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"What are you doing, cutie?...cutie?" Rafayel asks, holding onto the walls of his home for support as he walks. His skin flushed hot, but it's nothing compared to his breath. Each puff of air from his nostrils and parted lips is a few degrees from burning his own skin.
"Cu...tie..." His voice though existent seems strained to a point of uselessness. Every word he utters follows a stinging pain in his throat. One that has him craving for something, anything to quench his thirst.
His sight is clearer than it's ever been. Ears attuned to the loud roars of the wild waves crashing against rocks at the shore of Whitesand Bay. Every part of his skin is so sensitive the tip of a knife could cut it. Or so he imagines. After all, during Ebb Day a lemurian's senses are heightened ten times over. All five senses.
One would think it a gift. A privilege. But to Lemurians it's torture. While at sea, they'd hide in their homes at Whalefall City. Children, young adults, the elderly all buried under soft Reynbow silk blankets woven with their hate for heat in mind. The blanket is made specially to cool their high temperature and burning skin.
In the midst of churning waters, cooling tides and chilling tempests, those twenty four hours of painful weakness is bearable for Lemurians.
But here...on land, it's different. It's difficult. If anything it's a death sentence.
The inability to hide the scales shimmering on their face, neck and chest. The increased temperature that makes them feel faint and hazy. The extreme weakness that can make even the most feeble human kill them.
In the surface world, home of humans the greediest creatures in existence, hunters of Lemurians and all beings deemed a monstrosity, creators of EVER, the one group known for experimenting on Lemurians, ripping off their flesh and draining the blood from their hearts while alive...for a Lemurian, Ebb Day on the surface is hell.
For Rafayel it's no different. It wasn't, until now.
Sometimes he recalls his first Ebb Day on the surface. He had his butler and teacher to care for him.
The second one he felt he was going to die with no hope, especially after running off to Verona on hearing of his teacher's death. The kind Lemurian was burnt alive by humans for his scales.
The third Ebb Day on the surface, Rafayel could hardly breathe. He'd spent all day in the bathtub. His ears deafening from the screams of his people. His mind replayed the flaying of his teacher's flesh.
One part of him wanted out of the waters, craving to survive another day. Just another day to see you again. The other part of him kept his mertail sunken in the bathtub. Though the waters were shallow, Rafayel wanted to let go. To drown. One moment to close his eyes and sleep. To dream. Never having to wake up to pain. After all, what's the point? If he finds you, he's bound to lose you again.
Then the fourth Ebb Day after his arrival at Linkon. He'd spent months in the hospital after a terrible accident in one of his sportscars. Right hand still in pain while he struggled to paint. A much needed distraction from the fever, the pain, the need welling up in his lower abdomen. It was maddening and so overwhelming, he gave up laying on the floor with his cast not remembering if he slept the day away or fainted.
And then, the fifth Ebb Day, when he finally met you again. Lemurians are always vulnerable on Ebb Days, but for Rafayel, that moment with you, it was like his heart, body and soul was left bare before you. All he could think of that moment was the fact that he'd tried so hard to get you to leave. Pouting, complaining about feeling hot, suggesting you use the door and quickly so.
He wasn't ready to tell you he was Lemurian. He wasn't sure if you'd believe him or think him crazy or call him a monster as other humans have and run away. But you didn't. You stayed.
While it made him quite glad, he was still afraid. You may have been the love of his life, but still human and barely possess any memories of your encounter as children nor your past lives.
He'd acted aloof, cold, quite distant even in your presence. Like a joke he'd told you his scales could tear through anything and he could kill anyone with just a song.
Fear. It was what he felt in your presence at that moment. Fear of being judged. Fear of closing his eyes for a moment and finding himself in a cage. Fear of losing you.
Yet. Fear. It was the feeling he wanted you to have towards him. Fear of the strange siren who could kill you at any moment. So he told you the tale of the sailor and the siren, saying the siren set a trap for the sailor. Rafayel wanted you to think him dangerous, which he was but it was a card necessary to play if he wanted to keep himself safe during Ebb Day.
Even in the midst of tales of woe and the sight of him with scales you were curious about a tail. You joked about locking him up and whipping him everyday.
