“It had not come up before.” Tolly blinked innocently. “You always refused to join me.”
Of course his answer would be so wholesomely simple.
They reached the end of the pool and Tolly pulled Leigh close, looking into his eyes to be sure he was ready. Leigh could feel Tolly’s tailfin tickling his legs, soft like silk. He nodded, and Tolly pulled them under to sink to the bottom.
There was an instant of panic, but as Leigh opened his eyes, he felt no sting of chlorine. The water seemed clearer than it should, and when he took his first unconscious breath, water didn’t fill his lungs but breathed in just the same as air. Leigh didn’t understand any of it, so he chalked it up to magic and let Tolly lead.
The end of the pool was ten feet deep but seemed endless as they floated around each other. Leigh’s bare legs seemed out of place in comparison to Tolly’s tail.
I wish we could talk, he thought as he took in Tolly’s smiling face, so similar to what he remembered from when he first saw him.
Then talk. I can hear you. Tolly’s voice startled him, echoing in his mind.
Something else that never came up? Leigh thought back at him.
I must be in the water or in my true form to do this.
And right now you’re both.
…Yes.
Tolly took Leigh by the hand and guided it to his hip where human skin met red-and-gold scales. All this time and Leigh had never touched him like this. When Tolly released him, he glided his fingertips on his own. It was like the softest leather but with a sharp, almost metallic feel along each scale’s edge.
Moving down Tolly’s hip, Leigh continued to where his thigh would have been before moving inward to the center beneath Tolly’s waist.
Tolly whimpered, audible in Leigh’s mind, as his fingers traced a nearly invisible line. The scales parted there like an exhale and Leigh ran his fingers gently along the edge of the opening that was remarkably tender and slick.
For when you wish to be inside me, Tolly said, floating closer to urge Leigh’s fingers to explore. It almost reminded Leigh of being with a woman, but was unique in its own way, especially with the scales moving aside. Tonight, however, you wish for me to be inside you?
Yes.
Then I will show you.
Tolly removed Leigh’s hand, and the slit continued to part, opening wider to reveal the peek of something similar to a man’s length, though it was a deep red to match Tolly’s tail. As it extended longer, Leigh realized it split. All those years watching Shark Week with Alvin, he’d never paid much attention, but this was sort of like those Google images recently seared into his brain, though not really two, more like split halves to a whole that stayed together usually yet could also… part.
As Leigh stared at it, Tolly flexed the two halves, then folded them back together.
I have full control over it. You need not worry. Do you find it… ugly?
No, Leigh said without having to think, aware of Tolly’s self-consciousness. It’s beautiful and unique just like you.
He moved his hand to the base, amazed at how slick it felt even in the water, just like the opening.
Tolly’s whimpers came through again, and he reached for Leigh to pull him into a kiss. That felt different while submerged but no less nice—the slide of their tongues and seal of their mouths. Then Tolly took Leigh in hand to touch him as he was being touched. Leigh wasn’t sure how to get his bearings or find leverage in the water, so he lifted his legs to wrap around Tolly’s waist as anchor.
May I open you up now? Tolly asked.
Just umm… be slow.
I will be everything you need me to be.
Leigh knew he meant that and moved his hands up to cling to Tolly’s shoulders as Tolly reached to explore him more intimately. Again, it should have been more difficult in the water with that natural human wetness washed away, but Tolly’s hands were slick from what he’d gathered from his sex, something resilient and smooth letting his fingers slide in, one and then two, with scant resistance.
He was careful and slow like Leigh had asked, which started to drive him mad before long, but that was when Tolly asked if he was ready for more, and Leigh couldn’t deny that he was.
It was familiar at first, a gentle pressure like two fingertips, becoming wider as it pushed farther in. All of Tolly, strange and different though the shape may be, was not larger in size than his human form. It might not have felt different at all from past encounters Leigh remembered if not for how, after he was fully seated, Tolly flexed like before, stretching both halves apart.
