Shira Anthony's Blog - Posts Tagged "dolphin"

I had to laugh when I saw a post the other day on a blog site with the cover of Stealing the Wind , a snarky comment about a "boob grab" (and what's wrong with that, may I ask?) and the author was wondering how mermen have sex (she didn't quite put it that bluntly, but hey, it's a valid question, right?). Which, of course, inspired me to write about it. Because if you want to know how I see mermen having sex, you'll find out in Stealing the Wind. But I'll give you a little taste of it first.

The mermen in "Stealing the Wind" are shape shifters. They exist in two forms: human and merfolk. They can survive indefinitely on land or in the water, but they cannot survive away from water for long periods of time. If merfolk can live indefinitely under the water, then it stands to reason that they can also mate in their merfolk form. Which led me to the question (because I love sexy stories): how would merman have sex? To answer that question, I had to ask myself a few other quesitons.

Question #1: What do mermen look like and how are their bodies (and parts of their bodies) put together? I loved this question, because the answer was that I could do whatever I liked. It's my imagination, right? Of course, I wanted to base my mermen on merfolk lore, and I needed them to have certain "human"...er...attributes. So I started by looking at marine animals, and especially at marine mammals. Whales are a bit too big, so I naturally chose dolphins as my "template" for the beast half of my mermen.

In "Stealing the Wind," Taren Laxley has known nothing but slavery all his life. He doesn't remember his parents--all he knows is that he was sold as a baby. Taren discovers his dual nature after he's taken prisoner aboard the merfolk ship, Phantom, and her captain (Ian Dunaidh) shows him what his body has hidden. Suddenly, he is half-man, half-beast, with a powerful tail, a dorsal fin between his shoulders, webbed fingers, and has fins with sharp tines on his hands and wrists. Then he realizes that his "manly" plumbing is internal.

Dolphin sex organs are internal (makes sense - don't want them getting all shriveled in the water). They have "folds" - two each. The male penis is hidden inside, so the fold acts as a sheath (similar to dogs). Which led me to question #2.

Question #2: How do mermen have sex? I had no doubt that I wanted the mermen in the story to have sex in their merfolk form, so I needed to figure out what kind of sex organs they have when they transform. "Thank the goddess," as Ian would say, for the internet. Did you know there are tons of dolphin sex vids? No joke. Apparently dolphin are very sexual (not particularly monogamous, unlike my two mermen) and tend to "perform" at aquariums (to the delight of children and the mortification of their parents!). Here's a link to one of the vids I watched. You'll see some of the behavior reproduced in the excerpt.

I watched several videos to get a sense of how dolphin sex works. They're very playful, nipping and rubbing against each other. And yes, dolphins get erections, exposing the hidden penis for sex. Only problem I saw: dolphin penises are pretty small. Smaller than human penises. Enter my imagination. How about dolphin anatomy, but a human sized penis? No need for foreskins, either, in this form. And what if certain other orifices are a bit more sensitive even, than in humans? (I think I had way too much fun figuring this all out!)

One other logistical question I had to deal with: how do merfolk communicate under the water? The answer? Telepathy or thought-reading. As you'll see, they do make some sounds, but their speech becomes thought when they are in their merfolk form.

So what follows is an excerpt from Stealing the Wind. Definitely NSFW, 18+. Enjoy! And if you haven't heard already, Stealing the Wind is up on the Dreamspinner Press website for preorder! -Shira

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Burb:

Mermen of Ea: Book One

Taren Laxley has never known anything but life as a slave. When a lusty pirate kidnaps him and holds him prisoner on his ship, Taren embraces the chance to realize his dream of a seagoing life. Not only does the pirate captain offer him freedom in exchange for three years of labor and sexual servitude, but the pleasures Taren finds when he joins the captain and first mate in bed far surpass his greatest fantasies.

Then, during a storm, Taren dives overboard to save another sailor and is lost at sea. He’s rescued by Ian Dunaidh, the enigmatic and seemingly ageless captain of a rival ship, the Phantom, and Taren feels an overwhelming attraction to Ian that Ian appears to share. Soon Taren learns a secret that will change his life forever: Ian and his people are Ea, shape-shifting merfolk… and Taren is one of them too. Bound to each other by a fierce passion neither can explain or deny, Taren and Ian are soon embroiled in a war and forced to fight for a future—not only for themselves but for all their kind.

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Excerpt from Chapter 16

WARNING: NSFW, 18+ only please!

Here's the link: Mermen sex excerpt