Long time no see! I know it's been awhile since my last post but I have been sick for over 2 weeks.

Anyway, in many of my shorter stories I have made some mention of Takuma as a merman/vampire, well here it is! I was so happy writing this that I drew my first fic inspired picture! It is on my homepage (see profile) and it is a pic of Takuma in all of his smexy glory! Hope you like both the story and pic.

Everyone has a secret to hide; a skeleton lurking in their closet. Though it was not a dark one, there was a deep secret that Takuma had hidden beneath his smile for years.

You've heard of mermaids, right? But very few have discovered what would happen if one mates with another creature outside of their species. That's where Takuma, son of a mermaid mother and vampire father, came in. From his parents' union, the bubbly blonde became a new cross-breed. At any given time he could choose what form to take, whether it be a merman in salty water or a vampire while he was on land.

Yet being a breed rarer than a pureblood can get rather lonely. At an early age the blonde lost both of his parents and was forced to live with his cold-hearted grandfather. For years the feel of the sea against his fins was his only happiness, until he met his future best friend Kaname Kuran.

The young vampires quickly became as close as could be, so it was no surprise that the pre-teen pureblood eventually discovered Takuma's scales. Actually it helped both boys in having someone to relate to. As they grew up together, they looked out for each other and tried to help as much as they could.

That bond came in handy for the blonde when it came time to attend Cross Academy. You see even though the rest of the Night Class were also vampires, the merman half of Takuma still had to be hidden. So after a full week of classes, the blonde would leave for the dorms an hour early. Then unawares to anyone else, he would soak in a bath of salt water and let his tail stretch a bit.

Though Takuma fully understood why his heritage couldn't be known, it did cause some problems when it came to his roommate/lover Shiki. He hated having to make up excuse after excuse on what he did every Friday afternoon. And that guilt is exactly what led to the petite brunette finding out the truth.

It had been a typical day for Takuma, he happily hummed to himself as he entered his dorm room. He quickly stripped out of his white-on-white uniform, filled the tub with hot water, and added a small handful of natural sea salt to the bath not wanting to miss a minute of his guilty pleasure.

The steam caressed his bare shoulders while the water engulfed him in comfort like a lover's embrace; at last he was home. A few moments later a tingling sensation crawled up his legs, before they turned into a tail. Grabbing a washcloth, the blonde began to massage his shiny aqua scales.

"You leave me speechless. The way you smile, the way you touch my face. You leave breathless. There's something that you do I can't explain. I'd run a million miles just to hear you say my name, baby. You-" his song was cut short as his glazed emerald eyes met a pair of shocked ice blue ones.

"You- you're a mermaid, I mean merman?" the normally cool and collected brunette stuttered. Tears had started to trickle down his cheeks as he demanded, "Why didn't you tell me? Even after I told you about my situation at home with my mother, you still choose to hide this huge part of your life from me!"

Thinking of nothing but comforting his lover, Takuma struggled to get out of the tub. "I wanted to tell you, honestly! It's just that before my parents died I made a promise to them that I would never reveal my true heritage." the blonde tried to explain as he finally gave up on getting out of the water in mer-form.

Touched by the other's sincerity, Shiki wrapped his arms around his lover's waist. "Umm…how long do you have to stay like this?" he asked as he gently placed Takuma down on the bathroom's plush carpet.

"Well, to change my legs into a tail I use salt water." Takuma said, towel-dried his shimmering scales, "So when I finish drying myself, I will be back to my normal vampiric self."

Sure enough, as he said this, the aquamarine scales slowly dissolved into pale flesh. The brunette watched in amazement as the fins turned into feet; the tail revealing a set of slender legs leading to his lover's creamy thighs and most intimate body parts. His gaze fixed on drops of water as they lazily traveled down the planes of the blonde's toned body. God he wished he was that water.

A bit confused by the younger vampire's silence, Takuma walked towards him cautiously, "Senri, please say something."

"I can't believe that after all this, all I can think about is how absolutely stunning you look when you're dripping wet." the petite brunette's voice turned husky, "Takuma I want you, all of you."

Emerald eyes as wide as saucers and cheeks a flame, the elder vampire stared at his lover "Do you really mean it?"

"I do. I want to hear you moan my name as I ride you, my skin flush against your tail that shines as brightly as your eyes. I have loved you for years and nothing will change that. Besides, I think you looked sexy with scales."

"Where do you want to do this?" Takuma warmly smiled, "I need to sit in salt water if I am going to be taking you in mer-form, so it's either the shower or the tub?"

The brunette rushed to the door, calling a quick "I'll be right back." before disappearing into the hallway. A minute or two later, Shiki burst back into the room holding a hot pink plastic chair.

Takuma laughed, "Where on earth did you find that?"

"From under a huge pile of stuffed animals in Rima's room." Shiki smirked, "Don't worry she still owed me from the time she borrowed my favorite corset for a photo shoot."

"Your what?" the blonde was about to ask before Shiki practically tackled him to the floor, kissing him passionately.

The brunette chuckled as he scooped up the elder vampire. "That's for another night." he said, bringing them over to the shower. Placing the chair into the shower with Takuma in it, Shiki worked on adjusting the water.

Takuma watched his lover with amusement as the brunette searched for the sea salt. "Found it!" Shiki proudly announced and he was about to step into the shower when a slender arm blocked his way.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" the blonde asked, laughing at Shiki's confused look, "I may be naked but you, my dear, are still wearing your uniform!"

There was a brief moment of silence before the brunette's clothes began to fly everywhere. In the time it takes to blink, Shiki stood in front of the shower nude and very aroused.

Steam filled the room as the water poured down on the lovers, the air smelling like the ocean as Shiki massaged the blonde's legs with sea salt. His icy blue eyes twinkled in amazement as Takuma's lower body turned back into a tail.

"Senri!" Takuma cried as the brunette rubbed his erection against his smooth and supple scales.

Straddling the blonde's slim hips, Shiki said "If you like that you're going to love this." He reached down to Takuma's pelvic area, finding his erection folded in behind a thin lining of scales. It looked exactly the same as it always did but it felt a bit slippery, for a merman's arousal contains a natural lubricant.

Moaning quite loudly, Shiki impaled himself on the blonde's weeping flesh. The two bodies entangled beautifully; Takuma's fins lightly wrapping around on of Shiki's legs, their arms entwined together, mouths locked.

Rocking together like ocean waves, Shiki looked down at his lover with red rimmed eyes. "Oh, Takuma!" he purred before biting down on a perky nub. As he sucked on the blonde's nipple, Takuma suddenly reached his peak and released deep within the petite vampire. Shiki soon followed, collapsing against his lover's strong chest.

They cuddled together for awhile, the warm water washing away the blood and cum. Then scooping his merman boyfriend into his arms, Shiki brought them into the bedroom. Wrapped together in each other's arms once again the vampires slipped into a deep slumber.

Well, here's another story that I have fallen in love with. ^/^

I hope everything made sense. As far as how they actually had sex with Takuma in mer-form, I did research on that (weird, isn't it?) and my favorite explanation was that a merman has a bit of a pouch where the erection is hidden until they choose to take it out.

Hope to see you next week for chap 3 of "Life Starts Now" and a one-shot for my fav series Vampire Kisses (by Ellen Schreiber).