by LM Brown
“Maybe.”
Phoebus waited for Caspian to say something—anything—in response. Finally Caspian climbed off the bed and walked over to the table.
“If you want to fuck someone, we’ll need to invite someone else into our bed,” Caspian said as he poured them each a goblet of wine. “I may enjoy watching you pound another man’s arse, even if I have no wish for you to do that to me.”
“I don’t want anyone else,” Phoebus said. “I love you.”
Caspian snorted. “You’re too young to know what love is.”
Phoebus bristled and struggled out of the sheets. “I think I’ll just head back to the city for a while.”
He wasted as much time as he could in leaving, but it soon became clear that Caspian had no intention of asking him to stay.
* * * *
As Phoebus swam around his quarters he cursed himself. He shouldn’t have said anything. Caspian had never given him any indication that he would ever spread his legs for another man. He shouldn’t have mentioned it at all and he certainly should have kept his mouth closed when he’d said he loved him. What was I thinking?
He knew Caspian didn’t love him and that his own growing feelings for the god were not reciprocated. Why in the world had he blurted out that he loved him?
Stupid, foolish merman!
He was so distracted he darted right into Ajax as he swam through the door.
“What are you doing back?” Ajax asked. “I thought you’d be spending the night with Caspian.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Uh-oh.” Ajax descended to the seating and patted the sponge beside him. “Come tell me all about it.”
“There’s nothing much to tell.”
“I’m sure there is. What happened?”
Phoebus joined Ajax on the sponge. “I suggested that he might like me to penetrate him.”
“And since you’re now moping around here instead of being buried balls deep in his arse, I’m guessing he said no.”
“He suggested we invite someone else to join us if I want to do that.”
“Well, there you are, problem solved. I’ll even volunteer for the job if you haven’t already got someone else in mind.”
“You’re not amusing,” Phoebus said. “Anyway, that’s not all. After he suggested a third, I said something really foolish.”
“Which was?”
“I told him I loved him.” Phoebus cringed again as he relived that moment, seeing once more the look of contempt in Caspian’s eyes. “I can’t believe I said such a thing, to a god, of all beings. What was I thinking?”
“I doubt you were thinking at all,” Ajax replied. “You simply told him what was in your heart.”
“I should have remained silent. Gods don’t want mortals to love them, they want to be worshipped.”
Ajax shook his head. “This is what comes of getting involved with immortals. They just don’t think like we do.”
Chapter Seven
Phoebus emptied his net of sea fruits into the large stone trough before swimming back out to the gathering fields. It was his fourth net of the shift, but his mind was not on the work.
He hadn’t seen Caspian since his disastrous declaration of love. He still couldn’t believe he had told the god his feelings. He didn’t know what he had been thinking. And as for asking Caspian whether he could fuck him…
Phoebus silently cursed his stupidity.
Caspian was a god, a being of great power. Why would he ever want to give up even so small a part of that?
Maybe things would be different if Phoebus were a different kind of merman—stronger, a fighter, one of the guards perhaps. He glanced at the guards on the edge of the gathering grounds, who were keeping a watchful eye out for predators. If he were one of them, maybe Caspian would have felt differently about the idea of letting Phoebus take charge.
Instead, the god was stuck with a merman who did a mermaid’s work, because he was too weak and inept to do anything else.
He snarled as he realized the fruit he had just picked was barely ripe. He tossed it aside and tried to concentrate on at least doing the job he had correctly.
All too soon his mind was drifting back to Caspian and the fool he had made of himself.
“You aren’t concentrating today,” Ajax commented as he swam near. “Are you still worrying about what you said to Caspian?”
Ajax wasn’t actually a gatherer, but he sometimes kept Phoebus company in the fields when his own duties repairing and maintaining the buildings in the city were done.
“I can’t believe I told him I loved him. I’m such a fool.”
“Maybe you should end things with him, if he doesn’t feel the same way as you do?”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Phoebus admitted. “I just don’t know if I can.”
Ajax gave him a sympathetic pat on the arm, grabbed a fruit from his net and took a large bite from it.
“Hey!”
“What? I’m hungry. I’ve been lifting heavy stones all morning.”
“Are you working this afternoon?”
“Yes, I’m just taking a break to eat and check on you.”
“I don’t need watching over.”
“I know, but I’m worried about you. You spend more time on land with Caspian than you do in the ocean these days.”
Phoebus hadn’t thought he had spent that much time on land, but now that Ajax had pointed it out to him, he realized his friend was right. When had Caspian become such a huge part of his life?
“Phoebus, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“You aren’t going to forget about him, are you?”
Phoebus shook his head. “I wish I could, but it’s too late for that. Whether he loves me back or not doesn’t matter. I love him.”
Ajax gave him another pat on the arm, snatched a couple more fruits from Phoebus’ net and returned to work with a wave.
Phoebus replenished the fruits Ajax had taken and continued to fill his net. Could he leave Caspian? Did he have the strength to end things with him? He didn’t know, and he wasn’t even sure whether he wanted to find out.
He pondered his options as he filled net after net, swimming through the fields and barely concentrating on his work. He stayed in the fields long past the end of his shift. He didn’t want to go home alone and he had no intention of visiting Caspian without an invitation. For all he knew the god was glad to see the back of him and breathing a sigh of relief at a lucky escape.
“Shark!”
The warning from one of the mermaids screamed through his mind and he swam around to see which direction the danger was coming from and where the guards were.
He spotted the guards first and swiftly realized that they were heading directly for him.
“Behind you!” one of the guards yelled, waving his spear over Phoebus’ shoulder.
