Mermzashi 3

 "Other option?"

He looked decidedly uncomfortable with his ear flaps held tight to his head and brows drawn. "Well, I, uh... you could join us."

Elly slipped off his back to tread water, still holding onto his shoulders. "Hizashi, are you saying that I could somehow grow a tail and everything?"

He nodded. "There aren't that many of us. We're not sure how we came to be, but one thing that's certain is our kind were slowly dying out while humans thrived. Eventually we realized our bodies hold the key to modifying others. Kind of like the fish that change genders when needed, we evolved to be able to make more of us out of larger fish or humans."

She rubbed her eyes with the back of one dry hand. "Larger fish. You - you make more merms with... okay. That's - this is a lot for me right now. Maybe we should keep going and I'll just think about everything."

"Yeah. We're almost to our rest stop." He motioned for her to get on his back again, and they swam out into the descending night in quiet for awhile. The daylight waned, and she began to get extremely tired and quite a bit shaky.

Elly jerked awake with a start as Hizashi called her name quietly. "Wh - what?"

"We're here, love." He was holding her in his arms, close to him for warmth under the water. A small sandy beach lie ahead of them, flanked by a curving, mountainous structure that looked half man-made and half natural. "We should be safe from those scientists for now. Even if they're still out looking for us, this cove is a great above ground hiding place. No one really knows about it now, though a long time ago someone built that shelter." He pointed at a shadowy shape off to the side, hidden under some palm trees. "There's dry clothes, blankets and some essentials inside. Oh, and there's a fire pit just out the door. If you light it up and gather fuel off the beach, I'll get us food." He set her gently down on the bank despite her protests that she could walk through the last few feet of water.

"Thank you."

He paused before heading back into the ocean. "I'm sorry this is all moving so fast. I wanted to talk to you about escaping first, but with <i>them</i> always around, it was impossible. I'll give you whatever it is you need to be happy. Anything. Even ...if you want to go back." He turned and slipped under the waves so quickly she didn't have time to speak.

Elly sighed and turned to investigate the hut. The structure was woven from palm wood and leaves but appeared clean and well taken care of. She found a shirt that was a few sizes too big but warm and a pair of jeans that surprisingly fit. In a drawer by the door was one of those magnesium fire starters campers sometimes used, and she piled the scattered rocks back neatly around the pit outside and gathered some debris from the shore to start it up. When Hizashi broke out of the waves triumphantly holding their dinner, she grinned and held up a battered pot she'd found for him to deposit it in. While she set it on the portable grill to cook, he pulled himself up, his tail thumping heavily on the sand.

"You safe like that? Aren't you beaching yourself?" She dusted her hands free from a few errant ashes and walked over.

The light from the fire caused his orange and red markings to glow beautifully as it flickered. "The tide will change and I'll be fine," he said with confidence. "We've got some time before dinner and I thought I could come onto land to be with you. You met me all the time in the water, it's only fair!"

Elly smiled and shook a small blanket out beside him. "That sounds nice." She sat, and he wrapped his arm around her. The night sky was free of light pollution and the stars very bright and shockingly colorful. They sat cuddling together for a little while as the fire baked the clams and lobsters he had brought for their meal. There was so much on her mind; their escape, how she may never see old family and friends again, the startling revelation that he could turn her into a real mermaid. One thing was for certain, however, as she sat with him under the beautiful sky - she loved him. Of all the unknown they were facing, this was one-hundred percent and without any doubts, love in a way she had never known before and instinctively knew she never would again. She didn't want to leave him, because the benefit outweighed any costs.

"I don't want to go back, you know. I want to stay with you." A low, keeping sound made her look up to find him biting his lower lip, tears running down his cheeks. "Oh my god, Zashi... I didn't mean to make you cry. You okay?"

"Fine!" He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, his voice strained. "I'm - I'm fine. Really happy. I just thought things were going too fast and you were having second thoughts and <i>you might wanna leave me</i>, an' I'd help you, but I love you more'n anything and -"

She cut him off with a kiss, and he relaxed from the pure sweetness of the gesture. "I think I needed that."

"I know." Elly ran a hand through his hair, kissing him now and then. "Are you really going to be okay out if the water for so long? What happens if you dry out?" She placed a hand on his damp scales, her tone subdued. "Do you - do you die? You can breathe air, but what about your tail?"

He frowned. "I was always <i>warned</i> about it as a pup, but never knew anyone that could prove we died or anything. I mean, other mammals survive out of water, and we are mammals - live birth and all."

"Does it hurt?" She traced the patterns, sliding a palm along the fringe that was scarcely noticeable now.

