Page 46 of Hooked By a Hero
“I love you,” he said, hooking his hand behind Caspian’s neck once more and tugging him into a kiss.
It was entirely possible that he had lost his mind and that everything around him was a result of his fractured consciousness, but Elias did not care. He kissed Caspian fervently, loving the feel of him, all of him, against his body. Heat flooded him, and he damn well hoped Caspian’s exciting bits were still a part of him somewhere, because now that he knew the full truth, he intended to make himself intimately familiar with all those parts.
“You say that your kind mate on land?” he asked breathlessly as they bobbed on the tide.
“We do,” Caspian answered, fire in his eyes despite the ocean around them.
“Then I want you,” he said. “I want all of you, now and forever.”
“Speaking of forever,” Caspian said, then shook his head. “No, that is a revelation that must wait for another day. I want you now.” He pushed into Elias and slanted his mouth over his for a fiery kiss.
Elias grew impatient, he gripped Caspian’s body wherever he could, sliding his hands over his lover’s skin and reaching down to touch the scales where his backside should have been. There were likely many mundane things he had yet to learn about a merman’s anatomy, but in that moment, he wanted Caspian’shuman form back so that they could bury themselves in each other in every sort of experimental way.
“Hurry,” Elias whispered, breaking away from Caspian and turning so that they could swim to shore.
As soon as he turned, whatever bliss he’d hoped to experience was smashed as he and Caspian spotted a thin, ragged figure rifling through their packs on the beach.
“Oy!” Elias called out, swimming as fast as he could toward a point where he could stand up and run the rest of the way to catch the thief.
As it turned out, he was able to swim must faster than he’d expected. Caspian’s kiss had to have something to do with that, though there were other things to worry about in that moment.
The figure sorting through Elias and Caspian’s things noticed them late. Elias was already in the shallows and Caspian had resumed his human form and raced ahead of him up onto the beach. The man on his knees with their packs snapped his head up to stare at them with wide eyes. His mouth was full, and even in his shock, he continued to chew whatever it was he’d stolen from the pack.
“Dick!” Elias called out, doubling his speed as rage filled him. “You thieving, murdering bastard!”
Dick scrambled to his feet, or at least tried to. The man had lost a great deal of weight, which had made him clumsy. He also seemed unwilling to let go of the water flask he held in one hand. He scrambled back, then fell on his arse, clutching the flask to his chest.
“Mine! It’s mine!” he growled, feral in his desperation.
Elias and Caspian were in such a better state than Dick that it was no difficult thing to grab the man under both his arms and to hoist him to his feet. Just touching the man was revolting to Elias, and it was clear from the sight of him that even thoughDick had survived the wreck, he had not thrived on the island at all.
“Where did you come from?” Caspian demanded. “Why are you stealing our things?”
Elias thought the answer to the second question was obvious. Dick was starving, and the ferocity with which he clutched the water flask indicated that the man had not found anything like the freshwater spring that the rest of them had discovered.
But instead of answering Caspian’s questions, Dick’s eyes went wide. He raked his gaze over Caspian’s naked body, taking in the scale-like markings on his legs in particular, then stared at Elias’s body. Elias was not naked like Caspian, but his clothing was wet and clung to him, hiding nothing.
“I knew it!” Dick snapped, his voice rough and hoarse. “Filthy sodomites. I’ve caught you in the act, I have.”
Elias exchanged a look with Caspian. Dick had done no such thing. The wildness in the man’s eyes told Elias that he was not entirely in his right mind.
But Caspian merely shrugged and said, “So what if you have spied on us. Elias is my mate, the lover of my heart. You are in my realm now, and you will accept it,” as he gathered up his clothing and dressed as if nothing were out of the ordinary and what Dick saw of him was usual.
As much as Caspian’s words warmed Elias’s heart, he knew they would fail to penetrate Dick’s head.
“You’re an abomination,” Dick hissed, fighting to break free of them, though he did not have the strength for it. “Both of you. God will strike you down for the perversions you are.”
Elias and Caspian shared a look and a sigh. It was somewhat heartening to feel as though none of Dick’s cruel words could hurt them, though. Elias had lived his entire life fearing what people would say or do to him if he should be discovered, butwith Caspian by his side, he did not worry about those things anymore.
“What should we do with him?” Caspian asked.
Elias shrugged. “We cannot leave him behind as we continue our mission,” he said. “And seeing as the entire point was to discover whether we are alone on the island, it seems as though it would be best if we took him back to the others.”
“The others?” Dick gasped, his eyes going wide. “There are others on the island? Other survivors?”
Whatever theory Elias had held onto that Dick had escaped the wreck with Tumbrill and their other followers crumbled. Dick must have saved only himself. His withered state and filthy clothing seemed to confirm that.
“We should definitely take him back to the encampment,” Elias said, making up his mind. “Hunt can decide what to do with him from there.”
