Body of Water

I didn't dream.

I came to in Aedan's arms as he was stroking my face with one warm hand. I didn't need to open my eyes to know it was Aedan holding me. He felt so warm and his unique scent swirled around me like a comforting blanket. I realized that we were lying down and no longer in the living room of his grand penthouse apartment.

"Nerina?"

I didn't speak or open my eyes. I lifted my hands to his where he held me at waist and shoulder. I teased my fingers over the coarse hairs on his arms and up over his thick biceps. I held his face on either side and drew him down.

He resisted the pull. "Please, Nerina. Let me know you're OK."

I'm OK.

His breath washed across my lips a second before I tasted him. It was like coming home after a long absence. He was the warm comfort of a well-used blanket and my downy pillow. He was the gentle light of dawn and the fading beauty of sunset. How I'd ever managed even a few decades without him was beyond me. It was no wonder I'd felt so lost, so aimless. He was what I'd been missing.

"You remember?" He pulled his head up long enough to ask me.

I opened my eyes to meet his golden gaze. They were so warm, so caring and concerned. I wanted to the see them dancing with laughter and flickering with desire again. Even as I looked at him, recalling all that we'd shared, his pupils shot wide and dark and heat blossomed all over my body.

Oh yes.

"Nerina, my lovely. I've wanted you for so long."

"Take me, please!" I, who never begged, clutched at Aedan's shirt and pleaded with my body and eyes.

I didn't ever want to forget him again. I couldn't survive it.

"Oh, please, Nerina." His voice broke on a sob.

I felt the tears well up in my eyes when I saw the look of despair on his face.

"You still don't remember everything, do you?"

I looked back and forth between his eyes and frowned. "I remember you. What else matters?"

"Do you remember how we were separated?"

I searched through the recesses of my mind and winced when I came up against a blockage. I squeezed my eyes shut, determined to get past this block. It was unbelievable that there was anything keeping me from my own memories

"Don't hurt yourself, my lovely. Please, stop pushing." He let his breath out in a slow exhale that enticed my senses.

Again, I felt my body stirring and my thoughts turned back to the present. "No more talk of memories, Aedan. I want you."

He groaned as I drew his mouth back to mine. At first, he kissed me back and it was just as I remembered it; hot, tangy and it melted my insides. His tongue was slippery in my mouth and I teased it with my own until I felt his fingers dig into my sides. I arched against him, rubbing my body on his like a cat.

Mmm, more...

I felt him withdraw, easing out of the kiss and rolling me onto my back before he sat up out of my reach. I stared at his back and wanted to scream in frustration. I knew there was something wrong still. I may remember and know what I am, but anything that kept me from Aedan kept me from half of myself.

"I don't understand." Even to me, my voice sounded weak and insignificant.

"I know you don't."

"And you can't explain it to me?

Aedan hesitated before giving a slow nod.

I chewed on my lower lip and propped myself up on my elbows. "Is that...a rule?"

I saw Aedan's shoulders stiffen and he nodded again. So I was getting closer. We used to play games, the lot of us. Perhaps this is another one. Though why I would have allowed my own memories to be blocked, I didn't know. It was beyond frustrating.

"So this is all a game?"

When Aedan didn't answer me, I crawled towards him and laid a palm on his shoulder. He was still clothed and I was naked, not that it bothered me. Clothing was a mortal entrapment that I never had any use for.

"We're playing a game?"

His eyes were sad and he gave me a weak smile before he put his hand over mine. "It's not a game anymore, my lovely."

I nodded. It was beginning to make sense, as much as it could. I pushed aside the logical, human part of my brain and tried to focus on my instincts. It had been a long time for me, I knew that much, even if I didn't know exactly how much time.

"I'm tired, Aedan."

"I know you are."

"Can I sleep?"

He smiled, like a parent indulging a child. "Do you think it'll help?"

I shrugged, another remnant of my mortal life.

Would I ever be completely free of it?

"All in good time, Nerina."

I glanced at Aedan and smiled as he moved to settle on the bed beside me. I liked having him close. He was warm, so warm, and I began to relax.

"Why do you still call me by that name?"

"You were always the one to choose your mortal name." He settled us both on the pillows and let me snuggle up against his side. "And since you haven't completely shed this life, I think it's appropriate."

