Your FREE E-book copy of The Merman's Kiss

In the embrace of the ocean's whisper, two souls adrift find a beacon of hope and a storm of passion...

For Zantu, evading the siren call of the mate-bond has been a thirty-five-year dance among the waves. While mermen pledge their hearts for eternity, he's seen the deadly consequences love brings and vows to avoid the same fate. Yet the glint of sunken treasures and the allure of the forbidden leads him to a destiny he hadn't foreseen.

Shattered by an irreplaceable loss, Brianna believes her days of joy and adventure have sunk beneath the weight of her grief. But when she plunges into the mesmerizing realm of Zantu—a merman whose raw magnetism and sultry allure defy any myth—she rediscovers a spark of life. He offers enchantments of the deep and ignites passions she never knew she had.

But as shadows from the abyss threaten their newfound bond, Zantu is faced with a dire decision: keep Briana close, facing the dangers of his world, or let her go, hoping to shield her from the perils that accompany love beneath the waves.

Embark on a journey where love's deepest currents challenge life's tempests, and where redemption might just be a heartbeat away.

Brianna dropped the pregnancy test into the bathroom trash and joined Eric in bed. He had his laptop across his knees, studying one of his corporate financial projection reports.

“Negative,” she said, fighting the crack in her voice. The sheets felt frigid against her skin.

Without looking away from the screen, he reached over and patted her shoulder. “We’ll try again next month.”

After a stillborn baby girl almost two years ago, they’d followed the doctor’s advice to wait a year before trying again. Now another year had passed without a ray of hope. What if she’d lost her only chance to be a mother? A tear leaked from the corner of her eye, soaking into the pillow. “Maybe we should stop trying.”

“If that’s what you want.” He scrolled the mouse.

Brianna’s chest ached. “Eric?”

“Mmm?” He tapped his finger against the mouse pad.

“Eric.” Her voice did crack this time. At least he looked away from the computer. His eyes reminded her of the fish in the tank at his office, round and dark and emotionless. She swallowed her tears and slid her head forward to rest her cheek on his arm. “Make love to me.”

His forearm bunched as he pulled it from beneath her. Her chest lightened for a single heartbeat, then his arm settled back down around the top of her pillow. He patted between her shoulder blades and returned his gaze to the computer. “It’s late. We’ll try again next cycle.”

* * *

The salty breeze blowing across the pier tasted of tears. Behind her, a few scattered people went about their off-season business along the boardwalk. Ahead, only empty, colorless gray sky and water. 

Brianna stepped off the pier. 

The heavy fishing weights cinched around her waist did their job, pulling her toward the bottom quickly enough to make her ears pop.

She’d heard drowning wasn’t a bad way to go, but the salty water stung her eyes and nose. And the water was cold. Really cold. As the light above faded to a murky blue, she watched the final pockets of air billow upward from her blouse. Who knew the bottom was this far down? A school of fish blocked the meager light a moment, and then they were gone.

Her chest burned with need, but she was afraid to take a breath. Was she sure she wanted to do this? She and Eric had been married three years before she’d realized he was such a cold fish and would never change. Even the stillbirth of little Pauline hadn’t seemed to touch him. But he also wasn’t the only fish in the sea. Would divorce be so bad? Just before he’d died, her father had made her swear never to divorce her husband. Her mother’s abandonment had torn out a part of his soul. So she’d promised.

But he was gone now. This was her life.

Or her death.

This is stupid! She snatched at the rope belt weighing heavy against her hips. The entire thing was full of knots where she’d attached the five-pound weights. Which knot was holding it closed? Her loose blouse, useful to hide the weights on land, billowed in the current. She couldn’t see the knots. With both hands, she lifted her shirt hem and pulled the garment over her head. The water’s greedy clutches swept it away. 

Her bottom bounced against the seafloor, sending up a cloud of silt. A surge of bubbles forced themselves from between her lips. She clamped her mouth shut. The air escaped from her nose instead. Her tortured lungs burned like they might explode.

Her left foot scraped stone, and she tried to stand. To push toward the surface. The rock slid out from under her as the tide carried her out to sea.

She was so stupid. Why had she thought she wanted to die? And like this, as fish food? Eyes burning in the salt water and straining in the light, she searched for the right knot. Her fingers were numb with cold. Tingly. More air trickled from her nose. Her lungs cried out for her to take a breath.

