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25

Kai

I wasn’t sure what was going on.

All I knew was that Claira’s distress had been clear when she told us about Barren’s voice calling to her. So, I’d done the only thing I could do—I’d reached out and taken her hand, hoping to offer my comfort.

And now Leander’s piercing eyes were on me, and unspoken words seemed to hang heavily around us. What those words were… I had no clue.

Claira’s lips tilted as she looked up. A lovely coral hue crested over her nose as she stared at me as well. Both of them were waiting. Expectant.

Then Leander’s impatience showed as his hand flexed over Claira’s thigh, his eyes darkening as he leaned in closer. “You don’t mind sharing,” he said in a sharp, commanding voice reminiscent of a king. “Do you, Kaius?”

Claira’s grip tightened around my fingers, and her eyes shone with hope as she nervously bit her lower lip, searching my face.

“Oh! Um, of course not.” My gaze flicked between the two of them. “I love it,” I said with complete conviction. Absolutely believable. “I’m a great sharer.”

It only took the span of my next breath for my conscience to tug at me, and I cleared my throat. “Okay, well, maybe I haven’t really had a lot of opportunities to share. But I’m definitely open to it,” I said, backtracking. “With my brothers, it’s mostly a take, take, take. And Laverne, well, you know how she?—”

Leander cut me off with a hard sigh. “Come here,” he said, making room by sitting back on the couch. I snapped up, letting Claira’s hand slip free from mine.

“Okay?” Scratching the back of my head, I turned around to take a seat on the couch between them.

“Not you ,” Leander growled out before I could sit.

When I swung back around, he was already pulling Claira onto his lap.

… Oh. That was my bad, I supposed.

When he had her knees settled across him, his voice roughened into a deep tone I could never imitate. “You don’t mind if we share you, do you, beautiful?” He nuzzled her neck, nostrils flaring as he breathed deep, inhaling the scent of her hair. I found my fists tightening at my sides.

This… didn’t feel like sharing.

Just when I thought they’d forgotten me altogether, Leander whispered my name into her hair. “Kaius told me you taught him about foreplay.” His lips brushed over her ear in a kiss before he pulled away, smirking. “Will you show me?”

Claira’s eyes drifted up to me. She was still in a daze from the attention Leander was giving her. Moisture coated her lips, and maybe it was the blush rapidly flaring over her face or the mention of foreplay, but I felt an awkward pull in the front of my pants.

As I shifted on my feet, trying to get comfortable, a question swirled in Claira’s eyes. “You told him about the time we spent together?” The crack in her voice was like a physical blow to my heart.

“W-we couldn’t sleep,” I explained, my words stumbling. “And I—well, um…”

Had I done something wrong? I hadn’t thought I needed to keep it a secret. We were all mates, right? And although I didn’t know any of the details between her and Leander, it seemed natural that all of us should know what happened between each other.

“Yeah,” I said finally, my shoulders slumping in defeat. “I told him. I didn’t think it mattered if he knew, because, well, we’re supposed to be a team, aren’t we?”

“A team?” Claira’s eyes glazed with confusion. Had she thought she would keep all her relationships with us separated?

“He’s right,” Leander cut in, his voice heavy with emotion as he held her even closer. “I thought I didn’t want to know, at first. But now I can’t stop fucking thinking about it.” A barely restrained growl came from the back of his throat. “What you did, how you looked. I want to see it. I want you to show me.”

Claira choked on a gasp, her hands coming up to the sides of her face. “ See it? Like, right now?”

Leander hooked the rope of her woven hair with a finger and pressed his lips against it. “Yes. Right now,” he murmured. Then, releasing the long weave, he helped her stand.

My heart all but stopped. I stood there, paralyzed, as he led her right up to me.

“Show me,” he commanded softly, his eyes glinting in anticipation as he looked between us.

Claira must have been as nervous as I was, because she stumbled forward, catching herself on my chest. Gray eyes met mine with an adorable mixture of guilt and confusion as her hands pressed against me for support.

“Just so we’re clear,” she said, her panicked gaze flicking to Leander, searching for his approval, “you want us to show you exactly what we did?”

Leander’s savage half-lidded eyes followed my every twitch of movement as he stepped back, crossing his arms over his bare chest. “Everything.”

“Well… Okay.” With that, Claira’s attention shifted to my not-so-bare chest. Her eyes lingered on the line of buttons, and my stomach twisted. Unlike Leander, I wasn’t used to going around with my chest and back uncovered. Especially not in front of others. Sure, I’d tried to loosen up, but my father had taught us at a young age that our torsos were meant to be covered. Unlike the sharks that our tails shared similarities with, we were civilized. The proud merfolk of the Pacific Kingdom.

