My eyes dart frantically between them as suddenly all of their minds fill with images of them taking turns touching and kissing me. I was hoping to attract one of them, but it seems like they’re all interested. And maybe willing to share? Is that normal for humans? I’ve never heard of a mermaid mating with more than one person, but maybe humans feel differently. My mind whirls with the possibility. I was desperate to choose my own mate, but once I had the chance, it was impossible to pick just one. But maybe I don’t have to.
I gasp at the image, and desire swells inside of me, my body responding. I clench my legs together and press my hand against my breasts, trying to satisfy the ache, and every eye swivels my way. Their cheeks turn red as they realize I can see their thoughts, and they quickly try to refocus their attention, but the thought is seared in my brain.
“Is there a comb in that bag?” Avery changes the subject, reaching for the shaving kit. He pulls out a flat, black object with spikes like teeth up and down the length.
“Thank God.” He tugs the object through his chin-length, blond hair till it hangs smooth and straight around his face.
I pick up my own long mass of hair and examine it, and Avery grins at me. “Would you like me to comb your hair, Princess?”
I nod and move to kneel in front of him. He holds out the comb for me to examine, and I run my fingers along the teeth and giggle when they flex and make a buzzing sound kind of like the zipper.
“This is a comb, Coral. Can you say comb?”
I repeat the word and hand the tool back to him. He takes a lock of my hair and combs through it carefully, starting at the bottom. Once in a while, the teeth catch on a snag, and I wince as my head is pulled backward, but Avery gently works out each knot till my entire head of hair is tangle-free, like it is when I’m in the water.
When he’s done, he runs his fingers through it then smoothes it again with his palms. “Your hair is gorgeous, Coral. Just like you.” He whispers the last bit in my ear, and his voice sends a shiver of pleasure down my spine.
“If you all are done primping, I’d like to get started on a shelter today.” Gio starts heading towards the trees.
Jude rubs his belly and whines, imagining breakfast. “Can’t we get something to eat, first? I can’t work on an empty stomach.”
I hop up and dash over to the pile of fish I left by the fire. They must have missed it in their excitement about the beacon and the duffel bag. Grabbing a fish in each hand, I head over to Jude and hold them out to him, grinning.
“Oh my God, you’re amazing.” Jude grabs me in a hug, lifting me off my feet. I giggle and squirm till he puts me down, then I reach out and hug him back.
“Thank you, Coral.” His hands caress my back and sides, and I press closer to him.
“I thought we were going to let her make the first move.” Avery scowls at Jude.
“What? All I did was give her a thank you hug. Besides, she liked it, right, Coral?”
I nod and squeeze his middle.
“Let’s cook up some of this fish, babe.” Jude leads me over to the fire, and we spear a few fish and hold them over the flames to cook as the others join us.
I’m licking my fingers clean when I notice Liam staring at my ankle. “Look at Coral’s leg. Her ankle looks completely healed. No bruising, no swelling.”
“Does it hurt, Coral?” Avery asks me, and I shake my head no.
Liam gets up and comes to sit next to me, picking up my leg to examine it. “And all the cuts and scratches are healed, too. How is that possible?”
He stares at me, his mind churning like the sea where it fights to take over the land. I know he’s adding up all the things that are different about me, trying to figure out where I came from, what I am.
The others find me curious, but Liam is different — he can’t stand not knowing. I’m a puzzle he just can’t solve, and his mind won’t rest till he figures me out. I wish he’d quit trying — he won’t like the answer.
13
“Okay, guys, enough lounging around. We’ve got work to do.” Gio stands up, and the others moan a little but join him.
“I think that would be a good spot to build the shelter.” Gio points to a section by the trees. “Collect palm fronds and any logs you can carry and bring them here.”
The guys head out, and I do too, intent on helping however I can. Gio spots me walking into the woods and stops me, a pained look on his face.
“Coral, I know you want to help, and that’s really great, but for my peace of mind, would you please just stay here?” I drop my head, feeling useless and incompetent.
