MY SUGAR MUMMY IS A BEAUTIFUL VAMPIRE

Chapter 127: Glowing stones

After excusing himself from the beach, Blake made his way back to the villa, the dizziness and fatigue weighing heavily on him. He went straight to the bathroom, splashing some cool water on his face in hopes it would help clear his foggy head.

Glancing up, he caught his reflection in the mirror and did a double-take. He had noticed his muscular physique before, but studying it more intently now, he marveled at just how extraordinarily fit and toned his body appeared to be. The sinewy muscles of his arms, shoulders and abs looked like they belonged to someone who spent hours per day at an intense physical training regimen.

But Blake couldn't recall ever being a dedicated gym rat or athlete. In fact, he couldn't recollect any specifics about his life's habits and routines that would account for this level of elite conditioning. It was just one more bewildering paradox amid the fog shrouding his fractured memories.

So engrossed was Blake in scrutinizing his chiseled features and powerful frame that he didn't immediately notice the bathroom door swinging open behind him. He startled at the sound of Elena's sultry voice.

"Admiring your own fine physical aesthetics, are we?"

Blake spun around, color rising in his cheeks at being caught so blatantly checking himself out. Elena stood with one shoulder propped against the doorframe, an amused smirk playing over her luscious lips as she drank in his half-naked form with undisguised appreciation.

"I... Sorry, I was just..." Blake fumbled, feeling strangely self-conscious despite her obvious approval. "It's just, I can't figure out how the hell I got in such insanely great shape, you know? It's like my body doesnt match what my mind can actually recall about myself."

"Mmm, I can certainly understand your intrigue over such a delectable physique."

Elena's emerald gaze raked over his torso with smoldering intensity. "Though I must confess, from my uniquely privileged perspective, it suits you perfectly in every... tantalizing... particular."

Blake could feel the heat blazing in his cheeks again. As much as part of him thrilled at her obvious desire, something about being so physically exposed and vulnerable made his instincts recoil. He reached for a towel to drape around his shoulders.

"Sorry, I... I should probably get some rest," he mumbled, unable to meet her piercing stare. "A quick lie down before we, uh, do anything else for the evening."

"Of course, my dear." Elena's tone took on a touch of velvet solicitude, despite the lingering gleam of ravenous hunger flickering in her eyes. "You require whatever restorative periods are necessitated by your condition. I shall leave you to your own devices for now."

With a whisper of silk against the tiled floor, she turned and swept out as lithely as she'd arrived. Blake released a long shuddering exhale, leaning forward to brace his hands on the vanity while struggling to regain his composure.

Why did he feel so perpetually on edge around this woman who clearly desired nothing more than to cosset and indulge his every hedonistic whim? What deep-rooted reservations caused his mind to persistently rebel against simply surrendering to her lavish hospitality and sensual ministrations without further introspection?

Shaking his head, Blake decided to heed his own advice before rejoining Elena for the evening. Whatever strange fugue states kept overwhelming his consciousness lately, maybe a brief respite would at least allow him to face his enigmatic hostess with a clearer perspective.

Several hours later, just as dusk began descending over the idyllic beachfront oasis, Blake emerged from the villa to find Elena awaiting him on the secluded stretch of pale sand. She beckoned him over with a serene smile.

"Feeling refreshed, my dear? Good. Then you're well-prepared for where I intend to spirit you away to next - a favorite little hideaway of yours from bygone days."

Blake furrowed his brow quizzically but allowed her to take his hand and guide him down the shoreline to a smaller sheltered cove bracketed by craggy lava ridges. As they drew closer, he could see that the beach here was comprised not of sand, but thousands upon thousands of polished stones in every color and size imaginable.

"What is this place?" he murmured in an awed hush, mesmerized by the shimmering profusion of pebbles carpeting the inlet.

"Your own cherished seaside grotto," Elena lilted in hushed tones. "A private sanctum where you could revel in quietude and contemplation nestled amid such organic splendors."

With a graceful swoop, she shrugged off her silken outer-robe and delicate slippers before padding out onto the marvelous tapestry of stones in bare feet. A delighted giggle escaped her lips at the sensation of all those myriad textures caressing her soles.

Blake watched her indulge in this childlike fancy for a few moments before reluctantly following suit and shedding his own sandals. He grimaced as the first few razor-edged stones bit into his feet.

