Rite Men for Maya (2 page)

“Only because the humans don’t know what you are.”

Maya hugged her arms. “Sometimes I don’t know, either. I do know that I don’t want to live in the ocean. I like my life. It may seem chaotic to you, but it makes sense to me. If I go to the rite and meet my mate, who’s to say he won’t make me stay here? I’m not ready for this. I want to be with myself for a while before I try being with someone else.”

“If the gods want you at the rite, nothing you feel or want will matter. Your mother can attest to that.”

Crystal snorted but didn’t add to the conversation.

Maya said, “If that’s the will of the gods, then that’s the way it’ll be. But, Daddy, what if all of this was the will of the gods so I wouldn’t attend this year’s rite?”

He sighed.

She’d won. She swam forward and kissed his cheek. “The rite is annual. If the gods agree, I’ll go next year.”

Meren nodded. He linked arms with her, and they joined Crystal and Ree. They all swam hand-in-hand back to their home. Maya would be happy to see the beach outside their house.

She planned to crawl into bed and deny this day had happened. It only proved having a merman lover would be more trouble than it was worth. While her mother agreed, her father would take a little more convincing.

She had a year. It shouldn’t be that hard.

* * *

“Hard. So. Hard. Gods.”

Tam grinned at his ability to render Aleo monosyllabic. She could only get out a single word with every thrust of his hips.

He leaned into her and licked her lips. “Don’t talk. You’ll bite your tongue.”

She grabbed his head. Her fingers clawed at his scalp, probably trying to grab at hair that wasn’t there. Tam had had too many lovers trying to pull his hair out while in the throes of passion. He kept his black hair close-shaven to avoid that pain.

With a frustrated sound, Aleo clamped her hands around his head and pulled him down to her lips. She didn’t have to be so rough. He wanted to kiss her.

Tam pressed his lips to hers and forced her to open her mouth wide so he could taste every bit of her. He dominated the kiss, plundering her deep for his enjoyment. Aleo wasn’t complaining and neither were the hundreds of mermen watching Tam’s performance. In fact, many cheered.

Their adulation only made Tam harder. He melded his front to Aleo’s, burying himself as deep as he could go. He snaked his navy blue tail from side to side, which pressed his exposed genital slit against hers. The woman screamed her pleasure. Several women in the crowd echoed the cry.

If he didn’t find his mate this rite, then Tam would not lack for female companions thanks to his exhibition this day. Turning his attention from Aleo, he looked at the crowd. Was his mate there? Could she feel him calling her? Had his raw sexual energy scared her so much that she couldn’t bring herself to approach the stage?

He doubted the last but entertained himself pretending it was true.

Feeling the magic of the rite all around him, Tam mentally grabbed a tendril of the energy and called out to the mate he knew was meant for him.

Come to me. I know you’re there
.

“Tam. Please, Tam. Let me come,” Aleo spoke her plea in a soft voice. She kissed his chin and then his neck. “Please. The next couple is waiting to start. Please.”

Tam smirked at her. “You beg so prettily, Aleo. I didn’t know you had it in you.” He bucked forward. “Or maybe it’s because I’m in you that you’ve become so docile.”

“Please.”

He reached between them, pushed his finger inside her above his cock and then pressed upwards.

Aleo arched backwards, almost touching the tip of her tail to the top of her head. She worked her mouth but no sound escaped. Her whole body was taut as she experienced her climax.

When she relaxed once more, Tam left her body. The act had been pleasurable, but it hadn’t satisfied him. Sex hadn’t satisfied him for a little over a year. When he’d been selected as a chosen, he’d been overjoyed. At last, his true mate would come. And then, so would he.

The couple on the stage next to Tam and Aleo’s engaged each other. The majority of the crowd shifted to the side to watch. A few stragglers, mostly women, stayed and cast longing glances at Tam.

He winked at them but only as a flirtation. If they were not his gods’ chosen mate, then they weren’t worth his time.

Slender fingers wrapped around his shaft and stroked him from base to tip. Aleo kissed his neck. “That was magnificent.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You’re still hard.”

