Beneath the Current Read online

  He felt a playful tug on his tail and turned to see Thomas's masked face. Casey loved when his uncle joined him in the waters. He sometimes imagined Thomas was like him, and he didn't feel so alone in the vastness of the ocean. Knowing there was no one else out there like him, no one he could ever be with besides his two caretakers, often left him feeling rather depressed. Which was probably why Uncle Thomas brought him out here so much, knowing that Casey felt so alone and confined.

  The brightness of the moon penetrated the first few feet of the ocean waters creating a halo effect around Uncle Thomas as Casey looked up at him from below. He felt Thomas's hand tighten on the flare of his tail and he grinned as he took off, playing their favorite game of seeing how long Thomas could hold on as Casey sped through the waters.

  He pulled up as soon as he felt his uncle's hand slide free and turned. He knew Uncle Martin was nervous with Thomas in the night-darkened waters so he would always keep a close eye on him. Casey could see better than Thomas in the dim light and would be more likely to see the approach of a shark or other predator before his uncle. The few times Casey had caught sight of a shark or barracuda, he'd been able to steer Thomas back to the boat before either man had been any wiser, and fortunately, the offender had swam away without coming closer. Maybe because Casey's tail mimicked that of a dolphin, Casey wasn't sure why they tended to avoid him, but he definitely used it to his advantage and protected his uncle.

  After a couple hours of the midnight swim, Casey followed the boat back toward shore. He would continue to swim in the small cove and along the shoreline while his uncles moored the boat. He watched as Martin grabbed Thomas as soon as they were on short dock. Uncle Martin's large hands wrapped around Thomas's waist, pulling him in tight against his body. Thomas pressed himself against his partner's chest, and Casey could hear the moans of passion even from where he was floating on the tide.

  The sight of the two men entangled in each other's arms enflamed Casey's body, causing a delightful tingle to ripple through his belly. He knew this feeling, he'd had it as he'd perused websites of other men engaged with each other. He'd tried others with a man and a woman, and even two women, but none caused his body to react as much as the website of the hard bodies of two men intertwined in each other's arms. He often imagined himself as one of them as he stroked himself to pleasure.

  But now, he felt that odd tingle in his mer form, and that had never happened before. He glided deeper, trying to push away the erotic thoughts, not knowing what would happen if he had them while in his mer form. He had the sudden urge to transform back, which was unusual for a full moon night where he preferred to stay in this form until almost dawn.

  He focused on the coral instead, allowing his tail to scrape along hard edges, using the sting of pain push to back his desires. When he came up fifteen minutes later for air, he briefly noticed his uncles had moved. But the soft grunts and groans from the shadows near the rocky cliff made him dive again. He knew they'd moved so he couldn't see them, and they probably thought he couldn't hear them as well. They didn't know just how good his sight and hearing were, and he didn't want to intrude on their privacy. Thomas would call for him when he was ready to head back up to the house. At that point, if Casey still felt the need to transform, he'd have to spend the time in the tank as his uncles headed to bed.

  It wasn't but a few more minutes when he could hear his uncle's voice calling from above the soft crashing of the tide.

  "Casey! Sweetheart! Time to go in!" Thomas called.

  His sandy head popped up from the shadowed waters as he took in his uncle's form. Uncle Martin was already at the bottom of the path leading up to the house, waiting on them. Casey waved briefly in acknowledgement as he focused his mind, fighting the moon's enticing pull and forcing his body back into his human form. As his tail seemed to split, he bit back the cry that always threatened to escape. It was the moment he hated the most, as his body seemed to rip in two before melding back into two long legs.

  He swam over to the dock, lazily kicking his feet, before hoisting his naked body up onto the wooden planks. Uncle Thomas handed him a towel that he wrapped around his waist.

  The man's strong arms wrapped around him in a comforting hug, and Casey leaned against the older man. A firm hand swept over his dripping hair, and he felt a fatherly kiss pressed to the top of his head.

