Mad Sea (6 page)

Quivers of uncertainty shake their way through me. I force a smile. Have I done something wrong to piss him off? Is he tired of me? Am I not a good enough lover? “What’s wrong, Mad?”

“I want to leave this place. Together. You and I can start someplace new where nobody knows our names.” His voice is gruff, but I sense pain in his words.

“That sounds wonderful,” I say with an encouraging smile.

“But…”

My heart thunders in my chest. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“We can’t go into this with secrets. I’ve told you mine. All but one,” he says gruffly. “But I want to.”

I can’t help but think about my own past. We never broach the subject much, of my father, but if he tells me what’s bothering him, he’s going to expect the same of me. When I left two years ago, I vowed to bury that part of myself. To burn away the memory and pretend it doesn’t exist.

“You don’t have to tell me. We’re fine. We’ll be fine,” I blurt out as I turn the stove off.

His worried eyes have darkened. I see them assessing me, seeking out answers I’m unwilling to give. “We won’t be fine. This is a part of who I am. You need to understand this part about me and if you choose to leave me—”

“I won’t ever leave you,” I vow, my brows furled together.

He scoffs. “Don’t make that promise yet, beautiful.”

An hour later and we’re both walking silently hand in hand toward the beach. Because the beach is so secluded, we don’t even bother with clothes anymore for the walk to the ocean, since we’re going to strip down when we get there anyway. When we reach the water’s edge, he tugs his hand from mine and storms toward the waves. His complexion has gotten tanner since he spends so much time out here with me, and I stare at his golden sculpted ass until he dives under the surf.

With a nervous sigh, I splash out after him. Once we’re both deep enough we have to tread water, I dip under the water and wet my hair. When I come back up, he’s regarding me with a scowl. For a brief moment, I have a panic attack. What did he see? One glance around me, tells me I have nothing to fear. Everything is normal.

His arms wrap around me and he tugs me to him. Our lips connect for a hurried, hungry kiss before he pushes away just a little. Water rivulets run down his temples, his dark hair hangs down past his brows, and his lips are pulled into a frown. Whatever it is that’s upsetting him is upsetting me too. I’m on the verge of tears.

“So you know I’m adopted right?

Chewing on my bottom lip, I nod.

“I don’t know where I came from or anything. My adopted mother says there isn’t much to know, just that she took care of me. Truth is, I don’t think she legally adopted me. You see…”

“Yes?”

He kisses me once more, as if I might disappear simply from him thinking about what it is he wants to tell me. Surely, it can’t be that bad, can it?

“I don’t think I’m human.” His voice is sad, bitter even.

The breath is sucked right from my chest. “I, uh…”

“Just listen. I’m different. I’d like to show you, but swear to God you won’t freak the fuck out, Hali. I need you,” he begs. “Promise me.”

I swallow the thick ball of emotion in my throat. “Promise.”

Another kiss.

“I’m going to show you. It’s easier that way.”

Tears are welling in my eyes. My heart is expanding more and more with each passing second, until it might explode. This cannot be true. This cannot fucking be true.

“Stay there,” he instructs.

All I can do is stare at him. With a nervous laugh, he sinks into the water, disappearing once again into the dark depths. My heart continues its wicked stretching and growing. It hurts, but it’s a beautiful sort of pain.

The water around me moves forcefully. And when something smooth touches my calf, I let out a surprised gasp. I know that smoothness. I’ve felt it before. It’s familiar.

My heart rate quickens when he doesn’t reemerge. Deep down, I know. I understand. But I need confirmation. After several minutes, his head resurfaces. The dark hair hangs in his eyes as he takes a breath. Our eyes meet, and I shiver. Gone are his almost black eyes. Now, they shimmer a radiant midnight blue. His skin seems almost translucent in the sunlight.

His smile, though.

His smile is more brilliant than the sun on the hottest day.

He’s absolutely beautiful.

“Are you scared?” he murmurs, his low voice almost musical in quality.

When I shake my head no, his grin widens.

“Good. Now let me show you the best part.”

He dips back under the water. A moment later, a large tail of the aquatic variety thrashes the water in front of me, splashing my face. The tail is sparkly and that same midnight blue of his eyes. It’s absolutely breathtaking.

Tears well in my eyes, and I let out a sob.

My heart finally bursts, no longer content with exponential growing.

Time to face the facts.

My boyfriend is a merman.

I
’m hiding beneath the surface again. I’d seen the understanding in her eyes. The utter acceptance. But what if I’d been wrong. What if I fucked up completely? Would she swim back to the beach and keep on running?

Frustrated with myself, I dive deep toward the ocean floor. Once I’m satisfied I’m far enough away from her, I skim my palms along the sandy bottom in search of another shell. I want to find all of them for her. To line them up on my back deck so she can photograph them all. And then, I’ll make wind chimes out of them for my adopted mother.

I’m startled when something flits along my tail. Jerking around to face my attacker, I’m shocked when I find myself staring into two dazzling emeralds that dance with mischief. A sea of shining reddish blonde floats around the most beautiful face I’ve ever seen.

I blink at her in surprise. She’s different. Somehow even prettier down here below the surface. When she smiles, her white teeth nearly blind me.

“Hali…” My words trail off because I then notice the rest of her. All of her. The sheer perfection. A mermaid.

