The Mermaid's Tale Read online

  Then Jessica was alone so very alone as Serena got to her feet and ran for the door. The woman threw open the door and ran naked into the night. Jessica ran to the door and shouted out into the wind “wait, come back” but it was too late. There was no sign of the girl in the darkness and Jessica whispered into the gale “Come back, I’m sorry.”

  *****

  The day found Jessica sat in her shack staring at a fire long since dead. Her legs were pulled up to her chin and she sat with her arms wrapped around them. Inside her something fundamental had broken at her pushing away of Serena. She had no idea what she had felt, what she had wanted until it was too late and as the young woman had fled her so had all of her hope. Jessica had learnt early to push all thoughts of love and desire away, but Serena had woken those things in her and now to have them taken from her by her own fear was to cruel a punishment for Jessica to bear.

  So she had spent all night in quiet despondent contemplation of her life. It was not good. She had been pushed out of her home village because of an accident of birth. She had been unwelcome in other villages unless she was willing to whore herself out. She had been alone for most of her life and now that did not look like it was going to change thanks to her own fear. All she had was her endless existence of collecting and trading with little hope it would get better. There was, she had decided, very little to live for.

  Hunger, thirst, her bodies demands made no impact on her dark frame of mind. All she could think about was her own stupidity and the woman who had run from her into the storm. The look of pain she had caused and her own sickening pit of loss where her own heart should be haunted her. Gradually however habit took over and she stood up tiredly and still in her clothes from last night went out into the sunlight and the beach that ruled her world.

  Jessica wandered despondently along the beach ignoring any and everything. Sand seemed to stretch on forever in her eyes and the crash of the ocean only reminded her of Serena’s lost presence. The gulls called to her but she didn’t hear them. Shells that she normally would have picked up and traded crunched underfoot and yet she did not stop. So wrapped up in her misery was she that she did not even notice the flash of black against the sea pacing her.

  She stopped and turned to face the sea. “Serena” she shouted at the top of her lungs. The name flew on the wind and returned only silence and Jessica opened her mouth once more, this time screaming with all her might “I’m sorry” before collapsing onto the ground weeping. No one came to her, no one heard her cries of anguish and she looked up with tear filled eyes that came to rest on one thing. Grimly she smiled to herself.

  Getting up Jessica started walking again, this time with purpose. Turning from the beach she knew so well Jessica made her way up onto scrubland and followed this as it climbed steeply. Gorse and thistle pulled against her skirt and scratched her legs and naked feet but she felt neither and it wasn’t long before she found herself on top of a cliff. Walking slowly but purposely she made her way over to the edge and looked down.

  Jessica stared down at the crashing water as it swirled around the cliff edge far below. She felt nothing inside her heart. There was no hope for the future that her loneliness would be relived or fear at what she was about to do. She looked into the sky and saw nothing but an endless parade of days spent on her own. Very well she thought let it finally end.

  She stared down at the water. The only person she had come across who had shown any semblance of caring about her might as well have been a fragment from a dream, a vision of her making. After all had not the person saved her life and then come to her when she needed help. And what had Jessica done but frighten her, pushing her out of her shack with her fears. Did she really care who she fell for as long as she felt something, anything? Did it matter who she wanted as long as she was wanted back?

  She might come back. It was a traitorous thought and one she quashed immediately. No, better to realise she could not have that person, had chased her away for good. She had nearly drowned once and surely Serena did not care about her enough to come back and rescue her a second time. A minute, two at the most and it would be all over. Her eyes misting over Jessica leapt to her doom.

  Down she plummeted into the cold violent water as it crashed against the rock face. The wind whipped against her body as she fell and then shock as she hit and went under. Closing her eyes Jessica gave herself to the sea and hoped she would see someone who wanted her on the other side.