He looked over his shoulder at her. “Do you plan to do something about it?”

Aleo gave him a sly look as she curved herself around his side. She took his full length into her mouth. He could feel her swallowing him. As a momentary distraction, it was a good one. Tam doubted it would make him come. He wouldn’t tell Aleo that. She was doing a good job trying.

He reclined and placed his hand on the back of her head.

Why won’t you answer? Come to me
.

None of the onlookers approached the stage.

Tam growled to himself. He breathed in deep, closed his eyes, focused on all of the energy surrounding him and sent out one thought as hard as he could.

Come. Now. I need you
.

He didn’t know what would happen. An answering call of mutual need? A woman from the crowd flinging herself at him? A smack on the back of the head from the gods for trying to hog their power for himself when there were many others trying to achieve the same goal?

He let his head loll back. Maybe he would be one of the chosen who didn’t get a mate. Or maybe he would be one of the few who called a human mate. It was rare when it happened, but not impossible. A human wouldn’t be able to get to the depths of the ocean where the rite was held, not without the help of a transition amulet.

If she tried, would Tam be able to hear her distress?

He opened himself to whatever was out there, hoping to feel his mate’s presence.

Something burned down his spine, making him jerk.

“Tam, did you come?” Aleo looked up at him.

He ignored her and looked around. The burning happened again, quicker this time. Was this it? Was this the call of his mate?

A shimmering rainbow caught his attention. He stared at that shining, iridescent tail as though mesmerized. The burning ran up and down his spine, spreading to his entire body until he thought he would combust despite the water surrounding him.

He held out his hand as he lifted his gaze to his mate’s face. “You came.”

The man before Tam had worry creating deep furrows in the flawless pale skin of his forehead. All of the man’s features were soft and boyish, making him look younger than he probably was. His wide, gray eyes focused on Tam’s hand, but he didn’t take it.

“This was a mistake,” the man whispered. He shook his head and turned away. “I shouldn’t have come.”

Tam grabbed the man’s hand and had to put his weight behind it to keep the man from fleeing. They were of similar stature and physique. He even had the same close-shaven haircut, though his hair was blond.

The man was far from the way Tam had imagined his mate would look. For one thing, he’d imagined large breasts, not a wide chest. Hard, flat abs had replaced soft, pliable curves.

Despite all of that, Tam wanted to run his hands over every part of the man. He’d never felt such a strong attraction to anyone. “I’m Tam.”

“Kessen.” He looked back at Tam. “I’m a man.”

Tam chuckled a little but sobered quickly when Kessen’s frown deepened. “I already noticed.” He yanked his arm, pulling Kessen against him. Their pressed bodies enveloped Tam’s cock. That little bit of contact almost made Tam come… almost.

That was all of the proof Tam needed that Kessen was his gods’ chosen mate. But it seemed Kessen needed a little convincing. Tam was definitely up for the task.

Tam maneuvered them back to the stage. Kessen didn’t fight him.

“I don’t care that you’re a man,” Tam said. “I plan to prove it.”

“I… I have a duty. I must marry a woman.”

Tam nodded. “We’ll find her together.” He framed Kessen’s face with his hands. “Say yes.”

Kessen’s frown smoothed away. A look of relief replaced it. He hugged Tam close. “Yes.”

Chapter Two

One Year Later

Maya skimmed her hand along the shimmering fabric canopy that made up the corridors of the virility-fertility rite temple. The cloth was imbued with power of the gods that would enhance and magnify the sexual energies of those within to aid in finding their true mates. It also kept that same energy from spreading throughout the ocean and affecting the other inhabitants of the sea.

She wasn’t even supposed to be there. She’d said she wouldn’t. Yet here she was letting her father tow her toward the one place she didn’t really want to be.

“My sweet water, why didn’t you wear your tail?” Meren asked, looking at Maya. His gaze went from her black leggings-clad legs to the scarf halter-top that tied at her neck and left most of her back exposed.