And even though Leander and Barren hadn’t reacted to seeing me naked, I didn’t expect fan-tailed mers to understand my kingdom’s customs. It was well recorded that fan-tailed mers looked down on my kind. They had even gone so far as to compare us to mindless sharks.

But Claira didn’t hold any of those prejudices. No, with the way her lips parted as she toyed with one of my buttons—not undoing it, but flicking her fingers against it like she was imagining what was underneath—she enjoyed seeing me bare.

“What do you think?” There was a touch of shy humor in her voice. Her rosy lips spread into a slow smile. “Up for some foreplay?”

“Yes,” I blew out immediately. I was too mesmerized by each teasing movement of her slender fingers to deny her anything she wanted of me.

In all honesty, I hadn’t been able to let go of the time we’d spent together after I’d awoken from my injury. It pervaded my thoughts, ever present, and even as our journey continued, I’d found myself wondering if that moment would forever be imprinted in my mind.

Now that I had a chance to return to that bliss again, how could I say no?

“I love foreplay,” I said airily, my voice sounding a hundred leagues away as the adrenaline built. When Claira hesitated over her next move, I undid the top button for her, and my fingers trembled as I dropped to undo the next.

As much as I loved this, it was bizarre. I’d expected Leander to be the first to share an intimate moment with her, leaving me to watch as they worked themselves up to a state of blissful relaxation.

Never would I have imagined that I would be first.

After one final look back at Leander, Claira finally popped open the button she’d been fiddling with. She inhaled a sharp breath, and the way her teeth raked over her bottom lip when she saw a peek of what was underneath had every part of me straining.

Maybe I was as savage and uncivilized as a shark. Because the thought of those teeth on me again, biting and pulling, was a thrill I couldn’t wait to relive.

Claira went for the next button, and I whimpered, not even caring that Leander was here to hear it.

I reached out, threading a hand through the back of hair as she worked her way down the line. When the final button popped free, I pressed my eyes shut and shrugged the fabric back off my shoulders.

Even though we weren’t alone and the windows were open to the entire ocean, when my shirt dropped to the floor and my vision refocused, I decided I didn’t care that my torso was bare. Not while it had Claira’s complete attention, her eyes carefully examining its every detail.

I released a slow breath, my skin heating under her gaze as her eyes dipped over every contour of my stomach, down to where my pants rested low around my waist.

This was fine, right? Completely fine.

Leander huffed, looking unamused by my display. The muscles in his shoulders bunched. “I don’t understand why spike-tails get so worked up over some fucking skin.”

“Hush, Lee.” Claira’s hands tentatively hovered over my ribs like she wasn’t sure if I would jump away if she dared to touch them. That made two of us. Leander was right—I was already so worked up I wasn’t sure what I might do when I finally felt her.

“And I suppose there’s not a single part of you that you are hesitant to let others see?” Claira challenged, glancing back at Leander. She pulled off her shirt and tossed it down beside mine. The whole room seemed to shift, the air electrifying.

“No part of my body.” Leander’s chuckle was followed by a dark, lingering look that trailed down the curve of her back. I couldn’t blame him. Seeing the front of her bathed in the light of the sunrise… wow . She was so irresistible I wondered if Leander might change his mind and pull her away from me. But even as the muscles in his folded arms tensed, he maintained his distance.

Would he really not interfere if I touched her? If she touched me? Time to find out.

The next time her hands came between us, I pressed forward so that she might brush over my ribs.

The breathy “ Oh” she gave was worth it. Her fingers skimmed down my torso with a tenderness that was almost unbearable.

“Claira?” I rasped, my focus drawing up to her lips. All I could think about was kissing her again, the way we had at the airport. But first… “You’re forgetting something.”

Her lips moved slowly. “Am I?” She seemed too caught up in those slow strokes over my chest, up and down, across the dips.

“Yes, you are.” I tipped up her chin. Although she looked reluctant to turn her attention away from what she was doing, focusing on my mouth seemed to pull her back to the moment. I wasn’t smiling, not quite. That would have to wait until after her lips were on me.

“This,” I said, drawing around the lacy band of fabric wrapping around her chest. It surprised me to find this one didn’t have strings like the ones she wore in the water. Metallic clasps held it together like gnashed teeth, and the mood was nearly ruined as I struggled to pry them apart and free her.

