Chapter 21 #2
“Ahh…” She had meant to say something, but that was all she got out. Now she really couldn’t think.
“Be a good girl and I’ll let you finish your dessert before I put you to bed.” His eyes glinted with humor.
She couldn’t eat at a time like this. He dropped the chain and picked up his fork, and as he reached across her to gain access to the cake, he slid his arm back and forth across her breasts.
She shivered against him, her breath coming in small gasps.
He brought a forkful of cake to her mouth, but she wanted nothing more than to slap the silly grin off his face.
She took the bite he offered, but it may as well have been sawdust. She couldn’t concentrate and she couldn’t eat. If Jake wasn’t going to let her think, then he was going to help her figure out what to do. She had no options left.
She swallowed, then said, “We need to go.”
Mr. Wolfe gave Jake a knowing look. “You heard the lady.” He slapped him on the back.
Coral blinked and exhaled and tried her best not to roll her eyes. She pushed on Jake’s arm still circling her waist.
“Please? Can we go?” she pleaded.
He made eye contact with her and he must have seen her seriousness. “Yes, of course.”
They said their goodnights and then she hustled him back up to the room.
JAKE
Jake waited until they got back to Coral’s room and had the door shut behind them before he started pestering her with questions.
“Tell me what’s going on. What were you and Redd talking about? It seems to have upset you.” He removed his suit jacket, placing it on the back of the desk chair before crossing to where Coral stood by the window. She stared out at the ongoing storm.
“Is it ever going to stop?” She tilted her head to the side.
He slid his arm around her waist and noticed the chill on her skin. “Come away from the window,” he said, and led her towards the fireplace. “Sit here awhile.”
He settled her into the armchair and turned to get a blanket from the bed. When he turned back, she had the front of her dress pulled down. Her nipples were red around the clamps.
“Can we do something about these?” She held her full breasts up towards Jake.
“I can think of plenty of things to do with those,” he laughed, but then a throw pillow whizzed past his ear.
“I’m serious!” she whined.
He crossed over to her in a flash. “So am I.” He pulled her to stand up and unzipped her dress in the back. Then he slid it down over her hips and let it puddle to the floor around her feet. She started to toe out of the heels she had on, but her stopped her. “Leave them.”
He stood back, admiring her from the ground up.
Sky high silver heels that matched her evening gown.
Nude colored thigh high stockings that stopped just below her perfect, heart-shaped butt.
She had nothing else on. Her skin was a pristine white, aside from her ass, which still held some marks from the belt.
But they too were fading quickly. He’d had her leave her panties off when they were getting ready; he liked knowing she was bare and ready for him beneath her gown.
He walked up behind her and kissed her neck, and she groaned and leaned back into him.
“Please, Jake. I don’t like these anymore.” She held her breasts in her hands again and pushed her bottom into his hardened cock.
He replied with a groan of his own. “Alright, little nymph, kneel on the chair.” He urged her forward towards the seat of the armchair, and he smiled when she didn’t even hesitate.
She brought both knees up to the seat and placed her hands on the back of the chair, then she turned and looked at him over her shoulder.
“Eyes forward,” he told her, and she snapped her head back to face the front.
He came up behind her and rubbed her shoulders, then ran his hands down her back, letting his thumbs travel down her spine.
He got to her bottom and he took each cheek in a hand.
“My marks are almost gone,” he told her. “Does it still hurt?”
“A little,” her voice was quiet, “but I think you went easy on me.”
“Did I?” He couldn’t keep the smile out of his voice. He slid his hands to her front, resting one over her light dusting of curls as the other found the chain to the clamps.
“Please, Jake, I wasn’t kidding. It’s too much. Please take them off. I’ll do anything.” Her voice grew frantic.
“Anything?” He was already coming around to the side of her, putting his fingers on the slide to loosen the tweezer-like clamp.
“Yes, anything,” she affirmed. Then she brought her eyes up to meet his, and he could see all of the emotions coursing through her. He swallowed down the lump in his throat. From the look in her eyes, he believed she would do anything for him, and it scared the hell out of him.
“Okay, I’m going to loosen it. It’s going to hurt, but it will only be for a moment. Do you trust me?”