I didn't argue. I felt lost even as I knew I'd recovered a vital part of myself. I could feel the mortal life of Nerina inside me and I could feel my true self. It was disorienting and adding to all that was this confusion over Aedan and Avan.

"Stop thinking of it. You do need to rest, my lovely." I felt his lips brush my forehead and a warm breeze rippled over my naked skin. "I'll keep watch. Sleep."

So I did.

****

I dreamt.

For the first time in my existence, I dreamt as the mortals do.

Instead of frightening me, it soothed me and lifted me from the state of confusion I'd fallen asleep in.

I was the Mediterranean and Aedan was there, warming the flowing parts of myself. I rippled and then lay flat as he slid away.

Where are you going?

His deep laughter bounced inside my waves and I rolled after him. He took human form on a beach and I followed. We could make love in our natural shapes but since the birth of mankind, we enjoyed dallying in their world and in their forms.

A wave crashed onto the beach behind me and I shuddered. The separation always gave me a moment's pause but with Aedan ahead of me, glowing and throwing off molten heat, I didn't hesitate. I raced after him and laughter gurgled up from my watery lungs.

You think you can catch me?

I know I can.

His hot laughter trailed back across the beach towards me. I narrowed my eyes, not to be outdone, and cheated. His laughter only increased when I coalesced before him, stopping him in his tracks.

You can't run from me.

He reached for me, his scorching hands taking me down to the ground with a groan. I went under him, stretching this mortal body and spreading my legs as he touched me. As always, it was a struggle to keep from melting away. I drew in deep breaths of moist air and concentrated while Aedan did his best to distract me.

Before I could gain full control of this mortal shape, he pushed my legs wide and his molten tongue scored the insides of my thighs. I cried out, arching off the ground and panting when he did it again.

Is this punishment for cheating?

He made a low noise, a crackling rumble like a log splitting within hot flames, and I shuddered. For a moment, my grip on the human body slipped. Aedan lifted his head and watched with flashing eyes as I reformed. Then he lowered his head and sucked my nipple into his mouth. The sensation ripped through my body and I grew damp.

Stop making me lose focus. Do you want me to puddle beneath you?

Without lifting his head, he shifted and thrust a hand between my thighs, his searing fingers finding and spreading my feminine folds.

I want this part of you wet always.

I moaned and lifted my knees to give him better access to my body. He thrust his fingers inside and started to pump them back and forth. I wanted to tell him to stop that, to replace his thick fingers with the thick rod between his legs but I couldn't manage anything beyond inarticulate cries.

He continued, suckling and nipping at my puckered nipples as he pumped his hand into me over and over again. For a moment, he slowed and that was when I felt the tickle deep inside.

Now

he

was cheating, using his considerable powers to tease and draw out an orgasm that sent the waves of the sea splashing into each other.

I screamed and dug my nails into his skin, only to have them melt away. I growled as he hooked his fingers inside me and scratched him again. He lifted his head from my chest with a laugh and pumped his fingers hard and fast. I moaned and bucked and clutched at his wrist.

Do you want me to stop?

I whipped my head back and forth, the tendrils of my hair liquefying and reforming in erratic ripples.

No, don't stop. I don't ever want you to stop touching me.

Then I never will.

He lowered his head again, this time to kiss me on the mouth.

In all my existence, in all the phases of the world, there had never been anything like his kiss. It slid into me, replacing the liquid in my veins with magma. I rolled my body back and forth, undulating with the waves of lava that singed my very being.

His tongue danced around mine and his fingers pulsed within me. I felt myself grow even more slick and his hand moved just right so that another orgasm began to gather steam.

No.

He withdrew from me and my eyes flashed open to see him holding his body over mine.

You don't want me now?

I was swimming in the sensations he'd stirred within me and I wasn't thinking clearly, an effect he had on me all too often.

He grinned, a hot, wicked grin that had me biting my lip. Then he moved against me and I felt the scorching length of his arousal sliding between my legs. I arched up, desperate to have him slide right into me. He teased and taunted, as he always does. He slid up and pressed down before dragging his cock back down. It rasped over me and my eyes fluttered shut.

My lips parted and I panted, sucking in air mingled with his acidic scent. I think I pleaded out loud for to take me and I know I was screaming at him with my mind. Still he held off, tormenting me with slow gyrations that had me losing my hold on my human body.

Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, when I thought I might dissolve into the sand and back into my sea, Aedan gave a low growl and fitted the head of his hard cock to my opening.

I whimpered, unashamed in my desperate need. I planted my feet on the ground and struggled to lift my hips. I wanted to take him all the way in, deep inside where I could feel his pulsing member like a part of me.

You try my patience, my lovely.

His words were rough with desire and I laughed because all I could do was laugh. Then he moved in me and my laughter turned to frantic moans.

He moved at a slow, easy pace for a long while, heedless of my cries aloud and in his head. He dragged his tongue up the side of my neck and down the other, pausing to taste the hollow of my throat. I tilted my chin up and scraped my nails over his shoulders. As I did that, he opened his mouth on the juncture of my neck and shoulder and he bit down.

The shock of it made me jerk sideways, away from his mouth. His big hand came down on my chin and held me in place. Then he licked my skin, swirling his tongue in circles that felt like a brand. And, oh, how I wanted him to mark me. I felt myself, for the first time ever, longing for this human body to remain so that I could bear his mark with pride and love.

He bit down again with a growl and I wanted so badly to keep that mark. I felt the tremble in his body as he moved over me, inside me. I knew he wanted me too; he wanted me marked as his. Watery blood erupted under his lips and I felt the trickle down my neck.

Gasping, I clung to him and rocked my hips up and down as he plunged harder and faster. His fingers dug into my hips and steam rose from our joined bodies as his tempo increased. He licked my neck, moving away from the mark he'd made and he sank his tongue into my mouth. I kissed him back, drinking his essence and relishing the burn of his heat inside me.

Our bodies moved without rhythm now. We rocked and bucked and I screamed as a pounding orgasm ripped through me. Aedan sank the tips of his fingers into my upper thighs and pushed hard before coming apart a moment after me. Then we rode the crest of sensation for what felt like an age.

Gradually, I returned to myself and felt Aedan nuzzling my neck. He kissed the line of my jaw, nibbled my throat and clamped his mouth over the mark he'd just made.

I groaned and skimmed my palms up over his broad back.

I want it to stay.

I felt his grin against my throat and shuddered when he sucked on me. Mortal blood seeped from the wound and it felt warm on my skin. I thought it was because Aedan had just filled me with his hot seed. I'd cool in another moment, reverting to my natural state.

He licked me again and I shivered. I felt the responding pulse of his cock inside me and smiled. Perhaps we could do this again, right now.

I'd like that, my lovely. I'd like it very much.

I sank my fingers into the silky hair at the back of his head and lifted his head. This mortal heart pumped more blood from the mark he'd made and a niggling thought tickled the edge of my mind.

Then Aedan began to move inside me again. I forgot about the blood sliding over my skin and gave myself up to the immediate physical pleasure of Aedan.

I forgot that my blood, while in human form or not, had always been cool and watery. I forgot that my mortal heart never pumped that cold water from the body. I forgot for a long time that there had ever been anything other than Aedan's body moving inside mine.

****

I opened my eyes. Aedan lay beside me, his eyes wide and glowing like a banked fire.

"It was a dream."

He shook his head.

I squeezed my eyes shut. He was warm, the true nature of him barely contained. Me, I wasn't an ocean or river or even a drop of rain. I was trapped in this mortal form and the pain in my chest was the mortal emotion of sadness.

"I wish it had been a dream."

Aedan's arms slipped around my body and he pulled me close. I sighed as the tang of his fiery essence surrounded me and gave me comfort. No spell, no power or force in the world would keep Aedan from giving me this, from being my calm in the storm.

"You understand now?"

"I'm beginning to."

"I can explain."

I tensed and lifted myself to look into his face. "What do you mean? You can explain now? Why didn't you tell me everything when I asked?"

He brushed my hair back over my shoulder and stroked the spot on my neck that had always borne a strange birthmark. Every mortal life, it was there, like a faded sunburn. Even before he answered, I knew what he would say.

"It was against the rules."

"I don't remember a clear set of rules."

Aedan looked angry then. His eyes turned the red of roiling volcanic lava and heat burst from his mouth when he exhaled in frustration.

"There weren't any." He blinked, the fire in his eyes dimming and then he continued. "We were cheated of any real chance."

