Mermen and Homosexuality
Homosexuality and how it is perceived by people plays a large part in many male/male stories. Homophobia is still prevalent despite the efforts of many to ensure equal rights for everyone, no matter who a person chooses to love.
To add an element of homophobia to Forbidden Waters was something I was initially reluctant to do, but at the end of the day the story required it. It does, however, have something of a twist to the theme.
For most mer people homosexuality is not considered to be any different from heterosexuality. If a merman wants to lie with another man, or a mermaid with a woman, then they do so. However, in the sunken city of Atlantis things are a little different.
The once large and thriving community is now far smaller with the number of births of mer babies falling each mating season. In Atlantis, where the figures are closely monitored, the numbers speak for themselves.
To ensure the survival of the race homosexual relations have been forbidden. Each merman and mermaid is expected to do their duty to bring new life into the world and even those mermen who crave their own gender’s touch are not exempt from the law.
Prince Finn is the heir to the throne of Atlantis and he is one such merman who has no desire at all for the female form. His position makes it doubly dangerous for Kyle, a new merman to the city, and the prince’s new bodyguard.
Homosexuality in the city of Atlantis is punishable by exile from all the oceans of the world, a high price to pay for a merman, I’m sure you will agree.
Blurb
To save his clan from ever-increasing shark attacks, merman Kyle seeks sanctuary for his people in the sunken city of Atlantis, even though he knows that as a homosexual merman, he will be sacrificing his own chance for love. Love finds him anyway in the form of Prince Finn, the rebellious young heir to the Atlantean throne.
When their relationship is discovered, Kyle is the one to pay the price. Banished from the oceans, he seeks shelter in England and finds a new love with human, Jake Seabrook.
For Jake, Kyle is the chance to move on from the crush he has on his straight best friend. The strange man he found naked on the beach seems to fit into his life with ease. If only Kyle weren’t keeping secrets from him, Jake could see them having a future together.
Things are not what they seem for either of the men and when Kyle discovers the truth about Finn, he knows he must return to Atlantis.
Three men, a tangled relationship, and one chance for happiness—if they can trust enough to take it.
Excerpt
Kyle shook his head and was about to say something else when the sound of someone in pain drifted through his mind. He knew instinctively it was Finn and swam past the queen to the resting chamber. Queen Coral followed at his back. They found Finn curled up in Kyle’s sleeping sponge, his tail curled around him. He clutched his stomach in obvious pain.
Ignoring the queen for the moment, Kyle rushed to Finn and gathered him into his arms.
“I’m here, Finn,” Kyle murmured. “I’ve got you now.”
Finn groaned and wrapped himself round Kyle. “I hate this. The heat of the season gets worse every time. I thought it might help to be here in your home, but it didn’t. It’ll pass by the end of the day. It just hurts not to mate when the desire is so strong.”
“Damn,” Kyle swore under his breath. At twenty years of age, Finn had already gone through nearly ten mating seasons without relief. That was more than Dax and Undine had lived through combined. The pain Kyle suffered from would be nothing compared to what Finn was dealing with right now.
Kyle glared at the queen. “Do you see what your stupid rules are putting your son through?”
“This is not my fault,” the queen argued.
“Don’t fight,” Finn interrupted. “Just hold me Kyle. It’s helping.”
Kyle tightened his grip and kissed Finn on the top of his head. “I’m here now. I won’t leave you.”
Finn settled down a little and began to rub up against Kyle. He could tell what the merman was trying to do, but Finn’s efforts were in vain. Mermen simply couldn’t find release in their half-fish form. No matter how Finn mimicked the movements of the act of mating, they could never actually see it through to completion while under the water. Which meant Finn could never find relief as long as his parents held him prisoner under the waves.
“Kyle, help me,” Finn begged. “Take me to the island. Let me know you the way I need to.”
“I forbid it,” Queen Coral ordered.
Kyle ignored her and sent his next thoughts privately to Finn. “I promise this won’t happen next mating season. Next time I’ll take you with me, even if I have to kidnap you to do it.”
Buy Link
https://www.totallybound.com/forbidden-waters
Bio
L.M. Brown lives in England, in a quaint little village time doesn’t seem to have touched. No, wait a minute—that’s the retirement biography. Right now, she is in England in a medium sized town no one has ever heard of, so she won’t bore you with the details. Keeping her company are numerous sexy men. She just wishes they weren’t all inside her head.
L.M. believes there is nothing hotter or sweeter than two men in love with each other… unless it is three.
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