J.M. Snyder

Derek Meredith lost his lover of ten years, Tad Archer, in a boating accident. Four months later, anonymous phone calls lead him to a weathered bar on the coast, where he runs into an old friend named Kellen who has, in his own words, found something Derek has lost. Kellen and Derek are both members of a mythical race of sea creatures known as merrows. Friends earlier in life, Kellen had loved Derek from childhood, but a wanderlust filled Derek's heart, leading him to seek life on the shore among humans. Tad was the reason he'd left the ocean behind, and Kellen has never managed to move beyond that rejection. Back in Derek's life again, Kellen offers him an "indecent proposal" -- a night of passion between the merrows for the return of his lover. But complications arise, among them the fact that without his talisman, an item linking his blood with the sea, Derek is unable to return to the ocean and rescue Tad. His talisman was given to his lover on their tenth anniversary as a symbol of his love; in exchange, Tad gave him a gold ring. The metal holds mystical properties for those with merrish blood, and Derek hopes that the power of love that resides in the band might be enough to help him rescue his lover ... without having to succumb to Kellen's sordid desires in the process.

Undertow

Light flickered across Kellen’s open eyes,spooking Derek.He’d lost enough time as it was.Tad,he reminded himself.Turning tail on his old friend,he sped off into the kelp forest,once again following the ring’s pulse.


For the next half hour or so,Derek swam through the kelp forest.His pace slowed as he struggled to find his way through the maze of tall,flowing plants.Above him,the kelp closed over his head in a canopy that blocked out the last rays of the dying sun.Though his eyes grew accustomed to the dismal darkness below the water,he still found it hard to see through the thick growths blocking his path.Twice he veered off course,and once the swish of water behind him forced him to whirl around,sure Kellen had freed himself from the kelp and the spell and was right on his tail.But it’d only been a small shark,gliding through the kelp in search of food,and Derek kicked away from it.


Chapter 21