Page 7

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M ael captured his little dolphin’s gaze, his heart beating rapidly. He’d sensed Echo was special, but he’d had no clue just how special.

Echo bit his trembling lower lip and closed his eyes. “I warned you I wasn’t like other men.”

“There was no warning needed,” Mael murmured. “There’s no shame in being māhū.”

Echo’s eyes whipped open and met Mael’s gaze.

“Being māhū is…” Mael smiled softly. “Extraordinary.”

His little dolphin was biologically both male and female. Ancient Polynesians—whose people became the first orca and dolphin shifters—called those born of both genders māhū. Before colonization, māhū were venerated and treated like royalty.

After, they were demonized by Europeans, and eventually, by some Polynesians, too.

He caressed Echo’s cheek. “You’re a gift from the gods.”

Echo shivered against him, lower lip trembling. Tears shone in his eyes.

“Do you identify as male?”

Echo frowned, his gaze drifting for a moment. “I was raised a boy. My family, my friends, and my pod see me as a man.”

“But?”

Echo met his stare. “Male is comfortable. Maybe that’s only because of how I was raised and it’s my lived experience, but it feels right to me. While I have a strong attachment to my femininity, I’ve always felt more male than female. Even when I wear lacy things or put on makeup or women’s clothing, underneath it all, I still feel like I’m a man. A man wearing pretty things. I identify as a femme man.”

“Okay,” Mael said, smiling softly.

Mael trailed his fingers over the shoulder strap of Echo’s bra, recapturing his dolphin’s gaze. His heart beat so hard he feared it would beat right out of his chest. Echo truly was extraordinary—and the perfect fit for him. Something clenched inside his chest. Learning his little dolphin’s secret only cemented their bond in his mind.

“You’re breathtaking.” Mael kissed Echo softly. “And not the only one here with differences.”

Echo frowned.

Mael slid from the bed and undid the buttons on his jeans, his breathing shallow. He’d not taken them off to hide his own secret. As he pushed the denim down his hips, Echo slowly sat up, eyes widening, his mouth dropping open.

“Oh…” Echo whispered.

Mael kicked off his jeans and stroked a hard penis, and then the second penis hanging just below. “I have diphallia.”

“Is that an orca shifter thing?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Mael replied, allowing one of his penises to lengthen and coil around the other.

“Now you’re just showing off,” Echo said, fighting a smile.

Mael moved closer to the bed and cupped Echo’s cheek. “As shifters, our people are rare. You and I are rarer still.” He rubbed his thumb over Echo’s lower lip. “It seems to me we’re well suited for one another.”

Echo leaned into Mael’s hand. All traces of shame seemed to disappear, replaced once more with longing. Mael swallowed a lump in his throat. That hint of surrender rocked him to his core. He pushed Echo back onto the bed and crawled in himself, their gazes locked. Taking possession of Echo’s lips, he sensed their night had changed somehow. The heat and desire were still there, multiplied in fact, but there was also a sense of acceptance in Echo’s arms.

Not only were they bound by fate but also their uniqueness.

At least that’s how it felt for him.

They both understood the fear of being rejected by a partner. The fear of being called a freak. The hesitancy of that first time, the vulnerability it took in bearing their souls and bodies. They’d weathered that storm, and he’d found a similar soul to seek absolution within.

For the first time in his life, he felt seen and fully accepted. In time, he sensed that same acceptance might spread to other parts of their lives. Anticipation filled him at the thought of sharing himself with his mate.

Echo’s kisses grew hungrier, more insistent. He writhed against Mael with renewed enthusiasm. The tentativeness Mael had sensed in the beginning had vanished, leaving behind a raw, sensual animal who’d been freed.

Mael broke their kiss for only seconds. “Have the boundaries changed now that I know your secret?”

“You can touch me anywhere,” Echo whispered between kisses along Mael’s cheek. “Is there anything off limits for you?”

“No,” Mael said, barely dragging his lips from Echo’s to speak.

He sank two fingers past the protective slit and under Echo’s shaft. The pink folds opened up around his fingers, the wet heat welcoming. Echo’s back arched as Mael fingerfucked him, his mate’s moans of pleasure music to his ears. He slid down to eye level and pulled his fingers out. Spreading the slit wide, Mael licked the entrance to Echo’s pussy before sliding all the way up the underside of his cock.

Echo rose from under him and climbed down the bed.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Echo didn’t answer. He didn’t stop—not until the head of one of Mael’s cocks was in his mouth and the other shaft was in one hand. Mael groaned, his lids falling heavy over his eyes. Once he got a hold of himself, he tugged Echo’s lower body back into reach and feasted on his mate’s cock and pussy.

They licked and sucked one another, exploring these new, secret places to provide pleasure. When Mael wasn’t sure he could take much more, he pinned Echo down and moved between his mate’s thighs. Echo lay back, quietly watching him. Mael moved his cocks into position, scared he’d not last long. He entered Echo simultaneously, leisurely filling both of his little dolphin’s holes at the same time, gnashing his teeth together from the sheer pleasure of it.

Echo’s back arched, a moan dragged from his lips before Mael swallowed the tail end of it with a kiss. When he was as deep as he thought he could go, he paused and lifted on his arms, checking for signs of pain.

“Are you okay, pepi?”

Echo nodded, his entire body coated in a thin sheen of sweat. “Yeah…”

After hooking an arm under one of Echo’s knees, Mael returned his shafts to full human form. He withdrew a few inches and then rocked his hips forward, thrusting both back in.

“Oh, fuck,” Echo whispered, his gaze latching onto Mael’s.

“Tell me if it’s too much,” Mael murmured.

Echo’s only reply was a groan, back arching.

When Mael pumped again, Echo’s head fell back against the pillow, lips parting. He licked a trail up Echo’s neck, biting one earlobe, and thrust again. Echo’s body was heaven. Made for him and him alone. He held on to the frayed edges of his control, eager to see his little dolphin shatter in his arms—but he was rarely gifted with the dual sensation inside a man’s body, and it threatened to hurtle him past Echo into oblivion. He couldn’t come before his mate did.

Sweat dripped down his neck and back, the humidity rising in the room. Mael was enveloped in the intoxicating aroma of Echo’s slick… his raw, aching need. The innate alpha desire to mark Echo with his scent burned in his blood, but he held back.

Mael slid a hand between them, stroking Echo’s hard shaft in time to the thrusts of his cocks. They thrashed against one another, their bodies bound tight. When Echo tensed under him, Mael sensed the end was near and nearly sobbed with relief. Echo’s holes quivered around him just before he screamed in ecstasy and came. Hot jets of cum spread over Mael’s hand and between their bellies.

A few seconds later, Mael felt his control snap. He stiffened and roared, his gaze going blurry for a few seconds as he crested, barely able to breathe. Both of his cocks erupted at the same time, and he filled Echo’s body with his seed. Mael’s entire body spasmed as he emptied inside his little dolphin.

When they both lay motionless and breathless in the aftermath, Mael feared moving might destroy them both. After a few more breaths, he rolled over and drew Echo against his side.

He brushed back damp hair clinging to Echo’s forehead. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Echo answered.

Mael tensed, but only for a second. Echo’s grin allowed him to relax.

He chuckled. He pressed a soft kiss on Echo’s forehead.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again. Not after that,” Echo murmured between panting, his eyelids heavy.

Mael was sure he wouldn’t be okay again, either.

Not unless Echo was at his side.

For the rest of their lives.