Flash by the Sea, the Lovely Sea

Evening, my pretty Big Kitties, and my handsome Big Cats...meow, the Kougar was late getting up today, but needed her strange-dream slumbers. And, there it was in the e-mail from a friend, the celebrity four-eared cat. What got into his genetics? Hmmm...and blink?

Ahh yes and purr, the synchronicities are piling up around moi. Merely two examples: I'll wear Sable someday...the Animals song lyric in Black Cat Beauty...and Black Magic Woman by Santana...raorrr...the next title, could it be Black Cat Magic...?

Okay, the Kougar did an Amazon Kindle search yesterday and discovered both, All Shades of Blue Paradise and Tangerine Carnal Dreams, are available on Kindle. Gee and yowl, that'll bring in those tons o' sales. Moi wishes.
Yesterday was bizarre vibes day. And all yours cat truly could write on, was a prelude scene to Red Lioness Tamed, which is titled ~ Red Lioness Untamed. Yowl and yeppers, if the Kougaress had been energetic enough she would have jumped around like a cat on a hot tin roof to match her nerves.

World staged invasion coming up? Or something more personal? Or, Bast forbid, both?

Flash Fiction Sunday at Liquid Silver SEx blog ~ http://liquidsilverbooks.com/blog ~ With the ever lovely and very talented Nina Pierce hosting. It was Water day with gorgeous pics in attendance...see above for one...and mermaids and naughty pool parties and dragons and Terrans with Water powers...and moi's not so spectacular flashing...still, the Kougar likes it.

And! Just for the Big Cool Kitties, two more flashes are added to moi's serial flash, Cruelty...

Plus! Tomorrow the serial flash, Blocking My Sun, is continued.

FLASH BY THE SEA, THE LOVELY SEA

SEA

ONE
How often had she wished she could swim beneath the sea, breathing as naturally as she did now? Kyrrien shielded her eyes against the diamond-intense flashes of sunlight as she gazed over the rolling dark turquoise ocean, and wished again. Why couldn’t she simply turn into the Woman from Atlantis like the old TV show the Man from Atlantis? It clawed at her gut, more strongly than ever, this ripping need. Just to walk toward the beckoning shine of water, dive in. And swim.
She sensed, more than heard the steps in the sand behind her.
"Wishes do come true."

TWO
"What do you mean?"
She whirled around, the sand scraping the bottom of her feet, barely noticed as she met eyes the exact color of the sea, except for the gem flashes of aqua. She took a quick step back, the tanned strength of his jaw compelling her to look at his entire face. Kyrrien stifled a gasp of appreciation, shielding her eyes as the sun emerged from behind a cloud.
"You don’t belong here, do you?"
His voice caressed her, a baritone with a lyrical deliciousness.
"Again. What do you mean?"
Instinctively, she drew a line in the sand.

THREE
"Kyrrien..."
"How do you know my name?" She frowned, thought about taking another few steps back. Instead, she planted one fist on her hip, challenging him. Him of the gorgeous golden tan. Him of the body meant for swimming and slicing through the sea. Him in the sexiest pair of jean cutoffs she’d ever seen. She forced her gaze back up to his face, hiding her swallow of desire.
"Because you’re one of us."
Again his voice jittered her insides, excitement coursing up her belly. "One of us?" She screwed her face up into a glare.
"I live in the sea."

***************

Cruelty...

ONE
Cruelty can take many forms. I sit in the dark. In the back. In the corner farthest away from the gorgeous young women strutting their stuff beneath the pink-shimmering illumination inside the intimate private ballroom of a Caribbean mansion, belonging to a mysterious man everyone called the Vampire.
The lingerie designs they model not only excite the libido to a painful level, but each one is exquisitely unique and incomparably beautiful. I lust over most of them, my breath hitching ridiculously. God, I wanted to wear them. As I could have once. But, I’m too old. Too ugly. Too fat.

TWO
"May I offer you a drink, madam?" The man’s voice behind me was deep, impossibly deep, and definitely amused. I had no idea why he would find me amusing. Unless he found old and fat some sort of sick private joke? Yeah, mess with the fat woman and tempt the oldie into believing a man found her ‘interesting’. That’s a good one. Haha. Only I’m not laughing, creep.
"I believe you will find the mango sangria particularly refreshing."
"Mango sangria?" Stupid, stupid! Why take the bait? I should just ignore him. Damn.
"A sip. I wish you to try it."

THREE
"Wish all you want. No thanks." Go away. Go find another victim. Irritated, my cheeks flushing...thank god, it’s dark...I return my attention to the filmy glamor negligees. I wish I could feel the silk and lace, the sheer whirl of color as it swishes and slinks over my hourglass curves, as they once were. Not so many years ago. I want to look in the mirror again, admire my own beauty. Maybe be admired. If it’s the right man. Passion untamed...god, yes.
"Please, I need your opinion."
Suddenly, he’s sitting beside me. I blink like an owl.

FOUR
"My opinion," I nearly stutter. No man can soundlessly move that fast, can he? His voice had come from my left. Now he sat on my right, his gaze focused on me as if he intended to feast on my face. Maybe he was, in a way. Maybe it was my blood he was after. I stifled a shiver, and chastised myself. The Vampire. I only recognized him because the magazine I freelanced for on the island, often featured him on the society pages. "Oh, I get it. For the magazine’s drink recommendations."
"If that pleases you, then, yes, Sapphira."

