Redheads and Tentacles

Tw: Near drowning.

Tara spat sea water out of her mouth and looked around, finding her bearings. A moment ago she had been walking on some rocks looking into tide pools with her friend, Sammi. Then, a giant wave crashed around them and dragged Tara into the ebbing tide. Now, she watched Sammi, and the rocks they'd been standing on, move further away, and fought the rip-tide to keep her head out of the waves.

She knew the rule of escaping a rip-tide- swim parallel to the shore - and fighting off the initial panic cost her precious seconds. She started swimming perpendicular to the waves, hauling herself out of immediate danger. She'd been taught this was the only way to escape a rip-tide, but no one had told her how much work it would be. Not the futile work of swimming against such a strong current, but still a fight for her life. Every couple of seconds a wave slammed into her body, slapping water into her mouth and eyes. It was impossible to set a rhythm to her strokes or breathing. Even doing her best to keep her head up, she was gasping for breath and feeling abused.

And then, like passing through a veil between worlds, the sea was suddenly calmer. Tara took a moment to get her bearings. She could see the shore, but it was so far away the beach looked like a ribbon of yellow. Nothing for it, she would have to start swimming back. If she took her time, she was sure she could make it, but she was not a swimmer (She preferred weight lifting, it made her feel like a tiny tank). She flipped onto her back and set an easy pace back to land. Tara kept the afternoon sun on her left, as a general landmark, so she wouldn't need to constantly roll over and check where she was.

Unexpectedly, hands slipped between her shoulders and held Tara's back against a warm body. "I've got you. You are going to be okay," a woman's voice declared.

Tara felt a wake form around her as they picked up speed. She tried to look around, but the strong arms held her in place, and turning her head meant getting water in her face. Still, she was able to see a strand of red hair fluttering in their wake.

Despite the red hair, Tara knew this wasn't Sammi. Her friend was a redhead, tall, and had all the unfair curves of a Pixar mom, and was barely able to swim. There was no way a rescue team had made it out to the remote beach so quickly, and the other vacation home was at least a mile away from their beach house. Whoever this was had clearly been out in the water already. As fast as they were going, Tara was surprised not to hear a motor.

Finally, their pace slowed and Tara's shoulder bumped against a large rock. "It's shallow here, stand up and you will feel the sand under your feet. Use the rock to catch your balance."

Her rescuer had placed Tara's hand on the rock, giving her something to lean on while she found her feet again. As she did this, her rescuer moved so the boulder was between herself and Tara. They peered around it like they needed to hide. The woman's red hair tumbled around a tan Sammi's pale skin could never manage. Tara couldn't see how the woman had been swimming so fast--there was no device nearby that could have done the job.

"Thank you so much. I wasn't sure I could have made it back to shore," Tara said. She reached an arm toward the woman, who flinched away. "My name is Tara."

The woman smiled at Tara, but didn't take her hand. "I'm Molly, but you should get back to your friends, they are probably worried."

"Is there a way I can thank you? Maybe I can bring some wine to your house down the beach." Tara waited for Molly to respond. Gentle waves washed around them. Molly stared at Tara, considering the offer. "I'd really like to thank you, if you don't drink I can bake something and bring it by?"

A large wave crashed around them, lifting Tara up and pushing her sideways. In that instant, she saw red octopus arms gripping the stone. "Is that..." she wondered and pushed further around the rock. "Maybe I should grill a fish instead!"

Molly holding on to the rock with her hands... and legs. She had muscular shoulders and, with the blue band she wore as a top, could have passed for a competitive swimmer on vacation. However, around her belly button, human skin melted into an octopus's, becoming a deep mottled red and spread into eight long and powerful limbs.

Molly looked like she was about to dash off but Tara's exclamation of "That is so cool!" made her pause.

"You're not scared?" Molly still sounded like she was scared, but had stopped leaning away from Tara.

"A bit surprised, maybe. But you saved me, I was rescued by a mermaid!" Tara reached a hand out to Molly, again. "I am really grateful you saved me. And I meant it when I asked what I could bring to say thank you... I also really need to let everyone know I'm okay. Can I find you later? Maybe tonight on the beach in front of our cabin?"

"That sounds great!" Molly took Tara's hand and let herself be pulled closer. "I'll see you once the moon is up, on the spit of rock, across the bay, instead of the beach."