One moment he laughed within. The next a lump formed in his throat from anxiety. And like a fool, his hands reached for your touch. For the feel of you.
It was at that moment you broke him, soothed his heart and he began to tell you the truth of his weakness during Ebb Day, as well as his fears until you promised to never hurt him.
And now, it's the sixth Ebb Day, and you're still here...with him. So he lets himself feel all of it. Every ache, every heat, every want, every need.
Because... you're here.
"Cutie...where..." Rafayel calls for you walking up the stairs to his bedroom. His hands grip the railings with every strength he can muster. One wrong move and he could fall.
When he finally makes his way to the bedroom he calls for you again.
"Yes, Rafa? I'm taking a shower. I'll be out in a minute, okay?" You call back. Your voice a pleasant symphony to the seagod's ears.
Rafayel takes off the black sleeves he has on. Human clothing, a burden to lemurians. One he doesn't need tonight. It's much too hot to leave them on. However, for the sake of what any would call courtesy or perhaps a cute shyness, Rafayel leaves his white pants on.
He takes off his shoes and climbs the bed kissed by moonlight from the glass dome ceiling in his bedroom. Blue iridescent scales on his cheeks, neck and chest catching the moon's radiance of silver. Each one sparkling like he's been decorated with glitters.
Despite his beautiful outlook, Rafayel's a mess on the inside. His chest feels tight and yet heavy. The flutters of his heart so loud and quick-paced one would think the organ threatening to escape his ribs. His head aches a bit. He feels hot inside and yet quite chilly. He needs to sleep, yet he wants to stay awake. There's no sensible definition for the illness plaguing him. Only a name.
"Do you want anything to eat? I touched your tummy earlier and it felt empty. I could cook something up and..." The words pause in your throat when you step out of the bathroom. Your eyes roam Rafayel's porcelain smooth skin, blushed in beet red and sweet pink at certain places. Scales the most beautiful you'd ever seen dusted all over his cheeks, neck and chest.
Blue pink eyes locked on yours, but the pink in them glimmers brightly almost fading into the deep blue. His eyes speak desire but also help...want.
It's as though he's pleading with you to stay but also desperate to ask for more.
Seeing you step out of the bathroom, strands of hair asleep on your forehead and stuck to your nape. Skin glistening with drops of water catching the moonlight. A short soft cotton towel draped over your chest and tied in a loose knot under your left arm. You're radiant in your natural state. Perfectly you.
Rafayel's hips sway just a bit, almost unseen. His white pants seem tighter, straining against his thighs. His skin twice as hot, thrice as flushed.
"Cutie...you..." He stutters, lips parted for hot breaths.
"What?" You smirk walking towards him in quiet cat steps. So graceful, yet sensual. It's fun to tease him this way, but unlike the first Ebb Day, you know how much toll this season takes on his body.
Sweetly you climb the bed next to him, placing a palm over his forehead. He's burning up.
When you gently cup his cheeks, Rafayel nuzzles against your palms. His heated skin chasing the cool of yours. Your hands glide down the sides of his neck. The roughness of his pretty scales prickling your skin only slightly.
"Are you sure you don't want anything?" You ask him with puppy eyes. It's hard to see him like this. He's usually all merry and bright. Witty with a smile but now, he's hardly said anything all day. When he does the words come off like a whisper or rather a groan.
"I'll be fine. Barely four hours left until midnight. It'll be...over soon." He bites his lower lip the moment your hands slide down his chest.
Pressing your palm against the left side of his chest you feel his heart thumping erratically with each breath. You look up at his face. His eyes are shut tight as though enduring your touch. Controlling himself from something he shouldn't succumb to. It's almost painful to watch.
Doesn't he know he can trust you now?
"Rafa? Baby? Open your eyes." You plead with him, tilting his chin. Your heart aching at the sight of your Lemurian lover in pain.
Rafayel slowly opens his eyes. A wince follows and another uncomfortable twitch of his hips.
"Are you sure you don't want anything? A glass of water? Food?"
"I don't feel hungry or thirsty. I already had some water earlier. I'm okay, cutie, really." He forces a smile. You can see the pain of his limbs and discomfort etched on his face.
