Present day

Lucas lingered at the edge of the beach, partially hidden by the trees. He watched the nearby group of mermen as they sought out the mermaids who had come to the island before them. 

The summer solstice was upon them and Lucas, just like the rest of the mermen and mermaids, had gone into heat with the desire to experience sexual fulfilment. Because the mer people could only have sex in their human forms, for two nights of the year it was far more likely to find a mermaid or merman on land than in the ocean. Just as most of his kind did, Lucas swam to land on the solstices with the sole purpose of finding release and breaking his mating fever. He just wished he could find pleasure with one of the pretty young mermaids, as the rest of his contemporaries did. 

Across the sands, two mermen exchanged a knowing glance with each other. Lucas recognised one of them as a gatherer—mermen who ventured outside the boundaries of the sunken city to collect foods that could not grow within the city itself. He didn’t recognise the other. It was common knowledge amongst the citizens of the sunken city that most of the homosexual mermen in the city worked as gatherers, one of the most menial of tasks. Not all of them—Lucas himself was an exception to the rule—but the majority. 

Once he considered it safe to do so, Lucas slipped into the trees and found a place to wait out the night. With the mermen outnumbering the mermaids by such a large number, it wasn’t unusual for him to be without a partner during the mating season. He didn’t dwell on the fact that he didn’t search too hard for one. In truth, no mermaid could give him what he needed. 

Sitting beneath a large palm tree, Lucas closed his eyes and stroked his erection. The touch caused him to harden even more than he already had, yet no amount of stimulation would be enough to bring him off tonight. 

As the night passed, most of the mer people returned to the sea, their fevers broken for the season. Past experience told Lucas some still lingered. The ones with the same preferences as him would remain until they found what they needed. Lucas stood and took a step back towards the beach. Staying here could be dangerous. If anyone should see him, he could find himself removed from his post. It was one thing for the gatherers to find pleasure with each other, but he wasn’t one of their ilk. As a junior adviser to King Nereus, he couldn’t risk being seen. 

How many seasons had it been since he had been with another merman? Two? Three? Enough had passed to cause Lucas to be painfully desperate for release now. Could he really go another season without?
“I see you haven’t swum back to the city yet.”

Lucas jumped at the familiar voice. “Otus.” He acknowledged the guard who had approached him with a stealth that would make a stingray envious. Otus was another exception to the rule. As a member of the guards, he wasn’t as high ranking as Lucas, yet his position might be just as precarious if he should be discovered.

“It’s been a few seasons since I’ve had you,” Otus commented. “I had a feeling this time you’d be sticking around.”

Lucas took another step towards the beach. “I’m just leaving.” 

“Don’t be a fool.” Otus stepped into his path. “We both know what you need tonight.”

Otus ran his index finger down Lucas’ chest before taking Lucas’ hard cock in a firm grip. 

Lucas whimpered as Otus grinned down at him. “Yes,” he moaned.

“I missed you the last few seasons,” Otus murmured into his ear. “Or at least I missed this hot, tight arse of yours. Are you going to give me what I need tonight?”

Lucas nodded and twisted round to face the tree. He didn’t see the point in denying himself when Otus stood right in front of him, offering him what they both needed so desperately. He spread his legs and braced himself for Otus to take him. It would be rough and hard, even more so because of how many months had passed since he’d last been taken by another man. 

Otus ran his hands over Lucas’ buttocks and eased his cheeks apart. With nothing more than spit to ease his way, Otus took Lucas with one swift stroke. Lucas tensed under the invasion. He cursed whatever power had decided this was what he needed to break the mating fever each solstice. Why would anyone imagine this invasion of his body was something he would want if he had any other choice?

He buried his face in his arm and waited for Otus to finish. Lucas’ relief would come when the heat of another man’s seed filled his arse. Until then he could do nothing except ride out the fever as Otus took what he wanted.

It didn’t take Otus long to come, and when the hot flood filled Lucas, his own orgasm crashed over him and he came hard, his semen staining the bark of the tree in front of him. 

Otus pulled out of him as soon as he had finished. “You should stick around every mating season.”
Lucas ignored his comment as he struggled to regain his breath. 

“I know why you don’t,” Otus continued. “You’re wasting your time trying to hide what you are. There’s already talk about you.”

“What?” Lucas paled, and when his heart rate quickened this time, it was for a totally different reason. “Who’s talking about me?”

Otus smiled unpleasantly. “Everyone. Your fellow advisers already wonder how such a pretty little merman hasn’t managed to find some fertile young mermaid to fuck each season.”

“You’re just trying to scare me.”

