After a few minutes, Emery pulled out, quickly wadding up the towel and packing it between Sean’s legs. “I’ll go clean up. You stay here.”
Sean tried to lift a hand, but it fell limply back to the bed. “Whatever,” he mumbled.
Moving was the last thing on his mind.
He wasn’t sure he could have moved if his life depended on it.
Holy…fuck!
He wasn’t sure what had just happened, because nothing like it had ever happened to him before. It was like he’d completely lost all control of his body to Emery’s commands.
He shivered again, in anticipation this time. Anticipation of the next time.
Another reason not to do it too often, it would quickly become extremely addictive.
He heard water running in the bathroom as Emery cleaned up. The next thing he knew, Emery was gently shaking his shoulder. “Come on, babe. I’ll help you.”
“Huh? I just want to sleep.”
“I know. We’ll go to sleep in a minute. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
Sean didn’t even bother opening his eyes. He let Emery help him out of bed. When the towel fell onto the floor, Sean felt warm fluid running down his legs.
That was enough to wake him up.
Once he ensured he wasn’t bleeding, he relaxed. “Holy crap, did you pee in me or something?”
“No, but things…scaled up a little.”
“Dude, please don’t ask me to go down on you when you do that. You’d freaking drown me.”
Emery laughed as he got him into the bathroom and started the shower. Once the water warmed up, he helped Sean in and handed him a washcloth.
Sean didn’t want to wake up, wanted to just drift back to sleep. He felt deliciously worn out in the best way possible. Like he’d run a marathon while getting a pleasure IV mainlined into his head.
“Babe, you’re falling asleep again.”
Sean opened his eyes to find Emery smiling in at him. Somehow, he’d been leaning against the wall.
“Am I done?”
“I don’t know. Are you?”
Sean shrugged.
Emery stepped in with him and took the washcloth. “I’ll help.”
“Okay.” He closed his eyes again. “You do that, Alpha dude.”
Next thing Sean knew, he was dry and being shepherded back to bed. As he crashed into sleep, he was aware of Emery settling in next to him and kissing him good-night.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sean awoke late the next morning alone in bed, ass pleasantly sore, and his body aching in various places. The house smelled deliciously like coffee and cinnamon rolls.
Stumbling out of bed, he headed to the bathroom to pee. As he stood there, still not quite awake, he caught a glimpse of himself in the vanity mirror.
That sight woke him up. “Holy shit.” Emery had left hickeys all over him, including a big one on the side of his neck.
He finished and went to wash his hands, turning so he could see his ass.
Yep, a huge hickey on each cheek.
The night before tumbled back into his brain with crystal clarity, stiffening his cock as he remembered how Emery had partially shifted.
Yowza.
Nothing had ever felt like that. He hadn’t thought it possible to feel pleasure that intense, much less survive it. Toward the end, it was like he had no control over his body whatsoever.
Emery walked in, naked and carrying a mug of coffee in his hand. “Ah, you are awake.” He handed the mug to Sean and leaned in for a kiss. “Pleasant dreams?”
“Dude, I look like I lost a battle with an octopus.”
Emery grinned and studied him, examining his handiwork. “I told you, I mark what’s mine.”
Sean reached up and grabbed Emery’s nipple piercing and pulled him close with it. “Yeah, well, you just remember who owns your ass, Alpha man.”
Emery’s eyelids fluttered as his cock hardened.
Sean grinned. “Nice to see you aren’t immune.”
“To you? Never.”
Sean grabbed Emery’s lower lip in his teeth and gently tugged. “Then get yourself back in bed, ass in the air and ready for me.” He let go of Emery’s nipple ring.
The dolphin shifter looked like a blur of horny intent as he snagged a towel, whirled around, and raced for the bedroom.
Sean looked down at his cock. “He’s so cute when he gets like that, isn’t he?”
He followed Emery into the bedroom, pleased to see he was already on his hands and knees and had gotten the lube out.
