Page 46 of Riding the Tide

“No.” Blair shook his head. “You would never hurt me.”

“You’re right. Not only would I never hurt you, I will kill anything that tries to.”

Blair shivered. The honesty and possessiveness in his voice went straight to his cock.

“Want to take a look?” Marcus’ long tail twitched, splashing in the water as a seductive grin crossed his face.

“Fuck yes. I’ve been waiting on this since I laid eyes on you.” Blair scooted down then knelt in the water.

His emotions rose up. How many people, ever, had a chance to do this? God, he didn’t know where to start. Some of the pictures on the Internet were actually pretty close to form.

Marcus was part fish from the waist down. And speaking of his waist, his human form ended around his belly button, which, oddly enough, he did have one. But from there on down nothing else was human.

He reached out but paused. “May I touch?”

“Please do.”

Hesitantly he reached out and laid his hand on Marcus’ stomach. The muscles under his hand jumped, and Blair grinned. He’d stumbled across the fact Marcus was ticklish during one of the many times they made love.

Apparently that still applied in this form, too. He ran his hand from Marcus’ stomach over to his hip, or where Marcus’ hip should’ve been. Instead there were scales, which were silky and smooth. He traced them, surprised at the warmth.

Each scale reminded him of ocean water under his fingertips—glass smooth and calm. The scales shimmered and sparkled like polished sea glass in the clear water. Fascinated, he leaned closer for a better view, his nose practically glued to where Marcus’ hip should be. The fragile scales were molded together, as small as his fingernail.

“Jesus, this is… is… damn, Marcus. I think I actually may be jealous, and I’ve never been jealous in my life. I wish I had one.”

“You might change your mind the first time you had to transform.” Marcus flipped his tail in the water.

“Maybe, but I imagine it would be worth it.” On his knees, Blair moved down Marcus’ tail, trailing his hand over it until he reached the caudal fin, which was forked. He stroked the fin and felt it twitch under his hand. “Can you roll over? I’d like to see the other side of you.”

Marcus flipped over onto his stomach, his tail bending where his knees should have been. Blair ran his hand over where Marcus’ ass would have been if he were in human form.

Marcus hissed. “Even though I don’t have a human ass, I’m still very sensitive there.”

Blair calmly patted him on what he hoped would have been Marcus’ ass and said, “Good to know.”

He explored Marcus’ tail then moved back up his body. He sat down next to him. Even though he was still half in, half out of the water, he lay back. Marcus moved to where he was leaning over Blair, looking down at him.

Blair braced himself on his elbow and threaded one hand through Marcus’ hair, pulling him closer. Their kiss was soft and gentle—nothing more than a teasing of lips and tongue. Small waves washed up against them as they explored each other’s mouth.

With the last kiss Marcus lifted his head. “Ready to go back yet?”

“It’s pretty dark outside now. Do you think it would be safe for us to swim in the ocean?”

“Sure. If that’s what you want.”

“You think, maybe, you could call the dolphins?”

Marcus laughingly tapped Blair on the lips. “Ah, truth comes out. You want me because of my dolphin connection.”

Blair snorted. “Right, that’s theonlyreason I want you.”

“Well, come on then. Hold on to me, and I’ll have us out of here.”

They surfaced again right as his air began to run out. Marcus called, and a short time later, dolphins did indeed show up. They frolicked in the water together after Marcus introduced Blair to the dolphins.

It was the only way Blair could think to describe the conversation between Marcus and the dolphins that consisted of clicks and whistles. Once the noise stopped the dolphins came to him, and Blair ran his hand over their backs.

Much later, Blair tapped Marcus on the arm. “Hey, my stomach’s growling. Are you ready to eat?”

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