“I thought you turned your ringer off this time.”
“I did, but that…” Maya pushed at Kessen’s chest as she sat up. He backed away from her so she could roll off of the side of the bed.
Tam freed himself from Kessen’s rear. He pulled Maya into his arms, before she could get too far away, and smoothed his hand over her back. “What’s wrong?”
“That’s my mother’s tone. Her ring overrides silent mode.” She clutched at Tam, not wanting to acknowledge the call and end the dream.
Kessen kissed her shoulder. “You must answer. You’ve hidden this entire week. Continuing along this path will solve nothing.”
She nodded.
Tam eased her back and laid a kiss on each of her eyelids. He gave her a small smile, then faded from view.
Kessen’s kiss was just as innocent. He brought her hand to his lips, then released her and faded, as well.
Maya closed her eyes and listened to the music.
* * *
Maya flung her hand over the edge of the pool and groped for the phone. It stopped ringing right as she got her hand on it. A few seconds later it started ringing again. Maya flipped open the phone and hit speaker. “Good morning, Mommy.”
“Says you. Get your ass down here and talk to your father.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you ‘huh’ me. I talked to the doctor. She said you’re healed. Now get over here.”
The phone clicked. Maya closed her cell and draped herself over the edge of the pool. It took a little coaxing, but she pulled herself out of the pool. Changing to her legs wasn’t as painful as it had been a few days ago. Wearing her tail and using her pool had done wonders.
She slipped on a sundress and made the trek to her parents’. She was still a yard from the house when her mother opened the door.
Crystal snapped, “What took you so long?”
“I’m sorry, Mommy.”
Crystal pointed out to sea. “Your father’s in the grotto weaving a net.”
Maya stared at her mother, surprised but not very. “For how long?”
“Since the rite. Get down there and do something about it.”
“Me?”
“March! Swim! Whatever. Hurry up.” Crystal turned back to the house and slammed the door.
Well, her mother was angry, that was for sure. But her father was the priority.
Maya kicked off her shoes and ran into the waves. As soon as the water reached waist level, she let the shift happen and formed her tail. A few minor twinges of pain accompanied the shift since she had shifted only a few minutes earlier. It wasn’t too much of a strain. She planned to soak in the pool again later, after she dealt with her father.
The grotto was about a mile off shore. Swimming there was the type of exercise she needed to fully recover. She reached it quickly but slowed her pace as she entered and looked around. Tears pricked her eyes when she saw her father and the massive net floating around him. “Daddy?”
He didn’t stop his motions or acknowledge that he’d heard her.
“Daddy, please, say something.”
“Something,” he grumbled.
On a normal day, that joke would have made her laugh. Not today.
“Daddy, I know you’re mad. You only weave nets when you’re angry. Since you won’t even look at me, I know you’re mad at me.”
Nets were a symbol of humanity’s oppression over the sea and human stupidity all wrapped into one. Her father hated nets except when he was angry with his wife or children. At those times, he’d sit for hours weaving an ever-growing net. He wouldn’t stop until the anger dissipated or the offending party had soothed the upset.
If a week had passed and her father hadn’t stopped weaving in all that time, then he was well and truly irritated. Maya couldn’t remember a time when he’d stayed in the grotto that long, not even after the fiasco with Laev. She was surprised her mother had waited so long to call. But Crystal had probably wanted Maya to be healed first.
Meren said, “You condescend to wear your tail. Is that your way of placating me?”
Maya looked down at herself, then back at her father. “I’m your daughter. Why shouldn’t I wear my tail?”
Meren stopped and looked at her. “You say you’re my daughter, and yet you disgrace me in this way. I didn’t raise you in the ocean because your mother didn’t wish it, and now I see the folly of that.”
She reached for him but he pulled away from her. That rejection brought forth her tears. They mingled with the water, but the sting of them was evidence that she was crying. “Daddy, please. I didn’t mean to… to… I don’t know why I did… that with them. I didn’t mean to make you angry again. I wouldn’t have… you know I’m not…” She shook her head, too embarrassed by the topic to apologize properly.
It was stupid of her to see her father in the first place. Her mother had called, but it would have been best to leave Meren to weave his net. He would have gotten over the upset in another day or two. Coming home to confront him over the situation had probably made him angrier, and he’d remain in the grotto weaving even longer because of her.
She turned away.
Meren grabbed her wrist and pulled her back so she faced him. She refused to meet his gaze.
“You think I’m angry with you because you had sex with Tam and Kessen at the rite?”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
He lifted her chin so she looked at him. “Maya, what you did at the rite was what the rite was meant for. The virility-fertility rite is a way for those of our people to find the perfect mate.”
“I know that.”
“But what you don’t know, what you can’t know until you experience it, is the pull your perfect mate will have on you. The first meeting is oftentimes like that which you experienced. It may have shamed you to go through it with such a large audience present, but it is normal. Everyone was happy for you. I and your mother were happy for you as well.”
