“I can feel your heart racing, you
know,” Poseidon murmured. “This won’t hurt, I promise.”
Nick was acutely aware of his heart pounding
like Keith Moon’s kick drum. Being this close to the raw power of divinity,
especially in the form of a tall, dominant (
and
yes, extremely hot)
redhead,
was sending his
submissive side into seizures.
“I know.” His voice cracked
embarrassingly, and he coughed, trying again. “I know. Let’s do this.”
The taller man smiled,
then
bent down and brushed his lips across Nick’s, making
them tingle. “Open to me, Nick.”
Helpless, he did. Poseidon shifted
minutely, and their mouths fitted together. A wave of something huge and
powerful gushed into him, through him. His lungs burned—no, they
stung
, as if he’d taken in a deep breath
of ice-cold salt water. The cold crept down his throat, chilling his gut, his limbs,
even the buzzing warmth in his cheeks. His mind went numb, and his knees
unlocked, dropping him—
Strong arms wrapped around him, keeping
him upright and pressed against a masculine, muscled body. Whining softly, he
let his tongue slip forward until it brushed soft lips, testing the soft,
spongy texture just inside. After a moment, another tongue met his, stroking it
with skillful, teasing intent.
His cock began to harden, and he pressed
roughly against that wonderfully strong body, aching for contact.
Please, yes, take me, make me,
use
me—
And then the mouth was gone, and he
gasped for air. Shivering, he realized he was in Poseidon’s arms. More
precisely, he was in Poseidon’s arms and hermetically sealed against the god’s
body from chest to hip, his erection grinding against Poseidon’s hipbone.
And oh sweet mother of Cthulhu,
something hard, hot, and very large was pressing back against him. Swallowing
hard, he looked up into the face of the sea god.
“It has been a very long time since I’ve
held a mortal in my arms,” Poseidon said softly.
“Especially
one who yielded so sweetly.
I know your fate lies elsewhere, but if it
didn’t, know that I would strip you naked, lay you on the grass and take you until
you were hoarse from screaming my name.”
The words lit an aching, tangible desire
in Nick, his thighs trembling with the urge to drop to his knees, yank down
that simple zipper, and—
Poseidon.
The god shuddered,
then
sighed. Reluctantly, he pushed Nick away. “I hear you, Gaia. I will not go
against the weaving of the Fates.”
A wise decision.
The voice
seemed to come from everywhere, thrumming through his body with the pressure of
something enormous. It drove away the mindless need, and his head ached with
the whiplash of shifting emotions.
A large, warm hand settled on his
shoulder. “You’ve done nothing wrong, Nick,” the god rumbled in regret. “This
was my fault. And for that, I apologize.”
Desire is not
wrong, Poseidon. And Nick, though mortal, is worthy of you.
But
as you already pointed out, his fate lies elsewhere, as does yours.
The earth goddess
paused.
That being said, his unclaimed
status does allow you to give him an additional protection beyond your kiss.
Poseidon frowned at the encroaching
twilight. “I would gladly do this, you know that. But you just said I mustn’t infringe
on his mating with the mers.”
No, you mustn’t.
But Nick’s bond with Aidan and Liam is rooted in his soul, not his body. So if
I make a simple substitution…
Nick was abruptly shoved to the side.
Dizzy, he looked back to see who had shoved him.
And saw
himself
,
still standing in front of Poseidon. He tried to look down at his body, but
couldn’t. “What the
hell?
”
Calm yourself,
Nick.
The pressure around him changed, feeling more like a hug now.
This is the only way you can get the
additional protection you need without running afoul of the Fates. And it
allows me to right a wrong.
Nick watched as his body shivered,
sucking in a deep breath. His entire stance changed, becoming younger, more
open. “Lord Poseidon?” Even his voice was different, faintly accented and, yes,
damned sexy.
Poseidon stared.
“Nerites?
Chaos, is that you?”