Sean set his coffee down and knelt between his legs. “Hard and fast, buddy. We have a lot of stuff to do today.”
Emery wiggled his hips at him in response.
After delivering a stinging slap to Emery’s ass, Sean grabbed the lube. “Yeah, you wiggle that ass. Lucky for you I just want to fuck it, not give you a little payback for last night.”
He slicked his cock before working lube into Emery’s rim with one, then two fingers. As he pressed the head of his cock against his lover’s ass, he said, “Fuck yourself back onto me.”
Emery softly moaned as he did just that, rocking back and forth. Slowly at first, then gaining momentum until before long, Sean was holding onto Emery’s hips while his lover slammed himself hard and deep onto Sean’s cock.
The smell of Emery’s cock leaking pre-cum filled the room, the sound of their flesh slapping together music to Sean’s ears.
“That’s it, baby. You love my cock, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Emery gasped.
Sean fought the urge to laugh out loud. He loved this, how they could effortlessly switch roles back and forth in bed. His big bad Alpha bull was now a horny slut in heat.
“Don’t you dare touch your cock until I tell you to,” Sean warned. He fell on top of Emery, pinning him to the bed.
Okay, maybe a little payback.
He grabbed a fistful of Emery’s hair and pulled his head to the side. “Time for me to do a little marking, buddy.” He made sure to do it low enough on his shoulder a shirt would hide the mark, but bit down, hard, until Emery squirmed and cried out. Then Sean started sucking, rocking his hips enough to keep Emery focused more on that than what he was doing to his shoulder.
When he looked, Emery had a mark that would match his own.
He sat up, pulling Emery up on his hands and knees again. “Gonna ride my dolphin,” he grunted as he tried to hold back. His balls slapped against Emery’s ass at the bottom of every thrust. He fucked him hard and fast, deep, Emery’s tight channel spasming around his cock with every stroke.
“Okay,” Sean gasped. “Beat your cock, buddy. You don’t come with me, you don’t come until tomorrow.”
Emery whined but grabbed his cock, his right arm a sudden flurry of movement. Sean quit holding back, his balls tensing, preparing to shoot a load of his cum deep into Emery’s ass.
“Hurry,” Sean warned him. “I’m gonna blow.”
Then Sean felt it, the way Emery’s ass began milking Sean’s cock. His lover let out a sharp cry as he came.
Sean wanted to shoot, then had a thought. Barely, he held back.
“Come again!” he ordered, not really thinking it would work.
Emery’s back arched. Sean wasn’t sure if Emery’s cry was out of surprise or pleasure, but once again he felt Emery’s muscles contracting around him.
The shock of that was enough to allow Sean time to hold back even more. “Wow.” He slowed his strokes and gave Emery a moment to catch his breath. “I didn’t say you could stop stroking your cock. You keep stroking it until I say stop.”
Emery’s hand started moving again.
Sean grinned. It was hard to muster a deep, commanding tone through his amusement, but he managed it. “Come now!” he ordered.
Emery threw his head back. A howl worthy of any wolf echoed through their bedroom as, once again, Sean felt his lover coming. He suspected it was all sensation and no ejaculation, but he didn’t care.
/>
It was fucking hot.
Once he felt Emery had worked his way through that one, he said, “Okay, you can stop.”
Emery’s shoulders collapsed to the bed. Sean picked up his pace, now allowing his balls to finish what he’d interrupted. With several hard, deep, jabbing thrusts, he buried his cock deep in his lover’s ass as he filled him with his juices.
He collapsed on top of Emery, winded and wondering.
When he could finally talk, Sean asked, “Did you know that could happen?”
Emery weakly shook his head.
“Why did that happen?”
Sean thought Emery might have shrugged his shoulders. That was what it felt like beneath him, but he wasn’t sure.
He managed to peel himself off Emery and stumble into the bathroom to clean up. When he returned, Emery had flopped over onto his back and was staring into space.
“You okay?” He grabbed his coffee and took a sip.