  "You okay?" Thomas asked, always concerned about how Casey felt about transforming back on full moon nights.

  Casey nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I'm good. It was fun tonight. Thanks for swimming with me."

  Thomas playfully ruffled his wet hair. "You know I love it. But this old body isn't as energetic as yours and I can't swim all night like you probably could."

  Casey batted at the man's shoulder with a frown. "You're not old, quit saying that."

  Thomas chuckled. "Well, I'm older than you. And this old man needs some rest."

  Casey just glared at him for continuing to deride himself. He knew Thomas was just teasing like he always did.

  "Come on, bud," Thomas said as he wrapped on arm around Casey's slender shoulders. "Let's head up. As much as I know you'd like to stay out here all night, it's just not safe for you to be out here by yourself. You know that."

  "I do," Casey agreed.

  "God, if anything ever happened to you..."

  Casey heard the hitch in Thomas's voice and felt the tightening of fingers on his shoulder and knew the man was fighting back his emotions. He looked up to see a faint glimmer in the man's eyes.

  "Don't worry, uncle," Casey assured him. "I'll do anything you and Uncle Martin tell me to do. I know you are doing everything you can to keep me safe."

  "Good," Thomas sniffed slightly. "I just don't want you to think we don't want you to be happy, it's just..."

  When his uncle couldn't finish, Casey reached up to pat the hand draped on his shoulder. "I know. I understand," he reiterated, "I really do. You both are sacrificing so much for me already. I don't feel resentful at all. I know you're just protecting me, and I have to accept some limits."

  There was a time when he'd rebelled briefly and had been angry about being reigned in and not allowed the freedom he felt he needed. Which was probably why Thomas continually had doubts now. It had taken Uncle Martin's hard lessons of what could happen should he be discovered for him to truly understand the reasons for his uncles' rules and autocratic decisions.

  "You know we love you, don't you?" Thomas said softly.

  Casey smiled and nodded, reveling in the warmth of his uncle's embrace. "I love you both, too."

  A salty tear slipped down his cheek at the memory of his Uncle Thomas, mixing with the splash of the tide crashing through the iron gate. He gazed longingly out at the open ocean, the image of the man frolicking in the waters with him floated through his mind as Casey drank in the lunar glow. He missed the gentle currents of the deeper ocean, the way the water caressed his body as he floated along. Currents closer to shore were rougher, stronger, and while he still loved the tidal flux, the softer flow farther from shore was now a luxury that he sorely missed.

  The rush of water through the gate buoyed him up and down with its harsh pull. He fought the outgoing tide to keep himself from being bashed up against the grate. As water rushed in, he allowed it to push him further into the cave. It was fairly deep, and he had plenty of room to turn and move but not really to swim like his mer side itched to do. He floated on his back, looking up through the iron bars at the bright moon, as he did every full moon night now. Seeing the moon through the bars only reinforced how different he was, what a freak he was, not really part of either the land or the sea.

  And with Thomas no longer here to spend part of these nights with him, he would spend the entire night locked in the cave by himself until his uncle came down in the morning to open it. He settled himself back in the waters for his long lonely night.

  Chapter 6

  A strong breeze ruffled his bed sheet, and Shawn rolled to his side, inhal
ing the salty ocean air. After driving Jenny back to town so she could fly back out, he'd spent some time unpacking, reorganizing the kitchen, and playing on the internet watching the speculations fly as to where he'd disappeared off to. That was two days ago. Now that the adrenaline rush of his whirlwind relocation was wearing off, he felt strangely...calm this morning.

  The last couple days had been rather dismal and rainy so he'd spent the time indoors finishing organizing his new home. But the weather had cleared up yesterday afternoon, and he'd been able to sit on the deck and take in the peacefulness of the full moon blanketing the expansive dark waters. The rhythmic crash of the waves upon the shore had nearly lulled him to sleep in the lounge chair.