She frowned at him, not understanding what he was saying. “You didn’t look happy. You or Mommy. You both looked mad… disappointed.”
“Of course. We’re your parents. We no more want to watch you having sex than you want to watch us. That, at least, is a similar dislike between mermen and human culture. I’m happy for you to have found mates -- merman mates -- but I would have liked not to have witnessed the consummation of your relationship. I also wasn’t too pleased with the knowledge that you would be part of a triad.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t mean to embarrass you or myself. I don’t know what came over me. You know I would never… I’m not an exhibitionist. And with two men…” She wanted to hide her face along with her shame.
Meren hugged her close. “It truly was a folly to raise you amongst humans. You’ve adopted their way of thinking. Sex is to be celebrated. It brings joy and new life. Only humans see it as something to be ashamed of.”
“I’m not pregnant,” she said quickly, in case that was why her father had been angry.
“More’s the pity. Your human way of thinking would have sought out the fathers rather than running from them.”
She pulled out of his hold. “Daddy, I don’t know why you’re down here weaving a net if you’re not mad at me.”
Meren looked at the net and then back at her. “I am… was angry, Maya, but I see it’s as much my fault as it is yours.”
“What?”
“I wanted you to have a merman husband. Singular. I don’t like you being part of a triad. My anger in that moment was for the gods and placing you in that situation.”
“Oh. I thought you were angry at me.”
“I was, but afterwards. You abandoned your duty to your husbands -- divorced them only seconds after accepting them.”
“Husbands? What husbands?”
He cupped her cheek with a sad look. “This ignorance is the reason I have released my anger so we can talk.” He smiled. “You were married, my daughter.”
“To who?�
� she yelled.
“Tam and Kessen. When you accepted their offer at the rite to join them, when you allowed them entry to your body, you accepted their proposal to be as one with them, to be married.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Daddy, you told me mermen marriage ceremonies resembled human ones. I think I would remember walking down an aisle and saying vows.”
“The virility-fertility rite bypasses all of that for the chosen. They display themselves and open their senses to their mate, calling out to them when the gods’ powers are the highest. Such a call is hard to ignore, whether you are present at the festival or not. Your mother almost drowned when she answered mine.”
“You and Mommy?”
“Yes. I was once of the chosen.”
“Did she know? When you two… I mean… did you tell her?”
“I had to save her first. And you know your mother. She authored, edited, and published the book on stubbornness. She refused to let me touch her for months. The call was strong for both of us, and I knew she suffered with it as I did, but she refused to let it lead her.”
“I think I’ve figured out why Mommy is mad at me, then. She probably thinks I gave in too easily.” Thinking back, Maya knew she’d held out as long as she could. She might have been able to deny one, but two men bent on making her succumb to their lust and hers was a little out of her league.
Meren chuckled. “Give her a grandchild, sweet water. She’ll forgive you then.”
“So, I’m married to them… to Tam and Kessen?”
“You were.”
“Am. I… in my dreams, they asked me to be with them again and I said yes. They never said that was marriage. I just thought they meant…” She stopped. Heat flushed her face, and she pulled away from her father quickly.
Meren laughed at her and chased her so he could hug her again. “My poor, confused daughter. You berated yourself even as you enjoyed it, didn’t you? Give in to them. They are your husbands. Their triad is incomplete without you.”
“Where would we live, though? I have my life on land, my career.”
“Yes, and Kessen is a priest of Neptune.”
“He’s a what? How do you know that?”
“His tail. His family was marked by the gods long ago. Each generation, one child is born with a tail such as Kessen’s. That is the sign that they are a priest of Neptune.”
Maya drooped. “We’ll have to live in the water, then.”
“My daughter, my sweet water, don’t discuss this with me. Discuss it with them. Call them to you and talk.”
“Call them to me?”
He shook his head. “I must make your brother take a year away from his studies and live amongst the mermen before he makes the same mistakes as you.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy.”
“Never you mind about that. It’s forgotten and easily rectified. As Tam and Kessen have visited you in your dreams, so too can you do the same to them. Call them to you and talk.”
“How?”
“Close your eyes and think of them. If the bond you three share is strong enough, you can contact them even if they are awake.”
“You make it sound easy.”
“Be more like me than your mother in this instance, and it will be.”
She hugged him tight. “Thank you, Daddy. I’m sorry for not realizing. I’ll get better.”
“You have merman husbands. I can forgive all else because of that.” He gave her another squeeze. “What time is it? I’m starving.”
“Is it any wonder? You’ve been down here a week.”
“Have I?”
“Daddy,” Maya scolded.
Meren’s stomach growled. “Later, my sweet water. I want food, and you need to straighten out this situation with your mates.”
“What about Mommy?”
Meren grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the grotto. Once they were in the open ocean, he faced her toward the direction of her house. “You solve your problem. I’ll deal with your mother.”
