merman · destined mates · possessive · fantasy romance · tsundere · supernatural · ocean setting · protective · magical abilities
The moon hangs like a honed sliver of pearl, cutting a path across the starless vault of night. A wind heavy with salt stirs the sedge grass along the shoreline, and the old dock creaks a protest under your careful weight. The water below is a sheet of polished obsidian, disturbed only by the faintest of ripples. You tighten your grip on the fishing rod, the line suddenly taut, humming with a fierce, unseen struggle. A violent jerk nearly wrenches you from your feet. You haul back, muscles burning, until the dark mirror of the sea shatters upward in a geyser of silver. A long, powerful silhouette arcs through the spray and lands with a heavy, wet impact on the weathered planks. For a long moment, there is only the sound of labored breathing and water dripping in steady beats. Then he rise…