Coming Up for Air

by Amanda Meuwissen

  Those assholes. Those wonderful assholes.

  “So.” Tolly settled in Leigh’s lap, straddling his thighs and coiling his arms around his neck. “Shall we change the sign to: We can fix anything—even a broken heart?”

  We. It felt so much better now that it meant something. “Seems so,” Leigh said, resting his hands on Tolly’s hips.

  “I cannot wait to open the shop with you, but perhaps you could delay your work this morning. There is something I wish to show you.”

  Leigh spared no time locking up. He was with Tolly. He had Tolly back. He would follow him anywhere.

  Which was back to Leigh’s apartment building, though not upstairs. Tolly led him to the pool. It was too early to run into anyone, which Leigh was grateful for, because he wasn’t ready to share Tolly yet, especially since Alvin and Cary already knew.

  I hate you. Leigh snuck a text to Alvin as they entered the pool room and locked up tight.

  Love you too! Alvin sent back with a flurry of kissy emojis.

  “Now, you do not get to refuse me this time,” Tolly said playfully as he pulled his shirt over his head. “Will you join me in the pool, Leigh?”

  Leigh pulled his shirt off too. “Never planned to step foot in that thing again, but I will for you.”

  They stripped, got into the water, and Tolly let out his tail while keeping his human upper half.

  “You know you don’t have to hide your real form from me anymore,” Leigh said.

  “I am not hiding. All three forms are me, but this is the one that combines the part of me I always loved and the parts you first fell in love with. It is the form I prefer, not shame.”

  “Okay.” As long as it was what Tolly wanted.

  Tolly drew Leigh out to the deep end and started to pull them under.

  “I can breathe underwater again, right?” Leigh asked with a start.

  “Yes,” Tolly assured him. “You most certainly can. Come.”

  Leigh always felt a little awkward being naked in the pool with his legs sprawled about while Tolly looked so elegant with his tail. With effortless ease, Tolly drew him close beneath the surface and held him in his arms. He kissed him, and this kiss was different somehow, because Leigh felt something exhilarating flutter through his chest the whole time they were in contact.

  Now we have a new pact, Tolly said. An option, but only if you want it.

  Want what? Leigh asked, and Tolly smiled ever so sweetly.

  Why, would you grow a fin for me, dear bird, so we may live wherever we wish?

  What? The request caught Leigh by surprise. Tolly, I can’t—

  You can. If you will it.

  I…. Wait. You’re saying…. Right now? How?

  Will it, want it, and believe.

  He said it like it was so simple. Breathing underwater was simple with magic involved, Leigh supposed. Being with Tolly, a merman, was simple. Well, not a simple road, but a simple destination. Of course Leigh had to try.

  It wasn’t painful. It wasn’t instantaneous, but it wasn’t grotesque to witness either. It was… magic that one moment his legs floated beneath him, and only a handful later he was something new, something elegant like Tolly that shocked him with how comfortable it felt, not at all horrifying to have such a drastic change overtake him.

  Still, though, I’m gonna be able to change back, right?

  Tolly didn’t respond initially. He stared at Leigh’s tail like he had never seen anything so beautiful. Leigh supposed it was beautiful, and he dropped down lower in the pool to flick his tail outward and really look at it.

  Unlike Tolly’s tail, which was mostly red, Leigh’s was an icy blue with trim around his scales in shimmering silver as though he was covered in frost.

  Like your eyes, Tolly said. Oh, I never imagined you would be so lovely.

  Never imagined, huh?

  Tolly’s eyes snapped up to meet Leigh’s smirk with a startled expression. I only meant—

  Come here. Leigh let him off the hook since he had only been teasing.

  They were like fire and ice, though the pleasant shock of Tolly’s touch and kiss felt more like lightning. Strangest of all was how their tails coiled so naturally around each other.

  If Leigh had a tail, that also meant—wow, that was weird to think about, yet it didn’t shake his psyche, only intrigued him, as if this combination of beings was what he had always been intended for.

  May I have you inside me now, Tolly said, purposely reminding Leigh of many times before, though this would certainly be different than any of those.

  Should have known you had ulterior motives, Leigh said.

  Only to be with you. And yes, you will be able to change back whenever you wish. Perhaps one day I can take you to visit my kin.

  That was a strange thought, since until now, Leigh had considered merfolk the most terrifying creatures of the deep. As long as you trust them, you can take me anywhere.

  He pulled Tolly in for another kiss. Leigh would never tire of kissing him, touching him, feeling his tail—their tails—gliding around each other, smooth and tingly with the scratch of their scales.

  Let me touch you, Leigh, and coax you out, Tolly said, nuzzling him cheek to cheek as he slid the fingers of one hand down the front of his chest and lower to the beginning of his tail.

