Twenty-Five

 

Erik reached the breakwater, and only when he stood on it could he see the small cove he'd heard the men speak about. Small, private, and empty. On a hot summer's day, he'd love to take a dip in the water himself. Now, though, he had no intention of entering the sea. Not if a mermaid lurked close by.

Feeling like a coward, he climbed a tree, hoping its branches would hide him from sight. None of his research suggested that mermaids could climb trees, but Erik didn't let himself feel too secure on his perch. Research and myths were one thing, but facing a mermaid in the flesh was something different entirely.

For what felt like forever, Erik clung to his branch, watching and waiting. He'd spot a shadow in the waves, only to realise it was a piece of seaweed or flotsam. His eyes began to grow heavy as he squinted into the sun, straining for even a glimpse of the mythical mermaid.

When she did appear, he almost missed it. A wave washed further up the beach than its fellows and when it retreated, it left behind what Erik at first thought was the decoration from the bow of a ship. A stylised fish-woman, stretching her arms and her breasts before her while her tail fanned out behind.

And then....she moved, flicking a piece of seaweed off her tail, before she combed her fingers through her dark hair.

Erik almost fell out of his tree. A mermaid. A real mermaid, not fifty feet from him!

With care to make as little sound as possible, he climbed down, creeping through the shrubbery to get a better look at the mythical creature he'd sought for so long.

Slowly, slowly, he raised his head above a bush. He saw her dark hair, then the pale skin of her back, and his breath caught in his throat. Legs. She stood on two legs, just like him, though hers were bare.

In one moment, she'd shredded half the tales he'd read about her kind. Erik grinned. He'd write his own book, perhaps, and give Master Nicholas' library a copy. Or give it to Lady Margareta as a gift. Now that was an idea.

He should have asked Margareta to come with him to see the mermaid. Tomorrow he'd bring her to the cove and watch her reaction.

He must have made some sound, because the mermaid suddenly stiffened. She scanned the cove, then turned around and directed her piercing gaze at the bushes where Erik hid. His instincts screamed at him to duck, to get out of sight, but he was mesmerised by the woman before him. And she was a woman. Mermaid or not, the goddess who stood on the sand had two shapely legs, a flat belly and a pair of breasts he ached to touch.

The siren had him under her spell, his fuzzy mind told him, but Erik waved the thought away. Who cared? She was beautiful and alluring and everything a man could want. Everything he could ever want.

Erik rose to his feet and stepped out of hiding. He narrowed the distance between them and held out his arms. When she pressed her cold body against his, he closed his arms around her, and knew nothing but the bliss of holding his heart's desire.