  Down she went and felt the current take her. She went willingly, performing the sea’s underwater dance as her body became one with the current. She felt a hand on her arm pulling her and she opened her eyes to the stinging sea water in confusion. Serena held onto her with both arms now, her tail fighting furiously against the fearsome pull of the current as she tried to tear Jessica away from the rock. Fear etched her face but still she did not give up, did not let go of her.

  Serena pulled Jessica away from the rocks with powerful flicks of her tail but the current here was strong and had no wish to give up its prize. The current grabbed Jessica from her grasp and swept her towards the rocky cliff once more. All the time Jessica simply stared at her, a look of sorrow on her face.

  Jessica watched as if in a dream as Serena turned and darted in once more before grabbing her again. Fighting with every stroke she slowly pulled Jessica towards safety and away from the rocks that would spell her end. For agonising moments Jessica’s lungs burnt against the water as Serena pulled them along underwater where she was strongest before the mermaid pushed her up and out of the water. Raggedly she pulled in a lungful of sweet air.

  Jessica felt that huge fish tale bump against her legs before Serena burst through the surface covering her with spray. There was a look of fear on her face and then Jessica was claimed in a tight hug that felt, right. “What do you think you were you doing? Don’t ever do that again you stupid woman.” Serena’s musical voice was loud in her ear but Jessica did not care. She wrapped her own arms around the naked woman and held her close.

  “You came back for me” she whispered. Then tears came once more and she sobbed into the hair of Serena. “I’m sorry” Jessica croaked “so very sorry. I wasn’t prepared for what you did to me. I wasn’t prepared to feel anything after being alone for so long. When you left I felt so alone I longed for you to come back. Please, I’ll do anything but please, forgive me and never leave again.”

  Jessica continued to cry and as she held onto the woman who had saved her life twice now she prayed everything would be alright. Hands left her back and she continued to cry and held Serena tighter refusing to let go. She felt fingers on her arms pushing her away and she cried even more before hands clasped her face and she felt lips tenderly touch her own. “I’m sorry. Please stay with me” she whispered once more. “I need you.”

  She felt lips press against her own once more and she kissed back fiercely, desperately. She wanted no doubts in Serena’s mind, no reason for her to go. She put all her feeling, all her need into that one kiss and pressed her body closer to her love. If this strange mixture of fish and woman was willing to fight to save her life, then Jessica was going to fight to keep her in it.

  They broke and Jessica threw herself back into the hug. “I cannot be with you.” she heard “I can only walk on the surface at night and when I do I cannot speak. It is a horrible curse that you should not have to share in. I was weak and despondent and should never have come to you that night.”

  “No” cried Jessica. “I don’t care about your curse. I just want you in my life.” Serena shook her head in a negative reply and Jessica pushed her away with a strength that surprised her. “Do you think I care what you look like? Is that it?” she asked Serena and then taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and dived below the water.

  There she quickly opened her eyes and saw Serena’s tail. Quickly she reached out and grabbed it before pushing her face against the opalescent scales. Jessica had held fish before and so expected Serena’s tail to be sl
imy but to her surprise it was not. Instead it was warm and powerful. She placed her lips against those scales and placed a kiss on them before breaking the surface once more.

  She faced Serena once more and pleaded with her. “I do not care about your curse. I do not care about your tail. If you truly do not wish to be with me then why save me? Please, give me tonight to change your mind. Come to me tonight and be with me as you needed to be once before.”

  Serena reached out her hand and Jessica grabbed it. “Very well, I will come tonight when I can” she heard before once again she was being pulled against the waves towards the beach she called home. This time though, she was smiling.

  *****

  Jessica lay on the bed, her hair framing her face whilst her naked body cooled from the cleansing wash she had done on it. She had no window but her eyes never left the slowly diminishing sliver of light that came under her door as the day all too slowly moved to night. Serena had promised her she would come tonight once it got dark and Jessica held on to that promise with all the hope she had left in her body. This was going to be her one chance at happiness and she was not going to let it go without a fight.

