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CHAPTER T

Mate! Mate! Mate!

Marcus hadn’t believed, even though Nisha tried to tell him. He simply hadn’t understood the overpowering need, the drive to possess the one who was his mate. The human leaning against the rail on the small boat was his. It no longer mattered that he didn’t want to be mated. It no longer mattered the person who was his mate was human and not a mer.

Nothing mattered except him . He froze, unable to do anything more but tread water. The pod of dolphins left him, making a beeline straight toward the ship. Did they know his mate was on there? Had he somehow communicated that to the pod? He could talk to them, but it wasn’t done with human words.

He wanted… He wanted… He wanted the human in the water with him. He wanted to bite him, hold him, fuck him until he screamed in pleasure. Nothing was going to stand in his way. The human was his, and he would do anything to have him. Anything. He’d tear anyone and anything to pieces that got in his way and…

Whoa.

Possessive much? This wasn’t him. He was known for being coolheaded and—oh, fuck, had the human somehow spotted him? Panicking, he ducked under the water. What am I doing? He was Marcus Krill, one of the strongest warriors in Nisha’s territory. He didn’t hide.

He popped back up. Surely he was far enough away his mate couldn’t tell much about him. Then he glanced at the sky and took note of the moonlight. There were lights on the boat, too. Shit. He slapped the water with his tail.

One of the dolphins whistled at him, and the sharp, annoyed sound stopped the out-of-control spiral he was fast losing himself to. He shoved his long hair back and whistled back at the dolphin.

Holy shit, no wonder Nisha bit Kannon the first time he saw him. He never understood why Nisha did that—even privately wondered how Nisha could lose control in such a way. Now he knew. He needed to talk to Nisha.

Actually, maybe Kannon was the one he needed to speak with. Huh. Actually, maybe he needed his head examined. His aggravation brought the dolphins back to him. With clarity of mind came the question of what he was going to do now.

Fortunately, with his superb eyesight, he could see the other man perfectly. What a gorgeous human he was. He was tall and lean with sun-kissed skin and shoulder-length bleached blond hair. His mate’s face was strong and masculine with a stubborn jawline and no facial hair. He couldn’t see his eyes, but that was of no concern.

Somehow, someway he would see them soon enough. The first thing he needed to do was follow the ship back to where it was docked. Maybe he could get an idea of what resort the stranger was staying at. Then he would… He didn’t know what he would do. Something.

“Oh shit!”

His mate’s yell snapped his attention back to the boat. There were voices raised in anger, and they were close to his mate. Too close. Worry gripped him. He eased closer to the ship with the dolphins following alongside him. As he got closer to the boat, a scream cut through the air, and a body sailed over the side.

Mate!

He didn’t consider the repercussions. He dove under, and with a powerful thrust of his tail, aimed for where his mate hung suspended in the water. One dolphin gently poked the human, but nothing happened.

Above him on the boat, Marcus heard screams and shouts. There were the sounds of running feet and someone blew a whistle. A lot. The sound made his head ache, but he had more important things to worry about.

Marcus wrapped his arms around his mate and turned, swiftly swimming away from the ship. Seconds later he broke the surface still holding his mate securely. The dolphins surfaced with him. In their stress their concerned clicks sounded more like a squeaky door opening. Marcus pressed two fingers to the human’s throat, feeling for his pulse.

Relief made him giddy when he found it. Then he pressed his ear to his mate’s mouth and almost cried when he felt a puff of air. He was breathing. From the ship, a spotlight flashed over the ocean by men frantically searching the area around the boat.

Marcus didn’t know what to do. The human was obviously unconscious, but he didn’t know if that was because he hit his head on the way down or because something happened before he fell off the boat. Maybe the shock of falling overboard made him pass out.

Agonized, he stared at the boat. Humans could probably help his mate better than he could, but… but… he couldn’t leave his mate floating in the water. A dolphin nudged him gently, almost as if pushing him away from the boat. No, he wouldn’t leave his mate in the hands of those humans. It was because of them his pretty little human was in this situation.

He’d get Kannon, and even Brett, to help him. Between the two of them surely they had enough connections in the human world to help his mate, if he needed help. Decision made, he swam toward a cave to transform.

