“I’ve thought of you a lot,” Marlin admitted. “I almost came here countless times.” And of course, he finally gave up and succumbed to his weakness.

“But you didn’t. Why?”

Marlin fought back a shudder when Nic’s baritone voice washed over him. “Because you’d been my brother’s lover.”

Nic lifted his broad shoulders in a lazy shrug. “Over four years ago.”

Marlin returned the shrug, though his shoulders were a bit tighter. “It’s wrong.”

“Who will care?”

“I will.” And maybe Kai. And his father. And apparently, Kenn.

“As Kai informed me after the fact, I wasn’t supposed to expect anything more from him than fucking.”

Marlin winced at that word. It was something humans did, not Selkies. Selkies didn’t fuck. They rutted, they mated, they bred. They had sex even. But they never used the term fucking. For some reason it sounded crude. Even though they all knew it was the same thing.

Nic raised a palm. “I know, I know. Selkies don’t fuck, they rut. I’ve been told that plenty of times. My point is, you shouldn’t feel guilty that you decided you want what your brother previously had. Someone he easily gave up.”

Nic moved closer. Close enough that the male’s scent made Marlin’s nostrils flare and by instinct, he inhaled deeply. Close enough that he could feel the heat rolling off Nic’s body. They were almost toe to toe.

So close but yet not quite close enough.

“I was also told time and time again that alphas only top.” Nic shifted forward, not breaking their locked gaze. “Is that true, Prince Marlin? Do you alphas only top or do you like to switch sometimes as long as no one else finds out?”

Marlin fought the urge to step back, to create some space between them. That’s what Nic wanted. A reaction. He was trying to make Marlin uncomfortable, to make him squirm. Test him.

He refused to back down. But he needed to calm his racing thoughts. “A true alpha never bottoms.”

Nic clicked his tongue and tilted his head. “Too bad. Because I would so love to mount you.”

I would so love to mount you.

Marlin could no longer breathe, no longer think straight, heat rushed through him, and his cock throbbed painfully. He tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry.

In all the fantasies that he had about Nic, not once had he imagined what it would be like to be taken by the man.

Even with a human, that act was forbidden. It also went against every fiber in his being as an alpha. For Poseidon’s sake, not only as an alpha but as a Selkie prince!

“You suddenly look very warm, Prince Marlin,” Nic reached up and tugged at the collar of Marlin’s dress shirt, making his heart beat even faster when the tips of the man’s fingers slightly brushed against the skin of his neck. “Are you sure you don’t want anything to drink? Something with maybe some... ice?”

“You don’t need to address me like that.”

“Like what?”

“With my title. You’re not under my father’s rule. So, please don’t.”

Nic suddenly stepped back and with an exaggerated deep bow, he answered, “Yes, Your Highness.”

Marlin ground his molars as he stared at the dark head which Nic dropped almost to his own extended knee in a mocking bow. “Are you pushing me for a reason? Are you trying to drive me away?”

Keeping his torso low, Nic only lifted his head and shot him a grin. “May I rise, Your Highness?”

“Nic,” Marlin growled.

With a sharp laugh, Nic straightened, then stepped close to Marlin again. He trailed his fingertips down the buttons of Marlin’s shirt. Even though the touch was so light and he couldn’t feel it, he still had to fight another shudder at the thought of Nic touching his bare skin. Touching his chest, his back, his...

“I’m not trying to drive you away, Marlin. I want to make sure that you’re here for the right reasons.”

“You are mistaken.”

Nic arched a brow in question.

“You said ‘reasons.’ I’m here for only one.”

“Ah, yes. To fuck.”

Again, that word. One Nic loved to use. “I... I thought you might be interested in—”

“In just using me and throwing me away like Kai did.”

“No—”

“In just stopping by occasionally when you’re horny. In taking me and then going on your way, running back to your fancy castle afterward.”

“Nic—”

“And I bet you’d want me to be discreet, too.” Nic pressed his palm flat over Marlin’s heart, which was still beating furiously. “Especially since I hear that your sire, your king, frowns upon his sons sticking their dick up a human’s ass.”

Marlin opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His pulse now pounded along his throat and was making his temples throb.

Without saying a word, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and began to text Kenn.

Then his cell phone was gone. Plucked right from his fingers and tossed across the room where it came to rest after bouncing a couple of times along the couch cushions. “I told him you’ll text him when I’m done with you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Nic.” Marlin snagged the man’s throat within his fingers and shoved him against the wall next to the fireplace. Nic’s back slammed against the wood logs that made up the interior walls of the home and before he could react, Marlin had him pinned in place. His face was only inches from Nic’s when he growled, “Where you are wrong is, Nic, I will text Kenn when I am done with you.”

Nic’s wide brown eyes quickly changed. They became heated and the lids lowered as he stared at Marlin’s mouth. “I still think you want to be topped.”

“Shut up.” Marlin crushed his lips to Nic’s, forcing his mouth open with his tongue.

