"I can appear to you however you wish. But this male form seemed to repeat itself over and over in the dreams of yours I scanned." He wiggled his eyebrows. "This image seemed to...excite you. A lot."

She nodded. What secrets could she keep from a creature with psychic powers and the ability to shapeshift? "You mean I like to m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e while dreaming of this image. I think I spied this hunk's image in a dentist's waiting room magazine, and it's just sort of stayed with me. I've always found the blond, muscle-bound type... exciting."

"Yes, and it's so different from Darrell-a scrawny, pencil-necked geek who can't even lift his own backpack on occasion. I thought it best to seduce you with a form that your body would respond to." He stroked the inside of her thigh. She sighed. "And you definitely respond to me in this form."

"Uh-huh." She lay back and melted into the touch. His fingers roamed closer to her damp-p.u.s.s.y and slid under the material. "So you're my own private fantasy man that can satisfy my s.e.xual cravings. I guess this hasn't been an entirely wasted vacation then."

He grinned and began to rub her c.l.i.t in earnest. "No, not at all."

She groaned and arched her back, eager for his touch. "All right, you can do me this way, but none of that interspecies mating. I'm not ready to become a mother to a human, let alone a human-porpoise hybrid."

"Atlantean, not porpoise. And I shapeshifted into a dolphin, not a porpoise. There is a difference."

"Hmm, I suppose." Arianna felt the warmth of her imminent o.r.g.a.s.m spreading across her body. Her hands drifted to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Her nipples were already peaking under the stretch fabric of the bikini top. She pushed the cups aside and tweaked them in rhythm with his ministrations. He bent and took one into his mouth, suckling until her toes curled. "Oh, my, yes, yes!"

She bucked against his hand as wave after wave of release rolled over her like a crashing tsunami. Gasping for breath, she finally pushed his hand away. "Thanks. That was...indescribable. How did you do that? I don't think I've ever come like that before. Did you slip something into my water bottle by chance?"

He stretched out beside her. "Yes, I did actually. But it was only a potion to make the adaptation to the water pressure easier on you and not an aphrodisiac." He grinned and playfully kissed her nose. "I have a feeling you don't need any artificial means to enjoy yourself s.e.xually, Arianna."

"True enough. I've never had any problems in that area. It's the other part of the relationship I suck at-" She blushed at the verb. "I mean I have trouble connecting with men who are on my intellectual plane that aren't a bunch of stuck-up, pompous twits. And it's hard to find ones who aren't are geeky types like two-timing Darrell. Go figure."

"Don't beat yourself up about it. A special woman like you is more than most human males can handle. But as far as I'm concerned..." He trailed his finger in a feather light caress from the side of her face down to the V between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "As far as I'm concerned, you are perfect in every way."

"Thank you." Arianna sighed and leaned closer to his hand. So what if he was a merman Atlantean? So what if she had gone totally mental and was dreaming this whole wild scenario up? She was on vacation! She might as well relax and enjoy herself... Her dream man certainly had the softest, most exquisite touch she'd ever experienced.

He brought his lips to hers in a gentle, yet demanding kiss. Her lips parted to invite him to kiss her deeper still, their tongues entwining and twirling in a dance of pa.s.sion. His hands roved across her generous curves, stopping at the junction of her thighs. He gently moved her legs apart to access her still anxious p.u.s.s.y.

"Here, let me get out of these wet things," she purred, kicking off the unwanted barrier. She sat up and struggled with the tie of her bikini top. "d.a.m.n! I must have tied a granny knot in it. Can you get it off?"

He winked. "My pleasure."

Suddenly, he flashed razor-sharp fangs the likes of which Arianna had only seen in vampire films and TV shows. With one swift bite, her swim top string was cut in two. She gulped and blinked twice. The second time she opened her eyes, his incisors had returned to normal. "Uh, that was some trick there. Is that what your real teeth look like?"

He shrugged. "Yes. Do they frighten you?"

"Well, they are a bit... different than I'm used to. You promise not to bite me, okay?"

