In the Mermaid's Grasp

Aiko closed the door to the forge with a creaking thump, keys clinking against each other as she slid the deadbolt into place. Hooking the keyring back onto her belt, Aiko lifted a semi-clean hand to her forehead, brushing at an itch and pushing her sweat-damp hair back from her skin.

Turning, Aiko hiked her messenger bag higher on her shoulder and tightened her grip on her tackle box, looking out toward the horizon line. This time of day, Sparrow's Grove was cast in warm orange hues, the roofs of houses aflame with colour, stragglers in the square squinting through the sun's haze as they made their ways home. But Aiko wasn't going home.

Starting forward, Aiko let her legs take her toward the docks on the far edge of town. Breaking through the line of buildings at the end of the square, Aiko moved through a winding path, tall grasses brushing against her work clothes and tickling the exposed skin of her ankles where she'd rolled the edges of her coveralls up.

Then, finally, she was at the docks.

There were five wooden docks in all, one large sectional dock that fitted several fishing boats against it, and four more small docks meant for smaller boats and fish traps.

Aiko chose the furthest dock, the one nearest the edge of the grasses, walking to the end and setting down her tackle box. Pushing her shoulders back, Aiko revelled in the crackle of her spine and breathed in deep. The air was clean and thick here, salt at the back of her throat like a welcoming caress. A breeze drifted by, lifting the shoulder-length strands of her hair in a lazy wave.

She loved the heat of the forge, but she loved the ocean even more.

Shrugging off her messenger bag, she let it drop to the planks before sitting down next to it and opening her tackle box. The dock was a regular spot for Aiko and other fishers in town, so a few community fishing poles stood tall in a makeshift stand at the side of the dock. Picking her favourite--a flexible, smooth bamboo rod--Aiko pulled a fresh line from her tackle box, starting the process of stringing it.

Soon, she was putting on the lure--a bright, colourful bit that resembled a minnow--hooking bait, and readying to cast. With a single fluid motion, Aiko brought her arm back before flicking it forward, casting the line far into the sun-dappled ripples of the ocean. When she was sure the line was where she wanted it, Aiko placed the rod into a tight gap between two of the dock planks and sighed, leaning back on her hands.

It was cool out tonight, the skies clear and pink with the setting sun. Aiko looked out at the horizon and wondered just how long she'd sit outside tonight. It wasn't an everyday occasion that she came down to the docks. Most days she was too exhausted, her skin too slick with sweat and grime that she just went straight home.

But tomorrow she wouldn't be at the forge. The whole town would be closed for Beltane, the streets transformed with ribbons of colour and flower petals, a maypole at the center of it all. Aiko didn't envy the crew that would be up before sunrise setting it all up. But she was thankful for the holiday, because it meant she'd get to stay at the docks later, the promise of a late morning in bed all the reassurance she needed to stay out long after the moon had risen.

A ripple along her fishing line pulled Aiko from her thoughts. Watching closely, she sat up straighter and readied herself in case she needed to grab the rod and start reeling. After a few seconds, the line wobbled again, then went still. Seconds passed, then a full minute, and Aiko relaxed. Just a curious fish, then.

But then the line jerked once--quickly, with a force that tugged at the rod itself. Aiko's brows shot up and she reached for the rod, pulling it free and placing her hand on the reel. The line jerked again, an unmistakable motion, and she started reeling. But then the rod jerked so hard it nearly flew out of her hands. Aiko's forehead wrinkled. What fish was strong enough to do that so close to shore?

Gritting her teeth, Aiko leaned back and kept reeling. The fish was trying its hardest to swim away now, an increasing tension pulling at the line and curling the top half of the rod.

Come on, Aiko thought to herself.

And then, at once, all of the tension in the line released, Aiko falling backwards, head thumping hard against the planks of the dock, teeth clacking against each other and sending a chill through her jaw. Aiko blinked up at the sky, trying to clear the floaters from her vision.

She laid there for a moment, trying to get her bearings. Then she sat up, rubbing at the back of her head. Now that a minute had passed, she felt better, and she couldn't feel any wetness beneath her hair, so she reckoned she'd likely be fine. But that fish... Aiko started reeling in her line, and when it started to lift from the water, she plucked up the end and held it in front of her eyes. Her mouth tugged down into a frown.

"What the hell?" she muttered.

