.”
“I’ve always appreciated food, but it was utilitarian. I only thought about it when I was hungry. Now, with you, it’s like I’m rediscovering how to eat.”
“Hmm,” she murmured as she took the spoon from me, dipped it in a shell, and fed me. It felt sensual and spiritual all at once.
“You’ve discovered the secret then. Food is communion.”
We finished the rest of the catch and sipped at our wine. I set out the LED candles I had tucked away and pulled out some more cushions, laying the bench flat so we could stretch out more comfortably as the boat rocked gently on the placid waters.
“That’s one of the things I love about this place,” she said, staring up at the sky. “I’ve never seen so many stars. Never even thought about them in the city.”
I lay down next to her. “Light pollution. You can’t see them when you’re drowning in city lights.”
“Oh, I like city lights too. But this is like being swallowed by the universe. Floating in the sky.” She sighed. “Tell me one of your grandfather’s stories. I’m sure he must have one about the stars.”
“Do you see the bright star up there?” I took her hand and aimed it at the twinkling light.
“That’s Vega, but Ptolemy named it Lyra, and that’s its constellation.
” With her hand in mine, I drew over the stars to form the rough shape of a rectangle with a triangle tail.
“This is the eagle’s head, its wings, and in the middle, it’s gripping a lyre. ”
“Hmmm, it’s a bit of stretch to imagine all of that isn’t it? Ptolemy must have imbibed too much of Stamatis’s wine,” Callie murmured, turning on her side and curving her backside into me.
“Do you want to hear the story or not? Because if you keep moving like that . . .”
“I might wake the dragon?” She giggled. “I’m sorry. Go on.”
“The lyre was the instrument of the musician Orpheus. Hermes fashioned it from the shell of a tortoise. He pierced its rim and tied seven strings across it, the same as the number of the Pleiades.” I pointed to the Seven Sisters.
“Orpheus was, like me, the greatest musician of his age, and he could charm rocks and streams—and even the most hard-headed women—with the magic of his songs.” She snorted and wiggled again.
“He sailed with Jason and the Argonauts in search of the golden fleece. When the Argonauts heard the tempting song of the Sirens, Orpheus drowned out their voices with his own song. The rumor is that he crashed in this very cove.”
“Our cove?” Hearing her call it that made my breath hitch.
She was silent for a bit then admitted, “It’s funny, when I learned to cook as a kid, I always imagined I was a powerful sorceress, harnessing the elements in my cauldron. Since coming here, I’ve never felt closer to the elements. In my cooking too, I feel like there’s magic in it.”
“A sorceress, huh? Well, that confirms it.” I laced my fingers through hers.
“What?” she asked, for once not pulling away.
“You’ve put a spell on me.”
She turned to face me. “I don’t know what to think when you say things like that.”
I shrugged. “It’s the truth. Since you came to the island, I haven’t been able to think of anything else.”
Only the sound of the gentle waves lapping at the edge of the boat disturbed the silence that followed this confession. Then Callie placed her hand lightly on my chest, her fingers stroking over the small tattoo above my heart. “What does this mean?”
“Pax. My dog. It was the first tattoo I got. He died when I was eighteen.”
Her fingers traced lightly over my arm, stopping at the inside of my forearm. “And this?”
“The coordinates of Lyra.” She traced down the veiny interior of my arm, fingers skimming over me. I closed my eyes, letting the sensation run through me.
“This is a phoenix.” She traced over the lines of the fiery bird on my side. Then finally she took my hand in hers and studied the small symbols on my fingers. “More constellations?”
As she moved over every inch of my skin, I could feel my body responding. I put my hand over hers. “If you keep doing that, I’m not going to be able to control myself.”
She smiled wickedly. “Maybe that’s my plan.”
Then she lowered her lips to the scar on my hip, a diving accident when I was a kid. I hissed and tensed at the contact, weaving my fingers through her golden hair as she continued to kiss her way up my abdomen, branding me with the heat of her mouth.