"You're lying. But fine. I'll just stay next to you until these four hours are over." You take off the towel completely bare before him. Rafayel's breath hitches at the sight of you. Your soft supple flesh, your curves, your skin. He shifts against the sheets again, his hands gripping a poor pillow nearby.
"Cutie...wha...what are you doing?"
"I'm cooling you off. I just took a cold shower and I'm sure my skin feels chilly. I need your warmth too. We can help each other like this. Besides, I want to be this close to you. I feel like I need to...or you'll...disappear."
At first he's stunned by the feel of your skin on his. The tiny beads of water on yours rubbing over the glazing sweat of his. Your skin cool at first against him, then warm, comforting. His arms go around your waist pulling you close. His fingers relishing those soft folds he loves pinching so much.
But...
The moment you say those last words about him disappearing. His breath hitches and still holding you close, he tilts your chin to meet his gaze. You look frightened.
"Why would you say that, cutie? I'm never leaving you again." He swears with the intensity in his gaze.
"I know it's just. This day reminds me that you really are vulnerable to humans despite being seagod. I know as a hunter I can protect you but...but what about moments when you travel or if I leave Linkon for a trip? What then?" Your eyes gaze into the reflection of your face in his. The pink in them glowing brighter than the blue.
"I'll be alright, cutie. I always have been." Rafa chuckles. His laugh merely a breath. He really is weak.
Even with his words of affirmation and promise, you can't help but stare at him. Hands on his cheeks, tracing the scales on his blushed skin.
"What is it? Still worried?"
"Well, when you tell a bride her omnipotent seagod husband is completely vulnerable to the same humans who've exploited his people for an entire day every year, of course she'll worry."
Rafayel chuckles again. Louder this time. His lips meet your cheek with reverence. He takes your hand in his and plants a chaste kiss, then staring into your eyes with a warm smile true from the soul, he speaks "By the flower that bears your name, I won't leave you. To never part ways. Remember?"
"I do, remember." You smile. "Still, it's the duty of a devout follower to worry for her god. And the duty of a wife to worry for her husband, no?"
"It is. Buuut...I won't want to worry you too much." Rafayel smiles, twirling a strand of your hair gently.
"You said it was okay for me to ask for help and to not consider myself a burden. I want the same for you. So you should lean on and rely on your bodyguard in times like this. Besides, you get a bonus pac because your bodyguard happens to be your wifey." You smirk, your fingers teasing the swollen bulge on his white pants. Yet, you're gentle not to push him too far.
"Ngh...cutie...I..."
"A moan already? Are you sure you don't want anything, Rafayel?"
"I...I..."
Slightly annoyed by his resistance but calmed by understanding, you straddle him while cupping his cheeks. The softness of your slit still mildly kissed by drops of water settles over his bulge. The throbbing length between his thighs seeking an escape from its fabric prison.
"You know, a wise person once told me that you can tell when a person is lying by looking into their eyes. And looking at yours right now...you still have a few walls up, Rafayel." At your words he does something quite subtle with his eyes, but not subtle enough to escape your sight. He has no idea it's become a habit.
"There it is again. That. Your eyes lock with mine seeking out my soul and then it shifts down and then up again. There are moments it's just you being your usual self and yearning for my lips but, there are times when it's more than that. Times when I see the truth you try so hard to hide. The doubt. The fear. I see it Rafayel." You place a hand over his chest circling his skin with your palm softly. A few scales on his cheeks and neck begin to disappear at your words.
"What do you see?" He asks. Not a hint of hesitation in his eyes, like he wants you to tell him that which he knows already.
"I see you. When you lock eyes with mine, you feel hope in your heart, joy. Then for a moment fear swallows that hope whole. Fear that I'll leave. Fear of yourself and of me. Fear of being too much or not enough. Pondering if I truly do accept you. All of you. Wondering if I truly am real, and if I truly am yours. Then you find hope again or rather convince yourself to hold onto the present and you look into my eyes once again." Your hand leaves his chest cradling his smooth cheeks. The scales completely gone now. His walls broken, for his heart as always welcomes you.
