In retrospect, I should have figured out that there was something off halfway to our destination. The roads she was telling me to drive down didn't exactly lead to a local hotel. Around the time we hit the freeway, I should've guessed where she had me heading - it wasn't like I hadn't gone to the beach plenty of times before. The summer before all of this, Alan and I gone every weekend to enjoy the sun and surf. Halfway into this July, though, and I hadn't made a single trip. You don't tend to like visiting the place where you saw your boyfriend making out with another woman.
Part of me had wanted to bring it up. Deep down, I had wanted to ask Luna if we could go somewhere else - somewhere that didn't have such painful memories. But at the time, I was too entranced to even think about disappointing her. Luna was radiant even in the pale light of the moon, and me, I was head over heels for her. There wasn't a chance in hell that I was going to ruin my chances with the bombshell in the passenger seat, even if it meant going back there.
I guess it was what I needed, looking back. Alan, even before he cheated, he'd always been a control freak. He dictated what I could wear, who I could spend time with, what I could do and eat and a billion other things. And in a way, he was still controlling me, even long after the breakup. What he'd done, it had been keeping me from going out and enjoying a place I used to love. Getting me to go out there again, I guess, was just one of the ways Luna broke all the things holding me down that night.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. When we got to that beach, it was as deserted as you would've expected for the middle of the night. As lifeless as you could get, but Luna, she seemed as lively as ever. Oh, she'd been energized back at the bar, but when she got a whiff of that salty sea air? It was like watching her wake up from a ten-hour rest. "Doesn't it make you feel alive!" I remember hearing her shout. What I said back, I don't quite recall, but I remember it made her giggle. God, if her body hadn't done it, I would've fallen in love with that laugh.
As far along as she'd brought me already, I didn't need much convincing to go out on the beach with her, lack of a lifeguard on duty be damned. It was kind of nice, getting to rebel a little bit. We weren't robbing banks or running from police, but absolutely we were breaking some rules. I didn't really about rules, watching the way Luna's... well, the way her ass jiggled as she ran through the sand. It was kind of embarassing, I won't lie, but fuck it. I was touch-starved, and that heart-shaped butt was screaming my name. I don't think Luna minded anyway.
Luna was the most beautiful thing I saw that night, but I remember clearly that the second-most beautiful thing was the sky. The moon was just bright enough to see by, and this far out from the city, you could see stars. Actual, honest to god stars. She loved looking up at them, pointing out the constellations as we walked side by side. I mostly remember taking her hand as she did; her fingers were so soft, so comforting to have entwined with mine. Today, I can't tell the Big Dipper from the Belt of Whatshisname, but every little detail of her silky hands is still burned into my brain.
"I love how the cool sand feels." I remember her saying that - no idea why it stuck out in my mind so much. Pretty sure I agreed with her, even though I wasn't the biggest fan of the way it clung to my bare feet. Maybe that's why I remember it so well: she admitted, later, that sand against skin was nothing to write home about, but against another kind of flesh, it was heavenly. I'll admit, she was right on that one.
She was good at reading people. I had figured that out at the bar, but I really knew it when we got near that spot. Then and now, it's pretty clear in my mind: a little outcropping of boulders, right along the shore, where I'd seen Alan and that skank. It hurt, still, going near there. I remember the thrumming pain in my gut, just as well as I remember when Luna paused and turned to me. She took my other hand in her own, and for the first and only time, I saw those ruby-red lips frowning. "Hey... what's wrong?"
I remember being surprised at how easily she'd read me, and reluctant to actually say it. "Oh, uh... n-nothing." At the time, I had my justification: I didn't want her to know I'd dated men, just because I was terrified she'd be one of those woman who thought that sleeping with a guy even once tainted you, or something. Yeah, alright, it was flimsy as shit, but when you don't want to admit what's hurting you, you'll come up with some pretty crazy ways to dance around it.
She cut right through all the dumb reasoning like it was the easiest thing in the world. I'd thought it was like kissing an angel when we'd made out - when she put her hand on my cheek, it was like being touched by one. "I don't think it's nothing, Hailey." She'd been so sultry back at the bar, but when she spoke now, all of that was gone. That soft tone, it wasn't the voice of a woman who wanted to seduce me. It was the voice of someone who saw somebody in pain, and just wanted them to feel better. I never knew, until that moment, how badly I had needed that.
