Page 39 of Adonis (Salt and Starlight #1)

Adonis

Connor stared down at him from his boat, his arms on the railing as he leaned his weight out over the water. He had clips in his hair, holding back errant curls from his face as the wind tossed the sleek hair around. His all-consuming grey eyes set on Adonis, making him shiver like they always did.

His Connor’s lips had a proud shape, but his expression was usually hard to read. Adonis often misjudged his mood and was scolded when he got on Connor’s nerves. But not as often as before. It had been months since the tear had opened up and creatures from home had started to filter through, and aside from a few brief visits to their nest, they had spent most of their time on the shores here.

They bred whenever Adonis managed to leave Laurence behind, and Adonis enjoyed Connor’s virility immensely. So much so that he didn’t tell Connor that he was the wrong sex to carry him a child. He adored Connor’s persistent efforts and loved when Connor invited Adonis to try with him, too…

“Adonis?”

Connor questioned.

“I will pull the boat out,”

Adonis said. He was remiss to tear his gaze from his mate’s beautiful form, but he did as he must. He swam to the chain hanging in the water and guided their path among the other ships in the harbour. They were soon out among the waves, and once Connor started the engine, Adonis circled around to swim side by side with him.

The hair whipped at Connor’s hair, untameable, no matter how many clips Laurence put into it.

“Were you thinking about sex?”

Connor asked as he climbed aboard. It was easier for Adonis to shift his form now. A simple matter to shape his vocal cords in a way that allowed him to speak.

“Yes,”

Adonis said.

Connor’s lips curved into a wicked smile. His grey eyes were stormy. Adonis swallowed, desire tingling between his legs. This was the one emotion Adonis was skilled at reading. The look in Connor’s eyes when he wanted him was unmistakable. His body responded to his look alone, wetting inside in preparation for Connor.

When they’d first mated, Adonis hadn’t anticipated the frequency that Connor would want to join with him. In other pairings of his kind, blowjobs and handjobs sated the dominant male until their mate was ready to carry progeny. Connor had turned the expectations Adonis had about his future mate on its head in the best way possible.

“Why don’t you go inside?”

Connor said. He reached out a hand, curving his fingers down Adonis’s hip. “Find the bed. I’ll lay anchor in a quiet bay and come join you.”

His fingers trailed in, and he ran his hand over Adonis’s hard cock.

Adonis nodded obediently. Lubricant wet his slit, sliding out his shaft and onto Connor’s fingertips as he stroked his hardened length. Connor gave Adonis’s cock a squeeze before releasing him. “Go on, I’ll only be a minute.”

Adonis went inside the small door that led downstairs. Inside was a small living area. There was a kitchen, a bathroom, and a large bed that took up more space than anything else. Connor had told him this boat used to belong to Ben, the man who had seized Connor and himself, but it was his now. He wanted to take it through the tear to look around. The boat came to a stop, and the engine shut off. Adonis heard the anchor splashing in the water. A few seconds later, Connor came down behind Adonis.

“I had to do some refurbishing,”

Connor said, sidling up behind Adonis, hands going to his hips as he kissed the nape of Adonis’s neck. “I wanted you to be able to fit in both forms. I don’t want to keep going outside on days where I want the challenge of teasing your dick out of you.”

Connor reached between Adonis’s legs as he set his chin on his shoulder, staring at his face. He took Adonis’s cock in his palm and began to softly jack him off. “Your cock is always out in this form, but you never seem to want to top like this. How about today? Do you feel like topping?”

Connor asked him, grey eyes burning the side of Adonis’s face.

Adonis shook his head.

“Hmm…”

Connor hummed. He reached up to tug at Adonis’s ear, toying with the tip between his thumbs and finger. An array of sensations zapped through Adonis. The urge to seize Connor filled him. To crush his mouth to his and mingle their tongues together in a dance. But he couldn’t do more than tremble until Connor released his delicate ear.

“I could put in a bit of effort to get you in the mood to top, I suppose…”

He gave another tug on Adonis’s ear. Adonis could do nothing to hold back the desperate groan that escaped through parted lips. He loved when Connor was like this. Whispering so low, looking at Adonis with the promise of satisfaction in his burning eyes.

Adonis, with great pains, pulled from Connor’s grip to press his cheek against his, affection bursting through his body. How fortunate he was to find Connor. Something had been calling to him through the tear. Despite warnings from others of his kind of the danger, he had always felt that call. As he watched his kin pair off and he could find none that held his attention, he’d given in to his frustration and approached the tear, able to use his power to push through.

