The Mermaid's Escape

by Kellie McAllen

  He points out a few things on the way, and I repeat the names, learning words like bird, ant, and snake. I jump at the sight of the last one, clinging tighter to Gio.

  Gio chuckles and pats the hand that’s digging into his arm. “Not all snakes are dangerous, Coral, only certain ones, but until you know which ones to look out for, it’s probably better to avoid them all.”

  When we reach the top, I marvel at the view below. This is not the same hill I climbed before, with the dangerous drop off, but this one is even higher and gives a better view of the island. I can see the SOS sign they created, and I don’t know what it means, but I assume it’s a message for any potential rescuers. How would anyone see it unless they were up high like us, though?

  Gio sees me looking at it, and he must realize I’m confused. His mind conjures up an image of a creature that looks like a bird sailing through the sky, but it’s smooth and shiny and has no feathers on its wings. There are people inside of it! Can humans fly in these things? I gaze at Gio with my mouth hanging open.

  “It’s called an airplane. Other people might come looking for us in one. The sign will help them find us.” He pictures the machine landing on the water and floating towards the shore, and all of us climbing inside and flying away. I yelp at the image.

  Gio wraps a comforting arm around my waist with one hand and cups my chin with the other, his black eyes deep with emotion. “Do you really want to go with us, Coral? This island is not our home any more than it is yours, but I’ll take care of you if you want to come home with me. I understand what it’s like to be all alone in the world, to not have a home of your own anymore.”

  Sadness and longing shadow his face, and I want to comfort him and let him know how I feel. I lift my lips and brush them gently against his, sliding my hands around his waist. Gio moans and pulls me closer, pressing my soft curves against his own large, hard body as his lips capture mine. My body aches for even more contact, and my fingers slide up his broad back, pulling myself impossibly closer. Gio runs a hand through my hair, pulling back my head and exposing my neck. He trails kisses down the side of it, and I go limp in his arms as the sensation courses through my whole body, making me quiver.

  Gio lifts his head when he gets to my chest and pulls in a ragged breath, his own chest heaving. “Oh God, Coral. I want you so bad, but I don’t want to take advantage of you. I don’t think you have any idea what you’re doing. You’re not even human!”

  He shakes his head and lets out a hard laugh as he pulls away from me, and I huff and scowl at him. His face puckers with concern, and he runs a hand down my cheek. “Don’t take that the wrong way, baby. It doesn’t mean I want you any less, it just makes it wrong for me to do what I want to you, even if you seem willing.”

  I pout, but Gio just smiles and chucks me under the chin. “Come on, Princess, let’s go light the fire before I ignite from those looks you keep giving me.”

  He puts the torch to the kindling the guys set up beforehand, and soon the fire is blazing. We settle down beside it and stare out at the open ocean, looking for lights, but there’s nothing but dark blue water as far as the eye can see. The air is cleaner up here, a gentle breeze blowing away the pungent odors of man, fish, and sea, the saltwater lightly scenting the air.

  Like the dancing flames that burst out of one spot and then disappear only to flare up somewhere else, Gio’s thoughts flit rapidly from one worry to another. I can’t keep up with them all, but most of them revolve around the girl with the dark hair.

  “Gio?” I touch his arm, rousing him from his daze. I stare at him, trying to express my concern with my eyes.

  He shakes his head. “Just human problems, Princess. Nothing for you to worry about.”

  I frown at him, and he sighs and gives me a small smile. “You want me to tell you about it? Not sure how much you’ll understand, but I’ll try, anyway.”

  I smile at him and scoot closer, resting my head on his shoulder. He grins and gives me a peck on the forehead.

  “My parents died when I was fifteen. Car accident — got hit by a drunk.” Memories of the accident flash through his mind, and I gasp at the horrific scene — the vehicle mangled beyond recognition and his parents’ bodies bloodied and broken.

  “My parents were immigrants, and we didn’t have any family around to take us, so the state put my kid sister and me in foster care.” He pictures himself and the dark-haired girl, years younger — still children. Is that who she is — his sister?