The line was cut through, not in a clean snap, but a jagged tear, like someone had taken a serrated edge to it, fraying the threads of the string and making them curl in different directions. What on earth could have done that?

Curiosity pulled at Aiko, and soon she was staring at the surface of the water, trying to see into its depths. Before she knew what she was doing, she stood, unzipping her coveralls and pushing them off over her work boots. The boots came off, too, and the socks beneath those. Soon Aiko stood only in her underwear--a practical bra that was just a tight-fitting band of fabric and an equally practical pair of dark, formfitting cotton shorts.

The water would be cold at this time of day, but she hoped the setting sun would have warmed it somewhat. Approaching the end of the dock, Aiko crouched, then sat, hanging one foot off the edge and giving her toes a tentative dip. When nothing tried to bite her after a few seconds, she let out a shaky exhale. There was something uniquely unsettling about the ocean at night. The sun had nearly completely disappeared now, the water no longer highlighted by its glow but instead cast in a foggy haze.

Getting into the water this late at night wasn't a smart idea. Getting into the water this late at night after just hitting her head was even less of a smart idea. And yet, she couldn't shake her curiosity. She could come back tomorrow, but would whatever it was that cut her line be gone?

A few metres out, Aiko saw bubbles rise to the surface of the water and quickly snapped her leg back up to the dock.

Okay, so maybe she shouldn't go in there.

And yet she was rooted to her spot at the edge of the dock, even as the bubbles rose again, closer this time. Squinting, Aiko thought she could see a faint light, bobbing in the ocean's tide.

Slowly, the light bobbed closer, and despite herself, Aiko had started to lean forward, hands gripping the edge of the dock as she hung over it, watching the light until it was directly beneath her. She watched it stop, flicker, and disappear. Frowning, Aiko squinted, thinking it had gone deeper in the water, and leaned forward a little bit more, pushing her balance as far as it would go.

And then, so quick that all she saw was a flash of bright black eyes and freckled bluish skin, Aiko felt something wrap tight around her arm and yank her forward.

She fell into the cold water without so much as a gasp, flailing and trying to dislodge herself from the claw-tipped hand that was wrapped firmly around her wrist. Eyes widening, Aiko kicked with her legs and let out a muffled scream as her vision adjusted and she came face to face with rows of sharp teeth set in an all-too-human face.

The mermaid was significantly larger than her, that much was certain. If she had to guess, the mermaid's body from the waist up was nearly the length of Aiko's entire frame. Below the mermaid's waist, trailing off into the darkness below, was a thick, powerful tail with frilly fins lining the sides.

Aiko took a moment to stare at the mermaid's face--her too-large black eyes, too-wide mouth with too many teeth, the wave of dark hair that floated behind her, and the little antenna atop her head that flickered to life at the end like an anglerfish. And then Aiko started to feel a tightness in her lungs and remembered she was beneath the docks, panic setting in. Reflexively, she tried to take a breath, her eyes bulging when salty water rushed to the back of her throat. Her mouth clamped closed and her legs and arms worked, trying to get her to the surface.

The mermaid cocked her head at Aiko, then looked down at where she still gripped her wrist and loosened her hold. Aiko shot up to the surface like a buoy, breaking free with a hacking cough as she gripped the edge of the dock and hauled herself partway up so that she could rest her elbows on it.

For what felts like hours but was likely only slightly more than a minute, Aiko coughed until there was nothing left for her to hack up. Then she sucked in lungful after lungful of air, trying her best not to vomit all over herself.

"F-fucking--what?" she sputtered when she was able to do more than just breathe again.

Dimly, it occurred to her that most of her body was still in the water with the mermaid, but she was too focused on just breathing that she couldn't bring herself to really care. Her brain had turned off her danger senses in favour of her keep-breathing senses, and she couldn't blame it.

Aiko felt the water shift around her, and instinctively she knew the mermaid was circling her, watching her. She couldn't decide if the mermaid was sizing her up for a meal or just curious about her. But one thing was certain; after seeing those teeth, Aiko had no doubt in her mind that the mermaid was the one to cut her fishing line.

And yet, Aiko couldn't think of her teeth without thinking of the rest of her. The mermaid was decidedly feminine, with curves and rounded features. Aiko noted that she hadn't been wearing a shell bra like the mermaids in stories often did. She also noted that the mermaid absolutely should have been, then flushed.