“Apparently we share the same secret,” she says in a singsong voice. The sound is decadent and addicting. I’ve never heard a sound like it before. I’m completely mesmerized by her.

“This is incredible. I don’t understand. How?”

She slides her arms around my neck and pulls herself to me. Her full breasts press against my chest and my entire body rages with need. I’m almost blinded by the urge to mark her. To make her mine for the whole goddamn ocean to see.

“I come from an entire family of mer people back in Cape Town. In South Africa, there’s an entire colony of us. We inhabit most of the west side,” she tells me, her eyes eyeing my lips as if she’s starved for them. “But I left them. My family is overbearing. Suffocating even. Father wanted me to marry Zee. It’s all political and not my style. I wanted to find love, not be forced into an unhappy marriage.”

I slip my palm to her cheek and stroke her unbelievably soft flesh. She’s so much more breathtaking in mermaid form. Her skin is perfection, her hair lush, her green eyes beautiful, her voice the most amazing fucking song. And her tail. Her goddamn tail is a thing too unique for this world.

“I can’t believe there are more like me,” I tell her. My lips find hers and our kiss is an all body event. I can sense her infecting every part of me in a delicious way. Every part of me craves to intertwine with her.

“Many,” she assures me. “This is like a dream come true, Madden. You’re perfect for me.”

I hug her to me. My chest begins to ache and we’ll need to resurface soon. Just because I’m a merman, it doesn’t mean I can breathe forever underwater. It just means I can breathe for several minutes. Holding her tight, I swish my tail and surge us to the top. Once we both reemerge, our lips are back on one another. Our tails continuously move, but it’s more of a sway and they’re in sync with one another, keeping us afloat.

This kiss is so different. Kissing her in mer form is a thousand times better than kissing her on dry land. My entire body thrums and pulsates with satisfaction.

“Hali,” I tell her when I reluctantly pull away from her sweet lips. “You’re my sea angel. My little mermaid. How fucking cute are you? God, I love you.”

Her lips break into a full grin. “I love you too, Mad.”

I’m about to kiss her again when I hear the familiar squeaking of a dolphin. Sometimes on my swims, they find me and swim alongside. I can’t communicate with them, but they somehow seem to understand me. Another one joins the first and they swim circles around us, all the while chattering to one another. They sound excited. Happy even.

“What’s this all about?” I question with a laugh.

Hali giggles. “They think we’re getting married. When mer people are in love, their connection can be felt for miles. Dolphins are always instrumental in the ceremonies. A marriage doesn’t exist without their blessing.”

My hand finds her jaw, and I stare into her glimmering eyes. “If they think it, and are giving us their blessing, then we should do it. Marry me, Hali. Let’s do it. I can fucking feel it coursing through me like electricity. Can you feel it too?”

She chews on her bottom lip and nods. “I do feel it. And apparently they do, too.”

“Well, holy shit. How do I make you my wife, sea angel?” I demand with a growl as my other palm slides to the swell of her ass I can feel beneath the sleek skin of her tail. I know it’s hiding in there.

Her hand reaches out and she strokes the dolphin passing by. “We do what feels right and then it’s done. That’s how these things go. Marriage between mer is private and special. Each mermaid and merman is different.”

I thread my fingers in her hair and kiss her again. Just below my navel where my human skin disappears into my tail, I begin to feel an ache. A goddamn yearning. This overwhelming desire to mate with her.

“Is this okay?” I question as I turn her around in my arms. Her back is pressed against my chest and her round bottom rubs against the front of my tail. The feeling is intense. I immediately crave more of her.

My palms cup her bare breasts and my lips find the side of her neck. I suckle her until she’s moaning the most beautiful song. The need to mate becomes a starvation of my soul. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with her, or how I’ll have her, but deep down I know it happens here. Not back at my condo. Not on the beach. Not with her long legs wrapped around me. This is something else altogether. Something fucking magical.

“I don’t know what to do,” I tell her and nip at her flesh near her ear. “I just need to be with you. Completely.”

She whimpers and wiggles her bottom at me. It seems to unlock something in my psyche because I feel an erection beneath the slick skin of my tail. This has never happened to me in my mer form before. But I swear to God, it feels like when I get hard. Except this time, it’s exhilarating and animalistic. Normally, when I get ready to turn back into my human form, my tail begins splitting from the top, below my naval and also along the crack of my ass, all the way down to where my feet are. A seam forms between both legs along the front and backside of my tail. The skin eventually dissolves and melts away into the ocean, freeing my legs completely. Yet this time, the split happens right where my hard cock seems to be trying to escape and only frees that part of me. When the cool water wraps around my dick, I let out a hiss.

“I think we can make love this way. My body is doing something, Hali.”

She nods and lets out a yelp. “Something is happening to me to. I need you,” she moans, “here.” Her tiny hand wraps around what feels like my cock, only thicker and more sensitive, and guides me to a soft crease along her backside. Like my body, hers seems to be reforming and adjusting to take me. Unsure if it’ll hurt her or not, I take my time sliding into her heat.

“Ahhh!” she cries out from pleasure, not pain.

I groan, but still, in an effort not to ruin what we’re doing by coming like a fucking teenager. “Shhh,” I mutter against her soft flesh. “Let me love you.”

My hands worship her tits while I slowly thrust against her. The sensations are intense. Several times, I nearly black out from the intense surges of orgasmic pleasure that are jolting through me.