“It is.” “Nick” stepped back, throwing
his arms wide. “Oh, you have no idea how good it feels to have hands and feet
again.” He spun in place, laughing. “Damn that jealous bastard Helios, anyway.
He never could take no for an answer.”
Nerites was a
minor sea god and Poseidon’s lover,
Gaia explained.
He learned how to drive Poseidon’s chariot, and was much admired for
his skill and beauty.
Unfortunately,
the god Helios wanted Nerites for his own. When Nerites rejected him, Helios
turned him into a shellfish.
Nick felt a sudden kinship with the
laughing demigod currently occupying his form. “Okay, that must suck. But why
did you put him in my body?”
So that he could
assuage Poseidon’s lust in your place. Divine seed carries its own power that
can protect mortals from injury and illness, as your friend Ian can attest to.
“Whoa, wait—divine
seed
?” Even bodiless, Nick imagined he could feel his blood
pressure rising. “He’s going to have sex with Poseidon? Using
my
body?”
A soft sigh.
Nick, it has been millennia since Nerites
was last in human form. Can you find it in yourself to be generous and give him
this boon? If he does anything you do not approve of, I promise you I will stop
it instantly.
Somehow he could feel an overwhelming
sense of longing from his own body for the sea god. And if he was honest with
himself, there was something darkly appealing about the thought of watching the
tall, hunky sea god have sex, even if it was with him.
Kind
of.
“Dammit. All right, but if it starts getting weird I’m stopping it.”
Agreed.
Now watch.
Nick did as Poseidon swept Nerites into
his arms, kissing the demigod deeply. “Mm, I missed having lips, too,” Nerites
said
,
nuzzling Poseidon’s mouth, then wriggled
experimentally against the god’s lower half. “Oh. You missed me, too, didn’t
you?”
“Yes,” Poseidon said, grabbing Nerites’s
ass and squeezing it.
“Why didn’t you come to me for help,
you little brat?
I searched everywhere once I heard what Helios had
done, but I couldn’t find you.”
Nerites ran his palms along the sea
god’s shoulders, gently outlining them. “You were married to my sister, sweet,
and I didn’t want to hurt Ammie any more than I already had by dragging you
into the argument. I thought I could handle Helios on my own. Obviously I was
wrong.” He shrugged.
“Although it hasn’t been all bad,
spending the last few millennia as a shellfish.
At least I got to pick
which kind.”
“Which was?”
Nerites grinned evilly.
“A mantis shrimp.
I’m one of the most bloodthirsty, insanely
dangerous creatures in the ocean, sweet. Plus I have a stunningly beautiful
carapace and a rather impressive harem. I have to admit, I’m quite content.” He
squeezed Poseidon.
“Although I have missed this.
Earth
and air, you feel so good.”
Poseidon stared at him longingly. “Gaia,
are you sure about this?” he murmured. “What does Nick say?”
He’s given his
approval as long as his form receives no damage. Enjoy yourself, Nerites.
Nick watched his body with Nerites at
the helm drop to his knees onto the soft grass, fumbling with Poseidon’s
trousers. “Such complicated garments. I prefer tunics—ah, here,” he said,
finding the zipper tab and pulling it down. “Oh, there’s my beauty.”
Slipping a hand inside Poseidon’s fly,
he extracted a beautifully thick, hard cock that was already flushed dark red,
and licked playfully at the tip. “Delicious as always, sweet,” he purred,
before wriggling closer and taking half the shaft in his mouth.
Nick felt his own jaw drop in shock.
“How the hell can he do that?” he muttered to Gaia. “
I
can’t do that, and he’s using my body.”
It was always
one of Nerites’s favorite tricks to spring on a lover.
The goddess
sounded amused.
As for how he’s doing it
with your body, I suspect he’s simply better at relaxing his throat muscles
than you are.
