Page 49 of Magic Potions and the Merman's Lure

My eyes slide shut, and I shiver again. Those two words practically feel sung with the way they vibrate melodically through me, even though I know that they were not. “I’m a little scared,” I admit. Scared that I will fall even more in love with him after coming to embrace and know all of him and of being shattered if he chooses to leave.

“I am scared, too, Keri,” he rasps, and my eyes snap back open.

“You are scared? Why”

The sad look in his eyes makes me feel terrible for asking, but the smile that follows is full of understanding.

“Because I know now what humans think of my species. I am afraid to touch you when I am incapable of pretending to be human.” He gestures to his tail. “This won’t feel human, and I cannot pretend that it will. Or know if it will disgust you. I am afraid to have you in the water and lose you forever because of that.” He gives a self- deprecating chuckle and smiles wryly at me. “For all your lore that would have my kind portrayed as the ones to trap humans, I would say that given the tendency of my species, I’m the one caught. This feeling is like wrestling in the grasp of a sea snake and being powerless to do anything about it. But I still have enough to hope that you will accept me and want to enter the pool with me and touch me as I truly am. And to trust me.”

Tension that I didn’t even know I had eases within me at his words. Whether he loves me or not, he is also wrestling with feelings and worries of his own. Whatever happens in the future and however our story ends between us, it is good to know that this is a journey that we are truly taking together. I’m not prey for him to amuse himself with nor a passing interest.

I look at his extended hand, my gaze lingers briefly on the delicate curve of his claws and the super fine scales that I know from experience are silky soft when he runs them over me. Suddenly I want nothing more than to cast all worries aside and step into the pool with him. If he set aside his fears enough to invite me in, then I can set aside my own fears of being abandoned by him for another female to mate and join him in the water and embrace all that he has to give.

Sliding my hand into his, I feel like I’m stepping beyond a point of no return. There is a ledge over an unknown abyss and I’m drifting over it as his fingers curl around mine. A smile spread across his face with so much unconstrained joy that my heart aches with the love blooming inside that I’ve been holding secretly within myself.

His hum becomes louder and the water rushes around him, lifting him even higher as the water condenses into a thick, spinning column lifting him until he towers just slightly over me. I blink in surprise at the sudden height difference. It’s as if he is standing right in front of me. I want to inspect this unique form of aquatic magic, but I’m distracted when he wraps his arms around me and pulls me close to his chest. The cool water soaks through my clothes but I couldn’t care less. I’m exactly where I want to be at this moment in time.

My lips tip in amusement. “Don’t get too excited. I may allow you to drag me into a pool but I’m not so sure if I would let you go this far into the sea. To be honest, I’ve always found the idea of being dragged into the sea a little terrifying.”

Laughter bubbles from him but he presses his lips tightly together to keep it contained enough to give me a solemn nod. “I would not wish that for you either. But I think I might be able to convince you to enjoy the sea in my company.”

My eyebrow raises at his self-confidence. “Oh yeah? Convince me, then,” I whisper.

Ro smiles as he reaches for me and gently drags me into the water with a splash. The cool water rushes over my head but I only feel a hint of panic for a second before we surface and I’m able to wipe the water from my face and drag in a much-needed breath of air. Ro doesn’t comment on it or apologize. He just holds me against his chest, his song and the current of our magic filling my mind and hearts as we drift in the water with only the languid movement of his fins steering us. I feel something tickle my belly when his tail shifts below me. I can feel it snake in the water between us, becoming plumper with his arousal. From my memory I also know that its pink color is also darkening as it twitches and writhes whenever it brushes against me as his tail slowly pumps to keep us afloat and moving.

“I will show you everything I am,” he rasps as he lowers his head, his lips so close to mine that his breath brushes against my mouth. “Then you will know that there will never be anything to fear when I am with you—no matter where we are or what form I take. You can always trust me to take care of you.”

His mouth covers mine, his lips sipping at mine with tiny tugs and exquisitely soft caresses make me fall in love with him even more. The salty-sweet taste of him as he darts his tongue between my lips stirs a desire and need so brilliant within me that it churns and spins through my core. I spin through the water with him, not noticing that we are no longer drifting on the surface. Our breaths mingle, our magic mingles and entwines further until it is a current that rips between us, carrying us on a tide of lust as our mouths mesh over and over again, and still he kisses me, dragging me into the depths of all that he is.

Chapter 31

Ro

It is not the sea, but it feels so good to have her in my arms in my natural element. She struggles for only a moment as we sink into the water, but it is soon forgotten as our kisses raise our magic and desire and she forgets about her human inability to breathe underwater. She breathes with my magic and gasps when my pelvic fins slip along her inner thighs and sex. We breathe together as my fins continue to flick over the delicate skin and thin cloth beneath her skirt, capturing her pheromones and dragging them into my sexual receptors, priming me for mating as the mating tide swells and rushes between us as we roll languidly in the pool.

I want to weep with relief. I am not damaged. Though my lure drags deep within her, calling to the mating tide, it is not time yet, but it will be soon. And the first stirring of it is as incredible as I imagined it would be, if not more so because it is with her. Never once had my imagination come close to conjuring someone quite like my mate.

---