Idiot, she thought at herself. Her brain had also turned on her horny-for-mermaid senses, clearly. Aiko jumped when she felt something slink around her calf in the water. It felt like fingertips, and she noted that she hadn't felt the mermaid's claws. Actually, she hadn't felt them when she'd been pulled down, either. Looking at her wrist confirmed what she was thinking--she was unharmed. From the mermaid, at least. Her lungs were still having a go of it.

Aiko felt the water shift again, and then the hand on her calf slinked higher, brushing the back of her knee and making her shiver. When the hand moved higher, Aiko had to fight not to squeeze her thighs together--not because it felt bad, but because it felt very, very good.

Okay yeah, she was turned on. Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, Aiko remembered something about fear and arousal being linked.

Really, she should have been getting out of the water. She should have already been out of the water and pulling on her coveralls. She should have been running home to the safety of her bed. But as the mermaid's hands slid along her inner thighs, Aiko felt her breath catch for an altogether different reason.

"What are you doing?" she murmured.

As if in answer, the mermaid suddenly gripped Aiko around the thighs and lifted her, arranging her so her back was arched in a way that made her cheeks heat up. Aiko gasped and tried to jerk out of the mermaid's touch, but that only made the mermaid pull Aiko's legs apart.

To her embarrassment, Aiko felt herself getting wet, only this time it had nothing to do with the ocean.

A spike of tantalising fear shot through her again, freezing her in place as the mermaid trailed one hand up, up, up, until knuckles brushed right across the damp gusset of her underwear. Aiko's mouth dropped open and she let out a pant. Her entire body was starting to heat up, the frigid temperature of the water fading away with each second that passed.

Aiko felt the mermaid probing at her underwear, a somewhat confused motion, as if the mermaid couldn't figure out just what the fabric was. And then all of a sudden, she felt the fabric of her underwear tighten against one hip before pulling away completely, torn free from her body. Aiko felt the coolness of the water against her sex and shivered, licking her lips. She was still being held with her legs spread wide, back arched, cunt on full display for the mermaid. There was something so incredibly lewd and embarrassing about the whole thing that made Aiko want to hide her face against the planks of the dock.

Then she felt the mermaid's hand against her folds and jerked in her hold, a new rush of wetness between her legs. Before she could even react to the mermaid's touch, something slick pushed through her folds, running along the length of her. Aiko realised it had to be the mermaid's tongue. She thought back to the mermaid's rows and rows of sharp teeth and shuddered. If it was at all possible, she became even more aroused. Danger, she decided, only added to the encounter.

For a while, the mermaid seemed to just taste her, exploring Aiko's anatomy near her entrance until she was panting, flashes of heat running through her body as she rested there, hunched over on the dock. And then the mermaid's tongue shifted up, brushing against Aiko's clit.

Aiko yelped, jumping against the mermaid's grip. The mermaid paused, as if surprised by Aiko's response, then dragged her tongue deliberately slowly over Aiko's clit once more. Despite herself, Aiko let out a low whine. Tightening her grip on Aiko's legs, the mermaid circled her tongue around Aiko's clit, exploring the organ with renewed interest until she was practically writhing on the dock.

Aiko could feel an orgasm start to coil low in her abdomen, a buildup of pressure that was quickly reaching a peak.

And then the mermaid shifted her head and put her mouth directly over Aiko's clit, sucking hard.

Aiko squealed, coming hard and jerking uncontrollably against the mermaid's face. Her cunt clenched around nothing, even as the mermaid worked Aiko into a frenzy, overstimming her without realising it. At least, Aiko assumed she didn't realise it. She was still letting out short little bursts of noise, gasps and cries that she tried to keep quiet even though there was no one around.

The last thing she wanted was someone from town wandering over and finding Aiko hunched over the dock like she was. And yet, even as she thought that, Aiko felt a dangerous thrill run through her at the thought, her orgasm peaking again. It went on and on until she felt numb, and only then did the mermaid release her. She still held onto her thighs, but at least her clit wasn't being abused into another orgasm. Aiko could only tolerate so much stimulation in one go.

As she lay there in boneless bliss, Aiko felt her eyes grow heavy. She knew that if she let herself, she could fall asleep in the mermaid's grip. But she wasn't going to do that. With a long sigh, Aiko started to shift, readying to pull herself from the mermaid and up onto the dock.

