by Regine Abel
“Funny, I, too, am fascinated with different lifeforms, although mine wasn’t as exciting as yours. In hindsight, finding out that I’m some kind of mermaid might explain why I became a marine veterinarian. I’ve always been fascinated by the sea and its inhabitants.”
“And now, you’re one of them,” Zayek said with a smile.
I nodded, excited at the thought of all the new sea life I’d get to discover on Sikaria.
“May I ask you an indiscrete question?” I asked.
“Sure. Ask me anything. I have no secrets, and I’ll always be truthful with you.”
I pushed around the black seaweed salad in my plate with the tip of my fork, feeling a little nervous.
“How old are you?” I asked.
He smiled. “Well, that’s not very indiscrete. The Sikarian calendar is fairly close to yours, so that makes me thirty-two, give or take a couple of months. By Sikarian standards, I’m considered as barely adult. Thalans have an average lifespan of 180 years—which now also extends to you—the record hovering around 204.” His smile broadened at my brow shooting up. “And, as per your medical file, you are twenty-seven, an only child, single, and no kids.”
“Well, that’s kind of unfair,” I said, with a pout. “Where’s your file?”
“I have two siblings; a brother and a sister,” he said, going no further.
“Married?” I asked, annoyed that he would make me ask.
A subtle smile stretched his lips, confirming he was indeed forcing me to ask.
“Not yet,” he said, mysteriously.
“Engaged then?” My stomach knotted waiting for his answer. I took a sip of water to settle it down.
“I haven’t asked you yet,” he deadpanned.
I coughed, almost choking on my drink.
“Careful there,” Zayek said, halfway between amusement and concern.
“Are you flirting with me?” I asked, struggling to catch my breath.
“I thought that was obvious?”
I stared at him, speechless for a minute. He held my gaze, unflinching. “Do you flirt like that with all your protégés?” I blurted out, kicking myself instantly for my lack of tact.
His face immediately lost all playfulness as he frowned at me. “I’m not a womanizer, Malaika, or a player as humans say. Sikarian mentality is liberal, but we are extremely faithful in our relationships. You are the first female trainee who has ever caught my eye. More importantly, you’re the first female, ever, to have stirred me so strongly. My attraction to you is no game to me. But whatever the outcome, if any, my focus remains first and foremost on ensuring you are fully prepared for your new life.”
I felt both properly chastised and utterly flattered. Squirming on my chair, I gave him a shy smile.
“Cool. Because I don’t want my transformation to be messed up, and I like you a lot, too,” I mumbled.
He snorted and shook his head at me, an affectionate look in his eyes.
“Finish your meal, little mermaid. It’s time to get you down into the deep end.”
CHAPTER 4
Zayek
I drew Malaika into the water after me. She followed willingly, trustingly. Despite thinking herself slow and inadequate, the speed at which she was learning ranked among the best I’d witnessed so far. But then, my woman had been created for this. I couldn’t wait to see her fully transformed and to race through the seas of Sikaria by her side. Her beauty left me breathless, and her bubbly personality enchanted me.
We stopped at the bottom of the deepest end of the pool, a few fish swirling around us. Malaika’s eyes widened as she noticed the underground tunnel that ran another hundred meters. I wouldn’t take her there yet. If she panicked, with no direct way up to normal air, she might injure herself or even drown.
Her hand squished mine, revealing the extent of her tension. She could breathe but, until her new lungs had fully formed in the third stage and her gills’ muscle had strengthened, she’d feel oxygen deprived as she only drew shallow breaths from them. Still, she needed to work her lungs and gills, push them to their limit in these early days to stretch them.
Once she settled into a somewhat comfortable rhythm, I made us swim lengths underwater, slightly increasing the speed with each lap. As with any physical effort, her breathing accelerated. Noticing the first signs of distress, I reduced our speed and slowly edged us towards the surface. Halfway up, Malaika’s body jerked. I immediately recognized the signs of her breathing through her nose. Panicked, she inhaled more water, and tried to rush back to the surface.
