âMermaids are legendary, aquatic creatures with the head, arms and torso of a female human and the tail of a fish.â Myth and Folklore Wiki
Picture credit: Wikipedia
Samebito:
âThe Samebito (鎍人, shark man) is a creature that appears in "The Gratitude of the Samebito", a short story by Lafcadio Hearn. It is described as a shark-like humanoid with inky black skin, emerald green eyes, a face like a demon's and a beard like a dragon's.â Wikipedia
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Day 3: Two Can Keep a Secret if One of Them Is Dead/Yokai
Fandom: Naruto (Anime & Manga)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Characters: Hoshigaki Kisame, Karatachi Yagura
Additional Tags: kisames-corner's Kisame Week 2024 (Naruto), Yokai AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Modern Era, Death
Series: Part 3 of Kisame Week 2024
Summary:
The hermit was weird but everyone at least respected his privacy...or at least mostly everyone
"Fan Art Friday" has arrived! I'm behind by two weeks, but eh...judging from my last post (lack of "Likes/Notes"), I am not really missing much! Ha ha.
Here is the 4th pair of my Akatsuki duo series.
I barely drew these last night (on August 19, 2021). I've had really bad insomnia lately (and a lot of stress going on in my life), and last night was one of those really bad nights where my body refused to sleep. It was a perfect opportunity to draw these two bad boys.
As for the Nihongo/Japanese: For Kisame, it is his name on the left "Hoshigaki Kisame", and on the right, it says "Kirigakure No Kaijin" (which basically translate to "Monster of Kirgakure/Hidden Mist"). For Itachi, it says "Sharingan No Itachi" (which translates to "Itachi of the Copy Wheel Eye"...that is what Sharingan means). On his arm, it says "Ichizokugoroshi" (which is "Clan Killer"). He doesn't have that in the manga or anime, but I put it there as symbolism, since it is a curse and burden that forever haunted him.
Please check out my other Naruto fan art in my gallery. Thanks in advance to all of you who like and share my artwork here on Tumblr. (Please do NOT repost or share this off of Tumblr. Itâs always good to ask the artistâs permission!)
Drawn with Sakura Pigma Micron pens. Copic Marker for all the red. .
Naruto Shippuden/Hoshigaki Kisame/Uchiha Itachi Š ĺ˛¸ćŹ ćĺ˛/Kishimoto Masashi
The Samebito, or shark man, is a creature from Japanese folklore. He appears as a muscular humanoid with inky black skin, green eyes, the face of a shark and the beard of a dragon.
Despite his frightening appearance, Samebito is a tragic figure, said to have been banished from the sea by the dragon god RyĹŤjin for a petty fault. A famous tale tells of how he befriended a lonely man and came to live in his pond. The man fell in love with a woman, but after learning that her family demanded an outrageous gift of ten thousand jewels, he fell ill. Devastated, Samebito cried tears of blood, which crystalised into rubies. Using these jewels to help his friend finally win the woman of his dreams, Samebito was finally pardoned by RyĹŤjin and accepted back into the sea.
They're both part of a bigger group that I'm working on
-
Bortbyting (eng: changeling); a fae- or trollchild that has been left in place of a stolen human child. The fae often looks similar to the human child, except for a few distinguishable traits
Male sharkman/samebito x male reader (nsfw) *commission*
Edit which Iâm including in all my works after plagiarism and theft has taken place: I do not give my consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted anywhere. They are copyrighted and belong to me.
This was one of my five commission slots, and was huge fun to write since Iâve never had the pleasure of writing a sharkman (ie, has a shark upper half!). I really hope you enjoy it!
---
With a week to kill until you started your new job, you dragged yourself out of your new apartment full of boxes and bags late one evening, fed up with tripping over disembowelled boxes. Feeling halfway to being hungry, you really just wanted to stretch your legs and have a break from pretending to unpack.
The tang of the sea in the air was surprisingly nice after the stuffiness of the big city, but that didnât mean youâd be going for a swim anytime soon. You shivered at the thought of that much water on all sides, and instead satisfied yourself with a walk along the seafront. It was a pretty, quaint town, with turn-of-the-century apartment buildings lining the road that ran along the beach front, and there was even an old pier with a boardwalk and amusement arcade.
Seagulls shrieked at the sky as the stars began to wake up above them, and you took a deep breath, stuffing your hands into your jacket pockets. A new start in a town where you knew no one at all was all very well, but the reality of it was a bit more daunting than perhaps youâd realised. The sea washed against the shingles below and you turned away from the water and crossed the road, heading towards the livelier part of the beach-front.
