“No. Your medicine helped with that. I’m
just sleepy now.”
“Okay, yeah. Good.”
They stared at each other in the dim
light. “I should go—” Nick began.
“Would you stay with me?” Aidan asked
softly.
“Just until I fall asleep?”
The slightly wistful tone in the mer’s
voice tugged unexpectedly at him.
“I … yeah.
Yeah, I
can do that.” Spotting an old armchair shoved in the corner, he dragged it to
the side of the bed. “It’s probably a good idea anyway,” he said, sitting down.
“I really wish I could’ve gotten a CAT scan or MRI of your leg. Call me
overprotective, but I don’t like not knowing what’s going on inside you.”
“You could just ask,” the mer said
mildly.
“I meant medically.”
“Oh. Why did you drag the chair over?”
“Well, sitting on the edge of the bed
would get uncomfortable after a while.”
“No, I mean why don’t you take the other
side of the bed? I can move over, and then you can stretch out.
Has to be more comfortable than sitting in a chair.”
Nick’s face heated. A totally
irresponsible and unprofessional part of him suggested he do just that—shuck
off his jeans and shoes, crawl into bed next to Aidan, and go to sleep curled
around the mer’s body.
The problem was what would happen before
he went to sleep. His cock twitched once as a reminder. “I can’t do that,” he
said slowly.
“Why not?”
“Because you’re
my patient.”
“So what?”
Different
worlds, remember?
“I can’t share a bed with a patient. It’s unprofessional.”
Not that the AMA would ever believe this.
Aidan came up on his elbows. The blanket
shifted again, and Nick couldn’t help staring at a set of the most perfect
washboard abs he’d ever seen.
“Why?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose,
groaning a bit. After two beers he was in no shape to explain emotional
vulnerability in patients and licensing board rules to a non-human. “It just
isn’t. You have to trust me on that.”
Aidan frowned. “So you’ll just sit there
all night?”
“Yeah, if that’s
okay with you.”
He winced. “All right with you, I mean.”
“I speak English, Nick. I know what
‘okay’ means.”
“I wasn’t sure. You and Bythos were
speaking another language earlier.”
“Gaelic.”
The merman
finally settled back on the pillows, but left the blanket where it was. “My pod
originally lived in the waters off the coast of Ireland before they came down
here. Gaelic was Ma and Da’s first land language, and I grew up speaking it. We
always learn the language of the local landfolk. It makes going ashore easier.”
Nick leaned back in the chair, trying to
get comfortable on the elderly upholstery. “So how old are you?”
“Thirty-three.”
“Oh.”
“What?”
Nick smiled. “I just—I expected you to
say something like thirty-three seasons or something like that.”
Aidan snorted gently. “What part of ‘I
speak English’ did you not get? I’m not something out of a fairytale, Nick. I
talk like you do.” He sighed.
“Although Éthlé is a little
more formal than English.”
“Éthlé?”
“What we speak when we’re under water.
Apparently humans think it sounds a lot like dolphin.” He snuggled down into
his pillow, eyes closing. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-five.”
“Mm. Good. You’re the right age.”
Nick slouched down in the chair,
propping his head on a balled hand. His eyes were getting heavier by the second.
“For what?”
Aidan chuckled.
“Lots
of things.”
“Like?”
“Finding someone and settling down.”
He thought briefly of Aaron and his last
words.
I have to let you go, pet. I’m
sorry.
“Yeah, I’m not good at that.”
Aidan made a sleepy noise. “Everything
happens in its own time. Don’t worry, Nick. You’ll find the ones you’re
supposed to be with.”
“Mm.”
Something about
that phrase sounded odd, but Nick was suddenly too tired to think about it.
Stretched out in the old armchair, he drifted off to sleep.
****
Far off to the east, a sleekly
streamlined form arrowed through the ocean depths, trying to hold onto the
faint trail of blood in the water. The currents were dissipating it too
rapidly, making it almost impossible to follow it to its source.
He went still, concentrating.
Shock pain blood damn them so tired swim
away hide hide hide.
There.
The trail, so faint but still tangible.
He kicked hard and
stormed after it, rage and fear churning deep inside.
Humans
.
One way or the other, they would
pay for this.
Nick dove into the waves, enjoying the
feel of the water as it rushed past him. He surfaced and grinned at the bright
sunlight overhead.
Ian, you have no
idea how good you’ve got it.
The sky was a gorgeous shade of blue,
dotted with fluffy clouds that trailed yesterday’s storm. All the greenery
behind the cottage was rain-washed and glowing in the morning sun. The
air smelled fresh and clean
with a bracing salt undertone,
and the water was just cool enough to be refreshing. Even the waves were
perfect for body surfing and fooling around.
A powerful tail sliced up through the
water, beating the surface for a moment before sinking back under it. Nick
waited until Aidan’s upper body popped up, splashing foam around with abandon. It
was like watching a finned angel dance in the water.
The merman threw his arms around Nick,
giving him a blinding smile. “There you are! I knew you had to be here
somewhere,” he said, nothing but joy in his voice.
Nick slid his arms around the merman’s
waist. “Where else would I be?” he said, laughing a little. “I can’t let you
wander off. You’re still my patient.”
“And you’re
mo chuisle
.”
The unfamiliar words set off an
explosion of warmth and contentment in Nick’s chest. He ran his fingers along
Aidan’s collarbone, touching the sternal notch and the thong neckband that
rested over it. “What does
mo chuisle
mean?”
That sunburst smile changed, turning
achingly sexy. “I’ll show you.”