I placed my hand over her mouth and nose to keep her from breathing in more water. As expected, she tried to fight back. Wrapping my other arm around her, trapping her arms, I pressed her to my chest to immobilize her as I kicked my tail to bring us to the surface. She struggled in my grasp, trying to claw her way free, her nails ineffective against my scales. Had she been fully formed, the retractable claws she would develop could have done some serious damage to me.
“Calm, Malaika! Breathe through your gills. You are safe! I’m taking you to the surface.”
She recoiled from me, eyes wide with both panic and shock at hearing my voice in her head. Mind-speak wouldn’t be possible for her before having completed the third stage of her transformation, but she could still hear me. I exhorted her to breathe through her gills—which would help expel some of the water she’d inhaled—until we finally broke the surface, at which point I released her mouth and nose.
Malaika coughed and choked, spitting out water. I loosened my hold on her enough that she could free her arms. She clung to me with the energy of despair. I whispered soothing words to her, treading water to keep us both afloat, while slowly edging towards the shallow part of the pool.
“You can put your feet down now, Malaika,” I said softly. “We’re in the safe end of the pool.”
Startled, she looked around us, realizing the stairs stood only a meter away from us. Still clinging to me, she unwrapped her legs from my waist and gingerly placed her feet on the ground.
“I… I couldn’t breathe. I thought I would drown.”
Her arms tightened around me, and she buried her face in my neck.
“As long as I am by your side, I will always bring you back to safety,” I said, gently caressing her hair. “It is normal to panic under those circumstances but remember your gills. Still, I should have brought you back to the surface sooner. I’m sorry for failing you in this.”
She shook her head and further pressed herself against me. “You saved me.” Looking up at me, she cupped my face in her hands, her eyes filled with gratitude and something else I couldn’t define. “You saved me,” she repeated, and then kissed me.
Instantly inflamed, I held on to her nape and pressed my mouth tighter against hers. Malaika melted against my body as a bolt of desire surged through me. Her lips parted, welcoming my tongue which was eager to make acquaintance with hers. They tangled timidly at first as we tasted each other. My abdominal muscles contracted as I tried to silence the burning need she always stirred within me.
But she had just survived near-drowning.
As much as I wanted to continue drinking from her lips, Malaika deserved to be in the right headspace before we pushed things any further. With much reluctance, I put an end to our kiss and drew her head to the crook of my neck. We quietly remained in each other’s embrace for quite some time before she finally let go.
I hated insisting that we go back in, but we still had much to do and little time to accomplish it so that she didn’t become crippled once her transformation ended. To my pleasant surprise, she agreed. Nevertheless, we paid greater attention to her exhaustion level this time and swam closer to the surface, just in case.
* * *
Over the next two days, we grew closer, stealing the occasional kisses and fleeting caresses during her training.
She bombarded me with questions about mind-speak. Finding out she wouldn’t gain limitless telepathic abilities bumm
ed her out a little, but Malaika was still excited to know we could carry on conversations when at a short distance from each other underwater. In between breathing and swimming exercises, I started teaching her how to use the reflective layer in the back of her retina to see in the dark places underwater, as well as the basics of echolocation and ultrasounds. It freaked her out to be able to create sounds her ears could barely distinguish for now. Her ears would only fan as part of the final stage of her transformation, increasing her hearing range beyond human capacity.
On the third day, halfway through the training session, Malaika broke into a fever. Carrying her, I rushed back to her room, reaching it as the first stabbing pains of the second stage of transformation racked through her. I swiftly laid my woman down on the bed, spooned her, and started strumming. Within seconds, the pain dimmed, and her agonized groans faded into heavy breathing. She clasped her hands over my arm wrapped around her waist and pressed her back to my bare chest.
“Thank you,” she whispered, looking at me over her shoulder.