Just across the street from the pier was an apparently very popular nightclub. Even at a distance the air throbbed with its music, and people formed a ragged line along the pavement, waiting to be let in.
You walked along the line of jostling and laughing people and caught snatches of their conversations. A faun with her antlers painted in swirls of glowing colours for the evening gasped and hissed, âI didnât know samebito could live out of the waterâŚâ and you frowned.
Samebito were otherwise known as sharkfolk or sharkmen/women, and they were pretty rare. You also hadn't known they could live out of the water, but it wasnât until you neared the head of the queue that you saw your first one in real life. With the head of a great white shark, the figure was colossal. Wearing a black t-shirt with the clubâs logo that just barely stretched across his sculpted chest, this samebito was clearly the bouncer, and as you kept walking - albeit at a slower pace so that you could watch a little longer - you saw him joking and laughing with the people who were at the very front of the queue.
Suddenly someone got elbowed and a snarl went up, and a bit of a scuffle broke out as a gnollâs patience ran out and she tried to barge her way forwards.
The samebito drew his lips back to reveal a heck of a lot of teeth, and loomed over the gnoll, flexing his shoulders just a little bit, and she suddenly decided that in fact she didnât mind waiting. It was a gesture that you found surprisingly attractive, but a second later, the samebito had returned to his conversation with the folks at the front, almost as though nothing had happened. You did notice, however, that he kept half an eye on the rest of the line.
âHey, Tai?â one of the folks a few people back in the queue called and the samebito looked up.
âYeah?â
âHow longâs the wait you reckon?â
He shrugged and grinned. âYouâve got maybe another ten minutes til youâre inâŚâ
And then you were drawing level with him, and he glanced at you as you neared him.
To your surprise, he winked at you. It wasnât the normal wink of a land creature, more of a rolling of the white of his eye, but still, you took it for what it was and tossed him a lopsided half-smile and kept on walking. Something inside you had leapt joyously at the fact that a being as powerful and undeniably beautiful - in a brutal, almost primeval kind of way - had not only bothered to notice you, but had then acknowledged you as well.
Smiling privately to yourself, you continued on your evening stroll, passing coffee shops and souvenir shops now closed for the night, and finally found yourself back at your messy apartment, with the edge taken off your restlessness and a readiness for sleep beginning to creep into your muscles.
After a week of cloudy or rainy autumn weather, it came as a pleasant surprise when the next day dawned clear but still cool. After fumbling around for some clean clothes, you thought vaguely about going and getting some coffee from one of the waterfront cafes youâd seen on your walk the previous night. You certainly hadnât got as far as buying any in yet, and you wouldnât make it through the morning without a hit of caffeine to help you along.
Stifling a yawn, you made your way past the club where youâd seen the samebito, and recalled his wink with a flaring warmth and another private smile. The club was closed up now; quiet and dormant, waiting for the nightlife to return with the sunset, and there was no sign of the sharkman.
The coffee at the Pier View Cafe was actually pretty decent, and you sank down into a chair outside to sip it and savour the warmth of the morning sun on your bare forearms. After maybe ten minutes, spent alternately scrolling through your usual sites on your phone and gazing off into the glittering waves in the distance, you caught sight of a massive figure leaving one of the beach-front buildings not twenty yards from where you were sat. At nearly eight feet tall and about half as wide at the shoulders, with grey skin and the head of a great white shark, there was no mistaking him. The bouncer from the previous night turned from locking the door, took three paces up the street towards you, and then halted briefly when he saw you looking at him.
Heat flushed your cheeks and you looked away awkwardly, but when you risked a look up again, you saw to your horror that he was walking over. Perhaps he thought you were stalking him? All sorts of scenarios - each one marginally more ridiculous than the last one - played through your head until you swallowed them down and took a deep breath. The samebito was standing in front of you, grinning down at you and blocking out the sunlight better than a flipping eclipse.
âHey,â he said in a gravelly, deep voice that threatened to make you entirely inarticulate.
âUh⌠HiâŚ?â you croaked, craning your neck up at him.
He chuckled and held out a grey-skinned, knuckly, strong hand and you shook it instinctively. âSo⌠I saw you last night, didnât I?â he asked warmly, and you nodded. âDidnât fancy dancing though?â he added.
You liked the playful lilt to his voice, halfway between an accent and an undertone, and before it could render you speechless, you shook your head. âNot so much.â
Again, a rumbling laugh rolled off him. âYouâre new here, aren't you?â
âWhat makes you say that?â
The samebito took half a step back from your table and shrugged one colossal shoulder. âMost of the real locals donât stare at me the way you do.â
âIâm sorry,â you blurted, turning your gaze away from him.
