“Can’t argue with that.”
It was a city of millions of women—humans and paranormals alike. Not a single one held a candle to Iris.
“There’s a shallow end, you know.”
“Yes.”
“You should come in. Sit on the steps.”
If that was what she wanted, he’d do it. Happily. Even if it was the last thing he did before he drowned.
“But you’ll need to take these off,” she said, her hands rubbing up and down his thighs. Which was not helping the whole desire thing.
“Right,” he agreed, voice tight.
“I’ll meet you over there,” she said, sinking back below the surface and swimming away.
Finn sighed as he pulled his legs out of the water. He turned away from the pool to remove his belt, then his pants. He left on his shirt and jacket, knowing full well how ridiculous he looked, but figuring it would hide the raging hard-on he was dealing with as he walked over toward the shallow end of the pool.
His hand had a death grip on the metal railing as he went down one step, then two. And finally, three.
Once there, he lowered down to sit on the second stair, the water covering his thighs but not coming up to his waist. Which felt safe enough to him.
Besides, if he somehow slipped under the water, he had the world’s best lifeguard to save him.
Finn watched with a swooping sensation in his stomach as Iris swam toward him.
“There,” she said, reaching out to grab the railing to hold herself still as she stopped right in front of him, flicking her hair back and sending the sopping strands over her shoulder.
He couldn’t tell if the move was deliberate or accidental, if she was even aware of her exposure. If she even cared if she was.
His mermaid knowledge was lacking at best, but everyone knew that mermaids were very free and comfortable with their bodies, that they were sensual by nature and had no shame about their sex drives.
It was entirely possible that Iris had no idea that she had him rock-hard and aching just by being nearby, exposed, and looking so incredibly tempting to touch.
The cool temperature of the water had her nipples twisted into points, and Finn had the almost uncontrollable urge to pull her closer and suck one into his mouth.
The only thing keeping him from acting on his urges was the dubious amount of consent between the two of them. He hadn’t ever gotten around to asking her about her involvement in their engagement, about how willing she’d been to come to the surface.
It was a conversation they needed to have. Preferably when they were both fully clothed, so he could think straight.
“Aren’t you glad you came in?” she asked, seemingly oblivious to what she was doing to him.
“Yeah,” he agreed, if for no other reason than to get close to her happiness.
“Swimming is great exercise. Though, it might not do much for your calves.” Her hand moved out, fingers teasing up one of his calves.
There was no way to stop the small rumbling sound that escaped him at the soft touch.
He was sure it was too low for her to hear until her head tipped to the side, her gaze cutting to his, curiosity in her eyes.
“Does Henry have an issue with your thighs?” she asked, her hand drifting up over one of his knees toward the body part in question.
“I … n-no,” Finn stammered.
“I’ve always thought tails were most attractive on a man,” she went on, her gaze dipping to watch as herfingers grazed over the raised muscle of his quad. “But these muscles are interesting.”
Nothing about her tone suggested her touch and interest were anything other than curiosity. But there was no telling his body that right then.