Now that he decided on a course of action, he needed to transform before his mate woke up. That was something the poor guy didn’t need to hear or see as soon as he opened his eyes. Then Marcus needed to get dressed. Stashed in the cave was an assortment of clothes kept in waterproof bags.

He was going to have to explain… and he had no idea where to even begin with that. Shit. What had he gotten himself into? Maybe this wasn’t the best idea after all. He entered the cave and swam as far as he could. He pulled his mate up on the sand. There were only small waves lapping at the beach, so he wasn’t worried about the human drowning.

Then he dragged himself completely out of the water and plopped down. He stared up at the top of the cave where several holes let moonlight in. Even though he dreaded the transformation, for once he wished it would hurry up and start. Almost as if his very thought started the process, the color of his tail lightened, signifying the skin drying out.

He tried to calm his breathing, but his breath froze in his lungs when he heard the human a few feet from him moan. No! Not yet! He fanned his tail with his hands even though he knew the action was ridiculous and wouldn’t help. Come on, come on, come on. He shot another quick glimpse at the human. Dammit, were his eyes fluttering?

The bottom of his tail tingled. He clenched his teeth as the pain from his tail ripping stormed through him, making him queasy. The flipper part of his tail split, and the tear continued up his body. It made him green about the gills every damn time, and his stomach threatened to revolt. The two parts separated and slowly morphed into human legs.

The fins devolved into feet, and finally the transformation ended. The process never lasted long, thank fuck, but it still hurt like a bitch. Still, he closed his eyes, taking a few seconds to reorient himself.

“W-what in the ever-loving hell are you?”

Marcus’ stomach dropped. Please, no. Tell me this isn’t happening. Opening his eyes, he looked at the man sitting half in, half out of the water. “I… fuck.”

“Well… okay. Good to know, but that doesn’t really answer my question, but… Hey! You speak English! Excellent.”

He was tempted to say he knew his ABCs and 123s, too, but he managed to keep his smart mouth shut for once.

“You’re a merman, aren’t you? Holy shit on a stick, you’re a merman. I mean, you got to be. You have a tail… Okay, I mean you had a tail. And I saw a… a… You had gills, even though I can’t see them now. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck—huh. Sorry, guess I should’ve said merman. And I’m pretty sure I saw fins at your wrists, too. Wow, okay I think I hit the babble part of our evening.”

Marcus blinked. That was a whole lot of nothing he said just then. Babble described that perfectly. But babble was the least of his worries. He was screwed. So, so, screwed. They weren’t supposed to tell humans what they were. Okay, technically he hadn’t told the human… he had just showed him.

Ha! Little late to worry about that now. Not only did the human see him in his merman form, he watched him transform. He winced. And that wasn’t something he’d wish on his worst enemy.

“Do you have a name?”

Did he have a name? If this didn’t beat fuck all, and it certainly wasn’t how he envisioned this playing out. Not that he spent a whole lot of time envisioning much of anything concerning a mate. Especially since he’d been determined to stay single. Boy, that certainly changed.

“Um, are you okay?”

Now the human—the human who fell off a fucking boat—was asking if he was okay. “Yes, I’m okay. Just a little overwhelmed.”

“You? You’re overwhelmed? Dude, how do you think I feel?”

This was simply beyond anything. Why wasn’t his human completely freaking out, and he was just sick of calling him “the human.” “Okay, just hold on a second. Let me get dressed—”

“You have clothes here?”

“Um, yes. Clothes don’t magically appear when we transform. But there are clothes here in the cave. Let me go get dressed then we’ll talk.” The conversation was surreal. Hell, the whole damn thing was surreal.

“You’re not like going to… like run off and leave me stranded here, are you? It’s kind of dark and, I… I don’t exactly know where I am. I mean, I was on the boat then… and… wow, suddenly I’m here, and then there’s you, and… yeah.”

Marcus heard the nerves bleed through in his mate’s voice, and it made him ache. Here was the reaction he first expected. Of course his mate was scared, and he hated that. “By the way, my name is Marcus.”

“Oh, oh that’s a really, um… never mind. My name is Blair.”

“Nice to meet you, Blair. I promise I won’t leave you stranded. Hold on a second while I dress and get you a light. I’ll take care of everything, don’t worry.”