  “I told them I could take care of us both, but I knew they’d never let me. I couldn’t even drive yet.” I can sense the helplessness he felt, and it reminds me of my own situation.

  “They kept us together at first, but I was a pretty angry kid, and I screwed up and got kicked out of a few homes. Eventually, I ended up in a residential treatment center while Bella stayed with a family. I tried to run away a few times, but I always ended up back on the inside. I guess I should be glad I didn’t end up in prison.” His voice breaks with guilt and regret. The smoke from the fire obscures his face some, but I think I see a tear run down his cheek. He wipes an arm across his face.

  “At 18, I left for good. Bella was nine then, and I wanted her to come stay with me, but I couldn’t afford to support myself, let alone a kid, and the state wouldn’t even consider giving me custody. I didn’t have any skills or any money, and I knew I wasn’t college material, so I enlisted in the Navy.”

  He chuckles darkly and rubs his head with his hands. “I had all these dreams, you know? I thought I was a badass, and I wanted to be a Navy Seal. I lasted a few years, but I didn’t have the self-discipline to make a career of the military. I was discharged before I even finished my term.”

  Even though I can’t understand much of what he’s saying, I’m mesmerized by the sound of Gio’s voice, so soft and wistful. I’ve never heard him speak this much at one time. I stay quiet and run my hands up and down his arm, swirling my fingers around his tattoos. He glances at me, and I gaze back, hoping he’ll keep talking. He sighs and continues.

  “When I got out, I tried to get Bella again. I was 20 then, and had some money saved up, but I didn’t have a decent job, and her social worker still didn’t think I would make a good guardian. I probably could’ve fought it, but lawyer fees would’ve eaten up all my savings, and then I wouldn’t have had anything left to support us. She was okay where she was; I just wanted to take care of her myself, you know? She’s my family, it’s my responsibility to protect her.” His voice rises with emotion, then he drops his head and stares at the ground.

  “I think about her all the time and worry about how she’s doing. I want her to have a good life. But I’ve spent all this time trying to make a future for us that I’ve never really been there for her.” His face pinches with regret.

  “I found some work on a boat for a few years and learned a little bit about diving, but when I heard about the treasure some guys were pulling out of the ocean, I decided that was my ticket to success.” His eyes light up as he imagines himself captaining his boat, diving deep under the water, and pulling up handfuls of gold.

  “I dumped all my savings into this little dive boat and put an ad out for crew members who wanted the chance to hunt for treasure. That’s where I met the others.” He smiles and pictures Jude, Liam, and Avery.

  “You couldn’t find four more different guys, but I couldn’t afford to be picky. I wasn’t offering to pay them anything but a share of whatever we found. Avery wanted money to get his own place, and he’s a good swimmer — won some medals in high school, I guess. Liam needed to do research on marine animals for some college project, and he knows how to dive, and Jude just wanted an adventure, I think. He’s competitive, though, so I knew he’d bust his ass to find the treasure.”

  Gio’s face falls again. “I lost my entire savings when that ship sank, but more than that, I hate that I let them all down. I wasn’t experienced enough to know how to handle a ship in weather that severe, and I was an
idiot for not checking my supplies to make sure my survival kit was fully equipped.”

  He lifts his face and offers me a small smile. “But who’d have guessed that a mermaid would rescue us and bring the treasure to us? That gold bar is worth half a million dollars. Split between us, it’ll go a long way towards all of our dreams… That is, if we ever get off this island.”

  His smile drops, and I rise up on my knees and take his head in my hands, comforting him the only way I know how. I lean in and kiss him, and he wraps his hands around my waist, pulling me onto his lap. Our lips nibble and suck, and our tongues chase each other from mouth to mouth. Desire swells up inside me making every part of my body throb and tingle, and Gio runs his fingers up my sides and along my arms then back down the same path to my hips, stoking the fire inside me.

