Fables & Other Lies

“Your ships?” I asked.

“Something like that.” He glanced over his shoulder. “The water was okay?”

“Yes, actually.”

“I hope you don’t mind me showering. I also need to wash off the night. I think I have some glitter on me.”

I nodded. I didn’t see any glitter on him, but I liked the idea of privacy in this room.

“Make yourself at home.” He signaled around the room, and bed.

I watched as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Only then did I let out a breath. Just looking at the bed made me sleepy. I walked over to it, stretching my feet with each step I took, and climbed in. It smelled manly. I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes as I tried to figure out the scent. It had the faint smell of cologne and cocoa butter. An interesting mix, but it was good, so good. I lay my head on the pillow and let out a quiet complaint. It was hard, like the bed. I couldn’t imagine being comfortable in it, but then, my comfort wasn’t what he’d brought me here for, was it? I hadn’t really thought much about what would happen next. Would he walk out of the bathroom naked? Ready to have his way with me? Would he let me be? That was doubtful. He’d said I was to spend the night with him and men didn’t say that unless they were talking about sex.

Everyone I knew—men and women alike—were into hooking up on the first night. Most of them were on apps that were solely used for hooking up. I was what people liked to call a prude. It wasn’t that I wasn’t comfortable in my skin, I was, but I suffered from acute paranoia, at least that was what I liked to call it. I was a big overthinker, and unfortunately, sex was one of the things I played out in my head a million times before actually doing it, which meant I never actually did it. It just wasn’t on the top of my list of things I needed to do, that was all. As I lay there, thinking about all of the things that could go wrong—what if he didn’t use a condom? What if the condom broke? I swallowed back an uneasy feeling. None of that would happen and I’d been a stickler about getting birth control shots for years. Not that birth control shots would help me from an STD. I took a deep breath and then another. I needed to calm down. I waited and waited, staring into the dim room, but River never seemed to come out of the bathroom. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been waiting, but when I felt my eyes grow tired and yawned a sixth time, I succumbed to sleep.

Somehow, I knew I was dreaming. Maybe because I wasn’t in the Caliban Manor, but my own little beach house on Amelia Island. I opened my eyes and saw my room, with the all-white walls and windows throughout. My pillow was plush underneath my head and when I inhaled I expected to smell the salt from the ocean just outside the windows, but instead, it was a man’s cologne and cocoa butter I smelled. It pulled me back. River. As if I’d beckoned him with my thoughts, he appeared beside me, and even though I knew this wasn’t real, I gasped. He was shirtless, his muscular arms and etched abs on full display as he propped his head on his hand. He had that sexy grin on his face, the one that made my heart palpitate uncontrollably. He reached out and caressed my bare skin, his fingers moving slowly along the dip of my hip, up to my breast, where he paused, his gaze still on mine.

“What are you doing?” I whispered, even though it was a dumb question.

“What you want me to do.” His hand cupped my breast, his thumb rubbing over my nipple. Desire flooded through me, pooling in between my legs. “When was the last time you did this, little witch?”

“I don’t know.” I bit my lip to keep from moaning when he pinched my nipple, but it was futile; the moan ripped through me loudly as my head fell back.

His touch left my breast, exploring lower, until he reached my abdomen, and snaked his hand between my legs, two fingers running along my lips. I let out a shaky breath.

“Have you ever done this before?” His brows pulled in slightly. I shook my head. “How can that be?” His fingers moved in and out, in and out. He wasn’t inside of me, yet I felt him everywhere. My heart felt like it might give out from pounding so hard.

“I just haven’t.”

“How can that be?” he asked again.

“I don’t know.” My voice was shaky, breathless.