“Why would I do that? From my point of view, I’d be happy for this to remain our little secret. After all, I wouldn’t want any competition for your arse if everyone knew for sure that nothing brings off young Lucas like being taken roughly from behind.”

Lucas cringed. “Roughness isn’t my trigger, just so you know.”

Otus didn’t seem bothered. Lucas knew if they came together next mating season, Otus would treat him the same way he had tonight. 

“No merman who likes the touch of his own gender has ever risen above junior adviser,” Otus reminded him. 
Lucas was well aware of the fact that the last homosexual merman who had taken a post within the palace had been banished. Of course, Kyle had been one of the personal bodyguards to the prince, and had been discovered to be in a relationship with his charge. That might have had some bearing on the decision to send him on his way. Lucas didn’t know the exact truth of what had happened. Those who were aware of the circumstances weren’t exactly talking. Everyone else happily speculated on just what the bodyguard and the prince had been doing when the king had caught them together. 

The one thing everyone knew for sure was Kyle had been banished and within a year both the prince and his mother, the queen, had vanished from the sunken city as well. 

Lucas didn’t know anything of life outside the underwater city and the island the inhabitants visited during the mating season. He had no intention of risking banishment himself. 

He glared at Otus. “If I find out you’ve been spreading rumours about me, I’ll have you banished from the city.”

Otus laughed. “Rumours are, by their nature, untrue. Anything I would have to say about you would be purely factual. You may think you hide your desires, but you’re fooling no one.”

Lucas shook his head in denial, but Otus had already begun to leave. Lucas followed after him. At least his fever had broken and he wouldn’t have to suffer through the pain of riding it out this season. He hadn’t yet reached the beach when he heard the sounds of other mermen nearby. Otus took no notice of his departure from the path to the beach. He had taken what he needed and had no further use for Lucas tonight.
Slipping through the trees, quietly and slowly, Lucas crept towards the noises. They didn’t sound like the ones he and Otus had recently been making. They seemed softer somehow. 

He couldn’t see the two men, though he was certain they were male. One of them laughed quietly. 
“Ticklish?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

“You know I am,” the second man replied. “Now how about you stop teasing me and give me that gorgeous cock of yours?”

Even though Lucas could only see their silhouettes, he could make out their positions. One of the mermen lay on his back, his legs over the shoulders of the other, who was clearly doing as his lover requested. The one on his back groaned in obvious pleasure and Lucas’ erection rose again at the sight and sounds before him. 

When the two mermen strained towards each other, kissing deeply, Lucas had to bite back his own moan of desire. 

The one being taken didn’t seem to be in any pain or discomfort. Instead he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the experience and was getting louder by the minute. 

Lucas fisted his cock, relieved that now his mating fever had broken, he could find pleasure by his own hand. Shielded by the undergrowth, Lucas bit into his fingers to stifle any sound he might make as he watched the two mermen come together. 

“I’m coming,” the merman on his knees shouted as he pumped his hips. 

“Me too,” the second one gasped.

Their joint cries echoed through the trees and drowned out the small whimper of pleasure Lucas couldn’t quite hide as he came for the second time, falling to his knees as his orgasm took him by surprise. 

By the time he had recovered his senses, the two mermen had vanished from their place within the trees. Thankfully for Lucas, their route back to the beach didn’t bring them past his hiding spot. 

Hidden in the bushes, Lucas felt relaxed and heavy limbed. He wondered whether he might be able to find those mermen again next mating season, and whether they might be able to tell him what he was doing wrong. Even though he knew what triggered his release, he had never enjoyed sex the way they seemed to. The painful truth was even though he’d achieved an orgasm during the seasons when he had allowed Otus to take him, he had never actually found pleasure in what they did.

Lucas contemplated asking for advice all the way back to the beach. However, by the time he had transformed and swum to the sunken city, he had changed his mind completely. The fewer people who were aware of his desire for mermen, the better off he would be. Should the wrong person discover his secret, his chances of rising in the ranks to become a senior adviser to the king would vanish. He could not take such an unnecessary risk. He owed it to his father to follow in his footsteps, and he couldn’t throw it all away because of his desires. He played a dangerous game by allowing Otus to take him. He would be better advised to return to the ocean at the first available opportunity each mating season, before anyone else discovered his secret desires. 

His resolve set, Lucas hoped he could keep his promise, even though he knew the desire to be taken would grow stronger each mating season he denied himself. No merman could go for long without release, not unless they accepted the excruciating pain that came from denial. Lucas wondered how long he could keep this up, and whether it would be long enough to see his ambitions achieved.