Taniwha Boyfriend: Part Two (complete)

I have been away for a few days helping some of my crew. After the sub had gotten damaged, they were making proper repairs to it before I went down again. No one was really sure about it, but I was insistent on returning to the exact same spot again.

I returned to the inn just as it began to rain. It had been raining off and on for the past week, and it was making doing things all the harder. As I was going upstairs, I smelled smoke. Cresting the top, I saw Tane standing there at the window, smoking his pipe.

“You’re getting bold.” I sigh as I shrug my bag off my shoulder.

He looks at me, confused for a moment. “I thought you had left.”

“Nope.” I unlock the door to my room and toss my bag inside. “Still here. Just had work to do at the ship.” I look him over, surprised by how I enjoy the look of him in a snug, warm sweater. I hate how I find him attractive.

Tane blows smoke out the window. “I suppose in this weather, it is better to keep busy than it is to do nothing.”

“I suppose. I can’t do my research while it’s raining though, so until then, I’m stuck doing nothing.” I turn my head with a sigh.

“Too bad you don’t have any reading materials,” Tane smirks. “You could curl up with a good book instead.” He then sniggers and shakes his head. “Or better yet, a lover.” He takes a drag of his pipe again.

I scowl at him. “You got something to say to me, then say it. I don’t much like your attitude. So what if I don’t have a partner? What’s it to you?”

Tane blows smoke out the window. “I don’t have one either.”

My face burns at the implication. I realize I must be scarlet red right now, but he keeps looking at me, not giving me a chance to move away.

“You’re an attractive woman,” Tane continues. “Is my way of flirting not coming across very well?”

I balk. “That’s flirting?” 

“I guess that would be a no.” He leans against the wall. “I thought, from the way you looked at me, that you had picked up on what I was saying. Guess I was wrong.”

I swallow and shake my head. “No.” I rub the back of my neck then run my fingers through my hair. “I haven’t been looking any sort of way at you.”

Tane laughs, throwing his head back a bit. “I know eyes when I see them. You take me in from toe to tip, looking at me like I’m some slab of meat.”

“Not a good analogy,” I growl.

Tane’s eyes sparkle. “Oh? What makes it so bad?”

“If you were a slab of meat,” I grumble, “I’d throw you away.”

“Your dirty talk is terrible,” he grins.

I roll my eyes and turn to my door. “You best stop smoking that pipe. It neither looks cute nor smells cute.”

“Wasn’t smoking it to look cool,” Tane shrugs. He sets the pipe down on the windowsill. “Do you still have that picture book that the girls gave you?” His tone is different than before. It’s gotten much more serious.

I glance back at him. “I haven’t had a chance to return it to them yet.”

Tane steps closer to me. “Have you gotten it translated?”

I shake my head. “I tried using an app on my phone, but for some reason, it didn’t recognize the texts as any sort of language.”

Tane nods solemnly for a moment then tilts his head. “If you want me to, I could read it for you.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Just a few weeks ago, you said it wasn’t meant for people like me.”

Tane chuckles. “I did, didn’t I?” He rubs his chin. “Well, maybe now you’re ready to hear it.” He offers his hand out. “If you’d like me to read it, that is.”

I watch him with suspicion, looking at his thick hand and up his strong arm. I tilt my head a bit as I look up into his face. His eyes seem gentler than before, more warm and less dark. I move away from him and walk into my room. “Come on.”

Tane closes the door behind him as I take the book out from inside the desk. I hand it over to him and he holds the book tenderly. 

“This book is old,” he murmurs. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anything of its like.” He sits down on the edge of my bed and I open my mouth to argue, but just stand there, frustrated as his boldness. I huff and sit down beside him, suddenly becoming all too aware of the difference in our sizes. He is tall and broad, while I am short and squat. His chest is bigger than mine and I hate that it causes me some self consciousness about it. The only thing I feel I can beat him in is thigh size. I have been pear shaped since puberty struck me with a bottom heavy bat.

Tane opens the book and smooths his hand over the Taniwha illustration within. His expression is thoughtful as he reads over the page silently. 

“Well?” I urge. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Tane is silent still, even after my pushing. “This brings up a lot of memories for me.” His voice is quiet and soft. “Some good, some bad.”

“Oh.” I sit back a bit as he continues to stare at the page. “You don’t have to read this then. I can get someone else to-”

Tane holds his hand up to quiet me. He closes his eyes for a moment before opening them again and I see tears. “It’s the story of a Taniwha,” he begins quietly. “One that saved a group of soldiers lost at sea. This ship,” he points to the one in the illustration, “was going to capture them. The Taniwha rose from its nest to protect the men praying to it. It sunk the ship, and took the soldiers to safety. But one of the men on the ship survived,” his voice breaks and his fingers tense on the page. 