  Leigh could feel stirrings of arousal, and when Tolly traced the slit at the front of his scales, he gasped at how easily they parted for Tolly to press inside. It was and was not like having Tolly inside him when he was human. There was still the same warmth building low in his belly, just originating from somewhere else.

  I can feel you, Tolly said, pressing his fingers along a part of Leigh that twitched in response and started to extend. Tolly drew his fingers out with an enticing, gentle tug, and Leigh’s sex, changed to be like Tolly’s, revealed itself, icy blue like his tail and eager to flex.

  Whoa this is strange….

  Bad? Too much?

  No, Leigh said quickly, looking away to take in Tolly’s face.

  Tolly touched the newness of him with tender curiosity before wrapping his fingers tight. A moan tried to leave Leigh’s throat, forming bubbles between them in the water. It was the same yet so different again. Tolly explored his new form, always watching to be sure he enjoyed what was done, and soon had him eager to find a harbor.

  I am wet and ready for you, Tolly said, guiding Leigh forward, ever with his lines straight out of a porno. Leigh loved it. He loved this. He loved Tolly.

  The slick slide of Tolly in this form was something Leigh was used to, but never when he also had two halves of a whole to flex and grasp with. When he entered Tolly, it felt as though he found Tolly’s sex inside him and clasped on with the first sweet thrust. Only with Tolly could he imagine anything so strange feeling like everything he’d ever wanted.

  They spun in the water, tailfins fluttering, swimming together in a whole new dance. Tolly’s voice whimpered and gasped in Leigh’s mind, and when the moment came to bite and claim, Tolly arched his neck to the side and asked for it.

  Please….

  Leigh didn’t break the skin, that wasn’t the point, but he dug in deep to mark Tolly, then licked and nuzzled the spot as Tolly had done to him. It probably meant more than a sexual ritual, something deeper and permanent, like mating, like marriage, yet it didn’t strike Leigh as anything greater than exactly what they were to each other.

  It was so easy to reach an end together, wrapped in each other, unique and whole.

  I do, you know, Leigh thought when they floated there beneath the surface, blissful in the afterglow. I didn’t only say it to keep you. I love you. Maybe it is a terrible, cruel word and thing to feel for someone, but with you, it’s worth it.

  Tolly held Leigh’s face in both hands and kissed him soundly. I love you too.

  It was several minutes later that they floated upward, breaching the surface while Leigh still had his tail. He liked it. He really did. He wondered what it would be like t
o swim far out into the ocean with Tolly at his side.

  “Dude.” Alvin startled him as soon as they reached the air. “Were you two having freaky mermaid sex down there? Love the tail, by the way, and only slightly jealous.”

  “Alvin!” Leigh gasped as he crushed Tolly to him, bobbing in the water to see that Alvin had once again broken the lock to the pool room and had Cary with him. “I hate you so much right now.”

  “Aww.” Alvin grinned from where he crouched at the pool’s edge with Cary standing smugly behind him. “Come on, losers. Let’s go get breakfast.”

  TOLLY NEVER wondered if he had made a mistake. There were no doubts, no second thoughts. This small, broken neighborhood in a large city with criminals and dreamers alike was exactly where he had always been meant to end up. As long as Leigh was with him.

  Today was the day they opened the shop—together, with just each other. And with Ralph helping on and off. It would be a simple life, filled with simple but wonderful people. Tolly would never have asked for more.

  After all, there were movie nights, either streamed or out at the drive-in. There were dinners. There were long swims. There was physical connection and words of devotion. There were nights with friends. There were days and nights babysitting. There were chores done to help Miss Maggie, and several for the super. Honestly, Leigh could easily add superintendent to his resume, though all his parole officer needed was to see the opening day of the shop.

  “I’m proud of you, William,” she said when the day came, shaking Tolly’s hand too.

  Miss Maggie was there that Tuesday morning as well—Tuesday because Leigh had decided they would be closed Mondays for catch-up work and side jobs for their friends.

  Deanna stopped by as well on her way to work with Gar beside her to head to school, and with Gert, too, who then went along with Maggie back to the apartment building.

  They all knew what Tolly was, and they accepted him as one of their own. It was a good family, one Tolly had found after losing the one he was born into.

  Even the detectives made an appearance. He accepted Perez’s scrutinizing gaze and Horowitz’s kind smile as a sign that all would be well, and it was nice to see Leigh bask in pride for what he had become for others to witness.

  “Thanks for believing in me, Nick,” Leigh said before Perez walked away.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Perez cleared his throat with audible effort. “Don’t go gettin’ mushy on me now.”

