Lord Aphros nodded slowly. “You think you’ve found him.”
“I don’t think so, lord—I know. The moment Nick touched me, I could feel my soul singing.” He slumped in the chair. “But now that I’ve met him, I don’t know what to do. He says he can’t share a bed with me.”
“Ah.” Lord Aphros dropped into an empty seat, reddish eyebrows creeping up towards his curly hair. “I believe there are rules against human physicians having sex with their patients.”
Aidan’s mouth dropped open in horror. “He said he couldn’t sleep with me, but I thought it just meant sleep in the same bed. He can’t have sex with me?” His voice rose along with his alarm. “How can Liam and I be with him if he can only have sex with Liam?”
Lord Aphros sighed. “Do calm down, Aidan. I take it your leg is healing well?”
He flexed his thigh, wincing. “Yes, but what does that have to do with it?”
“Once it’s healed, you will no longer be Nick’s patient. After that, sex between the two of you is permitted according to his rules. All you have to do is wait and let nature take its course.”
“Oh.” Aidan flushed, embarrassed by his panicked response. For his chuisle, he could be wait as long as necessary. “I can do that.”
“Good.” Lord Aphros hesitated. “There might also be another issue. Nick’s lover—”
“Lover?” Aidan’s stomach rolled over in sick despair. “He’s already mated?”
“No, nothing so permanent. But his last lover apparently injured him, both physically and emotionally. He may be hesitant to let you touch him because of that.”
A white-hot rage roared through Aidan at the thought of someone harming Nick. “Where is he?” he snarled, leaning across the table. “I’ll kill the bastard. I’ll tear him limb from fucking limb.”
Aphros raised a hand. “Peace, mer. He’s far away, in the middle of the continent. Although I approve of your protectiveness.”
Aidan sat back, fists still clenched. “How did he hurt Nick?”
“It’s not my story to tell, and frankly I don’t know all the details. You’ll have to ask Nick about it.” Lord Aphros paused. “Which leads me to yet another potential issue. Human culture currently has this odd bias against having more than one mate. As that is the case, I would suggest you not mention Liam until you’ve gotten to know Nick better and can sound him out about his feelings on the subject.”
Aidan frowned at that. “But the three of us are agapetos, lord. He needs to know about Liam.”
“If he is indeed your third, then they will be drawn together once they meet. Until then, tread softly with Nick. He’s only human, after all.” The sea lord looked rueful. “And he’s had enough shocks in the last few days as it is.”
Aidan winced. Oh. Yes, suddenly finding out that mers and gods are real would do that. “I’ll be careful, lord,” he promised.
“Good.” Lord Apros leaned back in his chair and beamed. “And seeing as you’ll be here for at least a few days, allow me to extend the rights of hospitality to you. Call me Aphros.”
Aidan’s jaw dropped. For a mere ranger of the Bright Water grotto to call a sea lord by his given name was unheard of.
But Aphros’s brilliant smile was convincing. “Yes, lo—uh. Aphros. Thank you.”
Before either of them could say anything else there was the slam of a door and Nick stormed into the kitchen, a damp towel wrapped around his waist. “Aidan, what the hell?” he barked. “I told you I’d bring you breakfast!”
Aidan’s mouth went dry at the astounding sight of Nick half naked, droplets of water pearling on firm, smooth skin. More drops were caught in the light dusting of hair on his chest, and the mer automatically followed the dark trail down to where it disappeared behind the white terrycloth.
Then he noticed the small white square taped to the inner curve of Nick’s right pec. “What happened to your chest?”
Nick touched the gauze square, yanking his fingers away like it burned. “It’s nothing. Dammit, you’re not supposed to be walking on that leg.” He glared at the sea lord. “Did you help him in here?”
“Of course I did,” Aphros said smoothly. “I assure you, he didn’t put much strain on his leg. Would you like some breakfast?”
“No, I want my patient to stay in bed until I can help him up.”
“I’m fine,” Aidan said, pushing back from the table and raising his right leg. “See?”
Nick flushed. “You’re … not wearing anything,” he said, strangled.