He looked particularly handsome that morning, in a white t-shirt that showed his chest muscles off and hid practically nothing, and a pair of baggy, pale jeans. Heâd cut and stitched a slit in the back of the t-shirt for his chunky dorsal fin, and it stood out as a nearly perfect triangle of smoky grey skin in the morning light.
âI⌠I moved here like⌠last week? Iâve never seen someone like you before. I didnât mean to stare or make you uncomfortable.â
âItâs cool,â he said, ducking his head ever so slightly as if to gauge you a little better. âListen, youâre cute and youâve finished your drink. Will you let me get you another one?â
âUh⌠I mean, I was just about to head off,â you said, gesturing vaguely and frowning, and honestly panicking just little bit. This kind of thing never happened to you. âYou donât have to. And anyway, shouldnât I be the one offering to get you a drink after making an ass of myself?â
His grin and pointed look southwards towards your own ass spoke volumes, and you flushed darker, but he made no verbal comment, and just shook his head. âIâd like to. Donât let me push you though. If you donât want me to, then Iâll piss offâŚâ
It was your turn to shake your head, and when he saw that you did really want the chance to get to know him a bit, he smiled broadly, showing all his array of serrated teeth.
âGreat. What can I get you then?â
You told him and he nodded. âMan after my own heart,â he said and ducked inside the cafe, leaving you sitting in the chill breeze wafting in from offshore and wondering how you had got so lucky. Or, more accurately, what the catch would beâŚ
He backed out of the cafe door a few minutes later, shoving it open with his perfect arse, with a cardboard takeaway cup in each hand, a brown paper takeaway bag swinging from his wrist by the handle, and a big smile on his face. When he caught you looking curiously at it, he laughed and said, âI like my sweets, ok? Oh, my nameâs Tai by the way.â He looked comically from the coffee cups and then to you and said, âHelp a shark out so he can shake your hand?â
Laughing, you took your cup off him and shook his hand. His skin was rough as fine-grit sandpaper, and though the grip was prodigiously strong you got the feeling he was definitely holding back.
Taking a deep breath, you told him your name and added, âYou want to stay here or go for a walk?â
Tai gazed longingly down the quiet stretch of seafront and shrugged. âWalk sounds good? As long as you donât mind if I chow down on the way? Iâm starving.â
âCourse not,â you said.
âSo whereâd you live before coming here?â he asked as you set off. âAnd why the hell did you move here of all places?â
âWork,â you said. âI donât start til next week though, so Iâve got time to kill.â You tried to sip your coffee but it was still too hot, so you went on, âI lived in the city before.â
Tai shuddered dramatically and said, âMan, I couldnât live without the sea.â
âIâm surprised you donât actually live in the sea,â you said. âI mean⌠it doesnât bother you?â
He shot you a sidelong look and said, âThey donât have TV or Wifi in the sea. Not yet, anyway. And pizza doesnât do too well underwater either. Pizza is lifeâŚâ
You snorted and he laughed with you. You liked the way he looked at you - the way his gaze lingered at the corners of your mouth and on your eyes - and you tried not to preen under his powerful stare.
âI do swim a lot though,â he added around an enormous bite of pastry before groaning. âOh wow. They make the best Danish there,â he said, gesturing over his shoulder and flicking crumbs onto his shirt.
Feeling uncharacteristically bold, you reached up and brushed them off for him, and his smile widened. âI hate swimming,â you admitted, avoiding his gaze. âWell, I hate the water⌠being surrounded by it⌠not knowing whatâs down thereâŚâ You fought off a shudder and he nodded.
âI can see that,â he said. âNo, really, I can⌠I mean, Iâm one of the things that folks donât tend to argue with, on land or on sea, but just coz Iâve got a mouthful of pearly whites doesnât mean there arenât dangers out there. Still, I try and swim every morning.â
âYeah?â
He nodded, pausing to take another bite and finish off the second croissant in the bag. âI like to race by best friends. Gotta stay sharp, you know?â
âTheyâre samebito like you?â you asked, trying the somewhat unfamiliar word out on your tongue. âSamebitoâ wasnât a word you used everyday after all.
He shook his head. âNah, we donât live in shoals or anything. No, Freya is a selkie and Viggo is an orca mer.â
Your eyebrows rose at that, and he chuckled another rough, happy laugh. âI know, youâd think Iâd want to eat Freya, given that Iâm a shark and sheâs a seal - but Iâm not a complete beast, I swear. Weâve been besties for years, and holy crap is she fast.â He took another sip of his coffee and groaned. âAh thatâs good. And yeah, Viggo is like a brother to me. He was involved in an accident with a fishing trawler about ten years ago, but that doesn't stop him beating me soundly almost every morning!â he laughed.