FIVE
"What else?" Damn, why had I said that? I’d just opened the door...
"I wish to know your palate." Leaning back, he suavely crooked one finger.
I swallowed as if my life depended on it. I’d never heard of the Vampire interacting with anyone at his fantasy fashion shows. Yes, he attended the island’s elite social events, a stunning woman attached to his side, cleavage down to her navel. But not...
With debonair precision, a waiter from out of nowhere, it seemed, deposited two tall shapely glasses. The Vampire lifted his while I stared.
"To your health, Sapphira. Please taste."

SIX
Okay, Cici, the mag’s owner would kill me if she found out I hadn’t ‘tasted’. Besides, it would be a coup of a society story, even though I’d only agreed to write up the fashion show because her usual reporter retched with morning sickness.
I pick up the cool curvy glass, then convince my hand not to shake as I slightly raise it. "To your health, Mr. Vorragozi."
"Tell me what you think," he encourages.
Are his eyes sparkling strangely? It’s not real blood, is it? Sangria...doesn’t that mean blood? God help me, if I’m remembering right, it does.

SEVEN
I sip. It’s so perfectly yummy-mango, I sip again. And again. Four sips. Five. I force myself to set the glass down. "Amazing. Very amazing, Mr. Vorragozi."
"I prepared it just for you."
"Why?" My head begins a pleasant swim. I smile.
"Tell me, what’s your favorite lingerie?"
"Baby dolls," I blurt out as if I can’t contain myself. "Truth serum?" I ask, and hold up the glass.
"What would be your favorite color to wear?" His eyes glisten like black pearls.
"Red." My tongue is utterly disobedient.
"Yes, I must have you in red."
"Blood-red! What kind of cruelty..."

EIGHT
"Cruelty?" He inquires a moment after I’d firmed my lips, despite the maddening urge to blab like a chic lit heroine. I think his eyebrow is raised, but the darkness makes me wonder. Still, his tone is cool as his restaurant’s giant freezer. I know I’ve been in it, writing an article for Cici.
He waits with a patience I admire, or perhaps, he simply enjoys my mouse-like torture as I scurry in my mind to think of a way to escape.
"My age. I think it’s cruel." So there, Vampire. Maybe that will turn you ice cold with revulsion.

NINE
"How old are you, Sapphira?"
Do I hear the faint drumming of his fingertips? God, I’d love to take another drink. The glass taunted me like a singing Siren.
"Please tell me," he coaxed. Very persuasively.
It was either grab the glass and sip...or..."Fifty-eight." I harden my jaw, then avert my face. "Satisfied? Happy?" I slice my tone quite effectively, I believe.
"Would you care to guess my age?"
Neutral, his voice, yet tempting, a caress of black velvet. Oh yes, there’s that underlying amusement.
I gage my chances at shutting him down. Not damn likely, I realize.

TEN
Still...I’m a sucker for the right challenge.
"Forty something," I fling at him, tightly gripping my hands together. The Mango Sangria beckons and my mouth begs to taste ambrosia again.
He laughs...melodic and deep. Frissons of ecstatic pleasure seize my nerve endings. I sit paralyzed. Wishing I could move. But I couldn’t. I truly couldn’t.
I couldn’t even blink.
"I’ve been told thirty-five. Often." He made no attempt to hide his amusement. The hypnotic glitter of his eyes danced in the dimness, and felt like a gentle stroke on my face. Odd.
"Actually, I’m one thousand and forty-one."

ELEVEN
What the hell kind of drug had he put in that drink?
Maybe, it was blood. His blood? Vampire addictive blood. Hadn’t I read that somewhere? Some romance novel from years ago...however my brain is too fuzzy to remember, as if I’d indulged in drinking a Fuzzy Navel. Damn.
I finally blink. "Forty-one?"
"You’ll enjoy the dark side, my pretty Sapphira," he promises.
"The dark side," I mumble. Straightening my spine, I announce, "I don’t do the dark side."
"Do?" He leans forward slightly. "I believe you’ll enjoy ‘doing’ me. As much as I will passionately enjoy ‘doing’ you."

Continued ~ September 7, 2008

TWELVE
Shocked to my core...wherever that was, I scoot my chair back, then attempt to stand. It wasn’t happening. My legs have transformed to rubber. "I am leaving." My chin high, I press down on the table to shove myself upwards.
Instantly...before I can even think about blinking, he is beside me, his hand on my arm as if he intends to escort me somewhere.
"Go away," I snap, only able to raise myself part way. My temper emerging, I confront the devil vampire, "What drug did you put in my drink?"
"No drug. Merely a special flower essence."

THIRTEEN
"What? The flower of Bloodroot?" I emphasize ‘blood’ while trying to pull my arm out of his gentlemanly grip. And why the hell does he smell like patchouli and expensive cigar smoke, some exotic mixture of the two which intrigues me more than it should.
"Several blooms from our local flora," he calmly purrs. Again amusement hides in his voice, highly irritating me.
"Let go." I stiffen.
"My Sapphira." His tone humors me. "I will not have you harmed."
"And spiking my drink with ‘special’ essences won’t harm me?" My tone goes for his jugular.
"It will only enhance our risque’ pleasures."

TO BE CONTINUED...

A lovely sea smooch from the Kougar...