Forbidden Love

Beep...

Beep...

Beep...

Beep...

That was the sound I heard as I groggily awoke to consciousness. I was in an immense amount of agony; my body sore all over. The worst however, was the intense pounding in my head. I felt it was a chore for just my eyelids to crack open. Between the combination of the thin layer of gauze that was wrapped over my eyes and the fact that the only light in the room was from the machines I was hooked up to, I could barely see... But I saw her, and she was beautiful. She was sitting on the edge of my bed, staring intently at me, her face full with worry.

No more than twenty years of age, she was wearing a turquoise sundress. She had an almost pale complexion with long, flowing blonde hair, which seemed to have a light green tint. Her best feature was her eyes. They were a ravenous deep black that seemed to be alive. They sparkled and I swear the pupils flowed like the ocean. I went to move my arm to remove the gauze from my eyes. If I thought she was beautiful before, she was absolutely gorgeous as her face beamed at that simple act.

"Oh, fortunate kismet," she sighed in relief. "Thanks be to Iaso that you are alive. No, do not move. Your constitution must have time to recover from the hostility inflicted upon it," her voice was as soft as a melody.

It didn't matter what she said. I simply didn't have the energy to lift my arm all the way to my head and it collapsed to my side after only being raised a foot. I cringed in pain at the impact.

The woman began to cry at my showing of suffering. "I greatly apologize for the quandary in which I am the root. I did not intend to cause you such peril." She afforded a small smile, this time as she took my hand in hers. Her skin felt as smooth as silk. "I love you."

I wanted to ask, 'Who are you?' but the only thing that passed through my mind at that moment was a heavy darkness.

*

I awoke with a start. "Who are you?" I cried out. I opened my eyes and the room was bright with light.

"Oh goodness, you startled me," a middle-aged brunette woman turned from the monitors and smiled at me. "Welcome back, I'm Nurse Reed." I went to pull the gauze from my eyes, but she stopped me. "Here let me do that."

The nurse slowly unwrapped the bandaging as I tensed at the pain I was in. "Where did the other woman go?"

"What other woman, Sir?" Nurse Reed looked at me curiously, "I have been the one charged with your care since late last evening."

"You know, the blonde with pale skin and black eyes," I closed my eyes to think. "She was wearing a turquoise sundress."

"I'm sorry Sir, but according to our log, you've had no visitors and if it was at night, the only person it could have been was me." Nurse Reed then grabbed her clipboard and filled out the paper with the numbers from the machine, "Speaking of people, Sir, we were wondering what your name was? You've been here a week without identification and no one has called in a missing persons."

"My name is... is...um," my face scrunched up as I really thought about the answer not having the slightest clue at what it was. I shook my head as I finally gave up, "I don't know."

"When you came in, it looked like you got beat up pretty badly. Perhaps you were in a mugging. Anyways, you took a serious hit to your head. That would explain the memory loss."

*

It didn't take long to be discharged from the hospital. Amnesia and all. That's what happens when you have no idea who you are so you have no idea if you have insurance. I was given the spiel about how my memory could come back and it would help if I surrounded myself with familiar people and places.

Really? I have amnesia. How am I supposed to know what or who is familiar?

I never saw that woman again. She must have been a dream. A lovely dream.

The plain, raggedy navy blue t-shirt and pair of cargo shorts I arrived in had been washed, which was nice, but somehow they smelled of antiseptics. To finish this lovely ensemble was a pair of worn sneakers, complete with a small hole on the outside part of the left shoe. These weren't mine, as the hospital gave them to me. The only other item I apparently had with me was a necklace that had an odd geometrical shape attached to it with a pearl dangling in the middle. I was given directions to the nearest homeless shelter and headed that way; forced to now ponder what to do with my life.

*

I was near the end of the line for the soup kitchen. Today's meal was spaghetti. When I reached the front, I was handed a flimsy Styrofoam plate.

"Thanks," I gave a head nod to show my gratitude to the older woman distributing the food.

"You're welcome," she said in a wispy voice.

I sat down to enjoy my dinner, contemplating my new life. I chose the name John Smith. I figured since I am anonymous, I might as well take it to the extreme. I talked to a gentleman named Richard Harvey, my case manager, and decided among the job training they offered that I was going into the culinary arts field. I was going to be a cook but that just probably meant I would be flipping burgers in some fast food joint. My first class was going to be tomorrow. The shelter also gave me a change of clothes for which I was eternally grateful.

