Page 30 of Hooked by a Hero (Tales from the Brotherhood #4)
Except that Elias did not think he was teasing. Not completely. “Explain,” he said, back to treading water as he put a bit of distance between himself and Caspian.
Caspian reached for Elias’s hands under the water, and Elias let him take them.
“I do not know how or why these things came to be,” he said, “but my people can do things that you land-dwellers cannot. Influence the minds of weaker people, for one. That was how I managed to keep Ruby and the other women concealed from the likes of Dick, though it took so much more energy than I anticipated.”
Elias’s mouth dropped open, but he could not think of a single thing to say. He had found himself wondering how Dick and the other mutineers could have been so thick that they did not see through the ladies’ disguises for weeks in close quarters. Caspian had been responsible for that?
“We also have the ability to keep our soulmates with us in whatever form is necessary for us to be together,” Caspian went on with just a touch of bashfulness in his voice and expression.
Elias yanked himself from where his mind was still contemplating how the women were concealed to focus on Caspian’s newest words. “Your soulmate?” he asked.
Caspian’s smile returned. “I knew almost from the moment I saw you running away from that woman on the wharf in London,” he said. “There was simply something about you that called to my heart.”
“And mine as well,” Elias whispered, uncertain whether he believed himself.
But he did. He had felt something special about Caspian from the moment he laid eyes on him.
“I do not wish to alarm you in any way,” Caspian went on, back to being cheeky, “but because of this connection between us, if necessary, and if you’d like, I can give you an aquatic form exactly like mine.”
Elias gaped at him. “You can make me into—but how is that possible? Mankind cannot transform their anatomy into something else. The structure of our bones and muscles is set. I do not know of any species that can change its fundamental structure so completely.”
“Butterflies?” Caspian suggested.
Elias pressed his mouth shut, part of him wanting to scold Caspian and part of him wanting to laugh until there was no more air in his lungs. “I am not an insect,” he said.
“And I am not an amphibian,” Caspian laughed. “I am glad we have that sorted.”
Mirth and joy bubbled up inside Elias. A snorting laugh escaped from him that he attempted to swallow, but his giddiness could not be contained.
It was madness. Everything about the moment he found himself in—not just the moment, but the larger situation and everything he’d experienced—was madness. But it was beautiful madness.
“I love you,” he said, hooking his hand behind Caspian’s neck once more and tugging him into a kiss.
It was entirely possible that he had lost his mind and that everything around him was a result of his fractured consciousness, but Elias did not care.
He kissed Caspian fervently, loving the feel of him, all of him, against his body.
Heat flooded him, and he damn well hoped Caspian’s exciting bits were still a part of him somewhere, because now that he knew the full truth, he intended to make himself intimately familiar with all those parts.
“You say that your kind mate on land?” he asked breathlessly as they bobbed on the tide.
“We do,” Caspian answered, fire in his eyes despite the ocean around them.
“Then I want you,” he said. “I want all of you, now and forever.”
“Speaking of forever,” Caspian said, then shook his head. “No, that is a revelation that must wait for another day. I want you now.” He pushed into Elias and slanted his mouth over his for a fiery kiss.
Elias grew impatient, he gripped Caspian’s body wherever he could, sliding his hands over his lover’s skin and reaching down to touch the scales where his backside should have been.
There were likely many mundane things he had yet to learn about a merman’s anatomy, but in that moment, he wanted Caspian’s human form back so that they could bury themselves in each other in every sort of experimental way.
“Hurry,” Elias whispered, breaking away from Caspian and turning so that they could swim to shore.
As soon as he turned, whatever bliss he’d hoped to experience was smashed as he and Caspian spotted a thin, ragged figure rifling through their packs on the beach.
“Oy!” Elias called out, swimming as fast as he could toward a point where he could stand up and run the rest of the way to catch the thief.
As it turned out, he was able to swim must faster than he’d expected. Caspian’s kiss had to have something to do with that, though there were other things to worry about in that moment.
