The Isle of Eternal Happiness

by Kay Berrisford

  "Rubbish," scoffed Lyle, resting his cheek back against Ben's hairy chest. "If it hadn't been for Clewell making you act weird, I bet you would've been offered it first off. Your new boss will be relieved you're not a complete wanker."

  "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

  "Of course." Lyle reached up to pat Ben's cheek, giggling in the face of Ben's befuddlement. "And if she liked you being a wanker, at least we'll have gained something from the whole sorry episode. You can get back to doing risk assessments and all the other tedious stuff that makes you happy."

  "And you?" asked Ben. "Will you be happy, moving to somewhere new? We need to make the decision together or it isn't a decision at all."

  "I'd be delighted to go with you." Lyle answered without a flicker of hesitation, and in an alluring husk that made Ben glow inside. Only Lyle, and having Lyle in his arms, could ever ignite Ben's warmest, fuzziest feelings. "As long as the ocean's nearby, and we're never parted again as long as we live."

  "As long as we live," echoed Ben, so ecstatic he could barely accept this moment wasn't a dream. Then, far too close, a dog yapped sharply. Some blue-tits in the boughs above them chirped and fluttered, and footsteps squelched along a path a few yards to their right. Realizing he held his breath, Ben let it out in a rush, glad they'd not been sniffed out while still partially naked. He hoped the passer-by was Derek with Flossie, and that he and Lyle could catch up with them shortly. Either way, they needed to get dressed, go home, and get on with all that living.

  But he couldn't resist one last kiss, out in the woods with his beautiful landlocked merman.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Three months later

  Lyle let himself in through the front door to their terraced house and stepped into the narrow hallway. "Ben?" he called.

  Ben had been working from home that day, and Lyle had returned from seeing a woman about a job at a seafront art gallery. It'd gone well, and he was disappointed Ben wasn't waiting, preferably with arms open wide for him to jump into.

  "Ben!" He stomped upstairs toward the box room that'd become Ben's home office. Granted, Ben had been embroiled in the paperwork concerning that stretch of coast he and Cully had damaged. However, work could always be interrupted for celebrations. He threw open the office door, undecided whether he would snap Ben's head off for not coming down before or after he'd smothered Ben with kisses. The room was empty, Ben's tablet switched off.

  "Lyle, is that you?" Ben shouted from below, and Lyle hoofed it back down again. In the kitchen, Ben leaned back against the door that led into their garden, chewing his lip and looking nervous. Lyle let his grin spread slowly, enjoying how Ben's features relaxed in synch.

  "It went well, then?" asked Ben.

  "Good old Bertrand came through with a decent reference after all, as did Daphne." Lyle closed the gap between them and drew Ben into his arms. "It's a lousy zero-hour contract again, but the short shifts will mean I won't struggle too much with hiding my fins. There will be tons of creative people to meet—and to convince that I'm the next big thing in the art world. It's perfect."

  Lyle squeezed Ben and lifted him off his toes. "I'm so happy for you," said Ben, as Lyle clonked him back down. "I knew you could do it. Um, and I've got you a present. I can tell you about it before we go out, if you don't want any surprises."

  Ben peeped up at Lyle, deeply apprehensive. Lyle hoped his delighted grin, which hadn't faltered, quelled Ben's concerns. Lyle trusted this would be a present he loved, and wanted Ben to stop worrying about upsetting him so much. Then again, Ben had to be getting more relaxed about life, if he was indulging in the odd impulse buy.

  "I love surprises," said Lyle. "Bring it on." Ben tentatively took his hand and led him outside.

  The little strip of turf at the back of their two-bed terrace was about six yards long and three yards across. Several tubs of geraniums decorated it, as did a bright pink fuchsia, which Lyle had lovingly cultivated. To date, Ben's sole contribution to this strip of paradise was to swear at the lawn strimmer for half an hour every fortnight before getting it working, and scything an inch off the length of the grass. Today, however, he'd been busy.

  Under the boughs of their only tree—a lofty fir—was a large and unsightly blue plastic box from which protruded a green hose.

  "It's our hot tub," explained Ben. "So you can bathe in the garden. The tree conceals it nicely from the neighbours' twitching curtains. Do you like it?"

  "Of course I like it. I love it." Lyle stripped his shirt off over his head and had scarcely made it under the shelter of the tree before he tore down his trousers and let his fins burst free. Seconds later, he'd plunged into the chilly water that'd only half filled the interior, already littered with dead flies and other detritus. He slung his arms over the back, stretched out his body. Because he could, he transformed his legs into his tail and thrashed it, splashing water everywhere.

  "Hey, careful," said Ben, who brandished a book that Lyle assumed to be the instruction manual. "This thing is going to add a fortune to our water bill as it is."

  Maybe Ben would never quite change, but that was fine. Lyle adored him for all his worrying, and knew how to distract him from his woes. "Care to join me?" he asked.

  "Not until I've worked out how to heat the water," mumbled Ben, though when he glanced Lyle's way, he licked his lips hungrily. "Oh, sod it," he said, undoing his trousers and peeling them down to reveal he already wore his baggy swimming trunks. "It is still August. I suppose not heating it will save on the electricity bill."

  Ben kicked off his shoes and socks and hoisted himself up onto the side of the tub. He dipped his big toe in the water and yelped like he'd been scorched.