“Okay. Okay it’s just… yeah. Suddenly this got very real.”

“Believe me, I understand.” His mate thought things suddenly seemed real? He stood and made his way to one of the bags which contained clothes. After he dressed in shorts, he lit some of the camping lanterns left stashed in various caves.

“Thank you. That helps a lot. I mean, the light really helps.”

Yep, surreal. Marcus grabbed a few extra towels and one of the lanterns then walked back to where his mate sat.

Marcus stopped just shy of Blair. “Why don’t you come out of the water? I have a couple of towels if you want to dry off. I could probably find you some shorts, too, if you want to change.”

“Oh!” Blair stood up. “I, ah, didn’t realize I was still sitting in the water. Heh. Thank you, that would be great. I’m soaked.” Blair slowly made his way to where Marcus stood.

Of course Blair was soaked. He fell off a boat. Maybe he should check Blair’s head and see if there were any lumps because this whole damn deal was beyond weird.

Blair unbuttoned his shirt, slipped it off, and wrung the water out of it.

Marcus cussed his wayward cock. Now was not the time. He held out a couple of the towels. “Here, give me that. I’ll place it across one of the boulders in the cave. Maybe it’ll dry out some. What size shorts do you wear?”

Blair told him, and Marcus handed him a few more towels so he could finish drying off. He left the lantern sitting on the sand next to Blair so he could see. Marcus purposely turned his back to give Blair some privacy.

Marcus spread the shirt out on a rock then walked over to a waterproof bag that was his. He searched through his clothes for a pair of shorts which might fit Blair. Good thing they were a similar size. Once he found what he needed, he returned down the beach. Desperately he tried to ignore that his mate wore nothing but a towel wrapped around his lean hips.

The closer he got, the more he noticed the tension surrounding Blair. Not surprising, considering he was in an isolated place with something that wasn’t quite human, half-dressed, and no idea where he was. He’d be nervous, too.

Hell, he was, but for a different reason. “Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

Marcus turned around to give Blair privacy again. He searched desperately for something to talk about and remembered Blair’s odd sentence from earlier. “What were you going to say a minute ago when I told you my name?”

“Oh, um, I was thinking Marcus is really a, um, human-type name. Is that… Is that okay to say? And I’m dressed, you can turn around now.”

Marcus turned and took the shorts. “It is a very human sounding name, so of course I’m not going to get offended.”

Blair ran a hand through his hair then picked up one of the folded towels and used it to wring out the excess water. “I wasn’t sure.” Blair’s hesitant laugh echoed around them. Marcus nodded. “Let me put this with your shirt. Hopefully they’ll dry a bit.”

“Okay.”

Marcus hurried over to where he left Blair’s shirt and spread his shorts out, too.

“This is so weird,” Blair called out.

Marcus walked back to where Blair stood. “I have to agree, but please believe me when I say I have no intentions of hurting you.”

No, what he wanted to do didn’t fall in the category of hurting. He took a deep breath to steady himself. Blair was fucking built—all long lines and lean muscles. That bleach blond hair fell around his face in waves, and Marcus wanted to run his hands through it. It was so different from his. And those eyes. They were brown—the color of his favorite food.

He loved chocolate.

“Good to know.” Blair dropped the towel next to the other ones. “Seriously, that’s really good to know. Me and my heart—that’s pounding a million miles a second—thank you for saying that.”

Marcus snorted. Oh good, another smart ass. Someone he could totally relate to. “Tell me, why are you so calm? Why are you not screaming and hollering and trying to run off or beat the hell out of me?”

Blair blew out a breath. “Okay, I’m not going a lie. I am somewhat freaked out. But here’s the thing. I’ve done some traveling. Spent quite a bit of time in Africa with some of the local tribes. Let’s just say I saw and felt things that… defied description.”

“Ahhhh. I see.” How extraordinary. “Would you mind telling me?”

“Sure. Could we maybe sit down? My legs still feel like limp noodles.”

Marcus wanted to slap himself silly. Blair fell off of a boat. How could he have forgotten that? “Fuck, I’m such an ass. Are you okay? Are you hurt? I can’t imagine how scared you must have been. Did you hit anything on the way down? Do you need a doctor?”