Her laugh was so incredibly warm, as playful as fire. “I’ve got it, I’ve got it,” she said, her hands intervening.

The wrap fell to the floor, and my skin seemed to ripple with heat as I leaned into her, my body overly conscious of every point where we touched. My arms encircled her waist, one hand dipping down her bare skin. It settled at the small of her back as my lips met hers, devouring their softness in a series of slow, shivery kisses.

Her body fluttered, her arms bracing on my chest like she trusted me to have the strength to hold her upright. That thought was another shot of adrenaline, like when the stingray you bet everything on was the first across the finish line. A feeling I could become addicted to.

I felt my head tilt, my lips hardening as instinct drove me to take even more of her mouth. Claira gave a pleading groan, giving me everything I wanted, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

My mouth snapped at hers as I drew her even closer, up into my arms. My teeth slid, grazing over her sweet lips, and the way she shuddered when I nipped and tugged on them made my senses reel.

The moment her teeth took swift revenge and snapped back, a delightful pain ran through my entire body, down to the pit of my stomach. Her teeth sank further into my bottom lip as glorious flashes of white crowded my vision.

She pulled off me with a gasp. Madness was in her eyes the moment our mouths parted. “On the couch.” With her insistent push against my chest, compliance was my only option, though it was a command I could never have resisted.

I was sure I’d never smiled so wide, and when I sat down on the couch, I nearly choked on my tongue as Claira crashed right on top of me, her mouth going right back to mine in a gnashing of lips and teeth. Impatient fingers found my hair, her nails digging into my scalp, and each little prickle of pain was wonderful torment.

Pushing against my chest, Claira shifted forward until suddenly I was on my back. “Oof,” I said through our joined lips, but somehow, it wasn’t enough to pry us apart. Her lips pressed into mine, snuffing out the noise. She settled on top of me, her warmth and weight against my body, just as it was during our last round of foreplay.

I hissed through our kiss as she scooted back, landing on my aching, swollen human dick. For months, I had mourned the loss of my claspers. But now that I knew humans had their own equipment, I was beyond thankful to have a dick, even if I only had one. Her legs settled on either side of my hips, and my thoughts scattered like frags of crushed coral.

My dick pulsed against her, and the answering shiver of her hips… My mate liked the way it felt. The way I felt.

My desire for her was already overwhelming, but I couldn’t help pressing against her, desperate to feel more of her body’s response to mine. It might have been too much, because she broke our kiss and sat back.

I groaned, not ready to part when—Oh. Now that felt amazing.

Claira’s hips canted and swayed as she found her balance on top of me, sending my eyes rolling back into my head. “Behold, my prince,” she said aloud—to Leander, I assumed. She gave a little jut of her hips that had me whimpering for more. “Foreplay.”

Her hands settled on my chest as she started to move with purpose. With a sudden, urgent need, I grasped her hips, but the intensity was already almost overwhelming.

Leander’s scowl showed his lack of amusement. “That’s it?” One eyebrow rose as he looked us over. Claira rocked against me again, and I couldn’t contain my enjoyment, groaning long and loud. Even through our layers, foreplay felt incredible.

Leander took a step forward, and his head tilted in clinical observation. “This is what humans call foreplay?” Although he didn’t sound impressed, it didn’t escape me that he ran a hand down the front of his pants.

“Well, this isn’t exactly how we were,” Claira said, a slight catch in her breath. Leander’s expression rose with renewed interest as Claira leaned back, falling off me.

“ Wait. ” I gasped out the word. But my displeasure quickly died away when she started shimmying off the rest of her clothing from her legs.

“There. Happy now?” She flung her clothes at Leander with a kick of her leg.

The garments hit him with a soft thud, sliding right off and landing next to the couch as he chuckled. “Getting there.” He stalked closer, palming the front of his pants.

“Do you… want Kai’s pants off, too?” Claira asked, her face alight with a sudden shyness as she looked over at Leander.

Leander nodded, a smirk prominent on his face. For whatever reason, even though his body wasn’t directly involved, he seemed to be enjoying this, too.

“We can’t have you being the only one with their naked ass on Barren’s couch,” he said.

Claira’s lips pinched. Though, from this angle, it was a wonder I even noticed something other than the bareness of her legs. Wow.

Claira shifted on her elbows, reaching down to pick up her pants from the floor like maybe she’d thought better of what we were doing, but Leander was there to block her.

“I was teasing, beautiful.” His laugh softened as he gave her forehead a kiss. “I’m sure Barren won’t mind us using his couch.”

Would he really not mind, though? I didn’t have time to dwell on it, because all that softness vanished when Leander turned his attention to me.

