Page 42 of Blood of the Sirens
“They are my kinsmen. You felt my tail. And I want to hear you scream.”
I only got the first part of that. Because it was the only part that made sense in my brain, or because his tongue switched from delving inside me to licking slow, languid strokes on my outside edges and who the fuck could think with that going on?
He added one finger, and I thought I might die. My black dress was ruined, the edges frayed and split with white streaks of dried salt painted in random places. The front was ripped all the way down my chest, showing my bra. I didn’t care.
Well, until another annoying, intrusive thought popped up in my head.
“Did you … did you say something about a tail?” I asked warily, desperate that I had simply misheard him.
Merrick opened his mouth to reply, but I cut him off.
“You definitely said tail. And kinsmen.” My eyes shot to his waist, out of view beneath the dark water.
“Get out,” I commanded, my voice shaking. “Let me see.”
I expected him to laugh. To tell me I was paranoid and exaggerating, because that’s what every other motherfucker with a penis had always told me. There was no fucking way he was serious. Right?
No such luck. Merrick dove into the dark water like a dolphin, the large tail arcing in the air as it followed his body. I stared. The cave was dark, but not dark enough that I was hallucinating a fucking tail.
It was longer than the upper part of his body, and a gorgeous shade of green-blue. As he waved it around in the semi-darkness, the edges of his scales glinted gold at me. He raised his hands and face to the surface, holding them out. Webbing appeared between his fingers, and even his earswere different. After only a few seconds of them being above the air, the extra features faded away, making him appear human.
It was beautiful. He was beautiful.
Merrick backed up to the far side of the cave, his face twisted in anxiety.
“Get back over here,” I demanded, my voice hushed. “I want to see it. Really see it.”
Mermen were real? Mermaids were real? This was a marine biologist’s wet dream. I tried to quell my racing, nerdy little heart.
Merrick cautiously came back toward me, a slight look of wonder on his face. “You aren’t afraid?”
I laughed. “Do you know how little humans actually know about the oceans? Finding out mythical creatures exist within it isn’t so much of a stretch. I feel … wonder. Excitement. I want to know everything about your life! Come up here so I can see you properly!”
I paused, realizing I was treating him like an experiment; a very hot, kind, touch-her-and I’ll-kill-you experiment.
“That is … if you don’t mind,” I added, remembering ethics in the nick of time.
Merrick hesitated for a moment, then, with a push against the edge, hefted himself out of the water and next to me. I tried not to stare too openly as his gorgeous tail slid next to me. I put one hand out to feel the texture of his scales, but before my hands landed, the scales faded into human legs.
And then there was his quite visible, quite aroused dick. That had scales. I wanted to examine it more, but embarrassment had me flinching away.
Merrick’s head tilted to the side, a mischievous grin on his face. “I thought you weren’t afraid,” he whispered, voice laced with desperation as he slid back into the water.
“No! That’s not it at all. I’m just not used to seeing … uh, so much.” I gestured to his waist so my meaning was clear.
He huffed and rolled his eyes. “Humans are very strange about their clothing.”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “So you’re saying you never wear any under the sea? At all?”
Merrick gestured nonchalantly. “Sometimes hunters wear protection around the chest and back and shoulders. The jellyfish sap is quite effective, but stings hurt. Or if we must travel through an area known for sharks. As a people we do not war with each other. Every life is treasured.”
Well, that was certainly progressive for a race that lived in the wild.
“Hold out your hands,” I demanded.
Merrick held his palms out, shooting me a wry glance. I jumped into the pool, grabbing onto him as he automatically brought me to his chest. Feeling rather confident about his obvious interest in me, I boldly reached my hand under the water and stroked up and down his tail.
He went rigid like I’d just grabbed his now non-existent dick. One had clenched my wrist in a vice-like grip, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.