And then Aidan’s mouth was on his,
claiming him. Nick closed his eyes and gave himself over to the kiss and the
delirious experience of having Aidan in his arms. The merman’s tongue played
along his lips, exploring the seam before teasing it open.
Aidan’s arms tightened around him as
their tongues greedily spiraled around each other. When the mer licked the roof
of his mouth, it sent blood rushing to Nick’s cock. He rubbed against the
smooth scales of Aidan’s lower half, loving the way they felt so slick against
his shaft, the tiny bite of the edges adding a prickly, half-pleasant pain.
“
Wait,
chuisle
. I’ll take care of you.”
A hand came down and wrapped around him,
stroking from the root to the tip. He groaned softly from the pleasure,
thrusting into Aidan’s grip. “Wait, what about you?”
Aidan feathered another kiss across his
lips. “Later. Right now, let us take of you.”
“Us?”
Someone laughed softly behind him. An
unexpected body fitted itself against his back, strong arms coming around him
in a gentle hug. He looked down to see large webbed hands resting on his belly
and chest. “Us,” the unseen person
said,
voice low and
sweet. “Hello,
chuisle
.
Nice to finally meet you.”
Nick ground his ass back against the
newcomer, and felt more scales. A fin flapped against his lazily kicking feet,
teasing them.
Aidan read the unspoken question in his
eyes and chuckled. “That’s Li. Just wait until he gets his legs. Those hands
don’t lie. I swam funny for a week after our first time together.”
One of the most delightfully dirty
laughs Nick had ever heard rang in the air. “You never complained, Aid.”
Under the water, Aidan’s hand sped up on
Nick’s cock, “I’m not stupid, Li. And I loved it.” He leaned in, sucking a wet
kiss on Nick’s neck. “So will you,
chuisle
.
Wait until we get you between us, all flushed and hard and begging to come.”
Those huge hands rose, plucking Nick’s
nipples. “And we won’t let you, not until we’re good and ready,” the unseen mer
said in a sexy rumble. “We’ll tease you for hours,
chuisle
. Finger that sweet tight hole of yours, suck your cock
until your balls ache from being so full,
then
fuck
you nice and slow. I can’t wait until I can pull you down on my cock and feel
you hot and pulsing around me.”
Another pinch, another sweetly
filthy chuckle.
“And if you’re very, very good, maybe we’ll let you
come.”
“Maybe,” Aidan said with a grin. “Just
as soon as we both come inside you. You like that, baby? Taking us both at the
same time, sucking my cock while Li fucks you? You want that?”
“Fuck, yes,” Nick groaned, throwing his
head back onto the unseen mer’s shoulder. Turning, he could just see bright
hazel blue eyes under a dripping shock of dark hair before lips came down on
his, demanding entrance. He opened his mouth, tasting salt and something spiced
on his new lover’s tongue.
Dimly, part of him registered that Aidan
wasn’t in front of him anymore. And then he gasped as a hot, wet mouth sealed
around the head of his cock.
“That’s right. Take it, sweetheart,” the
hazel-eyed merman whispered. “You belong to us now. Let yourself feel how much
we want you.”
Nick did, loving the sensation of Aidan
sucking his cock. An impossibly agile tongue licked along the bottom of his
shaft, slipping out to tease his balls. Then Aidan took him deep, throat
muscles working around him.
The mer pulled off suddenly, and cool
salt water swirled around Nick’s flesh. Aidan surfaced, licking his lips and panting
hard. “Nick?”
Nick closed his eyes, pushing on Aidan’s
shoulders to urge him back down. “God, don’t stop.”
“Nick?”
****
“Nick?”
Nick snuggled back against the body
spooning him. Overhead, there was the sound of frenetic lovemaking as an unseen
bed creaked and thumped. Moans drifted through the ceiling, and a soft cry was
abruptly muffled.
A warm, hard cock slotted against the
crease of his ass, and he wriggled against it. “Morning,” he mumbled.
His eyes flew open when a voice that was
definitely not Barnard’s said, “Morning, baby.” The hard length pressed against
his ass again with what could only be called intent. “How did you sleep?”
He froze.
I’m in bed.
With...
The previous day crashed in on him.
With a merman.
A very hard merman.
Oh, shit.
He licked his lips, trying to bring up
some saliva.
“Uh,
Aidan?”
“Yeah?”
“Why am I in bed with you?”
A soft huff raised the hairs on the nape
of his neck. “You got up in the middle of the night to piss. When you came back
you got into bed with me. I thought you wanted to get comfortable.”
What he really wanted to do was grind
back against what felt like an amazing hard-on.
Fuck you very much, subconscious.
“Okay. It’s just that you’re
kind of, you know.
Close.”
A chuckle sounded in his ear, sending
tingles skittering across his skin. “I know. You’ve got an incredible ass.” His
hips thrust gently, and Nick smothered a moan.
“Lots of
muscle, and just a little bit of bounce.
Mmm.”
An overwhelming rush of need slammed
into him. He wanted to yank down his boxers, push back against that glorious
cock, and hope like hell that he still had KY in his bag. It wasn’t the
greatest lube for anal sex, but it was way better than saliva—
What the fuck are
you doing?
his
brain screamed at him.
He’s your patient.
Your
non-human
patient.
Get the hell out of his bed right now.
Taking a deep, somewhat shaky breath, Nick
eased out of Aidan’s arms and got up, acutely aware that his traitorous cock
was tenting his boxers. “I think we both need some breakfast,” he said, keeping
his hips turned away from the bed as he edged towards the bathroom. “You rest. I’ll
bring you back some food.”