Angels & Sinners: The Motor City Edition (6 page)

“Are you sure, Josh?” Kyle asked. “I don’t want to be a flake and make you go out by yourself.”

“You’re not a flake,” I assured him. “Besides, fishing’s a solitary sport, I’ll be fine by myself.”

“Are you sure, brother?” Marcus asked with one eye open. “After your stunt last night, I don’t know how I feel about you out on the water alone.”

“I’m a big boy, Marcus, I’ll be fine.”

That must have been all Marcus needed to hear, because he grunted, pushed back his chair, and headed back out of the dining room without another word.

I finished my coffee and breakfast and got up from the table. “See you guys tonight?”

“Sure,” Kyle responded. “We’ll wait to get dinner until you get back.”

***

A half hour later I walked out of the B & B with a freshly bandaged hip, and a travel mug of coffee in my hands. My headache had subsided and I was feeling almost human again. As I ambled towards the water, I took in the lush green of my surroundings. I’d always wanted to come to Ireland, and it was even more beautiful than I’d imagined. Although, in all of my musings about the beauty of the landscape, I’d never imagined it would be as cold as it was. Luckily, Marcus had told me to pack layers, and I’d listened.

When I reached the dock, I took care placing my items in the boat before getting in and pushing off.

“Are you sure you can handle the fishing boat by yourself?” Mr. O’Connell had asked me before I’d left.

“Yes, sir,” I’d answered. “I grew up on Lake Michigan and went fishing all the time. I promise I won’t let anything happen to your boat.”

“All right, son,” he’d replied. “When you leave the dock and round the corner, you’ll see a small island in the distance. There’s good fishing right off of the island, and it’s a nice place to stop and have your lunch, if you’re of a mind to get off the boat for a bit.”

“Sounds great. Thank you, sir.”

As I rounded the corner, I spotted the island, just as he’d said, and pointed the boat in that direction. I felt my muscles strain as I rowed, and felt utterly content being on the water without a care in the world.

I was so relaxed by the sound of the oars hitting the water, the crisp air surrounding me, and the grey fog of the morning, that at first I didn’t register the splashing coming from the front of the boat.

When I finally realized the sound was coming from in front of me, I paused my rowing and listened. At first it was silent, but then I heard the splash again, almost like a very large fish was breaking the surface of the water. I leaned forward, to look over the front of the boat, but the water was still.

I heard the splash come from behind me and turned, but only saw a ripple.

Figuring Mr. O was correct and this was the spot that the fish were biting, I pulled in the oars and began to ready my fishing rod. My legs started to hurt from being shoved into the small boat, so I tried to adjust my position without flipping the boat over. My body was turned to the right, with my weight resting on my palms, when a flash of red sped through the water underneath my boat.

“What the fuck was that?” I whispered out loud, losing my balance and falling face first onto the bottom of the boat.

“Shit!”

I righted myself and pressed my hand to my throbbing head. Was I seriously going to injure myself every day of this trip?

I surveyed the water around me, but didn’t see what had startled me. Realizing that I may do better on dry land, I picked up the oars and rowed towards the island. The last thing I needed was to capsize and end up soaked again. Markus and Kyle would never let me hear the end of it if I did.

I rowed up to a small dock off of the shore of the island and tied the boat to it, then pulled myself out of the boat, searching the water as I did.

Nothing.

The water was as still as could be.

Huh . . .

I pulled out my fishing gear and the lunch that Mrs. O had packed, and headed down the dock. On a whim I decided to leave everything right there on the edge, so I could explore the grounds a bit before settling in to fish.

I left the dock and headed inland, my eyes looking everywhere at once, trying to take it all in. I was so focused on my surroundings, that I wasn’t looking straight ahead, which is why I didn’t see her until I’d almost bumped into her.

When my eyes met hers, I froze.

It was her . . . Vivid green eyes, red hair flowing down her back, skin as pale as cream.

She was a vision. The most hauntingly beautiful person I had ever seen.

I tried to speak, but once again found that I had no voice, along with the inability to move. It was like I was under some sort of spell. I should have been terrified, but felt strangely calm.

