Chapter 5
Ro
The phone call from the male who introduces himself as Thomas Clarence comes at an obscenely early hour in the morning. Especially since I just returned from the sea as the sun rose over the water and stretched out on my bed. The motel I stay at is not entirely necessary, but I enjoy resting in it as humans do and having one place to keep my belongings while I am on land. I was unable to rest yesterday or much at all the last two nights, too eager to see Keri again.
I squint at the clock on the nightstand after I hang up with him and scowl. Barely past seven in the morning. That may be normal for many humans—I protest it with everything that I am. It’s simply not natural to be up so early, when the sun is low in the sky. I can’t remain irritated, however, not when Mr. Clarence gave me exactly what I asked for. Or rather, in his eagerness to begin the study, he gave me exactly who I asked for. My Keri.
I smile at that as I slip from the bed. I will be meeting my female at the Occult Library and proceeding with her from there to a building established for arcane work. It is there that I will have Keri all to myself for hours, not just today but every day. We may have to work around it when I am forced to return to the water, but now that eventuality is not my most immediate concern, not when I’ve found my song.
It’s a marvel that it could be this easy. It is all too tempting to lure Keri into a mating embrace immediately. My lure is potent and ready to burrow into her power and ensnare her to me. It may not be playing fair by human standards, but I don’t feel guilty about considering it either. After all, there are many females of my species who prefer to entice human men into their carefully selected and prepared flirting ground—and occasionally wrecking ships in the process. And still humans love their “mermaids,” so I see nothing wrong with my plan.
As I get ready, I entertain myself with thoughts of how it might go. I wonder if she will yield and come into my embrace on her own or if she will require cajoling with little tugs of the lure upon her magic. The small barbs under my skin itch to come out and secure her to my body once I am close enough, but I immediately dismiss that as foolish. Even with humans, the mating embrace needs to be done in water. In the dry air it’s too easy to damage the delicate skin of the female... and there are other risks.
And despite the insidious temptation that coils through me, my heart is not in it. While I know that there are Aquanas who have bonded with their human mates by keeping them secluded with them on some tiny, far-flung island, it’s not what I truly want. I want Keri’s smiles and laughter, as well as her tenderness and affection. But more than anything, I want her to run eagerly to me because she wishes to. While I’m not above playing this game of studies to bring us together so that I have an opportunity to win her, everything else I want to be real.
With the way she reacts to me, I am also confident it will happen. I just need to be a patient hunter, which is unfortunately easier said than done.
My optimism puts me in good spirits, though, as I leave the small motel by the harbor and make my way into the small seaside town. Despite being located near a larger city, I’m glad that I found my female here. It certainly makes the walk to the library a pleasant one, if a little crisp. It is the human month of September, and so the summer warmth is waning. I can scent the change of the season in the air as autumn begins to settle in. It will begin to get cooler soon, but the seas will remain pleasant for a while longer. It won’t last long, however, and I don’t want to risk being swept far away by a storm if I’m forced to return to the sea every month on the full moon.
Perhaps I need to start scouting for a protected spot to make my nest. I consider this as I walk, thinking over some of the possibilities I saw yesterday since I had nothing better to do with my time than swim around the area while I was bound to the sea. By habit, I stayed far from the human boats, which took me farther from the harbors, but there were some good options, and I still have quite a bit of the human wealth I brought with me. The heavy belt with its full pouches of gold is hidden away. All I have with me is the watertight sealskin pouch filled with many papers that serve as human currency from the last time I sold some of my coins.
I rub my jaw and ruminate. I will need to locate a buyer for the gold so that I have enough to buy land and build a comfortable home for the two of us—preferably one that opens directly into the water from inside so that we will both be comfortable. I can get things started and then give Keri free rein to make the space suitable to her needs once she decides that she also cannot live without me.
This is a good plan, I decide, and I am smiling as I hurry to the entrance of the library. Pleasure stirs deep within my chest when I open the door and am immediately greeted with the scent and sight of my female behind her desk. She looks up at me and her eyebrows shoot up.
“You’re here!”
I don’t know what to think of how surprised she sounds, and I give her a puzzled look as I attempt to work through it. Her cheeks turn red, and she gives an embarrassed chuckle that worms into my heart and fills it with warmth.
