I find Gerrick and Kaeva easily using my new tracking powers. I could barely feel them with my tail so they probably can't feel me sneak up and hide behind some seaweed. Gerrick is sitting on a rock with his head in his hands with Kaeva swimming around him barking at him, obviously cross.
"What the hell was that, Gerrick? You almost kissed the Queen! In front of Lord Mike!"
"I didn't know he was that important, Kaeva."
"Okay, forget Lord Mike. How about you almost kissing the Queen? What got into you?"
"I don't know okay?" Gerrick gets up from the rock and turns his back to her. "I don't know why I did that. There's just something about her..."
"Of course there is. She is Queen of the Merpeople; you're bound to feel a connection to her, to serve her. I do."
"I know but from the moment she looked at me, I felt something in her eyes unlock something. Like all I wanted to do was... please her. Do you know what I mean? Don't make me spell it out."
"That's called lust, Gerrick."
"No! It radiated from her like a pulse, only much stronger than any I've ever felt. And the closer I got, the more I felt. And it looked like she was feeling the same thing."
At the mention of the pulse, Kaeva starts to think. "We know that the Queen can sense and affect the feelings and emotions of merpeople around her. Maybe she did this to you unintentionally. She is still learning how to use her powers. And she's pregnant."
"Exactly. But what am I supposed to do now?"
"I guess just fight off the pulses until we get to the palace, which should take a month and a half. You're going to have to manage." This trip is taking a month and a half? How am I supposed to keep myself off him for that long? Or him off me? Damn you pregnancy brain and mermaid-Queen-empathy!
To stop delaying the inevitable, I swim out from behind the seaweed. "Hey guys, I'm here. Sorry it took so long." I try to avoid any eye contact with this man's perfect blue... get it together! Gerrick almost chokes in surprise. "Greetings, your Majesty. Was Lord Mike taken safely back to shore then?"
"Yeah. But hey, you two can just call me Victoria or Tori for short. This seems like it'll be a long journey. You guys don't need to be so formal."
"Are you sure? We do not wish to disrespect."
"No problem."
Gerrick swims up to me and bows. "As you wish, Victoria." I can see he is trying to be formal but why did he get so close.
Trying avoid whatever pulse-fiasco happened before, I blurt out, "So what we're you guys talking about? Is everything okay?" Kaeva swims between us and gently pushes him away. "Ma... Victoria, forgive Gerrick's behavior. It took Gerrick and myself almost a week to travel here from the capitol at our top speed. We're quite spent and were discussing whether it would be a good idea to stop and rest for the night in a small village we passed on the way here. It's only a few hours swim, no rush. What do you think?"
"Sounds like a good idea. Shall we go?"
"Of course, Victoria. Gerrick, why don't you take lead first? I'll stay with her."
Gerrick nods and swims farther into the open sea. I can still feel his energy, but it's easier to focus on whats directly around me now. "Alright, here we go" I whisper to myself and we start swimming.
Kaeva and I don't talk much at first but the inevitable connection between females takes over and soon we're talking away. The topic of Lord Mike comes up. "I can't believe I almost kissed Gerrick in front of him. I don't know what got over me."
Kaeva tries to bite her tongue. "Well Gerrick is quite an attractive young merman."
"Yes but Mike was right there. Stupid pregnancy hormones."
Kaeva looks at me, confused. "Excuse me, but what are hormones? Mermaids traditionally aren't told the specifics of child-rearing until after they've mated." I try my best to explain to her what my OB/GYN told me. The mermaid seems to understand and her eyes light up wide. "That explains so much!" But then she remembers that conversation was supposed to be in secret and tries to recover. But I cut off her stammering. "Kaeva, it's okay. I heard you and Gerrick talking earlier."
"You did? But we couldn't sense you." She shrugs. "I guess if the Queen doesn't want to be found, she won't be. But please don't take it out on Gerrick. He couldn't help it; your pulse just overpowered him. That's why I sent him to take point first, so he could clear his head. Don't be mad for us not talking to you first."
"It's okay, Kaeva. Take a deep breath. I think distance is the best thing for now. We both can clear our heads before you two switch out. How much longer before then?"
"The halfway point is about an hour away."
"Good. By then, I should be clear of any strange pulses and we can focus on getting to that town. Now..." I point to a small striped fish that darted behind a rock. "...Can I talk to fish?" Kaeva laughs and she teaches me how.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hour goes by rather quickly while talking with Kaeva. But soon enough I feel Gerrick's pulse draw closer and stronger as he comes back to meet with us. "He's coming back." We stop and wait on a nearby rock.