Gio winces. “Uh, we’re going to need some lashings. Maybe you can braid some palm fronds together to make some rope?”
He kneels down and demonstrates what he wants, and I nod eagerly. This is something I can do. Gio smiles in relief and takes off, and I gather as many palm fronds as I can and start working.
A while later, everyone is back with armfuls of shelter supplies, and Liam points to two tall trees near each other. “If we lay a log horizontally between the branches of these two trees, we can prop other logs against it vertically, creating a lean-to. Then we just need to lash leaves to that to make a roof.”
“How are we going to get a log up there?” Avery stares at the trees in disbelief.
“We just need one of us to climb the tree and toss the rope over the branch. Then we tie one end to the log, hoist it up, and lash it in place. Who’s good at climbing?”
Avery volunteers, but after several attempts, he’s barely made it half way up, and Jude is cracking up laughing at him.
“Let me try. You suck at this.” Jude says, and to everyone’s surprise, he maneuvers his large body up into the tree and uses one of my lashings to secure the log while Gio strains to hold up the other end as high as he can. Jude quickly descends and scurries up the other tree, and they repeat the process.
“That’s how you get’r done, boys.” He tips a pretend hat, and the others roll their eyes at him.
Gio starts lifting the logs and leaning them up against the cross beam like they weigh almost nothing, and Jude grunts and groans as he picks up the heaviest logs, trying to prove he’s just as capable as Gio.
While he works, he flashes back to memories of building something similar up in a tree with two other boys who look like older versions of him. The shame of not being as strong or smart or capable as them haunts his thoughts and motivates him to work as hard as he can to prove his worth.
When he looks my way, I smile at him and wink, wanting him to know I’m impressed, and it seems like he works even harder after that.
The bright sun beats mercilessly on them, and soon their bodies start to shine with sweat. Their shirts come off, and I’m transfixed as I watch their muscles flex.
They look miserably hot, and I’m sure they’re thirsty, so I grab one of the wet shirts laying out on the sand and a container of water and bring it over to them, handing the water to Jude first.
“Oh, yeah, thank you, baby.” He chugs the water, and I swallow as tiny rivulets trail from the side of his mouth and run down his thick neck, following the curve of his bobbing Adam’s apple.
When he pulls the container away, I reach up to wipe the sweat off his face with the tee shirt. He moans and rolls his head to give me better access. I drag the cool, wet, fabric slowly down the back of his neck and over his shoulders to his wide chest. When I look up, Jude is staring at me, his brown eyes swirling.
“Hey, are you going to share that water?” Avery runs a hand through his hair, pushing back the blond strands that are dark with sweat.
I smile at him and hand it over. He takes a long drink then passes the water to Gio while I wipe his toned, golden body with the wet shirt as well. Liam and Gio sit down on one of the logs and take turns drinking while they watch me.
When I’m done with Avery, I head over towards them. The intense look on Gio’s face intimidates me, so I start with Liam first. I hold up the shirt and loo
k at him, and he nods and smiles. “That’d be great, Coral.”
Liam’s chest is smaller than Avery’s, and half the size of Jude’s, and his thoughts tell me he’s a little worried I might find him lacking, but I like it just fine the way it is, and I lavish the same attention on him as I did the others.
Finally, I turn to Gio, a question in my eyes. I know Gio cares about me and wants to protect me, but he’s always tried to stifle any desire he felt for me. I know he feels it, though; I can see it in his thoughts. Now that he knows I can read his mind, will he be willing to admit his feelings?
I reach out tentatively with the wet shirt and run a gentle stroke down the side of his face. When he doesn’t resist, I step closer and wipe the other side. He closes his eyes, and I run the cloth over his head and down the back of his neck. I’m standing between his legs as he sits, and I can feel his warm breath on my stomach. It hitches when I drag the cloth around the front of his neck and trail it down his chest.