I devoured her with my eyes. Eager to believe that she was actually real. I hadn’t had anything to drink, and I didn’t think anyone slipped a roofie in my coffee, so that meant that I hadn’t been imaging her, right?

I had a million questions to ask her, and tried to convey that to her with my eyes, but she just continued to stare at me.

She slowly walked towards me, her naked body glorious, when I realized that one part of my body was still able to move. I tried not to feel embarrassed when her eyes raked over my body, and she looked at the bulge in my pants curiously, before bringing her eyes back up to mine.

Like she had last night, she brought her hand to my face and smiled as she feathered her fingers along my cheek. My blood began to boil and my body caught fire. I’d never wanted to kiss someone so badly in my life, but I was powerless to do anything but stand there and hope she read my pleas.

She tilted her head to the side and looked at me for a moment before speaking in a soft and utterly sweet voice, “If you promise not to hurt me, I’ll free you.”

Hurt her? I wanted to worship her . . .

She must have surmised I was harmless, because within seconds I tested my freedom by moving my fingers and found I was able to move again. I didn’t want to scare her away though, so I remained still.

My heart was pounding rapidly in my chest at the thought of reaching out and touching her, but I controlled my urges.

“Hello,” I said softly, eager to hear her beautiful voice again.

She smiled sweetly and responded, “Hello.”

“What’s your name?” I asked.

She tilted her head again, and looked at me, confused.

“You know,” I urged. “What do people call you?”

She smiled again and shook her head, her hair falling seductively around her shoulders.

“I am not called anything.”

What?

I looked at her, puzzled. “You mean you have no name?”

She shook her head again, bemused. “Are you called something?” She asked.

“Yes, my name is Josh,” I responded.

She brought her hand to my cheek once more, and this time I was able to bring my hand up and place it on top of hers. Her skin was silky smooth, and when our hands touched, the effect was electrifying. She closed her eyes, the smile still on her lips, as if she was enjoying the sensation our contact brought her.

She took a step closer and her naked breasts brushed against me. It felt as if my chest had been branded with hers, and it took every ounce of self-control I had not to grab her to me and kiss her fiercely, as I dragged her to the ground beneath me.

She opened her eyes, and I gasped at the heat radiating from them.

“Where did you come from?” I asked.

“The water,” She stated simply.

I looked at her with wonder, having no idea what she meant by that.

“Where are your clothes?” Not that I was complaining . . . her body was straight out of my best fantasy.

“Clothes?” She asked. Before I had a chance to respond, she brought her other hand up and placed it on my other cheek. She looked at me curiously, before pulling my head down and placing her lips on mine.

As far as kisses go, this one was pretty chaste, but the moment the fullness of her lips touched mine, my body turned as hard as granite. I brought my hand up slowly, so as not to frighten her off. I brought it to the back of her neck and gathered her fiery red locks in my fist. She moaned against my lips at the contact, causing my vision to blur and my hips to rock against her of their own volition.

She jumped back, with a startled gasp.

Shit! I needed to control my damn over-eager body.

“Sorry,” I said softly, stopping my hand mid-way when I realized I was reaching for her. I hoped I didn’t freak her out.

She looked down at my body, her hand on her tender lips as she brought her eyes back up to mine. She looked confused, yet there seemed to be interest in her eyes. At least, I hoped that was interest. I closed my eyes and tried to turn my thoughts to something that would calm my body, so she didn’t feel uncomfortable from my raging hard-on.

Kittens, spreadsheets, my mother in a swim suit . . .

I exhaled softly and opened my eyes. She was staring at me with a little smirk on her face.

“You’re strange,” she stated softly.

I grinned at her.

“You’re standing before me, naked as the day you were born, claiming to come from the water, and
I’m
strange?”

She nodded and started to speak, when a loud horn blew in the distance.

She looked off towards the noise, then back at me.

“I have to go.”

I took a step towards her, my arm outstretched, as if in doing so I could keep her with me.

“Why?”

She shook her head and turned towards the water.

“Wait,” I said, choosing to ignore the way the desperation in my voice made me sound like I was whipped. “When will I see you again?”

