Seducing the Merman (Fairies and Fantasies #1) by Eliza Daniels

Shannon woke clutching her head, which
throbbed from a headache. Her body was sore all over. Her mouth was
dry. It was like she had a hangover, but she hadn’t been drinking.
The sun shone too brightly in her eyes. She brushed off the sand
covering her skin. She was likely dehydrated.
    She gasped and leaped to her feet as
she remembered what had occurred only a few hours ago. She had been
on a small boat at sea when a storm hit and threw her overboard.
She should have worn a life vest. Then maybe she could have swum to
the life preserver they threw overboard.
    Instead she swallowed too much water
and passed out in the middle of the ocean. She was sure she was
going to die, but somehow she wound up here instead.
    She was on some kind of deserted beach.
Ocean stretched to the horizon in front of her. There was no sign
of the ship she’d fallen from.
    The wet sand and water covering her
body weighed her down. She had scrapes because of the rocks she
must have crawled across to get this far onto the shore.
    Waves lapped at her feet, but she
barely paid attention to them because on a large boulder lounged a
man. He had tan skin and a muscular chest that made Shannon's heart
flip-flop as soon as her eyes took it in. His eyes were blue like
the sea and his hair was dark blond like the sand. It fell past his
shoulders and looked almost too soft to touch.
    The strangest thing about this man was
his tail, which he had instead of legs. It was silver like a shark,
but covered in scales that shone in rainbow patterns when the sun
hit them. He waved it up and down slowly like a cat wagging its
tail in a lazy manner.
    He must have felt her stare because he
turned towards her and met her eyes. His mouth curved into a grin
that melted Shannon's heart. His teeth were so white. He was
beautiful.
    This wasn't a human-it was a merman.
Shannon rubbed her eyes and wondered if she was
hallucinating.
    She looked down at her soaking white
shirt and shorts that clung to her body. Her shirt was now
translucent because it was wet, but at least she had a bra on
underneath. She blushed as she realized how naked she was in front
of the merman.
    He seemed to like the view. He devoured
her body with his eyes, which made Shannon giggle. She approached
him on shaky knees, forcing her shyness aside.
    "So you're awake," he said.
    "Yes, my name is Shannon."
    "And I'm Gildor," the merman said. "I
found you in the middle of the ocean. I brought you here, but was
worried you might never wake-up."
    She took a seat next to him on the
boulder. "Thank you. I would have drowned without you."
    Gildor shook his head. "The mermen and
mermaids would never have allowed that to happen. Even if we
couldn't swim you to shore, we could give you a kiss and it would
make you able to breathe underwater for the day."
    Shannon's eyes lit up. "Breathing
underwater sounds like fun! Do you think maybe I could try it for
awhile?"
    She should have been more concerned
about finding her old ship and getting something to drink, but she
was so fascinated by this man that she didn't care at the moment.
She wanted to learn more about this merman and his world, so she
could tell her family and friends about him once she went back-not
that they would believe her.
    She reached into her back pocket to
find her cell phone and take a picture. It must have fallen into
the ocean though because it wasn't there. It probably would have
been destroyed because of water damage during the journey anyway,
so she chose not to worry about it too much.
    "I probably shouldn't take you for a
swim," Gildor said. "You looked tired."
    Honestly, Shannon felt exhausted. Her
muscles were sore from almost drowning and her body felt weak from
the beating it had taken from the sun, but she was too excited to
rest.
    "I'll be fine as long as you are there
next to me." She smiled. "After all, you rescued me
before."
    So they scrambled into the ocean
together until they were neck deep. After they swam out for a
little while,