45. Amaryllis – Meaning Radiant beauty Sparkling
45
AMARYLLIS
(ALSO: BELLADONNA LILY, NAKED LADY, OXBLOOD LILY)
MEANING: RADIANT BEAUTY; SPARKLING
OCEAN
________
I leaned against the edge of the pool, looking out over seeming infinity to the ocean as the sun set. I held my phone well away from the water as the video call connected.
Rin appeared, hair wild, papers spread around her on her couch. She looked exhausted, but her face brightened when she saw me. “Oh my god, hi.”
“Hey.”
“Are you literally in the pool right now?”
“Not just a pool.” I angled the camera so she could see both sides. “An infinity pool.”
“You’re such a lucky bitch.”
“I am, aren’t I?”
She looked at me and narrowed her eyes. “What, no protest? No minimizing? Who are you and what have you done with Ocean?”
Laughing, I shook my head. “I’m still me. Just… enjoying all of this.”
“You better be. You deserve all of it. And you’re glowing. Marriage looks fucking fantastic on you.”
It was good that my husbands were still inside the penthouse, because they’d puff up at that idea. Not that I minded them puffing up . I was already looking forward to the next time that happened.
“Thank you.”
Rin moved a stack of papers to the side with a heavy sigh. There was a weight clinging to her that normally wasn’t there. Trinity often covered up any heaviness she had with energy and positivity, which could get her into trouble.
“You okay?”
She glanced toward where she had her phone propped up. “Of course. Why?”
“I don’t know. You just seem… down.”
A smile that wasn’t real. “Just a lot happening at work. You know how it is. And I’m still drowning in all of it because Jana left behind so much when she died. It’s just a lot.”
I watched her as she uncapped a highlighter with her mouth and marked something before scribbling with a pen she held in her other fingers. “Okay. As long as you’re taking care of yourself.”
Her smile, though small, was real this time. “I’m fine, O. You know me. I’m always fine.”
“Bullshit.”
The screen split and Isolde appeared, out of breath and smiling. “Hi. Hi. Sorry. I’d left my phone up here in the house. Joel called down to Cade.”
“Did you just run up the cliff?”
“Yup.” She collapsed on the couch. “Terrible idea. Zero out of ten, do not recommend. I need to actually start working out again if I’m going to do that.”
Rin looked at the camera and deadpanned. “Please don’t throw up where O and I can see it.”
“I’m not going to throw up. How’s Grecia?”
“Beautiful.” I flipped the camera to the horizon so they could see the fading glory of the oranges and purples. We had plenty of beautiful sunsets in Clarity, but there was something about being here, on the other side of the world, that made this one feel different. “I’m never leaving.”
Isolde pouted. “That’s only acceptable if we can come visit.”
“Please do. I’m sure they would send their plane for you. It’s more than big enough for your entire pack and Rin.”
Grinning, Iz turned over on the couch and leaned her phone somewhere, propping her face up on her hands. “I love this for you. So it’s going well?”
“You could say that.”
“I already told her she’s glowing. And I’m guessing it’s from all the vitamin D. I do not mean the sun.”
My mouth dropped open, and my friends started laughing. I cleared my throat. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do.” Isolde rolled her eyes. “And I’m proud of you. How long are you guys going to be there for?”
Looking over my shoulder, I spotted the three of them gathered around their tablet. They’d been working on something in small bursts, and I’d caught the worry on their faces. As much as I wanted to stay here with them forever, they couldn’t just disappear for weeks on end.
“I don’t know. They probably can’t be gone that long, but I’m along for the ride.” I looked at Rin. “How are the wedding preparations going?”
“Ugh. Don’t get me started. They’re fine, but it’s Dad. He’s doing his off the wall thing. I swear he wouldn’t be able to find his own shoes if his housekeeper didn’t know where they were, and the wedding is no different.”
Trinity’s father was a photographer. A famous one at that. But he was also a free spirit, and not always in a good way. If he wanted to go somewhere or do something, he went and did it with very little consideration for anyone else. Trinity included.
I knew it hurt her, but there wasn’t much we could do.
“When is it?”
“No idea. They haven’t picked a date. I’ll let you know, though.”
A hand entered Isolde’s frame and popped a chocolate in her mouth. She tried not to laugh and failed. “Go away, I’m talking.”