Molly pulled Tara into a hug, using her human arms, and planted a peck on the human's cheek before splashing off into the water.

Molly had returned Tara close to the beach house, just around a bend in the beach made by a hill that hid her and Molly from view. Even as she hurried back to reassure everyone she was safe, Tara's mind spun out scenes of herself wrapped in Molly's many arms. She imagined how they would feel roaming across her body. She hoped that kiss meant there was a chance to find out.

That thought surprised her. Tara never thought of herself as a prude, but wanting to make out with someone she'd talked to for less than five minutes was not something she usually did. Then again, almost drowning wasn't something that happened to her either. Maybe her adrenaline was still up.

The beach house was barely in sight before Sammi came pelting down the path. Her red hair streamed unbound in the ocean air. The similarity of hair color to Molly caused Tara's fantasy to switch her octopoid rescuer's face for Sammi's. Barely slowing down, Sammi flung herself at Tara, wrapping her in a tight hug, squeezing the smaller woman into her friend's large breasts. Tara felt her heart flutter. She was glad to be safe with her friend again, but also felt something stirring in her mind.

Maybe her brush with death was making her feel more adventuresome. She set that aside to examine later.

"I can't believe you are safe!" Sammi was shaking with joy. "Rita is still on the phone with the Coast Guard! We have to let everyone know you are okay!"

Sammi tried to drag Tara into a run, but couldn't get her to move at more than a walk.

"Sammi, I'm tired. I swam all the way back," Tara lied. "Run ahead, let everyone know I'm safe, and I'll catch up."

Sammi gave Tara another hug and a kiss on the top of her head, then was running up the sandy hill shouting, "Tara's back!"

As Sammi ran, the t-shirt she was wearing hiked up over her ass, exposing the tight shorts straining to contain her round cheeks. Tara felt immense love for her friend who could be so enthusiastic and understanding. And, she was definitely not enjoying the way Sammi's ass moved in those shorts. Not in the slightest.

Before Tara made it halfway up the hill to the beach house, she was engulfed in a joyful group hug made by her, Sammi and the other two friends they were travelling with: Rita and Arthur. The three of them practically carried Tara back up the hill. They tried to put her in bed to rest, but Tara insisted on settling in the hammock that overlooked the beach. Sammi brought Tara a sandwich and a beer ("Because swimming all that way back has got to build an appetite") and then snuggled in around her friend.

After practically inhaling the snack ("okay, you called it"), Tara leaned into Sammi. The redhead's curves always made Tara feel surrounded by indulgent comfort. They fit around the shorter woman's body perfectly. She looked out over the beach and rocky outcrop stretching into the ocean and thought about sneaking out to meet Molly tonight. She wasn't ready to tell Sammi all of her adventure, yet.

The two women chatted in the hammock, Sammi idly playing with Tara's close-cropped black hair. As Tara felt herself falling asleep, she let herself wrap her arms around Sammi like they were the best body pillow ever. Sammi kissed the top of her head again and settled deeper into the hammock.

"You're lucky there is a canopy on this patio, or I'd have to go in to not get burned," Sammi whispered. Tara only burbled sleepily and squeezed a little tighter.

After dinner everyone called it an early night. The day had been draining all around and they were all ready to sleep. Except Tara, whose brain was spinning, looking forward to the moon rising.

The beach house only had two bedrooms. Thankfully the room Tara and Sammi shared was taken up by a king-size bed. Tara cuddled Sammi from behind, being her friend's jet-pack. Her fingers idly traced Sammi's pale skin.

"I didn't swim the whole way back, you know," Tara whispered. "I don't think I could have made it on my own."

Sammi rolled over and let her forehead rest against Tara's. "You mean a dolphin rescued you, like in those old stories you hear about sailors?"

Tara realised she didn't know what Molly was, mermaid didn't seem correct. "I'm not sure what helped me. One moment I was figuring out how to make it back, and the next I was zooming back to land."

"That's amazing. I wonder if we can find a way to thank it." Sammi yawned, "But that's a project for tomorrow. Be my little spoon?"

Tara cuddled into Sammi. Their hand was a comforting warmth on her stomach, distracting Tara from deciding how else she could thank Molly. She'd saved some of the grilled salmon from dinner, saying the sandwich from earlier had filled her up. That didn't seem enough, and her mind filled with images of Molly's tentacles wrapping around her, and what those suction cups would feel like against her skin. Still, even as she fantasized about the woman, Tara had trouble keeping Molly's tanned face and Sammi's freckled face from trading places.