Leigh’s mouth opened with a true moan that got garbled by the water.
Is it all right? Tolly asked.
Leigh didn’t know how to explain that it felt like two long scissoring fingers inside him reaching corners he didn’t know could be reached, so he simply said, So right. So good. Keep… keep doing that.
Tolly floated back with Leigh atop him and lifted him with powerful hands, up and down as he flexed each time he pressed inside. Leigh felt tingles race up his spine and shudders wrack through him with every motion.
Why did I wait so long to let you do this?
Tolly’s laughter responded. His thrusts grew more rhythmic, more practiced, mimicking what Leigh had shown him all their days together so far. Then he pulled Leigh closer with a hand at the back of his neck and sank his teeth into his pulse point, right along the tendons beneath his ear.
The not-quite but almost painful bite made Leigh moan through the water again, the act so primal, so animalistic but still not harsh. When Tolly released his teeth, he nuzzled the mark left behind with his nose, with the side of his face, all so instinctual that Leigh found himself clutching that much harder at Tolly’s back to be part of it—marked, claimed by Tolly and so deeply desired.
They went on like that, Tolly’s thrusts and flexing, his nips at Leigh’s neck followed by comforting nuzzles and soft licks of his tongue. It made Leigh feel like he was floating, and he was, there in the water attached to Tolly, whose tail drifted beautifully beneath them. He was radiant and otherworldly, like something out of storybook, and he’d chosen Leigh.
His pace quickened soon enough, the pulses of his sex more constant, until both of them were moaning, heard between each other’s minds if not through the water. One phrase stood out to Leigh clearly as he came and Tolly followed quickly after him.
I love you, Leigh.
The words were easy to ignore underwater, high on sensation and nearly overwhelmed. Leigh didn’t think anything back to Tolly other than expressing elation as the water carried their release away.
It was then that Tolly turned, flipping his tail to push them back toward the shallow end. Leigh had another moment of panic where he expected to choke, but he breathed air when they surfaced as easily as he had breathed water.
Tolly brought them to the steps, where Leigh could catch his breath, and his tail changed into legs once more, while both of them sat hip-deep in the water. Leigh wanted to pretend Tolly hadn’t said those words, hoped it could be left behind in the deep end and they could just enjoy the afterglow of how amazing that had been, but Tolly, sweet, romantic Tolly, gripped his chin, pulled him into a kiss, and murmured against his lips.
“I love you.”
What an ass Leigh was that his reaction was to cringe. “Tolly, it’s been ten days.”
“I know.” The smile faltered on his face. “But that is how I feel. I am yours, and I will be yours forever.”
“Don’t….” Leigh felt his stomach drop as he pulled away—because he didn’t mean to, he didn’t mean to. “Don’t say things like that right now.”
Tolly looked so stricken, hand dropping, sitting there as if alone on an island.
“Hey.” Leigh reached for him to erase that awful look, and Tolly pressed his cheek to the offered hand. “I’m not trying to ruin this. I loved this.”
“This…,” Tolly repeated, because he hadn’t said you.
“It’s j
ust… not something I say.”
“I am sorry,” Tolly said, scooting closer like all he wanted was to be held. “I pushed too hard. Forgive me.”
“Nothing to forgive. You’re more than I’d ever ask for, but right now all I’m asking is to go to bed. You wore me out.” He forced a chuckle.
Tolly chuckled too, equally false. “Of course.”
He looked so sad as they left the water to dry off. Leigh had ruined everything after all, but how could he explain that those were words he simply couldn’t say?
Ever.
Chapter 12
TOLLY KNEW he should not sulk. Leigh did care for him and desire him; he could see it in his eyes even if not for the added passion he felt through their connection. But magic was old-fashioned. The pact required the power of words. Leigh had to say it. He had to tell Tolly or come the full moon, as soon as the sun set, Tolly would lose his legs and the others would come. There would be no hiding anymore.
The week passed, and Tolly dared not profess his love a second time for fear of alienating Leigh. He had to wait for the right moment, after they fixed the chaos around them.
