Isla was a fisherman's daughter who had lived on the Cornish Coast all her life. It was a slow life, especially for a little girl, miles from any big cities with the only entertainment being the dangerous ocean and rocky cliffs, but it had turned her into a wonderful swimmer, with the ability to hold her breath for long periods of time and keep her eyes open underwater. Isla loved to swim. She was out there every day from the early morning hours, even now as a perky 18 year old, choosing to follow the currents instead of the trends that every other girl her age did.
Of course it probably helped that for all her life, Isla had had a secret. One she had somehow managed to keep all this time, just for herself.
Belle. A mermaid, a real life mermaid, who had swam up to her while she was hunting for the prettiest shells in a rock pool, and changed her life forever. Isla had named her that, as to her little 7 year old mind, the mermaid was the most beautiful person she had ever seen, and still was to this day. Even as a small child herself, Belle was dazzling, her skin a pale sage green that was sometimes blue, depending on the light, and a shiny tail that faded from a deep green into a shimmery gold. Her hair and eyes were dark, inky green, almost like seaweed, and her features were pretty and delicate, with a smile that made Isla weak at the knees. They formed a firm friendship on the beach that day, playing together and discovering things about their different worlds.
For 11 years, Isla met Belle in the rock pool where they had first met, the isolated beach a perfect place for secret rendezvous, and they swam together. Isla taught Belle to speak English. Belle taught Isla how to swim in just the right way to surf the currents, to find edible things in the ocean, and to make jewellery with the nature they found around them. Now Belle wore strings of sea snail shells around her neck that Isla had made for her many years ago, and Isla wore the pretty seaweed bracelets that Belle had wound around her wrists, braided with the mermaids hair for strength.
Life was perfect. Isla didn't need other humans when she had her best friend from the sea to keep her company. And of Belle was becoming even more alluring every day now that they were older, that didn't hurt either. Underneath the strings of pretty shells, Belle had beautiful, small, perky breasts, the same hue as the rest of her skin, the nipples always perked and a pretty dark green color. Isla frequently caught her eyes straying down Belle's chest, her hands itching to reach out and touch her, but she kept that to herself. She didn't even know what kinds of mating rituals the mermaids had, but she was sure Belle wouldn't be interested in her that way.
Or so she thought.
It was a day like any other, and she stood in their rock pool, stretching her stiff muscles in her favorite blue bikini, tying her dark hair up out of her face, enjoying the sun on her freckled skin as she waited for Belle to meet her. Eyeing the ripples in the water outside the pool, she smiled, and when a shiny tail splashed her with water, she just laughed, running over the rocks and jumping in. Cold skin found hers, the strong arms pushing her to the surface, and Belle grinned at her, sharp teeth shining in the sunlight. "I have something to show you! Today is a special day!"
"What's happening?" Isla asked, blinking salt water out of her eyelashes as she tread water beside the mermaid.
"Today is the ritual. I didn't know about it before now. But now I am old enough, I must partake. But I wanted to show you. Come, we must swim."
Isla took a deep breath as the mermaid dived, and followed her down, riding her wake the way she had been taught, although she was nowhere near fast enough to keep up with Belle. The mermaid slowed down for her, beckoning her along as they swam along the coast, weaving between rocks and coral, until they came to a cave. Isla took another deep breath, trusting that Belle wouldn't be taking her somewhere she couldn't survive, and followed her into the underwater cave. For a moment it seemed like it would go on forever, as the tunnel grew darker and her lungs constricted, begging for air. As she was starting to slow, Belle reached out a hand to drag her along another few metres, and then suddenly she was breaking the surface, gasping for air in the cave that opened up into a large cavity. She held onto Belle, breathing deeply, and the mermaid pressed a cold finger to her lips, shushing her gently. "They mustn't hear us," she whispered mysteriously, smiling as she let Isla catch her breath. Isla nodded and tried to breathe more quietly.
Finally when she was recovered enough, Belle led her to another opening, this one smaller and smoother, and dove down into it. Isla followed her, and they slipped through into another cavity, with one with rocks and formations lining the walls, plenty of material to hide behind, with a few air pockets against the ceiling. Isla didn't know what they were hiding for until Belle gestured for her to look around the rocks, and she peered around, wondering what the muffled sounds were that she was hearing.
Mermaids. Dozens of them, paired up and intertwined, their tails wrapped around each other like mating snakes. Oh. Wait a moment. Were they....?
Isla's eyes widened as she watched the mermaids rock against each other, arms holding each other tight, each pair in some kind of mating embrace. She couldn't see exactly what kind of equipment they had going on- she had definitely been curious over the years, but was too shy to ask Belle whether she had genitals or not. But it seemed they did. They were using them now in a communal mating ritual. The sounds that she heard were moans carrying through the water.
Something stirred inside her. This was intimate, forbidden, exciting. This was sex between creatures of fantasy. She was desperate to know more. But her need for air was becoming more pressing. She swam up to find an air pocket and took a breath, then returned, still out of sight. She glanced at Belle, who had the most intense expression on her face that Isla had ever seen. She seemed uncomfortable, but excited, as she watched her people have sex in front of her, rubbing against a rock.
