by Tamsin Ley
Gone.
Of course she’d left him. That was what women did. He’d hoped a human would be different, but obviously not. Why would he believe she was any different from any other female? Yet a dark cloud of doubt enshrouded his soul. His nest was far from land. How could she expect to strike out on her own and reach safety? There were predators, riptides, mermaids, and other dangers. Without fins or tail she’d be at the mercy of the current. He had to make sure she was safe, even if she had left him.
He slid out of the nest and searched for the sculpin guard. Missing, of course. Creating a song for the simple creatures in the area, he asked the whereabouts of the human. As one, the creatures pointed toward the rock wall nearby. An orange garibaldi giggled and darted away, trailing a few friends.
A flutter of panic leaked through Zantu’s mind. He darted after the garibaldi through the rocks and between kelp, calling ahead with both mind and sonar.
Even with the current, she shouldn’t have drifted far. Where was she?
A brown-speckled sculpin poked its head from behind a sea fan on the floor, its mind relaying the feel of rising toward the surface and the pull of the stronger current. Sculpins were bottom dwellers, and the creature’s own instincts had overridden the directive to watch Brianna.
Zantu should have known better than to trust a sculpin to report trouble. Cowards, every one.
Another panic wave rippled through Zantu. Was the feeling his own or something he was receiving from Brianna? Speeding toward the surface, he called with both voice and mind. Brianna!
The panic in his chest grew stronger, and now he recognized it wasn’t all his. A word whispered through his mind. Help!
Brianna! Where are you?
As he entered a thick section of kelp, the words grew stronger. I can’t breathe. God, hurry!
He spun in place, searching the surrounding forest. He could detect nothing awry. The mind connection gave him no sense of direction. Can you sing to me? Call me!
No! There’s something nearby. I’m afraid. The kelp— her thoughts were muddy, but the panic remained sharp and clear.
Summoning a song deep in his core, Zantu formed a command to every creature within range. “Protect my mate!”
The water churned with activity as nearby creatures passed the message along: low foghorn calls from a nearby black jewfish, buzzing from a school of perches, and low against the ocean floor, the ba-ba-ba of a few sea bats. And then a high bark from a sea lion, a warning about invasion of territory. Zantu homed in on the call, racing between the stalks until he spotted the whiskered face of the local sea lion male. He’d interacted with the creature before, and it tolerated Zantu in what it considered its domain.
“What is it?”
The sea lion bared its teeth with unusual aggression and responded with the note sea lions used to warn competitors away.
Zantu tilted his head to look out of the corner of his eye submissively. “You know me, brother. I’m not here to hurt you or your family. I’m looking for a human.”
The beast circled him, the whites of its eyes showing starkly against sleek brown fur. It grunted a story about a mermaid playing games, using the kelp to trap and drown his harem’s babies.
Stomach churning, Zantu ground his teeth. A mermaid would find Brianna even more fun to toy with than baby sea lions. “Take me there.”
The big animal somersaulted once and shot through the kelp to an area shorn from its holdfasts to create a floating mat of greenery. Thick stems tangled in the canopy, yanking more stalks loose as the current continued its relentless path. In the distance, the shouts of the sea lion’s harem met the taunting giggles of a retreating mermaid. The big male bellowed and sped in that direction.
Zantu coiled himself to follow then spotted glints of skin amidst the tangle of kelp. A naked foot peeked from within the mat. Realigning his trajectory, he tore through the mass toward his mate.
I’m here, he thought as he yanked the stalks and debris free. Pushing aside mats of flat leaves, he searched for her face.
Her thoughts had drifted into a hazy calm. Almost nonexistent. He tore a leaf aside and found her eyes staring at him. Through him. No! Immediately, he placed his lips over hers and released a stream of bubbles into her mouth. Brianna, breathe!
Her body bucked, the kelp still binding her limbs. She couldn’t die. Again he kissed her lips, trying to recall exactly how he’d done it when they’d first met. It was one thing for her to leave him, return to the surface. Go back to her life there. Knowing she lived, he, too, could live on. But if she died in his arms, he’d have nothing to live for. Please, Brianna. I love you.