Alvin was home and healing well, perhaps better for having Cary beside him. Tolly insisted that Leigh tell them the plan, at least Alvin, so he would not worry, and Leigh did, assuring Alvin that no matter how much the plan might seem dangerous, they had everything under control.
It was a good plan. Getting the detectives on board had been difficult, but in the end, they had agreed to participate. Tolly only wished he could help Leigh acquire the shop he looked at longingly whenever they passed it. Surely, if he helped Leigh get out of his criminal life, then he would love him. Leigh had to love him.
Once the week was up, there were only ten days left.
The day of the meeting, Leigh was calmer than he had been all week. He had to be to see this through, and Tolly projected as much calm as he could through their connection to keep it that way.
The other club was not very different from the one Tolly was familiar with. Open, dim, and mostly empty when they arrived, save Rosa, who had beaten them there, along with a single bouncer who opened the club for them and then left.
“Sweeney’s cutting it close,” Rosa said, eyeing them distrustfully.
“I’d focus on Moretti,” Leigh said.
Sweeney would not be coming, but Leigh did not want her to know that.
A few tense minutes later, Leo Moretti arrived with minimal muscle to protect him as requested, two men only, though Leigh had told Tolly there would likely be more goons outside. Moretti might suspect an ambush, so they had to be ready for one too.
“You understand if I want my men to pat you down, considering we’re on your turf?” Leo, the younger brother to Vincent, said. He was likely grateful to have his brother gone, Leigh had said, leaving him in power, but he would still want retribution.
This part of the human world truly was like Tolly’s kin.
“Go wild, Leo,” Leigh said. “We’re just here to talk, but then you’ll understand if we ask you and your men to set aside your weapons after?”
“Depends on what we find.”
Tolly did not want these men to touch him, but he had promised to follow Leigh’s lead and was prepared. The wire Leigh had asked him to wear was uncomfortable beneath his clothes. Leigh wore one as well. But as the goons came forward to check them, starting with Leigh and Tolly before one moved to Rosa, Tolly hummed ever so subtly beneath his breath.
You find nothing, he willed with a gentle nudge.
The man before him blinked as if in a daze, but he eyed Tolly hungrily when he said, “Pretty Boy’s clean.”
“Hurley too,” the other added.
Tolly was glad when they moved away.
From Rosa they found a gun. Tolly had not used his powers to help her, but she was smart. Simply being armed was not betrayal. Leo and his men set their guns with Rosa’s on a nearby pool table.
“What a good sport you are, Hurley, Miss Brookes.” Leo shifted his eyes to Tolly. “Others. But Sweeney owes me the courtesy of being here too.”
“He sends his apologies,” Leigh said. “Alvin isn’t doing well after that accident last week, so Sweeney was called away. I speak for his territory with full authority.”
“You what?” Rosa spat.
“No longer part of the inner circle, Rosalind?” Leo said, but everyone was on higher alert now. The goons could easily have hidden weapons since they had not been patted down in turn.
Tolly wanted to sing again now, but Leigh had warned him that they must be patient to get everything they needed for the detectives.
“Let’s sit.” Leigh gestured toward a circle of chairs. “And we can discuss where this relationship went sour.”
“I believe it was your Robin Hooding,” Leo said, though neither Leigh nor Tolly flinched, for Leigh would not be held accountable for anything he was accused of tonight since the detectives had offered him immunity. “You know, I had men scour this place before the meeting. They didn’t find anything.”
“Why would they?” Leigh said. “I’m no coward who’d plant a bomb.”
Leo looked curious enough to listen, but Rosa was trapped. She could not make a run for it, much as she seemed to want to.
Still, it was Leo who said, “Why don’t we send the muscle into the back? We can discuss this just us three.”
Tolly started. They had not planned for that. He could handle two on one with ease, but if he left Leigh alone and Rosa double-crossed them again….