âIs he ok?â Life in the ocean seemed even more brutal than you had imagined.
Tai shrugged. âLost his left arm and a fuck-ton of confidence, but yeah, heâs doing alright now.â
âNot all the dangers out there have teeth,â you offered quietly, turning your eyes to the relatively calm ocean on your right as you both made your way along the smooth tarmac of the seafront.
You and Tai continued to walk and chat long after heâd finished his breakfast and both of your coffee cups had been ditched in the bin. He had an odd and slightly brash sense of humour, and an open kind of confidence that drew you in and made you feel at ease around him.
The pier had all but dwindled out of sight when suddenly he glanced at his watch and cursed. âFuck, Iâve got to be at work in ten minutes! I didnât realise it was so late!â
âI didnât know the club opened so early,â you ventured.
Tai shook his head. âI work part time as a swimming coach at the school on the edge of town. Got to hold down a couple of jobs if I wanna live like you landies do!â While you smiled, he added, âListen, can I give you my number? I had funâŚâ
âSure,â and in moments, the two of you had exchanged numbers and heâd promised to be in touch.
Without warning, he opened his arms and moved in for a hug before abruptly halting and asking, âIs that ok? Iâm a hugger⌠but not everyone isâŚâ
Shaking your head with a smile, you said, âItâs cool. Thanks thoughâŚâ
The hug he gave you was polite but heartfelt, and you tried not to enjoy his looming closeness too much before he had pulled back and was jogging away with a jovial wave over his shoulder.
You watched him go, standing there for a long time with the sea breeze ruffling and messing up your hair before you followed in his wake and turned your footsteps back towards your apartment.
A few days slid by in a blur of unpacking and sorting, and getting stuff like internet and electricity contracts going, and while you were busy, you found your mind wandering back to Tai; his strong, grey hands in particular, though his muscular shoulders and arms were equally delicious. The power in his sharkâs jaw must have been immense, but his smile, although toothy and broad, had been friendly and his sense of humour had kept you chuckling to yourself for days.
But there was no sign that he wanted to see you again. He didnât call or text, and youâd sort of abandoned the idea of getting to know him better until one evening, perhaps four days after your walk along the seafront, when your phone buzzed just as you were tucking into a takeaway, with your feet up on the couch. Scrabbling around for your phone, you nearly dropped your food in your lap when you saw that the message was from Tai.
âHey Iâm so sorry I didnât call you,â he began. âThere was some drama at the club and it kind of took over my life for a bit. I know this might be super weird, but can I take you out for dinner some time? I had so much fun chatting with you the other day. Anyway, let me know either way, T xâ
You werenât used to someone being so free with their emotions and so confident about what they wanted, but it was reassuring and you replied that dinner would be great, and that you were free the next night.
âPerfect!â came his response. âListen, Iâd kind of like to surprise you, but is there anything you really wouldnât want to do? I remember you said you didnât like the water much so it wouldnât involve boats or anything I promise :)!â
Anxiety did spike in your gut at the idea of a surprise date, if that was what he was suggesting, but deciding to throw caution to the wind and to start over anew here, you told him you were grateful that he remembered about your dislike of the water, and other than that, you were game for most things.
With everything sorted, he replied with a message full of emojis and exclamation marks that he was looking forward to seeing you and that heâd meet you in the centre of town the next evening since it was his night off. âOh and donât come fancy or anything - it wonât be poshâŚâ
âThatâs⌠honestly a reliefâŚâ
âGlad to hear it! See you tomorrow!!! :D xâ Again, you allowed yourself a bit of a goofy smile at the over-peppering of exclamation marks.
Wearing a smart-ish pair of jeans and your favourite t-shirt, you strode through town the next evening with a light feeling filling your chest for the first time in a long while. Things were definitely new and different here, and you just hoped that it would all turn out for the better.
A group of satyrs and fauns up ahead were laughing and joking with a pair of gnolls, the latter yipping and leaping around, and you stared openly at them as you passed, amazed at how the three species all seemed to be getting along so well. Back in the city, folks tended to let prejudices sit deeply and interactions like this would just never happen. Then again, you wouldnât have found yourself on a date with a sharkman back in the city either.
You were still smiling to yourself about it when you saw him pacing up and down by the fountain in the middle of the square. Because of his size and unusual silhouette, he was instantly recognisable, but you supposed you were a bit ordinary and didnât expect him to notice you until you were nearly level with him. However, he surprised you by turning his head suddenly, a little like a bird of prey, and waving expansively at you, calling your name and grinning. He had to be the most extroverted person youâd ever met.