"That's a very unique necklace," the woman that distributed the food sat down across from me. "You don't normally see an icosahedron on a necklace, let alone one with such a round, lustrous, devoid of any blemishes natural pearl at its heart. It is such a rare item. Where did you find such an object?"

"I have no idea. I have no memories before five weeks ago," I drank a sip of water. "You seem to know quite a bit about this, may I ask who you are?"

"I'm Joyce Struthers, a history professor at State University."

"Really?"

"Yes," Joyce gave a knowing smile. "What is really extraordinary about that necklace is that Plato associated the elements with regular solids with water being equated to the icosahedron. The addition of the pearl, a symbol of the sea, adds to that. Whoever made that necklace was well educated."

"So the whole thing symbolizes water?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Thank you once again," I said it politely, but I was now deep in thought...Maybe I had an affinity for water?

After dinner, I left the shelter and went to the beach. Being so late in the evening, there were very few people around. There was a family roughly thirty yards away packing up the remnants of their fun and a couple holding hands walking away from me as I sat on an evergreen bench. I watched the sunset as the cool breeze blew the salty air from the ocean and swirled it around me. The sky was filled with radiant colors and they glittered on the water. It was an intoxicating vision to see. I guess I really do like the ocean.

As my eyes lowered, following the sun on its magical path, I was forced to squint at what I observed. In the distance, there was someone swimming in the water. At seeing me, that person began waving. I looked around and noticed there were just me and a seagull picking through some garbage on the ground, so I waved back. Why not? As the figure came closer, my eyes went wide as I realized it was the woman from that night in the hospital. From what I could see, she had on a white bikini. I stood and eagerly made my way to the shore; happy I didn't imagine her, excited to be with someone who knew me, but still puzzled as to who she was.

"I believed from the very abyss of my soul in your recrudescence to me!" She squealed with delight. My consternation must have shown on my face because she stopped advancing toward me.

I took off my socks, shoes, and shorts, leaving me in only my boxers and then I waded into the cool water.

"Do you not wish for us to be together anymore?" Her body started to fidget and tears were ready to flow as she continued, "I will not condemn you if you did."

I smiled and she calmed visibly at my display. "No, it's not that. It's just that I have no recollection of who you are." I finally stood in front of her, the water level at my abdomen.

She looked at me curiously, "Please explain, Jeff."

"Jeff? My name is Jeff," I repeated with an enthusiastic chuckle. "And to answer your question, I have amnesia from when I was mugged or whatever happened," I then stared into her flowing pink eyes, yearning with my own. "But I swear I'm absolutely going to try to remember you."

She turned away from me, buried her head in her hands, and cried. I didn't even know her name to try to comfort her. Instead I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder; gently rubbing it. "Please don't cry. Everything will be all right."

At the contact, her head raised and she chortled, "My name is Herophile." As she turned to face me, I noticed her bikini was not cloth, but seashells and her eyes were now a ruby red. "Amnesia or not, you have the same spirit inside you. And I will forever love you." She then mashed her body against mine, wrapping her arms around my neck and kissed me.

I was surprised at first before I hesitantly returned it. As I did, I heard a splash come from directly behind me. I broke the kiss but she ran her hand through my hair, preventing me from glancing back while keeping our faces mere inches apart. Her eyes were now a light purple. "Umm, Herophile?"

Herophile playfully giggled, "You cannot fathom the extent I have yearned for you." She then wrapped her tail around me, twice, as she kissed me again.

I wasn't feeling fear. After all, she was at the hospital and she continually said she loves me. But that doesn't mean the situation was any less unsettling. I was stiff with apprehension. Was she a... a... I couldn't finish the thought and began to fidget in her arms.

Herophile moved her head to the side of mine, my body still encompassed by hers and she spoke in a hushed whisper, "Please do not lapse into a transient moment of insanity."

I took a deep breath. Was I really going to push away the only person who knows anything about me? Tail or not, this is someone who can help me figure out who I am. Besides, Herophile looks absolutely stunning. "Did I ever tell you how much I love the eloquence in which you speak?" I finally returned her embrace, "Sorry, it took me a minute to come to grips with the situation."