  Even Alvin and Cary passed by on their way to work. Yes, they were still criminals working for Arthur Sweeney, who ran all the nearby streets now, but Alvin had a way of dissuading his father from the more unsavory acts like violence or murder—or asking local businesses for protection money.

  Good luck, Cary signed to Tolly.

  And Alvin, able to understand him well now, signed in echo, Never stop being strange, Sharkboy. We love you.

  Tolly signed back a grateful Thank you, and Leigh raised an eyebrow at the exchange.

  “We will have to teach you next,” Tolly said.

  At long last it was Ralph who came to wish them well on his way to school, though he was not alone but accompanied by a young girl his same age.

  “Go get ’em, Hurley, Tolly. I’ll be here for my shift at four,” Ralph said.

  “And who is this?” Tolly asked the girl.

  “Susie,” the girl said with a sweet extension of her hand. “Or Sue is fine. I live a couple blocks over and told Ralph I’d walk him to the bus stop since these streets aren’t as safe.”

  “Ah, so you are his protector,” Tolly said, shaking her hand succinctly.

  “Well, I can’t imagine him facing a fight himself, can you?”

  Tolly of course knew that Ralph had faced many dangers, including certain death that was thwarted, a murder before his eyes, a gunshot wound inches from his face, and the reveal of a merfolk in his midst. But he nodded nonetheless.

  “True. Ralph could use a good bodyguard,” Tolly said. “That is how Leigh and I met.”

  “Really?” Sue looked between Tolly and Leigh like they were a couple to be revered. “You have a very nice shop together, Mr. Allen.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You two run along now and don’t be late,” Leigh said, shooing them away.

  Sue waved goodbye before heading down the street.

  Ralph came up quickly to hiss a harried, “Don’t get excited, we’re just friends.” Then he gushed with a grin lighting up his face like mentions of Deanna never had, “I really don’t want to screw this up. She is so awesome.”

  “I wish you well,” Tolly whispered back, “but we are here if you need advice.”

  “You can fix anything, right?” Ralph said, offering a wink before hurrying off to catch up to his friend. He would be fine, in time. Leigh and Tolly would see to that.

  They would see to many things, for while there had been no whispers of Moretti loyalists or angry merfolk scorned by what Tolly and Leigh had helped put in motion, there was always the chance that threats would arise to undo what they had made. One look at them dared their detractors to come and try their worst. After all, they were mated now, bonded, linked for all time, and Leigh was merfolk with Tolly—stronger, fierce and powerful. They could swap between all three forms to suit them and hold their own in any fight, land or sea.

  Maybe Tolly would have been a killer if his parents had been more like other merfolk, but here, with Leigh, in a shop on the corner of a less than reputable street, he had found home.

  Like coming up for air when he had most needed it.

  The door chimed with their first unknown customer.

  “Well.” Tolly turned to Leigh. “Shall we see what they need?”

  More from Amanda Meuwissen

  What’s the value of love?

  Shy data scientist Owen Quinn is brilliant at predictive models but clueless at romance. Fortunately, a new career allows him to start over hundreds of miles from the ex he would rather forget. But the opportunity might go to waste since this isn’t the kind of problem he knows how to solve. The truth is, he’s terrible at making the first move and wishes a connection didn’t have to revolve around sex.

  Cal Mercer works for the Nick of Time Escort Service. He’s picky about his clients and has never accepted a regular who is looking for companionship over sex—but can the right client change his mind? And can real feelings develop while money is changing hands? Owen and Cal might get to the root of their true feelings… if their pasts don’t interfere.

  AMANDA MEUWISSEN is a primarily gay romance writer, as well as Marketing Operations Manager for the software company Outsell. She has a Bachelor of Arts in a personally designed major from St. Olaf College in Creative Writing, and is an avid consumer of fiction through film, prose, and video games. As author of the paranormal romance trilogy The Incubus Saga, young adult novel Life as a Teenage Vampire, the novelette The Collector, and superhero duology Lovesick Gods and Lovesick Titans, Amanda regularly attends local comic conventions for fun and to meet with fans, where she will often be seen in costume as one of her favorite fictional characters. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband, John, and their two cats, Helga and Sasha (no relation to the incubus of the same name), and can be found at www.amandameuwissen.com.

  By Amanda Meuwissen

  Coming Up for Air

  DREAMSPUN DESIRES

  #77 – A Model Escort

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Coming Up for Air

  © 2019 Amand
a Meuwissen.

  Cover Art

  © 2019 Tiferet Design.

  http://www.tiferetdesign.com/

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-64405-175-7

  Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64405-176-4

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018963158

  Digital published April 2019

  v. 1.0

  Printed in the United States of America