“You’re sure?” He cupped her cheek, and she smiled at him. “I’m sorry again, Daddy.”
“Invite them to dinner, and all will be well.”
She nodded and swam away.
Dinner?
That was three hours away. Would she be able to contact Tam and Kessen and solve their little problem in that amount of time?
Chapter Six
After the short swim home and a little inner debate, Maya exited the water. She shifted back to her legs, then walked toward her house.
Call Tam and Kessen to her?
Her father had made it sound so easy, like picking up a phone and dialing a number. How was she supposed to call them? Was it like in the dream where she could control the locale just by concentrating and visualizing what she wanted?
She reached her porch and faced the water. Asking a bunch of questions wouldn’t get the job done. She had to do it and see.
With a sigh, she closed her eyes. She pictured Tam and Kessen. The first thoughts that came to her mind were of their last encounter. She’d barely fallen asleep when Tam and Kessen appeared in her room, heavy and ready.
She’d been enjoying herself until the phone rang. Once this mess was figured out, she’d have them initiate it again… in real time.
* * *
“Now, this is a first,” Tam said, smirking. “Usually we call you. And we’re not even asleep. What warrants the occasion?”
Kessen asked, “Did you speak with your mother? Is everything well?”
Maya opened her mouth to speak but found she was suddenly shy. These men were her husbands, not just casual bedmates. What did she say in a situation like this one?
“Everything is fine now,” she said softly.
“Good. We can continue where we left off,” Tam said, reaching for her.
She almost let him touch her but pulled away at the last second. The time for dream sex was at an end.
Tam smiled in his knowing way. “You cannot resist us. You never can. Why pretend?”
“I want to talk. More than a few words.”
Kessen stopped Tam when he would have pursued her. “About what?”
“I…” She lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry. I didn’t understand, and for that my father blames himself. He really should blame me since I never took the time to learn more about being a proper merman.”
“And what is it you understand?”
She met Kessen’s gaze. “That what we did at the rite means we’re married. I thought I’d embarrassed myself and my family because of my behavior that day, but my father explained everything to me.”
Both men exchanged a look, then faced her.
“And now you accept us, truly accept us, with full knowledge of what that means?” Tam asked.
She nodded.
“Good.” Tam faded from view.
That surprised Maya. She thought he would hold her or kiss her or some other intimate act. She looked at Kessen. “What’s going on? Where did Tam go?”
“Probably the same place I’m going,” Kessen said before he disappeared, as well.
Maya gaped at the emptiness. She let the real world close in around her and backed out of the dream.
* * *
What had just happened? Were they rejecting her because she’d waited too long? Was this a punishment?
She fell to her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks. It was no more than she deserved, she guessed. Stupidity had made her think she was dishonoring her family by accepting Tam and Kessen when the exact opposite was true.
“Tears should never mar such beauty.”
Maya gasped and fell back as she looked up at the man who’d spoken.
Tam. His voice sounded different out of the water. He stood over her, smiling, naked, and holding his hand out to her. A transition amulet hung from his wrist, dangling in her line of sight.
She hesitated only a second before she took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. “What are you doing here?
How did you get here so quickly?”
“Did you really think I wouldn’t act on your acceptance of us? I’m tired of seducing you in dreams. I want the real thing.”
“As do I.” Kessen walked out of the ocean toward them. Like Tam, he also wore a transition amulet, except his was around his neck. He was as naked as Tam. “We have always been nearby, this entire time, in case you decided dreams were not enough.”
Maya immediately looked around. Thankfully, the beach was empty. “You two can’t parade around like that. Naked, I mean. You’ll get in trouble.”
“Then, by all means, take us to your house. I’d like to see how your dream bedroom compares to the real version,” Tam said.
Heat rushed along her body and pooled between her legs. She backed up a step, and the men followed. “This way,” she said in a breathy voice.
They arrived at her house with no incidents or run-ins. The men refused the towels she offered. Both were highly aroused. Maya ached to feel those twin shafts of hard flesh buried deep inside of her.
But they needed to talk. She didn’t know where to start, though. She looked between Kessen and Tam, and then noticed something she hadn’t before. “You’re both walking.”
Tam laughed.
Kessen nodded. “Yes, we are.”
“But how? You said you never tried legs before.”
“We acquired the transition amulets shortly after the rite. We’ve been practicing all this past week for the time when you would accept us outside of the dream world.” Kessen stroked the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “We wanted there to be no excuses.”
His touch sent electric shocks of need throughout her body. She wanted to give in to the feeling but there was another matter that had to come first. Stepping back out of Kessen’s reach, she said, “Before we… uh…”
“Hump like hares?” Kessen asked.
Tam asked, “Screw like bunnies?”
“Redefine and reinvent the act.”
“Fu --”
“Stop it. That’s enough,” she yelled.
Tam pulled her into his arms and covered her flaming cheeks with small kisses. “You are so shy. I love teasing you.” He feathered his fingers over her taut nipple
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