Hizashi shivered, but not from cold. "It feels nasty, drying out, but not painful. I beached myself a few times before high tide so I could practice moving around in case I needed to, so I know." He paused, his breathing catching a bit. "You're uh... I'm still in heat, love, and you're being very, ah, stimulating right now. <i>Oh!</i>" His surprised cry echoed off the rocks above as she kissed the underside of his throat and nibbled gently. "B - baby, did I tell you that we kiss differently from humans?"

"No. What do you mean?"

His voice was strained as he pleaded softly. "Bite me. Please, where you were teasing before..."

Elly shrugged and bit, knowing his skin was tougher than it looked. She didn't break or bruise him, but the whistling sigh that escaped his parted lips proved he felt it. "Zashi?"

"Yessss," he hissed, his eyes glazed with pleasure. "A proper kiss from my mate. So <i>good</i>."

She nodded to herself. If they bit to mark their loved ones, it would be highly arousing for him. Hizashi caught her around the waist and rolled her on top of him. "Again?"

"Oh, yes. Please. If you want to, but, uh." He shuddered, tossing his head back with a moan. Wet, blond strands clung to his neck but others floated freely, dry from the fire nearby and the light breeze. "I really, really do. This is such a kink for merms. Dry sex on <i>land</i>! I - I'll need your help, though."

Elly unzipped her jeans while he watched with interest. She tossed them aside and reached down, smiling when she felt him wriggling on her thigh. "Here," she murmured, spreading her legs to guide him in.

"Nmm. Not gonna dry out <i>there</i>," he husked. "That's perfect. You're perfect."

"Not perfect," she panted as he moved within her, writhing on his snake-like penis. "Not me! This is still amazing, though." He nodded and tried moving his tail, but the motion almost caused her to fall off. "Whoa! Here - let me..."

Never had he imagined a human woman would be bouncing on top of him, driving him deeper inside as they made love on dry land. He moaned and dug his hands into the sand on either side, gouging out gaping channels and deepening them as they continued.

"Hold me," he gasped as he began to swell. "Ohhh. Oh yes! Do that again!" His upper body heaved and twisted, the muscles flexing under his pale skin. She could see him much better this way and took the time to caress his chest, toying with his flat male nipples while she let his prehensile member finish its job.

Elly watched, heart filled with love for him as his cries grew louder and more urgent. Her own body was tantalizingly close, but she was far from orgasm when he finished this time.

Hizashi sensed this immediately. "Aw, babe," he panted, catching his breath and coughing a little at how much harsher dry air was for him. "Did you not ..?"

"I got close, but no. It's kind of hard staying on top." She blushed and laughed sheepishly.

Hizashi pouted. "No, no. That won't do! C'mere, let me make you feel good, too."

She laid on the blanket again while he rolled beside, his fingers nimbly stroking her bushy curls apart. "Oooh, up. Up a little, Zashi."

"Like this?" He rubbed and she let out a soft hiss of approval.

"Yes! Mmmn, and slower."

"Yes, my love." He kissed her lazily, the pace matching his fingers, and edged closer. "You want something to fill you up while you come? Or just my fingers?"

"Aaah, god... wh - what're you talking about, you already came?"

She felt the now-familiar plump head sliding on her sensitive folds. "I won't come this time. You will, though."

"Oh my god. Yes, yes, please, give it to me! I want to come with you inside me!"

He complied, smiling proudly as his fingers and body teased a slow, sweet release out of her. "You're so beautiful when you finish," he whispered into her ear as she came to. "I didn't read that much about human male anatomy, but let me guess... they can't do that?"

She shook her head numbly. "How?"

He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud rumble. They both stared at her stomach and then burst out laughing at the same time.

"Maybe we can get into that later. You need to eat!"

It was a good meal, the meat sweet enough that Elly didn't miss the lack of butter or seasonings. They ate and tossed the remaining scraps and shells into the sea, where small fish darted in to pick them clean.

Well fed and satisfied with more than full bellies, they cuddled again. Hizashi found his eyes slipping closed as he listened to the slow, steady breathing of his beloved beside him and didn't want to move back to the water. He might at least get into the shallows if he didn't want to leave completely, but she was so warm, and smelled so wonderful. He could stay a few more minutes. He yawned and smiled, content and confident they would reach the safety of his community in the morning. He sighed and let his eyes close.

Hizashi craned his neck, groaning at the crick in one side. "Ouch."

He blinked. <i>Did he just speak?</i> Underwater communication was limited and words like humans spoke weren't possible. That meant he was still beached and had been on land too long! He moved his tail, panicking, not wanting to see how dried out he was but needing to know. In a strange turn of events, he promptly rolled onto his side as he imbalanced himself. He was oddly light down below. Frowning in confusion he glanced down at his tail.

Hizashi took a deep breath and screamed, then positively shrieked in terror when he registered his yelling was well within normal parameters.