A bit bashful, but still laughing, you joined him and he hugged you. âSorry,â he mumbled as he drew back. âI didnât mean to embarrass youâŚâ
âItâs fine,â you smiled. âYou look niceâŚâ you added as you took in the jeans that hugged his muscular legs and made his arse look frankly incredible, and the dark blue t-shirt that seemed to bring out the blueish hues of his grey skin. In light of the street lamps in this part of town, his white markings seemed to glow, and you honestly thought he was one of the most beautiful creatures youâd ever laid eyes on.
âGlad you think so,â he rumbled quietly. âYou wanna go? I hope youâre not afraid of heightsâŚâ
âHeights?â
He grinned down at you and said, âYouâll see. Thereâs plenty else to do there as well if youâre not into heightsâŚâ He sounded odd, like he was straining the point, but you let it slide. Perhaps he was as nervous as you were after all?
After a short walk across town, during which you listened to him decompressing about the drama at the club which had involved one of the patrons being harassed and some legal action being threatened, you quickly cottoned on to where he was leading you.
Music played and lights danced in the sky as you reached the fairground that had been set up on the edge of town for the harvest festival and to celebrate the end of summer. You began to laugh as he took your hand in his.
âNo?â he asked, seeming to refer both to the fact that he was holding your hand and to the fair beyond. Although he had a sharkâs upper body, he was still expressive and you caught the definite hint of worry in his dark blue eyes as he gazed down at you.
With a roll of your own eyes at him and a squeeze of your hand in his, you tugged him towards the fair.
âPhew,â he laughed. âYou scared me for a moment there.â
âIâm sure you must go on dates all the time,â you said without really thinking, âBut itâs been a while for me, ok? I just didnât know what to expect, especially since⌠uh⌠Iâve not dated someone like you before.â
âAnother guy or a shark?â he asked quietly. The sincerity in his voice was reassuring and you smiled.
âShark,â you clarified.
âRight,â he said. âYou hungry?â
âI could definitely eat,â you said. âHow about there?â and you pointed to a noodle stand where a small queue was just beginning to form. It smelled amazing.
Heâd just turned to look when a figure stumbled out of the haunted house ride to your right, laughing, her hand firmly held in that of the girl she was with, and when she saw Tai, she shrieked his name and practically skipped over to him, yanking the poor girl nearly off her feet.
âFreya!â he boomed, opening one arm to hug her without letting go of your hand.
âOmg!â she yipped when she saw you. âIs this him? Ah! Heâs so handsome! Tai! You lucky little scrap of chum!â
You could only stand there awkwardly while Taiâs best friend cooed over the pair of you and then announced that she needed some food after the spooky ride. âYou guys want to join us?â she asked brightly, her big dark eyes flitting from your face to Taiâs.
While she seemed lovely enough, you hadnât really intended to share your date with anyone else, but to your surprise Tai immediately sensed that and said, âUh, we were actually about to go⌠uhâŚâ He gazed around and saw the ferris wheel and blurted, âGo on the wheelâŚâ
A slow smile dawned on Freyaâs face and her dark eyebrow rose. âOh yeah?â she said. âWell donât let me stop you, sweetheart.â And as Tai bid her and her girlfriend a good evening, you cast him a puzzled look to which he responded with a slight shake of his head.
You were still frowning curiously at him when the bar went down over your knees as you sat in the gondola, and he swallowed thickly.
âTai?â you asked, looking up at him. Was it your imagination, or was the colouring under his chin slightly green? Perhaps it was the light of the fair below⌠âYou ok?â
âI panicked,â he blurted.
âWhat?â
âI didnât think youâd want her asking a million questions about your life just yet - I mean, I wasnât even sure if this counted as a proper date or whatever - and so I just said the first thing that came into my mind, which was thisâŚâ
âAnd this is a problem becauseâŚ?â
âI donât like heights,â he said quietly as the gondola lurched backwards. âOh godsâŚâ
He gripped the bar so hard that you thought it was going to crumple under his strength. âHey,â you said, reaching for his thigh and placing your palm on it. He was so tense that it was like putting your hand on a boulder. Taking advantage of the privacy of the moment, you dug your fingertips gently into the muscle. âLook at me,â you said as he stared wide-eyed into the void that was opening up beneath you.
âFreya knew,â he muttered.
âForget her,â you chuckled. âLook at me.â And when he did, you put your other hand on his cheek and watched him heave out a gentle sigh. The gills in his neck flared wide but he leaned into your touch and laughed, the sound deep in his chest.
