Page 6 of Riding the Tide

“For forty-five minutes? Come on, do you think I’m a fucking fool?”

Nope. This he did not need. Seriously. From the way their speech was slurred and they both staggered, they were drunk. On top of that, it appeared their argument was about to go nuclear.

“Fuck you, Nat. I wasn’t gonethatlong.”

“According to my cell phone, you were.”

Gerry backed away from the big hulking dude he was speaking with. Blair desperately tried to get out of his way, but Gerry’s ankle must have turned or he tripped over air, because the next thing Blair knew the other guy managed to stumble right into him.

Shit. The guy reeked. The alcohol coursing through his system was probably messing with his balance, too. Blair grabbed ahold of him—it was either that or let the guy knock him over, although he seriously considered stepping out of the way.

“Is that him? Is that the dude you were fucking? Is it, Gerry?”

“Whaaat? Who, me? No. No way.” Blair frantically tried to stabilize the other man so he could get his hands off him as quickly as possible. “Look, man, I never laid eyes on him in my life. I’ve been out here the whole time.”

“Bullshit!”

The guy draped himself over Blair. “Hey there, hot stuff,” Gerry slurred, his hands wandering everywhere. “You see that big goof over there? We think he been doing naughty things. I mean, he thinks we been doing naughty things. Wanna? With me?”

“Look, I really don’t want to get in the middle of—hey!” Blair jumped. Shit on a stick, Gerry grabbed a handful of his ass. Was he trying to get him killed? Or was Gerry trying to get his billfold? Was this a setup?

He got his answer when the boyfriend bellowed. Blair cringed. He almost hoped Gerrywastrying to pick his pocket since Nat, Gerry’s boyfriend, was five inches taller and probably had a good thirty pounds on Blair. This was not going to end well.

“Fucking whore!” Nat yelled taking a step toward them.

“Whore?Whore? Maybe if you didn’t take so many steroids all the time I wouldn’t be left hanging.” Gerry snuggled closer. “I betheknows how to treat his guy.” He batted his eyes. “Don’t you, sexy?”

“Oh shit.” Blair flinched.

The crazy asshole insulted his monstrosity of a boyfriend’s sexual prowess. Yup, things just went nuclear. Nat bellowed again and raced toward them as Gerry squeaked and unstuck himself from Blair.

He was so dead.

CHAPTER T

Mate!Mate!Mate!

Marcus hadn’t believed, even though Nisha tried to tell him. He simply hadn’t understood the overpowering need, the drive to possess the one who was his mate. The human leaning against the rail on the small boat was his. It no longer mattered that he didn’t want to be mated. It no longer mattered the person who was his mate was human and not a mer.

Nothing mattered excepthim. He froze, unable to do anything more but tread water. The pod of dolphins left him, making a beeline straight toward the ship. Did they know his mate was on there? Had he somehow communicated that to the pod? He could talk to them, but it wasn’t done with human words.

He wanted… He wanted… He wanted the human in the water with him. He wanted to bite him, hold him, fuck him until he screamed in pleasure. Nothing was going to stand in his way. The human was his, and he would do anything to have him. Anything. He’d tear anyone and anything to pieces that got in his way and…

Whoa.

Possessive much? This wasn’t him. He was known for being coolheaded and—oh, fuck, had the human somehow spotted him? Panicking, he ducked under the water.What am I doing?He was Marcus Krill, one of the strongest warriors in Nisha’s territory. He didn’t hide.

He popped back up. Surely he was far enough away his mate couldn’t tell much about him. Then he glanced at the sky and took note of the moonlight. There were lights on the boat, too. Shit. He slapped the water with his tail.

One of the dolphins whistled at him, and the sharp, annoyed sound stopped the out-of-control spiral he was fast losing himself to. He shoved his long hair back and whistled back at the dolphin.

Holy shit, no wonder Nisha bit Kannon the first time he saw him. He never understood why Nisha did that—even privately wondered how Nisha could lose control in such a way. Now he knew. He needed to talk to Nisha.

Actually, maybe Kannon was the one he needed to speak with. Huh. Actually,maybehe needed his head examined. His aggravation brought the dolphins back to him. With clarity of mind came the question of what he was going to do now.

Fortunately, with his superb eyesight, he could see the other man perfectly. What a gorgeous human he was. He was tall and lean with sun-kissed skin and shoulder-length bleached blond hair. His mate’s face was strong and masculine with a stubborn jawline and no facial hair. He couldn’t see his eyes, but that was of no concern.

Somehow, someway he would see them soon enough. The first thing he needed to do was follow the ship back to where it was docked. Maybe he could get an idea of what resort the stranger was staying at. Then he would… He didn’t know what he would do. Something.

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