Leigh did not allow any panic to show on his face. He looked at Tolly squarely and nodded as if dismissing nothing more than the bodyguard he pretended to be.
Tolly had to obey—they could not risk spooking Leo early—but he would listen carefully for the moment when Leigh gave the cue to sing.
Leaving the others to take their seats, Tolly led the goons into the back. There was a lounge for the waitresses, dancers, and bouncers that Tolly turned to instead of the office, but he still kept his senses attuned. He did not like the way the man who had patted him down had looked at him—and continued to look at him.
“You really the one who took out so many of our guys? With a face and body like that? More like a night’s entertainment than a bruiser. You cover both bases for Hurley, sweetheart?”
Tolly wanted to believe the comments were merely to rile him, but this man meant his lewd words. “It is not your concern what I am to Leigh. Our orders were to give the others space. That does not mean I wish to converse with you.” He glanced over his shoulder and made sure to frown in the direction they had come from, instinctually prompting the men to turn around.
Quickly, Tolly spun forward to pulse his powers into the space behind the club, checking for signs of backup as Leigh feared.
“Trying to throw us off, Princess? Don’t worry, talking’s the last thing I want to do with you,” the man said just as Tolly felt the resonance of his powers return a picture of a man outside the back door.
He spun with his arm outstretched, hoping to catch one or both of the goons off guard, but a hand caught his wrist and twisted his arm behind his back. No matter, Tolly could easily overpower him and—
A sharp pain pricked his neck and something burned into his veins.
“Like lull you to sleep, pretty thing, so you put up less of a fight.”
They had poisoned him. He could feel an instant sluggishness overtake his body.
“Will you stop chatting, for chrissake?” the other goon said. “All we need is him out of commission so we can take Hurley out.”
Leigh.
Tolly pushed past the spots blinking in front of his eyes and the way everything was blurry and spinning. He could not pass out. He could not leave Leigh to whatever fate they had planned for him.
“You guys already taking down the bruiser?” another man said—the one from outside. “Why ain’t ya just killing him?”
“Boss wants to see if he can be bought into playing f
or our side after Hurley’s gone.”
“N-never….” Tolly gasped, limbs no longer listening to him, though he managed to stay conscious as he was flipped around and pressed against a table, the needle pulling away but nausea very much present.
“Not ready for your nap yet, Sleeping Beauty?” The first goon held Tolly to the table, daring to stroke his face and down his neck as he crowded in close to his body.
No one got that close to Tolly without permission, and he wanted to tear something to pieces at the fury it built in him.
The man. The others.
All of them.
“Still raring to go, huh?” The man held Tolly tight as he struggled and willed his body to heal the poison faster. “All the better in my opinion. Maybe we can have some fun before we kill you.”
“You thinking with your dick now?”
“What harm’ll it do? All Moretti said was make sure Pretty can’t come to Hurley’s rescue.” His hand drifted lower down Tolly’s body.
“You will n-not touch me,” Tolly rasped. “N-no one… is allowed to t-touch me but Leigh.”
“Knew you were screwing him,” the man breathed hot and unwelcome in Tolly’s face.
Red flashed before Tolly’s eyes as his fury grew, his claws lengthening even before he reached out to grip the man’s wrist and pry his hand away, just barely able to hold him back but feeling his strength return as he burned through whatever they had poisoned him with.
“You will regret it if you do not desist,” he warned.
“What’s with his hands?”
Tolly had too few days left. Losing his form would make it harder to change back, but the man did not seem to care about his fellow’s comment.
He leaned forward and hissed at Tolly, “I’m gonna have you, fight or not, and enjoy every minute of it.”
Tolly slammed his head into the man’s face, barely feeling the thunk of contact before he gripped his wrist tighter and twisted with the full force of his claws, like popping off the lid to a jar—enough for the hand to fall to the floor.
Before the man could scream, Tolly grabbed his neck and yanked him forward to ram their foreheads together once, twice more, then released him to leave an unconscious heap on the ground.
Coming Up for Air Page 16