"Cheated? By who?"

The anger flared again and I sat up. He wasn't usually this volatile. In all our time together, he was the calm one.

"You know who."

I started to disagree when I realized that I did know. I didn't know until then just how deep the deception had gone, how profound the betrayal.

I swallowed the sudden thickness in my throat and met Aedan's flickering gaze. "Perhaps you'd better explain."

The anger faded from his expression and he did as I asked.

He told me about the way we'd been deceived and overpowered that day on the beach. Our mutual desire to hold the mortal bodies, along with the mark Aedan had made on my skin, became the means for our entrapment. The mark, the blood, our desire, all of it came together and we were taken advantage of in a moment of great weakness.

Ever since then, I'd passed in and out of mortal lives, living as humans through the ages. Somehow, my memories of what we'd been had been erased. For centuries, I didn't even dream of the past. Aedan explained that over time, I grew stronger and it became harder and harder to conceal the truth from me. He, on the other hand, had always lived with the knowledge of what we were. He'd spent thousands of lifetimes trying to get to me. Again, over time, he'd come ever closer.

"Until now."

He looked at me as I spoke and nodded. "Until now."

There was more that he hadn't explained but I felt so tired. I pushed against the blockage in my mind again and again but it changed nothing. Not enough of my power had returned. I was still locked in this human body. The part of me that was still human felt a measure of relief at finally finding out why I'd been different. Why I'd never been able to really find satisfaction in another man's arms. Why my watches never worked, and the computers - indeed, all electronics were not my friends.

And the moon. Always full. Always brilliant.

"It's because you can see it from everywhere in the world at once." Aedan's eyes glimmered at me and I smiled, tucking my body close to his.

"So what now?"

"Now..." He drew in a deep breath and let it out. "Now, I need to get you to the ocean."

I giggled and lifted my head. "You have to know how strange that sounds."

He smiled back. "What?"

"You need to get me to the ocean? I

am

the ocean."

He chuckled and pulled me down on him. "Not right now, you're not. Right now you're just a beautiful naked woman."

I shivered as he smoothed a palm over my bare back. He stopped before reaching my bottom and I wriggled in his arms, trying to move under his hand. A burst of warm air made me stop and I looked into his eyes. They were white hot, like glowing coals at the base of a fire. His tongue slid between his lips to run along the lower curve of his mouth and I felt that caress all over my body.

"Aedan..."

"Hmm?"

I felt my skin growing warm and tight and I itched to rub every bit of myself along his strong body. "There's nothing stopping us now, is there?"

His eyebrows lifted and light flared in his eyes. "You mean other than the fact that I'm still dressed?"

My eyes lowered to the plain grey shirt and dark blue jeans he wore. My gaze stopped on the button fly of his jeans. And on the growing ridge beneath.

I swallowed with some difficulty. "Take them off." My voice was hoarse and my tone demanding. "Now."

"As you wish."

He began to warm up. His eyes glowed red and I gasped when a wave of dry heat pulsed from his body. Then he flashed and with a muted roar, his clothes burned away from his body, leaving him naked and very, very aroused.

"Better?"

I couldn't speak. Other than in my dreams, I hadn't seen his naked form. And yet, it was so familiar; the curves of his biceps, the hair on his chest narrowing to a thin line between the ridges of his abdomen. And there, proudly erect, his manhood waited, all but begging me for a touch.

I licked my lips and reached for him, only to have his hand clamp down on my wrist to stop me. My gaze flickered up to his and I frowned.

"Nerina, there's a chance I won't be able to control myself."

A slow smile spread across my face. "Maybe I don't want you to."

The glow in his eyes went white hot again and I purred at the tickle of heat sliding up my arm.

"Listen to me, please." His voice caught on the last word and I stopped smiling.

"What?"

"You're still very weak in this form. You aren't the same as you recall."

I rolled my eyes and jerked my arm from his hand. "Don't remind me."

"I don't mean it as a criticism, my lovely. It's just our reality right now." He propped himself up on his elbows. I swept his form with my eyes and bit my lower lip as desire flared in the pit of my stomach.

He'd always been magnificent, in human form or otherwise.

Because he could hear my thoughts, and see my imagination gathering steam, he made a low sound like a growl and my eyes went back to his face.