“Pants off, Kaius,” he prompted, rising back up into that authoritative stance of his. “Before I take them off for you.”

Although I bristled at Leander’s use of my name, my hands snapped right to my pants to obey him.

He was using my formal name more frequently, but I no longer felt like it was a negative thing. In fact, I was beginning to think it was his way of showing his respect. As if we were equals.

I felt Claira’s breath on my stomach as she scooted closer, her hands joining mine at the top of my pants. “Here. Let me do it.” With a craving burning in her eyes, she deftly flicked the button open.

Before she pulled them down, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “But only if you’re okay with it, Kai,” she said softly. Then she gave Leander a sidelong glance. Her nervousness was apparent, as if she feared he might use this against me later.

I was so eager for her to continue that all I managed was a strangled, “I’m okay.” I didn’t need to think about it. All of me was hers, and that wouldn’t change, even if another one of her mates was present. There wasn’t anything Leander could do to me that would be worth missing out on this moment. “Go ahead.”

A playful spark ignited in her eyes. She slid my pants down without ceremony, humming to herself as I lifted my hips to help. As she cast them away, her face broke into the most beautiful smile. “No underwear, of course,” she said, glancing over at Leander. But before I realized it, my hand was cradling the side of her neck, bringing her attention back to me.

It might have been silly, but I loved the slender curve of her neck. The last marks I’d left there were already fading, but soon there would be more. So many more.

A rush of saliva invaded my mouth, and my tongue brushed over my teeth as I swallowed it back. My focus on her neck didn’t go unnoticed, and in response, she crawled up the line of my body, arching her head and presenting it to me like an offering. Her legs fell on either side of my hips again, and as my mouth closed in on that delicate curve, her body lowered, pressing back down on my dick. Hot skin to hot skin. This time, there was nothing between us.

My breath crackled like fire, a hiss against her neck. She was so slick with warmth. I tasted the sensitive spot below her ear as she pressed into me.

“ Kai .” The column of her throat vibrated with my name, and I drank down that breathless whisper, my teeth raking, my tongue scorching a path down to the dip of her collarbone.

I was about to work my way back up again when she shifted, and that blissful heat between her legs moved over me. Over and over, she slid, grinding against my dick until my head tossed back, my arms tense, fisting the sides of the couch.

Yes, this was the foreplay I remembered. There was absolutely nothing better. Each slide of her against me was?—

Claira’s rocking stopped as Leander captured her chin, pulling her attention away from me and this moment. “You were right, Kaius,” he said evenly, not even looking my way. A ravenous hunger filled his sharp gaze as he looked at her. “She hasn’t taught me about foreplay.”

What?

Leander’s thumb swiped over Claira’s mouth, parting her lips. Although her blown pupils were evidence that she’d been enjoying this moment as much as I was, her hazy eyes slowly lifted to meet him.

His mouth tilted into a smirk. “You enjoyed that, didn’t you, beautiful?” The edge of his thumb rimmed her bottom lip.

“Time to move,” he said in a hard tone I knew was directed at me. My human dick throbbed, swollen and pulsing between Claira’s human legs. I was so close to something—both of us were. We just needed?—

Leander’s eyes, like shards of ice, finally cut to me. “Move,” he said again. It wasn’t a suggestion.

Claira was the first to find her voice. “W-what the heck, Lee?” she asked in a breathless pout that Leander answered with a deep, rumbling chuckle. With one quick movement, he effortlessly lifted her off of me and into his embrace.

“Dude!” I cried out, my throat straining with the urge to… I wasn’t even sure. Red crept into my vision as my pulse surged. My body was so tense I was trembling.

With a frustrated groan, I hopped off the couch, frantically grasping at my human dick, hoping to ease the uncomfortable ache. Even as I stood, Leander was already settling back down on the spot where I’d been, bringing Claira onto his lap like he was the only one of her mates that mattered.

The hostile glare Claira gave him as she freed herself from his grasp seemed to steady my heart. “Why are you so cruel?” she said, her frustration evident. After pulling away, she placed a hand on the middle of my chest. “First, you ask us to show you, and then you—you…”

Leander’s shoulders rolled with amusement as he sat back, making himself comfortable on the couch.

Claira seethed. “This is funny to you?”

“I was doing him a favor,” he said coolly, working his pants off and folding them into a halfway-neat square before setting them aside. “He needed to take a moment.”

With a look of disapproval, he motioned at my dick. “At the rate things were going, he was going to spend himself before you did.”