Phantom laughed and pulled her into his embrace. "I promise-unless you beg me to bite you-and then, I will only do so gently. I don't wish to harm my alluring human mate. I only desire to worship her and drink in all her beauty. I only want to..." He lowered his lips to hers once more.

Arianna surrendered her fears, her pa.s.sions, her body to her new lover and allowed him to part her thighs once more. He slipped one finger, then another, into her slick pa.s.sage. She gasped as he worked his magic, pumping into her while simultaneously stroking her sensitive nub. His touch revived her desire and numbed her fears about inter-species mating.

"Um, is there anything I should know about Atlantean male... appendages, by chance?" she said, panting hard now. She could feel his rock hard c.o.c.k straining against the material of his suit, rubbing against her belly. "They don't sport razor-sharp fins by chance, do they?"

Phantom chuckled. "No, they're not sharp in any sense of the word, but they are rather..." He let his words trail off as he rolled to his side and slid off his sole piece of clothing. "They are rather on the large side, I'm afraid. I hope you don't mind."

Arianna sat up and manually shut her dropped jaw. Gulp! Her heart beat a rapid tattoo, threatening to burst out of her chest. Gargantuan would have been a more appropriate adjective! Her focus remained glued to Phantom's thick, straight, red c.o.c.k, standing proudly with a shimmer of pre-c.u.m glistening on its tip.

Before she could change her mind or move, he scooped her up and positioned her straddling his hips, facing him. "It's all right, Arianna. I can shapeshift to a more human size if you like."

"No-you're fine the way you are." She took a deep breath and began to ma.s.sage the tip of his mammoth manhood against her p.u.s.s.y. "Hmm, I like a challenge." Slowly she lowered herself onto his throbbing phallus, taking a deep breath as the thickness of the base rose up to meet her c.l.i.t. He grasped her firmly about the hips and began their dance of pa.s.sion. His thrusts began gentle at first, then more insistent.

Arianna blew out her held breath and threw back her head with a laugh of pure joy. Heavens above! The incredible sensations spiraling outward from her clenching p.u.s.s.y muscles threatened to swallow her whole. The blood rushed to her head as she was filled with his inconceivable fullness.

"I want you, Arianna Matthews," Phantom said, continuing the intimate a.s.sault on her senses, "Will you consent to be my queen?"

"Queen?" she replied, panting. "No can do. I'm American."

"No matter. I want you for my forever mate. Do you consent?" He increased the pacing and intensity of his thrusts.

Her womanly muscles clenched tighter about his c.o.c.k. Delicious tremors engulfed her, spreading outward from her c.u.n.t. All rational thoughts fled her college-trained, overly logical mind. "Oh, yes! Yes!" Arianna cried, her voice not her own. She was bewitched. She had shapeshifted herself into another being, one who could give herself utterly and totally to this man without reservation.

"Then it shall be so."

"Yes, it shall be so," she mimicked as the delightful tightness in her belly increased. She corkscrewed her hips faster about his insistent c.o.c.k, sending her mind reeling and supernovas exploding across her eyes. The o.r.g.a.s.mic wave crested and rose again and again, crashing them ever closer to the realms of bliss.

Phantom cried out, "Arianna!" as he seed pulsed within her.

She shrieked his name in reply as the final peak of her o.r.g.a.s.m overwhelmed her. Then she collapsed against his solid chest with a long sigh. "That was... phenomenal," she murmured a few minutes later.

"Thank you." He held her closer. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I know I did."

She rested her head across his heart and stroked his chest hairs. Funny, they didn't quite feel like chest hair but more like the down of bird. Her eyes peeped open. "Oh!" Arianna pulled up on an elbow and observed her Atlantean lover as he lightly doze.

His soft skin was almost sapphire in hue, the thin downy covering on his chest and arms a silvery white, and the fin on the crescent-shaped crest of his head... a deep blue-green color.

A crest on his head! Arianna gasped. Her hands flew to her racing heart. What had she done...? She had made love to a blue-skinned, bald guy with an unbelievably large c.o.c.k and razor sharp teeth. And he had asked her to be his queen, his forever mate, and she had said yes. It seemed like a fairy tale in the making.

