Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Then she crawled over toward Finn, slipping between his legs and sliding her hands up his thighs.
He’d been aching for her since she slipped out of her cover-up on the bow.
So when she reached to free him, he was hard and straining.
Her warm breath on his skin had his hips bucking up.
But Iris wanted to tease.
Her hand closed around his length, then she leaned down, closing her lips around the base of him, then running her tongue up toward the head, where she teased around the sensitive skin until his hands were fisted in her hair, until he was rocking restlessly.
Only then did her lips close around him and suck him deep.
Finn groaned as pleasure surged through his system.
Everything about her was a revelation. And he was completely and utterly devout.
She worked him slow at first, then faster as his gasps became groans.
His fingers were crushing the back of her skull as she drove him right to the edge, then took him over.
His vision went white with his release, and Iris moaned at the taste of him, working him through it until he was weak and panting.
Only then did she let him slip from between her lips.
Her head rested on his thigh afterward as he tried to bring some order back to his system.
His hands sifted through her damp hair, not ready to break the spell.
In the end, it was Iris’s stomach—starving after hours of swimming—that had him pulling away.
“I brought food,” he told her. He got to his feet, tucked himself away, then reached to pull her onto her feet.
“Thank the seas,” she said.
He led her into the galley, loving how she didn’t bother to try to cover up, happy to be bare just for him.
Finn went into the refrigerator to pull out the charcuterie board he’d prepared while waiting for her to show up at the marina.
He poured a little white wine, then the two of them sat entwined, eating cheese, crackers, fruit, and meat until they were both fulfilled. They discussed little and big things—everything from his swim lessons to their feelings on starting a family.
“Go sun yourself,” he suggested, waving toward the sun pad. “I’ll join you after I clean up.”
Iris was happy to oblige, giving him a show as she slowly moved away, her hips swishing, her round ass just begging to be grabbed with each step.
By the time he joined her, though, there was something tender in her gaze as she looked out at the sea.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Would you be willing to go down there with me?” She gestured out toward the water.
He’d follow her down to hell if that was what would make her happy.
“Down where?”
“To the palace. To see my home. My childhood home,” she was quick to amend.
“Is that possible?”
“It’s a little complicated. But yes. You’d have to go down with me, of course.”
“How would I breathe?”
“It’s something that would be easier to show you than explain.”
“Then show me.”
“Really?” Her tone was hopeful.
“Really.”
“Now?”
“Right now.”
He offered her his hand and they moved back to the swim platform, then jumped into the water together.
“Are you ready?”
“Absolutely.”
Iris lifted her hands, and the water between them shimmered. With a whispered word, too low for Finn to hear, the surface tension stretched, gathered, and folded inward—becoming a delicate orb near her mouth.
Her hand lifted, and her fingers brushed his jaw as she moved closer.
They were close enough to kiss.
Then Iris breathed out. Just once. And the whole world changed.
The shimmering sphere spread from her lips, then cupped his face, held.
With it, he could hear her heartbeat. He could smell her citrus and salt.
The bubble was her breath, her life force, and she was loaning it to him.
“You have to stay close,” she told him. Her fingers tightened on his. “Or it will stop working.”
Finn, not sure he could speak through the bubble, nodded.
“Ready to try it?” she asked, voice soft.
Then they were dipping underwater.
Finn’s first instinct was to hold his breath. Iris pressed her hand to his chest, a silent reminder to breathe.
Stomach tensing, worried about sucking in water, he took a short, quick breath.
And got oxygen.
He tried it again, deeper.
Then again.
Iris smiled at him.
Then, hand tightening on his, she threw her body into a swim, pulling him down with her.
The water grew colder and darker as they swam deeper.
All around them, the ocean came alive.
Finn caught sight of another mermaid’s brilliant white tail, the bright red of an octopus swimming past; schools of colorful fish parted around them, welcoming Iris home.
She led him past an endless, colorful coral reef, introducing him to things he’d only read about in books: the tiny, mischievous dragonettes, the singing eels, the stunning, almost fake-looking glimmersharks.
Iris paused their swim to nuzzle a few dolphins who seemed eager to see her, though he had no idea if she could understand their clicks, whistles, and squeaks.