“Sure about that, little flower?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Do you need to go?”
“No.” She glared playfully off camera. “He can have patience.”
“I’m nothing but patience. You know that.”
Isolde flushed as Rowan leaned into the frame briefly and kissed her hair. “Let me know when you’re finished.”
“You both are going to abandon me for dick appointments, aren’t you?” Trinity grumbled.
“Not yet.”
She snapped her fingers. “While I have you, O. Think you could convince your delicious husbands to comment on the Extasis thing for me?”
I frowned. “What Extasis thing?”
“You don’t know? I figured they’d be all over it. The new launch is tanking in a big way. Lots of product issues. They’re doing a great job with damage control, but unfortunately they can’t control the narrative completely.”
Product issues. Was that why the wand broke that night? I’d thought it was because Cam had fully released himself, but maybe not. “I’m sure they’re aware, but they’ve been trying to work as little as possible.”
“As they should.” Isolde nodded and pointed. “Speaking of?”
In the camera that showed my face, I saw Micah coming out from the penthouse in swim trunks and nothing else. The sunlight was fading, painting him with glimmering orange light.
Trinity groaned. “So unfair. But go have fun, O. We’ll see you when you get back, okay?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll text you guys later, okay?”
“Have fun.” Isolde stuck out her tongue right before I ended the call. And a moment later, water swirled with movement and the heat of a body lined my back. “Was I interrupting?”
“Nothing that won’t keep.”
Micah plucked my phone from my hand and took it to the safe side of the pool so it wouldn’t get wet before returning. He turned me back to the lingering sunset and wrapped me in his arms.
“Is everything okay?”
His chin rested on top of my head and he purred. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Trinity mentioned the launch isn’t going well and the media isn’t great.”
Micah sighed. “That’s true. We’re doing what we can to get to the bottom of it. It’s a bit frustrating. But these things happen. Not everything goes according to plan.”
“Is that why you and Cam stayed here for the ruins?”
“Mmhmm.” He hummed the sound in my ear. “Sorry about that.”
I turned in his arms and looped mine around his neck. “Don’t be. Everett and I had a good time.”
He smirked. “I heard.”
Leaning on his chest, I listened to his purr. The sex was amazing, and I loved it. But this too. Just existing in someone else’s presence, knowing they were there for you and no one else.
I didn’t know how long I’d wanted that, but I did. Desperately. I wasn’t going to let the moment pass. We stayed like that until darkness fully arrived.
“Perfect,” Micah whispered.
“What?”
Against my temple, his mouth curled into a smile. “Besides you?”
My stomach did a little flip.
“Turn around. I wanted you to see this.”
I did, confused. It was the ocean. Unless there was a storm, or the moon, after dark there wasn’t much to see.
All along the shore, the water was glowing . Bright blue. It came in with the waves, disappearing briefly before appearing again. “What is that?”
“Bioluminescence. Disturbed by the movement of the water.”
It was so beautiful. All I wanted to do was touch it. “Can we see closer?”
Micah took my hand and pulled me out of the pool. Our robes were on and sandals were on our feet in seconds. I almost stumbled being pulled behind him, but he didn’t let me fall.
None of them would.
“The beach is probably going to be filled with people looking at it,” I said.
“Not this beach.”
On the ground floor, Micah took a different path out of the hotel and down to the sand. High stone walls cradled the path before flaring outward into a massive chunk of the beach that was blocked off on both sides and entirely deserted. “Is this a private beach?”
“Just for the penthouse.”
I shook my head, grinning. “The three of you never do anything by halves, do you?”
“Never.”
Up close, the blue in the waves was vibrant and neon. Every wave was a new burst of color. There were tiny bits of green and purple. Almost like the aurora had fallen to earth and come to life in the water.
I tossed my robe and sandals onto the sand and waded in. The ocean was warm, and the minute my feet touched the water, it glowed around them. I leaned down and ran my fingers through it to watch the way the light followed it.
“Look.”
Micah came with me, lifting a handful of water up. It glowed in his hand, remaining lit instead of fading. He poured it from one hand over the other. As the water fell, it left a glow behind. Fading, but it stayed for a moment.
“Wow.”
This was… incredible.