There had been a period of will they/won't they after Tara and Sammi had met in college. The flirting had been intense, if a bit awkward. But instead of hooking up or dating, the two had settled into a comfortable friendship filled with cuddles and casual touches. They'd shared many beds together on trips like this, or when one of them just needed a friend within touching distance. While they had never had sex, Tara knew Sammi had masturbated next to her on some of those nights, when her friend had thought Tara was fast asleep. Tara was reasonably sure they had done so on their first night staying at the cabin.

Tara thought about doing the same thing now. Sammi's slow, warm breaths tickled Tara's neck as she imagined her friend, tall and voluptuous, legs now replaced with eight flexible arms. They wrapped around Tara's legs while Sammi's human arms pulled the two of them together. Tara felt warm, safe, and small (in the best way). The binding embrace made her feel tiny and compliant. A warm imaginary tentacle slipped between Tara's legs as she adjusted to make room for her fingers. Pleasure began to suffuse her body.

While she waited for the first hint of moonlight to pour in through the bedroom window, Tara slid a hand into her PJ shorts. If she was going to have fantasies about her friend becoming a kind of octopoid centaur, she was going to enjoy herself. Especially while said friend was practically wrapped around Tara.

Not wanting to disturb her sleeping Sammi, Tara did her best to match their slow breathing. Her finger movements were slow and controlled, long pressured caresses, like a sustained note on a violin. Tara felt filled up, wanting to burst, but needing a push in the right direction.

Instead, Sammi snuffled and adjusted, the hand that was on Tara's stomach moving and knocking Tara's fingers out of tune. Tara flinched in surprise, her fantasy broken. But, the first glow of moonlight limned the windowsill. It was time to meet Molly.

And now Tara had an idea of how to thank her.

"Where are you going?" Sammi asked in a sleepy mumble.

"Just feeling a bit restless, I'll be back in a bit," Tara replied. She bent down to plant a chaste kiss on her friend's cheek. Standing back, she took a second to admire the sleeping woman. The first rays of light illuminated the suit of armor tattoo on their thigh. Her hips and ass always seemed to have the impossible proportions of a cartoon character. Tara had an appointment to keep, but maybe she would try to seduce Sammi later. She wondered why they'd never slept together before. They'd always had ample opportunities.

That was for later. Molly would be waiting.

Silently passing through the beach house, Tara collected the piece of salmon and headed for the rocky outcropping above where she had been swept to sea. As soon as she got outside, a twinkling on the spit caught her attention. At the top of the rock slab sticking out into the ocean, Tara found Molly, a mirror in her hand, reflecting moonlight towards the beach house.

"I was starting to worry you were not coming. I'm glad you did." Molly started forward, almost gliding across the stones, eight undulating legs pulling her forward. Tara closed the distance, worrying her rescuer would fall over trying to move in a way that was not natural to her.

"I had to wait for my friend to fall asleep. I brought you the grilled salmon I promised." Tara handed the container to Molly. "I didn't tell them I was rescued by... what can I call you?"

Molly ate a small piece of the fish and let out a soft groan of pleasure. "Obviously, we can't cook with fire. Cooked food is always a treat!"

After licking her lips Molly responded to Tara's question. "Cecaelians or Octopians work, for what we call ourselves." Molly smiled. "Same for you? Humans or bitopians?"

"Human works," Tara replied, "but I'm bisexual."

"Is that another species?" Molly asked.

"Some people think so. It means I enjoy both men and women."

"Like, their company?" Molly asked after savoring another bite of the fish.

In reply, Tara took Molly's hand and kissed the tips of her fingers. She put the octopian's fore-finger into her mouth, sliding it out slowly. Holding eye contact with the woman, Tara slid both fore and middle-finger between her lips. She used her tongue to lick the inside of both fingers as they moved deeper into her mouth.

Molly's eyes grew wide watching Tara do this, but never looked away. With both fingers all the way in her mouth, Tara licked the skin where they came together. Molly was still enraptured when Tara opened her eyes again and slid the fingers back out.

"Oh I see," Molly breathed. "That does mean something different."

Tara lightly kept hold of the hand and kissed the Cecaelian's fingertips again. "I'd like to thank you further, for saving my life. If you are interested."

