Title: Sea Lover
Author: J.K. Pendragon
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 06/28/2021
Length: 27300
Genre: Paranormal, LGBTQIA+, MM-trans romance, merman, fisherman, interspecies, fantasy
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Description
Ian is happy with his life in a remote Canadian fishing town, where he has only the sea and his fishing crew for company. People say being alone is terrible, but he’s never had any problems with it.
Then his peaceful life is thrown into upheaval when he finds an injured merman washed up on the shore. With no idea what else to do, Ian takes the merman home and nurses him back to health.
But as he helps S’mika heal, a bond begins to form, and Ian starts to wonder if maybe there is more to life than being alone…
Sea Lover
J.K. Pendragon © 2021
All Rights Reserved
He showered and changed in the bathroom, unused to having another person in his house and infringing on his ability to walk around naked. Since S’mika didn’t seem to have human genitals, he doubted very much that he would notice or care that Ian was trans, but he didn’t fancy a strange seal-boy seeing him naked—or giggling at him—anyway.
By the time he actually got out of the house, the sun was high overhead, taking away some of the chill of the morning. The wind was still northern and cold though. His net and tackle were still where he’d left them, but they’d blown into a bush in the night, and Ian had to untangle the net, causing several more tears in it in the process, which was just great.
He was grumbly and suspicious when he finally arrived in town. The little market was in full swing, and several people called out to him when he arrived.
“How’d you like that storm last night, eh, Ian?”
“Storm?” Ian shook his head. “I slept through it, I guess.”
Bobby raised his eyebrows. He was a young guy, with a lot of energy—too much, maybe. Which explained why he was selling fish for his dad, even though it was technically their day off. It also meant that he was extremely chatty and a little nosey. “Crazy night?”
“No,” said Ian sharply. “Why?”
Bobby raised his arms and tugged one of the heavy gloves down a bit. “No reason. Dad said you boys had a good catch yesterday though.”
“Yeah, where were you?”
“I uh…” Bobby looked uncharacteristically shy all of a sudden. “Drove down to St. John’s to write a test, actually.”
“Really?” said Ian, a mixture of excitement and something that was either jealousy or trepidation swirling in his stomach. “What for?”
“Ian! What are you doing with that piece of shite? Is that supposed to be a net?”
Bobby looked pleased to be given an out. “See you on Monday, eh?”
“Yeah,” said Ian. “Sure.” He turned to Liz, the wrinkled old lady who’d insulted his gear. “Now that you mention it, I’m pretty sure you were gonna cut Mike a deal on a set of new nets.”
“Was I? Didn’t realise my memory had gone that much.”
“Hey,” he said, following Liz into her shop. “What do you know about mermaids?”
“Mermaids?” she said with a barked laugh. “Finally planning on settling down?”
“Something like that.” Ian grabbed a basket and went over to the produce section of the indoor market to load up on oranges and seasonal vegetables. “You got any lobster?”
“Check the freezer.”
There were lobster in the freezer, and Ian decided to splurge.
“Two? You really are trying to rope in a mermaid?”
Ian laughed at how uncomfortably close that came to the truth and shoved a big bag of rice on top of the lobster. “Seriously though? I know you know old legends.”
“Think you’re more likely to find a selkie around here,” laughed Liz. “Steal her pelt, she’ll give you babies.”
“That’s coercive,” snorted Ian. “You think selkies exist?”
“I think everything I haven’t seen exists,” said Liz. “You want a lottery ticket?”
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J.K. Pendragon is a Canadian author with a love of all things romantic and fantastical. They first came to the queer fiction community through m/m romance, but soon began to branch off into writing all kinds of queer fiction. As a bisexual and genderqueer person, J.K. is dedicated to producing diverse, entertaining fiction that showcases characters across the rainbow spectrum, and provides queer characters with the happy endings they are so often denied.
J.K. currently resides in British Columbia, Canada with a boyfriend, a cat, and a large collection of artisanal teas that they really need to get around to drinking. They are always happy to chat, and can be reached at jes.k.pendragon@gmail.com.
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