Sweet & Spicy Lesbian Short Stories (GirlxGirl)

The Mermaid in the Bering Sea: Part 2

The mermaid pulls off my glove and entwines my hand in hers, and I'm so numb that I barely feel it. My hand is skeletal white.

"Have you made peace with death?" she asks.

A huge swell lifts us up to the heavens, then down into the deepest trough, and all the while, the mermaid grips my hand tightly.

I scoff. "No. I've barely lived."

As I look at our entwined fingers, tears burn in my tired eyes. I grip her tighter.

"I don't believe you," she says. "How did you end up here? By living, no?"

"But I haven't done what I want to do, or seen what I want to see, or..." So many regrets swirl around in my brain—and maybe it's this irresistible mermaid bringing one particular thought to the front, or maybe it was hovering there all along, but the first thing out of my lips is, "I let the girl I love go. She's married now, and I never even told her how I feel."

I wipe my other hand across my teary eyes, which makes my face even wetter.

"Why not?" the mermaid asks gently. She's closer, her sweet breath filling me. My lips tingle, and I fight the urge to run my fingers through her long hair and pull her face to mine.

This must be the allure. She's toying with me, seducing me with her magic, before she drowns me.

It doesn't matter. I'm going to die soon anyway.

"Because my parents wanted me to marry a man with a good job," I say, "have kids, buy a house in the suburbs..." My words dry up, and my throat is too tight to finish the sentence.

Instead, I spiraled around secret crushes on girls, hating my parents, wishing for an escape to a place where I would be accepted.

Beads of water drip down the mermaid's curly hair and roll over her shoulders. I study her strong arms and her delicate, feminine hands, and I can't deny this feeling of want in my heart. I love women, and I always have. I'm attracted to this mermaid in a way I've never felt with any man. But I've never been able to admit this, and now it's too late.

I draw a slow breath, and let it out in a huff. "The only decision I made for myself was when I moved to Alaska to take a job as a fisher. I snapped. I took the first job opening that would get me far away from my parents and anyone they expected me to marry. And look where that got me."

The mermaid is quiet for a moment. "Maybe you're here with me for a reason. Maybe you weren't meant to live on land, nor were you meant to do what your parents—"

A spark of anger rises in me. "You think I'm supposed to die today?"

"That's not what I mean." She pushes my hood back to comb her soft fingers through my hair. She caresses my face and traces a finger along my lower lip.

Pleasure ripples through me, warm and blissful, like it's the only thing keeping me alive.

"Wait, you're the one who brought back my phone when I dropped it in the water," I say, drawing a sudden connection to that bewildering memory of finding my lost phone on the edge of the deck.

The mermaid's lips curve into a tiny smile.

"How long did you watch our ship?" I ask.

"I've seen you every day for two months."

My heart skips. So I've had a guardian angel all this time.

"I feel your aura," she says, her brow pinched as she traces a finger over my jawline. "Your heart is strong, and you're not ready to die."

"My heart isn't strong," I say, choking on the words. "I've lived in fear."

"That isn't true," the mermaid says, and her tone is so sharp that I shut up. "It takes a brave person to sail these waters."

"This isn't bravery. If I were brave, I would have lived differently. I would have let myself love who I love, and I would have told my parents to shove it long ago."

The mermaid looks at me so tenderly, with such understanding, that a lump rises in my throat. Like looking at the sun, I can't keep my gaze on her for long.

"Wanting to be accepted by your family doesn't make you weak," she says. "Being scared doesn't mean you're not brave."

"Then what does it mean?"

"It means you care. You care about your family, you care about others, and you care about your place in the world. You have so much love inside you that you put it before everything else, including your own happiness."

Her words make my chest tighten. I want to believe she's right. I don't want to reach the end of my life resenting myself for the choices I made and the fears I had.

"Well, I'm done with all of that," I say. "I'm done caring about what anyone else thinks. I'm done being scared. And—"

A little smile tugs at the mermaid's lips. I meet her gaze, my heart flipping.

"And I think you're really beautiful and sweet, and if you were a person, I would ask you out," I say in a rush—and as the words pass my lips, my body feels lighter.

There. I did it. I admitted my feelings out loud.

And even though I might be about to die, I feel pretty good. At least I asked out one girl before I died.

Sort of.

Hypothetically asking out a mermaid will have to do.

The mermaid's smile widens, and the sight is so beautiful that my breath catches. She lets out a little laugh that rings like a melody over the wind. "And my answer is yes."

I blink. "Yes? You mean you would go out with me?"

"Of course."

I didn't think she would answer. And I sure didn't think I was good enough to snag someone so gorgeous.

I smile back, the muscles in my face tight after spending so long not using them.

She leans in, and I can see every bead of water on her smooth face. My belly swoops.

Wait, is she going to kiss me?

Surprised, I lean back.

She stops. She touches a finger to my lips, something curious behind her eyes. It's like she's asking me a question.

"I can help you," she murmurs.

What is she on about? Is she trying to kiss me or save me?

"Do you want to live underwater?" she asks, and the question hovers over us, taking a long time to reach my brain.

"I..." My heartbeat quickens. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that mermaids have been turning lost sailors into merpeople for millennia. All it takes is a kiss."

~

Part 3 coming tomorrow! Read the full story right now on "Sweet & Spicy Sapphic Stories" at patreon.com/tianawarner. Plus you'll get early access to next week's story.