"Don't worry, Victoria. Remember, try to keep it together until we get to the village. Then we'll figure something out." Gerrick appears from behind some coral and bows. "Victoria, Kaeva, we're about halfway to the village. Kaeva and I should go ahead and switch out now."
Kaeva nods, swims over to Gerrick, places a hand on his shoulder, and whispers to him "Remember to be careful," before disappearing into the coral ahead. Leaving me and Gerrick alone. Which shouldn't be a problem right? "We should get going, Gerrick." He silently nods and leads me into the coral forest. We swim in silence through the rainbow formations, ignoring the obvious tension between us. For the majority of our journey through the strange forest, I ignore him completely and instead watch the fish swarming around us. We continue down the path in silence until near the end, I mess everything up. I steal a glance of him and immediately regret it as I find myself staring. I try not to let my mind dwell on how perfect he is. But damn it, I can't stop. I feel my heart beat faster and I can see his back start to tense up. Oh no, the pulse! He's feeling this too. I rub my belly to try to ground me, but then Gerrick stops. "Victoria. I can't do this."
I try to feign ignorance. "What do you mean?" He swims back and forth in a pacing motion. "Victoria. You are my queen. So I feel a connection to you." He stops and takes my hand in his, his strong hands gently cradling mine. "I never apologized for what happened between us in front of Lord Mike." I try to speak, but he stops me. "Please Majesty, let me finish. Every since I felt you, I wanted to be near you. But when I saw you, I feel under your spell. Now whether its just your magic pulses affecting me or your astounding beauty, I don't know. But I do know that, well..." He starts to laugh. "I could get arrested for this." I place my hand on his shoulder to calm him but pulls me close to him. Closer than we were earlier on the surface. His chest is inches from mine and my outstretched belly touches his carved out abs. We both breathe heavy with anticipation. He smiles and rests his head on my forehead. Part of me wants to pull away, but I'm powerless under his touch. "I meant what I said earlier, Victoria. I am unable to resist your pull. But if you want me to stop all you have to say is 'no' and I will force myself to leave you alone and when we reach the city, Kaeva can find you a new escort. But at least give me a chance."
He places a hand on my hip and the other caresses my face. My body trembles under his touch so my throat can't find the voice to stop him. Gerrick pulls my face to his and pulls me into a deep kiss. Instant fireworks shoot out all over my body leaving my heart warm and buzzing with excitement. I wrap my arms around his neck and force my tongue into his mouth, as we begin to make out even harder. His straying hand slides down my body, gracing every curve as it reaches my lower back. I shudder, forcing a moan to escape my lips. He starts to grunt as he rubs my back and sides and pulls me down to the sea floor. He places my back gently onto a patch of sea grass and looks at me while hovering above my aching body. His lips are slightly puffy from making out and his eyes are sparkling with desire. Gerrick lowers himself to kiss me again but I feel a strong vibration in my tail that snaps me out of it. "Gerrick! Stop I feel something."
"Me too," he says still dazed and tries to kiss me again. "No, not that. Someone's coming. Fast!" His eyes widen and he understands. "Kaeva! We fell behind and she'll be looking for us. But I can't feel her."
"Queen senses. Look can you swim us ahead fast? She can't suspect anything." He looks at me concerned. "What about you? You shouldn't go that fast in your condition."
"I'm tougher than I look and it'll just be for a little while. We just can't be this far behind." He sighs and picks me up in his arms like a bride but I don't think he understands the symbolism. His strong arms tighten their hold around me. "Alright, hold on", he says before blasting forward. I'm forced to tuck my face into his chest to avoid the onslaught of bubbles in my face but I can tell we're going really fast. We swim like this before Gerrick shouts "I feel her pulse" and slows down. He still carries me in his arms though and keeps me there until we catch up with Kaeva. She swims up to us sword drawn. "Are you okay Majesty? What happened?"
Gerrick speaks up. "Relax, Kaeva. Everything is okay. We fell behind because her tail got swollen and she needed to rest for a while. Then I started to carry her to pick up the pace." I smile and shrug. "Yeah, sorry Kaeva. We didn't mean to worry you." She looks between both of us suspiciously, but in the end believes our lie. "Well, alright then. Lets get moving though, this coral forest gets more dangerous at night. We finally get through the extensive forest and the path lowers down a hill to the small town below. Each of the half a dozen houses looks like a tiny sandcastle. "We're here" Gerrick whispers into my ear and we descend into the town.