The figure sorting through Elias and Caspian’s things noticed them late.
Elias was already in the shallows and Caspian had resumed his human form and raced ahead of him up onto the beach.
The man on his knees with their packs snapped his head up to stare at them with wide eyes.
His mouth was full, and even in his shock, he continued to chew whatever it was he’d stolen from the pack.
“Dick!” Elias called out, doubling his speed as rage filled him. “You thieving, murdering bastard!”
Dick scrambled to his feet, or at least tried to. The man had lost a great deal of weight, which had made him clumsy. He also seemed unwilling to let go of the water flask he held in one hand. He scrambled back, then fell on his arse, clutching the flask to his chest.
“Mine! It’s mine!” he growled, feral in his desperation.
Elias and Caspian were in such a better state than Dick that it was no difficult thing to grab the man under both his arms and to hoist him to his feet.
Just touching the man was revolting to Elias, and it was clear from the sight of him that even though Dick had survived the wreck, he had not thrived on the island at all.
“Where did you come from?” Caspian demanded. “Why are you stealing our things?”
Elias thought the answer to the second question was obvious. Dick was starving, and the ferocity with which he clutched the water flask indicated that the man had not found anything like the freshwater spring that the rest of them had discovered.
But instead of answering Caspian’s questions, Dick’s eyes went wide. He raked his gaze over Caspian’s naked body, taking in the scale-like markings on his legs in particular, then stared at Elias’s body. Elias was not naked like Caspian, but his clothing was wet and clung to him, hiding nothing.
“I knew it!” Dick snapped, his voice rough and hoarse. “Filthy sodomites. I’ve caught you in the act, I have.”
Elias exchanged a look with Caspian. Dick had done no such thing. The wildness in the man’s eyes told Elias that he was not entirely in his right mind.
But Caspian merely shrugged and said, “So what if you have spied on us. Elias is my mate, the lover of my heart. You are in my realm now, and you will accept it,” as he gathered up his clothing and dressed as if nothing were out of the ordinary and what Dick saw of him was usual.
As much as Caspian’s words warmed Elias’s heart, he knew they would fail to penetrate Dick’s head.
“You’re an abomination,” Dick hissed, fighting to break free of them, though he did not have the strength for it. “Both of you. God will strike you down for the perversions you are.”
Elias and Caspian shared a look and a sigh.
It was somewhat heartening to feel as though none of Dick’s cruel words could hurt them, though.
Elias had lived his entire life fearing what people would say or do to him if he should be discovered, but with Caspian by his side, he did not worry about those things anymore.
“What should we do with him?” Caspian asked.
Elias shrugged. “We cannot leave him behind as we continue our mission,” he said. “And seeing as the entire point was to discover whether we are alone on the island, it seems as though it would be best if we took him back to the others.”
“The others?” Dick gasped, his eyes going wide. “There are others on the island? Other survivors?”
Whatever theory Elias had held onto that Dick had escaped the wreck with Tumbrill and their other followers crumbled. Dick must have saved only himself. His withered state and filthy clothing seemed to confirm that.
“We should definitely take him back to the encampment,” Elias said, making up his mind. “Hunt can decide what to do with him from there.”
“Hunt survived?” Dick asked with a snarl. “Who else? How many of you?”
Elias didn’t answer. Instead, he sent Caspian a wary look.
They had been so close to enjoying a beautiful moment together, but once again, all of that would have to wait until the business of others was settled.
Perhaps he would need to allow Caspian to transform him so that they could swim off to some other island if they were to have a moment’s peace to make love.
“Come on,” Caspian said, pushing Dick to one side so that he could dress and he and Elias could gather their things back into their packs to prepare for the journey home. “I do not trust this man as far as I can see him. Hunt and the others can help us decide what should be his fate.”
Elias nodded and hoisted his pack over one shoulder. He was certain Hunt would have something to say, but all the same, he had a bad feeling about Dick’s reappearance.