Aidan glanced down at himself. “Well, yeah. I don’t have any of my clothes here,” he said reasonably.
“The mers don’t have body taboos,” Aphros said, bringing one of the prepared plates to the table. Gently, he pushed Nick into a chair next to Aidan. “But if it makes you feel better, I’ll get him some shorts after breakfast. Sit and eat.”
“I—uh, okay, thank you.” Nick absently picked up his silverware, still fixing a beady glare on Aidan. “How does your leg feel? Is it hurting anywhere?”
Aidan used his best innocent smile. ““It aches a little, but I think it’s healing cleanly. I probably shouldn’t wear anything on my leg until it’s healed, though.” He could hear Aphros snort at the counter, but ignored it. “If any other humans come by, I’ll just go into the water. I should do that anyway, to stretch out the muscles. You can come with me, if you like. Just to keep an eye on me.”
Nick finally dragged his gaze away. “Yeah, that’s … probably a good idea.”
Feeling happier about the entire situation, Aidan went back to his sashimi.
****
Ian and Bythos finally made an appearance, taking seats at the quickly crowding table. Nick dug into his admittedly delicious omelet, deliberately not looking at Aphros, who was far more amused than he should be, and Aidan, who was giving “innocent water creature” his best shot.
He had a feeling the two had been talking about him before he came in from the bathroom. Of course, if I bring that up, I’m going to sound like a conceited asshole.
A faint trickle of music sounded. His gut went cold when he recognized it.
Ian frowned. “Something wrong?”
“That’s—I’d better get that.” He forced himself to his feet. He knew that ringtone, had programmed it himself.
His phone sat on the bedside table in the guest room, vibrating along with the ringtone. The name he expected to see was on the screen. Stomach churning, he picked up the phone and hit Talk.
“Hello, Barnard,” he said roughly. “What do you want?”
He heard a tsk on the other end. “Now, pet, is that any way to greet your Master?” the familiar voice purred. “Try again.”
Nick swallowed the urge to tell his former Dom to go fuck himself. “I’m not your pet anymore. And you were never my Master.”
“Oh, pet.” A gusty sigh sounded. “Are you still put out about my decoration?”
He gripped the phone harder. “You cut me, Barnard. That’s a hard limit, and you damn well know it. And then you ignored my goddamn safeword.”
“Did I?” He could picture Barnard lounging at his desk, the lights of the Gold Coast high-rises gleaming through the window at his back. I’m so sorry, I must not have understood you. We really do need to work on a better safeword method for when you’re gagged, don’t we?”
“We’re not going to work on anything. There is no we anymore. Especially since you got me fired.”
“Did I?” Barnard repeated, sounding amused now. “I hardly see how you can lay that at my feet, pet. That being said, it’s probably for the best. Your talents were wasted in that pestilential hellhole. You’ll do much better in private practice.”
“Funded by you?” Nick bit out.
“Of course. I’d be more than happy to help set everything up for you, you know that.” A hint of steel entered the Dom’s tone. “Of course, you need to apologize first, and rather extensively. I won’t help a disrespectful pet. And I’ll expect the apology
in person, here, tonight.”
So you can finish what you started? The incision on Nick’s chest burned. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. For one thing, I’m out of town.”
“Out of—where are you?” The Dom’s tone was sharp now.
Barnard didn’t know where he was. That could only be a good thing. “None of your business,” Nick said, working to keep his voice under control. “Secondly, I don’t want to go into private practice. I’m an emergency medicine doctor, not primary care, and I’m not switching over. Thirdly—" He took a deep breath. “It’s over. I rescind my service to you. And if you try contacting me again, I’m pressing charges.”
There was a pause, then a soft harrumph. “Are you sure about that, Nick?” Barnard said gently. “Are you quite sure? Because if you choose this path, there’s no going back.”
He closed his eyes, willing himself calm. If he couldn’t trust Barnard to stop, and it was obvious he damn well couldn’t, the relationship was already over. “I’m sure.”
“Ah.” For a moment he thought he heard a hint of regret in the other man’s tone. “Well, then. Au revoir, mon plaisir.”