“He attacked the Taniwha while it took the soldiers to shore. The man chased it into a cave where he fought with it.” I see fresh tears in Tane’s eyes and I reach out and touch his hand. 

“The Taniwha died,” he says.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. I don’t even know why I’m apologizing.

Tane chuckles. “Things die all the time,” he replies. “But this Taniwha was different. He was special. He didn’t really completely die.”

I find myself inching closer and closer to Tane as he speaks. “Then what happened to him?”

“He went to the bottom of the sea where it was darkest so he could heal. He fell asleep, only to awaken when his enemy returned.” He then closes the book suddenly. “Awfully cryptic, don’t you think?”

I place my hand over Tane’s again. “Thank you for reading it to me. It seemed personal to you.” I murmur.

Tane takes my hand. “It brought up memories,” he says. “But then again, that is what stories are meant to do, right?”

I am suddenly reminded of how close Tane and I are. Another inch closer and we will basically be on top of one another. He is warm though and his body feels nice and solid. He smells good too, a sort of soft scent that is a mix of soap and sand. I try to retrieve my hand, but Tane holds onto it. He presses my palm against his and studies the difference in sizes. My palms are thin and long, his are thick and stubby. My skin is pale in comparison to his healthy, deep, glow. 

“You have lovely hands,” Tane suddenly whispers.

My heart leaps up into my throat and I shrug from reflex. “Thanks, they’re old.”

Tane laughs and wraps his fingers around mine. “Tell me, your work, what is the end goal of it?”

I shake my head. “What do you mean?”

“We’ve had researches come through here time and again. But it only seems they are concerned with what people can do here rather than what can be done.” He scowls a bit. “How much can they fish here. How much can they take from here.” He shakes his head. “Rather, they do not seem concerned with what they can do to give back. I am hoping you are not one of those people.”

The vial with the bone sample is in the side table. I take it out and hand it to him. “A friend of mine has been searching for a species similar to how the Taniwha are presented.” I begin. “They’ve been believed to be extinct, but he thinks that they are still alive and thriving. If at all possible, we want to protect such a species. If we can study them and learn about them, perhaps we can help them.”

He takes the sealed bone sample and looks it over. “And what would you do if you came face to face with one of these creatures?”

I have, I think to myself, twice now. Once under the water, and again at the cave. I gasp softly then. The cave! Would that be the same one that the story was talking about? The one where the Taniwha was slain by the man on the ship?

“If you want to protect these creatures,” Tane says softly. “Wouldn’t it be better, then, to simply leave them alone?”

“I uh-” I hesitate. 

“Perhaps it is best if you return from this empty handed.” He places the sealed bone sample in my hand and closes my fingers around it. “Perhaps the best you can do is return with a story, and a knowledge of what you’ve encountered.”

I look into his eyes then and feel myself utterly drawn to him. Tane kisses me and I put my hands into his hair. The kiss grows longer and deeper and I am soon crushed by the weight of his heavy body. I cling to him, wrapping my arms around his back. His tongue tastes like the ocean and his skin tastes like salt. 

“I have to stop,” Tane suddenly pulls himself away.

I am left bleary and confused on the bed. Sitting up, he rises and stands there, slicking back his hair away from his face. 

I adjust my glasses and clear my throat. “I didn’t think I was that bad.”

He scoffs and turns to look at me. “It wasn’t you that-” he sighs and shakes his head. “In a way, it is you.” He sits back down beside me. “I want to hate you so badly.”

“Oh,” I scoff. “Well then. Fuck you?”

He kisses me again, pushing me back down onto the bed. “You don’t understand,” he snarls. “You’re supposed to be my enemy.”

I moan as he bites my neck. His thick hands move under my clothes and dance across my skin. “What are you talking about?” I tangle my fists in his hair and pull it.

Tane snarls, kissing me hungrily and then pressing his forehead to mine. “Do you know how frustrating this is?”

“Kind of,” I pant. “Your dick is digging into my hip.”

Tane laughs and gazes into my eyes. “I’m supposed to kill you,” he whispers to me. My insides go cold and I seize up. I suddenly realize I am trapped under him and I have no hopes of fighting against such a huge man.

“I am supposed to kill you in revenge. If not, I am supposed to haunt you for the rest of your days. You ended my life, so I am supposed to end yours.” He then lays his head on my shoulder.

“Uh-” I blink a few times. “Excuse me?” I slap my hand against his back. “I haven’t killed anybody! What the hell are you going on about?”