His thoughts tell me he wants to reach out and touch me, and I wish he would. Maybe he will if I kiss him. I bend over and press my lips to his, and his eyes fly open, black with need. I rest my hands on his broad shoulders and tease his lips with mine, and slowly his hands come up and wrap around my waist, his strong fingers pressing into my flesh. After a few moments, he groans and pulls away.
“You’re just determined to tempt every one of us, aren’t you? God help me, I don’t know if I can resist when you do stuff like that.” He stares up at me, a million questions and concerns fighting in his mind. I wish he’d just relax and give himself permission to feel what he’s feeling.
Instead, he shuts down and turns his focus back to the project. “Okay, let’s finish this shelter and then we’ll take a break for lunch.” He lets his gaze slip back to me one last time. “Coral, could you get us some more fish?”
Anxiety wells up, and I bite my lip but nod and walk back slowly towards the shore line, feeling like all eyes are on me. I’ve never gone in the water while the guys are awake. What if one of them catches me with a tail? I’m terrified of how they’ll respond if they find out I’m not human. I can’t stand the thought of losing them now, I care too much for them. But I don’t want to disappoint them, and I’m sure they’ve worked up an appetite. I’ll just have to be extremely cautious to make sure no one is watching when I return.
I grab the empty duffel back on my way, thinking it would be handy for carrying the fish back, and wade into the water. Catching fish is easy — I’ve been doing it since I was a tiny merling. Kai and Meribel and I used to have competitions to see who could catch the largest, the fastest, or the sneakiest breeds. I’m trying to hurry today, though, so of course it seems to take me forever to catch anything. After longer than I ever expected, I have a decent number of fish, and I’m ready to head back to the shore.
When I pop my head up out of the water, I see Liam standing on the shore, scanning the water. Did he see me?
I quickly duck my head under again and swim away from our spot on the beach, surfacing instead behind the outcropping of rocks so no one can see me come out of the water. I carefully climb up on one of the slick, black rocks near the water and try to wipe the water off my tail with my hands. The rocks’ shadow blocks the sun, though, and without any sand to rub on my tail, it’s taking too long for my legs to appear.
Suddenly, I hear my name being called, and my whole body clenches and my scales stand up as fear electrifies every nerve ending. I shake myself back into action and wipe furiously at the water as Liam’s voice draws nearer.
Footsteps sound on the rocks, and I know he’s climbing up the other side. “Coral? Where are you?” He sounds worried.
My pounding heart makes it hard to tell how close he is. Panicking, I’m just about to dive back in to the water when Liam’s face appears above me. “Coral?”
I gasp as I look up at him then back at my legs. Legs! My tail is gone, and I let out a giant sigh of relief as I offer him a shaky smile. My body tingles as the adrenaline begins to dissipate, and I try to control my quivering.
“Fish.” I hold out the duffle bag.
Liam takes the bag and peers inside. “I was hoping to watch you in action, see how you manage to catch fish so easily. Could you show me?”
I understand him, but I pretend I don’t, turning away to climb down the back side of the rocks instead. Liam tosses the bag onto his shoulder and hurries after me, taking my hand to help steady me. I squeeze it, grateful. The rocks on this side are warm and dry, but I’m terrified of slipping after my last fall. The pain was worse than anything I’ve ever felt, and my body tenses just thinking about it.
When we get to the lowest rock, Liam lets go of my hand and jumps to the ground then reaches up to grab my waist and lifts me off the rock. When he sets me down, he doesn’t let go immediately, so I wrap my arms around him and give him a kiss to thank him for looking out for me.
It startles him, and he chuckles, and his serious expression breaks in a wide smile. “Finally decided to give me a kiss, too, huh?”
In his mind, he’s counting up the kisses I’ve given out so far, and he comes out on bottom. I don’t want him to think I like him any less than the others, so I purposefully stare into his eyes and press my lips against his, running my hands slowly down his body.