He felt an illicit little thrill when he
saw Poseidon’s hands resting on “his” skull, encouraging Nerites’s ravenous
mouth without actually guiding him. “Shit. I love it when a guy does that,” he
muttered. “Is it wrong that I kinda wish I was actually in on that?”
They are rather
passionate, aren’t they?
Gaia sounded approving
. As for your wish, I won’t mention it to your mates if you won’t.
Images of Aidan and Liam tumbled through
his mind—Aidan splashing in the cove, Liam apologizing with tears in his eyes,
the two of them facing down Barnard’s bodyguards. “So they’re really my mates?”
He felt a gentle chuckle go through him.
Of course they are. And do not worry
about your need to submit. Liam is quite dominant, I assure you. And Aidan is
what you would call a switch. Between the two of them, they’ll more than
satisfy you.
He felt the question bubble up before he
could stop it. “Is it wrong that I like being dominated?”
No. Human
sexuality is a spectrum, and that spectrum contains a great deal of shading when
it comes to how and where one finds sexual pleasure. You enjoy submitting to a
dominant male—or males in your case—because it allows you to give up the
life-or-death responsibility you carry every day in your profession. As long as
everyone is in agreement and no one is being harmed—which is a completely
different thing from being hurt—there is nothing wrong with it.
The tiny knot of guilt he’d carried, the
one that whispered there was something broken in him for wanting what he did,
dissolved. “Thank you, Gaia.”
You’re quite
welcome, my child. Ah, I believe they’re almost finished.
Nick turned his attention back to the
scene on the grass. The sea god threw his head back and bellowed as he came,
stomach muscles tensing over Nerites’s bobbing head. Nick could see “his”
throat muscles working as Nerites greedily swallowed, sucking and slurping
around the rigid flesh in his mouth.
Finally, a panting Poseidon pushed his
lover’s head away. “
Enough,
love. Enough.”
Nerites licked his lips, beaming up at
the god.
“Delicious as always, sweet.
Modern life
agrees with you.” He got to his feet, brushing blades of crushed grass off his
knees. “But I don’t want to overstay my welcome. Do give my love to Ammie when
you see her next, please? She always was my favorite sister.”
Poseidon was tucking himself back into
his trousers, but stopped at Nerites’s words. “Amphitrite and I … we don’t
speak very often these days,” he admitted. Nick could see the afterglow in his
expression dimming. “It’s complicated.”
“Ah.” Nerites stepped closer, rubbing
his upper arms. “Our lives always were,” the demigod said sympathetically.
“It’s why I prefer to be a mantis shrimp these days. Eat, fuck, and fight. It’s
so much easier than being a god.”
“Brat.”
Poseidon caught
him in an affectionate embrace, kissing him again. “Take care of yourself,
Nerites.”
“You, too, my
love.”
Nick found himself shoved again, this
time back into his body. Knees aching a bit, he stared up at the sea god.
“Um, hi.”
He realized he still had the flavor of divine
semen on his tongue. It held none of the bitterness of human spunk, tasting oddly
savory
.
Poseidon’s expression shuttered,
becoming more formal. He dropped his arms and stepped back, smoothing his
shirt. “You should now have a fairly extensive protection against physical
injury and illness,” he said somewhat stiffly. “Between that and my kiss, I
believe you’re adequately armed for the battle ahead.”
Nick didn’t like the sound of that, but
bowed his head. “Thank you, lord.”
“You’re welcome.” The sea god frowned. “I
would appreciate it if you didn’t make what just happened widely known,
especially to my sons. Our relationship is somewhat … fragile at the moment.”
And the fact
that you just got a by-proxy blowjob from your brother-in-law probably wouldn’t
go over well.
“I won’t say anything if you won’t,” Nick said, echoing Gaia.
“You have my word.” The god studied the
setting sun. “I think
it’s
best if I get you back now
before your mates grow concerned.”
****
Nick blinked in the sudden light. They
were back in Ian’s living room.