"My love, you are not afraid of my real form?" Phantom had opened his dark black eyes, observing her as she observed him. "I do not frighten you?"

She lay down beside him on the blanket once more and sighed. "No, not at all. You actually are very handsome."

"Thank you. And you will stay with me?"

"I...I did say I would, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did. But it was in the heat of pa.s.sion. I will not hold such a promise against you."

"You won't?" She lifted her head and found him smiling at her. Smiling with big, white, sharp, pointed teeth.

His gaze fell to her momentary look of confusion. He shifted his incisors into more human-like dental appendages. "No," he said, "I won't. But I do ask that you stay with us a while and get to know us better." He smiled and tenderly stroked her cheek. "You might change your mind."

"I might." She grinned. "Are all Atlanteans as handsome and as n.o.ble as you, Phantom?"

He laughed. "Yes. But the women are more beautiful than handsome-although none could hold a glowfish to you, my love."

She blushed. "Stop it! You say the nicest things."

"And I mean them. So you will stay and spend the rest of your holiday with us here in Atlantis?" he asked, his eyes imploring.

Arianna bit her lip. Should she? What else could she be doing that was anywhere as new and strange and exciting as visiting a legendary city under the sea? What other man could she be with who was more s.e.xy, more dashing, and more tender than Phantom, a prince of Atlantis?

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her eyes drifted to the swiftly rising evidence of his desire for her. She smiled. "Of course I'll stay for a visit. I only just got here." She slowly licked her lips. "Hmm, and I'd love to see... more. Much more."

He pulled her close and kissed her pa.s.sionately.

Arianna moaned her reply against his lips. Stranger things could happen, she supposed, when a girl enjoyed her spring break at the beach.

SLIDING INTO THE SEA.

C. D. Conejo The waves caressed Sabrina's soft skin. The sand gently smoothed her, opened her to every sensation. Sabrina's long dark hair wrapped around her slender torso, showing only the hint of her curving b.r.e.a.s.t.s and taut, alert nipples. She lay back and let the sun warm every part of her. And once again, the cooling waves broke over her.

Danilo had been gone so long she hardly could call up his face in her memory. She shut her eyes tight, trying to imagine him, standing at the water's edge where she last had seen him, looking out to sea. His black hair had been buffeted by the wind, his blue eyes had been the color of the sky. But she could not see his face.

The image did bring up what she remembered all too well. She licked her lips, salty with the sea, at the memory of his hands, what they had started to do to her. She pulled her long hair away from her body, spreading it out on the sand, and with her own small hands, she tried to recreate the feeling of Danilo's strong fingers and hard, dry palms on her tender skin. But she could not be as rough, as gentle or as insistent as he had been. Nor could she replace his fingers with his lips, with his tongue and teeth, as he had.

But her body did remember her pa.s.sionate response to his caresses, her unrestrained pleasure in reciprocating. Now she responded to her own touch, even if it couldn't be Danilo's, and she felt herself warmed by more than just the sun. Her own fingers pulled on her nipples, pinched and teased them, then one hand trailed down her belly. Here she needed no memory, only her desire, for here was where Danilo had stopped. His hands had touched her waist, her hips, and had stopped.

Sabrina tensed with the recollection of her frustration, her forced smile, encouragement, and a.s.surances of satisfaction when Danilo had stopped himself. He knew he was leaving, he didn't want to hurt her, didn't want to take from her what she could give and give her nothing in return.

But of course, that was exactly what he had done.

Her ardor completely chilled, she sat up and wrapped her hair around herself again. She would not think about Danilo. She got up and walked back to her den.

The elaborate structure Sabrina called home was dug into a dune about five hundred yards from the sh.o.r.e, well protected from the ever-rising tides. It was cooled by the ocean breeze through its carved door, and it was warmed by the sun penetrating through the sand and sea-gra.s.s above it.

