Rite Men for Maya (3 page)

The couples on the other side of the figure eight were the same. However, those couples were already committed to each other and looking for their third. It was for the gods to decide who would be mated to whom in both cases. That was the purpose of the tour. Those who weren’t part of the rite wandered the cloth-enclosed corridors hoping to feel that special something that would draw them to a chosen.

It was the way of merman society to always choose mates at the rite. There were those who tried what the mermen called the human way, but those relationships rarely worked out.

Maya could attest to that many times over. She berated herself internally for drifting back to painful thoughts again. The rite was what mattered.

She looked between the corridors again. The triad side didn’t interest her, so she went to the couples side. She totally bypassed the female-female partners. They hadn’t started yet, but girl-on-girl did nothing for her, she didn’t want to watch, and the last thing she wanted was to attract a female mate. The male-female partners would be at the middle. The rite would start with them.

Like a domino effect, the middlemost couple would set off a chain reaction that would spread around the circle in both directions and meet at the main corridor. The triad side would do the same. The energy would culminate in the main corridor and do… something. Maya wasn’t sure what that something was.

All she knew was that if done correctly, the climax of the rite was supposed to be a unique and satisfying experience for everyone -- chosen and spectators alike. Maya hoped the final outcome was worth it.

A growing crowd blocked her path, and Maya had to make a choice. She could try and force her way to a place where she could see the first couple or move on to the next, which would also involve forcing her way through in order to get to the other side.

That was the only problem with arriving late -- the crowd. As a swimming race, mermen had the option of being above the couple as well as in front of them. When sexually engaged, mermen tended to roam. That would make the spectators roam with them, causing chaos. To avoid that, each couple was regulated to a small area, like a stage, that they decorated to suit their tastes.

While the crowd might not be roaming, they were blocking the corridor. Sounds of pleasure filtered through the crush of bodies to Maya’s ears.

“Guess it’s started,” she said to herself.

Rather than wait around seeing nothing, she decided to go to the next couple. She nudged people to get them out of her way. Most of them were too engrossed to pay her much mind.

The next male-female couple were petting and kissing. They couldn’t start yet, not until the first couple ended their first encounter. According to Meren, it would be obvious when the previous couple had finished because the crowd would move
en masse
to the next couple.

Some would stay behind to continue watching the first couple, since they wouldn’t stop after just one time, but the majority would go from one couple to the next, following the flow of energy, until the ceremony reached its conclusion.

Her father hadn’t described what would happen at the conclusion. He simply said it had to be experienced. Maya would have liked some kind of hint just so she could be prepared.

The crowd thickened around Maya as the first couple finished their first encounter. Several of the people in the crowd jostled each other to get a better vantage point. When Maya got tired of being bumped and brushed with people’s tails, she retreated to the next couple. She would probably have to stay ahead of the crowd for the entire rite.

She reached the next couple right after they started. They didn’t look like they needed to find their respective mates. The woman clutched at her partner, panting his name and begging for more. Just when Maya thought the entire encounter couldn’t get much hotter, a woman from the crowd joined them. She said a few words to the man, and he answered her. It was hard to make out what exactly they said but the female partner disengaged and let the newcomer have her spot.

The crowd clapped and cheered.

Someone had found her mate.

Maya wondered what the partner would do, but the woman swam over to the previous couple and joined them. Having a second female join the mix didn’t slow them down. Maya almost felt embarrassed watching them, but curiosity got the better of her.

She’d never seen merman sex before and had always wondered how it worked with their tails in the way. It wasn’t like mermen went out of their way to create porn. The rite also served as an educational tool for Maya, learning things she was too embarrassed to ask her father. Something that had always angered him, since he was willing to tell her anything. Maya was just human enough not to want such an intimate and graphic discussion with her father.

Someone was tickling her side.

Maya shifted away but ignored the person. She wasn’t in the crowd to get frisky, unlike many of the people around her. For some, the rite was an excuse to have a giant orgy. The buildup of sexual energy got a lot of people hot and bothered. Maya had come for an education and possibly a mate, not a quickie. She’d leave if the person bugging her didn’t stop.