The connection abruptly cut off. He put the phone down, absently noting that his hand was wet with sweat. Is it really going to be that easy?
Somehow he doubted it. Barnard’s reputation for getting his own way was well known in both Chicago’s BDSM circles and the financial world. It was severely out of character for him to simply give up like that.
“What does that dick want?”
Nick turned. Ian stood in the hallway, glowering. “Sorry, I heard the tail end of it,” he said. “He doesn’t seriously expect you to come back, does he?”
“Apparently he does. Or did, anyway.” Nick tossed the phone back onto the side table. “He doesn’t like to be told no. And he’s enough of a prick to spread the pain around to anyone around me. I think maybe I should go.”
“Oh, hell no.” The blond’s glower turned furious. “You’re my guest for as long as you want, and Whitfield can go fuck himself if he doesn’t like it. Besides, you’re the Bearer of the Rod, remember? You’ve got some serious training ahead of you with Chiron, and it’ll be easier for you to do it here.” He waved towards the kitchen. “Oh, and did you forget the injured merman eating sushi in there? If you take off, what am I supposed to do with him?”
Nick growled under his breath. The last thing he wanted was to get Ian mixed up in all this. “I don’t want to cause trouble for you, you asshole.”
Ian stared at him, then burst into unexpected laughter. “Oh, man,” he chortled, leaning against the wall and wiping his eyes. “Oh, God. Nick, seriously, Barnard Whitfield at his prissiest is the least of my problems right now.”
Bythos appeared behind Ian, resting a large hand on the blond’s shoulder. “I’m sorry to intrude, love, but our guest is finished with breakfast and wants to get in the water,” he said. “I thought his physician should approve that first.”
Nick’s attention clicked back to the kitchen and the man—merman—waiting there. “Is he going to change back if he gets in the water?”
“That’s the idea,” Bythos said. “You might want to put on some swim trunks if you’re going in with him.” One thick eyebrow went up easily. “Or not. It’s up to you.”
The thought of swimming naked with Aidan brought back memories of that insanely hot dream from earlier. Yeah, inappropriate boners, just what I need.
“I’ll wear my trunks,” Nick muttered.
****
Ten minutes later he stood waist-deep in the cove’s crystalline water, letting the waves wash against him. Just like in the dream. Fuck my life.
As if on cue, a long, blue-green tail rose up, slapping down on the surface hard. He twisted away from the splash. “Seriously?” he called. “How old are you, anyway?”
The tail disappeared beneath the water, and Aidan’s head surfaced instead. The merman grinned at him. “You already know that.”
“It’s a saying,” Nick said, bending his knees so that he dropped down into the water until his position mimicked Aidan’s. “It means act your age.”
Aidan made a pfft noise. “Where’s the fun in that?” He moved closer, eyes turning teal with the reflected light from the water. A long, thick tail brushed against Nick’s legs, scales prickling against his skin.
Another image from the dream popped into his head, rubbing against those sleek scales. He swallowed and backed off a bit. “How’s the l—the wound?”
“It feels a lot better.” Aidan rotated, and an elegantly shaped fluke popped above the surface. It waved at Nick before sinking back into the water. “Still aches, though. Want to check it?”
“Yeah.” He squinted at the shoreline. “We should have done that before we got in the water, though.”
“No problem.” With a twist, Aidan dove under the water and headed for the beach. Nick followed, watching as Aidan wriggled into the shallows without changing form. Pulling himself onto the damp sand, he turned over and leaned back on his arms, sleek fish tail extending into the water. “How’s this?”
“That works.” Nick sat down more gingerly, studying the mer’s tail. In daylight he could see it was tinted a deep moss green around the waist, shading to midnight blue at the sleek, powerful flukes. The scales reflected a rainbow iridescence that gleamed in the bright morning light.
The puncture wound was a peach-grey flaw in the iridescence. Cautiously, he pressed around it, waiting Aidan’s face for any sign of pain. “This is healing amazingly fast,” he admitted. “Lift up a bit, let me see the other side.”