He leaned down and nuzzled the blunt tip of his snout against your neck. âI would kiss you,â he said gently, breath fanning across your skin, âBut I canât.â
He brought his hand to your cheek and trailed his thumb down your jaw line as he caressed you, and you felt a stirring in your cock as his fingers wandered downwards. He hadnât even noticed that the gondola had done nearly a full rotation.
When it finally came round to getting everyone off the wheel, he seemed a lot calmer, though embarrassment had definitely washed in to replace his fear.
âTai?â you asked as he stood near the ferris wheel with his hand on the railing, breathing deeply and steadily. âYou ok?â
He laughed and shot you a sidelong look. âYeah,â he sighed. âJust feeling a bitâŚâ
âQueasy?â
âFoolish.â
You rapped him lightly on the bicep with the back of your fingers and grinned, âHey, itâs nice to know that even someone like you can get a bit freaked out sometimes, you know?â
âThatâs precisely the point,â he said. âIâm not used to it.â
âAh, come on, lets have a walk,â you said, taking his hand. âBesides, I pretty much got to kiss you, so itâs not all bad.â You halted and looked up at him with mock suspicion on your face. âUnless it was all a ruse to get close to meâŚ?â
âWhat? No!â he gasped, his footsteps halting. âI promise youâŚâ
âRelax,â you said. âI was joking.â
He walked beside you for a few paces before murmuring, âYou know I wouldnât do something like that, right?â
You nodded.
Tai cleared his throat. âAnd actually, going back to something you mentioned earlier, I havenât been on a lot of dates recently⌠or⌠at all.â
Now it was your turn to stop in surprise. âYouâre kidding me?â
He shook his head. âTurns out apex predators give off âdangerous vibesâ. That, and Iâm nearly always workingâŚâ
âHuh,â you shrugged, still a little baffled. âIâm sorry for just assuming thenâŚâ
Tai put his arm around your shoulders and tugged you slightly off balance and into his side. âYou want to go eat now?â he asked and you nodded, heading back to the noodle bar.
It was only after wandering aimlessly around the fair to walk down your food that he said, âSo⌠did I do good?â
âWith the date?â you asked and he nodded. âItâs been perfect. I honestly didnât expect to be dating the moment I arrived in this townâŚâ
âDid you want a break from it, orâŚ?â
âNo,â you said. âI just⌠didnât look for it.â
Tai was holding your hand as the pair of you moved through the bustling, jostling people, dodging drunken revellers and excited teenagers alike. His skin was rough and cool, and his huge presence beside you in the constant ebb and flow of people was undeniably grounding.
âI guess good things just fall into your lap when youâre not expecting it,â you added.
Tai leaned low towards your ear and growled, âI wouldnât mind having you in my lapâŚâ and you smacked him in his solid chest, laughing. When he laughed, all his jagged teeth showed, and his eyes rolled back just a little in his head. In an odd kind of way, it was attractive, and you smiled up at him.
At a quieter corner of the fair, he paused and looked down at you. Lowering his head, he murmured, âDamn, I really wish I could kiss, you know?â
âWhat do samebito do instead?â you asked.
He smiled softly. âOur noses are very sensitive,â he said, and he was going to continue but he cut off suddenly when you brought your fingertips to the tip of his snout and traced a gentle circle there. A shudder ran through him and his eyes rolled back for a moment to show the whites. âDamn,â he panted. âYour touch isâŚâ With gills flaring, he nosed you backwards until your back hit the sides of a wooden shack - the side of one of the trinket stalls perhaps - and he began to nose at your neck again.
A soft rumbling emanated from his chest and his hands wandered. He palmed your cock through your jeans and you moaned, rolling your hips a little into the touch, chasing friction. âNot here,â you gasped and he backed off, glassy eyed and nodding.
âNo,â he said. âNot here.â And then he laughed, shaking his head. âDamn, you look good all ruffled like that,â he said, thumbing an arc across your cheekbone where your skin was flushed hot.
Not long after that, you agreed to head home and he offered to walk you. At your door, you thanked him for an amazing evening, and touched him again on his nose, this time with your whole palm, your fingers tracing gentle lines up and down the rough skin there. His eyes rolled again and he growled.
âWhen can I see you again?â he asked breathlessly. Before you got the chance to answer, he had nuzzled against your neck again, and as you leaned into the contact, he parted his jaws and very gently raked his teeth across your skin. His tongue rasped over your pulse and you gasped. âSorry,â he added as he drew back. âI didnât hurt you did I?â
Wordlessly you shook your head.
