Immersed in Pleasure by Tiffany Reisz

word. “When you’re ready, we’ll go for it. Until then, I’ll just take a lot of cold showers. Starting right now. This water is fucking freezing.”
    “Keeps the nipples hard,” she said, grinning. “You really mean it?”
    “Take all the time you need. I just want to be part of your world. I need you in my life any way that works for you.”
    “And I need you in my life.”
     
    “And I need you out of my pool,” said a voice from above them. Derek looked up and saw Kingsley glaring down at him from the edge of the water. “ S’il vous plaît.”
    After they’d dried off, Xenia, Derek and Kingsley had a long talk. Xenia could continue to work at Fathoms and see Derek as long as they didn’t have intercourse. Technical virginity was good enough for Kingsley.
    “I am French after all,” he reminded them.
    And Kingsley agreed to allow one of the other mermaids to handle Xenia’s rubdowns and virginity checks, which Derek already looked forward to watching.
    “You’re a fool, monsieur,” Kingsley warned Derek. “So many beautiful girls in the city who would willingly dive into your bed. And you give that up.”
    “I don’t want a girl. I want a mermaid.”
    Derek arrived at his apartment still smiling at the story he’d told Mark and Christian. As he put the key into his lock, Derek spied a small puddle of water outside his door.
    Opening the door, he found Xenia inside wearing the white skirt and cami he’d first seen her in.
    She ran to him and threw her arms around him. “Happy anniversary.”
    “One year,” he said, kissing her deep and slow. “Seems like yesterday.”
    “It’s not the only anniversary we have to celebrate today.”
    “Really? What’s the other one?” he asked, gently playing with the mermaid pendant that still hung around her neck.
    “Today is the two-week anniversary of me putting in my two weeks’ notice at Fathoms.”
    Derek only stared at her.
    “You’re kidding.”
    She shook her head. “No. I’m ready. Not just for you, but for everything. Life, school maybe, the real world. And I’m ready for this.”
    Slipping her hands behind her neck, she unclasped her mermaid pendant and laid it in the palm of Derek’s hand.
    “I can’t accept this gift,” he said solemnly and Xenia’s eyes fell.
    “Why not?”
    “It’s too precious for you to just give it away.”
    “But—”
    “So how about a trade?”
    Derek reached into his pocket and pulled out a large shimmering sapphire-and-diamond ring—sapphire, the color of the ocean, the color of Xenia’s eyes.
    Kneeling down on one knee, Derek opened his mouth, but Xenia gave him no chance to speak. She threw her arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder.
    “This is a yes, right?”
    She nodded. “Yes.”
    “We can wait as long as you want. For the wedding. For sex. Whatever you want.”
    “I want you,” she whispered as he slipped the ring on her left hand. “Tonight.”
    As Derek rose off the floor, he took her in his arms and carried her into his bedroom. He hadn’t even let himself hope this would happen tonight. The past year had been a lesson in endurance for him. Some nights he wouldn’t even let her come over because the need in him burned too hotly. But after a few months, she ceased to be an object of sexual obsession and became instead his closest friend. With sex off the table, they had to improvise. They talked for hours, went for walks, went dancing. Derek finally learned how to beat her in Go Fish!—he cheated just as he did. He learned she loved the Go-Go’s and white chocolate and could speak French and Persian fluently. She started to go out more. Six months ago, she started giving swimming lessons at a local gym. Last month, he met her parents. Last week, she met his. And next week, she’d finally get to meet Mark and Christian.
    He and Xenia hadn’t been saints during the past year, of course. Not even his ex-wife or Ireland knew his body as well as Xenia did now. Her nimble