I tried to smile, but it became harder with the inability to breathe. A burning sensation started in my lungs, and I thought maybe I’d die this time. The first time he’d done it, I thought he was trying to kill me, until I realized it made him happy, so it made me happy too. I mouthed, “Anything.”
That seemed to satisfy him because Ethan smirked and released his hold. “Good boy.”
I inhaled deeply and coughed, rubbing the base of my throat. Pushing myself on tiptoe, I slammed my mouth against his, and he grabbed my face, kissing me roughly until my lips hurt and I was whimpering against him.
“Get in the shower,” he ordered gruffly, and I smiled, following his directions like I always did. I stepped past the glass door and twisted the knobs until warm water cascaded down on me. I always found it too hot, but that’s how my human liked it, and I only enjoyed what he did.
Ethan stepped in behind me, and I shifted until he had his back to the spray. He sighed, moaning, and my cock gave a valiant attempt at getting hard again, but we’d fucked so many times over the last few days I didn’t think I had it in me. It didn’t stop my body fromwantinghim, though.
He passed me the cloth and soap from the ledge behind him, and I slathered it up and made a twirling motion with my finger. When he turned around, I took a moment to admire the lines of his back, sleek and muscular, from the base of his neck to the heels of his feet. His asscheeks were particularly an interesting spot to stare at.
He laughed, his shoulders shaking. “Stop checking me out, Boy, and wash me down.”
I huffed, but smiled even though I knew he couldn’t see it. Sliding the cloth over his back, I took my time getting to every crevice and groove of his tight body, taking particular interest between those cheeks that made me lick my lips. He tensed whenever I touched a sensitive spot, and it was like watching an entertainment show put on just for me, and my gaze ate up every movement he made.
We spent the next half hour in the shower, bathing and enjoying the hot water until it started to turn cold, and then Ethan guided me out and grabbed us a towel.
“Come on, we have work to do,” he said as he wrapped the towel around his waist and walked into the bedroom. I watched him yank out clothes from the wardrobe, throwing some at me. Everything I wore, everything I did, was chosen by him, and I was perfectly fine with that. I was his slave in every way, and I relished the feeling of beinghis.
Once we were dressed, we went back to the deck again, and we did what we always did. Hunted. Ethan would go to the navigation deck, and I would stay on the bottom, staring out at the endless waves of the ocean, which rocked the boat in an almost calming way. I enjoyed being on top of the sea as much as being under it, and over time, the closeness to the water soothed my homesickness. I still missed my family, but Ethan was mine, and I preferred to be with him.
Since our last trip, he’d had a new and improved gadget added to the boat. He explained it to me, though I didn’t think I fully understood it. A mechanical arm was attached to the back of the boat now which held the same sort of net I’d caught Ribbins in, but it had more force than what a human could produce, or at least that’s what Ethan said.
“I don’t know how you caught that last merman. He was fucking strong.”He’d laughed when he was showing his new tool off to me.
I didn’t know, either. Ribbins’ face still flashed in my mind sometimes, the horror and realization that he’d been caught and this was the end of his life, and when I thought about it, I smiled.
“Hey!” Ethan’s sharp voice shocked me out of my thoughts, and I shot around to stare at him as he came stumbling down the stairs, nearly tripping over his own feet. “We got something. From starboard. Coming in fast. Definitely not a shark.”
I spun to the side of the boat while Ethan gripped a screen securely in his hands, the same one that controlled the mechanical arm. He tapped at the control furiously and the arm moved, buzzing as it turned in the direction Ethan pointed out to me.Starboard. That’s what he called it.
“Fuck, they’re coming in quick. Two shapes. Do you think it could be them?”
I didn’t know, but if they were mermen, they’d react better to me than Ethan. They’d know me. I grabbed the edge of the boat and leaned over it, gaze searching for something—anything—that told me it was one of my people.
The arm buzzed again as it moved around farther, and I glanced over my shoulder at it, frowning. That sort of sound would scare them away. As though reading my mind, Ethan stopped it and grumbled about the noise and how even fish would hate it.
I held up my palm to him and then made a down gesture, and he froze. When I made another signal at him—stay—I kicked my leg over the side of the boat.
“What are you doing?” He hissed. “You can’t go in the water.”
I smiled in reassurance. He didn’t understand, but I forgave my human for that. Pushing myself off the boat, my legs sliced through the ocean’s surface, and I dipped under the water from the dive. The water was cold, and I bit my lip to hold in a hiss.
Being underwater was like seeing a long lost friend, and my chest swelled as the bubbles stirred around me. I kicked my legs, so different from my tail, and my lungs were already starting to burn. Pushing myself to the surface again, I took a deep gulp of air when I broke through.
“Fuck. Boy, are you alright?” Ethan stared over the side of the boat, his knuckles white from where he held onto it.
I shook my head, water flicking from my hair in the process, and smiled up at him. I waved at the mechanical arm and put my thumb up like he’d done a few times in anall goodgesture.
He nodded, mouth pressed in a thin line as though he didn’t agree with me being in the water. His expression was confirmed when he said, “Boy, come out of there. A shark will get you.”
Humans didn’t understand sharks. They acted like the animals attacked randomly, but it was only when they were hungry or mistook someone for a turtle. We knew to keep away from swarms of sharks, but even living underwater with them, the chances of being taken were slim.
I held up my palm to him again and dived under the surface, ignoring the last curses he gave me before I couldn’t hear him anymore. It was a strange experience with human eyes. I’d never realized the differences between our sights until now.
I swam deeper into the darkness, and while I’d lasted longer this time, I could quickly feel my lungs burning again. This wasn’t as fun as I’d expected it to be, and I saw why humans needed the equipment to swim beneath the water now.
As I pushed myself up toward the surface again, I stopped halfway there as a familiar outline of a merperson headed toward me. I stilled, and waited with bated breath as my chest began to hurt, and then I saw him. My brother.Fuck. Pru.