He grinned. âGood. You got an answer to my question or did I chase it awayâŚ?â
With a lopsided grin, you nodded. âI start work this week, but I should have some time in the evenings?â
He growled and stepped back, frustrated. âI work most nights from about six. Would Thursday work though?â
In fact, he surprised you at lunch one day, and you managed to show up early to the club to give him a quick kiss before he began his shift, and so you snatched moments here and there when you could. He also took you out the next weekend for a meal which was amazing, and afterwards he said, âListen, I know weâve only been going out a short while, but I wanted to do something nice for you⌠are you free this weekend?â
You nodded, wary but curious. Tai laughed when he saw the expression on your face. âDonât panic,â he said, taking your slightly clammy hand in his. âIâm not proposing to you⌠I promise itâs just something niceâŚâ If sharks could do puppy dog eyes, this one would be the best at it. As it was, he just tilted his head and looked at you straight on, which kind of had a similar effect.
In what had now become an instinctual replacement for a traditional kiss, you brought your nose to his and kissed it, making him shiver as always. He really hadnât been kidding when heâd said the skin there was sensitive, and somehow it always seemed to make him short-circuit a bit when you touched him there. âWhatever you want to do, Iâm game,â you said. âI trust you, and I think youâve got the measure of me by nowâŚâ
Scraping his mind back together again after the pleasure of your touch, he nodded. âAlright. Iâll come get you and we can go from your place.â
Wondering what it was heâd got planned filled more than a couple of your spare minutes that week, for sure.
In fact, you neednât have worried at all. When he showed up at your door, he immediately nuzzled you and he picked you up this time. He dropped the small insulated bag he had been carrying and rumbled softly. You tilted your head back, allowing him better access to you, and he placed his massive jaw around your throat. It was unconventional as greetings went, but it was a bit more exciting than a kiss on the cheek, and youâd grown to enjoy it.
When heâd drawn back, he rasped, âI canât believe you let me do that.â
His voice was breathless with wonder, and you laughed. âTold you I trusted you. Where are we going?â
He set you back down on your feet and asked, âYou ready to go? Itâs not far - maybe a five minute walk?â
You pulled the door closed behind you and stepped out into the night while he picked up his bag again and held out his other hand to you. The air was chilly, it being late October now, but the stars were perfectly clear in the inky sky above and there wasnât a breath of wind.
âSoâŚâ he said. âYou remember a while back, when I told you about some drama at the club? We had this super wealthy elven model and she got into a bit of a âdifficult situationâ with this big guy that wouldnât leave her alone.â You listened to him, nodded, and welcomed the growling undertone in his voice as he spoke of the incident. âSo I hauled this guy off her and did that thing with my teethâŚâ
âWhat thing?â
âYou know, the sharky thing where I pull my lips backâŚâ
âShow me?â you asked, knowing full well what it was he was talking about. He knew it too, and laughed, obligingly baring his teeth at you while you short-circuited for a momentâŚ
âAnyway, I think the guy shat his pants, and she was super grateful to me. She said that if I ever wanted a favour from her, all I had to do was ask, soâŚâ He held up a pair of keys and jangled them softly. âI called it in⌠She said I could use her beach-front apartment for the night. Sheâs away at the moment but the doorman knows weâre coming, and she said we could help ourselves to anything in the wine cooler and make ourselves at home.â He raised the cool-bag he was carrying and added, âI prepped some dinner. So long as we donât trash anything or burn the place down, itâs ours for the nightâŚâ
âNo way,â you smiled. âThatâs really sweet of her.â
He shrugged. âYeah, sheâs a real sweetheart.â
The apartment turned out to be the penthouse, and it was gorgeous. Sleek, modern, and yet cosy, you stood in the doorway behind him as he stepped inside and just looked around, struck stupid by it. âWow,â you finally breathed.
âHow the other half lives, eh?â he grinned. âCome on, letâs look around.â
You didnât get very far before Taiâs stomach was growling and he had made his way to the super fancy kitchen to start unloading the bag of food heâd brought. It was the most amazing picnic spread, and while he set about finding bowls and plates, you wandered over to the French windows and stepped outside into the chilly night. The deck was gorgeous, and there was even a small fire pit with a log store pressed up against the wall of the flat. Ducking briefly back inside, you called, âAre there any firelighters around?â
âI told you we canât burn the place down!â he laughed.
âThereâs a fire pit⌠does that count?â
With a fire going in the cast iron brazier and the food nearly finished, Tai sat back in his sun lounger, careful of his dorsal fin, and smiled. âIs it too early to say Iâm in love with you?â he asked in an uncharacteristically shy voice, staring up at the sky.
