Page 111 of Adonis

“Yes.”

Connor managed to stay coherent as he stumbled to the edge of the decking. He fell overboard, hitting the black waves without the strength to keep his head above them. Adonis followed right after, his warm arms wrapping around Connor’s body to hold him close.

Connor shut his eyes, giving himself to the sea. To Adonis.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Connor woke up in someone’s arms. His salty ocean smell, his burning heat, the way his face nestled into the back of Connor’s neck—there was nobody else that made him feel this peace.

Connor’s mind was fuzzy, his throat painfully dry, and his body—oh hell, was his body in pain. Dulled pain, like he’d taken painkillers to take off the sharp edge, but pain nonetheless. He pressed his hand to his stomach where the scalpel had been. He found a bandage.

Connor opened his eyes but it was dark. He was lying somewhere comfortable—the pillow and the mattress were a million times softer than anything he’d ever lain on—and the air was fresh and crisp. He suspected the room would be cold if Adonis wasn’t at his back, and a heavy blanket of soft fur wasn’t covering him.

His last memory of falling into the dark ocean played out in his head.

They’d gotten away, clearly.

Connor’s thoughts jumped to Trevor and Laurence. To the cry of pain Laurence had let out. He’d been hurt or worse. He’d pushed aside his fear for them in the moment, focusing on Adonis’s captivity, but worry for them swarmed his mind now.

Connor turned in Adonis’s arms. Adonis grumbled, but when Connor stilled, he went quiet, his breaths regular. Adonis was sleeping. Heavily, too, for Connor not to wake him.

Connor twisted until he was on his side facing Adonis. Pain pricked through his stomach, and he lay still until the waves of aching passed. He leaned in, touching his nose to Adonis’s cheek. “Adonis,” he whispered. Behind Adonis, there was a ripple of light. And Connor heard gentle waves lapping a few feet away. Light reflected off water.

“Adonis?” Connor pet his hair. The silky strands were bone dry. Worry flitted through Connor. Adonis hadn’t ever slept like this—so unaware, so unresponsive. “Are you okay?”

Maybe they were in a cage. Maybe Adonis was drugged and—

“Connor,” Adonis breathed out. He rolled onto Connor, careful not to put any weight on him, and nuzzled his cheek against Connor’s. “Pain? I can heal more. I had to rest, but I am ready now.” His voice was low and came out smooth and unhindered.

Connor blinked. “You’re very talkative.”

Adonis pulled back allowing Connor to see his shadowed face. There was a click and a faint blue light illuminated their surroundings. Adonis gazed down at Connor, his eyes hooded but alert, adoration and relief written into his features.

“I can speak here,” Adonis said. “Are you in pain?”

Connor examined his surroundings in the new light. To his right, opposite the water, was a wall lined with stacks upon stacks of books. They were several rows thick, reaching taller than Connor, possibly even taller than Trevor.

“For you,” Adonis said. He touched his nose to Connor’s cheek. “Are you in pain? Answer. Please? Pain?”

“I feel fine, Adonis,” Connor reassured him. “Did you heal me?”

Adonis’s gaze lingered on Connor’s face. Not quite on his eyes, but on his nose and just underneath his eyes.

“I’m bruised?”

Adonis’s eyes darkened. “Yes. Bruised. Everywhere.” His gaze darted down to Connor’s body. Aside from the bandage on his stomach he was without clothes. And yes, he was bruised. But that wasn’t what caught Connor’s attention.

It was the two thighs parted around his legs, the knees sinking into the mattress on either side of his thighs. The skin was silvery and blue, but it was still very much— “Since when do you havelegs?” Connor demanded.

Adonis’s head bent down, his gaze darting to his own form. His expression grew uncomfortable. “Do you like them?” he asked, nervous.

Connor dragged his gaze from the legs to Adonis’s face. His mind jumped to when they’d met. When Adonis had been showing off his scales and gotten embarrassed that they weren’t clean. He cupped Adonis’s cheeks and kissed his cheekbone. “I love them. As much as I love your tail.” There was also the matter of his dick no longer being hidden on the inside, but Connor was far from able to explore that. “Can you tell me… how you have legs?”

“Power here,” Adonis told him.

Right. Okay.

“And here is your home?” Connor asked, looking around again. They were in a cave, where water lapped gently against a raised cave floor. A strange blue light strung from the ceiling lit up the room. The bed they were in was large, heaps of furs and blankets stacked on one another. There were the piled books in the corner and then a wooden door. Connor saw light peeking through it and guessed it led outside.