"You once asked if I'd like you no matter what you become. You once confessed that you feared being too obsessed and addicted with me to the point of taking from me or consuming me like you did with nature and pain for inspiration. You once asked me to drown with you, burn with you." Your lips settle on Rafayel's forehead for a while. His skin is still burning hot.
When you pull back, his eyes glisten with tears, his hand over yours on his cheek. The blue pink rivers in his eyes locked in yours. Desperation once sailing the oceans of his heart now made trust from the sincerity in yours.
"Rafayel I've never said no to any of these questions, nor have I denied any requests. When you killed Alden which you made me know of, I didn't condemn you for it. I supported you by claiming the need for justice and judgement to meet with those who deserve it. Do you really think so little of me? Do you really think I don't see you? Because I do. All I see...is you."
Your words end with a kiss. The softness of your lips meet with his. Then a lustful invite follows on the second touch. Lips parting for the sweet slow dance of tongues. Yours swirls with his, the nerves within your mouths exciting places awakened by arousal.
"Do you want me to leave?" A whisper escapes your lips when you break the kiss. Wetness pools between your legs. Not the traces of water left from your shower much earlier but liquid spilling from within. Each drop slick with want smearing over his bulge as your hips begin to move.
Rafayel's hands wrap around your waist pulling you close when you grind on him. Slowly. Tortuously. Your fingers circle over his pink nipple. Teasing the studded flesh until you hear him whimper. His face buried in the crook of your neck.
You pull away slightly licking, sucking and kissing at his neck. Marking him like the red on his cheeks isn't enough color. You need to paint him yours.
"Do you want me to leave, Rafa?" You ask again, the warmth of your upper body pressed against his. He feels hotter and it frightens you just a bit.
Rafayel shakes his head against your breasts. His hands hold you tighter, closer than before.
Pulling back again you tilt his chin "Then do you want me?"
He smiles softly and caresses your right cheek "I'll be a fool to say no, cutie."
His lips return the favor of marks on your chest and neck. Sweet kisses, long sucks, gentle licks and in one swift motion he rolls you over so you're beneath him.
Rafayel hovers over you. His right hand roams one of your thighs, parting you open for him. With his left, he holds onto your hand. His long beautiful fingers interlace with yours, trembling slightly.
"You say you see me, cutie. I see you too. I always see you. All I see is you. All I know is you. All I need is you and all I want...is you." His kisses pat over your collarbone and upper breast, then up your neck again.
The feel of you this way. Your softness, your warmth, your complete surrender. It's so much to take in. Maybe too much.
Rafa lifts his head, eyes on yours. The pink in them burning intensely with passion so fierce one would think him ready to devour. His chest heaves as he breathes. The blue scales once gone reappear. He leans down again and kisses you hard. The clash of tongue and heat stealing the breath from your lungs.
His hand locked on yours shivers again and you feel it. His skin is hot again and he appears uncomfortable.
You bite his lower lip softly breaking the kiss and quickly check his temperature. Placing your palm over his forehead glazed with sweat, you're convinced. Somehow, he's become more sick than before.
"That's it. Lay down." Your voice is clear with a sense of command but also tender care.
"Wh...but...I..." Rafa stutters trying to refuse and explain his feverish shiver.
"Qiyu!"
At the sound of your voice calling him that way he surrenders rolling his eyes playfully with a hint of annoyance. A cute pout on his lips "Fine, fine."
When his head meets with a pillow next to the headrest of his luxurious bed, you straddle him again, tilting his chin so his gaze meets yours.
"Why are you holding back, Rafa? Do you not want me?"
"Of course I want you, cutie. I'm not holding back I just..."
"Qiyu?"
"Fine. Fine. I am holding back." Rafayel confesses as he looks up at you, taking your hand in his. He kisses your knuckles and smiles, sadness lurking in his eyes.
"On Ebb Day, the senses of Lemurians are heightened twice than normal. We're already hypersensitive creatures, but on Ebb Day...it worsens. Every taste, every touch, every sound, every smell, every color, it overwhelms us to a point of ecstasy that's almost unbearable to our nerves. And when we're in love...remember what I said about Lemurians falling in love with someone?" He asks.
