Merlin locked the door leading out to the corridor, trimmed the wick of the lamp on his desk so that it shone with a low but clear light, and sat back against the cushions on his couch. He uttered a short phrase under his breath, and waited.
After a short pause, a haze of gently twinkling lights formed in the air before him, and a voice, unearthly but gentle, spoke.
"Hail, Lord Merlin."
"Welcome, Ariel," the wizard replied. "As always, I am grateful that you answer my invitation."
"And I, that you call me," came the response. "Do you wish me to stay with you for the evening? There are things we may discuss."
"I would welcome that," answered Merlin, "if there are not other pressing matters to which you must attend."
"None more pressing than the company of a friend of the Otherworld such as you are," she replied. "May I know what form you would have me take? A woman of your own kind, as sometimes before? I know you find comfort in that."
Merlin considered for a moment. "Indeed, Ariel. Could you be..." He paused for a moment, as if forming a picture in his mind's eye. "Not tall, but slim. Legs slender but strong. Long, wavy brown hair, an oval face." He hesitated, then went on, "Breasts, not too large, but well-shaped."
The lights shimmered, as if with silent laughter. "Merlin, you need not be embarrassed with me -- we have already shared much, you and I. Speak frankly of your wishes and needs; I am more than ready to fulfil them."
Merlin spoke again. "Let it be so, then."
"Merlin, Merlin, you leave much out," teased his visitor. "How should I be clothed? How have my hair? Should my manner be bold, or shy?" She paused. "And what of under the clothes? Silks, or nothing? And then -- " again the shimmer of amusement -- "downy, or smooth?"
Merlin blushed at that last, but managed a reply. "Hair, caught up with gold, so it can be let down. Clothes, the garb of a lady in her retiring chamber with her maids, and underneath, silks. Your manner -- I would not change that in any way, always on the edge of delightful familiarity." He paused again. "As for that last, let it be a surprise."
"Very well," answered Ariel. "So watch, if you will."
The cloud of lights seemed to swirl, then to dim, and a misty outline formed in the air by Merlin's desk. As he watched, the outline became more solid, until in the room stood a woman, exactly as Merlin had described in every detail he could see.
She lifted her hands to examine them, turning them over and back, then moved over to the mirror on the wall and looked carefully at the features she saw reflected there.
"This seems well to me, my lord," she spoke, her voice human now but still unmistakeably Ariel.
"To me also," Merlin found his voice.
Ariel smoothed the soft fabric of her robe with her palms, then caught Merlin's eyes and held them in her gaze as she ran her hands lightly over her breasts. She smiled, and raised her eyebrows. "I think these match your wish well enough, but you will have to be the judge of that."
Merlin breathed in slowly. "May I embrace you?" he asked. She held out her hands, palms forward in welcome, and he moved over to her and took her in his arms, feeling her press him close to her. His hand reached for the fastening of her golden hair clasp, and just as in his mental picture, he released her wavy brown hair to fall over her shoulders.
She closed her eyes and parted her lips, her invitation obvious, and Merlin kissed her, lightly at first, then more deeply as she responded to his kiss. Her breasts pressed into his chest, and he felt her nipples harden.
He released her and moved back a little, then ran his fingers down over her shoulders and onto her breasts, following the line her hands had taken only a few moments before. She gasped, and arched her back to push her breasts toward him. He caressed more firmly, then gently squeezed her nipples between thumb and fingers.
She gave another sound of pleasure, and reached for the fastening of her robe at one shoulder to loosen it. Merlin helped her as her eager fingers fumbled, and one breast was revealed, though still bound in the silken undergarments. Merlin bent his head to kiss the nipple that pushed at the fabric, then took it between his lips. Ariel quickly loosed the fastening at her other shoulder, and her robe slid to the floor. Merlin moved his hand onto her other breast and touched the other nipple as he continued to gently nibble the first.
"Please, let me bare them to you," Ariel asked, urgency in her voice. Merlin reached round behind her to the fastening of her silk undergarment, and loosed it. He gently pulled the fabric across her breasts, then laid it aside.
"Your mouth again," urged Ariel, and Merlin complied, taking one bare nipple between his lips then fully suckling it. Ariel caught his hand and guided it first to her mouth, touching his fingers with her tongue, then back onto her other breast, gasping again as his fingers slid wetly over the other hard nipple.
Ariel's hand slid down over her stomach and further, and it was obvious from her response that she was touching herself as Merlin continued his attention to her breasts. Then he stopped, and began instead to kiss his way downwards. Ariel withdrew her hand, and he took it and tongued her fingers, then kissed still further down. When he reached the barrier of her remaining undergarments, he looked up enquiringly. Ariel nodded wordlessly, and Merlin gently grasped the silk and eased her remaining garments down, till she could step out of them and stand before him fully naked and already aroused.
Merlin indicated the bed, and Ariel moved to kneel atop the covers. Merlin followed her, discarding his robe, then knelt in front of her. Again he kissed her on the lips, and as he did so, he slid his hands up her sides and onto her breasts, cupping them in his palms and gently touching the tips of her nipples with his thumbs.