“I meant what I said this morning,” Micah said. “When we get home, I’m painting you.”
The darkness meant he couldn’t see the heat in my cheeks.
“But that doesn’t mean I can’t paint you right now.”
“What do you mean?”
Another handful of water. This time gently poured over my shoulder. The glow of it reflected in Micah’s eyes. “Ocean blues.”
What he meant clicked. Paint me. With this. Right now. I opened my mouth, and he didn’t let me speak, closing the distance and kissing me. Gathering me up and saying everything he could without words. He was quiet, my husband, but he knew how to speak .
“Will you let me paint you, Ocean?”
Both our voices were barely a breath. “Yes.”
He curved his fingers into the straps of my bathing suit and pulled them down my shoulders. “I need my whole canvas.”
No protests from me. We were entirely alone anyway.
“If I’m naked, you are too,” I whispered. I wanted to watch him.
I caught the curve of his smile in the scarce light. “Yes, ma’am.”
If this was the way he undressed me, I wanted him to do it more often. With slow, careful attention. Touching the skin he revealed and kissing places I didn’t think had ever had a mouth on them. Until I was bare beneath the stars and rising moon, and he was too.
He dragged a handful of glowing water up my side and let it drip. I couldn’t help but look down at it, entranced by the way tendrils of light clung to my skin. And another handful that he let fall over my breasts. “Can I take pictures while I paint you?”
I glanced at the pile of our clothes. His phone was on top. I hadn’t even realized he brought it with him. “Only for you, right?”
“Only for me,” he murmured. “And Cam and Everett.”
“Okay.”
He kissed me slowly. “Something tells me I’m going to want to paint this too, and I don’t want to do it from memory.”
I laughed, breathless, as he lifted me off my feet and took me to the sand, right in the middle of the shallow waves of the rising tide. There was something luxurious about being naked on the beach and the feel of the water everywhere . Especially when every wave was a wash of crystal light.
“You can’t only paint me,” I told him. “You have lots of other things to design and paint.”
“The design teams have been begging me to let some things drop off my plate. Maybe now’s the time I do, and only make paintings of you.” Micah ran a wet hand through my hair and leaned over me so I could see his eyes even in the darkness. Stretched out beside me so the water washed over us together.
“Micah—”
“I haven’t had nearly enough time to savor you, princess.” He tangled our legs so I couldn’t escape. Not that I wanted to. “I know I get caught in my own head.”
I smiled at that. He did. But I understood it. Because I did it too. I’d be looking at an arrangement of flowers or imagining one, and when I came back to myself, I’d have been staring at the wall for an hour watching a movie in my own mind.
“But I promise you that when I’m with you, I’m with you. Nothing else is in my head.”
“I’ve never doubted that.” It was the truth. He was softer than Cameron and Everett. Softer didn’t mean less powerful. He was simply quieter. When he was passionate about something, it meant everything. I would never forget his face on our wedding night when he discovered how much pain I’d been in. It was like it had been his pain.
He’d taken care of me ever since. Always making sure I was okay. Always checking to see what I needed. I loved him for it, and I hoped he loved doing it. Because it was clear to me it wasn’t only because of the corset, Frank, or even Laura. Taking care of people was part of who he was at his core.
“I’m glad,” he said. “But I’m telling you because I don’t want you to think I have better things to do right now. The only thing in front of me is you. And I plan on taking every advantage.”
He shifted so he was over me, pressing me into the sand, fully skin on skin. I reveled in the feeling of being surrounded by him and the ocean and all the pretty blues. The waves reached my waist now, but I felt them creeping upward.
When he sat back, I couldn’t quite see his eyes anymore, but I felt them. “You’re already a masterpiece, princess. But I’m going to make you my masterpiece too.”
He did.
Micah painted my skin with glowing handprints and filigree designs. He used the waves to spatter me with starlight and turn it into swirls. There were pictures, but I stopped worrying about them, and just enjoyed him and the waves and the stars above me.
As the moon rose higher and the sky turned brighter, I could see more of him. Everything above the water was lined with silver, everything below lined with blue.
If someone had told me a month ago that I’d be lying on a beach, naked, with my excruciatingly hot husband, and letting him take fully nude pictures of me, I would have laughed in that person’s face. But here I was. And all I wanted was for this to last. The peace and safety I felt, because I knew that Micah only wanted to make me beautiful. And it didn’t matter what anyone else thought.
