The manager bought us champagne, and we sipped on bubbly as I looked at my ring. The oval-cut sapphire drew your eye, and it was huge! “How big is this stone,” I asked.
“Two and a half carats,” Nicholas said with a grin. “I wanted to make sure everyone could see you were engaged.”
“It works,” I said as I kissed him. “It’s beautiful. How did you know I didn’t want a big diamond?”
“Your Mom,” he said.
“I should call her,” I said as I thought about it.
“Just wave and tell her hello, I’ve been live-streaming this back to Melbourne and Miesville for the last fifteen minutes,” Linda said with a grin. “They saw it all.”
I turned my hand towards the camera and showed off my ring. “Thanks, Mom. You did great.” I turned back to the girls. “Some reality show we are. One started as a married woman, two got engaged before filming started, and the fourth didn’t make it a month before she was off the market!”
“Can’t blame Nicholas for putting a ring on it,” Makani said with a smile.
“Yeah, he couldn’t risk some heartthrob in Rio sweeping you off your feet,” Noelani teased.
“There’s no chance of that now,” I said as I turned back to my man. “When should we get married?”
“Christmas on the beach,” Amy suggested. “We finish up in Acapulco, then fly back here for Christmas. Olivia, Leo, Hammer, and Susan will still be here, and your Dad can bring Mark and Chance down after school goes on break.”
“That could work if you’re all right with our Moms planning things while you’re on tour,” Nicholas said. “Great time for a party, and the sooner we are married, the faster I can get your paperwork started for residency.”
I thought about it for a moment. “I’m all right with the time, but I want to get married in a shark cage off the Neptune Islands with a twenty-foot Great White Shark as my ring bearer.”
I looked around the table, working to keep a straight face as they tried to figure out how to talk me out of that insanely bad wedding idea. Amy played it straight. “Can they fit four of us and the preacher into one of those cages?”
“And how do you keep the shark from swimming off with your ring,” Makani asked.
“What then, do you throw a chum bouquet and see which shark is next to be pregnant?” Noelani looked at me as I finally lost it. “You’re just messing with us, aren’t you?”
I was laughing as I nodded. “You have to admit it would be great for the reality show.” I was happy to see Nicholas hadn’t objected; as long as I was his at the end of the day, I don’t think he cared how we got there. “Maybe for our honeymoon.”
Strong arms pulled me back into a toned body. “I love you, Vicki Lawrence.”
I leaned my head back for the kiss. “And I love you too, Nicholas Corcoran.”
***********
It was late when we got to our room, and Nicholas was SO getting laid. I kept looking between my engagement ring and my man all night; mating was a private affair, while this was VERY public. He opened the door let me in; our bags were on a stand, and the fancy room awaited. “What is this,” I asked as I looked at all the lace and decoration.
“Bridal suite,” Nicholas said. He led me to the center of the room. A king four-poster canopy bed was on one side, with a gas fireplace and a large jacuzzi opposite. Sheer fabrics hung from the canopy, and a champagne bottle was chilling next to glasses and chocolate-dipped strawberries. “And you’re wearing too many clothes for my liking.”
I reached up and detached the neck hooks of my dress, letting it fall over my hips and to the floor. Nicholas sat on the edge of the bed with eyes full of lust as he looked me up and down. I gave him a smirk, then stepped out of it and picked it up to lay over a chair. Of course, I made sure I was facing away from him when I did this; I heard his breath catch when I bent down. Standing up and still facing away from him, I unhooked my bra and tossed it on top of my dress. He had his shirt off and was pulling off his socks and pants. “Still too many clothes?”
“Yes.” He was pulling out a condom, and I heard the foil as he opened it. I hooked my thumbs over the sides of my thong, pushing it over my tanned hips. Shaking my body, I let them fall to the carpet, then stepped back and bent at the waist to get them. “Don’t move,” he said.
I wrapped my arms behind my calves, grateful to the yoga routines that kept my body flexible. He stepped to me, grabbing my hips, and plunged his perfect cock into me in one long thrust. “NICHOLAS,” I yelled as I felt him stretch me. It didn’t hurt, I was more than excited enough, but this position touched places I didn’t know I had. He pushed me back until just the tip was inside, then slammed forward until he bottomed out. It took my breath away, but it felt SO good. I couldn’t do anything in this position except squeeze him, and the domination had my wolf panting with lust. He took me hard and fast as I held my legs, unable to move. The only sounds were the slap of flesh and the moans of pleasure as we built to a peak.