The person persisted.

She moved away again. The person followed her. She swung back to tell them where to go and how fast to get there, but the words didn’t come.

Laev smirked at her. “Hi, Maya. Fancy meeting you here.”

She would spit on him if they weren’t already in water. She had to settle on glaring at him until his smirk faded.

“You can’t still be upset --”

“I’d punch you in the face but I don’t want to upset the gods.” She turned away.

“Maya.”

“Go mate yourself, you selfish prick.” She flicked him off and swam away.

It was funny how the mermen curse was so similar to the human curse, except that in mermen society it wasn’t simple cursing. Said on the day of the rite, she really had cursed him to find no other mate other than himself. She hoped the gods listened to her. He deserved it.

Laev and the crush of bodies had pushed Maya to the limits of her annoyance. She pushed out of the crowd completely. That put her at the mouth of the triad corridor. She looked at it and then back over her shoulder. Nothing in the couples corridor had interested her.

With a shrug, she swam forward. She doubted she would be part of a triad. Dealing with her father and his speeches about merman superiority was enough to drive her crazy. The thought of ending up in a relationship with two men with the same attitude as her father was enough to make her give up and go home.

Still, she did want to get the full experience, and it didn’t hurt to look.

* * *

“This --” Kessen pointed in front of him. “-- is why I didn’t want your friends preparing our stage.”

The ceremonial stage where Kessen and Tam would call their mate to them pushed even the boundaries of merman propriety. Two penis-shaped pillars jutted up from the black sand seabed, curving toward each other. Blue veins bulged as the two erect members spewed white kelp made to look like ejaculate.

Kessen didn’t want to know what materials Tam’s friends had used to construct the pillars or how they’d managed to make the monstrosities look so lifelike. He did want to know how he or any other was supposed to see the backdrop as amorous.

If the two giant penises weren’t enough, several other smaller penis-shaped objects -- an eel wearing a bulbous collar, seashells of different lengths and curvatures, and even a dildo made from woven sea grass with a handle attached -- had been added to the scene.

Tam laughed, then covered his laughter with coughing when Kessen glared at him. Tam tried to embrace him, but Kessen dodged. Tam said, “It’s fine. It’s fine. Look. They even included the symbol of your station.” He pointed to the trident positioned in the middle of the arching penises.

Kessen snapped, “Is that supposed to make me feel better about this?”

“They’re only having fun. Relax, lover.”

“This is a sacred day and they’ve demeaned it with this… this…” Kessen ended with an annoyed sound, unable to think of a word to describe the hideous display.

There was no time to redo it. Already, patrons of the virility-fertility rite toured the corridors. Kessen had been an idiot to agree to leave the matter of the ceremonial stage to Tam’s friends.

Why had he?

The question triggered a memory of the night Tam had convinced him. Kessen flushed.

He jerked with a muted moan of pleasure when Tam passed his hand over the tip of Kessen’s cock, which had peeked out of his genital slit. Only the short loincloth strip circling his hips hid his excited state from the people surrounding them.

“Stop,” Kessen rasped when Tam slipped his fingers into the slit and stroked. “We’re supposed to wait.” Kessen grasped Tam’s wrist, but that was it. The act of pulling Tam’s hand away seemed to be beyond Kessen. He and Tam were about equal in strength, yet the sensations Tam’s fingers built within Kessen were hard to deny.

“I can make you come now, and you’ll still be ready for me when our time in the ceremony occurs.” Tam nibbled the curve of Kessen’s neck as he spread Kessen’s slit.

That was all the invitation Kessen’s erection needed to fully extend past its protective cover and press against the loincloth. Tam fisted his hand around the hard member and pumped.

“Tam…” Kessen couldn’t quite form coherent speech. He gasped several times, trying to keep his composure. “We have to wait. Doing this now will disrupt someone else.”

“No one has started yet. There’s no harm.”

Kessen found his will to argue leaving him with every stroke of Tam’s hand. He pressed back, wanting more. His body knew where to find it. Kessen reached behind him. He brushed his fingers over Tam’s loincloth.

