There is no Greater Love

Eric was getting really into it at first. Since she could breathe through her gill slits, her kiss was prolonged in the water. He seemed to possess a hundred arms when he stroked her like that, and he was being rather rough with her too, almost as rough as when she caught big fish like tuna or marlin. Truthfully, she wasn't sure if she enjoyed it, but it was impossible to lead to anything else like this.

Then, he suddenly stopped moving. Nerina opened her eyes underwater. He was like a fish that was dying. She too, almost forgot how to breathe underwater when she saw her beloved like that. Nerina dragged him out of the water and put his body in a resting position.

She thought of the safety illustrations of chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth rescusitation. First she checked if Eric's airways were obstructed by anything. No gummy shark, no fish and chip remnants. She listened to his heartbeat. Nothing, for now. She checked his mouth. No breath.

"Eric! Eric, no... Don't die." She tried not to panic. She tried not to think about that she might have killed her first boyfriend by drowning him underwater with a kiss.

She started to do chest compressions, aiming for a cycle of thirty, and then she gave him two full breaths, pinching his nostrils gently. If that didn't work, she would do it until he revived. She couldn't call an ambulance like this, but maybe Eric would have brought his mobile phone. Was it 000 or 199? Or 911...? She would have to keep doing it, so she did another cycle of 30 chest compressions and gave him breath again.

"Please wake up,"

She had just about given up until she heard the sound of life stirring from him, the water dislodged in his throat.

"Eric! Oh, Eric..."

She flung her arms around him, squeezing him tight. She looked at his beautiful face when he coughed and spluttered, concerned for her human boyfriend. She stroked the side of his cheek with the back of her fingers. He looked so pale in the moonlight.

The girl still looked sad, however cheerfully Eric phrased it. She composed herself and had her tail tucked underneath her when she sat down beside him. She wasn't sure how to apologise to him and say that she forgot humans couldn't breathe underwater.

She brightened up when she kissed him though, and hugged him again, this time with much more care and tenderness.

"I was scared that I had to call the ambulance, because I don't know the number."

His lips always found their way back to hers. She wondered if he enjoyed it differently than her. She gently stroked his wet hair that was more slicked back than usual, and a touch darker than its usual rich brown colour. She knew how to please him, at least this much. His face was so pretty too, like he was a statue, a model in a store front or a man on the cover of a magazine.

She noticed the colour of his eyes. They were more complex than she imagined. Her own eyes were a dark brown too, but she never studied them too closely herself. Hers looked almost black, but it looked more like there were hints of navy, like the sea at night. His shone so brightly.

"Eric, your eyes are so pretty," she said. "Like the song, angel eyes."

"I did," Nerina said softly, her voice held a deeply satisfied, sultry tone to it.

"I wish we talked more." They did spend most of it eating fish and chips, fooling around in the water and almost drowning. She wanted to know more about Eric. She barely knew anything about him or where he came from, what his family was like. She didn't even know his birth date or how old he was, but those things felt extraneous to Nerina, even if they mattered to others.

She held him delicately, her hands cradling the shape of his face, his smooth, shaven jaw and handsome features.

"Do you really have to go?" she frowned. "We could stay like this for the whole night."

"No," she decided, her voice sounding sleepy but still alluring, all the same. "Just rest with me," she held him close underneath the cover of the picnic blanket. Her catch was still in the net. The oysters, seashells and mussels weren't going anywhere for tonight. Nor was Eric, and she was pleased about that the most. He was the best catch, the piece of gold.

More often than not, she did sleep in the safety of a well hidden away rock pool. By daybreak she would make her way back to her house, but this was her first time with someone else like this, save for the bathtub experience.

She was fascinated by him, curious about his way of life. She wanted to hear what people did everyday. She sighed contentedly and snuggled up closer to him. His body was a little hot, rather than her own cold one. She could get used to this sensation, though.

"But is this what people do on dates? Sleep together like this?"