Page 16 of Adonis (Salt and Starlight #1)

The water wasn’t as calm when he got down to the shore. Connor tied his cooler to the board as Trevor hovered behind him, watching over his shoulder.

“Where does the satellite phone go?”

Trevor asked.

“Here. There’s a bag clipped in, and it goes inside the bag.”

Connor showed him just to ease those jittering nerves. Laurence stood next to Trevor—blond hair a total mess that Connor gave a second look—chewing on a slice of toast. His dark eyes drank everything in, glancing between the shed, where a second paddle board was, and his dad.

“You know,”

Laurence said. “If I go with Connor, I can text you updates.”

“You have school,”

Connor pointed out before Trevor considered it. It wasn’t that he was against spending time with Laurence, but putting himself at the mercy of a creature he didn’t understand wasn’t the same as putting someone else in the same danger. And Connor suspected that if he ventured out on the water, alone or otherwise, Adonis would find him. And while he didn’t think Adonis was dangerous, it wasn’t exactly a tried and tested theory.

Plus, if Laurence came with him, Connor might not get to see Adonis at all.

Laurence frowned at Connor, hurt crossing his expression, cutting through Connor like a dagger in his gut. He tensed, resolve sinking to his feet. “If you’re coming, we’ll have to go somewhere else,”

Connor said. “Further down the coast, where it’s easier for beginners to navigate.”

“Dad could drive us,”

Laurence said exuberantly, the hurt vanishing.

Trevor put his hand on Laurence’s shoulder. “You are not missing school. And I won’t hear anything else about it. You’ll have all summer to spend time on the water.”

Laurence studied his dad’s expression before he shrugged. “Fine.”

He looked back at Connor. “You can borrow my phone, though, if you want? Dad said you don’t want to bring your new one out there.”

“I don’t want to risk dropping yours into the ocean either,”

Connor said. “I’ll make do today and pick one up this weekend.”

He could ask his dad for the money.

Connor finally set out into the ocean after fending off Laurence’s looks of longing and Trevor’s unhappiness. He had to row hard to get past the breaking waves, but the choppiness of the water eased up once he cleared them. His shoulders were sore as he worked the muscles, and they quivered in protest for the first few minutes as they warmed up.

Laurence waved at him as he reached the bend of the coast that blocked their view of one another. Connor waved back. As he disappeared behind a tall hill, Connor’s board rocked beneath his feet. He yelped, falling back on the board, his shoulder colliding with the cooler as his elbow landed on the metal clip holding the spare oar in place. His arm went dead, and the oar fell from his grasp.

Connor whimpered, clutching his elbow as pain radiated up his arm.

There was a splash next to his head; he peeled open his eyes as he sucked in sharp breaths through his teeth. Adonis appeared from the water next to him, and he pressed his face into Connor’s hair, making a desperate keening sound. Water droplets fell from his hair onto Connor’s face, and Adonis put his arm over Connor’s chest, his body shaking in agitation.

“Adonis, you asshole,”

Connor hissed once he could breathe.

A desperate sound emanated from Adonis’s throat.

Connor grunted, rubbing his elbow as the numbness slowly transformed into pain. The constant keening sound from Adonis sounded suspiciously like crying. Connor petted the merman’s hair. “Be careful next time, okay?”

Adonis lifted his face up, and Connor saw the distress in his widened eyes. Connor sighed. “I know it wasn’t on purpose. You don’t need to feel bad.”

He paused, his elbow throbbing in dull pain. “Actually, you can feel a little bad, and remember not to do that again.”

Adonis’s gaze darted from Connor’s face to his elbow. He sank back, no longer covering Connor, and reached out, his hand hovering just above Connor’s aching joint. Connor narrowed his eyes at that hand. “I’ll be glad if you didn’t touch it, thank you.”

A mournful sound left Adonis’s throat. He buried his face back into Connor’s hair, keening at him.

“Yes, yes. You’re sorry, I get it.”

Connor pet his hair again, hoping that would convey that he was forgiven. Connor would have to keep this in mind for next time. He’d expected to see him again, Adonis seemed to be able to find him whenever he was out on the water, but he hadn’t expected Adonis to be hanging around outside his house.

Connor was damp from Adonis leaning over him. His face, pressed against Connor’s hair, radiated warmth. Connor stayed still, feeling Adonis’s hand creeping up the board beside his thigh.

“Adonis…”

Connor warned as that hand brushed his arm.