The call in his blood had led him straight to the glass that Connor stood behind. Adonis had glimpsed his face staring out at the ocean, and his blood had roared at him. He’d been unable to stop himself from approaching, burning to see Connor up close. He’d finally come to his senses when Connor stared at his filthy scales.

Adonis shifted his weight, a pang of irritation flickering through him. He was lucky that Connor had given him a second glance when he’d approached again. Many of his kind would not forgive a tarnished appearance, even if the problem was rectified.

Although Connor was very forgiving, even when Adonis’s emotions ran away with him…

The ill-shaped oars that left callouses on Connor’s hands were still a point of constant dispute.

“Adonis… you’re ignoring me,”

Connor said, reproachful. “That’s twice today. What are you thinking now? It’s not sex. If it was, you’d be paying attention to the person you’re about to get into bed with.”

Adonis touched his hip self-consciously as if he were still presenting dirty scales. He wasn’t aware of the gesture until Connor tilted his head, gaze darting down to the movement. His chin tickled Adonis’s shoulder as he set the weight there, a smile curving his lips as his gaze travelled up to Adonis’s face. He wrapped both hands around Adonis. One hand joined Adonis’s at his hip, turning the self-conscious stroke into a sensual caress. The other hand languidly stroked his length.

“Are you thinking of when we first met?”

Connor asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you know what I thought?”

Connor asked. Adonis swallowed, cursing himself for his dulled scales that day. “I thought you were gorgeous. The most beautiful person I’d ever laid eyes on. Your scales, especially, were dazzling. I could hardly take my eyes off them.”

Adonis trembled in delight.

“So when thinking about that day, don’t fret about a little mud. You could be covered in dirt, and I would still find you breathtaking.”

“I also found you beautiful,”

Adonis said, his voice filled with a mixture of pride, delight, and affection. There was also a tremor of breathlessness as Connor’s hand formed a fist to pump his cock-head with. Connor tipped his own hips forward, pushing Adonis to thrust into his hand.

Connor did all this and still had the self-control to smile at Adonis, amused. “Is that so?”

Adonis groaned. “Yes.”

Connor’s beauty was a wild kind. An untamed quality that was part of his personality as much as it was his looks. Adonis’s mind threw up an image of Connor slack in his arms, blood pouring out of him as he struggled to keep Connor’s head above water as waves beat relentlessly down on them.

His terror in that moment that he could lose Connor had been all-encompassing. He’d never felt anything like it and knew there would never be anything as frightful. To lose his mate so soon after finding him… Adonis shuddered in horror at the thought.

He sucked in a sharp breath at the sudden pressure on his balls. He whined, casting a questioning look at Connor at the sudden firm grip. “You went away from me again. Are you not in the mood?”

He released Adonis, suddenly stepping away and severing all contact between them. Adonis’s legs felt shaky. His knees had been close to buckling from Connor’s attentions.

He turned to face the displeasure in Connor’s expression.

“I am in the mood,”

Adonis told him, reaching for him. He cupped Connor’s cheeks, rubbing his cheek ardently against Connor’s before reaching for his cock. It was hard in Connor’s shorts, but when he tried to get to it, Connor’s hands slipped to his wrists, stopping his efforts.

There was proud annoyance in Connor’s eyes. “Clearly not, when your mind keeps wondering so far from here.”

“I am in the mood,”

Adonis repeated, desperate to appease Connor.

Connor’s body remained tense and unyielding, and he watched Adonis with cool detachment. “And what were you thinking of this time that turned you soft while I was touching you?”

Despite his controlled expression, his voice had an unmistakable note of hurt.

Adonis groaned. He had hurt Connor’s pride.

“I recalled your injury. I remembered my fear of losing you.”

Connor’s expression softened. “I—”

he paused, letting out a breath. “I’m sorry. I was mean just now.”

He released Adonis’s wrist in favour of his cheeks and leaned in to press a soft, appeasing kiss to Adonis’s lips. Adonis was appeased by the fact that he’d managed to cool Connor’s mood, but the kiss was a welcome invitation to get his chance to touch Connor. He was always slower to put an end to Adonis’s touch when their tongues were touching, and it meant Adonis got to have Connor inside of him quicker.

“Connor?”

a voice called.

No.

No.

No!

Connor turned from Adonis, panting. “Just a minute, Laurence!”