Herophile seemed to relax in my arms. "Your reaction was tantamount to our first introduction," she laughed. "I am jovial to have you in my embrace again and I will speak to an acquaintance about your memory being forfeit. Father and Mother are still outraged by my actions, so they will not sympathize to your predicament." She pulled away from me, held onto my hands, and stared into my eyes with her now luscious blue pair. "Allow me to accompany you to your home."

Accompany? No, she had to take me home, as I did not have the slightest clue where it was.

I held on as she swam and chatted. I learned a great deal about Herophile, myself, and us. She was the daughter of Poseidon and Aphrodite, two Greek Gods. That one through me through a loop. Her eyes change colors based on her emotions, like a mood ring. That definitely brings new meaning to wearing your heart on your sleeve. I really did have an affinity for water. She told me I am a marine biologist and I am living on a boat while doing research on the reef system near here. That's actually how we met.

Herophile said she was playing with a dolphin and didn't see the poacher's sea cage meant for capturing other large aquatic life. Apparently, I was scuba diving near there, saw her, and released her from the trap. She gave me the necklace shortly thereafter. She also informed me that I wasn't mugged, but her stepbrother, Triton, kicked my ass. Over the years, Poseidon has grown a hatred for humans for all the abuse the ocean, and therefore the life within it, has had to withstand from them. He deemed it a heresy for her to love a mortal and when he found out she accepted my offer to be married, he had his favored son teach me a lesson.

When we reached the marina, I kissed Herophile goodnight. We then lingered for another twenty minutes cuddling and giving light kisses in the water under the moonlight. I offered for her to come aboard, but she declined as it took some time to get her tail completely dry for her legs to appear.

I apparently spared no expense for my houseboat. Literally. The boat, if you can call it that, has definitely seen better days. It was small and rusty. It had one little room, more like a closet, and to sit down on the toilet, I would have to do some insane yoga contortion. But I had my own clothes and for the first time since waking up in the hospital, a real sense of self. After drying off and putting on a pair of shorts, I laid on what was supposed to be the bed, my feet hanging off the end, and I fell to sleep.

My body bolt upright as I awoke with a blood-curdling scream, "Ahhhhhh!" I held the sides of my head in my hands as an acute shooting pain ripped through my cerebrum. Suddenly, every memory since birth came flooding back; my job, friends and family, and my love for Herophile. I even remember coming out of my mother's birth canal. "Holy Fuck!" it felt as if my mind went into overload, "Ahhhhhh!" Thirty years of existence relived in minutes.

The pain subsided, but I was still cringing in its aftermath. Both of my hands were rubbing my head as I let out a sigh, thankful that whatever had just transpired was over. The pain was gone; memories intact. I collapsed back onto the bed, panting. That was intense.

"Are you satisfactory?" I glanced up to see Herophile standing in the doorway.

I leaned up onto my elbows and couldn't help the broad smile that appeared at just the melodious sound of her voice, "I am so happy to see you."

Herophile sat on the edge of the bed, "Has the retrospection of our tryst been restored?" She placed her hand on top of mine.

I answered her with an impassioned kiss. "I love you."

Herophile glanced upward and whispered, "Thank you, Hike." She then smiled as she melted into me, "I love you, too."

I kissed the love of my life again. It started as a small peck, one reserved for a greeting after being absent from one another. The notion of separating my lips from hers became blasphemous and I increased the fervor of my new found addiction. I felt Herophile's smile as I did this and I became more impassioned. I wrapped my arms around her lithe body and pulled her tighter into my hunger.

Our tongues brushed up against each other, our ardor becoming emblazoned to become one with each other.

Herophile's hands slowly slid down my bare chest. Her touch was so soft, so delicate, as if savoring the feel of my body as they made their descent to their master's ultimate objective.

It didn't take much. It never does. And I always seemed to find the simple action of pulling on the string that kept Herophile's bikini top on such an exhilarating experience. The seashells collapsed onto my chest before sliding down and falling to the floor with a small thud.

Herophile giggled at the sound before her hands found the elastic band of my shorts. It took the briefest of moments for one hand to pull them downward while the other grasped her treasure. "I have longed for our reconnection."