But the mermaid had other plans.

In the next second, Aiko felt the mermaid licking through her folds once more, tasting her orgasm. The action sent spikes of sensation up Aiko's spine and she felt her legs shake, but she stopped moving. This, she didn't mind.

Then the mermaid let go of Aiko's thighs, her tongue drifting away.

Thinking herself free, Aiko made to pull herself up. But before she could, she felt the tight grip of the mermaid's hands on her hips, claws pricking just the tiniest bit into her skin. And then, to her complete surprise, she felt the mermaid's tongue probe at her entrance before plunging inside.

Deep, deep inside.

Far deeper than any tongue had the right to.

The mermaid's mouth was wide open, pressed against the entirety of Aiko's cunt, and if their size difference hadn't been noticeable before, it sure was now. Her hands spanned from her belly button around to the underside of her ass, holding her in place while still spreading her open. And her tongue. The mermaid's tongue was thick and impossibly long, reaching deep inside her and stretching her out. When her tongue started to move in undulating motions, Aiko shuddered, feeling another orgasm start to build, this one different than the first--lazier, deeper, in a way that told Aiko it'd hit her like a truck when she finally came.

Of all the ways I thought this day would end, I wasn't imagining getting tongue-fucked by a mermaid, she thought to herself in a moment of aroused delirium.

Aiko let herself get fucked by the mermaid's tongue, powerless to do anything in her grasp as her tongue plunged in and out of her in a way that made Aiko's toes curl underwater.

"Fucking hell," Aiko groaned, then gasped as she felt the side of one of the mermaid's fingers brush against her still sensitive clit.

That, combined with the mermaid's tongue dragging against the front wall of her cunt was enough to catapult her into another orgasm. And this time, she couldn't hold back the scream that tore from her throat as she thrashed underwater, her legs seized even as her cunt pulsed around the mermaid's tongue. The tongue that was still fucking her somehow.

And then, when she was finally spent, boneless and thoughtless, Aiko felt the mermaid gently let go of her, sliding her tongue out of her cunt. The water shifted and Aiko could tell the mermaid had moved slightly, enough to signal that the fun was over. She attempted to pull herself up onto the dock, but her arms were impossibly weak.

To her surprise, she felt the mermaid put her hands on Aiko's legs, helping her out of the water until she was fully on the dock, laying on her side and looking down at the rippling surface. The mermaid poked her head out of the water, cocking it at an angle and baring her sharp teeth in what Aiko thought might've been a grin. The antenna on her head pulsed a soft amber glow.

"You shouldn't exist," Aiko murmured. "If I weren't so spent, I might be in shock."

The mermaid just blinked, the gills at her neck flaring.

Aiko sighed. "I guess I shouldn't have expected you to answer back."

The mermaid made a sort of garbled bubbling noise in the back of her throat and reached a hand forward, brushing a damp strand of hair back from Aiko's face and rubbing it between her clawed fingertips.

"You're surprisingly human, aren't you?" Aiko asked. The mermaid just stared at her, then moved back a few inches and bobbed in the water, cocking her head again. She looked behind her, then back to Aiko. Aiko got the sense she was trying to ask her something, but couldn't be sure what.

Sighing, Aiko started to sit up. "I should probably go home. It's not good to lay out in the cold all wet like this."

The mermaid bobbed in the water again, looking past Aiko before coming forward and dragging the tips of her fingers along the edge of the dock. She looked at Aiko, black eyes lighting up in a way that felt purposeful. Then she reached forward and slowly drew a line down Aiko's arm with the back of one claw.

"Are you...telling me to come back?"

The mermaid didn't answer, instead starting to drift away.

Frowning, Aiko watched the mermaid dip below the surface until only her eyes and antenna were visible. She lingered for a moment, her antenna flashing playfully before she disappeared underwater.

Aiko waited a moment, thinking she might come back, but after several minutes had passed, she was still alone. Sighing, she rolled to her back and looked up at the night sky. She knew she should go home, but she still couldn't quite get her limbs to do what she wanted them to do.

Watching the stars twinkle up above, Aiko wondered if the mermaid would come back the next time she visited the docks. A thrill ran through her at the thought, but then her eyes grew heavy, and she could feel sleep settling over her like a warm blanket.