Eric couldn't stop smiling. It had been such a short time ago that Ariel had come into his life, but he dared anyone to claim that their love wasn't true. Although, Eric did admit to himself as he shut his cabin door after the wedding, he and his bride did have a great deal to get to know about each other. He knew she was brave, and loyal, and that when she looked at him with her wide blue eyes, crinkled at the corners from her smile, he knew he didn't want to spend his life with anyone but her. But, he reminded himself, they had all the time in the world now.
So he certainly wasn't prepared for her question.
She was unpinning the diaphanous veil from her thick waving hair when she paused, as though troubled.
"Eric," she said, turning to look at him with her head cocked to one side, "how do humans mate?" Eric stared at her in shock, and she laughed once, a glistening cascade of sound.
"Balancing on these feet isn't the only part of being human that I need to learn about," she reminded him gently. Her lips curved up in an embarrassed grin. "And I don't just mean the proper names of land things, either." Eric chuckled quietly for a moment, remembering how proud Ariel had looked when she combed her hair with a fork.
He ran his fingers through his thick black hair, pondering for a moment how to respond.
"Well, what exactly is it that you want to know?" Ariel gnawed on her lower lip, considering.
"I suppose I should familiarize myself with human anatomy," she said, her eyes narrowed in thought. "That way I'll know what to do when mating season arrives."
Eric felt his heart suddenly sink into his boots. Mating…season? Ariel must have noticed his expression, because she suddenly gave a low cry of alarm, and ran across the cabin to him.
"Eric, what's wrong?"
He swallowed, feeling suddenly unfair. He loved this sea-girl, and he didn't want to push himself on her if she wasn't ready, or expecting it. But as he buried his nose in her hair and breathed in her scent, he could feel a sudden warm ache, the tightening that heralded his arousal. He suddenly felt as though he could feel every individual strand of Ariel's hair brush across his face.
Eric shut his eyes and tried to clear his head.
"Eric?" Ariel's beautiful voiced quavered with a moment's uncertainty.
"Ummmm" Eric squeezed his eyes tighter for a moment, then opened them, looking down at his bride's concerned face.
"It's just that…humans don't have…a mating season." His voice was darkened by the tidal wave of lust that was pouring through his body.
Ariel's eyebrows shot up in confusion.
"But then how do humans reproduce?"
"They mate, but," Eric struggled to put it delicately, "they do it for pleasure. To show love for each other." He grinned a little. "Honestly, most of the time, reproduction is not the main priority." Ariel stared at him in disbelief.
"What a waste!" she exclaimed. Eric flushed.
"It's not a waste," he replied, struggling to keep his own disbelief hidden. Since he'd first heard Ariel's voice, he had loved her, and ever since he first saw her, her face and form had filled his dreams, until he awoke gasping, wet sheets clinging to him. But how could he explain to her the passion, the pure desire? The limp joy of muscles uncoiling from climax? As he searched for words to explain, an idea struck him. A beautiful, simple idea.
"Alright," he said, appearing to acquiesce gracefully. "If you want to familiarize yourself with human anatomy, that's what we'll do."
Ariel's brow crinkled in surprise.
"Now?"
"Now," smiled Eric. The tight warmth was rising, beginning to poke his trousers ever so slyly upward. "Male or female, first?" he asked in his most clinical voice.
Ariel though for a moment, her head dipping to the side again.
"Female, I suppose." Her eyes danced with curiosity. Eric's mouth went dry with anticipation.
"Then I'd better help you out of your dress, shouldn't I?"
"I think that is exactly what you should do." Ariel's eyes sparkled brighter as she presented her back to Eric. He moved to unlace the white wedding gown, and noticed his hands were trembling. Carefully he unlaced the dress and was about to let it pool in a silken heap on the floor when Ariel looked back over her shoulder.
"Not on the floor!" She looked down at the dress and lightly ran her fingertips over the smooth fabric. "Lay it across the chair, there," she gestured. Eric obeyed her, another small tugging at the corners of his mouth. Ariel loved everything human with an almost childish delight that never ceased to delight him in turn. He turned back, expecting to help her out of her chemise and was pleasantly delighted to discover her wonderfully bared to the world, seated cross-legged on the bed. The pressure between his legs immediately doubled, tripled, spiraling heat up through his body.