  "We're bloody-well heating this thing," he said, withdrawing fast. Lyle rolled his eyes, beat his fins, and punished Ben's cowardice by initiating a water fight that only Lyle could win.

  Later, once the pool had reached a lukewarm temperature, Ben dared slip in beside Lyle, who flung his arm happily around Ben's shoulders.

  "Here we are at last," said Ben, as they sipped cava under the onset of a heavy evening dew. "A hot tub in the garden of a tiny suburban terrace: the Millennial's dream. But, uh, Lyle…" Ben trailed off and shivered. "I still can't believe you chose this life, with me."

  "Are you jesting with me?" said Lyle. "I never wanted to be sucked back into the realm of magic. I always feared it would turn me into some kind of monster." And now Lyle had seen what magic and power could do to even to the kindest of souls, he was more certain than ever he'd made the right choice. "I don't see how life can get better than this. It's the company you keep that makes you happy, and I am happy. Blissfully happy."

  "I'm glad." Ben placed his now empty glass down on the ledge and snuggled against Lyle, winding his legs about Lyle's tail. "Congratulations on your job again, love. Have you told your sister yet?"

  Lyle drained the last of his wine and placed his glass aside also. "Not yet," he admitted. "She's unbroken up with Sally for the third time this month. I don't want to interrupt anything, so I'll wait till she texts to say they've called it quits again. Although, I hope I get tired of waiting and end up having to call first."

  "Me too," said Ben, "she deserves to be… Mmmph."

  Lyle decided jumping Ben’s bones was far more interesting that discussing his sister. The ocean was only a few streets away, and the Goddess Moon shone like a pearl in the heavens. He was naked in his own private pool—albeit a tiny one—with Ben. Today had been a great day, and it was time to finish it off with a great night.

  He enfolded Ben with his many limbs, buffing Ben with the rough scales of his tail. Fires of lust scorched through Lyle's veins, and Ben moaned and bucked against him. Nevertheless, after a few minutes of nibbling and coaxing, and the best efforts of Lyle's feathered tips, it grew obvious the water wasn't warm enough for the very heights of passion. Ben shivered, and Lyle did too, which shouldn't have made him happy, but somehow it did.

  "Come on,
old boy," Lyle whispered into Ben's ear. Ben regarded him sheepishly as he tried to subdue his chattering teeth. "Let's take this inside."

  Epilogue

  Cully threw all her concentration into ensuring Sally's ride was smooth, particularly as she came in to land on the little Cornish beach. As the ground closed in beneath them, Sally's hold about the base of Cully's neck would have choked any lesser creature than a dragon.

  "So, was it fun?" asked Cully, having alighted with grace.

  "I think so," said Sally, obviously mulling the experience over. "I can see why your brother-in-law favours a crash helmet. Then again, one of the best bits is having the wind in your hair, so I wouldn't want to miss that. Overall, I liked it."

  The instant Sally slid down from her back, Cully changed into a human. All in all, Sally had accepted the whole "I'm a shapeshifting mermaid" thing pretty well. The whole "oh, and I'm a dragon too" thing had freaked her out a bit more, so Cully had expected her to look relieved now Cully had assumed a more familiar shape. Instead, having tidied her carrot-red ponytail, Sally screwed up her freckled nose in objection.

  "What is it?" asked Cully.

  "You've brought me to a beach." Sally waved her arms, indicating the deserted shore they'd alighted on. "Or at least, to a muddy strip that might pass for a beach if I'd forgotten my glasses. Yet you're still in a boring human body and wearing far too many clothes." Sally threw her arms around Cully, hugging once more in that adoring fashion Cully used to find annoying. More and more, she realized Sally's touch was something she hankered after when it wasn't available. "I want my mermaid! Or at least—"

  Before Sally could lengthen her list of demands, Cully instantaneously ridded herself of clothes. She clad her naked body with artfully placed strips of glittering scales, which resembled a cross between a sarong and bikini. Of course, she also let her fins fly free.

  "That better?" she asked, hardly believing her luck that this was the form Sally preferred her in already.

  "A lot better," said Sally. "But next time can we find a beach that's actually worth lying on." She smoothed her pump across the soggy sand and giggled. "Cornwall's okay, Cul, but it's not the Costa Del Sol. You better conjure me some Sangria, pronto."

  Cully would, but first she'd business to get to. It was time to reveal the truth. They'd come here because Sally needed to learn why Cully had been distracted lately, letting Sally down and running out to deal with other pressing issues. There was another female in Cully's life, one who she'd only recently got to know. Somebody not so easy to love as Sally, but whom Cully realized she had to at least try to help, and not only because she'd promised Lyle.

  She crooked the tip of a fin beneath Sally's chin, tipping her face up and fixing deep into her gold-flecked hazel eyes. "Sally, sweetie," she said. "I'd like you to come and meet my mother."

  Fin

  About the Author

  Kay’s been making up romance stories with m/m protagonists since the days before the internet, before she’d any idea what sex was, and when she believed she was the only little girl who did so.

  She recently started writing her stories down again after a two-and-a-half year hiatus. Her sexy new romance tales contain an unholy concoction of fun and fantasy (dragons, fairies, and mermen, anyone?) alongside a strong dose of angst and hurt/comfort.

  She is a bit of a social media recluse (sorry!) but loves to connect with readers. You can email her at kayberrisford@yahoo.co.uk and she lurks on twitter a little – @kayberrisford.

  Website: http://kayberrisford.com