  My legs are straddling his, and he pulls me closer till my center is pressed up against his. I grind against him, trying to satisfy a need I don’t even understand. Gio groans and turns his face away from mine for a moment, breathing hard.

  “Coral?” His voice cracks, and his face is twisted with warring desires. “Do you know what sex is?” He pictures a couple mating, something I know about but have never seen and certainly never done. I nod slowly. Is he asking me if I want to mate with him?

  “Have you ever had sex?” His eyes search mine, and as much as I want to lie, I know my inexperience will be obvious. Plenty of mermaids mate with other mermen before they marry, but no one ever tried to get close to me; they all knew I was already spoken for. I shake my head almost imperceptibly.

  Gio closes his eyes for a moment then lifts me off his lap, shaking his head. “This isn’t right; I can’t do this.”

  His rejection slams into me like a punch to the gut, and I curl up and bury my face in my knees.

  “Coral, look at me.” He takes my chin and turns my head till I’m staring in his eyes.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to, Coral. Believe me, I do. You’re just so… innocent. I can’t take advantage of you like that. Your first time should be special; not here, not like this.” He spreads his arms out and looks around, comparing this place to an image in his mind — a beautiful room with soft lighting and silky fabrics.

  “Come here.” He pulls me into his arms and cuddles me till I fall asleep, both of us fantasizing the same thing.

  Gio shakes me awake when the moon is high in the sky. “Coral, wake up. I’m dozing off. Can you keep watch for a while so I can get some sleep?”

  My head is in his lap, and his arm is around my curled-up body. I nod and sit up, stretching.

  I scan the water for ships and keep the fire going till the sun comes up and Gio wakes, rubbing his head and yawning. I smile at him, and he returns the gesture with a heart-melting grin of his own.

  “You ready to go back down to the others?”

  I nod, and Gio reaches for my hand. When we emerge from the trees, he’s still holding it.

  The others take turns glancing at our joined hands, and their thoughts run wild, imagining how we might have spent the evening. Most of them assume we mated, and jealousy consumes their thoughts.

  “Looks like you two had a good time,” Avery says through clenched teeth.

  “It’s none of your business, Avery. Remember? We agreed to share,” Jude says, but his look tells me he’s worried.

  Gio scowls, dropping my hand. “Nothing happened, Avery. Her virtue is still intact.” He emphasizes the last sentence, looking pointedly at all the others.

  “Besides, if she’s got all the parts of a human, we have to assume her body works like one. So unless you happened to have a condom with you when she pulled your ass out of the ocean, I suggest you keep your dicks in your pants.”

  Chapter 17

  Gio’s words are like a magic spell that keeps the guy at bay. They all seem eager to be with me; we kiss and touch, but no one is ever willing to go farther than that. As the days pass, I’m tortured by the gentle caress of their hands and lips and the desire that burns inside me as hot as the campfire. I’m pretty sure they all feel the same way. Is it because they know I’m not human? I’m glad I don’t have to pretend anymore or try to hide my secret, but I desperately wish they didn’t know, if only so they wouldn’t push me away when their desire for me overwhelms them.

  I try to spend time with each of them, though, enjoying their company and learning anything they’re willing to teach me. There’s so much to learn about their world that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand it all. Every time one of them remembers something from their life before the island, I’m overwhelmed by the complexity.

  When I start to feel intimidated, I try to think of it like the knots that Gio taught me how to tie in the rope. They look impossibly complicated, but they’re not that hard to make, and one tug is all it takes to untie some of them.

  I’m tying and untying a trucker’s hitch knot when Jude starts thinking about something he calls school, where humans sit together in rooms and study from books. I’ve seen similar images in Liam’s mind, but while Liam’s memories are pleasant, Jude’s memories are tainted with frustration and regret.

  “When we’re kids, we go to school every day, and we learn how to read and write and do math — stuff like that,” Jude explains when I express curiosity about the memories in his head.