Adonis started to coo and keen, digging his face against Connor’s scalp. Connor shivered, feeling both the vibration from his throat and his warm breaths against his neck. At the same time, Adonis snuck his hand onto Connor’s forearm. Very gently, he pushed up the sleeve of the hoodie.

Connor didn’t object this time, keeping silent as Adonis slipped his hand under the hoodie sleeve and ran his hand up Connor’s arm. Hot fingers wrapped around Connor’s elbow and moved in a slow circle, massaging the aching joint. Adonis hummed gently against Connor’s ear as he did, and a cascade of heat prickled over Connor’s skin.

Connor blinked, his eyelids suddenly impossibly heavy. His breaths left him in laboured, slow exhales. His body and his head felt weighted like he was waking from sleep and his body was still immobile. Heat from Adonis’s skin engulfed the pain in his elbow, drowning it out until there was no discomfort at all. Adonis released his elbow, and his hand slid around Connor’s body. He cupped around Connor’s ribs and pulled Connor over, rolling him onto his side.

Connor took in a panicked breath; if he fell overboard now with his limbs slack and unresponsive, he would drown.

At the sound of his distress, Adonis started his keening again. His face pressed against Connor’s cheek rather than his hair, and his nose touched against Connor’s. Adonis fumbled with the hem of Connor’s hoodie and his shirt, humming at Connor all the while before his hand got under the fabric and his burning hand slipped up the slope of Connor’s back.

Connor dragged in a sharp breath, feeling the heat from Adonis’s hand and also the heat throbbing in his thighs. Adonis settled his hand over the sore spot on Connor’s shoulder that had impacted the cooler. He rubbed circles over the spot, and another wave of heaviness washed over Connor as heat prickled through his shoulder.

Connor’s dick perked up in his shorts; he was unable to stop himself from reacting to the warm breaths falling against his mouth—the sweet sounds of reassurance humming from Adonis’s throat—nor the heated touch at his back, no matter how ridiculous that was.

The pain in his shoulder was nothing but warm pins and needles when Adonis stopped massaging him. He pulled back from Connor, his gaze darting down as he righted Connor’s hoodie, and he froze as his gaze landed on Connor’s shorts.

Connor’s face burned hotter than Adonis’s touch had made him. He couldn’t help it. Oh god, maybe he should be able to?

Adonis’s eyes brightened. The sound that came from his throat was a new one; husky, eager. His fingers twitched and slowly crept down the board, this time heading toward Connor’s shorts.

Connor sucked in a shallow breath.

Adonis stared at him, and his throat bobbed as he licked his lips. He moved sideways so that his head was closer to Connor’s hips, and he reached out to lift Connor’s leg up, hooking it over his shoulder as he leaned in. Connor’s dick strained against the confines of his briefs, fully on board with what his mind struggled with. Adonis’s head lowered, his mouth pressing into Connor’s navel in a messy, open-mouthed kiss.

Connor tried to curse, but it came out strangled.

Adonis stilled. His head turned, his gaze darting to Connor’s face. He frowned at Connor. Slowly, he reached out, taking Connor’s arm by the wrist. He lifted it a few inches and let it go, and they both watched it flop back into place, useless.

Adonis made a distressed sound. He cast a longing look at Connor’s junk before carefully setting his leg back down and returning to Connor’s face.

Adonis pet Connor’s hair like Connor had done for him and made soft, soothing sounds in his throat. Every few seconds, his gaze would wander down the board to Connor’s shorts, which had the unfortunate effect of keeping Connor hard. As confused as Connor was about Adonis’s apparent interest in his dick, his dick was more than pleased with the attention. And since Connor kept thinking about the wet, hot kiss against his navel… and imagining that around his dick…

Connor stayed aroused as his body woke up. He twitched his fingers first. And then he shifted his legs. Adonis’s gaze jumped to Connor’s arm. He stopped petting his hair to lift Connor’s arm again; this time, Connor held it up.

He let out a breath of relief.

Adonis’s eyes lit up. He slipped down the board, quickly hooking Connor’s leg back onto his shoulder.

Connor’s dick jumped to attention. “Wait,”

he said, his voice coming out scrambled.

Adonis glanced at Connor, a question in his eyes.

Connor stared down at the Adonis with his mouth a few inches from his hard dick, and what he’d been about to say got mixed up as his balls tightened. “I don’t know—do we know each other enough for this?”

What the fuck was Connor even saying?

Adonis keened. He nodded to Connor’s dick, brushed the tip with his nose, and gestured to his mouth.