“I…” Heat flared over my face as my head dropped to regard my dick. There might have been some truth to that. The way Claira moved over me just felt so good. Too good, almost. But Leander was in no position to criticize. His dick was also standing thick and ready, its swollen tip red with the desire to feel its mate, just as mine was.

Now that he was naked, Leander made himself comfortable on the couch, his legs splaying wide again. “Come here,” he said, opening his arms in invitation.

This time, I knew the gesture was meant for Claira, not me.

She huffed like she might not follow, but I placed my hand over hers on my chest and squeezed. “It’s okay. He’s right,” I said, managing a small smile. “I want to make sure you have a good time before I have mine.”

Claira worried at her lip, her gaze shifting between Leander and me. Whether she wanted to admit it, it was obvious she wanted him, too. “You don’t mind? What Lee did was unnecessary.” Her eyes narrowed on Leander. “And pretty damn mean.”

“Honestly, I expect no less from him,” I said, ignoring his deep laughter in the background. “But I’m sure. I want all of us to enjoy this.”

Claira bit at her lip. “If you’re sure…” She moved back over to the couch, but with Leander’s dick in the way, she didn’t seem to know where to sit. “I’m not sure I forgive you,” she murmured down at him.

“I’ve been told I don’t have manners,” he answered smoothly. He took the lead by welcoming her right in the center of his lap, spinning her around so that her back was to his chest.

She looked up at me through fluttering eyelashes, as if she was trying to hide her guilt, as I stood there, not sure what to do with myself now.

Her spine straightened as Leander’s hands came around her sides, causing her to inhale sharply. “Relax,” he said, a simple command as he reclined her naked body back against his chest.

Brushing her long rope of hair aside, I watched her shiver as his breath beat down her neck, exactly where my mouth had just been. Her breasts were so beautiful, their tips erect and alluring. Some shameless part of me hoped he would tend to them next.

“You like feeling me underneath you, beautiful?”

Heavy-lidded eyes seemed to stare past me as she nodded. Her head fell back, resting on his shoulder.

“Spread your legs,” Leander urged, a deep, coaxing whisper.

Suddenly, everything became still. Even Claira’s breathing seemed to stop until Leander pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “Spread them, beautiful. You don’t want to show him how slick and open you are?”

Whoa.

I could tell the exact moment the slow spell of his words took hold of her. The eyes that stared into emptiness came back into focus on me.

Longing shone on her face as her chin moved in a slow nod. My breath caught as her knees gave way, falling as open as Leander’s legs were underneath her.

And just as Leander said, her slickness was there. Had that really all been because of me?

“That’s it,” he rumbled, helping her by using his arms to spread her legs wider. As she yielded to his commands, his smirk grew. “Give him a good look. You like showing him, don’t you, beautiful?”

His hand swiped between her legs, finding that slickness, and Claira keened her answer. “ Yes .”

Leander’s fingers swirled, but when her knees tried to clamp back together, he held her open, giving me a full view of the attention he was giving her. I stood there, mesmerized, as his hand played over that part of her that remained such a mystery to me.

“Lee,” she gasped, her head tossing and rocking against his shoulder. He chuckled through every little plea, like he knew he was already giving her exactly what she wanted.

“Tell me,” he whispered into her neck even while she squirmed in his embrace. His hand seemed to slow its pace just enough to give her a moment to think. “What do you like about Kaius?”

Panting, Claira’s head rolled forward. “Kai?” she asked, her eyes finding me even through the haze of pleasure. It took a moment for her to find enough breath to answer. “He’s… sweet.”

My heart swelled. She thought I was sweet?

“No,” Leander said, punishing her with a tap directly between her legs. Her groan for more had my dick aching for me to be the one to give it to her. “I want to know,” he started, his voice smooth and insistent, “what it is about him that has gotten you so wet and needy.”

When her head rolled forward to regard me again, she licked her lips. “His mouth.”

“His mouth,” Leander repeated, and Claira whimpered as his fingers played a leisurely circle around her again. “That mouth of his never stops moving, does it?” he murmured, and when he looked at me, a knot formed in my stomach at the wicked tilt in his smirk. “Maybe we can find a use for it.”

Claira moaned out her frustrations as Leander’s hand retreated, moving up to the smooth skin at the apex of her legs.

His eyes were still locked on me when he said, “Lick her.”

“What?” I choked out, finally finding my voice.

“Our mate says she likes your mouth.” Using two fingers, Leander spread her wide, showing off all those slick, delicate folds he had been teasing. “So let’s give her what she likes.”