"Yes. You said when Lemurians fall in love with someone, all their senses are committed to perceive them without question." You answer his question so easily. His words have become scripture engraved in your heart.
He smiles impressed.
"Exactly. My senses have always perceived you and only you and now, they're even more heightened. I once claimed that your way of triggering my senses had only touched the surface but..." Rafayel takes your hand, placing it over his beating heart.
"Now...they've gone beyond the surface and tug at my very soul. You don't even need ways to trigger my senses. Right now, your very presence is enough. It's like I need to be close to someone I completely trust to feel safe, to feel at peace, to find rest for a while on Ebb Day. When that happens and I'm truly calm, then the scales settle. But at the same time...I'm intoxicated with the scent of you, the feel of you, the sound of your voice. I crave to taste you, and be drunk in your waters. I want you...all of you." His eyes glimmer with sincerity, true sincerity.
"Then why not take me?" Your words elude you sweetly as you kiss his hand.
"My darling mermaid bride...if I did that. If I gave myself completely to these maddening senses. I...I fear...I may be more a siren than a man. A true siren devouring its prey. I might take more than I should. I might...what if I hurt you?"
A small chuckle leaves your lips at Rafayel's words. The fear in his eyes so obvious it's quite heart breaking.
"Hurt me? You won't. It's you. Oh my sweet siren. I'll drown in your waters. To be consumed by you is a privilege." Your smile widens. Warm hands caressing his cheeks tenderly as the blue scales begin to fade into the blushed red hues of his smooth skin.
"My rising sun, I'll burn in your flames at will. Why? It won't consume me. It never does. Instead it makes me a glorious phoenix every single time. Loving you has made me love myself, Qiyu. So why won't I offer myself to you if it'll give me the chance to love you harder. Take me. Don't be afraid." A soft kiss on his left cheek now smooth and then his right. The scales on his neck fade as well.
"You made me love myself, Rafayel and now..." Slowly and carefully you unbuckle his white pants, pulling it down with the underwear within. His throbbing length now hard and erect glistens with his sweet nectar spilled upon your grinding.
Lifting yourself off him as gently as you can, you sit slow, easy. Your core takes in his girth. A long moan escapes your lips and his. He feels so good.
The wet walls of your core flutter around him, taking in all of him and relishing the feel of him. Hard, filling, hot.
You make one subtle move, pushing your hips upwards while leaning forward. Your back arched so your walls are massaging rather than pounding his length. And back down again. Up again, your core tightening around him and down, back still arched but releasing him a bit.
The feeling of being inside you is twice. No. Ten times more overwhelming for Rafayel. He really should restrain himself on Ebb Day.
Rafayel bites his lower lips. Eyes shut tight in a slight frown as you move. His hands gripping the sheets, anymore and he'd rip them apart. Scales once hidden shimmer again in blue dots.
He's holding back.
"Rafayel." His name leaves your lips in a moan and he opens his eyes. Staring at the beauty of you. Truly admiring you.
His eyes sweep reverently over your breasts, the soft flesh of your waist, your hips parted, that spot where you're both joined sinfully. Rafayel moans, his hips jerk up against you.
The feel of him suddenly pushing himself deeper from beneath catches you off guard. A long sweet moan escapes the depth of your throat. Oh how you want to ride him senseless, but you must soothe your sweet siren on this day.
Taking his hand in yours, eyes on his, you place his right palm over your heart.
"Rafayel, this heart is yours. Completely. Wholly. It's always been and it's not afraid to be consumed by you. You shouldn't be too. So..." You start moving again. Your core caressing and taking him slowly as you ride your Lemurian lover.
"...Let yourself go. And let me see you." A kiss with lips and then with tongue as his hips thrust upward against you. The pace quickening slightly.
"Ahn...ngh...let me have you...all...of...you..." Your words are caught between moans.
Rafayel lets himself go and his eyes stare deep into yours. His hands locked in yours as he moans with you. The scales unseen but the red on his skin remains.
With barely three hours for Ebb Day to end, Rafayel the Lemurian for the first time finds his peace and solace when the tides rise.