Page 14
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
HOLY COW.
As they left the underwater cave, Kannon struggled to keep up with Nisha. It wasn’t that his mate was purposely leaving him… it was more that Kannon was enthralled by everything around him and kept getting distracted.
Oh, how he wished he could communicate with Nisha right now. Questions flooded his mind. The joy of what was in front of him was almost enough to sidetrack him from the fluttering he felt at his neck. He had gills. Gills.
Maybe if he repeated that a thousand more times, it would finally sink in. He could feel their movement as water flowed across them. It was indescribable. Awe-inspiring. And freaky as hell. He glanced over at Nisha and watched as his mate’s tail slowly moved up and down as he swam.
He remembered wanting to examine it inch by inch the first opportunity he had. As soon as the exploration was over, he certainly intended to do just that. It quickly became obvious he needed his diving flippers. He just simply wasn’t fast enough to keep up with Nisha and that fabulous tail of his.
They swam toward a huge reef of coral in dynamic reds and yellows. It’d been many years since he’d been scuba diving, and he’d forgotten how rich with life the ocean was beneath the surface. He did remember enough to know that nothing had ever been as clear and vibrant as what he saw now.
Had mating with Nisha improved his eyesight? It must have. As he swam around and through the reefs, Kannon noticed the rocks on the floor of the ocean, and the remains of other animals. Unfortunately, there was also human trash scattered there, such as tires and soda cans. As he drifted closer to the reefs, he turned his head this way and that, trying to see everything, and his bubbles distracted him… reminding him once again he was breathing underwater.
He glanced up toward the surface, and all he could see were beams of light that tried to penetrate the water. A shrimp flung itself off a rock and made a mad dash to swim away, claiming his attention.
Fascinated, he watched its progress. Butterfly fish, angel fish, soldier fish, and squirrel fish—just to name a few—darted up to check him out. Giant grouper, reef sharks, and ribbon-tailed stingrays drifted by.
Amazed, he could only watch. He heard a click and he glanced to his right, to where Nisha rested on an outcrop of rocks. His blue hair floated around his head, and his tail swished back and forth gently in the water. His beauty took Kannon’s breath.
He not only fit in the gorgeous underwater landscape, he belonged there. Now he understood why Nisha’s hair was that stunning blue. His pale skin blended with the ocean floor. Everything down here was bluish green, with pops of vibrant color. Nisha’s skin and hair coloring fit.
Now he saw why Nisha preferred to live here rather than on land. Know what? Screw waiting to explore that tail. I’m going to do it now. He swam toward Nisha. Unmoving, Nisha hiked an eyebrow at Kannon. Kannon knelt by Nisha, his eyes on the bottom part of Nisha’s tail.
From the waist down, Nisha was… well, part fish. He glanced up. Nisha’s human form ended around his belly button. From there down, his merman form took over. He reached out and gently touched Nisha’s hip, or where Nisha’s hip should have been.
The scales were silky and smooth, which surprised Kannon. It reminded him of ocean water under his fingertips—glass smooth and calm. The scales shimmered and sparkled like polished sea glass in the clear water. Intrigued, he bent closer.
The fragile scales were molded together, as small as his fingernail. He trailed his hand down Nisha’s tail until he reached the caudal fin, which was forked. He stroked the fin and felt it twitch under his hand. Nisha trilled, and Kannon glanced up at him.
Or he started to, but something caught his attention. Kannon stroking Nisha’s tail must have aroused him, because his cock was slowly protruding. Kannon gulped. He hadn’t really thought about when Nisha made love to him before, even though he’d been in his merman form.
The mechanics quickly stopped being important once they started making love. But now he wanted to know. Nisha thrust his lower body at him, which apparently meant he had permission to proceed.
So proceed he did. Nisha’s cock was inside a pouch in Nisha’s body, and it now protruded through a slit in the skin just about exactly where his human penis would have been. Fascinating. He remembered how it felt entering him. Now he saw why.
