Page 17

17

O nce their gear was on, Echo was the first to jump back into the water. Trowel in hand, he held on to Mael on the way down. When they reached depth, Echo rushed toward the spot they’d dug out. With all four of them clearing sediment like a bucket brigade, it soon became clear it was a tunnel of some sort. When it was clear that it was longer than they’d anticipated, they started working in pairs and threes—with Havoc joining in. When one group dug, the other took a break between.

Echo had to convince Havoc to let him push past the four-dive rule—using the reasoning that the rule was for humans. Havoc relented but watched Echo like a hawk when he went down with them.

Four grueling hours later, and well after the sun had set, they’d cleared out a good five feet when a chamber finally appeared. Echo raced forward through the dark opening without thought. He had to use his echolocation to situate himself while he dragged out a flashlight tied to his belt. He swirled the light around the tiny chamber that was maybe five feet long, if that. It was short, as well. Echo couldn’t stand his full five-six. Mael shifted because his orca tail was too large, but it didn’t help much. He was too big as a human, too.

Color flashed under the light along one long, flat wall. Echo swam closer, realizing it appeared to be a massive mosaic mural. It was difficult to see the full image clearly without better light, but the smaller sections were beautiful. He couldn’t tell if it was tiny pieces of sea glass or ceramic—or a mix of both. Whatever it was, it glittered under the light, a long-forgotten treasure waiting to be found.

Echo traveled toward the end, following the wall with one hand, and came to another small opening into another chamber. Before he could go through, Mael’s hand came down on his arm.

Mael shook his head before pushing in before Echo. He leaned into the opening and looked around, flashing his flashlight around.

His cocks bobbed and swayed in the water, drawing Echo’s attention.

Lust slammed into Echo. Images of Mael fucking him in every possible position played in his mind. His cock slipped out of his slit and pressed against the inside of the wetsuit. He closed his eyes, but that didn’t help stop his imagination from displaying erotic images.

Stop! This find is too important! Get a fucking hold on.

If Echo didn’t have a breather on, he might smack himself in the face to wake up out of whatever haze he suddenly found himself in.

Mael slipped completely through the hole, taking his firm, glorious cocks with him. His head popped out less than a minute later and he waved Echo inside. There was another mosaic mural along one wall and what appeared to be treasures lining a rock shelf under it. Small trinkets that might’ve been offerings. Most of them had layers and layers of sediment encrusted on the surface and some had barnacles, too. Even so, Echo was sure he saw silver, gold, and gemstones peeking through.

At the end of the second chamber was an air pocket and another entrance. The chambers were sloping upward as they moved deeper into them, which might’ve allowed for the trapped air inside. Echo pulled off his breather and tested it. Besides the heavy aroma of seaweed, it seemed perfectly breathable.

Mael pulled his off, as well. He brushed a hand over his face to wipe away excess water. “I honestly can’t believe this is here. With the weight of the ocean bearing down above, it shouldn’t’ve survived this long.”

Echo couldn’t stop smiling. He’d found it. He’d actually friggen found it. His grandfather would be vindicated.

Tears stung the backs of his eyes.

“I think we should go,” Mael murmured. “We can come back tomorrow with stronger lights and underwater cameras so we can record what was found down here. It might not hurt to bring braces to ensure the chambers don’t collapse on us, either.” He gazed around the top corners, waving his light to inspect them. “How they lasted this long, I don’t know.”

“Can we check the next chamber before we go? Just to get an idea what might be in there. If it’s above water, we might get a better view of the mural if there is one.”

Mael swept his flashlight into the next chamber. “This place hasn’t had anyone inside it in decades, if not longer. We don’t know the condition or structural integrity.”

“We won’t stay long. Just a quick peek to see what it looks like and if there’s another chamber after it.”

Mael exhaled, shaking his head. “And then you’ll want to go peek at the next one, too. I don’t want to get any deeper without setting up safety measures.” He moved closer, pinning Echo with his gaze. “I don’t want you hurt.”

“It’s lasted a hundred or more years. From the look of it, I’d say closer to two hundred. If it lasted this long, I think it’s going to last a few more minutes.”

Mael eyed him, one brow rising.