Free me, she thought.
The ache in his gut twisted sharply. Wrenched him to the core. Reminded him she’d left the nest, swum to the surface to seek escape. Even now, she sought to be free of him. He wished he could mimic that desire. The bond he’d thought to find a way to break had only strengthened as time passed. He was as trapped by the bond as she was by the entangling kelp.
Clawing at a handful of stalks, he tore them loose. Another handful. Unleashing himself on the inanimate plant matter, he shredded away thick stems and fronds and let them drift away on the current. “You shouldn’t have left me,” he growled, his thoughts a boiling stew of emotion she probably couldn’t decipher. He wasn’t even entirely sure what he felt except that it hurt beyond anything he’d ever thought possible. He wanted to hurt her and hold her at the same time.
The moment he jerked the last bond free, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face against his shoulder. Oh, God, thank you.
His frenzied emotions dissolved like salt in water. Embracing her, he savored the feel of her warmth against him, the sunshine scent of her skin that had so captivated him. How could she hold such control over him? It didn’t matter. He was hers, now and forever. And she was alive.
Don’t leave me again. She gripped him tighter.
She was toying with him, of course. Using him when she needed him only to throw him away the next chance she got. His chest ached, as if the mate-bond might squeeze the life out of him. He tried to read her thoughts, but his own were too stormy to see past. I thought you wanted to be set free?
I wanted free of the kelp. Did you think I meant free of you?
Why else would you have tried to reach the surface?
She pushed away from his chest to look into his face. I didn’t. You were gone so long, and I got bored. There were these fish fighting, and I thought I’d break it up. I know it was stupid. I should have stayed put. The current sucked me away. I couldn’t find the nest again. Then I hit the kelp and, and— Her thoughts catapulted over one another, saturated with raw terror. I thought I was going to die.
A wave of relief rolled over him. And guilt. The connection of their thoughts couldn’t lie. I promise never to leave you alone again.
He curled his tail up to caress the sensual curve of her bottom with his fin. Her legs still fascinated him, and the way she could embrace him with both her arms and legs during lovemaking drove him mad with lust. She sighed within her mind at his caress and spread her thighs. Her mind radiated trust. Commitment. Love?
His cock bulged and thrummed against its sheath, demanding release, demanding the satiation of her heated core, but he held back. He wanted to savor every moment he could. To make her want him as badly as he wanted her. He roamed his hands along the curve of her hips, thumbs grazing the slight hollows of her hip bones until they found the downy mound of fur between her legs. So soft, so hot, the mound pulsed as he cupped his fingers over it, slipping between those sensual legs.
She traced her hands over his arms, up his biceps, around his neck. He dipped his head to kiss her, fingers massaging her labia even as his mouth plied her lips open to receive his tongue. Her fingers reached the top edge of his dorsal fin and traced both sides of it down his spine to his hips. His cock sprang free. Still he ignored it, enthralled by the erotic gyrations of her hips against his hand.
> Leaving her lips, he found a breast, taking her nipple between his teeth to nibble gently. Her fingers clawed into him, her mind spiraling with both pleasure and pain. He’d need to be cautious using his pointed teeth against her tender skin. Still massaging her slick nub, he moved to the other breast and drew the nipple to a barnacle-hard peak before tracing kisses along her belly.
She bucked and strained against him. He wrapped his other hand around to cup her ass and dipped his head between her legs to replace his fingers with his tongue. She tasted as good as she smelled, and bucked harder against him, her thoughts yearning for penetration.
As you wish, he sent, and plunged a finger into her. Her interior ridges quivered around his finger. He slipped a second inside and discovered that crooking his fingers while plunging her depths sent her into a cascade of pleasure. The shared mental connection to her shuddering climax nearly had him spilling his seed into the surrounding water.