  As the breeze washed over him again, he was briefly glad the window faced out to the west, so he wasn't bombarded bright and early with the morning sun. It was still bright enough as it was without it streaming straight in the window. He had the fleeting thought that maybe he should get some black out curtains or something but dismissed that thought as he sat up and caught sight of the sun glinting off the clear turquoise waters for the first time since he'd arrived.

  Okay, so maybe that was worth an early morning wake up call.

  He pushed himself up out of bed, rubbing his hand over his tousled chocolate hair. It was so dark brown it was almost black in dim lighting. Although, he had noticed it often lightened a bit in the summer, and he briefly wondered if the sun and surf here would highlight it even more. He rubbed his bare flat stomach as he stood for a moment staring out the window in only his favorite blue plaid boxers.

  After relieving himself in the bathroom, he made his way to the kitchen and flipped on the brand-new coffee maker. He poured a bowl of his high protein-high fiber cereal while the scent of java filled the air. He started to sit down at the kitchen table to eat since he was still in just his boxers.

  "What the hell," he grinned as he picked up his bowl and strutted out onto his new back deck. He set his breakfast bowl down, reveling in the risqué feeling of the breeze causing the light layer of fabric to buffet against his groin. He almost felt like he wasn't wearing anything at all, and that sent shivers down his spine.

  Feeling freer and lighter than he had in days, he stepped back inside long enough to grab his coffee before coming back out to settle at the small table. He propped his feet up on one of the rails of the deck as he enjoyed the breeze and ate his breakfast.

  As he finished, he shifted in the chair. A few minutes later, he squirmed again. Damn, he thought, am I already getting bored? The quiet was nice, but he wondered if the solitude would become trite really quickly. He wasn't used to sitting around unless he was writing.

  He rose and dragged his laptop outside with him. Maybe after he checked emails and such he'd be able to let go more. Maybe he'd even write a scene for a new book, even if it never made it into print. Just something to focus on other than how his life had blown up in his face.

  He had barely sat back down when a splash in the waters off to his left caught his attention. Through the deck rails, he would have sworn he saw the tail of some large fish splash the surface before disappearing under the surf. The sunlight reflecting off the waters caused him to have to squint to see if he could catch sight of it again.

  Maybe it was a dolphin... or hell, even a shark, he wondered excitedly. It certainly seemed bigger than just some fish jumping out of the water. He rose to stand at the rail, scanning the water intently. For a moment, he could see a large dark shape gliding under the water, but then the sun blinded him and he lost track of it, and he began to wonder if it had disappeared into the open ocean.

  He almost turned to sit back down, but something popped up out of the water near the far end of the island. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was a person. Instinctively, he scanned for the large creature he'd seen earlier, worried that maybe the person could be in danger. But he didn't see any large shapes in the water, so his eyes cast back to see the person rising out of the waters.

  "Damn," Shawn murmured as he took in the lean bare chest of the young man. The man shook his head, sending a spray of water from his toffee colored hair before smoothing it back with his hands.

  As the man trudged out of the surf, slowly revealing more of his body, Shawn openly admired the expanse of the man's flat stomach, the strong V-cut of his hipbone, lean thighs and ...

  "Oh, fuck," Shawn breathed.

  The guy was naked. And not just naked but gloriously, beautifully naked. And wet.

  Shawn didn't realize just how long he'd stood there gawking like a fucking teenage girl, until he realized that the guy had slipped on some khaki shorts and sandals and was heading up a path along the side of the cliff behind the larger house.

  "Oh, please God, let him be my new neighbor," Shawn breathed, grinning to himself. "Maybe this little exile from the rest of the world won't be so bad after all."

  ****

  Casey stepped onto the back deck after climbing the rocky path from the beach, feeling relaxed and energized from his early morning swim. Martin had opened the gate just before dawn before traipsing back up to the house. He always let Casey swim for a while around the edges of the island after having been cooped up in the cave overnight to burn off his excess energy.

  He slid open the sliding glass door and stepped toward the kitchen. He'd barely rounded the kitchen island before his cheek exploded in pain and he felt himself falling backward, scraping his side against the counter before his hip hit the floor.