Something about the way he said it, and about the way he looked at you every time he saw you, made you shake your head. âNo,â you murmured. âI donât think so.â
He reached across the space between your two loungers and took your hand, running his thumb over your knuckles. âNever thought Iâd fall like this for a landieâŚâ
âI love the way you say that word,â you snorted. âMakes us sound like MartiansâŚâ
âI can use the more formal âLandfolkâ if youâd prefer,â he said in a falsely haughty voice.
âNoâŚâ
âCome here,â he said. âYouâre too far away.â
Stepping carefully over the remnants of the food and drink, you allowed him to tug you down into his lap and you lay back against his chest while he nuzzled idly at your neck and hair.
âYou smell so good,â he groaned.
âSharks have a good sense of smell, donât you?â you asked.
âYou have no ideaâŚâ
âHuhâŚâ you said, hoping he couldnât smell just how turned on you were in that moment. You didnât want to move just yet.
Tai, however, had other ideas. He shifted and you felt the hard line of his cock beneath your ass, and he nudged his hips slightly upwards and groaned. âI want you,â he said. âBut⌠I⌠â And all his brash confidence suddenly seemed to crumble.
âWhat?â you asked, glancing up at him over your shoulder. He couldnât blush, but his eyes rolled a bit and he looked away. âYou think I donât want you back? Donât you remember how I was at the fair? I practically came in my pants like a horny teenagerâŚâ
He laughed. His jaw was noticeably slacker now, his eyes gleaming brightly in the low light of the fire. âIâm scared,â he whispered in a voice that made your heart lurch.
âScared of what?â
âI donât want to hurt you⌠Weâre not⌠Weâre not known for being gentle loversâŚâ
âI trust you.â
âThat⌠That doesnât helpâŚâ he said with an awkward chuckle. âI mean, itâs amazing, donât get me wrong, but⌠IâmâŚâ
âLet me guess, youâre a biterâŚâ you grinned and he rolled his eyes. âIâm sure we can figure it out⌠would it help if I stayed on top? We can take it slow this time anywayâŚâ
He gazed at you and then smiled softly, gently nudging his nose into your hand as you raised it to âkissâ him. âI donât deserve you,â he murmured into your palm, tenderly licking a little stripe over it and then up your fingers.
In little more than a few minutes you were both naked, and you got to see him properly for the first time. The patch of white began under his chin at his jaw and moved down his neck to his chest and stomach, tapering down as if to draw attention to his hardening cock. He was beautiful, and big, his tip already glistening as he watched you watching him. âFuck,â he cursed, reaching for you. âLook at youâŚâ
You sat back down astride him, your own cock pressed against his as you took him in your hand and rolled your hips. He threw his head back and clutched the arms of the lounger, letting out a deep, earthy growl. His hips lurched upwards as you continued to stroke him slowly, rocking your own body against him until the pair of you were slick and desperate.
His chest began to heave and as you scraped your blunt nails down his pecs and over the ridges of his abs, he opened his jaw and showed all his teeth as he began to pant rapidly.
âFuck, thatâs so good,â he moaned, leaning forwards again and enjoying the sight of you working his cock and your own in your hand at the same time. Pre-come spilled down his length as he twitched and gasped, bucking into the tightness of your grip, and he began to growl again.
âIâm⌠Iâm close,â he said breathlessly. âFuck, Iâm so close alreadyâŚâ His jaws closed with a loud clack and his eyes rolled back to show the whites as he suddenly spilled over his chest and abs, his body rocking and convulsing as he came with a muted bellow.
A few seconds later and you followed him, falling forwards onto his messy chest as white heat thundered through you. He was still twitching and gnashing his powerful jaws together, eyes still rolled back, cock pulsing in your hand.
You watched him as he came down from his peak, and you couldnât resist rocking your hips once more against his spent and sensitive cock. He grunted and his eyes rolled back to look at you.
Tai swallowed and then croaked, âI havenât come like that in a long timeâŚâ
âMe neither,â you grinned. âYou want to see what the bathroomâs like in this place?â
After a few more minutes to catch his breath, he said, âHold on,â and you gripped him round the waist as he stood up and carried you through the apartment, pausing every now and again to nuzzle at your neck and scrape his teeth lovingly over your shoulder. When you finally made it to the bathroom, it was a while before you actually emerged, eventually cleanâŚ
â
I really hope you folks enjoyed this one! Donât forget to let me know if you did enjoy it by leaving a like and/or reblogging it!
For all early releases, character art and bios, upcoming story info, and much, much more, join me over on Patreon!
Youâll have access to stories before anyone else, and youâll get instant access Patreon-only content as well, including polls and an exclusive monthly story for those on the Pixies and Goblins tier or higher!