She turned her head, and I stopped, speechless, at the site. Her long hair flowed across her back, coming just to the curve of her amble bottom, which curved seductively. Her milky skin seemed to shine, and her face was beautiful enough to bring a man to his knees.

“Tonight,” she said with a slight curve of her lips. “Meet me by the water?”

“Where?”

“Where we first met.”

She took off at a run and dove headfirst into the water. I ran to the water’s edge and tried to get a glimpse of her under the surface, but all I saw was a ripple of water in the distance.

I stood there for a while, scanning and straining to find her. When I realized it was no use, I made my way back to the dock and the items I’d left there. I loaded everything back on the boat, and rowed my way to shore.

My head was filled with thoughts of her as I walked across the lush grounds. When I approached the Bed & Breakfast, I noticed my party lounging outside with Mrs. O, having a drink and laughing as they conversed.

“I saw her again!” I exclaimed when I was close enough for them to hear me.

“Who’s that?” Kyle asked from his Adirondack chair, Deb’s hand in his.

“The woman from last night . . . from the water,” I said excitedly as I sat down next to Marcus.

“What the hell are you talking about, mate?” Marcus asked lazily as he brought his drink to his lips and looked at me suspiciously.

“I went into the water last night because I saw a woman . . . was drawn to her. I thought it must have been the drink and I was hallucinating, but I saw her again today out on the Island.”

“A woman?” Kyle asked. “First in the water and then while you were fishing. Where did she come from?”

“What did she look like?” Marcus asked at the same time.

“Amazing, flawlessly perfect,” I said first to Marcus, then I turned to Kyle. “She said she came from the water. Both times I saw her, she was stark naked.”

Everyone looked at me for a moment, not saying a word, then Marcus bust out laughing.

“Fuck you,” he said loudly. “You almost had me, mate.”

I shook my head, trying to figure out a way to get them to believe me.

“No, I’m telling the truth, I swear. On my parent’s grave,” I said quietly, causing the laughter to stop.

“It’s not possible,” Kyle said softly, his voice gentle and low, like he thought I was about to crack or something.

“Of course it’s possible,” Mrs. O piped in. “We’ve had mermaids in our waters for centuries.”

“Mermaids?” I asked, shocked. “Look, I know it sounds crazy, and I’m not sure how to explain it yet, but the woman I saw was definitely a
woman
.”

Mrs. O chuckled as she rose, pulling her sweater tightly around her shoulders. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up, and I’ll bring you some nice tea by the fire inside. Then I’ll tell you a story about our mermaids.”

When she went inside, I turned to the others and clarified, “I never said anything about a mermaid.”

“No, just a hot naked chick from the water,” Marcus said wryly.

“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to miss this story, I’m going in,” Deb said.

Kyle stood up and held out his hand to help Deb out of her chair.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Marcus agreed.

I followed them inside, not saying a word, as a million questions ran through my head.

It just wasn’t possible.

I washed up quickly and threw on some clean clothes, then went to meet everyone by the fire. When I walked in, they were already seated and waiting for story time to begin, because that’s exactly what this was going to be, a story. Just like the countless other tales we’d heard since arriving in Ireland.

“Here you are, Josh,” Mrs. O said, handing me a steaming cup of tea before settling in to her chair by the fire. She sat back deeply, cradling her tea in her hand, and staring into the fire for a few moments before speaking.

We all waited quietly, eager for her to begin.

“Legend has it that the mermaids ruled these waters long before man found their way to the lands. They were a lonely lot, all females, and desperate for the love and companionship of a man. When man started to settle here, they began to tell stories of beautiful women, coming seemingly from nowhere and captivating them with their beauty. At first, there were only sightings, until one lad named Liam, fell in love with one of the girls. It was said that he would sneak out of his house at night, just to get a glimpse of the woman he loved. He said she was from the water, and everyone claimed that their love was doomed, but Liam told his family that he had a choice to make: live in sadness without his mate, or join her forever in the water. Now of course, his family thought him mad, but they loved their son, and wanted him to be happy, so they told him the decision was his to make. He met his love by the water one evening and his decision was clear. He shed his clothes and joined her in the water, swimming deep into the water below, until there was no more air in his lungs, and no more fear in his heart.”