Emery nodded before his grey gaze finally settled on Sean. “Holy fuck,” he whispered.
“Yeah.” He waggled his eyebrows at Emery. “That was pretty much my reaction last night.”
With some effort, Emery pushed himself up into a sitting position and crooked a finger at Sean. He leaned in for a long, sweet kiss.
“Babe,” Emery said, “you have no idea how much I love you.”
“I have a clue. And I love you, too.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
That afternoon was another cookout for everyone. They’d reserved a picnic shelter again, but at a different county park. Today, Sean knew he could fully enjoy the festivities since the night before had been uneventful.
Well, uneventful regarding anyone disrupting the swim.
Even his mom looked happy as she helped wrangle kids.
Grandkids, huh? He glanced across the shelter, where Emery was talking to someone. Emery caught his gaze and sent him a playful wink that threatened to stand Sean’s cock out in his shorts.
He felt his face heat in a good way and turned to watch a volleyball game in progress.
Sure he’d thought about kids, but hadn’t really given it much thought. Before Emery, he’d been too busy with work and being alone to even think about kids.
Then when he and Emery first got together, all the bullshit with Erik hit, and then they were too busy…well, getting busy with each other.
Olivia and Brad sat at one of the tables under the shelter. With the twins due in February, she was already showing. They were talking with another couple, the woman looking so pregnant it appeared she might pop any second.
As he glanced around, he realized there were quite a few obviously pregnant women.
I wonder how many of those babies were conceived in the water during group swims.
If he had to guess, he’d bet quite a few of them.
A melancholy curtain settled over him. No, despite Emery’s joke, he didn’t want to be pregnant. And he wouldn’t give Emery up for anything. It was a little sad in the grand scheme of things that, in this one way, they were effectively shut out.
Sure, they could find a surrogate, use modern science to their advantage, but that might provide a few unintended complications if they weren’t careful and some doctor got too damn nosy.
And there was adoption, the most likely way. Plenty of kids needing good homes. No, they wouldn’t be able to swim and shift like other kids in the pod born to full shifter parents, but then again, there were half-shifter kids who couldn’t do that, anyway. Even a few full shifter kids who couldn’t shift.
Not right now. They were both still young. Plenty of time to think about that. He wanted Emery alone for a while. Wanted to get their new house completed and move in and enjoy it.
Christen it properly.
He smiled at that thought.
Emery walked over and hugged him. “What are you over here thinking so hard about?”
He rested his head on Emery’s shoulder. “What my mom said.”
“Which thing?”
“About her wanting grandkids.”
Right now, Helen was showing a couple of barely walking toddlers the joys of blowing soap bubbles.
“She really loves kids, doesn’t she?”
“I guess so. I never really noticed it before, being an only child. I thought she was just a stereotypical clingy Jewish mom. Well, once I knew about her being Jewish. We always had a Christmas tree, so I never suspected anything growing up. In retrospect it makes sense.”
“We can talk about it. I’m not in a hurry.”
“Neither am I.” He looked up into Emery’s grey eyes. “You’re not really going to make me swim naked tonight, are you?”
He laughed. “No, not if you don’t want to. And FYI, your marks are already fading.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Do you not remember your fast healing after the accident? A hickey’s nothing.”
“Oh. True. And what is on tonight’s agenda?”
“Well, tonight will be more playful, less structured. But we do have official business to conduct.”
“What?”
He tipped his head in the direction of Wyatt and Marisela. She was tucked neatly against his side, her arm around his waist, as they talked with Ambrose and Stephen. “Officially recognizing them and welcoming them to the pod. Might as well do it tonight instead of waiting for the full moon swim. I’d rather have the larger audience so word gets around, for their sake.”
“I thought the dolphins liked Wyatt?”
“They do. Marisela, however, might not get as warm a reception if she doesn’t have official sanction. I’m convinced she wasn’t a willing participant.”
A hysterical thought struck Sean, making him giggle.
“What?”