“Sorry, that probably sounded strange. Last I heard, Mr. Clarence was complaining about his difficulty in getting ahold of you.”
My brows knit together, not liking the idea of the male complaining to my female but also confused as to why he would. “It was the full moon,” I explain. “I had to return to the sea for a day.”
Her cheeks turn a brighter red at the reminder, and she glances away from me. I am surprised by how annoyed I am with this gesture. It is likely a wholly human one born of her embarrassment, but I don’t like that my female turns from me, regardless.
“I completely forgot about that,” she groans. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine why he was complaining then. I’m sure that I would have written it on your paperwork.” I nod in affirmation, and she sighs heavily. “Figures. When did you get back?”
“At sunrise I was allowed to leave the sea again.”
She looks over at the clock on the wall, and her mouth twists with sympathy. “Damn, did you have a chance to get any sleep?”
I shrug because sleep is inconsequential compared to having the opportunity to be near my female. “Enough.”
Keri gives me a disbelieving look. “You must require a lot less sleep than me.” Her eyes skim over me and she grimaces. “And obviously less outerwear.”
“I require but a few hours,” I admit as I glance down at my bare chest and arms and then back up at her. “Am I not dressed appropriately? My sheath and rear orifice are covered as I gather is socially expected among your people.”
“Aren’t you the least bit cold?” She blinks. “Wait. Sheath?”
My lips curve. “No, I’m not cold. I’m acclimated to much cooler temperatures of the depths and find this much more pleasant than the heat of the summer. And yes, my sheath. It contains my phallus. There is not much to see, but I would be happy to show you how it works.”
“Nice try. Sorry to say I’m not quite that easy. Save it for the lab techs,” she replies with another blush.
“I find that to be a profound relief,” I state truthfully. I want a female I can win and keep with me for the rest of my long life, not one easily swayed from one nest to another.
Now she looks surprised for a moment before burying it beneath a polite fa?ade. She tilts her head to the side and regards me like I am an intriguing thing that has suddenly caught her attention. I just barely resist the urge to preen for her.
“Adiele probably wouldn’t appreciate the fact that you’re offering for me to touch your dick,” she says slowly, “but I was under the impression that merfolk, I mean, Aquanas, are all about frolicking in waves, singing enchantments, sex with whomever they can catch, and drowning humans. And you should know that Adiele will seriously object to two out of those four.”
I stare at her, appalled. This is what humans think of us? I knew that there were some who were suspicious of us for our ability to draw humans to us, but I never thought it was this... this... ghastly. According to her description, we might as well be seagulls fluttering around the rocks, but with a taste for destroying ships, indulging in our pleasures, and eating humans. The comparison, although unintentional from my female, is insulting and stings. But even more so that she would think that I would attempt to lure a female if I were mated to another.
“That is absurd,” I reply in a tight voice. “It is clear that humans know nothing about Aquanas culture.” Such as the fact that we aren’t even homogenous. There are at least twenty subgroupings of Aquanas that I am aware of, but that is not the subject of discussion at present. “I would never betray a female I have claimed as my mate, much less try to entice another.”
Her brow furrows. “Are you trying to tell me that Adiele—”
“Will make a wonderful mate for some other male. For me, she is a friend,” I growl.
She clears her throat and nods uncomfortably, and immediately I feel guilty for snapping at her. It’s not her fault that humans are ignorant of my kind. Even when we have the rare instances of contact with humans, we do not overshare, as humans call it.
“Well, that’s why you’re here and what we’ll both be working toward trying to correct, isn’t it?” she replies quickly as she pulls on a loose garment around her already-clothed upper torso. She digs out a set of keys that she immediately puts in her pocket before looking at me with another of her frustratingly polite smiles. “Let me just call Lynn from the back to cover me, and we can get going.”
I nod in acknowledgment, even more ashamed of myself since I clearly destroyed the fragile comradery that I felt between us for a moment there. Uncertain how to repair the damage, I wait as the other human, Lynn, comes up to the front. The two females talk together in a low voice for a couple of minutes, and then we leave. I remain silent as I follow behind Keri. Somehow, I must fix this.