Adonis caught Connor’s shoulders, wrapping him in an embrace as desperation seized him. “Please,”

he cried. Connor would never bed him when his little one was close. Adonis would care and love all those that Connor held close—but there were days that he wished to drown Laurence and his constant interruptions.

“Adonis, I can’t while he’s…”

Connor sighed. Adonis whined in distress. As frequently as they mated, a deep-seated part of him was always horribly upset when they stopped mating mid-way.

“I’ll set him surfing,”

Connor said. “You get on that bed, get yourself ready the way I usually do, and the second I come down here, I’ll put my cock in. How does that sound?”

Adonis nodded quickly. “Good,”

he said, shivering in relief. They would get to mate.

Connor turned from him, stopping in the doorway to adjust his shorts and take a breath, and ascended the stairs. “Laurence,”

Connor’s voice was distant. “What are you guys doing?”

Adonis turned his attention to what Connor had asked of him. He lay out on the mattress and dipped his fingers into his slit. He did not take the time to stretch himself out the way Connor did, put pushed fingers in, lubing up his walls until he was sure Connor would fit. It was a tighter squeeze in this form with his cock and balls hanging from his slit already. But Connor never complained about it, nor did it douse the frequency of their matings. In fact, Adonis suspected that Connor liked getting to tease his cock while stretching him out.

Connor re-entered the room suddenly.

Adonis jerked his gaze to Connor in surprise. “He is gone?”

“They’ve got another boat with them. Laurence is going back to get drinks… I told him I forgot them.”

Connor shrugged off his shirt as he strode to the bed and kicked off his shorts. He was rubbing his cock as he straddled Adonis. “So we’ve got about… three minutes? Four minutes?”

He cast Adonis his signature wicked smile. “Think we can squeeze a quickie in?”

Adonis nodded, though he had his doubts. But he did not care if Laurence returned and overheard their mating—so long as Connor did not notice and stop. That would be devastating.

“Did you stretch yourself out like I said?”

Connor asked him, handling Adonis’s cock carefully and pressing it up and against his stomach. The position pulled his balls up and out, clear of the slit.

“Yes,”

Adonis said.

Connor guided his cock to the base of Adonis’s balls, following their outline to Adonis’s entrance, where he burrowed his cock with a smooth, careful thrust.

Adonis grunted at the sudden fullness.

Connor’s gaze was on the point where he went in, and Adonis saw the goosebumps break out over his skin. “It always looks so dirty,”

Connor said, more to himself than Adonis. His grey eyes swept up to Adonis’s face. “Can you hold your dick up for me?”

Adonis did so immediately, eager to please.

Connor rewarded him with a grin. “You can touch yourself, too. Three minutes, remember? Tell me if I hurt you.”

Connor never did.

Connor braced his hands on either side of Adonis’s head and started a quick thrusting pace. Adonis did his best to meet Connor’s thrusts, but he scarcely kept the effort up for a minute before his spine started tingling, and he struggled to move with the pleasure point Connor’s cock nailed on his inward strokes. Connor’s eyes shut as the first groan hummed from his throat. A fine layer of sweat formed on his skin as he pounded relentlessly into Adonis, fucking him with determined urgency.

Adonis shut his eyes, his breath hitching. His insides convulsed in pleasure, and his muscles twitched sporadically as heat and release fired down his nerves. He cried out when Connor grabbed his cock, fisting him in a firm grip, letting that delicious pleasure join in as he came.

Adonis’s body turned slack as the sharp release of pleasure dissipated, and only the aftereffects remained in his body.

There was a slick sound where Connor pounded into him, his orgasm having produced an abundance of lubricant.

Connor bent to him, the kiss he pressed to Adonis’s lips interspersed with moans. “Perfect as always, Adonis,”

Connor praised him.

Keen delight filled Adonis at his words, pleased that he had earned Connor’s admiration during their mating. Others of his kind told different stories, warned him of rough partners, painful joinings… Connor had never been rough, nor their joinings painful. The only time there was a hint of roughness was when Connor teased him into the dominant role, and he could never be careful the same way Connor was…

“I’m about to…”

Connor moaned. His hips thrust forward hard, his cock twitching inside of Adonis. Connor cried out as Adonis felt the wonderful heat spilling inside him. Adonis groaned in delight, holding Connor’s hips and thrusting up to meet him, doing his best to draw out Connor’s orgasm for as long as he could.

Connor flagged, draping over Adonis’s body with a satisfied sigh. He reached up to run his fingers through Adonis’s hair. Adonis returned the fond gesture as they caught their breaths.