Aidan rolled onto his other hip. Nick steadfastly ignored the beautifully defined muscles in the mer’s back, focusing on the exit wound. It looked as healed as the entrance wound. He patted Aidan’s thigh/upper tail. “Okay, you can sit back.”
The mer did, and his motion made a slit along the upper front of the tail gap a bit. Inside, something shifted.
Nick blinked in surprise. “Is that a cloaca?”
Aidan glanced down at his lap. “Dunno. We call it a pouch.” He ran a finger along the slit, widening it. Inside, Nick could now see a thick, green-tinted penis that shaded to red at the tip. “For the obvious reason.”
Nick leaned closer, fascinated. “Internal genitalia for streamlined swimming. That makes total sense. Does it contain your scrotum, too? How far out can you—” He stopped, grimacing. “Jesus, I’m sorry. That’s intrusive.”
The mer chuckled. “No, you’re just curious, plus you’re a physician. This is, what, comparative anatomy?” He reached into the slit, pulling out his flaccid shaft and stretching it a bit. “When I’m in this shape my sack is attached to the pouch’s inner wall, but my cock comes out when it gets hard.”
“So mers have sex? I mean, in mer form?”
Aidan gave him a sidewise glance. “Uh, yeah. How do you think we have babies?”
“I wasn’t sure. With your tails, I thought you might do it like fish.”
The merman hooted. “Laying eggs and milting them? Gods, do I look like a tuna to you?” He tugged on his cock again, and Nick could see it getting thicker as blood flowed into it. “Trust me, mers like to fuck just as much as humans do.”
Nick felt an answering thickening in his swimsuit. The remembered sensation of a legged Aidan rubbing up against his ass that morning didn’t help. “Yeah, I can see that,” he said hoarsely.
The mer stretched out on the wet sand, still idly stroking his cock. It was three-quarters hard now, and stood proudly out of his pouch. “So, I’ve showed you mine,” he said, smiling. “Can I see yours?”
Nick felt his mouth open, but nothing came out. “That’s not—” he finally managed. “I mean, I don’t think ... it’s not appropriate.”
“Why not? I’m not going to touch you or anything.” The mer glanced at Nick’s lap, where his cock was already starting to push out against the blue material. “I’ve just never seen a human hard-on before. I want to see if t
hey’re different from ours.”
“I’ve seen you naked. Trust me, they look the same.”
Aidan’s head tilted to the side playfully. “Mm, you’ve seen me naked. You haven’t seen me hard until now. For all I know, human dicks sprout spikes or turn blue when they get hard.” He lay there, idly stroking himself as the wavelets washed around him. “Come on, Nick, just take it out and show me.”
This is a bad idea. This is such a bad idea. Hoping like hell nobody at the cottage was watching, Nick jerked down his waistband and pulled out his half-chub. “Okay, there. Happy now?”
Aidan sat up suddenly, jaw dropping open. “Holy gods. Is it supposed to look like that?”
Nick stared at his own lap. “What are you talking about? It looks pretty much like yours.” He paused, comparing their equipment. “Well, except for the color. And I’m circumcised.”
Aidan was still staring at him in horrified fascination. “What’s circumcised?”
Oh. “Removal of the foreskin. It happened when I was a baby.”
Now the mer looked furious. “Why would someone do that to a baby? That’s just wrong.”
Nick couldn’t help laughing briefly. “It’s a cultural thing. Most American boys are circumcised.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Now? No. Although apparently I’m not as sensitive as guys with intact foreskins.” He reluctantly nodded at Aidan’s shaft, which was, yeah filling out nicely, damn it. “Like yours.”
“Huh.” The mer pinched up a bit of his foreskin, then let it go. “And it doesn’t hurt when you rub yourself?”
How did I get myself into this? Oh, yeah, I swore an oath. “Well, it helps if I have some kind of lube,” he admitted.
Aidan stretched out again, stroking himself again. “Show me.”
His submissive side picked that moment to raise its head. Do it. You know you want to. He’s not going to be your patient for much longer. And it’s not like you even have a license to practice medicine in Florida. Just do it. Touch yourself for him.
“No,” he said, strangled.
“Why not?”
Olympic Cove 2-Breaker Zone Page 8