Her fingers followed her mouth, trailing over my already sensitized flesh. “Mmm, salty like the sea,” she murmured. The velvet tip of her tongue touched my nipple and I moaned deeply.
“What are you doing?” I finally managed to say as she raised her head and continued drawing lines and circling contours over my skin.
“Mapping your body. It’s fascinating.” She hovered over me. “So beautiful it should be illegal. It’s just not fair.”
“I could say the same thing about you.” I cupped her face in my hand, stroking over her jawline, my thumb brushing over her plush mouth.
“Please . . .” She rolled her eyes.
“What? It’s true. I can’t sleep at night for thinking about it.” She stared at me unbelieving, and I wanted to beat any guy who’d had made her feel like anything less than the goddess she was.
“You’re talking too much.” She pressed a finger to my mouth. “I’m trying to bewitch you.”
“I told you, asteri mou , you already have.” Her lips brushed over mine, as gentle as the night breeze. I let her take the lead. Our other moments together had been frantic with need and frustration. This time felt different, like we wanted to savor each other. It was another kind of communion.
As the kiss deepened, I slid my hands over her waist, caressing the small of her back, guiding her hips flush with mine. I pressed into her, and even though she glided her leg over mine, opening herself to me, she whispered, “I’m not finished exploring you.”
She kissed her way back down my stomach, her fingers sliding under the waistband of my briefs.
She took me in her firm grip, rubbing up and down my length until I thought I would burst. I held my breath as she hovered over the head of my cock.
She held my eyes as she slowly lowered her mouth to me, her perfect lips closing over the head of my shaft.
“Fuck,” I breathed as her tongue played over me while her hands cupped my balls. I tangled my fingers through her hair as she pumped her mouth and her hand over me. It was exquisite torture. My head fell back and I swear the stars throbbed in the sky.
“Wait,” I managed to say. “I want to finish inside you.” I needed to feel her around me, to know that she was taking her pleasure at the same time as I was.
She paused, her eyes glassy, and her hand still gripped firmly around me, my cock glistening from her mouth. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. There’s a condom in my back pocket.” She smirked at me and fished it out. “See what you’ve done to me? Now I’m the guy who walks around with a condom in his pants just in case.”
“In case you run into me and I agree to fuck you?” She laughed as she unwrapped it and rolled it onto me. She straddled me and I held her hips. “I guess today’s your lucky day.”
I slid my hand under her dress, surprised to find she wasn’t wearing any panties. “And now you see what you’ve done to me. I’m the girl who goes around with no panties in case I run into the guy with the condom in his back pocket.”
“Good to know,” I said and dragged the back of my index finger inside her, grazing her clit.
She was already wet, more than ready for me.
But I wanted to play with her more. I turned my hand and penetrated her with one finger then two, pumping inside her and grinding the base of my hand against her clit until she was moaning and writhing on my hand.
With my other hand, I caressed her breast, plucking at her nipple, then moving lower to loosen the tie of her dress.
It fell open with one tug, and I brushed the soft material away, so I could see all of her.
I slid my fingers out of her and with both hands cupped her breasts, then traced the outline of her waist, her hips, memorizing the shape of her with my hands.
She gripped me firmly, running the tip of my cock against her, then slowly sank down until she was fully seated against my pelvis. The stars throbbed along with my shaft.
And then when she began to move, I couldn’t breathe—everything stilled.
There was just her silhouetted above me against the backdrop of the moon and the stars.
I dug my fingers into her hips like I’d imagined doing the first time I saw her and let her chase her release.
As she got closer, I leaned up on my elbows and pulled her to me for a deep, drugging kiss.
I didn’t know where I ended and she began. It was another kind of communion.
I gripped her to me when I felt her tighten around me and thrust hard into her one last time, letting my own orgasm rock through me. She collapsed against me, and I held her tight, determined never to let her go.