“Whoa, whoa!” Blair laughed slightly. “I’m okay. I didn’t hit my head or anything. Actually, some asshole ran into me because he thought I’d been with his guy. I’m not sure if he was trying to push me overboard or not, but that’s what happened. I think it stunned me.”

“I heard screams after you fell. They were looking for you.” Marcus grabbed one of the towels, shook the sand out of it, and spread it on the beach. He arranged it so the moonlight would shine on them. He also brought the lantern closer.

Blair frowned. “Yeah, bet they were.”

What did that mean? Wouldn’t he expect the other humans to look after him? And why did Blair suddenly look sad and annoyed. There was a story there, he just knew it.

“Please, sit down.”

Blair sat. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” Marcus sat once Blair did. He meant what he said. Caring for his mate was his pleasure.

“Anyway, I hit the water in an awkward position. I wasn’t exactly unconscious when you grabbed me. I was sort of… out of it. I mean, it wasn’t that far of a fall, but I was fuzzy.”

“But it was still a fall.”

“Yeah, it sure was.” Blair sighed. “I don’t need a doctor.”

“I’m glad.”

“Me, too.”

Marcus resisted the urge to play with the corner of the towel they sat on. “Would you like me to take you back topside? I can take you anywhere you want to go. I know this island quite well.”

“Thank you for saying that, especially since, like I said, I have no clue where I am. I’m definitely at a disadvantage here.”

Marcus cringed. “I’m no threat to you, honest. I know that might seem hard to believe.”

Blair tilted his head. “Actually, it really isn’t. I mean, you didn’t have to save my ass.”

Yes, actually, he did. Blair had no clue he was Marcus’ mate, and he wasn’t about to launch into that discussion. “I’m not really sure you needed saving.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Like I said, it’s all a little fuzzy. Would you think me completely strange if I wanted to sit here and maybe talk to you for a little while?”

Think him strange? Marcus was thrilled. He still had trouble believing Blair wasn’t screaming in terror and trying to get away from them, but he certainly wasn’t going to look a gift squid in the beak. “I would like that very much. If you sure you’re comfortable.”

“I’m comfortable. If you were going to hurt me, you would’ve already done it. Besides, I’ve learned to trust my instincts.”

“I’m glad.” Marcus knew better than to snort. Snorting would be bad. Bad. It’d offend Blair, but seriously, instincts? Blair couldn’t be more than mid-twenties. Maybe late twenties. Compared to him, Blair was nothing but a baby. What instincts could he possibly have developed in such a short time?

“You were going to tell me about your travels in Africa?” Marcus prompted. He really wanted to hear about Blair’s time spent there. The continent wasn’t that far from them.

“Okay well, there was this tribe I was staying with and…”

Marcus listened closely as Blair talked. He described how he saw things in the tropical rainforests and animals that were entirely too intelligent for mere animals—animals that were larger than normal with eyes that glowed yellow or red.

He saw shadows which didn’t act as shadows and primitive medicines able to cure things which even modern medicine couldn’t touch. Then Blair started talking about a jaguar who stalked him one night while he was returning to the village.

He had seen the animal several times, then the animal would disappear and a native would be standing not far from the last place Blair saw the jaguar. Which he admitted he could’ve discounted if he hadn’t run across the same native a week later in the process of shifting back into a human.

He got away from the tribe and returned to civilization as quickly as he could after seeing that. Admittedly, he was afraid the tribe would force him to stay. The shifter he saw was someone who wanted him, but Blair hadn’t been interested. Blair added there’d also been things he saw in the ocean that were unusual.

After listening to that, Marcus knew he shouldn’t have scoffed at Blair’s remark about his instincts. Indeed, it sounded as if Blair had some well-developed ones.

Blair stopped. “Of course, I didn’t see anything in the ocean as interesting as you.”

Marcus chuckled. “I imagine not. But I do find what you’re saying fascinating. I’ve often wondered if we were the only nonhumans around. From what you’re saying, we aren’t.”

“Oh, you’re not. I know there are men who can shift into jaguars. Based on that, it stands to reason there are others around who can do the same.”

“Absolutely fascinating.”

Blair snickered. “I agree, you totally are.”

“Oddly enough, I felt the same way about you,” Marcus said.