  Slowly the light disappeared until finally gone the shack was thrown into darkness. Jessica got up lighting the fire and the one lamp she had filling the shack with brilliant light and warmth. This was not going to be a night of shame, some illicit fumbling in the darkness. No, she wanted it to be done in the light where she could see everything, commit it to memory so she would always know she was wanted, desired, perhaps even loved. Having lit everything she got back on the bed and lay down and waited.

  She did not have to wait long. There was a tentative knock at the door and Jessica got up off the bed and wrapped herself in her blanket. Walking to the door she opened it and seeing Serena she reached out and grasped her hand before pulling her inside.

  The pair faced each other, Jessica covered in her blanket and Serena as naked as she was in the water. Then Jessica slowly let the blanket slip away and she stood there as naked as Serena was. Her heart raced as she watched the eyes of Serena travel slowly up and down her body. “I know I am inexperienced” Jessica started “but I hope tonight will show you how much I want you.”

  Serena smiled and placed her hand on the arm of Jessica who promptly captured it and brought it up to her lips. Slowly she kissed the palm, staring into the eyes of Serena all the time before pressing it against her breast and holding it there. “If I am to only have you for one night then I don’t want to hold anything back, don’t want you to hold anything back.” she whispered before moving closer and waiting for Serena to show her the way.

  Jessica felt Serena’s hand on her arm and her touch felt like fire. Fingers gently ran up and down her skin and a look of nervousness flashed across Serena’s face as if at any minute she would be told to leave. Realising that the young woman was just as nervous as she was she placed her hand on the cheek of her beloved and smiled at her. “I want you” she said quietly and slowly but surely their faces came together and they kissed.

  It was a gentle kiss, a nervous kiss but it felt like everything Jessica wanted. The hand on her arm stopped, grasped, held her as their lips met once more. This time the kiss was more needful, more desperate and then all restraint was gone as Serena realised that Jessica was not going to stop her this time. Jessica felt hands entwine in her hair and then Serena’s mouth took up too much of her concentration, too much of her senses to care.

  Jessica felt lips leave her own and opened her eyes to see naked hunger looking at her. She didn’t care, she needed that look, craved it and reaching out she took Serena’s hand and led her to her bed. There she sat down and then pulled her lover down on top of her before losing herself in those lips once more.

  She felt a tongue playfully play along her lips before it demanded entrance to her mouth which she eagerly gave. Her hands came up and slid inside Serena’s dark hair before clenching, holding her there and refusing to allow her to escape. She could smell the sea, salty and fresh in the air and as they kissed she felt the coolness of Serena’s body pressed against her own seemingly to hot skin.

  Fingers glided over her naked skin before fingernails lightly scratched where her nerves where making her body jerk and twist as nerves were played with. Serena caressed her side inflaming her already heated flesh but she had no intention of stopping it, not this time. Instead she felt her own hands leaving her lovers hair and moving down, sliding over a smooth back and running her own fingernails lightly over her lover’s skin.

  The hand on her naked flesh became bolder, sweeping up to cup her breast and Jessica broke the kiss to gasp out loud as her flesh was explored. Fingertips stroked across her nipple causing it to stand high and proud and painfully engorged. She arched her back pushing her tit against Serena’s hand as her own explorations became bolder. She dropped her hand down, over Serena’s back to cup her ass and keep her close. She felt smooth and soft skin under her hands as she cupped taut buttocks and then she was squeezing and kneading them eagerly.

  She seemingly felt each individual finger on her breast as she was touched and stroked, squeezed and her nipple caressed. Jessica captured her lover’s mouth once more and pressed herself against her lover with all her need. The heat of that hand on her breast drove her crazy with lust and thoughts invaded her mind, thoughts of touching her lover the same way she was being touched. She wanted to be wanted, to hear someone moan at her touch.

  But she needed more for herself right now, needed to be touched elsewhere, everywhere. Her nipples ached with need and she was wet between her thighs, wetter than she could ever remember being before. Grasping the hand exploring her breast she pushed it down urgently towards her wet cunt, whimpering with need as it went and promising herself she would get the chance to make this woman need her the same way.