“Come here.”
He helped me to my feet and pulled me deeper into the water. Deeper, until the water was around my breasts, making them float. The first time I ever went skinny dipping, it was a horrifying and comical realization that boobs floated. Now, every movement laced them with that electric glow, and Micah couldn’t keep his eyes off them.
Even when he lifted me, and wrapped my legs around him. I didn’t mind this. No worries and no weight. Just the two of us and no words needed.
I wasn’t sure if he kissed me or I kissed him, only that we were kissing each other and if we kept going like this, I would never need air. Micah kissed differently than my other husbands. He kissed me slowly . Pulled my tongue into his mouth so he could explore every part of mine. Stole my breath and gave me back his. Deepened it until I wasn’t sure where we separated or which way was up from down.
Micah held me to him, never letting me back off or ease up, just kissing me like he would do it until the world ended. And maybe a bit longer, even then.
It felt like he was memorizing every part of me. If my husband wanted to make me in sculpture, he would be able to do it from memory by the time the night was over.
I gasped when we finally broke apart. I leaned my head against his, hauling in breath even though I would rather be breathing everything that was this man.
This Alpha.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m so good.” I managed a laugh. Down below my ass, I felt his cock, hard. I teased him. “Are you all right?”
“I’ve been thinking about your mouth all fucking day.”
“Really?”
He laughed low, sparking heat deep in my gut. “Absolutely. The fantasies I have, Ocean.”
“What are they?”
“Hmm, I don’t know if you’re ready for them.”
I tilted my head and frowned. “Why?”
“We don’t want to scare you.”
“You think I’m that easily scared?”
A grin, and he turned us in the water so I was looking out over the horizon and toward the moon. “Maybe not. But there’s no way to describe how much we want. How deep it goes. I won’t pretend I’m not obsessed, and I won’t deny that I want to consume you. Until your soul knows nothing else but the three of us.”
There were a lot of things in my life I was afraid of. Pain. Humiliation. Abandonment. Heartbreak. But right now? With them? With Micah? I wasn’t. “I’m not afraid of that.”
He hummed into my skin. “Telling you all my fantasies would take all night.”
“Just one then.”
“I want to fuck your mouth underwater. Train you first so you can take all of my cock and then have you sink beneath the surface and take me all the way down. Let me fuck you until you’re desperate for breath. And do it all over again until you taste me.”
Even though we were in the water, I was wet.
“And I’ll give you one more,” he whispered. “Because my fantasies can be dark and dirty and raw. But they’re also sweet and soft. I want to wake you up early before dawn and take you to the nest porch. Make love to you slowly while we watch the sun rise. And hold you while you fall back asleep with my name on your lips.”
My heart did a flip in my chest. I could envision exactly what he meant, and I wanted all of it. Everything.
We were kissing again, this time driven by need and desire. My thoughts kept clinging to me. I needed to know before I begged him to fuck me. “This morning. Was it okay?”
He jerked back to look at me. “You had doubts?”
I bit my lip. “I mean, yes and no. It was my first time, so…”
Micah froze, a growl rolling out of his chest at the same time his arms locked harder around me. “Are you telling me the first cock you had in your mouth was mine?”
Shivers ran over my skin at his tone. Everything tightened. “The first to cum in my mouth, too.”
A low sound in his throat. “Remember what we said about firsts? It turns us into savages, princess.”
“There are still plenty you can have.”
“You want to be pinned to the sand with my cock? Is that it?”
I smirked. “I kind of assumed that was going to happen either way.”
“What are your other firsts?”
Nipping at his lips, I wrapped my arms fully around his shoulders. It was safe to tease him and drive him wild, because he was safe. “Guess.”
He squeezed my ass and moved his fingers until he brushed my hole. “Has anyone had you here?”
“No one.”
His face dropped into my neck with a groan. He lifted me higher and tilted me against him, and suddenly his cock was pressed right where his fingers had been. Daring. Testing. Beautifully terrifying.
“If you don’t want me to fuck your ass right this second, tell me. I won’t be disappointed. I’m more than happy to fuck your tight little cunt over and over again. But you need to tell me no. Right now.”