A throat cleared behind them.

Kessen jerked away from Tam and faced the one who’d interrupted them. “Father,” he greeted in a shaky voice.

“This may be your first time as a chosen but it is not your first time as a representative of our family, Kessen. I hope you’ll remember that.” Yoav speared Tam with a look. “
Both
of you.”

Kessen nodded quickly. “Of course, Father. Tam was only playing.”

“Such play is what ruined the virility-fertility rite seven years ago. Only a handful of chosen were able to find their mates thanks to two who couldn’t be bothered to wait their turn. The order of fornication is set and heeded for a reason, Kessen.”

“I know that, Father. There’s nothing to worry about. We know our part and our place.”

“My only worry is that you’ll attract another male rather than a female who will carry on our legacy.”

Tam shifted, moving himself between father and son, and confronted Yoav. “You sound as though you disapprove of the gods’ choice of mate for your son.”

Yoav said, “The gods know their duty.”

“Yes, they do. That is why we are to be a triad, not a couple. We knew we’d be a triad even as we came together at last year’s rite.”

Yoav’s face screwed up into a look of annoyance. He mumbled under his breath.

Tam asked, “Is it that you disapprove of your son with another man or your son with me?”

“You aren’t good enough for my son,” Yoav snapped.

“The gods think I am. Theirs is the only opinion that matters, especially to those like you and Kessen.”

With a parting look of loathing, Yoav swam away.

Kessen waited until his father was out of sight before confronting Tam. “Must you always goad him like that?”

“Your father hates me. Everyone knows it. Why he hates me is still a mystery.” Tam cupped Kessen’s cheek. “One to which you know the answer.”

“Don’t ask me to tell you.” Kessen turned from Tam’s touch. Even if not meant as a sexual gesture, Kessen’s body couldn’t tell the difference. “Not today. It’ll ruin everything.”

“You’re always putting me off. Why won’t you tell me what your father has against me?”

“Not today. I don’t want to fight with you about this. Any other time, I would tell you, but not today.” Kessen pleaded with his eyes for Tam to drop it. The topic would put a damper on the rest of the day, and that would ruin their part of the ceremony. They wouldn’t find their third unless they were both one hundred percent.

Tam sighed. He hugged Kessen to him hard and crushed Kessen’s lips below his in a searing kiss. “Don’t look at me like that. It makes me want to torment you.”

“You are a champion at teasing, beloved.”

“You’re not so bad at it, yourself.” Tam nipped at Kessen’s lips, then released him. “I’m sorry about the stage. I had no idea they’d do this. I wish there was time to change it.”

“As do I.” Kessen looked at the stage one last time, then shook his head. “I’ll just keep my eyes closed.”

Tam wiggled his eyebrows with a lecherous grin. “I have a blindfold and rope. I’d be happy to get them for you. It won’t take but a moment.”

“We’re not doing that today.”

“Later, then, with our third.”

The promise of the rope play or the promise of the third joining them during the rope play -- Kessen wasn’t sure which excited him more but he looked forward to finding out.

He let his gaze roam down the length of the corridor. Kessen sighed and shook his head. It would be a long wait for either scenario.

Chapter Three

Tam punched the sand beneath him and made a frustrated noise.

“Calm down. Calm down.” Kessen made calming motions.

Tam had a better suggestion for Kessen’s hands, but he didn’t utter it. They had retreated to opposite sides of the stage so they wouldn’t touch each other.

He punched the sand again. “I’m ready to pop. Why are we last?”

Kessen waved his iridescent rainbow tail.

“Don’t do that.” Tam clenched his teeth as the shine of Kessen’s tail held him mesmerized the same way it had when they first met. “I’m having enough issues staying on my side of this stage.”

A coy look entered Kessen’s eyes. He continued moving his tail with light flicks, just enough so the rainbow shimmered. “Because of my station, we are anchors in the rite. The energy of the rite will build within us once we come together and then spread out over the chosen and the crowd, aiding all in finding their true mates. It makes the most sense.”