“Just one more and I promise we can leave,” Echo said.

Mael shook his head, but ultimately helped Echo climb into the next chamber and pulled himself up into it.

Heat enveloped Echo as soon as he entered. “Why’s it so hot in here?”

“Doesn’t feel that hot to me,” Mael murmured, wiggling out of his oxygen tank and gear. “A bit cool, actually.”

After taking off his scuba apparatus, as well, Echo unzipped the wetsuit and pulled his arms out to cool off. He placed his tank on a flat stone near the chamber entrance beside Mael’s so he could search the walls and once again, he found another mural. As he tied the arms of his suit around his waist, he climbed closer. He focused his flashlight in the center, but it wasn’t wide enough. “Can you bring your flashlight over?”

Mael inched closer and added his light to Echo’s.

Echo scanned the mural and gasped.

It showed orca and dolphins swimming together. Hunting together. Dancing together. Echo moved down the chamber, staring at nearly the whole piece. Two naked central figures stood out against the rest.

Echo searched the pair, trying to find something— anything —that would show that it wasn’t what he thought it was. He couldn’t pull his gaze away, roaming over the sea glass, gold, and shards of broken pottery illuminated by their flashlights. Light bounced off the surface and glittered, giving the mosaic an ethereal appearance.

The larger of the pair, likely an alpha, had dark hair and diphallia—and the ancient mark of orca beside his head. The smaller one had lighter hair. They were intersex and had the mark of the dolphins beside them. The pair were holding hands with a glow of golden specks all around them. Around that was a circle of small creatures that displayed both dolphin and orca characteristics.

“Is that… us?” Mael asked. He frowned and turned to look at Echo, his jaw slack. “That can’t be us… right?”

Echo’s cheeks felt as if they were burning. He answered, his gaze locked on the image. “This place is old. It can’t be us.”

“It’s pretty fucking specific, Echo.”

“It’s impossible,” Echo whispered, more to himself than Mael. “It can’t be.”

Mael eyed him.

Deep down, he sensed it was them… but how? How could a place that had existed before either of them were born hold images that looked like them? There had to be a reasonable explanation.

Echo wiped sweat from his brow, shaking his head. He struggled to breathe, the air thinner. “I’m burning up in here.”

He pulled the wetsuit completely off, unable to stand the heat a second longer.

“Leave it on,” Mael said. “We should go.”

“In a minute.” Echo glanced toward the end of the chamber and saw another entrance—but this one had an odd blue glow emanating from it. He took two steps closer, the light almost calling to him. “Mael?”

Mael’s gaze turned. “Where’s that light coming from?”

“No idea,” Echo murmured, climbing up the slanted chamber toward the opening. He had to see where the light was coming from.

“Wait,” Mael said. “You said no more— remember?”

Echo shook his head, his thoughts too much a jumble to think clearly. Whatever was in the next chamber called to him. “It could be another way out. We’ve been moving upward. It might exit out onto an outcropping of rock.”

“We haven’t gone that far up,” Mael argued.

“The light has to be coming from somewhere.”

Mael dragged him down from the opening and wrenched him around. “Echo…” He frowned as he gazed down. “We need to go. I fear you’re not well. You’re burning up.”

“Maelstrom, please… I’ve spent months researching this place, unsure it even existed.” Echo dragged in a shaky breath, tears burning the backs of his eyes. “I need to go in there. I need to see what that light is.”

Mael searched Echo’s face, a pained look on his. His eyebrows squeezed together, a coming refusal seeming ready to fall from his lips.

“Please,” Echo whispered.

He shook his head and sighed. “Let me go in first and look around. Stay here.”

Echo sat back on his haunches while Mael pulled himself up into the chamber.

The light grew brighter while he was there.

“Mael?” Echo called, climbing up the rocky slope. “What’s going on?”

A hand flashed out and Echo jumped, a yelp coming from his lips.

Mael peeked out, his gaze languid. “Give me your hand…”

Blue light circled in the depths of his black eyes.