Nic resisted by attempting to close his lips, to shut Marlin out, but their tongues ended up sparring for control instead. Marlin squeezed his fingers tighter around Nic’s throat, causing him to gasp. Marlin captured that gasp within his mouth and swept his tongue forcefully through Nic’s, exploring every part of it. Though Nic kept trying to take over the kiss, there was no way Marlin was going to allow that to happen. Not at this point.

No, at this point, Marlin needed to be in control, no matter how much Nic wanted otherwise. He needed to set the tone of how things would move forward from here. Because he had a feeling that if he lost the control at this point, then he’d have a hard time wrestling it back.

But no matter who was driving the kiss, Marlin had to admit that the man tasted good. He’d only kissed a couple other males in the past. And even then, only human ones. He never desired to do something so intimate with any of the betas King Solomon kept at the compound for their use. Their job was to provide sexual release, that was all.

Even though the betas in the king’s stable were volunteers and lived well, none of them encouraged intimacy during their act of rutting. That was one reason why he and his brothers had preferred taking humans as lovers. Well, all except for Rian, but he and their father were the exceptions.

Nic’s hand was suddenly covering the fingers Marlin still had at his throat as they kept the male pinned in place while he ravished Nic’s mouth. It was a simple reminder to the human who was the alpha. A groan rose from Nic’s throat and his other hand wrapped around the back of Marlin’s head, pulling him even more tightly against him.

As they were almost the same height, their erections were also sandwiched against each other and Nic began to rock his hips. Just slightly. Just enough to create a delicious friction between them.

This time the moan unexpectedly came from Marlin. He squeezed his eyes shut even more, imagining Nic as his omega, imagining the male producing slick, dropping to his knees and pressing his forehead to the floor. Just as an omega would do to present himself to his alpha.

Marlin groaned and ripped himself away from Nic, releasing his throat.

As he spun away he could hear Nic’s heavy breathing behind him. Marlin crossed the room and ground his teeth, trying to slow his furious heartbeat.

He needed to leave. He needed to save himself.

His gaze shot to the couch and his phone.

Before he could move to grab it, Nic was there, gripping it tightly within his fingers. “No. You’re not texting him to come get you. By leaving you’re only denying what you truly want.”

“You don’t know what I want.”

“I do. You want me.”

Marlin turned until he faced Nic directly. The man’s face was flush and his eyes gleaming. His lips appeared redder now than earlier and looked a little swollen from that brutal kiss.

“I do want you. That I cannot deny. But you don’t know how I want you.” The man couldn’t possibly know Marlin’s improper thoughts.

Nic yanked his shirt over his head and threw it toward the couch. “Do you want me to present myself like your little obedient omegas do? Would you like me to call you ‘my prince’ and ‘my alpha?’ Would that turn you on?” Nic’s voice caught and his hand dropped to the button on his jeans.

“I do want you on your knees, but not to present yourself.” At least not yet.

The corners of Nic’s lips curled as he unfastened the button and slid down his zipper. All the while, Marlin couldn’t pull his gaze from what Nic’s fingers were doing. It was like he was mesmerized. Caught up in a spell.

Nic left his jeans gaping open but went no further. Marlin let his gaze slowly slide down the man’s chest, over his well-defined muscles. His pecs, his ropy biceps, the dark hair dusting his forearms. The even darker hair that circled his navel and headed south to disappear into the open V of his jeans.

The man probably got those muscles doing something manly, like chopping wood. However he got them, Marlin couldn’t deny he liked what he saw.

He had imagined this man naked probably hundreds of times, but what he saw so far was exceeding his expectations.

Unfortunately, his oldest brother had seen this man naked, too. Had been intimate with this same man. Had previously desired what Marlin did now.

Marlin closed his eyes and curled his fingers into fists.

Kai had rutted with Nic.

And not just once. Probably many times since they had been lovers for quite a while.

Great sea gods! What was he doing in the living room of Kai’s former lover, not only ogling him, but considering taking it even further than simply looking?

This was so wrong.

He unclenched his jaw and opened his eyes when fingers began working the buttons on his shirt.

“You’re trying to talk yourself out of what you want, what you desire. I see it in your face. You’re feeling guilty for some reason for wanting me. I shouldn’t say ‘for some reason’ because I know the reason. I’m assuming the guilt that’s running through you wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for your brother.” One by one each button of his shirt was released from its hole until it gaped open all the way down to the waistband of his pants. Nic tugged the shirt out and finished unbuttoning it until it hung open. “It wasn’t yesterday. It wasn’t even a month ago. It’s been years. Your brother is with the one he was meant to be with. The mate your fates decided upon. He’s happy and content. He has two healthy alpha sons.” Nic pushed Marlin’s shirt over his shoulders and let it fall to the floor. “You will soon find yourself in that same situation. Tied down with a mate for life. Producing heirs like the good son of a king should.” Nic gripped the bottom of Marlin’s undershirt and after tugging it over his head, let it fall to the floor, as well. “So why can’t we enjoy each other in the meantime? There’s clearly an attraction between the two of us...”

Nic’s fingers swept over Marlin’s jawline, down his throat, over his chest, down his sternum and only stopped when he reached the waistband of Marlin’s pants. They hovered there, making Marlin’s cock twitch in anticipation of his touch.