I shook my head. “I’m not telling you no.”
Micah stumbled to the shallows with me, locking my legs around his waist. My back hit the sand. This time we were both fully in the waves, the glowing water brushing my hair and neck. Every splash clung to him and me, painting us with what felt like magic. Like this moment was more.
He guided my legs up and back, pressing his cock in, jaw clenched like he was holding himself back from ravaging me completely. “Relax, princess.”
The command in his tone held no room for argument. An Alpha commanding an Omega to obey, and I wanted it. Relished the way my body softened and let him in. I thought it might hurt, but it didn’t. Omegas were made for Alphas in every way. Even though I’d never done this, my body was ready.
Eager .
Watching Micah move, working himself into me inch by inch, luminous waves splashing against his ribs… I understood the desire to paint the image and capture it forever.
Pleasure swirled, but it was different. Deeper. Everything bloomed in a way that was familiar, but I’d never felt anything like it. I could imagine feeling Everett’s piercing here and loving it. I could imagine two of them?—
Micah threw one leg over his shoulder so a hand was free. And fuck , he used it. “I think you need more, princess.”
Water surged around our hips, drowning us and his hand as he slid two fingers inside me. Full of his cock and now his fingers… it was like Cam and the cock sleeve. So thick it was impossible and delightful and lighting my nerves up brighter than the luminescent water. Yet, without needing to say it, I knew I could take more if they asked.
My Omega wanted this again and more. Now that she knew what was possible, she wanted everything .
Thrusting his hand and hips together, Micah released that part of him he’d been holding back. The darker, brooding piece of his Alpha that hid beneath the art and his occasional silence. That sliver of himself that wanted to hold me beneath the waves for his pleasure and give in to the darkness.
And at the same time, he was still the man that wanted to caress me simply to see me blush. To hold me through my nightmares. He was a contradiction that made sense. And he was mine.
Micah’s thumb circled my clit.
That was all it took.
The subtle pleasure that had grown from newness slammed into me like a tidal wave. Hard and fast, gone like a firework, but there.
My husband wasn’t finished.
Another thing to tell Cameron. I loved that space before the orgasm where it felt like drowning in desperate pleasure. But I loved the space after it too. Being fucked because they hadn’t had enough of me yet, or knowing they’d taken the time to push me over the edge first. It felt good .
I hadn’t known I loved it until now.
Even if I didn’t have another orgasm, I loved this. Pleasure and warmth in my chest and the beauty of Micah staring down at me like he’d crawled out of the sea specifically to take my ass and make it his.
“Princess,” he said. The next words were lost in the water. The waves were nearly covering me now, and I didn’t fucking care.
In the next second he pulled out of me and groaned. His orgasm splashed on my skin, painting me in an entirely different way before that, too, was washed away. Micah went stiff, working his cock until every last drop was squeezed out.
And then?—
Oh fuck .
Micah dropped to the sand, burying his head between my legs even as the water covered his head. What he wanted, he was giving me. Every part of me was sensitive. So fucking sensitive from being fucked elsewhere but barely touched. The water pushing and pulling and dragging added to the overload.
He needed to breathe, didn’t he?
My husband needed to breathe, but he didn’t breathe. Licking, sucking, swirling, and all the way around again until I was grabbing his hair and holding him there out of desperation because I was so fucking close but he was going to drown.
Those two fingers slid back into me, joined by a third, and Micah knew exactly where to thrust to finish me.
My cries were lost in the sound of the wind and waves, the heat of my orgasm mixing with the tides, and still he didn’t fucking breathe until I was done and collapsed and shuddering with every flick of his tongue.
Only then did he crawl up my body with wild light in his eyes. “Mine.”
I tasted both of us on his lips.
“I thought you were going to drown.”
“Never. Because if I drowned I could never do that again, and I plan to.”
“Fuck me on the beach?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Pretty much anywhere, but yes, definitely the beach. The one by our house hasn’t been christened yet. We’ll have to take care of that.”
I laughed, still out of breath, and yelped when a glowing wave briefly covered my face. “Painting me, fucking on the beach, sunrise sex. It sounds like we have a lot of things to do once we get home.”
Micah kissed me on the nose before rescuing me from the next surge. “You have no idea, princess.”