He should’ve been terrified, but he wasn’t. Need slammed into him hard. Echo’s hand shook as he reached out for Mael’s. The second their skin touched, Echo could feel the tension within mounting. Mael dragged him up, pulling so hard their bodies collided with one another. Mael fell back to the stone floor, Echo landing on top.

Echo lifted himself on shaking arms, his palms in the middle of Mael’s chest. He straddled his mate’s hips and rolled his own, unable to stop himself.

Mael cupped his cheek, breathing roughly.

“I think… I’m… I’m in…”

“Heat,” Mael whispered.

Echo shook his head. “It’s too early,” he murmured. He glanced around, the need to see where they were stronger than the need.

Forcing himself to his feet, he scanned the chamber, attempting to ignore the rising need. It wasn’t a manmade space like the others but a massive, natural looking cavern. What he first thought were stalagmites were columns of stone supporting the opening. They rose a good thirty feet above.

“This place shouldn’t exist,” Mael murmured. He searched above, waving his flashlight up to the ceiling of the cave. Water dripped here and there around them. “The pressure of the ocean should’ve collapsed it.”

“Or filled it with water,” Echo replied, a bit unsettled by the vastness of it. The cavern defied physics.

But what surprised him most was a large pool taking up most of the center of the cavern. Inside… that was where the blue glow emanated.

Echo slowly moved toward the edge, fascinated by the rippling lights under the water.

“What is that?” Echo asked, eyes drawn to the brilliant swirls.

“No idea. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Mael replied from behind him.

The pool was deeper than Echo had first guessed. It was at least twenty feet or more, and about double that size in width. He aimed his flashlight toward the back of it, and the light wouldn’t go that far. Sending a few clicks, he waited for them to return.

They didn’t.

His echolocation didn’t work anywhere near as well outside of water, but he could usually get a weak ping back in the air. He got nothing. Either the back was so far that sound couldn’t reach him or his clicks hadn’t worked in the stale air.

Echo’s gaze was pulled to the water. Inside it was crystal clear around the blue mass of light. There seemed no source for the illumination—and the surface remained relatively smooth except for a gentle ripple. Echo leaned in closer to look at the light and noticed there was more mosaic tile around the edge of the pool and stairs that led into the water.

He suddenly felt a sense of the divine. It seemed sacred—as if the pool itself had served as an ancient altar of sorts. For what, he wasn’t sure.

Echo had no proof it had been used for anything. Only a gut feeling.

Focusing on the blue light swirling in the depths, he realized it was tiny particles swimming together. “Could that be some type of bioluminescent plankton?”

“I suppose it’s possible,” Mael replied, his face illuminated by the caerulean glow. “But they usually only light up when disturbed. A touch. A wave. The water’s fairly still. It only stirs because they move.”

“Water’s dripping from the ceiling. It could be causing ripples.”

The flow quickened, the dots spreading rapidly… until they formed the shapes of an orca and a dolphin, spinning like some lopsided yin-yang symbol.

“My gods,” Mael whispered.

Echo leaned a bit closer, captivated by the sense of conscious thought. It had to be intelligent to form shapes, didn’t it? Out of nowhere, his wombs cramped painfully. He reached for his stomach with one hand, and the one on the edge of the pool slipped from under him. Echo splashed into the water headfirst. The circular motion pulled him down and away from the edge until he was caught in the water’s vortex.

Before falling, he’d had little time to draw air into his lungs. Within seconds, they burned with the need for air. He forced his way to the surface, only to be pulled under again. A hand snatched his, and he was yanked higher. When he broke back through the surface, he was dragged into Mael’s arms. Chest to chest.

Their lips were a heartbeat apart.

Heat surged through Echo as he gasped for air.

Mael’s arm crossed against his back drew him in tighter. He’d already been burning up before he’d fallen into the water. Mael’s heated touch sent him over the edge. He tingled all over, his cock thickening and peeking farther out of the slit.

Echo leaned in closer and pulled himself out of the water a few inches to graze his lips over Mael’s.

It wasn’t enough. He wrapped his arms around Mael’s neck to get nearer to deepen the kiss. As he moved, he noticed the blue glow coating his arms. The light danced over his skin. Swimming back a few inches, he found it coated both of them, the touch of the tiny dots tickling as they spread.

