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Hua Cheng ducks into the little cave at the edge of his private beach, nerves buzzing with excitement. It’s been a long day, but soon he’ll be with his beloved.
He strips off his swim trunks and steps into the quiet pool in the middle of the cave, the warm water beginning to wash away the worries of human life. Paperwork? CEO? What are those? The only thing that matters is the merman he’s waiting for.
He waits for much longer than usual. His knees sink into the soft sand as the gentle waves lap at his shoulders. His brow furrows. Is Xie Lian okay? He has no way to know. He’s confined to the surface.
Finally, the water ripples at the entrance to the cave. Hua Cheng’s heart leaps.
Xie Lian’s head pops up in front of him. “San Lang!” he exclaims.
“Gege!” Hua Cheng responds, his face breaking into a smile. He reaches out. “Are you okay?”
“I have to tell you something,” Xie Lian says, grabbing onto Hua Cheng’s arms. His claws prick at Hua Cheng’s skin, a reminder of the fact that he’s an apex predator.
Hua Cheng shivers. It’s not from fear or cold. “What is it, gege?” he asks, gaze dropping to his beloved’s mouth.
Xie Lian’s lips are parted, revealing his sharp teeth. Hua Cheng has seen - and felt - them in action. They can tear through flesh with ease, whether that flesh belongs to an unlucky fish or a very lucky human.
Xie Lian leans closer and captures Hua Cheng’s mouth with his.
Hua Cheng certainly isn’t planning to complain about that. He makes a soft noise, opening his mouth for Xie Lian’s tongue, and when Xie Lian’s arms loop around his waist, he loops his own arms around Xie Lian’s shoulders, pulling him close.
Xie Lian flips them over with an effortless twist of his tail, pulling Hua Cheng onto his chest and swimming toward the deeper end of the pool. Hua Cheng moans as he feels Xie Lian’s erection pressing against his stomach.
“You said you had to tell me something,” he gasps out. “What was it?”
Xie Lian flips them again, pinning Hua Cheng against the wall of the cave. His eyes are luminous in the low light, glimmering gold with slitted pupils. “I’m - in season,” he says, sounding distracted, and drives his hips into Hua Cheng’s with a flick of his powerful tail. He leans forward, nosing at Hua Cheng’s neck. “I don’t know if I can hold back.”
“In season?” Hua Cheng asks, breathless.
“Mating season,” Xie Lian explains, scraping his teeth over Hua Cheng’s skin. “My eggs are ready.”
“Eggs,” Hua Cheng repeats, startled. He knows a little bit about mer anatomy and reproduction, but only what he’s managed to coax out of a flustered Xie Lian in the throes of pleasure. Is Xie Lian saying Hua Cheng’s human body can properly incubate his young?
Xie Lian leans back. “If you don’t want them,” he promises, looking like he’s struggling to keep himself in check, “I can go deal with it on my own.”
Hua Cheng tightens his grip on Xie Lian’s shoulders. “No,” he says firmly. “I would be honored to take your eggs.”
Relief washes over Xie Lian’s expression, and then something feral takes hold.
Before he has time to process it, Hua Cheng’s world flips. Suddenly, he’s pressed front-first against the slick wall of the cave. Xie Lian is a solid weight behind him, claws scraping down his sides.
“Gege,” he moans, hooking his ankles around Xie Lian’s tail. “I’m ready, just - take it out and fuck me -”
Xie Lian tugs at the plug inside him. It slides out easily, and Hua Cheng inhales at the sudden feeling of emptiness. He needs his beloved inside him now.
The tip of Xie Lian’s cock nudges against him, slick and cold. And then Xie Lian pushes all the way in.
It’s overwhelming, being suddenly filled with Xie Lian’s formidable length. Hua Cheng cries out, scrabbling at the cave wall until Xie Lian pins his wrists down, nipping at his neck.
“Gege,” he gasps. “Please - please -”
He’s not sure what he’s begging for, but Xie Lian seems to know well enough. He pulls partway out, then drives himself back in, and Hua Cheng sobs at the stimulation.
“San Lang,” Xie Lian hisses, his voice descending into something near-incomprehensible. “My San Lang.”
“Yours, always yours,” Hua Cheng agrees, and Xie Lian punctuates the exchange with a thrust, then another. Hua Cheng tilts his head to the side, a silent request to be marked, and Xie Lian sinks his teeth in, sending sharp, glorious pain down his spine.
Xie Lian’s thrusts pick up speed, pounding into Hua Cheng with wild abandon. He’s normally much more restrained and precise, aiming at Hua Cheng’s prostate with each thrust, but this time it feels like he’s gone feral, chasing only his own pleasure.