The light grew dimmer. With both hands, she pushed at the belt, trying to squeeze it down around her hips. The rope stretched a little. Maybe she could shimmy out of it. Except the waistband of her capri pants thwarted that idea. She flicked open the button and slid them down her legs, taking her panties with them. Kicking, she released the fabric to the tide.

Without her consent, her lungs sipped a draught of water, and she doubled over with a cough. Then her lungs were full. There was no air to cough. Her naked legs scraped along the rocky bottom.

Her vision was going dark from lack of oxygen. Or was the water getting deeper? A strange calm settled over her. Another school of fish blocked the murky light. She blinked. Maybe death wouldn’t be so bad. Like falling asleep. And maybe her baby would be waiting for her on the other side.

Strong hands grabbed her arms above the elbows. A man with spiky hair and glinting eyes stared into her face. Someone had come to save her! She flung her arms about his neck. Or at least she tried. The water slowed her motion. Both her legs wrapped around his waist like she might climb him to the surface.

His eyes widened, metallic silver beneath a dark brow line. Smooth skin slid beneath her fingertips. His face drew closer, eyes boring into hers. A firm mouth found hers, and his tongue slid in. 

She gasped, the lightheadedness of drowning turning into the twirling water-ballet of desire. Like a lure, the dancing tongue within her called on instincts she didn’t know she possessed. Created a pulsing throb in her core, a need greater than air. She bent her head and matched the kiss, tangling her tongue with his and sending rockets of electricity straight to her core. Her entwined legs drew her hips against his. Ground against the hard line of an erection. 

A drawn-out note—not quite a groan, not quite a song—surrounded her. Penetrated deep into her bones. He drew back, hands on her hips. The kiss continued in a teasing mockery of consummation. 

For a split second, she wondered if this was the result of a final, dying fantasy. An attempt of her mind to protect her from the horror of death. But then the moment was gone, and all she knew was need. Need to be one with him. To feel him inside her. To cast away death with the very act that created life. 

Legs still locked around him, she pulled him close again. Arched to meet him. Silently pleaded for more. 

And as naturally as breathing, his cock filled her. 

What…? The thought echoed in her brain, as if she were hearing his thoughts as well as her own.

Yet she had no time to pause and consider. His hands slithered down to cup her ass, drawing her closer. He undulated against her like a wave. 

Dizzy with ecstasy, she bucked her hips in time to his rhythm. Threw her head back so the angle of their joining stroked her innermost ridges. Shivers rocketed down her thighs, pooled in the core of her belly. This was primal. A need greater than she’d known could exist. A demand blocking out all thoughts of anything but satisfaction.

All around them, the current swirled as he thrust. Pure instinct made her clamp her legs tighter about his waist. Nothing mattered now but the climax. The heady release of something larger than she’d ever experienced before. Heat flushed her, searing her from head to toe. Tumbling thoughts collided with each other inside her head. Sex. Magic. Heat. Breath. Life. Yes!

She screamed the last word, throwing her head back as her orgasm shook her. 

The man’s fingers dug deep into her buttocks as he joined her.

Eyes closed, chest heaving from exertion, she relaxed in his arms. Her heartbeat pulsed in her ears, and her limbs felt limp as jellyfish. Sex had always been bland with Eric. Clinical. She’d sought to please him but never found the ecstasy so many of her friends carried on about. Now she knew what the fuss was.

A muscular arm fastened about her waist, and a surge of water pushed her hair off her face. She opened her eyes, her breath catching in her throat. Then she stiffened. Breath? She was breathing. How was she breathing? 

The weights she wore dug into her hip as he held her close against him. With amazing force, he propelled them through the water, focused on something ahead. Her gaze raked his spiked hair and naked shoulder. Down his back, his spine rose into a pronged fan. A fin?

She blinked, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her in the murky light. She was underwater. But breathing. She slid a hand across his shoulder blade and up the fin to the first bony prong. Craning her head, she looked down the length of his body. Salt water rose in her throat. Where legs should be, a silver tail ended in a billowing fin. This guy has a tail.

She’d just had sex with a merman. And now he was carrying her deeper into the sea.