He snorted. “What do you get when you cross an alligator with a dolphin?”
Emery smiled. “I don’t know, but looking at the two of them together, I’m guessing it’s going to be beautiful, spirited, and probably love spicy food.”
“No, seriously. What do we call it? An alliphin? A dolgator?”
“We call it a baby, Sean.”
He scrunched up his face. “That’s boring as hell.”
“Oh, I’m sure once Wyatt lets his mother know her first grandchild is on the way, she’ll be beating feet to move here to Florida to be close by, and his life will be anything but boring.”
“Do you think he’s told her about Marisela yet?”
“Not if he’s smart.”
“You don’t think she’ll welcome her with open arms?”
“Oh, I think she’ll smother the two of them with atomic-bomb-sized hints to get busy in bed. The woman is not subtle. Wyatt’s the oldest, and the only one with a mate so far.”
Christopher and his wife, Suzanne, made their way over. “Can we talk, Em?” he asked.
“Sure. What’s up?”
Christopher laced his fingers through Suzanne’s and dropped his voice after glancing around. “I know we should tell Mom and Dad first, but you’re the Alpha now and I don’t feel right not telling you first. Suzanne’s pregnant.”
“Congratulations, you two.” He hugged his sister-in-law, then his brother. Sean followed suit. “When are you due?”
“Middle of June.”
“Right at the start of hurricane season,” Sean joked.
Christopher laughed. “I already thought about that.”
They walked over to where Joseph and Louise had just finished talking with some people. When Louise let out an ear-piercing squeal of joy and nearly tackled Suzanne with her hug, Sean knew the news had been broken.
“She’s going to be a busy grandma,” Emery mumbled.
Sean couldn’t help but pick out his mom again. She’d heard the squeal and was watching Louise with a melancholy look on her face as her friend put her hands on Suzanne’s still-flat belly.
“Yeah,” Sean said. “Real busy.”
* * * *
The check-in process went even faster, wi
th fewer people participating in the swim and the kinks worked out. This time, Sean joined Emery in the center of the circle, while Wyatt and Marisela were called in with them.
While Emery was shifted, Sean could easily read his thoughts about what he said through their mate-bond and was sure Marisela was translating for Wyatt, who was also in human form, in much the same way.
“As pod Alpha, I cannot begin to express my joy and pride that one of my first official duties is to be able to welcome my friend and adopted family, Wyatt Belaforte, and his mate, Marisela, into our pod.
“Wyatt and I, as some of you already know, go back several years. Because of his bravery, three of us lived through an event that, had he not acted, could have meant our deaths years ago. And then his bravery recently, putting himself at risk to help our pod out in our time of need. He never had to do any of that. He’s an alligator shifter, and owed us no allegiance, except that of friendship. And because of the depths of his friendship, I’m proud to call him not just a friend, but a brother in spirit. Even more, I’m glad I can now officially call him, and Marisela, podmates.
“By official decree, as Placida Pod Alpha, I hereby claim these two as full members of our pod. By the oceans of the Goddess, I declare them one of us, and we stand united with them as a pod.”
Cheers, whistles, and clicks went up all around. Much as Joseph and Louise had done when Joseph welcomed Sean into the pod only months earlier, Emery dipped in the water so Sean could grab onto him. Followed first by his parents, then the other shifters, Emery led them swimming around the two clockwise, then counterclockwise. Then Emery swam in and touched Wyatt’s hand with his beak, then the top of Marisela’s beak. Sean settled for a high five with Wyatt, and then gently touched the top of Marisela’s beak with his hand.
After the entire gathering had welcomed the two, Emery shifted into human form and tread water. “Time to swim!” he announced, and everyone broke into a flurry of excited activity.
Emery’s parents joined them and shifted back as Wyatt and Marisela swam over. Marisela shifted, then gave Emery, Sean, Joseph, and Louise hugs.
“Thank you so much,” she said with tears in her eyes and her voice choked with emotion. “I finally feel like I have a family again.”
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