Ariel eyed the bulge in Eric's trousers and let out another chiming laugh.
"You seem…ready to mate," she giggled happily.
"Oh, Ariel," Eric breathed, the heat within compressing his chest, "believe me, I am." His eyes swept her lithe form, enjoying the sway of her breasts, mimicking the roll of the ship beneath his feet. Her pink nipples began to stand taller, stroked into awareness by the cool sea breeze moving through the cabin.
Eric hastily divested himself of his shirt and kicked off his boots, almost falling over from an untimely heave of the ship. Ariel giggled as she watched Eric hop about for a moment, fighting for balance. With an enormous amount of willpower, Eric kept his trousers on. She wanted to learn of the female form, so that's exactly what he would explore, with his fingers, his breath, his tongue, and only when she was fully aware of her new shape would Eric introduce her to the rest of himself.
Assuming he could wait that long.
"Lie back," he commanded huskily. Ariel's lower lip jutted out in a pout.
"If I lie back, how can I see?" she complained.
"I'll fetch you a mirror later," he promised, his eyes locked on how her belly pushed her mound down and pulled it back up as she breathed. "Please lie back," breathed Eric, trying to control the burning desire in the pit of his stomach. Ariel looked hard at Eric, as though he was a word she didn't quite understand, then her trusting smile lit her face. She plopped her torso down on the bed, her knees splaying further apart.
Eric knelt before the bed and gently took hold of her ankles, pulling her legs fully open. He lovingly kissed the sole of each of her new feet. He heard her breath hitch.
"Humans use their feet to mate?" Ariel asked in surprised delighted, flexing her toes. Eric grinned and ran his fingertips lightly up the back of her heel, along the elegant curve of her calf.
"No, we don't", he said ruefully. "But they can feel very," he exhaled, searching for the right word, "nice at times." He kissed his way up her left shin, his fingertips tickling behind her knees, relishing the salty sea taste of her skin. Along the inside of her thigh Eric began to lick in long, smooth strokes, going a little higher every time. Ariel gasped at the novel sensation but didn't say anything. Perhaps human instincts were beginning to kick in, Eric wondered. Still enjoying the creamy muscle of his bride's inner thigh, he glanced down to the juncture between her legs. Delicate folds of skin were growing pink and a faint glistening wetness was beginning to spill out of her.
He skimmed light kisses up the rest of her leg and spent a few moments paying loving attention to every side of her protruding hip bone. His fingers twined through the triangle of red curls as his mouth moved higher over the sweet curve of her stomach. His breath was hitching with excitement as he reached Ariel's beautiful breasts. Almost reverently, he cupped each breast in a hand, essentially covering them with his palm…and squeezed ever so gently. A small groan escaped Ariel's throat. Eric tore his eyes from the swaying globes.
"Are you alright?" he whispered.
"Yes," Ariel replied, her voice almost as quiet as Eric's. "I just never thought of doing that." Eric chuckled, and ran his thumbs over her firm nipples, and was rewarded by another groan.
"Don't worry," he said. "Knowing you, you'll come up with all kinds of ideas." And then he sucked her right nipple into his mouth, his left hand running faint circles around her other breast. Eric's tongue rasped across the raised skin of the areola, then against the silky whiteness of her breast.
"How do you know what to do?" Ariel asked, her own breath roughening, raising and lowering her breasts beneath Eric's ministrations. Eric pulled his mouth regretfully from her flesh, and grinned ruefully.
"Honestly, I'm just making it up as I go." Now was not the best time to explain the concept of courtesans.
"Oh." A heat came into Ariel's eyes. "Eric…what humans mate with…is it between our legs?"
"How did you figure that out?" Ariel shifted underneath him, her stomach brushing against his chest.
"I feel warm there." The heat in her eyes intensified. "Am I right?" Eric smiled broadly.
"Absolutely." Ariel laid back her head with a sigh of contentment.
"Finally, something I get right about the human world on the first try!" Eric chose not to remind her about her assumption involving feet.
''Should I move downwards, then?" he asked throatily. Oh, gods, the unbelievable pressure of want, the push the mattress taunting him. Ariel shifted again, pressing herself deeper into the bed.
"Should I?" Eric repeated, struggling to keep the intense need out of his voice.
"Yes."
The smile returned as Eric slipped lower, towards his lovely bride's secret treasure. And his treasure now, too.