Paranormal Erotic Romance Box Set (13 page)

“Did you know she had a husband?” I said.

“I really don’t think that’s the point,” James said and
closed his eyes.

“Indulge me. I’m being…curious. Did you know this woman
was married?”

“Yes, Saint Agnes, I knew she was married,” James said and
sighed.

“Were you and she in love?”

“No. I wasn’t,” James said and stared at me. “But again,
what’s the point? Does that mean I should have been killed?”

“If you were in love, I could see you being a little less
bitter about being killed. At least you would have died for something,” I said.

“Who’s bitter? Anyway, I thought you would have dropped
that ridiculous martyr logic after what happened to you. There is nothing worth
dying for,” James said.

“I disagree, I think love is worth dying for. True love,
at least.”

“And I disagree with you. Love is rarely real. When your
husband promised to love you at your ceremony, was that real?”

“That was…unfortunate,” I said.

“Yes, as it was in my case.”

I turned and looked at one of the swan boats. The water
lapped against its base and it swayed back and forth with the gentle ripples
flowing toward the shore.

“What was your job?”

“I told you, the caretaker,” he said.

“No, that’s not true.”

“How do you know, Sophia? You can’t read minds, remember?”

“Because of your hands,” I said and ran my fingertips
across the back of his hand. “Too soft; too manicured.”

“I like to be well groomed, what of it?”

“Come on, James, tell me. What were you before this?”

James looked at me and sighed.

“I owned things: businesses, homes, cars, people. That’s
the long and short of it.”

“People?” I said and whistled. “Man, the company that I
keep.”

“Good company, however.”

“Of course, the best company,” I said. “When did it
happen?”

“Um, May 8, 1959.”

“Really, 1959? You’re so old,” I said.

“Well, if I was still human. For all intents and purposes,
I remain thirty-one-years-old.”

“Wow, you’re still old,” I said.

“Yes, compared to you, Sophia, most are.”

“I’ll never grow old,” I said.

“And that’s the beauty of it,” James said and sat up. “You
will never age, but you will still experience. Near the wine cellar, there is
an amazing library. I’ll take you, it’s something else. Volumes and volumes of
books and magazines and maps and documents--ancient and current. I’ve sort of
made it my home. I spend hours reading, days some times. That happening before
was unheard of for me and now, it’s just natural.”

“I’d love to see it. I used to read all the time before--”

“You were killed?” James said.

“No, actually,” I said and smiled. “Before I gave up the
silly pursuit of knowledge for the ever more intellectual pursuit of modeling.”

“Then we must get you down there. Sophia, as in life, this
will be what you make of it. But here, you do anything you want within the
Laws,” James said and stared at me. “We eat when hungry, sleep when tired and
fuck when horny.”

“Oh, good to know,” I said.

James stood from the dock and pulled his suspenders from
his shoulders.

“How about that swim? The water is amazing.”

I sat up as James pulled his shirt from his pants and
kicked off his wingtips. He hopped around and pulled off his dress socks and
dropped his pants.

“Uh, I’m not a very good swimmer,” I said and looked up at
him as he took his shirt, then his undershirt off.

“You won’t drown,” James said and pushed his navy blue
boxer shorts down his long, muscular legs.

I scanned his body from the hollow of his throat to his
toes. I counted every thick muscle that ran across his tight stomach. And then
felt a tingle in my belly as I stared at his big, thick cock. I pictured him
ramming it in me and pounding me into oblivion.

“I think I can read your mind now,” James said. “Stand up
and take off your dress.”

James reached down and grabbed my arm and lifted me to my
feet.

“Arms up,” he said.

I raised my arms and closed my eyes as James lifted my
dress and pulled it off my body.

“Turn around, Sophia.”

I turned around and opened my eyes. I looked across the
water to the Fairy Tale Island. I felt very self-conscious as James unhooked my
bra.

His hands came around my body from behind. He pressed his
hands against my belly and pressed his body into my back. I looked down and his
fingers slipped a little beyond the waistband of my panties and he rubbed his
fingertips back and forth against my skin. James moved his fingers down lower
and pushed my panties down my legs. He moved away from me and I bowed my head
as he stared at my body.

