Page 56 of The Frog Prince

Skating his hands down Otto’s sides and past his trim hips, he brushed over his full thighs and found the backs of his knees. He gripped tight as he pulled them up to clench around his own skinnier hips.

He felt a small exhale against his neck, skating down his collar as they connected, cool breath against sensitive skin, and closed his eyes against an answering croak; desperate, needy. They were plastered together, wet clothes clinging like lovers not wanting to part. The water didn’t dampen any feeling for him, it enhanced it beyond bearing.

He felt Otto’s thighs clench and he was sure he was about to sink to the bottom of the pond.

Forcing himself to move, he stepped forward, tilting his body in the water. Otto’s weight shifted heavier on his back, their bodies pressing even tighter as Alwin lifted his legs off the ground.

They floated.

He felt weightless, despite Otto clinging to him.

It was one of the only things he truly liked about his form—how in tune with nature he could become. How easy it was to let it run through him and envelop him down to his core.

If he ever broke the curse, this would be the one thing he’d miss.

He began to swim, each frog-kick of his legs pressing them together and then apart. The friction was hard to ignore, his mind conjuring images of Otto behind him for a different reason entirely.

Eight years of forced celibacy plus a man who had stepped directly out of his fantasies was a lethal combination.

Still, he made it across with little effort, his feet touching the muddy bank just a few moments after they’d set off.

He walked until he was certain Otto could stand as well, the water only up to their waists, then paused. The other man didn’t move, his legs and arms still locked around Alwin tightly.

Alwin wanted to let him stay. To keep standing there, one with the water and glued to the beautiful healer he had found by chance. He wanted to keep his hands splayed over Otto’s strong thighs and his fingers wrapped around the backs of his knees, relishing the closeness of another person for the first time in eight years.

He wanted to have the right to use that grip to pull Otto closer and hold him there, feeling his breath skate across wet skin and those lips brushing against his bare neck.

He wanted so much.

But he couldn’t.

“You can stand here,” he whispered, and Otto lifted his head from where it seemed to be buried in Alwin’s shoulder.

“Oh.” Otto’s voice came out shaky and quiet, yet he still made no move to disentangle himself from Alwin.

Alwin felt him turn his head a few times before he finally loosened his grip around Alwin’s neck and slipped down a couple of inches.

Alwin didn’t react in time.

He didn’t let go, and Otto stayed up on his back, a gasp escaping his lips and an unmistakable hardness between his legs now pressing against Alwin’s backside.

Alwin couldn’t smother his croak this time, high and whiny. And he couldn’t stop his own body from reacting. He felt himself stiffen completely, taut and tense at the feeling of Otto’s desire.

“I’m sorry,” Otto whispered, pushing against Alwin to get down.

“Stay,” he begged against his better judgment. More wetness leaked from him into the surrounding water, and his eyes slipped closed, his chest heaving. “If you want.”

Otto squirmed on his back, that stiffness brushing against Alwin and making his eyes roll in his head. He could almost feel Otto’s heartbeat against his spine, his breath expanding his rib cage and pushing into Alwin.

Like they were merging into one right here in the water where Alwin felt whole.

Otto’s arms wrapped back around his neck, putting more pressure against the sensitive skin, and his forehead fell to Alwin’s shoulder as his hips rolled. Once, tentative. Then twice, harder.

“Alwin…” His voice came out small and shaky, and Alwin trailed one hand higher on his thigh until the tips of his fingers brushed against Otto’s ass, encouraging him on.

“You feel so good,” he said softly.

He felt like a person for the first time in so long. Wanted and needed and able to fulfill someone’s most primal desires. He wished he could turn around and hold Otto properly. Touch him and feel him as he came undone. He wished he could line their erections up with each other and rut the way Otto was doing.