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Pierre had been working on a cruise ship that had sailed the same route around the Med for years. Roberta, fascinated by humans, followed the ship on it's route, until the water became too cold. Over the time she had followed the ship, she had seen him . Her fascination had turned into infatuation. When he was on the shore, exploring the beaches and coves by himself, she would swim as close as she dared. Unable to look away from him. Or control her heart when smiled at the times he was alone in the water, looking like he had found paradise.
Pierre had always been drawn to water. As an alpha he was a strong swimmer, but he always felt like he was at home by the water. Especially around the coast of Italy. Whenever the ship drew close to the coast, he could feel himself settle. Whenever he had shore leave, he had to find his way to a certain little beach, secluded and not easily found. It was often cut off by the tides, getting on/off it required perfect timing, but whenever he could, he had to be there. Then there was the day he first saw her . Her eyes was the first thing that caught his attention. Almost the colour of the sea in which she was hiding. She was startled by him noticing her and disappeared but a second later.
He'd seen her! She had been keeping low in the water, using the rocks where possible, but he had seen her! Fear had consumed her instantly and she had sunk beneath the waves and swan to her cave as soon as possible. She ignored the pleas from her kin to join them, needing the comfort of her space. She swam to her nest, surrounded by treasures of the human world and tried to decide if the fact she had been seen was exhilarating or terrifying. Either way, she wanted to go back. Based on what she had learned over the time she had been watching him, she knew he would be gone by the next sunrise, the ship would move on, and she would follow it as always.
It had only been a second, if that, but Pierre had become fascinated by the woman he had seen in the water that day. He'd swam out to where she had been, but she had gone. Where he had no idea, there was nothing but rocks on this side of the cove and she had not gone by him. He eventually had to leave or the tide would mean he was cut off and unable to leave until it retreated once again. But swimming away wrenched at him. Back on board, he carried out his duties diligently and with his trademark megawatt smile - but his mind was in that cove. At the next stop he did not have the opportunity to swim. It was a busy city port, but there were quieter areas of the harbour. He would walk out as far as he could, scanning the sea, looking for what he never knew. Until, in the distance he caught something. He took out his phone and snapped a picture. He zoomed in as far as he could, the image blurred but he could clearly make out the eyes.... her eyes, before she had sunk into the waves again. This pattern continued for weeks, almost every port on their route, he would catch sight of her . Always in the water.
It took around a month before he caught more than a glimpse of the top of her head. She would come closer in the quieter ports. It was back at the cove again that he saw her face fully for the first time. He'd been swimming out and she had appeared a few meters in front of him. It was seconds, but he already knew he was infatuated with her after weeks of shy encounters. It was another 2 weeks before he got to be that close to her again but this time when she emerged from the water in front of him. He managed to say "Pierre", pointing to himself.
"Roberta" she replied before sinking out of sight once more.
Roberta's lifelong fascination with humans had led to her learning some of their words. They seemed to have so many and they were different on each shore. But there were common themes. And names it seemed, were universal both above and below the waves. And now she knew his . Pierre. She'd had a dreamy smile on her face since discovering it, and amazed herself that she had been bold enough to give hers in return - at least a version of her name he would understand. Since that day, they had met several times, each encounter lasting longer as Pierre tried to talk to her, trying various human languages until he hit on a word she understood. As she too tried to respond, but her voice and mouth was not used to the way humans spoke. She was always just too far for him to see her fully below the water, keeping her tail out of sight, as much as she wished for him to see it. They way it's silvery white scales caught the sun.... and how it seemed to have a mind of it's own in his presence, trying to flare out to attract a mate. But how could a human ever seen her as a mate - humans hunted and feared her kind... but not Pierre. He was different, she had always known it.
Pierre knew logically that Roberta was not... human. His mind couldn't really come to terms with what she was, because admitting he was in love with a mythical creature? Well, that was scary as fuck. Then came the day things changed. The day the sea tried to claim him. He'd been swimming in the cove, waiting for Roberta when he felt the current take him. It didn't matter if you were an alpha, the sea didn't care, she took what she wanted. Today it seemed she wanted him. The last thought he had before everything went dark was of Roberta and that he never got to tell her what she was to him…
Roberta had been held up on her way to meet Pierre, but she knew instantly as she entered the waters near the cove something was wrong. Then saw him struggling in the water, fighting the invisible foe of the current that was trying to take him down. She swam towards him pushing hard, faster than she had ever moved before, and reached him just as his body was losing the fight and being swallowed by the waves. She caught him, he weighed more than she expected, but could still haul him to the surface. She swam on her back, letting Pierre rest against the length of her body as she held his head above the water and headed towards the sore. She used the force of the incoming tide to help her towards the beach. Once on the sand, getting them both out of the water enough for Pierre to be safe took monumental effort. Trying to wedge her tail in the sand enough to allow some leverage to push them up more. Eventually they were far enough out of the water that Pierre's risk of drowning was not a concern. Being a predator of the oceans meant she had exceptional senses, his heartbeat was still strong. All she could do now was wait for him to wake up.
