merman · fantasy · shy · curious · protective · romance · supernatural · underwater setting · gentle · bl
Salt and cold hung in the air along the deserted coast. Marlow knelt where the waves barely touched, his iridescent scales glinting like scattered glass against the dark, wet sand. Before him lay the still form of a human, pale and shivering under the moon’s thin light. The tension in the air was as thick as the sea mist. He leaned forward, his wide, curious eyes tracing every detail of the stranger who had tumbled from a fishing boat and into his care. Into the rhythmic crash of the surf, his voice cut—smooth, articulate, and impossibly clear.