"Oww...how can you stand just traipsing around on all these things?" he protested through gritted teeth while hobbling behind her graceful, unfazed motions. "It's like a torture gauntlet!"

"Merely requires adapting to Mother Nature's humbling little indulgences," Elena chided airily, not slowing her stride one bit. "The human form was crafted to withstand - nay, embrace - the visceral textures and ministrations of the elements in their purest states."

She paused to cast a smoldering look over her shoulder, elevating one bare foot to languidly caress the top of her calf in a mesmerizing figure-8.

"Don't you feel more...centered and steeped in unrefined sublimity while immersed in such unspoiled organic simplicity?"

Blake swallowed hard at the hypnotic gesture, though some stubborn tendril of cognitive dissonance still grated at the back of his consciousness. "I... guess you could put it that way," he hedged aloud, limping from foot to agonized foot across the pebbled expanse separating them.

"It's just hard for me to fully submit to or comprehend this 'humble communion' when I can't even reconcile memories of ever indulging in such rituals before."

Elena pouted in faux consternation. "So impatient for recollection you are, Blake. Must all of life's ineffable profundities be spooned and quantified before you learn to simply...experience and absorb wisdom on your own detached merits?"

She let her trailing foot arc downward until the slender stem of her ankle was tickled by the gently lapping tide ebbing up against the stony beachhead. A ragged exhalation shuddered through Blake at the simple yet unbearably erotic sight.

"Though...perhaps if I provide you a few additional whispers of context regarding your personal history of seeking enlightened sovereignty in this timeless oasis..." Elena's voice lowered to a conspiratorial murmur as she beckoned him closer with one crooked finger.

Blake found himself almost stumbling in his eagerness to close the distance between them. As soon as he was near enough to feel the heat radiating from her lithe, statuesque form, Elena reached up to frame his stubbly jaw between both palms while peering deep into his eyes with penetrating sincerity.

"You were a seeker of truths, beloved. A pursuer of breakthroughs and transcendental paradigms meant to shatter the confining myopias of a mundane existence shackled by mortal conformities."

Even through the hazy filters of his fractured memories, Blake somehow sensed there were multiple levels of cryptic meaning percolating beneath those innocuous words. His brow creased as her caressing fingertips smoothed along the tension bunching at his temples.

"You had a career...a vocation forged through great hardships and singleminded immolation of self," she breathed in hushed, reverent tones. "Achievements and specialized expertise that placed you among the exemplars of unorthodox mental and physical fortitude sought by those intent on shattering conventions and manifesting metaphysical upheaval through devoted mastery of consciousness over matter."

Blake could barely process the profoundly portentous implications of her words before Elena slipped one palm from his cheek to lay her fingertips against his breastbone in an almost ritualized benediction.

"Until catastrophe and betrayal conspired to temporarily tear you from the path toward apotheosis. The car accident that nearly took your life," Elena paused, a single tear dropping from her eyes.

Blake felt sorry for her. If this woman really was his lover then he couldn't imagine what she must have gone through and was still going through. But then again, there were bigger concerns on ground. Like getting to know how he had ended up being in this place. He needed to know everything.

There was a prolonged stretch of silence where neither of them spoke or even seemed to draw breath. Blake found himself momentarily adrift in the iridescent fireflies of her gaze shimmering in the encroaching twilight, feeling as if the entire world beyond this remote alcove had fallen away to meaningless periphery.

The spell was only broken when another incoming wave surged higher up the pebbled shore to soak their feet in the balmy saltwater. Blake let slip a small gasp of shock, instinctively pulling back from the calf-deep influx while Elena didn't so much as flinch.

"You were pursuing greatness..." she murmured in a faraway lilt, emerald eyes glassy and distant as she seemed to stare through him towards unfocused horizons and memory-laden vistas. "Extraordinary greatness that breaks the bounds of sanity, achievable only by those who have been forged in intense and transformative experiences."

Before Blake could fully process her obscure sermon, let alone formulate any further pointed queries, Elena blinked and seemed to re-center her awareness in the present while bestowing him with a warm, enigmatic smile once more.

"But come," she said, extending her hand invitingly. "I've indulged your nostalgia for this sacred grotto long enough. There is one more beloved haunt I wish to reconnect you with this evening."