The Shell and the Star - Part 22

I'm back today and tomorrow with the next two parts of The Shell and the Star, as promised. (Sorry for the brief hiatus.) This 'aquatic SFR' is being offered as a free read on this blog. 

If you're just tuning in today, you can read or find links to all previously portions that have been posted on this page:

The Shell and the Star

This portion comes with a reader advisory that it contains a brief, mostly PG-13 scene. Oh, and I should probably tag another seatbelt warning on to the end of that, as well! 

Here's a brief recap of where we left the story two weeks ago:

She kissed him back. Kissed him in a way he could never doubt he mattered to her.

Trey hands smoothed over her body from shoulders to hips, then retraced the path back up, his fingers threading into her wet hair. Desire cascaded through her core, heating her blood and making her heart surge like the rushing of high tide. Trey deepened his kiss, leaning her back onto a smooth, flat boulder, pressing closer.

She knew nothing else in those precious heart-pounding moments except her need for him. Couldn’t bear the thought that he’d almost been ripped from her life.

He groaned into her mouth when he smoothed his hand up her soaked dress and over the curve of her breast. Trembled when her fingers dropped to explore the muscled curve of his upper thigh, and tugged at the fabric that covered him. He finished what she started, reaching down to shed his swimkilt, again baring his body for her.

How had she ever believed him to be stunted or deformed? He was perfection. His face, his form, the way his skin gleamed in the rays of the warm sun.

He opened his mouth to speak and she smothered him with another pressing, probing kiss, fumbling to strip off her dress. Urgent now. Eager to be rid of anything that separated them. He rose up on his elbows, helped her peel the garment over her head in a single motion, exposing her breasts to the salt air. To him.

He stroked her, caressing her straining peaks, and Jinn arched her back, shuddering with the sensations of his heated touch. Trey looked down into her eyes, deep, questioning. Lying naked beneath him, she answered with her hands, shifting them low to capture and explore, all shyness gone from her fingertips.

He squeezed his eyes shut on a sharp exhale as she stroked him and when he reopened them, the glint of need was clear. The desire sparking between them would not be denied. Could not.

His breath burned in her ear as he whispered hoarsely, “Be mine, Jinn.”

She answered with a single, choked syllable, “Yes.”

“If we do this, it can’t be undone.”

“I know.”

They shared another seering kiss and Jinn was lost to all reason. Their bodies joined to meld seamlessly, completely, as if they were two halves finally made whole.

He moved with shuddering restraint, holding back while he built the rhythm in measures, giving her time to accept him before his thrusts became deeper, making her strain and rise to answer each drive.

His catches of breath and wordless murmurs incited her, the sensations building and broadening within her, spreading outward from her core, coiling tighter and tighter with anticipation.

His shoulders tightened beneath her kneading fingers and his eyes squeezed shut. Spiking her fingers into his dark hair, she came apart with him, echoing the cry bursting from his lips as wave after wave of electric heat swept through her body. 

Trey sagged against her, chest heaving, to open his soft, blue eyes. The tenderness in his gaze and regard in his touch made her heart pound in cadence with his.

Perfect. Their moment of casting off innocence had been beyond perfect.

“Jinn, we need to--”

A high-pitched wail made her breath catch and body tense. “Is the monster back?”

“It’s only the hunting horn,” Trey reassured her, his hand gently stroking up and down her arm. “My father’s sentinels are after the beast.”

“Tardem and the other Boggy Ball players. Do you think they’re safe?”

“Yes.” He braced one hand against the rock, rolling his weight off her. “When I swam to check, the sentinels were getting them all to safety before beginning to hunt the Razortooth with their spears and nets. They’ll either kill it or cast it out of Fourth City. Then they’ll come looking for us. We only have to wait.”

“How long?”

“Not very.”

Jenn nodded. Reason returned, and with it, awareness of their current state. She rose and reached for her discarded clothes. Trey came to his feet beside her.

He slipped the dress over her head, before re-securing his swim kilt.

Jinn cast a furtive glance his way. “Trey, in your culture, is what…what we just shared…acceptable?”

“More than acceptable.” Trey turned to her and took her hands in his. “It’s called the Ritual of Pairing. It’s an important step in the bonding rites.” He shifted nearer to take her face in his hands. “Except I first should have made my formal request.”

“To mate with me?”

“To bond with you.”

Jinn swallowed around the lump that quickly formed in her throat. As much as they had just shared, and as much as she’d grown to care for Trey in just two days—yes, even to love him—the choices they’d be forced to make might only doom their union. He was The Shell, she was The Star, and to bond, one of them would have to choose to live in the other’s world.

But living without him? That future seemed even more bleak.

There had to be a compromise, but she needed more time to find the answer they could both live with. A few more days to embrace and accept what the future might hold for them.

“Jinn, this can’t wait.” He took her hands and drew her closer. “Jinn Amalla, I must now extend my formal bid for your hand,” he said solemnly. “Do me the honor of bonding with me as my lifemate. Forever.”

She opened her mouth but no words came. Trey’s grip on her hands grew desperate, as if he wanted to hold fast to a future he feared was fading like the sea mist before him.

“Jinn!” He framed her face in both of his hands. “Don’t you understand? We initiated our bonding. There can be no delay. By the laws of my people, you must give me your answer. This moment.”

Jinn closed her eyes, wanting him, but fearing a hasty response would only lead to heartbreak for both of them. She needed more time. Time to talk, time to work out the details of their complicated future. “I can’t make that commitment to you, Trey. Not yet.”

He pulled away from her, hurt and heartache filling his eyes. “I acknowledge your rejection.” The look of pain on his face and hoarseness in his voice made the tears well in Jinn’s eyes.

She reached for him. “No, wait! That’s not what I meant!”

He stepped back from her outstretched hand. “This ends now, Jinn. There can be no doubt on your part.”

“Trey, no. We just need to talk about how we’ll--”

“That’s no longer possible.” He looked to the sea below.

In the cove, the heads of ten Sentinels were transfixed on them, their eyes wide with disbelief as they stared at Trey, and then Jinn, standing tall on the rocks above the water.

“Your rejection was witnessed,” he added bitterly, “By the Law of the Shell, we are done.”

_____________________________________________

Soooo....culture, meet clash. Things have definitely gone awry in this romance. Can Jinn fix what she broke, or has this engagement been stamped with a big red canceled? 

Tune in tomorrow for the continuing story.