Air.

She gulped it down, the ambrosia of life, the sweetest thing that had ever touched her tongue. Everything tasted like salt, too strong, but the thought of even fresh water made her want to gag. She was wholly focused on the sensations of her body, the way her fingers dug into the sand beneath her and the water lapped at the soles of her feet. A breath in, a breath out. The freedom to do so easily was so overpowering that Mira nearly didn’t hear the music echoing around her.

Her eyes snapped open when it registered, an instinctive movement to find the source of that lovely, powerful sound. The wide, unfamiliar beach, the nearly white sand, and blazing sun didn’t register; all she could see was him.

He held himself out of the edge of the tide, letting the water rush over his hands as it danced back and forth. Strong, taunt arms lead to equally well-formed shoulders, to the face of an angel. His eyes, sharply slitted, were closed, and his full mouth continued to sing as though the waves were dancing to his song. The words were unfamiliar to Mira, a language she didn’t know, but that didn’t stop her from admiring. Desiring. Almost without a thought she began to push herself up off the ground, crawling slowly towards the seductive sound, falling into it completely. She wanted to catch it, keep it, keep him-

“You’re awake.”

Her eyes snapped open as though from a dream, the haze that clouded her vision vanishing. What was she thinking, wanting to touch an unknown man? He—

She looked at him again, her heart hammering in . Man? No, no, that wasn’t quite right. Behind him, nearly hidden in the foaming water, was a long tail. Fins spread out delicately at the end, the deep, ocean-blue color of the scales lightening to become a gentle aqua, almost disappearing in the color of the sea. Mira swallowed hard, watching the way the scales glistened in the sun as he moved, his eyes now open and watching her observation.

“What—” She stopped to swallow again, shockingly dry in comparison to the few minutes earlier when she had in half the ocean. “What are you?”

It didn’t matter if her mind was swimming with images, myths, tales of the creature that sat before her. Magnificent. The crash of the waves, the base in his song, continued on even after he became silent, and she wanted to hear his voice again, wanted to listen to the accompaniment.

But he didn’t answer. He pulled his tail up, and in a smooth spin was back in the water, heading back into the sea. “Wait!” Mira yelled and scrambled to her feet, following him into the water. “Wait!” But she had to trudge through the sand and waves while he, tail flowing gracefully behind him, slipped through it like silk. A wave splashed up in her face, the harsh spray of salt water making her stumble back a step. When she opened her eyes, he was gone.

“Wait!” She cried out again, voice hoarse from coughing away the water. “Please, wait!” She needed to hear that voice again, the gentle lulling that soothed her more than anything else ever had. “Wai-” She tried to scream out again, becoming more desperate, but she was still weak and trembling, and she barely managed to turn to the side in time to avoid another powerful wave.

“I haven’t left.”

He came back. Mira spun around, feeling the warmth of his hands as he took her by the elbow, guiding her as another wave hit. “You should take a rest out of the water,” he intoned, and she felt her knees go weak at the sound of his voice. Lush, caressing, gentle— the sound itself, the music of it, filled her, drew her closer. Mira closed her eyes again, afraid to look at him, afraid of what she would see. “Almost there.”

A few more steps, and then they were out of the grip of the current. She kept walking, letting him guide her, until the sand beneath her was dry and sticking to her legs with each difficult step.

“Are you alright?”

It was difficult to resist, that voice, that call, and it was that battle that told her exactly what manner of creature was helping to hold her up. She stopped walking, and opened her eyes.

“Yes, I am now, thank you.” How many stories had she read about these creatures? Dreamed about them? How many times had she gazed out into the blue of the ocean, of the sky, and wondered what else was there? She turned to face him, heart thudding in her chest.

The tail, so beautiful and surreal, was gone, replaced by strong, sturdy legs. A pair of loose canvas shorts covered him up to his waist, but beyond he was and bare. The same strong muscles Mira had noticed before were again before her, the same arms and shoulders, the same dark hair, sensual lips, and deep eyes.

“What’s your name?” She asked, voice barely more than a whisper. She knew that when he spoke again she would be swayed, and she braced herself for it.

He paused for a moment, watching her, judging her reactions. “Leo.” He said, then held out a hand. “My name is Leo.”

There is was, that wave of desire, the onslaught that fought against her common sense. She held on for dear life the wave passed over her, then stilled. “Leo,” she repeated, though the way she said it would never rival the beauty his voice gave it. “I’m Mira.” She shook his hand, which she found surprisingly warm for having just been in the ocean. “Thank you for earlier.”

She should probably leave, and quickly. If he was what she thought he was, then nothing good would come from her hanging around. But she couldn’t seem to pull herself away; she blamed his magnetism, his voice, for that, but excuses wouldn’t help her.

He was watching her carefully, eyes slightly narrowed. “You’re welcome.” He paused. “You are… very calm.” He said it like a question, asking without asking as he checked her up and down, a small bit of confusion seeping into his gaze. Mira cocked her head to the side, taking in his appearance once more and keeping the quaver from her voice.

“You are not the first of your kind I have met.”

There was a spark of surprise in his eyes, but he quickly blinked it away. “I would very much like to hear that story,” he said, and Mira shivered unintentionally at his voice. It held a darker tone now, the promise of a threat if not one yet, but somehow still carrying the lulling sensuality she was quickly coming to expect.

She lowered her gaze and pulled her arm away. “I would rather not tell it,” she murmured.

“I see.”

There was an uncomfortable pause, but as time passed without hearing his voice Mira’s resolve grew. “I should be going. Where…” She looked down the desolate beach, the season unfavorably cold this year, and spotted her towel and bag a ways down. “Ah, over there. Alright then…” She took a step back, nodded in acknowledgment, and spun on her heels away from him.

“Mira.”

She stopped dead at the sound of his voice, the way it caressed her name, and turned slowly while controlling the urge to run into his arms. Not one step, she promised herself. Not one single step.

He resumed as soon as he saw he had her attention. “Tomorrow, meet me here at 8 pm. I’ll be waiting.”

Even as she was lost in the thrall, she watched him turn and walk into the sea, disappearing beneath the waves and not resurfacing.