Keeping hold of her sides, he slid up her length to find her mouth with his again. His cock entered her core as easily as an eel returning to its den, smooth and graceful and a perfect fit. She sighed in mental satisfaction and lifted her face to kiss him.
I love you forever, he thought as he sent his seed deep within her.
Chapter Eight
LIKE A BABY otter, Brianna lay atop Zantu’s chest, while yards below them the kelp canopy undulated in deceivingly benign patterns. She reached up and broke the water’s surface with one hand, the droplets on her fingertips refracting the setting sun into tiny rainbows. Drawing her hand back into the ocean’s embrace, she ran her fingertips along the rippled muscles of Zantu’s abdomen. The thought of going back down through the kelp to his nest terrified her. Being apart from Zantu terrified her. Everything about this ocean terrified her. More than terrified her. As both adrenaline scare and coital passion subsided, she realized she was angry as hell. How could you leave me alone like that?
Zantu hugged her closer, his tail rhythmically sweeping the water. I’m sorry—
She shoved at him, flailed as he released her, then clung to him and pounded his rock-hard chest instead. What if you hadn’t made it back in time? Did you realize I’d stop breathing?
I left a sculpin to watch over you—
A fish? You left me in the care of a fish?
A mistake, I admit. He grabbed hold of the fist she’d been pounding against his chest. I don’t know why you had trouble breathing. The breath bond is supposed to last until the new moon. Perhaps that mermaid broke it.
A new fear took root in the pit of her stomach. Breath bond? Is that a spell? What if it gets broken again?
I won’t leave you again. His face was hard with resolve. Not until I know how to keep you safe.
His evasive answer shifted her fright into suspicion. That’s not what I asked.
As long as I’m near, I can renew the bond.
She stared upward at the darkening sky. You can’t possibly guarantee you’ll be at my side every moment of every day.
His mind was a maelstrom of ideas until he settled on a tentative thought. My brother might know of deeper magic.
Her fist tightened beneath his palm until her nails dug into her flesh. I’m not letting you leave me alone again.
No. I won’t do that.
What then? she asked, hoping mermen had some way to communicate over long distances yet knowing they didn’t. If they had, he could have simply called his brother the first time.
You’ll come with me. In spite of the wall he’d tried to erect between their mind-connection, horrific images flashed across her vision. A frenzy of mermen tearing one of their own limb from limb. Blood filling the water. Horrific silence as they departed, leaving the dead to feed the fish.
She gasped, salt water catching in her throat. Who are those mermen?
Zantu’s chest rose and fell in a sigh. Remember I told you taking a mate to another’s nest is forbidden? The punishment for breaking the pact is death.
Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might explode. But… even your brother?
My brother’s not like other mermen. He’ll hear me out. The words he sent were steady, yet she could detect a falseness to his confidence.
Why such harsh punishment? she asked.
Most mermen are solitary creatures, avoiding both maids and men alike. His arms tightened around her. Unfortunately, weaker mermen have been known to indulge a mate’s desire and reveal the locations of fellow mermen’s nests. Any merman not mate-bonded would likely be forced to mate, no better than a slave. Any who rejects her faces her wrath, not only toward himself but also his children. Entire families have been destroyed by a single mermaid. A nest is supposed to be a sanctuary. A safe place, hidden among the kelp away from predators and mermaids. Revealing a nest’s location is one of the gravest sins. Carrying out punishment is one of the few times mermen will gather together.
She swallowed, unable to erase the violent images from her mind. I don’t want you to get hurt.
Rubac and I share a special bond, closer than other brothers. We spent many years together exploring the wild deeps for treasure and knowledge. When Didra caught him I thought our relationship would end, but he’s strong. He trusts me to visit his nest. To care for his child.
What if you left me at the surface? She squeezed him tighter, pressing her face against his chest. I could tread water there and breathe until you got back.
His already-dark thoughts became stormy. The surface is not safe. Predators can see you from below, waves can bury you from above. And other humans could find you and take you away.
He didn’t say the last part, but it carried across his thoughts unbidden. She stroked her fingers along his dorsal lovingly. I do not want to leave you, my love.