“Turn around, Sophia,” James said. “I want to see you.”

I turned and faced him.

“You are absolutely beautiful, Sophia and your body is
incredible. Why aren’t you proud?”

“I’m shy,” I said.

“Shy? Have you ever looked at yourself? You have
absolutely nothing to be shy about. Look at yourself.”

James turned me toward the water. I looked down at my
reflection and what I saw and what I felt, did not matchup. The same thing
happened when I looked in the mirror when I got ready for a photo shoot. I saw
the shy, slightly overweight eight-year-old that my mother criticized, despite
the Chanel.

“I have issues, I suppose,” I said.

“Yes, you do. There is nothing to fear anymore. You can be
bold, wanton, sensual. Embrace that.”

“I’ll work on it,” I said.

James dove off the dock into the water and jumped up to
the surface.

“Get your ass in here,” James said. “It’s beautiful.”

I took a deep breath and dove head first into the water. I
came to the surface and paddled like mad as I tried to tread.

“I can’t touch the bottom,” I said and slapped at the water
with my hands.

“Relax,” James said and swam toward me. “Sophia, you will
not drown.”

“But I can’t touch!”

“Sophia,” James said when he reached me, “let go.”

“Let go,” I said.

And that’s all it took. I floated in the water with ease
and swam as if I was a dolphin.

“This is fun,” I said and took a deep breath and dove
under the water.

“See,” James said when I bobbed to the surface, “I told
you. We should go down to the caves.”

“There are real caves down there?”

“Yes, you can see the tops of the forms if you look,” he
said. “Dunk under.”

“It’s salt water,” I said and shook my head. “My eyes will
burn.”

“It’s brackish but you can see under the water. Your eyes
will not burn.”

I dunked my head under and sank down a bit. I opened my
eyes and was able to see everything clearly. I saw the jagged tops of the caves
sitting well below us and fish and several plants. James met me under and
pointed at the caves and started swimming down. I yanked on his foot and pulled
him as I swam toward the surface.

“What’s wrong?” he said when he met me at the top.

“It’s too far,” I said. “I can’t hold my breath that
long.”

“You don’t have to,” he said and smiled. “You can breathe
under water, the same as you can see and swim. There is nothing to fear.”

“Like a mermaid?”

“Exactly,” James said and chuckled. “You are the beautiful
mermaid of the Battleroy. Just try it. Dunk your head under and take a breath
in.”

I dunked myself under the water and fought every urge I
had to jump to the surface. I took a deep breath in and waited for a rush of
salt water to invade my nose and lungs and drown me where I floated. But, I
breathed in and out as I did when I walked around on land.

I swam to the top and James cheered for me.

“See? I told you, beautiful mermaid,” he said.

We floated in the water and James pointed out different
landmarks around the hotel grounds. I wished my mother could see me swimming
after she told me most of my life that I wasn’t a strong swimmer and I would
surely drown.

“What are you thinking about, Sophia?”

“I’m thinking about my parents and wondering how they’ll
react when they find out I’m dead.”

“Well, they will be devastated,” James said and tried to
grab my foot as I floated by.

“Yes, I suppose. However their devastation will be
obliterated by their subsequent humiliation and anger when they find out why I
was here.”

“They didn’t know you married him?” James said and tried
to catch me again, but I slipped out of his grasp. “Would you stay still?”

“Nope. They hardly knew him, actually. It was the first
not very grown up decision I made on my own without consulting them. Shows you
how much I know.”

“Wow, I’d imagine if one of my children was killed, I
wouldn’t care what they did. My focus would be revenge.”

“Have you sired many children during your days of
philandering?”

“Get over here, you,” James said and his arm shot out and
he gripped my wrist.

James dragged me toward him and snatched me into his arms.
His cool skin pressed against mine. Droplets of water beaded all over beautiful
face and I flicked my tongue out and licked one off his bottom lip.

“I like that,” he said and wrapped his arms around my
waist. “You are truly exquisite. I would have been proud to have you as my
girl.”