“Yeah, I get that,”

Connor said. “I just don’t know if…”

He stared down at Adonis’s dark blue eyes, brimming with impatience. For the life of him, Connor couldn’t hazard a guess why a merman seemed to be dying of impatience to give him a blowjob. Nor could he explain why his dick was already leaking pre-come, making his briefs stick. “Okay, fuck, fine,”

Connor said, his voice strained.

Adonis face lit up. He pried Connor’s shorts down and shoved the briefs out of the way. Connor made a noise of protest as the cold air of the ocean washed over his sensitive parts, but he only had a moment to feel the cold before Adonis’s mouth covered him, taking his head into his mouth.

Connor’s hips jumped forward as he cried out in surprise. If Connor found Adonis’s hands hot, then his mouth was another level entirely. Jerking his hips forward speared his cock deep into Adonis’s mouth. “I’m sorry!”

Connor groaned.

Adonis let out a noise of enjoyment. He tightened his grip on Connor’s leg and bobbed his head enthusiastically, sucking down Connor’s length until his head prodded the back of Adonis’s throat. Connor shuddered.

Adonis started up a fevered pace, moving quickly and purposefully. And somewhat desperately, if Connor read him right. Connor stared at him, taking in the look of concentration on Adonis’s face until he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. He reached out, grabbing wildly until he had a handful of Adonis’s hair in a fist before he could even think to be gentler. Adonis groaned in enjoyment—the vibration of his mouth made Connor shudder.

Connor flexed his hips, meeting Adonis’s mouth in the middle, sinking to the back of Adonis’s throat once more. “Ah,”

he moaned. “Mhm, Adonis, that feels good.”

He adjusted his grip on Adonis’s hair, moving his hips until he matched Adonis’s pace. Adonis gripped Connor’s thigh, encouraging him to move with hot, persistent hands.

Connor opened his eyes, getting a glimpse of his dick sinking into Adonis’s mouth in wild strokes, and he groaned. Heat sparked through his balls as they tightened and lifted, and he cried out as he came, his cock twitching wildly as he shot out into Adonis’s mouth. His hips kept moving in fevered thrusts as he released, sinking into the back of Adonis’s throat. His movement petered out and his cock gave a final twitch, letting out a final glob of cum into Adonis’s mouth.

Adonis hummed. His tongue pressed against Connor’s slit, lapping and sucking, and Connor shuddered in sensitivity.

Connor blinked, bleary-eyed, at Adonis. The apology for coming in his mouth without warning was lost as he watched Adonis suck every drop of cum from his sensitive head, and then lick down his shaft to lap up any semen that had evaded Adonis’s mouth. Adonis had an expression like he was licking frosting off of a cupcake.

Adonis straightened, licking his lips as he cast his gaze toward Connor. He grinned at him and made a pleased thrilling noise. He knows how to smile.

Connor’s head was a mess.

“That felt good,”

he eventually said, his voice hoarse. His body felt boneless once more, but this time for a different reason. He reached down, putting his cock into his trousers, and pulled up his shorts. Adonis watched him do it and then drifted up so that his head was closer to Connor’s. He mimicked Connor’s position, setting his cheek onto the board next to him and laying out flat so that his tail came above the water line. It was almost like they were lying side by side in a bed.

“Adonis,”

Connor said.

Adonis thrilled at him.

“Do you have some sort of magic?”

Adonis made the same thrilling sound. It sounded slightly lazy to Connor’s ears, and with Adonis’s eyes half-lidded, it seemed like he was tired. Maybe his jaw was tired… Connor’s face warmed up and he looked away from Adonis before he started reliving that in earnest and got hard. He suspected that might lead to a repeat of just now, and Connor was barely staying awake.

He forced himself to sit up and dug out his water bottle. He drank a few sips and offered it to Adonis. Adonis glanced at the clear bottle and let out a heavy breath through his nose.

“Not interested in the water?”

Connor asked. He replaced it in the cooler. He got his bearings and saw that Adonis had kept them in the same spot just around the corner from his house. Thank god Adonis was shy because Connor hadn’t spared a thought about how Trevor and Laurence were around the corner.

“Shall we get going?”

Connor asked, forcing himself onto his knees. He reached for his oar, but it wasn’t tied where it should be.

“Oh, crap.”

Connor hadn’t tied it. He’d dropped it. He scanned the water, looking for the oar floating on the waves. Nothing. “Adonis, did you see where it went?”

Adonis was still lying with his cheek against the board. He blinked up at Connor, answering him with a disinterested grunt.