“We should get out of here,” Mael whispered, but his grip never lessened.

He didn’t move.

Echo lifted his feet to wrap his legs around Mael’s waist, but he couldn’t move them. Frowning, he glanced down into the water. His feet were no longer feet, but flukes—as were Mael’s. He stared down at his tail, confused. He lifted both hands. They were still human.

“I thought dolphins couldn’t half shift?” Mael asked.

“We can’t,” Echo replied, staring at his tail. He lifted his wide-eyed gaze to Mael. “I’ve never been able to do this.”

Mael offered a hand. Echo took it and he was dragged close again. Another wave of heat washed through him.

Mael’s eyelids narrowed, his chest heaving as he drew in a strangled breath.

Echo lowered a hand to his slit and stroked the head of his cock. The need to mate screamed in his blood. It was too early, but it was clear. He was most definitely in heat. “Mael… I don’t…” He paused to moan. “I need…”

Mael didn’t move. He stared at Echo, hunger in his eyes.

“Please, Maelstrom…”

Mael’s eyes flashed blue, the same color as the dancing light, before returning to black. He pressed his body harder against Echo’s.

“Breed me, alpha,” Echo murmured.

Mael closed his eyes, his head tilting to the side ever so slightly. When he reopened them, he whipped his tail and rushed them away farther from the vortex in the center. After swimming to the side, he pinned Echo against one of the smooth, tiled stones and rubbed his orca slit against Echo’s.

“I need you inside me,” Echo whispered .

“I know, baby,” Mael said, nipping at his neck. He lowered a hand and pressed open Echo’s slit, slipping two fingers inside his hole. “You’re burning up for me.”

“Yeah,” Echo whimpered, closing his eyes from the pleasure Mael’s fingers brought. It wasn’t nearly enough, though.

Intense desire robbed Echo of conscious thought. Having Mael’s cocks inside him was all he could see in his head. And it wasn’t only having Mael inside him… but the need to be filled with his orca’s babies. His wombs ached, cramping again. Only Mael could make it stop. Echo rubbed against Mael’s slit, feeling the shafts growing harder against his touch.

One of Mael’s cocks slipped out of the slit, and Echo guided it to the slick passage under his cock. The other snaked out and pressed against his asshole which was also hidden in his slit when in dolphin form. Mael slowly penetrated both holes, sinking deeper and deeper.

The half shift had transformed Echo’s pussy into dolphin anatomy. Instead of a straight canal, his dolphin’s vagina was a labyrinth. Mael’s prehensile cock was made for just such a thing. It slid through the twists and turns, around, up, down, until it lodged deep within, swelling and locking them together.

Mael’s lower cock hardened inside his ass. They both moaned in harmony, forehead to forehead. After a few seconds to catch their breaths, Mael rocked against Echo, feeding his cock deeper into his ass.

The cock in his pussy acted like a knot, binding them together in the water. It also worked as a pivot, allowing Mael to rock and work the other in and out of his asshole.

Echo hooked his elbows on the edge of the pool to steady himself—and to give him leverage to meet Mael’s thrusts as much as he could. Mael grasped his hips as he plunged in and out. He captured Echo’s lips with his own, and they writhed together in their merman-esque forms, slit-to-slit.

“Put your babies inside me,” Echo pleaded as he watched his big, strong alpha pumping into him.

Mael shuddered against Echo. “You’re going to look so beautiful… big and round with my calves growing inside you.”

Echo whimpered imagining his belly full with his mate’s babes.

Mael lifted a hand to the underside of one small breast. He squeezed and kneaded the flesh as he pumped deep. Milk trickled over the back of Mael’s hand and down into the water. Mael lifted his hand and licked the droplets off his skin, holding eye contact as he did.

When they kissed again, Echo could taste his milk on Mael’s tongue.

“I’m going to keep you pregnant…” Mael mumbled before capturing his lips with another fiery kiss. He smiled against Echo’s lips. “Baby after baby… just like that mural showed us.”

There had been eight small dolphin/orca hybrid creatures encircling the pair.

Their children.

He had no proof, but he knew it soul deep.