  Fingertips slid across her stomach, her abdomen, hovered there uncertainly. Jessica grabbed Serena by the face, pulled her forward. “Anything you want” she breathed before capturing her for a kiss. Then her world shattered as those fingers dipped further and then were there, where only her hand had ever gone, between her thighs and moving against her slick wet flesh.

  Jessica threw her head back and moaned as her lovers hand moved between her thighs. Then lips were on her breasts, tongue lapping at her hard nipples and then down, down following the trail only a hand had been before. Gods she thought as those lips pressed against her stomach and she looked down at her fantasy come true. A moment as Serena wiggled between her legs and then she was staring up at her from between her wet thighs, a look of pure lust on her face.

  “I want this” whispered Jessica and she slowly opened her legs more, showing Serena every part of her, leaving no chance of misunderstanding. Hot breath pounded against her sex and then Jessica gasped as a tongue gently lapped at her. Jessica’s breath became ragged at the pleasure that mouth was giving to her and she wondered what it would be like to taste this woman who had come into her life adding it to a mental check list of things to do before this night was through.

  She felt herself being spread, her lips being pushed apart and licked, tickled, tasted. A moment and then the pleasure became more than she had known as a finger invaded her. She bore down accepting that finger into her and as the tongue moved against her slick clitoris felt that finger twist, move and then power in and out moving against nerves she didn’t even know she had.

  Jessica felt shivers run down her back before sparks shot across her skin. She heard small whimpering noises coming from somewhere and dimly understood they were escaping her mouth. She felt blanket clenched in her hands as Serena sucked gently on her nub, flicking it in her mouth with her tongue. It was too much for Jessica who threw her head back on the bed and groaned with pleasure. Her body took over and she began to move her hips desperate for that one spark that would send her over the edge.

  She heard the lapping sounds of the mouth plastered to her cunt and it sounded lewd which only increased h
er pleasure. The finger inside her left and she groaned her disappointment before it was joined by a second and she felt full, gloriously full. Jessica had never felt anything like this before, even when touching herself. She looked down at Serena who broke away to smile at her before sticking her tongue out and pressed it against her taut heated flesh in her sight and she spasmed as she came.

  Jessica laid there, her face flaming with heat as she came down from her orgasm. Serena lay by her side lazily trailing her fingers over her stomach and causing her sensitive flesh to spasm whenever she hit a nerve. Slowly her heart stopped its hummingbird beat and she turned to the woman lying by her side. “Now it’s my turn to explore you” she said, her voice turning husky with desire.

  Jessica pushed Serena onto her back and mouth salivating at the thought she bent her head and placed her lips over the nipple closest to her. She heard Serena gasp and the sound made her body, already sated, stir to life once more. She used her tongue, twirling it around the hard engorged nipple before sucking gently and taking it deep into her mouth.

  As she leant over the woman and explored her tit with her mouth Jessica placed a hand on her stomach and trailed her fingertips over Serena’s skin. Breaking from sucking on the hard nipple she brought her mouth up to kiss her lover hard and determined before returning to her task below. Earlier she had needed to be touched but had made herself a promise. Now nothing would stop her from fulfilling that promise, from quenching the desire that flared in her.

  Switching from one breast to the other Jessica felt the woman under her mouth shiver with excitement as she tongued and tasted her skin. The smell of the sea hit her nostrils and she looked down to see thighs rubbing against each other as Serena writhed under her mouth. The skin under her hand felt hot, taut and it jumped as her feather light touch hit nerve bundles.

  Jessica moved her head lower to the underside of the breasts on offer and lavished them with kisses. Then leaving small kisses on her skin she started to move lower, to find out if she could make Serena want her as much as she wanted Serena. Lower and lower she moved, lips pressing against stomach and then lower still into wiry hair. Thighs parted around her and she saw Serena’s cunt, hers if she wanted it.