The tip of Nisha’s cock was rounded and narrow, but it flared out as it grew. No wonder it felt like it was opening him when they fucked. It had been. Tentatively he reached out and stroked it. For some reason, he expected it to feel cool, although he couldn’t say why. But it wasn’t.
It was warm and firm—just like the rest of Nisha—and an iridescent blue, just like his tail. Isn’t that just all kinds of neat? He stroked Nisha’s cock, and the shudder that ripped through Nisha surprised Kannon. So did the hand that wrapped around his. Now he shuddered, his cock going hard too.
Nisha grinned, exposing sharp teeth, as they stroked him off together. Nisha arched, his body bowing as he came. His tail jerked and thrashed. Kannon watched as water washed Nisha’s come away.
Nisha leaned forward and trailed his webbed fingers over Kannon’s face then kissed him. The kiss was sweet and quick, and Kannon glanced down to watch as Nisha’s cock disappeared back into the slit. Fascinating.
Nisha tapped him on the shoulder and motioned for him to follow. Time passed as they swam, played with a school of dolphins, and explored. Growing tired, Kannon tapped Nisha on the arm and pointed back in the general direction from which they came.
Nisha nodded his head, and together they swam back. Kannon was surprised to see exactly how far out they’d gone. Eventually they made it back to the underwater cave and swam into it. They surfaced in the cove.
Immediately Nisha took him by the shoulders and turned Kannon to face him. Since they couldn’t touch bottom, Nisha supported Kannon, using his tail to keep them above water.
“Okay, we’re going to do the same thing as we did before,” Nisha said. “I want you to concentrate. Think about the gill flaps closing. Visualize them flush with your skin so they can’t be seen. When you feel the tingle, you’ll know it’s happening.”
After several minutes, and some fierce concentration on Kannon’s part, the gill flaps finally closed. Kannon pushed his hair out of the face. “That’s the coolest thing ever. I got to ask you, though, when the gill flaps are open and I’m using them underwater, can I speak?”
“You could, but your vocal cords don’t really work underwater. You could make noise, and possibly sound out a word or two, but you’re not going to talk like we’re talking now. You can’t make the click and pulsed calls, like I can.”
“That’s too bad. I’d like to be able to communicate while we’re underwater.”
“Well, in regards to that, we’ll be able to, eventually. It just takes a little while for the mating bond between us to strengthen. But eventually you and I will be able to speak telepathically. All mates can.”
“Just wow. This gets better and better. You’ll be in my head? And you can hear me?” Kannon suddenly frowned. “Does that mean you can read my mind?”
“No, I can’t read your mind any more than you will be able to read mine. But you will be able to hear me when I speak to you.”
“So eventually we can talk.”
“Yes, eventually.”
“Awesome. There were so many things I wanted to ask you while we were down there, but I couldn’t. It really bugged me.”
“You took to it exceptionally well. I was very impressed with how calm you were after you managed to get the gills open. I can tell you now Brett wasn’t nearly as easy to deal with. And no, I’m not going to tell you what happened. Sufficient to say Brooke had her hands full teaching him.”
“Oh yeah, you can bet your tail fin I’m asking him about that.”
Nisha laughed. “Up to you. I need to transform. Why don’t you go on up to the shore, use one of the beach towels to dry off, and get dressed? I’ll join you shortly.”
“Sounds good to me.” Kannon walked to the beach.
As he waded out of the water, he felt a moment of disorientation, almost as if his body was readjusting. That had never happened before, so he assumed it was connected to using his gills for the first time.
By the time the water was around his ankles, he felt normal once more. Well, as normal as a person who was capable of breathing underwater could feel. From his place on the beach, he heard Nisha moan quietly.
As cool as having a tail would be, he was very grateful he didn’t have to go through the pain of transforming which Nisha did. Opening his gills might have tickled some, but it was certainly nothing compared to what Nisha was going through.
The soft pad of feet on sand drew his attention, and he turned around. Nisha had legs now, and was using one of the beach towels to dry off. Once dry, he found a pair of shorts and redressed.