I smiled and gently kissed her lips. “Sleep, my darling. I will keep the pain at bay. When next you wake, you will have a beautiful tail.”
Malaika gave me a trembling smile and then nodded. I nuzzled her nape when she laid her head back down onto the pillow, then I emitted three ultrasonic pulses in quick succession to help put her to sleep faster. With a deep sigh, she gave in to the embrace of the dream world.
These two days of transformation were usually my least liked stages of the awakening, not only because of the pain the humans endured, but because of the forced intimacy as I strummed to them. Normally, I would put them to sleep only holding them until the spasms stopped and then sit at the desk to get some of my research work done. Keeping a vigilant eye on them, I’d return to their side whenever they showed any sign of distress.
But not with my mate.
She felt so wonderful in my arms. Getting up to eat or stretch my legs actually aggravated me. A selfish part of me wanted this to go on forever. However, I couldn’t wait for Malaika’s transformation to be complete and to take her back to Sikaria. I’d been missing home for a while. But now, with my soulmate by my side, it would truly be home.
CHAPTER 5
Malaika
Head resting on his chest, I listened to Zayek’s steady breathing as he quietly slept next to me. The second stage of my transformation was over. I could feel the scaled membranes running the length of my inner-thighs as I rubbed them together. Carefully extracting myself from his embrace so as not to wake him, I tiptoed to the bathroom.
Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I realized Zayek had removed the bottom of my bikini to prevent it from interfering with my transformation but left the top. My newest appearance had me entranced. As Zayek had predicted, my scales had become shinier and, like him, a thin membrane covered in similar midnight-blue scales now draped over my groin and rear, tucking into the sides of my inner-thighs. With a bit of concentration, I willed the two halves of the membrane to connect and stared in awe at my tail. I couldn’t wait to swim with it later today. Willing the membrane to open back up, I gasped as it parted past my thighs to the top of my pelvic bone, exposing my pussy. I practiced for a few moments how to partially cover and uncover myself without involuntarily putting my privates on full display. My eyes, too, had changed, the horizontal eyelids of my nictitating membrane having formed.
I looked exotic, alien, and beautiful.
Stepping into the shower, I washed away the two nights of mutation sleep, and quickly dried myself. Not bothering to put the bikini top back on, I returned to the bedroom to find Zayek still fast asleep. Although he had never complained, watching over me through forty-eight hours of constant vigilance had to be rough on him. I crawled back into bed and curled up against him.
Zayek’s body had rubbed against mine so many times during our training, had held mine for hours during my transformation and when he comforted me, and yet, it remained a mystery to me. In the early morning light, his skin—which I’d always assumed to be a light-grey color—reminded me more of the off-white hue of the Chinese white dolphin’s skin. It contrasted sharply with my brown skin and midnight blue scales; although they looked beautiful against his black and silver scales.
My hand leisurely roamed over him. I would never tire of the silky, yet slightly rubbery, texture of his skin… of our skin. My index finger circled the dark grey halo of his nipple, and my mouth watered with the urge to taste him. Continuing their journey south, my fingertips traced the defined lines of his eight-pack. As I tickled the scales below his navel, his muscles contracting startled me. I realized then that his breathing had changed.
Looking up, I found him staring at me, his silver eyes having darkened. Mortified to have been caught molesting him, especially after the way I’d freaked out that first time we’d woken up together, I lifted my hand off him. Lightning fast, he caught my wrist and put my hand back on his stomach.
“Don’t stop,” he said, softly. “Do not be shy; sate your curiosity. I am yours to do with as you please.”
My insides flip-flopped, a delicious heat spreading in the pit of my stomach. He was offering me more than merely satisfying my curiosity. Did I dare take him up on it? His eyes certainly seemed to want me to.
And so do I.