Sabrina pa.s.sed through the door, leaving it open to the air. She lived here alone now that her three sisters had chosen mates and had gone to their own homes. As the tradition held, the family den was hers and she had to keep it, as the oldest child.

She had been sure that she and Danilo would be setting up as a mated pair and she had arranged the den so her sisters could stay if they wished, with or without mates. The youngest girl had chosen to make her own den. The two middle girls had chosen eldest sons and had to move into their mates' family dens. Sabrina, of course, would not leave and Danilo had not wanted to stay.

Sabrina busied herself with tidying up, and made herself a snack, but there was little to do in the home with just her, and she was bored. She had to stop thinking of Danilo. It only made her blue. She picked up her rod and reel and returned to the sh.o.r.e. She might as well catch her dinner now, and maybe harvest a few vegetables for a nice supper. She was known in her village as a good cook and perhaps there would be visitors.

The breeze was stronger now, and her hair, so long it brushed the sand, would not stay wrapped, exposing her naked body to the ocean. She looked around. Men usually did not come down to the beach on this side of the village except at dawn when the fishing boats went out and they caught the tide wherever it was best. This late in the afternoon she would be unseen by them. She had no need to drape herself in the woven shawl that she and most women wore in mixed company. Like the others, when she was not with men, she only wore her hair wrapped around herself. There was no need for excessive clothing in this temperate climate.

Sabrina's catch was lucky and she soon had enough for herself and anyone who came by. She brought in her fish and picked some tomatoes on the way inside. It would be a succulent stew. She tossed some dry gra.s.s on the fire pit for kindling, and added a few sticks. She would not need much of a fire as the fish cooked quickly. Then she wrapped the long shawl around her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and hips, took her taper and walked to the village for a light.

As she approached the communal fire, the women standing around it, lighting their tapers and gossiping, stopped talking. Sabrina, who was well liked, was surprised. "I must be your topic for you to clam up when I get here!" She was nothing if not direct, and that broke any brewing tension.

"You are, Sabrina," said Maki, smiling. Maki was older than Sabrina and had mated with a handsome and powerful man from a village across the island. But the little fissures in the social order had made themselves felt in that mating. Her chosen mate was an eldest child, and Maki had no siblings at all so she was obligated to stay with her den, as was he.

In the days of their parents and grandparents for generations, that mating would have never been consummated. Two eldest, or an eldest and an only, could never be betrothed. But Maki and Johan had insisted. They lived apart, waiting for the day when Johan's brother mated. Johan had resolved to give his brother the den. For now, they had worn a deep path across the island. Maki's swelling belly was a tribute to these visits.

"Good gossip or bad?" Sabrina asked.

Maki smiled again, but softer this time. "I don't know. But I must tell you what I was telling the others. I heard, when I was with Johan, that Danilo is back."

Sabrina felt her heart thud, but whether with excitement or dread she didn't know. "Is he in Johan's village?"

Maki nodded. "He came in with a boat at midday. He said he was tired, he had need for rest before he could talk about his trip and went straight to his den. I haven't seen him. I just heard this from Johan, but surely he will come to see you when he's rested."

"There was a time when he would have come to see me instead of resting," Sabrina said.

Maki nodded. "But that was before."

"Yes," Sabrina said softly, "that was before." They didn't need to elaborate. They both knew, the whole village knew, that before Danilo had left, Sabrina had asked him to be her mate. He had accepted. And then, before the betrothal week was up, he had left. His only reason was one she had to believe-there was another land, far from here, and he had to find it. It had been a year and no one had heard from him or the other men who had left with him since then.

And now, he was back.

"The entire island wants to know what he found," Maki said. "But he insisted on resting first. His companions from the other islands went to their homes and he was the last, bringing in the ship, so there is no one to ask."

Sabrina was silent. Like the others, she was dying to know if there were other lands beyond their islands. She knew of the vast mainland of Atlantis, for she could see it from the leeward side of the island, and she knew there were other islands like hers, an archipelago of small outcroppings that acted as barrier islands for the mainland. But they had sailed east, away from Atlantis.

