Try as hard as she did to forget that incident with the female, Ryn couldn't banish it from her mind. It was like all the females she saw now were watching her mate. In Bristol Cove, they avoided Ben because all knew he was with Maddie. Here, his new anonymity couldn't keep them at bay.

"Two for Ryn." Maddie pulled from under the tree two packages. They'd agreed beforehand that since it was Ryn's first Christmas, the mermaid didn't have to get Ben or Maddie anything. However, they hadn't agreed on the reverse.

Truthfully, they had no intended purpose. Humans didn't belong in the ocean, for obvious reasons. Yet, the mermaid's mates wanted to swim with her, to see her as what she truly was. Fears were expressed, but unwarranted. She had become accustomed to her mates enough to know who these two were, whether it was her humanoid self or mermaid form.

Ben ha tenido mucho tiempo para pensar tras la marcha de Ryn

Among the trio of lovers, not a one said 'I love you' out loud, though all were thinking it. They didn't need to say it. Cheap words were useless when actions could say infinitely more with less. Ben, Ryn, and Maddie experience their first time together.

There are so many things Ryn does not understand about the human world. Luckily, Ben and Maddie are happy and eager to teach her.

"Don't you get what she is?" Xander advanced, he was close now. Close enough for Maddie to make a grab for the gun, but she knew better than to do that. At this range, and if Maddie tried, he'd have direct line of sight on Ryn for those seconds it would take Maddie to lunge at him. "What they can do?"

The mermaid moved with the flowing tide, slithering across the wet sand on her fish-like tail to approach the two humans. Her movements stopping exactly where the tide did. This was where Ben and Maddie met the mermaid, on the exact spot where ocean met land.

Ryn turned her gaze on the humans beside her. Ben was pale, deathly so, and couldn't even walk on his own. Yet, he held his ground, firmly refusing to give up or slow down even with the terrible wound. Maddie was in better shape physically, but the stress was wearing on her. Even so, she remained serene, guiding their group through Bristol Cove while half carrying Ben.

Maddie had just gripped the doorknob when she heard a song emanating from within. Closing her eyes, Maddie allowed herself to bask in the sound for a moment. Her ears might be hearing it, but she usually felt it more in her body than she did the former.

Ryn haunted Maddie's every dream like the mermaid stories of old. She'd lost count of the number of times she'd jumped up in bed calling Ryn's name. The mermaid was never there of course, it was always just her and Ben alone in bed. Ben would say nothing, he had as many nights where he did the same.

Ben heaved in deep lungfuls of oxygen, his vision was blurry but he could still make out the shape of Ryn standing above him. The shorter mermaid between Ben and Donna, her every muscle tensed like a snake preparing to strike.

An ordinary woman would have been angry at worst, upset in the least, at what Maddie was seeing, but that wasn't how Maddie felt. Maybe just a tiny bit confused, but otherwise she just didn't feel like anything was wrong. It was like what her mind said she was seeing was perfectly normal.

"I still feel safe." Making sure to move slowly so Ryn wouldn't be startled, Ben leaned down and planted a soft kiss to Ryn's knuckles. The gesture was perhaps a bit too intimate, but he could think of no other way to show Ryn what he meant, even if she may not understand the gesture.