Pierre must have died and gone to heaven. How else could he explain what he had woken up to? As he started to come to, he became aware of the heat of the sun, sand beneath him, and as his eyes opened and began to focus on what was in front of him, a silhouette that merged into a face, the face of his love - "Roberta?" She was smiling down at him, fingers gently caressing his cheek, and against his legs.... the scales. He lifted his head slightly, his eyes treated to the sight of Roberta in all her glory. She was as long as him, or thereabouts, where her pale, near colourless skin gradually started to merge into scales and a tail that appeared silver in the sun, some scales even catching the colours of the rainbow.
"Pierre... Pierre, ok?" she asked, her voice always sounded as though the words were unnatural... and now he knew for certain that was the case.
"Pierre ok" he assured her, sitting up with it, as he brought a hand to her face. She looked so scared, as if she was prepared to be rejected by him, so he did the only thing he could think of and kissed her.
Roberta knew humans kissed one another. She had observed many different types of kiss over the years. Her own kind also used their mouth in this fashion to express desire between lovers or like humans, expressions of affection within family groups. She had been kissed a few times in her life, but never like this. Feeling it in every part of her, as the human she had fallen in love with, considered her mate, kissed her as she could only ever have dreamed. He wasn't repulsed by her, quite the opposite, as they ended up wrapped around each other. The kiss only broken enough for him to ask, "can I touch you?"
She was just about able to understand him, and there was nothing she desired more, and answered with hoarse "yes" before they crashed together again in a kiss as his hand began to gently explore her body. Down her neck, over the curve of her breasts, towards the scales that started just below her chest and melted into her tail until a noise of human voices filtered into her brain.
“Shit" Pierre growled, at the voices. He always told someone where he was going in case there was trouble or he was late - so he must have been missing for hours for a search party to come looking for him. The tide had pulled out again, moving Roberta wouldn't be straightforward. "Roberta" he said, ensuring she could see his face. If she couldn't understand his words, she would be able to see his expressions. "They are from my ship, they are looking for me, I've been gone too long. You need to get back into the water before they find you!" He hauled himself up, he looked towards the cliffs. They would only be a few minutes... Roberta looked terrified. Seeing no other option, Pierre wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her off the beach, bridal style and carried her into the water until it was deep enough for her to swim away with ease.
"Pierre?"
"Go, before they find you."
"Pierre come back?'"
“Always.”
Roberta had never been so scared in her life. The sound of the humans approaching and the look of fear on Pierre's face as he lifted her and placed her in the water. She was afraid to come back to the cove, but she would if it meant she got to be with him again. She could still feel his fingers running across her skin, caressing her tail. His lips on hers as he all but devoured her. She wanted more of him. Her body already recognized him as her mate and the news to be taken by was overwhelming. She arrived at the cove the next day, waiting all day for her mate to show up. He didn't. Nor the next day. Or the next. By the fourth day, Roberta had almost lost hope of ever seeing him again. She stayed below the surface in her despair, not wanting to watch another sunset, knowing that he wouldn't be there that day either. Just as she was about to swim back to her home, she heard splashing. She swam to the surface, peeking above the waves to see Pierre already chest deep in the water and still moving outwards. His eyes searching for her.
At the insistence of his crew, Pierre spent a few days resting after being seen by a doctor. He was restless. He wanted to go out and see Roberta again, but one of his crew was always with him in the little cabin he had rented until he was well enough (or until they thought he was well enough) to go back to work. Pierre was fine. All he wanted was to go into the cove to be with her again. To love her and claim her and - Claim her? How could that even be possible? How could he tie Roberta to him? She lived in the water, he on land. They would always be separated. And because of his job, he was constantly on the move. He couldn't expect Roberta to just swim after him everywhere he went. That would just be selfish of him. It was nice to think about though. After four days, he was finally able to leave the cabin and he went straight for the cove. His smile was bright as he searched for his love, only for confusion to take over when he couldn't find her. "Roberta?" He called out. Had she left? He promised her he'd be back and he wasn't . What if she thought that he forgot about her? No. No, he couldn't get that be the last thought she had of him.
He waded into the water, looking all over the cove. Where was she? He went further out, until it was almost up to his neck when he saw her beautiful eyes above the surface. "Roberta," he breathed out a sigh of relief, his heart beating rapidly in his chest as he caught sight of her again. She swam to him as fast as she could, her body breaching the waves as she wrapped her arms around his neck and his went around her waist, hands rubbing at the skin of her back and along her scales. "Back," she murmured into his ear. "You said back." Pierre could hear her voice wavering, like she was holding back tears and he held her tighter.
"I am so sorry. I never meant to be gone this long. I couldn't get away. But I'm here. I'm back." He pulled back from her embrace, brushing her wet hair from her face and caressing her cheek.
"Pierre come back." She surged forward and kissed him, her tail brushing against his legs as it swished back and forth in a frenzy under the water. She wanted him. She needed him. She had her mate back and she was not going to let him go again.