  “You have to go to school till you’re 16, it’s the law, but after that, you can drop out if you want or keep going. When you’re little, you go to elementary school, then middle school, then high school. After that, you can go to college if you want to study a certain subject.”

  “Like marine biology.” Liam grins at me, picturing himself studying the sea creatures that populate my world. I find it fascinating that he knows more about most of them than I do. Sometimes, he’ll entertain me by thinking of an animal then telling me everything he knows about it, picturing it in his mind while he speaks. Sometimes he’s wrong, though, and I do my best to explain, but my English still isn’t good enough to really express everything I want to say.

  “Yeah, brainiac over here is past college and moved on to graduate school.” Jude rolls his eyes at Liam. I smile at Liam, letting him know I’m proud of him, then turn a questioning gaze back to Jude.

  He tenses, and scrunches his face. “School isn’t really my forte. I made it through high school, but college was pretty much a total bust for me. Of course, it might’ve had something to do with my late-night classes in babe-watching and binge-drinking.”

  He smirks, and his eyes twinkle with fun memories. “I might’ve devoted a little too much of my time to those and not enough to the other ones.”

  I chuckle at him, but a sense of unease washes over me. If I ever do get to go back with the guys to where they came from, how will I ever fit in if I don’t have even the basic education their little ones get? I’ve seen enough images in their minds to know that they use a tool to draw symbols as a way to document and share information, and it seems like even the youngest ones know how to do it. Maybe I should ask them to teach me?

  “I want school,” I say, glancing determinately between them.

  Jude chuckles. “Well, I’m not sure what grade they’d put you in if we ever tried to enroll you, but I can teach you some stuff. What do you want to learn?”

  I don’t even know the word for what I’ve seen them thinking about, but maybe I can pantomime. I sit up and grab a small stick then wiggle it in the sand like I’ve seen them do in their minds.

  “You want to learn how to write?”

  I nod as he pictures himself scribbling in a book with some kind of writing utensil.

  “Okay, well, we don’t have paper or pencils, but I suppose we can use the sand.” Jude gets up and grabs a stick of his own then sits down beside me.

  “You want me to do that, Jude?” Liam asks, and Jude scowls at him.

  “I know you’re the smart one, Liam, but I’m pretty sure I can teach her the alphabet. I know the song and everything.”

&n
bsp; Liam sticks his hands up in the air and makes a face.

  “Okay, Coral, if you want to learn how to read and write, first you have to learn your letters. There are 26 of them, and we use them to spell words. Each one stands for a different sound.”

  Jude scratches out a series of symbols in the sand, saying the name of each, and the line grows interminably long. How will I ever remember all of these? My eyes get wide, and I stare up at Jude in panic.

  “Hey! Don’t freak out, babe. It takes kids a couple years to get the hang of this. You’ll pick it up. You just need a little time to practice.”

  His gentle smile and reassuring words settle my worries, and I try my best to calm my nerves.

  “Look, let’s start with some words you already know, like our names.” He draws four letters in the sand and drags his finger underneath it as he says his name. “J-U-D-E spells Jude.”

  He does it again, and this time I repeat after him, twisting my tongue around the sounds over and over again till I get them right.

  After that, we move on to Liam’s name, then Avery’s, Gio’s, and finally mine. It’s a little confusing how Jude and Gio’s names start with different letters but have the same sound, but I try to keep them straight.

  “You got it, Coral! You’re doing great!” Jude reaches out and grabs me, engulfing me in a hug, his large body more comforting than intimidating. I hug him back, enjoying the warmth of his bare skin against mine. When they touch me, I feel the way Jude remembers drinking alcohol — intoxicated. I’ve never tasted beer or liquor, but I’m drunk on their affection every time I get a taste.

  I run a finger over Jude’s chest, tracing the letters of his name. “J-U-D-E,” I whisper as I spell it out on his skin.

  “Coral.” He reaches out and traces letters on my stomach, making my body tremble and sending waves of desire rolling through me.

  “Want to play a game?” He wiggles his eyebrows at me, and I grin and nod.