I spilled my guts pretty quick after that, at least, when I wasn't bawling. The details of what I blubbered out, I don't remember those much, but I can't forget what she did. Not once did she interrupt me. Not once did she move away from the hug we held. Not once did she do anything but try to comfort me. She was there even when I was hitting the ground, a crying, sobbing mess desperately holding on to the only anchor I had.
She didn't say anything when I finally finished. I don't think she needed to. The look in her eyes, that loving gaze punching through all the tears welled up in mine... that was enough. I knew, right then, that she would never hurt me like that. That she was there to help me heal. It's not inaccurate to say that I was in love, right at that moment. Somehow, right at the most vulnerable place I'd ever been, I knew the woman with her arms wrapped around me only wanted to protect me, to fix up a heart that had been broken more times then I could count.
It's kind of funny - if anyone else in the world had kissed me, I would've walked away disgusted. It would have seemed so repulsive, kissing someone when they were so very vulnerable, so unable to fight back or make a coherent choice. But it wasn't like that with Luna. When she kissed me, it wasn't because she was trying to take advantage of me. She was just... trying to promise me, I guess, that she was there for me. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me, I think. Well, it was until later that night, but right then, it held the crown, and that was enough for me.
And uh... well... I'll admit, I was the one who escalated things. In the post-blubbering state, I still wasn't entirely back to normal in the head. It was sort of like... a lack of inhibitions, but not in a drunk sort of way. I just, I had this feeling, right then, that I didn't need to be ashamed of anything around Luna. And, well, I was right. She didn't mind when I finally gave into the temptation that had plagued me all night and grasped one of those amazing breats. It was so soft, there was so much of it in my hand - I couldn't help but feeling up the other one.
It wasn't exactly shocking to either of us what happened next. Clothes flew off, hands explored sensitive areas, legs got wrapped up, tongues explored wildly. Truth be told, I don't remember every tiny detail. It was a haze, not aided by the sheer adrenaline. But I remember just how good she was - it was the best sex I'd ever had, bar none. She had me screaming and writhing on that beach for over and hour, and by the end of it, I was ragged, breathless, and begging her for more. I'd never felt so good - every awful memory of Alan's betrayal had been overriden by the orgasmic joy I'd expereinced here.
"Just one moment." Three little words that should have been so forgettable. They stick out in my head, though, because of what followed. The whole sequence, really, it's so vivid. Probably isn't surprising, really. This isn't the sort of thing you forget. I remember being so exhausted, so fatigued after everything, and eagerly looking forward to more as I staggered up onto my knees. My lower body, the sand around it, all of it was wet with a lot more than ocean spray. It got a lot wetter when I looked up and saw Luna again.
You ever had a moment where your brain just shuts down? Full stop, complete halt, please reboot MyBrain.exe? It was one of those moments when I saw that tail.
She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen - but somehow, she was so much more alluring like this. My jaw was practically on the ground as she turned to look at me. The tail in place of her legs, it was just... I don't even know the right word. My heartrate was jumping up every second I spent looking over those scales, the way they shimmered in the moonlight. I desperately wanted to have those sparkly red dots against my skin, rubbing all over me. But not as badly as I wanted to touch the fin it tapered down into - that semi-transparent fin, black in color to contrast against the bright red that so perfectly matched her hair and lips. They stopped in just the right way to leave her with that same glorious rear end, and somehow, I already knew her womanhood was waiting out of sight.
I remember it being funny, how she was butt naked, a her goddess-like chest was the last thing I was staring at.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." She was so sincere as she flopped up to me, curling her tail behind herself as she pushed up on her arms. "But I had to be sure first, of who you are."
"Y-y-y-you... you're... a..."
"A mermaid." She said it so casually, as if being one was no big deal at all. "I... was like you, once. Lost, in pain. A kind soul gave me this healing gift... and I want to share it with you now." I think she could tell my brain was fried, so she laid it out more directly. "I want to make you a mermaid, Hailey. Everlasting, and beautitful."
Would I have said yes, if I was thinking more coherently? Well.. fuck yeah I would. The most gorgeous woman I'd ever known wanted to make me into an everlasting beauty of the sea - of course I was going to say yes. Enthusiastically. "God please yes!" Alright, maybe a bit too enthusiastically, but I had never wanted anything more than this. The ramifications of trading out my legs for a tail, of becoming something bound to the ocean, were far from my mind. I just wanted to know what I had to do to be like the adoring siren before me.