Sabrina did want to know. Truly she did, for she could read the stars as well or better than most sailors, and in fact it was her job, in the village, to teach the children to read the stars, the wind, the sun, at the village school. But she wanted, more than anything, to know if Danilo was coming back to her. Sabrina took her light and said goodbye to Maki. The other women respectfully let her go without chat.

Maki took her arm as she walked away. "Don't be too proud. He will come to you. I'm sure. When he does, if he wants to try a new betrothal, think hard before you say yes or no."

Sabrina nodded. Maki was good, and wise. But the pain of the broken betrothal, the year of loneliness, rejecting all suitors, taking no lover, and longing for Danilo, had hardened her heart. And worst of all was the memory of their last night together when he had caressed her, soft, hard, with his hands and mouth, then stopped. He was not going to be her mate at the end of the week and he didn't want to take what wasn't his. And she had nodded, smiled and bitten her lip in anger and frustration and agreed that if he couldn't make good on his promise it was best to part.

Sabrina got back to her den and pulled off her shawl. She lit the fire with her taper, and covered it with wet gra.s.s to make a slow burn, then walked down to the sea. The wind blew her hair every which way, but she didn't care. Danilo was back, he had gone to rest without seeing her, he had been gone a year, he had broken their betrothal. The thoughts swirled around her like her hair, wild and uncontrolled, and she shouted into the wind. "Danilo!"

"I am here."

She whirled around, naked and wind-whipped, to face the voice behind her. And he was.

Sabrina stared at the man who stood before her. He seemed taller, older, larger, and yet thinner. He wore his bright red sarong low on slim hips, and a thick trail of black hair led upwards to his broadened shoulders, muscular and sun-darkened. His neck was corded with sinew, his jaw strong. A new scar arced across his left brow, over his black eyebrows shielding blue eyes narrowed by a year at sea. Danilo had been a strapping youth when he left, but he had returned a man.

Danilo looked into Sabrina's eyes. His regard did not waver, never even glancing at her nude body, or at the long dark hair that swirled out into the wind. His hands stayed at his sides.

Sabrina looked back at him, but her eyes traveled all over, not willing to hold his stare. She first felt no modesty for her exposure, for he seemed not to notice it.

"Look at me," he said, instead, and she did. "I am back," he said, for she still had not spoken. "I am back for you."

Then, his eyes left hers and she felt the slow caress of his glance, over her full b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her waist, her s.e.x and back up. Sabrina reached for her hair, struggling against the on-sh.o.r.e wind, and gathered it into a wrap around her body.

Danilo licked his lips. "I haven't seen a naked woman in a year," he said hoa.r.s.ely, then smiled a bit with the corner of his mouth. He stepped forward. "And I have come to claim my mate."

"No!" Sabrina finally cried. "No!" and she turned and ran. Danilo stood between her and her hut, with the sea behind her, so she ran along the sh.o.r.e, away toward the deserted end of the island. Anywhere, she ran. But when she slowed, she heard the slap sound of feet against the wet sand and she knew he was close behind.

She ran until she was out of breath. Her hair had unwound again, but she didn't care. Finally, panting, she stopped and turned. He was there still, staying ten or so paces behind, not catching her, though he easily could have. He had let her run. And now she could run no more. "Why?" she asked between breaths. "Why did you leave?"

"You know why, Sabrina. I had to see the lands. And I found them."

Sabrina knew that. It wasn't what she meant. What she wanted to say was, why did you leave me? Why did you come back to me? But the answers were as meaningless as the questions. Finally, she asked, "Did you think I would wait for you?"

Danilo's black eyebrows shot up. "I did. Didn't you?" He looked astonished.

Sabrina relished it bitterly. "Did you think no other man would want me? Either as a mate or as a lover? You didn't ask me to wait, did you? You broke our betrothal! Remember?" Her words swelled as a year of anger, hurt and frustration broke free. She would not give him the satisfaction of knowing she had taken no lover, no mate, but had yearned for him through her pain for a year. Let him suffer doubt.

"I asked in the village," he said softly. "I was told you still had no mate."