A shiver passed over his skin, and guilt soured the mind-connection. I’m trying to trust you. But all I’ve ever learned of women tells me otherwise.
From what little she’d learned—and seen—of mermaids, she knew he was fighting an uphill battle. She wanted him to trust her. Believed he would in time. And she had to admit, the idea of fending off sharks or trying to keep her head above crashing waves sounded as unlikely as surviving a journey to Rubac’s nest. If the surface is out, there must be another option. Where’d Rubac learn about the magic? Can we go there?
Bubbles streamed from his nose. The wild deeps would be more dangerous than taking you to Rubac’s nest. I think Rubac will understand the special circumstances. Especially since you’ve already met Ebby.
Her thoughts returned to the merchild and the reason Zantu had left the first time. Is Ebby okay?
Ebby’s safe for now. My brother’s the one who concerns me. Zantu’s thoughts blurred and wavered with uncertainty.
Why?
His new baby is dead. Most likely stillborn. He’s…
Stillborn? The mind-connection with Zantu popped and seemed to fizzle, as if shorted out. An unexpected tsunami of memory slammed into her. The first sound of her baby’s heartbeat. The smell of new paint in the nursery. The sensation of that first fluttering kick from deep inside her. And then the day she’d realized the kicking had stopped. The pain of fruitless labor and delivery. Blessed unconsciousness from blood loss.
And finally, Eric standing in the hospital doorway telling her he’d already “taken care of things.” She’d been unconscious five days, and the ashes had already been scattered.
The sting of water in her nose and throat yanked her back to the present. Water squeezed from every side, forcing the breath from her body. She realized she was gasping, and there was no air to be found.
Zantu’s hands grasped her face, and she felt his mouth against hers. Her lungs eased immediately. His kiss was tender, gentle. Infused with love rather than lust. An anchor in her storm. He tilted his head and traced kisses along her jaw, his hands stroking her back as if gentling a horse. I believe I understand now why you came to me, his mind whispered to hers.
She might not have a physical voice,
but her thought was choked with pain. He took her from me. I never got to say goodbye.
I’m so sorry. He gathered her in his arms.
Maybe it was because of the mind-connection, but the genuine shared grief flowing from Zantu’s thoughts was stronger than all the combined words of comfort she’d received from family and friends. Definitely more than she’d received from Eric, who couldn’t understand why she wasn’t grateful to escape the chore of a funeral. She broke down and sobbed against her mate, truly cried as she never could with Eric. Zantu held her tight, saying nothing, because he didn’t have to. It was enough that he was with her. Enough that he wanted with all his heart to make things better.
She cried from the pit of her soul, and the ocean accepted her tears as its own.
After comforting Brianna’s grief, Zantu carried her through the night-dark kelp. Her thoughts were sorrowful but solid. Something inside her had changed, as if brackish water had been washed away by an incoming tide. She’d been through a lot—even before he’d met her. How lucky he was to have a mate who not only wanted to stay with him, but also wanted children. Children they would raise together. The anxiety he felt about approaching his brother’s nest was caught up with a desire to share news of his lucky pairing. Who would have guessed a human would make such a perfect mate?
He pumped his tail and carried them toward Rubac’s nest. Hopefully night would mask Brianna’s proximity while he talked to his brother. Some silly part of him hoped he could get away without Rubac ever being the wiser about having his nest revealed. Another part hoped his brother noticed and wanted to meet his mate. He’d always wondered how a merman could be so weak as to take a mate to see other mermen, but now a part of him understood the draw of wanting to introduce your bond-mate to your brothers.
Brianna clung to his shoulders, thoughts numb with exhaustion. Adrenaline kept him moving. He sent sonic queries ahead to guide his path. A merman was never blind as long as there were landmarks for echolocation. One danger of the wild deeps was the vast expanse of water with nothing physical to orient himself with except the current. He prayed his brother had the answers they needed, because a trip to the wild deeps would be unthinkable with Brianna in tow.