Maya said, “After what happened last time, I thought it best that I advertise what I am ahead of time.” She glanced at her outfit and then looked back at her father. “Do you want me to change to my tail, Daddy? Am I too heavy since you’re pulling mom and me?”

Both Maya and Crystal were strong swimmers, but slow compared to a merman. Meren had wanted to get to the rite quickly. His only option was to tow his wife and daughter.

“You are not heavy.” Meren slowed as sadness crossed his features.

Crystal said, “You don’t need to change. If anyone has a problem with your legs then you can kick their ass properly, with your feet. Don’t waste another second of thought on that incident or that deceitful bastard.” She smacked the top of her husband’s hand. “Meren, I want to get to the rite, already. Hurry up.” She kicked her legs to emphasize her words.

Meren smiled at her as he pulled her closer and kissed her hand.

Maya basked in the glow of her parents’ love. She envied them. Their relationship was her ideal. She wanted the same, minus the arguing.

One year of failed dating attempts with humans had led her back to her only other option. For that reason alone had she decided to attend the fertility-virility rite. Gods willing, she would find the perfect mate just as her parents had at a similar rite so many years ago.

She dropped her father’s hand.

He looked at her. “Maya?”

“I think it’s time we separated. There’s no way I want to go on a sex tour with my parents. Ew, gross.” She made gagging noises even as she grinned at her parents.

Meren laughed. “Enjoy yourself, my sweet water. May the gods grant you a mate.”

Crystal harrumphed.

“I’d rather she find a mate at the rite,” Meren said. “At least then she will know he is the one meant for her above all others. Human trial and error dating is too unpredictable and leads to heart break.”

“I have nothing to say on the topic,” Crystal said.

Maya swam away from them with a little wave, dodging the age-old argument. Maya only hoped she wouldn’t have similar arguments with the merman she married. If the man she married ended up being a merman.

“Maya,” Meren called.

She stopped and looked back at her father.

“Call us when you get home.”

Waving as her answer, she swam toward the entrance, following the canopy and touching it at odd intervals. The beauty and the strength of the canopy were not what drew her attention. She felt something from the cloth. That something had to be what powered the rite. That was her guess, at any rate. She hadn’t wanted to ask. Already she felt awkward arriving with her parents at such an intimate gathering.

The attendees at the entrances of the corridors nodded to her as she passed them. She nodded back. Seeing a half-breed like her wasn’t out of the ordinary since more and more of the sea-dwelling folk had taken to mating with humans. Some people saw it as good sign, while others saw it as the beginning of the end.

Maya shook her head at the direction of her thoughts. This wasn’t the time to think about past mistakes. She’d been looking forward to the rite, once she finally gave in to the fact that she would attend. Memories wouldn’t mar the experience. She promised herself that.

While her father had explained the purpose of the virility-fertility rite and the accompanying festival, it still seemed a little strange to tour miles of fabric-enclosed corridors, watching people have sex.

Maybe it was the human in her, but it didn’t make sense to have sex with another in order to find one’s mate. Sense or not, that’s what was done.

One hundred and twenty men and women paired off to form sixty couples. Two-thirds of the couples were single individuals looking for a mate. The other one-third were mated couples looking for a third.

But not just anyone could make up the one hundred and twenty participants. The priests of the gods performed special ceremonies that determined those who would be named the chosen. Each year was different, and a person could only be one of the chosen once. Only on rare occasions was a person granted the honor again. Those people were usually destined to be part of a triad.

Maya stopped and looked to her right and then to her left.

The festival was split in half. Two corridors forked away from the main path, curved in a giant circle, and met up with the main path again. It resembled a round figure eight with a line running through it.

On one side were the individuals looking for their mate. Those individuals were paired off to help each other out. The couples weren’t strictly male-female. There were female-female and male-male couples as well. The same sex couples weren’t necessarily looking for a same sex mate, but somehow had ended up paired with a same sex partner.

Meren had assured her, in merman society, same sex pairings for the rite -- or prior to mating in general -- wasn’t much of an issue. Maya still bet there were a few men, and some women, who resented having a same sex partner.