“Let’s not ruin a day of pleasure with heavy talk,” Marina flips her hair and moves her pale body off of mine, rolling on the sheets like some beautiful milk-white snake, all sinuous and curved. “Some women are unhelpful. I know how to make sure my man is ready for a second round.”

Her man.

I’m about to do a little gloating myself, leaning back on the pillows, mouth open to tell her I like the new title—when she collapses onto her back with a breathy moan, her legs spread.

Long, slender fingers part her outer lips, showing me pink treasures inside.

I fall into a trance as she whispers, her fingers dipping inside. “I want you in me. Just like this. I love the feel of your thick cock when you slip inside my—”

“Pocket?” I suggest, my hand straying between my legs as I watch.

“When you slip into that tight little space, my secret... My guilty pleasure. Ohhh!”

“God,” I whisper reverently as I watch her body arch off the bed. I know by the sounds she makes that she’s penetrating herself there.

“It sucks on my fingers so hungrily. Like my mouth wraps around your cock.”

“Yes, baby...” My fist pumps lazily, watching her spreading, showing—opening more than I’ve ever seen. My eyes narrow, and I can just make out tiny ripples in her flesh—pink on pink ripples that move and shimmer.

“And so many women don’t understand how this hole works, how to guide their lovers to bring them pleasure here,” Marina sighs and moves one arm under her back, pulling one leg to her chest as her fingers massage her perfect pink anus.

I know human bodies. Working in the medical field, you see a lot of imperfection. That’s what strikes me just now—how perfect (but pale) Marina seems.

Humans don’t look like her, so pristine, almost glowing—and yet... Here she is. In my bed. Moaning as her middle finger invades her ass and she fucks herself in both openings, a serene look of bliss on her face.

It worked. I’m hard as a rock and thinking about sliding between her cheeks, even though that’s something I’ve never tried. “Pockets in there, too?” I ask.

Marina smiles, something sharklike in the tilt of her head as she rolls to her belly.

“Find out,” she whispers.

I feel like that’s a taboo act, one people try after they’ve been together for years to bring back the spice. “We don’t have to do that.”

There’s a pout on her lips and persuasion in her voice. “But I like it.”

Well. What kind of jerk will I be if I don’t give my woman what she likes?

Yes, I said it. If I’m her man, then she can be my woman.

Marina wriggles her cheeks hypnotically and the tingle of proud possessiveness soars as I clamp my hand down on one cheek, kneading it.

“We need lube, I know that.”

Marina rubs her pussy and I see her fingers come away slick and dripping. “You make me so wet, Kevin. Soaked. Slippery. Like the sea.”

“My sweet mermaid,” I grunt, not entirely rational as she plays with herself again.

“You should swim with me sometime before it gets too cold. Not the pool. The river. I’ll show you what sort of mermaid I am.” Marina laughs softly, and I suddenly understand what the books mean when they say someone has a throaty chuckle. It bubbles up from her insides, and I imagine a mermaid with little bubbles bursting from her lips as she laughs underwater.

In the books, it's always the villain or the temptress who has the deep, throaty chuckle. As I lay my chest to her back and slide my cock between her cheeks, I nip her ear and kiss her shoulder, whispering, “Are you sure you’re not one of those sirens? Tempting me?”

She stills under me, then pushes back.

“They call this a starfish,” she murmurs as I push past the puckered opening. “See if you can find out why.”

Instantly, I know. Narrow rings grip me and a thousand tiny bumps stroke and squeeze closed on my cock, pulling me deep into Marina’s tightest opening. I gasp, unable to move as sensation overwhelms me.

“Aim down. You will massage my ‘pocket’ from the other side,” Marina encourages. “Push into me, down into me, hard. If I’m the siren, tempting you to crash on the rocks, I deserve it. Harder! Deeper!”