Tane lifts up again. “Your ancestor was the man on the boat. You share his blood.” He smooths his fingers down my cheek and throat. “I’m the Taniwha.”

I stare at him in utter disbelief. I sputter then snort and start laughing until my ribs ache. Tane lifts away from me as I grasp my sides from laughing.

“You must be joking!” I cackle. “You, the Taniwha!”

Tane glares and grabs my wrists, holding my arms above my head. “I thought I would scare you and that would be enough. But no. You were tougher than I thought. And then on the beach-”

My breath shudders and I swallow. “Why were you trying to scare me away?”

“I woke up because I sensed you,” he whispers. “I came out of the ocean and that is when I saw you checking into this inn. I followed you. I wanted to be sure, but-” he gnashes his teeth. “I can’t kill you. It isn’t your fault.”

My hands are still bound up above my head. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “Can I have my hands?” I ask gently.

Tane releases my wrists and I place them around his face. I feel over his lips, his eyebrows and down his neck. “This is remarkable. You’re the Taniwha, yet you can take this form as well?” I whisper. I rub my hands down his chest, all of him is solid and real. “This is remarkable!” I gasp again with more enthusiasm. “Would you let me study you?”

Tane smirks and bites my hand. “Some scientist,” he chuckles. “You want to study me, do you?”

“Of course! This is a break though! How do you change shape like this? It doesn’t make any logical sense. Your body before is so much bigger than the body you have now. And do you need water to breathe? Are you amphibious? But you have hair! Are you a mammal? I have so many questions, I just-” Tane kisses me and I know it’s to silence me. I wrap my arms around him, kissing him in return as he crushes me back into the bed.

“You’re a miracle,” I whisper as our lips part.

“That’s all you need to know, my enemy.”

Once the rain stops, Tane takes me out onto the beach. There, he strips naked and he runs into the water. Once he’s under the waves, he vanishes for a moment. He then lifts his head from the water and I see the glowing eyes I encountered before.

I step out into the water towards him, touching his monstrous head and letting him nuzzle into my palms. Up close, I can see scars along his head and neck, wounds from the attack so long ago.

“Come with me,” he nudges me. 

“Where?” I ask.

“Let me show you.” He pushes me towards the water, easing me in deeper. “It’ll be ok. I’ll guard you.”

I take off my clothes, laying them with his on the beach. I then wrap my arms around his neck as he swims us out deeper into the ocean. Tane then dives under and I gasp, barely having enough time to hold my breath. He drags us deeper and deeper under the waves. I can’t breathe and I need to. I struggle and let go of his neck, attempting to scramble back up to the surface. Tane holds me and places his clawed hands around my face. 

“Breathe,” he tells me.

His glow is surrounding me and I see it in the tips of hair floating around my face. I am terrified. I don’t want to die. But perhaps that was his plan all along. I can’t hold my breath any longer and I gasp, expecting the cold rush of water into my lungs, instead, it is like a breeze flowing into me.

I tap my hand to my throat and look up at Tane’s strange face. “How is this possible?” I whisper. I then cup my hands around my mouth. “This shouldn’t be possible!”

Tane chuckles and swims around me. Like in my dream, he spins around me, his long tail coiling in circles about me like a halo. “I told you, I’m protecting you.”

“It’s impossible,” I whisper. “This shouldn’t be possible.”

“That is why fairy tales are not for you.” Tane faces me again. “You look for the logic in it, when sometimes, there might not be a need for it.”

“But-” I silence myself. “Magic, got it.”

Tane laughs and I put my arms around him again. We swim back to the spot where he attacked me before. The rocky formation is left alone, not even fish swim around it. He swims me over the top, where I see a fully intact Taniwha skeleton there. Including the top half.

“In all the fossils,” I marvel. “The top halves are never there.”

“It is a ritual,” Tane replies. “The bottom half is left where it died. No longer moving, it no longer needs it. But the top half where the heart and mind are, they are given to the family. So that they can remember. Often times, it is ground into dust or made into charms.” 

I touch down on the rocks and look over the skeleton. “But what about this one?” I look around us, seeing no life anywhere. Not even plants seems to be growing here. “Why is it left alone and whole like this?”

Tane swims above me, his long and glowing form is like my own personal aurora borealis. “This is my body,” he says with a soft, cryptic voice.

I stare up at him, not taking a breath out of shock. I glance back down at the skeleton and kneel beside it. “A ghost,” I whisper as I touch the bone. “Just like you told me before.” I look back up at him as he hovers near me. “You did die that day.”

