Page 52 of Riding the Tide

Blair stood on the deck watching the sunset below the ocean’s horizon. They came together first on the boat. Now that his life was changing again, it seemed appropriate the next step—the last mating bite—happen here, on his boat.

Warm, bare arms wrapped around Blair’s waist. A long, dark lock of blue hair fluttered in the breeze. “How do you feel?”

“Pretty good, actually. The nausea has passed, and my head no longer hurts.” Blair turned in Marcus’ arms.

They had made love earlier, and as Blair came, Marcus bit him again. Everything was a little fuzzy after that—but he was pretty sure Marcus fucked him unconscious. He’d been out for several hours, and apparently Marcus also napped during that time.

Blair woke to a warm sensation spreading from the bite on his neck, but it quickly faded. It wasn’t painful. His body tingled—legs, arms, back, neck—which was what woke him up. He was restless, and seeing how peaceful Marcus looked, he decided not to bother him.

He slipped out of bed and left the cabin to go stand on the deck. The toxins or bacteria—whatever it was in a mer’s bite—took a few hours to integrate fully into human cells. There was a scar where his shoulder and neck met, proof of their mating. He wore it proudly.

He gently touched both sides of his neck where his gills were. The skinfolds Marcus told him about hid the gills, so they weren’t noticeable. Now that the transformation was completed, the gills would always be there whether he was in the water or not—whether he was using them are not.

Marcus kissed the bite mark on Blair’s shoulder and stepped back. “Do you want to try?”

“Are you kidding me? I can’t wait.”

“Okay, then.” Marcus took Blair by the hand, and they headed back down.

Blair went willingly. He understood the need for caution. Last thing he wanted was for some satellite or something to get pictures of them while they worked on opening his gills.

They both sat on the edge of the bed, Marcus still holding his hand. “Okay, this is going to sound funny, but work with me. I want you to clear your mind and think about how you breathe. Your diaphragm tightens and moves downward. Your lungs expand. Now push the air out and exhale. Focus on the pattern. In and out. In and out. Good.”

Blair smiled. Marcus sounded so serious.

“Turn your attention to your neck. It’s long, and smooth, and there are muscles there, right? Nerves too. Focus on your neck and see if something feels different. Odd.”

Blair frowned and shook his head.

“It’s there, trust me. Tried to visualize your neck in your head. Can you see it? Maybe if you closed your eyes?”

Struggling not to become annoyed, Blair did as Marcus suggested. He closed his eyes and tried to visualize his neck, but he got nowhere. Finally, he sighed and opened his eyes. “Nothing.”

Marcus stood and tugged Blair to his feet. “Okay, let’s try this.” He pulled Blair over to a mirror in the cabin and stood behind him. “Look in the mirror. Now, I want you to try to imagine what it’ll look like if you had gills there. Concentrate for me.”

Several minutes passed as Blair stared into the mirror. A bead of sweat traveled down the side of his face as he stared. So engrossed with staring at the mirror, he almost missed the first tingle. Hot damn, that was a fucking tingle. He jumped.

“What?” Marcus asked.

“I… I don’t know.” Blair frowned. “My neck kind of… tingles.”

“Oh, that’s good. That’s exactly what we want. Concentrate on that tingle.” Marcus’ voice dropped. “Now, I want you to focus on your breathing. Hear the air rushing in and out of your lungs and try to lose yourself in the rhythm. Keep focusing on the tingling.”

Blair went back to staring hard in the mirror.

“Perfect. I think you’re ready. Kannon said to tell you to pretend you’re opening a window—a window that’s been painted over and is stuck. I want you to force the window open, Blair.”

Blair tried to visualize what Marcus told him. He pushed at the imaginary window, but nothing was happening. His breathing increased as tension flooded his body. He glared at his image. He kept visualizing the window, but that was getting him nowhere.

Maybe I need some fucking imaginary hands to open this fucking imaginary window. Dammit. This isn’t working.Time for Plan B. In his mind he created a glass container with a lid—like what pickles came in. Those fuckers were hard to open.

Closing his eyes, he tried to visualize himself gently tapping the glass bottle on a counter to loosen the lid and then gripping it firmly. He strained trying to unscrew the top. Teeth gritted he put more force behind opening that lid. By God, he was going to open it if it was the last thing he did. One more violent turn and suddenly something quivered on his neck.

His eyes popped open, and his glance went immediately to his reflection. He gasped. “Oh. My. God!” He had gills—three perfectly shaped gills on each side. Blair reached for his neck, but Marcus caught his hands.

“Whoa, now,” Marcus said from behind him. “They’re new and very sensitive. You want to be very gentle if you touch them.”

“Fuck man, that’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” Blair turned his head this way and that, trying to see his neck at every angle. “I can touch them?”

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