“Ready to go?”
Kannon twisted his hair, trying to get as much water out as he could. “Yep. Let’s go.”
They returned to Kannon’s bungalow. While Nisha showered, Kannon checked his clothes to make sure he had everything he needed.
Nisha walked into the bedroom, with a towel around his waist. Kannon glanced at Nisha. “Just had a thought—where are your clothes for the wedding?”
“I left them in the spare bedroom at the penthouse. Brett offered me a room at the resort, but I really didn’t want to take up a paying room when I didn’t need one. I slept in their spare bedroom when I wasn’t in the ocean.”
“So I guess we need to make a quick trip up there and get them?”
“No, I’ll just call Brett and have one of his employees run my clothes to your bungalow. I better do that now while it’s on my mind. Can I borrow your cell phone?”
“Sure.” Kannon opened his cell and called Brett.
He handed it to Nisha. While Nisha talked to Brett, Kannon wandered into the kitchen to hunt up something to eat. He was starving. He thought about asking Nisha if he wanted to return to the resort and get some food, but after all he’d experienced that afternoon, he really wanted to be alone with him.
It was all so new. So instead, he scrounged around until he found a pan of frozen lasagna. He popped it in the microwave to partially defrost, and then placed the pan in the oven to finish cooking.
While they waited for the lasagna, he found some chips and cheese dip. They could nibble on that while they waited for the food to cook.
Nisha walked into the kitchen and placed the cell on the counter. “Brett’s sending somebody over with my clothes. He’ll be here shortly.” Nisha grabbed a chip and bit into it. “Hungry, are we?”
“Starving. Like seriously. I’m going to munch on this until the food’s ready. Want some?”
“Of the chips and dip?”
Kannon chuckled. “For now.” He looked over at the clock on the microwave. It was late afternoon. “We spent a lot more time in the water than I thought.”
“We did. Swimming burns a lot of calories too. On top of that, your body has changed and adapted. You’re going to need more calories than you used to consume. You have a higher metabolism now.”
“Cool. Want something to drink?”
“Water would be good.”
“Sure thing. It’s odd, I want water too. Never been much for just plain water, though.”
“You will be now. Water’s the best thing for you. It’ll help keep you hydrated. You’ll want to make sure to drink several glasses a day.”
“Which is good for me, anyway.” Kannon removed two bottles of water from the refrigerator and gave one to Nisha. “So, I can eat all I want and not worry about it?”
“Within reason. I will tell you there’s no such thing as a fat mermaid or merman.”
“Speaking of merfolk—and I’m not exactly sure what the right word is so I’m just going to go for it—are merfolk the only nonhumans around? Are there other beings? Would ‘beings’ be the right word? Would paranormals be more correct? Shifters maybe?”
“Honestly, I have no idea what else exists out there. It stands to reason that if we exist, there are other beings who aren’t fully human too. But have I met any? No.”
“Interesting. And kind of scary if you think about it.”
“Humans tend to be a little arrogant in the belief they’re the only sentient being on this planet. But that works out well for us, so I can’t really complain.”
“It sure does.”
“I’m not sure shifter’s the correct word for us either. From what Brooke has told me about the books she’s read with shifters in them, shifters are beings who can turn into animals. We don’t turn into an animal. We have two forms: one with legs and one with a tail. I guess, though, we do ‘shift’ from one form to the other.”
“Huh. Is there any type of written history, or anything about where you guys came from?”
“No, not really.” Nisha sipped his water. “The best we have are stories passed down from generation to generation. Those stories say we were once fully human millions of years ago, but slowly moved to the ocean to hunt and live. As time passed, we evolved to fit our new habitat.”
“It’s funny you should mention that. I remember seeing a documentary on TV a couple years ago that had something to do with that.”
“Yeah, I think Brooke saw the one you’re referring to. It freaked her out just exactly how true to form it turned out being.”