“Give my your hands,” Nicholas said. I let go of my legs and held them up where he could grab them. He pulled my shoulders up until I was bent over ninety degrees, still getting pounded hard from behind. I came hard, my legs giving out as he kept going, his hands moving to hold me up by the waist.
He pulled out and caught me before I collapsed to the floor. I was still recovering from my orgasm when I felt him lift me. He laid me on the edge of the bed with my legs over his shoulders. “I’m not done with you yet, my love.”
I looked at him with hooded eyes as he plunged his steel into me again. I loved how he looked; strong, muscled, and with a sheen of sweat as he took his mate to new heights. It only took another minute, and I was climbing the mountain again. “NICK!”
“Come for me, baby,” he said as his thumb started rubbing fast over my clit. He pinched it, and I went off like a bomb. My greedy pussy clamped down on him like a vise, pushing him over the edge. He slammed as deep as he could with a shout, and I could feel his cock begin to pulse into the condom. He pushed forward twice more before it was done. Turning me on my side, he collapsed next to me, both of us breathing hard. “Crikey,” he said as he rolled to his back. “Are you all right?”
“I might be a little sore in the morning, but it was worth it,” I said honestly.
“Shower and bed?”
“Shower, make sweet love again, then bed,” I countered. The second round was slow and sweet, leaving us satisfied and exhausted as I fell asleep in his arms.
We woke to our alarms, taking some time to soak and make love in the jacuzzi. We were getting dressed in clothes over swim gear when Amy mind-linked to me. “Vicki, there are some people who would like to meet you down here in the restaurant,” she said. “It’s a buffet.”
“Magic words. We’ll be down soon.” Today’s adventure was in the waters off Rottnest Island, this time with scuba gear. Linda had chartered a dive boat, and the local guides told stories of encounters with large Grey Nurse Sharks and other species. With the water clarity I’d seen yesterday, it was going to be fun. “Are you diving with us or watching,” I said as I pulled on my boat shoes.
“I want to dive with you,” he said. He may as well; he was part of the reality show now. It wouldn’t hurt the ratings to have him out there. “Linda said I could take Fiona’s spot, and Makani will run a dive camera. Fiona’s back hasn’t healed enough to dive. Besides, I don’t want you out of reach until you have to leave.”
I squeezed his hand as we got to the door. Fiona and Carly were waiting for us, and we took the elevator down to the main floor. When we arrived in the dining room, we found everyone in a private room, and there were four people I didn’t recognize. I took a smell, and it was distinctive.
“Mermaids?” Nicholas felt confused over the bond. Meeting Linda had been a revelation; he’d run into their kind before but hadn’t known what that smell meant. No one in his family did; in Australia, there wasn’t the hostility between species that North America had. The Mermaids didn’t show themselves as supernatural to the Werewolves they came across, and the Werewolves didn’t seem to care they were around.
“Let’s get our plates and sit down,” I said. I loaded up my plate as Amy filled us in. “Linda has been in contact with her family, and they have relatives here in Australia. Now that you are staying, they are worried that the wars with werewolves that drove them from England to here will reignite.”
“Are they local to this area?”
“One couple is from here, while the other two are from Bunbury a bit south.”
We sat down, and Linda introduced to Matt and Nicole from Fremantle, and Terry and Tina. “Good to meet extended family of Linda’s,” I said. “How can I help you?”
Matt looked around, making sure that the wait staff was out of hearing range before he talked. “We didn’t want to cause a public scene this morning when you join us. We run the dive shop and charter you are using today.”
I looked at Linda; she booked the travel, so she must have known. She looked a little embarrassed. “I told them it was all right, but our kinds haven’t mixed down here.”
“You haven’t learned about me, then,” I said. I gave the four a short background; my life as a human before finding out my true nature, my experience with vampires, and my friendship with Linda and other mermaids I’d brought on board the project. “One of the worries associated with my television show is that we would accidentally expose our nature. I wanted to have an all-werewolf crew, but there aren’t enough of us interested in the ocean and sharks. I’m the weird one,” I said with a shrug.
“That’s for sure,” Amy teased. “I’m not much better.”