At her slight nod, he loosened the clamp all the way and slid it off. Coral gasped and he took her nipple in his mouth as he placed his hand over her clit. He laved her nipple with his tongue, trying to suck out the sting he knew the built up pressure had left.
He proceeded with the same process on her other nipple, and before he knew it, she was slumped against him, with tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Did you hate them that much?” He spoke down to the top of her head as she leaned into his chest.
“Yes! They hurt!” She pulled back and looked at him. Tracks of tears staining her unmarked complexion. “But then they were lovely.” She bit her lip and grinned. “Can you love something and hate it at the same time? Because I think that’s how I feel about those.”
He laughed, picked her up in his arms, and he placed her down on the bed and pulled her to the edge. “I had a wonderful night tonight.”
She pulled on him to sit beside her. “I need to tell you something.”
Her carefree mood was suddenly gone. Noting her serious tone, he sat beside her, pulling the cover from the bed to wrap around her shoulders.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me. And I know we haven’t really talked anything through.
” She hesitated. “We only just met, and I don’t want you to feel like I am dumping a load of problems in your lap.
But, well, I have a lot of problems.” She let out an uncertain chuckle, but he had a hard time finding the strength to smile.
He placed a hand on her cheek. “I’m listening.”
CORAL
She fiddled with the edge of the blanket, averting her eyes from his.
“I’m listening, little nymph.” Jake ran a hand through the hair that fell down her back.
She looked up at him with wide eyes. “Well, that’s the first thing. I’m not a nymph.”
“That’s just the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw you.” He smiled at her. “You’re like an enchanted little pixie.”
She grabbed his hand and laced her fingers through his. “I’m actually a mermaid.” She sat back and watched, and she felt like she could see her statement flitting around in his head as he processed it.
He stared down on their interlaced fingers and his eyebrows rose, then he looked up at her with a grin. “You take care of the fish. I thought you were pretty invested to go outside in a blizzard to check on them. You can be my little water nymph.”
She smiled back, glad that he didn’t care what she was. Then he gestured towards her legs.
“Yes, that is the other part of the story.” She drew the blanket tighter around her and shifted to the side so she was facing Jake. It was now or never. She could continue running and hiding, or she could face down her demons.
“There was a prince that was drowning in the ocean. I saved his life, and I fell in love with him.” Her eyes pricked with tears as she remembered the first time she laid eyes on Derrick. “But there was one problem.”
“Fins?” Jake asked.
She looked up at him and nodded yes.
“So, how did you come about these gorgeous legs?” He emphasized his point by running a hand up her thigh. She blushed and dipped her chin into her chest at the compliment.
“This is where my lack of attention to detail sort of gets us in trouble.”
“Us?” he asked, motioning between them.
She gave a quick affirmative nod and continued, “There is this sea witch. She’s the most powerful being in the ocean. I was so desperate. Desperate for a new life, desperate to find love with the only man I was sure would love me back.”
Jake put a hand on her cheek at her words, and she leaned her face into his palm, a silent thank you for loving her.
“She made me sign this contract. I didn’t really read the whole thing through before I signed it.”
His eyes were wide when she looked up. “What did you have to give her?”
“Nothing. She cast a spell on me to turn my tail into legs.” She sat up straight and squared her shoulders, ready to confess the rest. “The fine print just said that I needed to get the prince to fall in love with me. He would be the only one I could be with. Otherwise, the contract was null and void and I needed to make my way directly back to the sea. Once there I would be turned back into a mermaid and enslaved to the sea witch for the rest of eternity.”
“So what happened?” He was hanging on her every word and Coral’s heart broke that she was about to tell him his part in this story.
“Well, Prince Derrick decided he was in love with someone else. I tried my best to get him back, but I think she may have been his one and only true love.” She felt the hot tears hitting her cheeks, pain that had not faded with time.
A life sacrificed and years in hiding, her broken heart had just started to mend.
“But you’re here,” he whispered. “You’re still here. The contract must have been wrong.”
“You’re not understanding. I only just broke the contract,” she said.
His brows knit as he tried to process this information. “But you’ve been here for years.”
“The contract said the prince was the only one I could ever be with. As in the, um, sexual sense.” She stopped and looked at him.