Hua Cheng shudders at the thought, letting out a low moan as Xie Lian moves to bite further down his neck. Xie Lian should chase his own pleasure. He focuses far too much on Hua Cheng’s. Hua Cheng would be happy to be used as a toy, just a sleeve for his beloved to fuck into.
“San Lang,” Xie Lian gasps. “T-they’re coming. I can’t stop them.”
Hua Cheng turns his head as much as he can to look back at him. “Your eggs?” he asks, a thrill running through his body.
“M-hm,” Xie Lian confirms, biting at Hua Cheng’s shoulder.
“Give them to me,” Hua Cheng begs, arching his back at the wonderful pain of those sharp teeth sinking into his flesh. “Please, gege, I can take it.”
Xie Lian thrusts forward, hard, and Hua Cheng feels something thick pressing at his entrance. An egg, he realizes with a rush of exhilaration. The first egg is passing into him.
“San Lang,” Xie Lian moans, his grip tightening around Hua Cheng’s wrists.
“Gege,” Hua Cheng moans back, tilting his head further to the side. The egg pushes into him, pressing against his prostate until his vision blurs, then settles deep in his stomach.
Xie Lian bites at his exposed neck, and Hua Cheng lets out an overwhelmed noise as his body stretches around the second egg.
“How many?” he manages, dazed.
Xie Lian trills, an unearthly, warbling sound, and Hua Cheng loses focus as the egg presses against his prostate.
“Don’t know,” Xie Lian pants when the second egg has settled inside him. He sounds as if human language is a struggle. “Is it too much?”
“No,” Hua Cheng gasps, “please, gege, give me everything -”
Xie Lian thrusts forward, working his cock just a little deeper, and sinks his teeth into Hua Cheng’s neck.
“Gege,” Hua Cheng moans, submitting to the pleasure arcing through his body. Another egg pushes into him, then another, nudging him closer to the brink of orgasm.
“San Lang, San Lang,” Xie Lian gasps. Hua Cheng hears it through a hazy blanket of bliss, a feeling of incredible fullness overwhelming his senses. One last egg slides into him, pressing against his prostate, and his world dissolves into white noise.
When his vision returns, he’s blinking up at Xie Lian’s concerned face, hovering over him. He’s resting on soft sand, his skin still buzzing with pleasure.
“Gege,” he mumbles.
“San Lang!” Xie Lian exclaims, clutching Hua Cheng’s hand to his chest. “I lost control a little. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Hua Cheng says, an uncontrollable grin spreading across his face. “I feel great.”
“You’re sure?” Xie Lian asks, setting Hua Cheng’s hand on his stomach.
Hua Cheng glances down. His abdomen is slightly distended. Maybe he’s imagining it, but he can almost feel the outlines of the eggs inside him.
“And, um…” Xie Lian nudges Hua Cheng’s hand further down.
Hua Cheng obediently traces his fingers down to where a rough plug is filling him.
“It’s meant to keep anyone else from laying eggs in you,” Xie Lian explains, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else but here. “I got carried away.”
Hua Cheng gazes up at him, starry-eyed. He presses gently at the plug.
“It’ll dissolve in a few days,” Xie Lian assures him. “You can just, uh, dispose of the eggs when it does. I made sure they’re not fertile.”
A sudden wave of disappointment passes through Hua Cheng. “Gege, kiss me?” he asks to mask it.
Xie Lian obliges, pressing gentle lips to Hua Cheng’s, and Hua Cheng loops his arms around his beloved’s waist, pulling him close.
After a moment, he breaks the kiss, pressing their foreheads together. “Thank you for sharing this with me,” he whispers.
Xie Lian blushes. “I usually just deal with mating season on my own, but…”
“But?” Hua Cheng prompts.
“It was much nicer with you,” Xie Lian admits in a low voice.
Hua Cheng cups his cheek with one hand. “I’m glad,” he says softly. “Gege deserves only the best.”
Xie Lian nuzzles into his hand, then tucks his head under Hua Cheng’s chin.
Hua Cheng presses a kiss to the top of his head and strokes his wet hair, hugging him close.
I made sure they’re not fertile, Xie Lian had said. Does that mean he could make them fertile?
Hua Cheng clenches down around the plug filling him, a mark of Xie Lian’s possessiveness. The eggs inside him are a comforting weight in his gut.
He imagines raising a family with his beloved. A pool full of laughing children, loved the way he never was until he met Xie Lian.
Maybe someday.