In the deep recesses of his mind, Echo knew it was too soon for them to have a child, but any logic was lost to his lust. His body craved the seed to be planted deep within. Not one, but two. Both wombs contracted, needing Mael to calm the burning desire within.

He closed his eyes, envisioning himself pregnant with Mael’s babies. Wrapped in the fantasy, he neared the edge of oblivion, tendrils of pleasure rising from the base of his spine and radiating through his body.

Bright, blue light exploded around them. Back bowed, a scream tore from Echo’s lips, the sound reverberating around them. His body seized as his orgasm crested, muscles locking as the little death robbed him of conscious thought. He floated outside of his body, time slowing, until he was thrust back inside himself. He gasped for air, shocked at his body’s powerful release.

Mael followed him a few pumps later, roaring. His fingertips dug into Echo’s hips as warm jets of cum rocketed from his cocks. The dual quivering from both erupting inside Echo sent him into an aftershock. He moaned loudly, echoes of it repeating over and over while both channels spasmed around his mate’s cocks.

The blue glow faded. Echo trembled against Mael, spent and gasping for air. They clutched one another, lingering in the serenity of gratification. Mael dropped tender kisses on his neck and shoulder, one hand stroking his damp hair at the back of his head. Echo’s arms wrapped just above Mael’s waist, holding his mate close. After lowering his head to Mael’s chest, he listened to his orca’s heartbeat, rapid and powerful until gradually returning to slow and steady. His own seemed to match the rhythm as it calmed.

The hazy satisfaction after their coupling couldn’t last forever. Once the last of his lust faded and clarity was restored, Echo glanced down at his arms and chest. The blue dots were still there—as were Mael’s—but they were slowly sliding down and back into the water. As soon as they’d all moved off their bodies, they swirled together one last time, illuminating the full cavern, before growing dim and falling toward the bottom of the pool.

He and Mael were left in almost total darkness. Shafts of light came from where they’d dropped their flashlights on the chamber floor—which he didn’t even remember doing.

Mael pulled him closer and swam for the front edge of the pool where their flashlights were.

“How long are your heats?” Mael asked, his voice low near Echo’s ear.

“Hours. Sometimes a full day,” Echo replied, his voice deeper after the screaming he’d done when he came. He glanced down at the bottom of the pool and the dying light. “It’s way too early for me to ovulate. What if this place caused it?” He lifted his gaze to Mael. “The lights… I think they drew me here. They got brighter when we entered the water and even brighter just before I came.”

Mael didn’t say anything.

“Now I feel crazy,” Echo muttered.

“No. I felt off, too,” Mael replied. “Like I wasn’t in full control.”

Echo released a shaky breath. “At least I wasn’t the only one.”

“We need to get out of here. Who knows what that was,” Mael said. “Or what it might’ve done to us. I knew we should’ve gone back.”

Echo met Mael’s gaze in the dim light when they reached the front of the pool. “It didn’t harm us.”

“We don’t know that.”

Echo knew. Deep down, he knew. The light had drawn them together. He placed a hand over his abdomen, suddenly sure he’d end up pregnant.

A beam of light appeared before they could move. Echo lifted his hand to block the bright flash stinging his eyes after it was aimed their way.

“Seriously? I was scared something had happened to you two,” Tempest roared. “I thought I heard screams—and here you are fucking inside a goddamned—” She shone the light around. “An underwater cavern?”

Echo eyed Mael.

“Get your asses out of there and let’s go!” Tempest yelled. “You know… if you’re done breeding Echo.”

“Echo’s gone into heat,” Mael told her. “We weren’t exactly in control.”

“Lovely,” Tempest growled. “We’d best get the fuck out of here before round two comes.” She paused. “I assume there’s a round two and dolphins aren’t one and done.”

“There’s a round two, three, four,” Echo murmured, his face warming. “And sometimes five and six.”

“Well, Mael, I hope you’re up to the task, old man,” Tempest said, a hint of humor in her voice. It was gone when she spoke again. “Why aren’t you moving? Let’s go, let’s go!”

As soon as Tempest left, Mael slowly withdrew from Echo and transformed back into full human. Echo attempted to do the same.

But couldn’t.

“Mael? I can’t shift back.”