“And while I can’t produce slick, I do have plenty of lube.”

Marlin hardly recognized his own voice when he demanded, “Get it.”

Nic shook his head slowly. “No, not yet. You stated you wanted me on my knees. I’ll give you that. I’ll drop to my knees and bow my head to you, prince.” He grinned. “Though, my mouth will be busy while I do it.”

Marlin sucked in a sharp breath as Nic actually dropped to his knees, quickly worked Marlin’s pants open, and before he could unfreeze himself, Nic had Marlin’s pants and boxers shoved down to his ankles and his aching, throbbing cock deep into his hot... wet... mouth.

Holy Poseidon.

That mouth.

Marlin’s head dropped back, and his own mouth gaped open as he blindly reached for Nic’s head. When he found it, he wrapped his fingers around the back of it, anchoring them firmly. Nic didn’t stop, didn’t slow. He continued to slide Marlin’s painfully hard cock in and out of his mouth, along those delectable lips of his, as the man’s fingers cupped his balls and squeezed gently.

Marlin’s knees began to buckle and he had to lock them to remain upright. He dropped his head forward so he could watch what the male was doing. But that was a big mistake.

Watching the human work his erection with a fervor that had never been matched in the past, was not only a mistake but a mammoth one.

He had spent weeks and weeks of only imagining taking Nic like this, plunging deep into his mouth. Imagining the man’s cheeks hollowing out, his tongue circling the leaking crown, tracing the thick ridge along his cock.

This was so much better than he’d imagined.

But the problem was, he wasn’t going to last. Because during all those long weeks, he couldn’t find anyone who could satisfy him. No one who could take that edge away. His own hand, along with his fantasies, was the only relief he could find. But even that had been disappointing.

And that was another reason he’d ended up here. At Nic’s.

He knew his insatiable thirst would not be quenched until he got what he wanted.

Which was Nic.

But Nic might get more than he expected if he didn’t let up soon. If he didn’t release Marlin.

However, the male was not slowing down. No, in fact, his rhythm sped up, his fingers played along his tight sac, traced along the seam to the rear...

“No,” Marlin groaned. “No, you cannot.”

Surprisingly, Nic listened and retraced his path, circling the root of Marlin’s cock with his fingers and squeezing it firmly.

But it wasn’t until Nic tipped his brown eyes up to his, while still sucking him intently, that Marlin knew he was a goner.

His plan of how this evening would go had been just shot to hell.

Oh, yes, because he was...

He was...

His hips surged forward, thrusting hard and deep into Nic’s mouth. He cried out as he spilled his seed at the back of the man’s throat.

Marlin froze in horror. Nic stilled. Marlin quickly released his grip on Nic’s head, heat licking at his cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

Nic pulled away, letting Marlin slip from between his lips and sat back on his heels, glancing up. Marlin offered him a hand and Nic accepted it. He allowed Marlin to help him stand, but didn’t move away.

“For what?”

“For holding your head, forcing myself upon you like that. For making you...” Could his cheeks get any hotter?

Nic’s lips flattened out as if he was trying to fight back his amusement. Then finally the smile broke out. “Do you think the results would have been different if you weren’t holding my head?”

“I’m sorry, I lost my... mind.”

“That means I did a good job and you enjoyed it. Relax.”

Marlin frowned. “Why aren’t you spitting it out?”

“What?” Nic asked with raised brows.

“My seed.”

Nic grinned. “It’s a little too late for that. Has no one swallowed your cum before?”

Holy Neptune, his face felt as if it was on fire!

“I... uh... No.” The few times that betas pleasured him in a similar fashion, they discreetly spit the result out in a napkin or towel. And the human males he was with never took it that far. They were too eager for the actual act of rutting since they knew Marlin’s time with them would be limited. They didn’t want to wait on Marlin’s recovery time.

Which, if you asked him, wasn’t long, but still...

Marlin bent over to pull up his pants.

“Don’t bother to fasten them.”

Marlin lifted his head.

“We’re just going to take them back off soon, anyway,” Nic finished.

“It might take—”

“We have all night.”

“You want me to—”

“Yes, wasn’t that the plan?” Nic asked.

Yes, he came to this little cabin in the woods hoping that they’d spend the night together. Marlin hoped he’d get his fill of the man and then be able to move forward with the rest of his life.

A life without having those nagging, wicked thoughts of Nic spinning through his head.

Though, Marlin wasn’t sure he’d ever forget the sight of Nic taking him into his mouth and the way his face looked when he swallowed Marlin’s seed. Or the few moments afterward, where Nic looked overcome with ecstasy.

If he enjoyed pleasuring Marlin that much, he was dying to know what it would be like to rut with him.

Now that he was invited to spend the night, he’d have plenty of time to find out. And while he would need time to recover, he realized—letting his gaze roam over Nic’s naked chest and then the man’s back as he exited the room—that he doubted it would take long at all. Plus, there were plenty of other things they could do while they waited.

Marlin’s glance slid to his cell phone still on the couch, then in the direction where Nic went.

“Are you coming?” he heard yelled from another area of the home.

Yes, that sounded like a plan.

Indeed.