My grin was playful as my hand began to caress her two perky orbs of flesh, "So you only missed the sex, huh? Not me."

"Do you truly desire to torment me?" Herophile playfully smiled as she began to stroke my cock, "Particularly while I embrace this in my palm?"

I realized, as most men in a relationship often do, that I was wrong. And my moan in response to Herophile's wonderful ministrations proved to her that my erroneous topic of conversation was over.

"I thought not," Herophile smirked.

Herophile elevated herself and placed my cock at her entrance. She rubbed the tip against her opening and shivered at the feeling. I lifted my hips causing the mushroom head to effortlessly slide into her folds. Herophile's eyes closed and she bit her lower lip at the intrusion.

Herophile's eyes reopened, violet in color, and I could see the love she held for me behind them. I caught myself staring, my own emotions echoing hers. "I love you."

Herophile smiled at my declaration as she slowly lowered herself down my shaft. When she bottomed out, she gave a little wiggle with her hips, just letting my manhood understand he was in his home. She lifted up again and when she began coming back down, I raised my hips to meet her.

We developed a rhythm; our intensity growing with each motion, our bodies harmoniously becoming one together. With each plunge, Herophile squealed in ecstasy and with each thrust, I moaned in delight. Her hips were like magic; granting pleasure with even the slightest of movements while I was a steady piston; assaulting her with an unrelenting surge of blissful power.

Our eyes locked as we came. Our essences blended together but it felt as if our very souls were entwining as well. It was perfect.

*

We were lying side by side and I was staring deep into Herophile's now light blue eyes. Both of us content on holding each other in post coital bliss. I brushed a tendril of hair from her face and was rewarded with a playful giggle.

"That was impressive... for a human." The voice was low and based on the tone; it reminded me of a sound a weasel would make with the extending of his words like a hissing snake. It came from a slender man wearing a black suit and he was leaning in my doorway, one arm behind his back.

Herophile blinked, and her eyes changed from light blue to orange. "What do you desire, Hermes?" It came out in a nervous huff.

"I was sent by your father to find your whereabouts and deliver a message. He was certain you would disobey him and he was obviously right."

"Who I love is not of his affair," Herophile sat up, careful to keep herself covered with the blanket.

"Seriously Herophile, what do you see in this... cretin?" Hermes gestured toward me. "He isn't much to look at and his intelligence is subpar. I mean he lives on a houseboat while your father, the man who hates him, is the God of the Sea."

"I love him and that is sufficient," Herophile said defiantly.

Hermes laughed, "You speak with audaciousness, but your eyes betray you. I can see that you are very anxious about my presence, the knowledge that I will give your father and what that means for you."

"My father is such a hypocrite. All of you are. Every solitary one of you has had relationships with humans."

"Call it what it was Herophile, and it is completely different. We fucked the mortals, we did not fall in love with them," Hermes shook his head. "Perhaps I should tell your mother what I saw. The Goddess of Love would surely be interested in a human with the talents I witnessed." Herophile's eyes turned pink and Hermes laughed. "Did I strike a nerve?"

"I would never cheat on Herophile!" I defended. "She is my world and I love her dearly."

"Pfft," Hermes smugly chided. "See what I mean by his lack of intelligence, Herophile?" He then looked at me and it caused me to shiver. "Aphrodite would leave you panting and pleading for her to allow you to touch her. She's the Goddess of Fucking Love you imbecile." There was tension in Herophile's arm as it clutched mine and I realized Hermes threat was real. "Anyways, the message I have for you is real simple. Since I found you in the arms of the human, Poseidon demands you to end the relationship or your tail will become permanent and you will be confined to the Sea Palace for the rest of your days... married to someone of his choosing. And keep in mind you will outlive this human by a few millennia."

"No. Please Hermes, can you not fabricate the truth to him?" Herophile beseeched. "Assist us."

"Stop begging Herophile. It is beneath someone of your lineage and besides, I've heard it all before. Remember, I am just the messenger," Hermes laughed as he shook his head. "And since you need convincing, Poseidon wanted me to remind you of who you are." Hermes shifted and brought his arm that was behind his back to the forefront. In a quick motion, he then threw a handful of water at Herophile's legs. The transformation was immediate and a light green, scaly tail appeared. "You are to appear before your father at noon in three days' time." With that, Hermes vanished.