Where my touch had previously been light and fluttery, this time, I didn’t hold back, my hands roaming freely over his muscular stomach. His breath hitched, and he fisted the blanket still partially covering him. I tossed it aside, revealing the length of his legs. Getting on to my knees next to him, I feasted my eyes on his stunning, yet alien, body freely offered to me. I caressed the scaled membrane that covered his groin, curving into his inner thighs. He shuddered, his eyes darkening further.
I loved the power I held over him as I traced the scales along his inner thigh, which tapered off at his ankles. As I caressed my way back up, I noticed for the first time the fine webbing between my own fingers. Unfazed, I made eye contact with Zayek as my hand neared the apex of his legs. His breathing slightly picked up, and the scaled membrane over his groin parted, revealing a quickly stiffening cock. Long and thick, it resembled a human’s aside from the ridge spiraling around it and the slight, vertical bump right above the base of his cock on his pelvic bone.
“What is that?” I couldn’t help asking, running two fingers over it.
“Something you should really like,” he said, with a mysterious smile.
I raised one eyebrow with curiosity. In response, a sudden vibration below my fingers, which were still touching Zayek’s pelvic bump, had my eyes bulging and my mouth gaping.
“No way!” I breathed out.
Pulling me to him, Zayek drew me into his arms, his lips capturing mine in a searing kiss. Lying on top of him, I softly moaned as his hands explored my back. His nails gently raking along the line where my scales tapered off sent sparks of pleasure directly into my pussy. Flipping us over, Zayek continued to devour my mouth before his lips trailed my jawline, along the scales of my neck, and down to my chest.
His hands were everywhere, kneading my breasts, caressing my arms, my waist, my hips… The wet heat of his tongue circling around my nipple fanned the flame burning in the pit of my stomach.
“Open for me, Malaika,” Zayek whispered against my navel, his fingers teasing the scales over my groin.
My stomach fluttered, and my pulse raced as I willed the membrane to part. His palm covered my mound, gently rubbing over it while his teeth nipped at the skin around my navel. I gasped, my breath catching in my throat as he pursued his way south. A needy moan escaped me, and my hand fisted his hair when he peppered my burning core with gentle kisses, right before his tongue teased the seam of my opening.
I writhed beneath his ministrations, drowning in a maelstrom of sensation as he tasted and licked me. When his lips closed around my clit and his fingers slipped inside of me, I cried out, my back arching off the bed. I screamed his name as the mo
vement of his hand accelerated until I toppled over, my body seizing with the powerful orgasm that tore through me.
Dazed, shaking with tremors of pleasure, I watched Zayek lay down on top of me. He covered my face with kisses before locking eyes with me.
“Will you let me join with you, Malaika?” he asked, his voice thick with desire.
Not trusting my voice, I parted my legs to let him settle in-between and wrapped them around his waist. Hands clasped behind his strong back, my stomach quivered in anticipation. The tenderness in his eyes, as he slowly took possession of me, melted me from the inside out. Despite having me soaking wet, I still felt a slight burn as his thick cock sank deep inside me with a series of shallow thrusts.
Once fully sheathed, Zayek didn’t move yet. His hand wrapped around my nape, keeping us eye to eye.
“You are mine, Malaika,” he whispered against my lips.
And then the vibration from his pelvic bump began. Stars exploded before my eyes as I instantly detonated again. Swallowing my moans with his mouth, Zayek captured my lips before starting to move in and out of me. Wave upon wave of pleasure crashed over me, liquid fire coursing through my veins as he picked up the pace, each thrust accompanied by the infernal vibration against my clit that had me speaking in tongues.
I’d climaxed for the fourth time, my voice raw from screaming with ecstasy when his own moans of pleasure, and his movements becoming erratic, announced his imminent release. He shouted my name. Holding my hips with bruising force, he rammed himself in deep as his seed shot out into me. The sustained vibration of his pelvis against me wrested an ultimate orgasm from me before I collapsed, boneless.
Only then did he relent and take pity on me. Rolling us over, he gathered me in his arms and held me tight, my head resting on his chest.