  "What the hell were you thinking?" Martin roared, and Casey managed to shake off the shock of realizing that his uncle had just hit him to stare up at the man in alarm.

  His hand slowly touched his cheek, still not fully comprehending that his uncle had actually hit him. He'd only done that a few times, years ago after Uncle Thomas had died. Casey had learned to avoid setting him off, being around him when he was thinking too much about Thomas. But this... this came out of nowhere.

  His frown obviously betrayed his confusion to Martin, who continued to glare at him, even though he was holding his hand gingerly now. Casey wondered if he was as surprised by what he'd done as Casey was.

  "I told you to stay around to the south side of the island," Martin ground out.

  Fuck, that was all? Casey slowly rose to his feet, facing his uncle's wrath as calmly as he could, but he could feel his body trembling already. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Telling the man that he was playing with a sea turtle probably wouldn't make a difference. Actually it'd probably make it worse.

  "We have those damn neighbors now," Martin said. "You can't be so fucking careless. If they'd seen you..."

  "Yeah, yeah, I know, I'd be a media freak, locked up in some lab," Casey murmured, unable to keep the sarcasm out of his voice as he repeated his uncle's constant tirade, using it to mask his fear. He'd heard it for years. He tried to step past his uncle to the kitchen, but Martin grabbed his bicep.

  "You're my responsibility, and I don't want anything to happen to you," Martin said firmly.

  Casey's anger and fear flared as he yanked his arm from his larger uncle's grasp. "Then don't fucking hit me again."

  Martin's eyes widened at the show of defiance, and Casey secretly reveled in it, even as he could feel his body shaking. Maybe the man was realizing that Casey wasn't a little kid anymore, he thought as he noticed Martin cradling his stinging hand. He wasn't the sixteen year old kid whose heart had been broken by a callous closet case. He wasn't the little kid Thomas had comforted during his nightmares. And he wasn't the smaller boy that he'd been able to knock around so easily.

  It wasn't often that Casey felt strong enough to stand up to his uncle at all, but he was at the height of his energy, of his spirit, having just spent the evening in the moon's lunar embrace. Even knowing that Martin could basically incapacitate him with just the push of a button, he had still pushed his uncle.

  "You're still in my care," Martin stated, drawing himself up to his full height to tower over
Casey's more diminutive form, but Casey forced himself not to flinch this time.

  "Yeah, well, if you're so tired of me, just take off this damn collar, and I'll take off. You won't have to fucking worry about me anymore," Casey snapped back, not exactly sure where this bravado was coming from. As terrified as he would be out on his own, he wouldn't beg for his uncle's help. If the man truly wanted to get rid of him, being on his own would be preferable to staying here where he was a burden.

  There was a glitter of worry in the man's eyes, and Casey had the brief hope that maybe it was for him—that Martin did care about what happened to him. Then the man seemed to deflate, and he managed to look rather contrite and maybe even a bit sorry.

  "Look, I'm sorry I hit you," Martin said softly. "I—I was just so worried when I saw you come out of the water behind the house...I worried one of them might see you."

  "So what if they do?" he shrugged.

  "Because they could see you in your mer form before you come out of the water. You're not used to having to be careful because there's never been anyone but me to see you before."

  Casey nodded his understanding. That was true. It would be easy to be careless.

  "You have to promise me you'll keep to the house. No wandering or swimming when I'm not here to keep an eye on you."

  Casey turned to the kitchen, grabbing a coffee mug. "Fine."

  He would have sworn he saw a flash of annoyance in his uncle's face before the man grabbed his tablet and stormed off to his office/laboratory. Casey took a deep breath as he poured his coffee. He suddenly felt drained and tired, the rush of adrenaline from the confrontation with his uncle fading.

  Shit, had he really done that? Yelled at his uncle? What the hell was he thinking?

  But then he smiled. Whatever the hell he was thinking, it felt good.

  ****