“I bet.” Kannon checked the lasagna then closed the oven door. “I’m going to go take a quick shower. This has about twenty more minutes to cook, and then it should be ready.”
“I’ll keep an eye on it while you go get cleaned up.”
“Thanks. I’ll be back shortly.”
Kannon walked back to the bedroom, stripped, and took a shower. When he returned, Nisha’s clothes had arrived, and Nisha was taking the lasagna out of the oven. After they ate and cleaned up the kitchen, they spent some time lounging around outside and talking.
Brett called, and they returned to the resort to do a quick run-through of the wedding. Nisha introduced Cora to Kannon. Cora was very nice, even though she didn’t have much to say. He was a stranger, and it was very obvious that even though he was Nisha’s mate, she wasn’t comfortable with him yet.
Kannon didn’t take it personally. Privately he wondered if many of Nisha’s friends would treat him that way when they met, but it wasn’t something he was overly worried about. If he was honest with himself, he was just a little leery of them also, so he could understand how they felt.
After they rehearsed the wedding a couple of times, Kannon and Nisha returned to Kannon’s bungalow. Kannon fixed them something to eat, and they sat on the deck, enjoying the pleasant tropical night. Hours later, they decided to call it an early night and went to bed.
THE NEXT morning they spent lazing around the bungalow. After breakfast, Kannon called Brett to make sure there weren’t any last-minute emergencies. Brett reassured them both everything was under control. Since they weren’t needed, they spent the time together, just talking and making plans. Kannon had a list of things to do after the wedding regarding his move to the island. By midafternoon, they returned to the resort, where Brett met them.
“So, you about ready?” Kannon asked.
“Absolutely.”
“Nervous?” Kannon elbowed Brett.
“No, actually, I’m really not. Excited, yes. But nervous? No way. She’s it for me.”
“Oh hey, just had a thought. What are you going to do about pictures? You are taking pictures, right?”
“The resort keeps a photographer on staff,” Brett said. “He’s going to take the pictures.”
“Okay, cool,” Kannon said. “It would be a shame to do this and not have pictures, you know?”
“Oh yeah. It’s the second-best day of my life.”
Kannon looked closely at Brett. His best friend wasn’t lying. Kannon couldn’t detect any nerves whatsoever. Brett looked relaxed in his wedding finery. His black hair gleamed in the sun. Brett wore khaki pants that fit his toned body nicely, and a white dress shirt that was untucked.
The pants were rolled up just like his and Nisha’s. Since they were still inside, each of them wore sandals. Kannon looked up as Cora joined them. Her knee-length turquoise dress had spaghetti straps, and flowed around her legs as she walked.
She’d piled her dark blue hair up on top of her head, with wisps around her face. Her pale skin looked wonderful in the color Brooke had chosen. She wore no jewelry, but she didn’t need it. She was tall, with a killer shape, and if Kannon was even remotely attracted to the female form, hers probably would’ve knocked his socks off.
He quickly glanced at Nisha and swallowed. While Cora, as beautiful as she was, didn’t do a thing for him, the man standing next to her certainly did. The feelings building for Nisha were strong, and somewhat frightening in their intensity.
Nisha looked up and caught Kannon staring at him. A small smile crossed his face. Kannon knew then what he felt for Nisha might scare him… that this new world he’d stumbled into might be frightening… and that he wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“Hey, everyone. Brooke asked me to bring this to you, Kannon.” In her hand, she held a white rose boutonniere.
Kannon saw that it matched the one Brett was wearing. “Oh, thank you. It’s lovely.”
Nisha held out his hand. “Thank you, Cora. If you don’t mind, I’ll pin it on Kannon.”
“Of course.” She handed the boutonniere to Nisha.
Nisha slid his hand inside of Kannon’s shirt. Kannon swallowed roughly as he felt Nisha’s fingers slide across his chest. His cock perked up. Aw jeez, what timing. At this rate, he’d need to duck in the nearest bathroom and thump his cock to get it to go down. The sexy smirk on Nisha’s face wasn’t helping matters.