"I thought that was the whole point of you asking to meet tonight," Molly said, sounding confused. "You know, instead of in the morning? 'I'm going for a walk to clear my head, see you in a little bit,' kinda thing?"

"This isn't a surprise to you?" Tara was feeling out of her depth.

"You humans have so many stories of people thanking their rescuers with sex. That's the whole basis for your knights in shining armor story." Molly smiled, "We have plenty of those too... stories, not metal armor, it's too heavy. Obviously."

"That's not how those..." She paused. Every princess in every animated movie really was losing their virginity about half an hour after the story ended. "Okay, you're not wrong. On either count. That means you are interested?"

Molly reached out with a pair of her tentacles, gently hooking them behind Tara's shoulders, and pulled her close. Cupping Tara's face in her hands, Molly pulled the human in for a kiss. It started as a gentle pressure on Tara's lips. Once she fully processed that Molly had also come to their rendezvous with her own sexual fantasies, Tara leaned into the kiss. She wrapped her arms around the cecaelian.

Tara's hands slid across Molly's back. The skin there felt like Tara or Sammi's, until it transitioned to Molly's octopus half. That was initially slick, as she'd expected, but there was an underlying velvety texture as well. All of Molly, human and octopus parts, felt very strong.

Molly's hands never left Tara's head as the two of them made out. They held Tara's cheeks, possessively pressing the human's face to hers. Then, one twined in Tara's curls, and the other drifted to her jawline, just under her ear.

Molly's octo-arms were also busy. Two twined their way under Tara's PJ shirt. Suction cups undulated across her back and around her ribs, until their tips were cupping her breasts. The shirt's fabric, worn soft by uncounted uses, slid across her skin. It was lifted, carefully, by smooth, gently textured, arms. Tentacles and shirt slipped up Tara's body, sending ripples of warm waves across her chest and arms.

Ocean air caressed Tara's now bare breasts, raising goosebumps that traced the paths left by the tentacle's lubricant as it travelled up her body.

Octopus arms wrapped themselves around Tara's legs and stomach and began to lift Tara into the air. Molly's hands moved from Tara's face and neck. While the octopoid arms lifted and supported Tara's body, Molly's human appendages took time to explore. They slid across the top of Tara's chest and along her toned shoulders. Suckers kissed trails around her calves that spiralled up her legs, ending just under the only piece of clothing still on her - pj shorts. Human fingers traced the ridges and mounds of muscles down her arms, then twined into Tara's hands.

If she had not been fantasizing about octopians all day this might have been terrifying for Tara. Instead, bound and lifted off the ground by tentacles while she held Molly's hands had Tara shaking with excitement. Her heroine from the sea was fulfilling a fantasy Tara never knew she had.

The Cecaelian moved her hands to Tara's back, hands grasping possessively as any lover might while she licked Tara's nipples. Lips and tongue on her small breasts felt unexpectedly grounding against the novelty of tentacles inching their way up her leg and under her shorts. Tara's now free hands tangled themselves in her lover's red hair. She pressed Molly's head against her chest, seeking greater stimulation from the redhead. They obliged and lightly bit Tara's nipple.

"More!" Tara gasped.

Molly looked up at the woman she held aloft. "Bite harder? Or more of this," she asked, squeezing Tara with her legs. "You are going to have to be more specific, I've got a lot of appendages."

"All of it," Tara said, gently pressing the back of Molly's head. "Keep sucking and biting my nipples. Fuck me with your tentacles. More, please!"

"Gladly!" Molly emphasized her reply by latching her mouth onto Tara's other nipple. The arms that had been sliding up her legs slid across Tara's cunt, skimming the edges of her labia. A third arm reached into Tara's shorts and planted a suction cup directly onto her clit. The pressure was light but immediately sent a shudder of bliss through the human's body.

Molly lowered Tara to the ground, tipping them both forward. She released the tentacles wrapped around Tara's waist. One slid around and behind Tara's neck, ending with a feather light pressure under her chin. Molly raised a questioning eyebrow. Tara was able to nod twice before the tentacle squeezed her jaw from cheek to cheek and tilted her head back - drawing a gasp from Tara. Molly nibbled the exposed neck turning the gasp into a soft moan.

A tentacle draped itself across Tara's chest and suckers were squeezing her nipples and massaging her breasts. She imagined wearing a bikini top shaped like an octopus arm and giggled.