When I pull away, Liam’s eyes are swirling like abalone shells, and he whispers, “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to us, Coral? Every single one of us is going to fall in love with you, and then what are you going to do?”
I don’t know what he’s saying, but the intensity in his voice tells me he’s feeling the same way as me.
“Last one in is a rotten egg!” Jude hollers as he comes tearing down the beach towards us. Gio and Avery are shuffling behind him, apathetic towards the race.
I start giggling until Jude veers my way. I gasp and grab onto Liam, but Jude crashes into us and grabs me, scooping me up in his arms. When he heads for the water I screech and start flailing my arms and legs. No! If he takes me to the water my tail will come out! I pound on his chest, demanding my release, but he ignores me, each step bringing me closer to my greatest fear.
“Jude, let go of her! Can’t you see she wants down?” Gio bellows after him.
“No way, Jose! She’s going for a dip with me!”
Jude splashes into the water, and tears burst from my eyes as he jumps into a breaking wave, submerging both of us. I wriggle out of his arms just as my tail appears, my slick scales gliding out of his grasp, my fin fluttering against his belly.
Did he feel that? I can only hope he didn’t. I swim as hard and fast as I can away from him, desperate to hide my secret. My name echoes over the water, growing fainter the farther I swim, and my heart pounds in my ears, eventually drowning out the sound completely. My tears mingle with the salt water as I swim, and I let them pour out of me.
I don’t know what to do or where to go, so I just keep swimming.
14
It’s safe to go back now, I think.
The sky is black when I raise my head above the water, except for the twinkling stars and the glow of moonlight, and I’m far away from the island. Surely the guys have quit looking for me by now. Do they think I drowned? What will they think if I return?
I know Liam will be desperate for answers, and I’m glad I can’t speak their language yet. Can I pretend that nothing happened and go back to the way things were? I have to try. I can’t stand the thought of leaving them.
I swim back to the island as fast as I can, hoping to make it back before daybreak. When I reach the shore, the area around the campfire is empty, and my heart seizes at the thought that they’ve left. But another light glimmers by the trees, and I realize they’ve moved to the shelter.
I crawl out of the water exhausted from my journey. I want to collapse right there on the cold, hard sand and sleep, but the tide is coming in and I can’t risk falling asleep here and getting wet later, so I drag my weary body several ta
il lengths further, past the tide line.
“Coral?” Jude’s voice breaks through the darkness, and I go completely still with panic.
“Coral, is that you?” His voice grows closer, and suddenly I jump into action, flipping around and crawling back towards the water as fast as I can.
“Coral, wait!” Jude starts running towards me. I’ll never make it!
I flip over onto my back and start tossing sand onto my tail, begging for it to disappear, as my tears start flowing again. No! I don’t want it to end like this! I’d rather return to the shoal and never see them again than to have them discover my secret and face the pain of their rejection. And what if they decide to capture me? The shoal is full of warnings about the bad things that can happen to a mermaid who is caught by humans.
Jude slumps to his knees beside me and embraces me before I’ve had a chance to cover my fin. “Coral, you’re okay! You’re alive! What happened to you? We thought you drowned. I’m so sorry, Coral! I never should have thrown you in the water like that. Where have you been?”
Jude pulls away to look at me, and I hold my breath as his bloodshot eyes rove from my face down to my body. He gasps as he sees my fin sticking out of the sand, and his hands reach out tentatively to touch it. He strokes the thin, silvery membrane then pushes away the sand that covers the bottom of my tail. His eyes bulge as he reveals the iridescent scales that shimmer in the moonlight, and he quickly brushes more sand away till he’s uncovered my entire tail.
He stares at it for a moment, silently, before daring to look back at my face. My heart pounds, tears pour down my blazing hot cheeks, and sobs wrack my body. I can’t bear to make eye contact with him.
“Coral?” he whispers, putting a finger under my chin and lifting my face to his. “Coral, you’re incredible.”
Sirens and Scales Page 13