Connor’s gaze darted down Adonis’s body. At first, looking to see if he was hiding the oar somehow, but his traitorous mind instead drifted back to moments ago. Adonis had clearly known how Connor’s anatomy worked, but there was no hint of anything similar on Adonis.

Connor stared closely at the smooth scales until Adonis squirmed. He chirped out a shy sound.

“Do you have a dick?”

Connor asked him.

Adonis didn’t meet his eyes, his tail lashing in the water. Connor crept closer to him, reaching out to touch his scales. Except this time, his exploration was more pointed; he pressed into the scales where he would guess his matching anatomy should be, stroking around, trying to find—

His fingers dipped into a slit.

Adonis jumped as Connor’s fingers delved into wetness and heat.

Startled by Adonis’s jump, Connor flinched back before he could help it. Adonis let out a sound of distress, and, in a flash, his tail was beneath the surface leaving only his head and shoulders above the water. Adonis gazed up at him, a low whine vibrating from his throat.

“Sorry, Adonis.”

Connor reached out to pat his head, trying to convey what he meant. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

After a few seconds of petting, Adonis stopped whining and set his arms back on the board. There was still unhappiness in the gaze pointed up at Connor. Guilt stabbed through him.

Connor leaned down, pressing his face against Adonis’s hair. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry.”

He tried to mimic what Adonis had done for him when he got hurt, and Adonis quickly pushed his face against Connor’s hair, letting out a satisfied keening sound.

Connor pulled back again.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to hurt you. Like you weren’t trying to hurt me.”

Connor glanced around at the water once more. “Did you see where it went? My oar?”

Adonis scoffed and turned his gaze away.

Connor narrowed his eyes at him. “You did see where it went.”

Adonis released the board and swam around to the back. He made a show of pointing to himself and the back, and then of pointing at Connor and the water with a snort.

“Oh, now you’re just picking a fight,”

Connor said. “You know which direction it went, don’t you?”

Adonis’s top lip drew back, displeasure colouring his features.

“I need the oar, Adonis. And it was you knocking me down that made me drop it, so if you know where it is, you’d better tell me.”

Adonis glared up at him. Connor didn’t waver, staring right back. After an irritated growl, Adonis disappeared underneath the water. Connor didn’t see which direction he went—today, the water was a dark, impenetrable blue—but scarcely five seconds later, he slapped the oar onto the board next to Connor’s knee.

Adonis sneered at it before disappearing below, slapping his tail hard into the water as he dived. Connor yelped as the spray covered him. Adonis resurfaced ahead of Connor. Only his eyes were above the water line, fixed on Connor in what could only be a glare.

“Real mature, Adonis,”

Connor said, shaking his head to get the water droplets out. He wasn’t too irritated. Adonis did listen to him, after all. He returned it, even though he obviously didn’t want to.

Connor set the oar into a more secure position in the middle of the board and stretched out his shoulders. The part that he’d impacted the cooler with wasn’t sore. In fact, none of him was sore. Connor frowned, feeling around his elbow. His weight had come down on the metal clip, so it should still be tender to the touch at the very least, but there was no pain. Not even his muscles, which had been aching from yesterday, hurt in the slightest.

Was this what painkillers felt like? Nothing ever worked on Connor, but for all the pain to vanish like that…

Connor gazed at Adonis.

He had done it. Connor had no idea how, but whatever Adonis had done to Connor to turn his body slack had made all of his aches and pains disappear. It extended beyond the realm of what Connor had been considering possible for Adonis. All of his thoughts and theories about Adonis had been rooted in logic. Mermen were inherently illogical, of course, but if Connor looked at Adonis, he was clearly a mammal. Aside from the wonder of it, there was nothing about his body that actually defied belief.

But what he’d just done? That had been something that no animal or human could do. That was something other.

Adonis came closer while thoughts consumed Connor. His glare lessened, and he chirped out a quizzical note.

“My elbow doesn’t hurt anymore,”

Connor said. He pushed up his sleeve and showed Adonis, bending it and touching it.

Adonis watched him.

“You did that,”

Connor said.

Adonis gazed up at him. He didn’t say anything, but there was a definite knowing in his eyes. Connor took in that knowing look. He wished he had a way of asking Adonis to explain it to him. Who he was, where he came from. It was very clear to Connor that Adonis understood him, and Connor could largely understand him back. But he wanted more than just simple communication.

Connor let his frustrations go with a sigh. “Shall we head out?”