“Your daughter? How positively depraved,” I said.

“No, my girl,” James lowered his head and kissed the tops
of my breasts. “But I am depraved.

“James?”

“Yes?” he said and licked the hollow of my neck.

“Did you really see me in that Sak’s spread in the
Globe
?”

“No. When I saw you, I knew who you were without knowing
who you were. I don’t know how, I just did.”

“Thank you,” I said and wiggled against his body. “I don’t
believe anyone has ever taken a risk for me. Well, Katt did. She is, was, my
best friend.”

“What did she do?” James said as he pulled my hair aside
and brushed his lips against my skin.

“She tried to warn me,” I said and sighed. “She tried to
warn me about Brandt just like you did. But I managed to fuck it up.”

James looked at me and laughed.

“I like it when you say bad words,” he said and reached
down under the water and grabbed my legs and wrapped them around his waist. “I
like bad girls.”

“That’s because you most obviously are a bad boy,” I said.

“Yes,” he said and winked.

“I prided myself on being a good girl,” I said and looked
over James’ shoulder, past the docks and into the arbor. “I always did
everything I was told. You know, I didn’t even want to be a model?”

“No? What did you want to be?”

“I wanted to be a lawyer. I read To Kill A Mockingbird
when I was thirteen and I decided I wanted to be Atticus Finch.”

“Choosing modeling is a long way off from Atticus Finch.
Yes, I read it,” James said and splashed me. “So, why did you become a model?”

“Because I was told that’s all I could be. Mother said I
had to live with my limitations and my limitations, she said, were not as horrid
as some.”

“I think you would have made an incredible lawyer,
Sophia.”

“You know, I think that’s one of the reasons Brandt
appealed to me, because he was a lawyer, or rather, he purported to be a
lawyer. I convinced myself that I could absorb everything he was and make it
mine.”

“But then you would have only been the wife of a lawyer,
or supposed lawyer. Marrying a lawyer would not have made you a lawyer.”

“I know, but in my mind, marrying well would have at least
made me something.”

“You didn’t have to marry anyone to be something, Sophia.
You had the something part more than covered.”

I pulled away from James and stared into his eyes.

“I wish I could have married you,” I said.

“Ah, but back then, I probably would not have been so keen
on supporting your career. My women had a definite place, usually behind me,”
James said and tightened his arms around my waist. “No, if you and I married,
I’d expect you to be in my kitchen and in my bed whenever I demanded.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound so terrible either. As long as I
could still attend college,” I said.

“So, you are telling me that as I came through the door,
you’d knock your schoolbooks off the bed and get on your back?”

“Or on my knees,” I said and smiled.

“Oh really...on your knees?” James said and closed his
eyes. “I do like the sound of that.”

I tightened my legs around James’ waist and he dug his
fingers into my ass. He slid me up and down against his hard body and my
nipples rubbed against his cool skin.

“So, do you want to play house?” James said into my ear.

“Yes, very much,” I said as I grinded against his torso.

“What do you want me to do to you?” James said and ran his
tongue up and down my neck.

“Everything.”

“You got it.”

James unwrapped my legs from around his waist and slid
down my body and under the water. He grabbed my ass and lifted me up high out
of the water and lowered me back down until my legs were over his shoulders and
my pussy was in front of his face.

He reached his hands up from out of the water and slowly
slid them up my waist and pinched my nipples. I gasped as his tongue wiggled in
between my pussy lips as he pinched my nipples harder. He lifted me higher and
probed at the opening to my pussy with the tip of his tongue. I pushed down
against him, needing it inside me. I spread my legs a bit to give him more
access to my pussy, wanting to feel everything he gave me.

I threw my head back and stared at the sun. The hot rays
beat down on me, baked into my skin and filled me with energy. I looked at the
dock and a young couple walked out of the arbor toward the lake. I wished they
could see me while James licked me.

The couple walked to the end of the dock and sat down.
They looked through me and having them there, watching without seeing, amped up
the excitement of every nasty thing James did to my body.