“Almost dead, remember?” He whispers to me. “Not gone just yet. So as long as I remain here, I will still be alive. That is why nothing encroaches here.” He looks around. “To disturb me is to disturb much more than a resting place.”

“And you have to chase me until I’m dead?” I turn to look at him in the eye. “So it’s true, you are haunting me then.”

Tane nuzzles to me and his tail wraps around my leg. “You’re getting cold. Let me take you back to the surface.”

I take one look back behind us before Tane takes us back to the beach. It’s night there and everything is dark and silent. Once there, he resumes his human form. I gaze up at him, both of us naked in the darkness. His tattoos glow and he looks radiant in the night. I stand up and press my body against his.

“Not being safe, are you?” He whispers to me.

“I really don’t want to be.” I run my hands down his naked body. “I’m already in the belly of the beast, as far as I’m concerned.”

Tane chuckles darkly. He takes my hand and kisses it. “You do realize the amount of danger you are in with me. You’re cursed to either die by me or be tormented by me until the end of your days.”

I put my hand on the back of his neck and and tug him down to my level. I kiss him and his big hands wrap around my hips. “Then do it.”

“Not here,” he whispers. “Sand isn’t good for it.”

I snort and shove him gently. “Of course not here.” I kiss the inside of his palm.

We get dressed and return back to the inn. Once there, we go into his room. The bed is much better and is covered with thick, handmade quilts. He lays me down there, kissing me as he presses his body into mine. I tangle my fingers in his hair, tasting the sea on his lips again.

“I have been dreaming of the day I would impale you,” he smirks. “I just never imagined it would be this way.”

I gently slap his cheek. “That’s awful!”

Tane grabs my hand, biting my wrist and then kissing each fingertip. He presses my palm against his chest and I feel a pulse inside of him.

“Take your top off,” I murmur.

Tane laughs, sitting up and ripping away his sweater. He tosses it aside. As I run my hands down his chest and to his stomach, his tattoos and hair begin to glow again. I trace my fingers along the glow, feeling scales where there was skin.

Tane lays back on top of me and kisses me. I can feel something hard against my thigh and I manage to roll Tane onto his back. “I think I’ll feel safer on top of you.”

Tane laughs, posing with his arms above his head. “If I was going to kill you now, it would be slow.”

“I’m not worried about that,” I say as I sit astride his hips. “You’re a rather big boy.”

Tane grins wickedly and he puts his hands around my hips. “You saw my tail.”

I pop him playfully. “You’re disgusting.” I lean down, kissing him. I then ease back, slowly taking him inside me. I press my palms against his stomach for balance. I lean back, taking a little bit more of him. I moan as I feel him inside me, he throbs and twitches, growing warmer inside me. Tane’s face contorts and he holds me, digging his fingers into my thighs.

I start off slowly, moving my hips up and rolling them back. On top, I can at least take my time and get used to him. I touch my belly, now realizing I can see his glow from within me. His fingers knead harder into my hips and thighs, and I can tell he is straining to keep composure.

I grunt and nod my head. “Please,” I gasp. “I want more now.”

“You sure?” Tane growls hungrily. 

“Yes.” I brace myself, leaning back a bit and laying my hands on his thighs. 

He starts to move, bucking from underneath me. I nearly fall, so he takes hold of my hands. I brace myself against his palms as he moves under me, shaking and quaking me. I feel my core being jostled and the heat that pools starts to spread through my entire body.

I gasp and shake, and his hands squeeze mine tighter. Tane snarls and roars, his features become much more like his Taniwha form. I see sharp teeth and his tongue glows inside his mouth. I squeeze around him and I am done for. I cry out and he surges. He goes still, unleashing himself in the deepest parts of me. 

I wake up to the sound of thunder. My head is resting against Tane’s chest. I notice the touch of scales there. As I sit up, his hand wraps around my hip.

“Sleep well?” He asks.

I lay my head back down. “I’m sore all over,” I stretch my legs and they pop loudly. “What’d you do to me?”

His fingers knead at my lower back. “I gave you a good time is what I did,” he teases. Tane then kisses the top of my head. 

I sit up in the shadows and listen to the storm outside. Tane’s big hand cups my back and I look down at him. His long hair is splayed all over the pillows and he has a smug smile on his lips.

“This was not how this was supposed to go,” he growls. “I was supposed to have my revenge.” He cups my cheek and rubs his thumb against my lips. “You’re supposed to be dead, you know?”

I smirk and lean down, kissing him. “You’ll just have to wait until I die then.”

“I’ll haunt you until your grave,” he growls at me. He nips my lip and tugs it. “And perhaps beyond it.”