Kannon stared at Nisha while Nisha carefully pinned the boutonniere to his shirt. Nisha let his fingers linger a moment on Kannon’s skin before he slowly pulled them out. Kannon groaned. Oh yeah, a trip to the restroom was looking like a necessity.
“You enjoyed that way too much,” Kannon whispered.
Nisha looked up and winked at Kannon. “You bet.”
Kannon licked his lips.
“Jesus, I’d tell you two to get a room, but you probably would. And since I need Kannon, dial it back, Nisha, please, otherwise your mate won’t be able to walk.”
“Dude.” Kannon glared at Brett. “TMI.”
“Just saying.” Brett snickered then blew out a breath. “Okay, guys. Is everyone ready?”
“Huh. That’s the first inkling of nerves I’ve picked up from you.” Kannon pounded Brett on the back.
“Bite me.” Brett laughed as he pulled away from Kannon.
The man who was performing the ceremony walked up to the group. Brett introduced him as Tane, who also happened to be an islander. He briefly shook hands with everybody then bowed slightly to Nisha.
That answered whether or not Tane knew who and what they were, especially Nisha. Tane’s action reminded him of the guy on the beach who did the demonstration with the coconuts. Both islanders were very respectful, and acted somewhat intimidated around Nisha, it seemed.
Brett quickly led them to the beach. Not far from the water’s edge was a white trellis, covered with several kinds of snow-white flowers, with vibrant greenery mixed in. At the corners of the trellis, flowers trailed down the latticework toward the ground.
As they drew closer, Kannon saw the flowers were white orchids, white roses, and calla lilies, among several other kinds he had no clue what their names were. Sheer turquoise and teal organza draped the trellis. It spilled onto the sand and blew gently in the breeze. An aisle runner in white, with teal colored rose petals on it, led to the trellis.
“This is simply beautiful,” Kannon said breathily.
They took their places, and all heads turned back toward the resort. There was no music except for the sounds of the ocean waves hitting the beach, and the tropical birds singing from the nearby jungle. It struck Kannon how exactly right this was for this wedding.
Then Brooke appeared, and Kannon caught his breath. She left the resort and began to walk toward them. Her dress had a sweetheart neckline and a fitted bodice. The rest of the dress was loose, and ended right above her knee, even though the back of the dress was longer.
As she came closer, he saw that it was very simplistic. No lace, no beading… just pure silk that draped across her body perfectly. What surprised him, though, was the color. He’d assumed her wedding dress would be white. In actuality, it was the palest of blues.
He glanced down at his boutonniere. Now he understood why the light, light blue ribbon was interlaced with the turquoise and teal. With Brooke’s blue eyes and blue hair, the light blue of the dress was perfect.
She, like Cora, wore no jewelry. She also didn’t wear a veil. The look totally fit her and who she was. Brooke stepped up on the aisle runner and walked down it until she came face to face with Brett.
Kannon sighed happily as Tane began the wedding ceremony. Tane’s softly spoken words washed across Kannon’s consciousness. All he could see was the love on both Brooke and Brett’s face.
Finally Tane concluded the ceremony by saying Brett could kiss his bride. Kannon discreetly wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. He was so, so happy for his best friend. The wedding had been beautiful, right out of a storybook.
Funny, he never thought about weddings. Why would he? It hadn’t been that long since the right to marry had been denied him. Plus he’d never truly been interested in anybody since that day fifteen years ago. But if he was going to have a wedding, he suddenly decided the beach was where he’d have to have it.
Cheers and cries of congratulations floated around him, but he just couldn’t seem to shake himself out of his musings. And he really needed to—today was not about him.
“Kannon?”
Kannon, lost in his thoughts, jumped. Nisha stood in front of him. Kannon looked quickly around, only then noticing that Brett, Brooke, and Cora had stepped off to the side.
“Oh, sorry about that.” Kannon flushed. “I, ah, wasn’t paying attention. Alrighty, are we ready to go?”
“No.”