Phoebus spun around to see where they were pointing, only to find himself face-to-face with the biggest and sharpest set of teeth he had seen in his life.
Frozen in terror, Phoebus couldn’t seem to do anything but stare at the shark. Behind him, the guards shouted for him to swim to them or just get out of the way.
As the shark darted forward, Phoebus finally moved, but his reflexes were slow and he wasn’t quick enough to avoid the teeth as they grazed his side.
The first guard reached him and pushed him roughly aside as they all turned on the shark, using their spears to force it back out of the gathering grounds.
They dealt with the creature swiftly and efficiently before returning to their posts.
“You should get that looked at,” one of the guards advised as they swam away, pointing at the gash on Phoebus’ side. “You don’t want to keep bleeding. It’ll only draw even more sharks if you do.”
Phoebus clutched at his side to stem the flow of blood. His heart rate had just about returned to normal. He chanced a look at his injury. It wasn’t too bad, but the guard wa
s right. With sharks in the vicinity, they would be drawn to his blood.
Taking his half full net to the stores, he deposited his fruits, grabbed one to eat on his way and headed home.
Once he was safely in his own house, he settled down with a sponge on his hip to gather up the blood. He kept the pressure on the wound as he waited for it to stop bleeding. It wouldn’t take long and the healing properties of the sponge would help take away the pain and seal the gash.
He cursed his own stupidity again. How could he let himself get so distracted by Caspian that he didn’t see a shark circling around him?
Fool.
He had to get over Caspian—and soon.
* * * *
“Aren’t you going to visit Phoebus?” Cari asked Caspian as she joined him on the beach near his temple.
“No, not today.”
“Why not? I thought you were getting along rather well with him.”
“I was.”
“But?”
Caspian shrugged. “I think perhaps we’ve reached the end.”
“The end of what? Your relationship?”
“Maybe.”
“But you gave him rooms here on the isle. Why would you do that if you think things are ending?”
Caspian sighed. “I don’t know if I might have made a mistake in suggesting he takes rooms here.”
“What makes you think that?”
“He told me he loved me.”
Cari stared at him for several long seconds. “And?”
“And what?”
“Well, did you tell him you loved him back?”
“Of course not.”
Cari smacked him on the arm, hard. “What did you say when he told you?”
“I told him the truth, that he’s too young to know what love is.”
“You didn’t!”
Caspian stepped back at the force of his sister’s glare, but before he could say anything, she was already speaking again.
“He might be young, but he knows more about love than you do, for all your centuries of bedding every male who crosses your path.”
“I know all I need to.”
“You know nothing, not even the strength of your own feelings.” Cari hooked her arm through Caspian’s and walked him toward the edge of the water. “I had a vision earlier today.”
“Of?”
“Phoebus.”
“And me?”
“No. He was working in the gathering fields.”
“It doesn’t take a goddess of prophecy to see that. He works in the fields most days.”
“He had company. A shark.”
Caspian stumbled to a halt. “What happened? What did you see? When will this happen? Can you stop it?”
“No. The attack has already come to pass.”
“Attack?” Caspian whispered as the world began to spin around him. “No.”
Cari smiled at him as visions of Phoebus and sharks raced through his mind. Her calm demeanor was the only thing stopping him from panicking.
“Where is he?” he finally managed to ask.
“In his home in Atlantis.”
“Then he wasn’t hurt?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Caspian didn’t wait a moment longer. He summoned Phoebus to his side with a thought.
“Phoebus?” He knelt beside the merman and drew aside the sponge at his hip.
“Caspian?” Phoebus glanced around at his surroundings before turning his attention back to him. “What did you bring me here for?”
“You were attacked by a shark.”
“Yes, I know.”
“How did this happen?”
“I wasn’t concentrating on my surroundings,” Phoebus admitted as he poked at the cut. “It was my own fault. Don’t worry about it.”
“Let me heal this for you,” Caspian said. “Then we’ll talk about how this happened.”
“It’ll heal on its own in a day or two,” Phoebus replied.
“But it’ll leave a scar.”
Phoebus shrugged. “It’ll be a reminder to me to take more care.”
“And the memory of the shark won’t be?”
“Memories fade over time.” Phoebus took back the sponge and placed it over the wound again. “Now, are you going to send me back home or are you going to wait for me to get my legs back and walk to the temple myself?”
“You want to go back to Atlantis?”
“Of course I do. It’s my home.”
“You have rooms here now too.”
Phoebus gave him a questioning look. “You haven’t moved someone else into them yet?”
Caspian drew in a sharp breath. “You think I would have replaced you so quickly?”
“Why not? I’m just the latest fool to warm your bed, aren’t I?”
“You’re more than that. I’ve never moved anyone into rooms in my palace, save for my priests, of course.”
“I don’t need reminding that I share you with your priests. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve had a long and trying day, and I’d like to go home…to Atlantis.”
Caspian had no intention of letting Phoebus out of his sight. He swept him into his arms and carried him toward the palace. He caught Cari’s smirk as he passed her, but he didn’t give her the pleasure of making one of her usual smart remarks.
Phoebus grumbled most of the way, but he didn’t make any real effort to escape from Caspian’s embrace.
By the time Caspian reached his bedchamber, Phoebus had regained his legs and was able to stand on his own two feet, not that he made any attempt to rise from the bed where Caspian had placed him.
“I didn’t think you’d be inviting me here again,” Phoebus said as he sat up.
Caspian sighed and sat beside him. He knew Phoebus deserved to hear words of love, but he couldn’t bring himself to say them. “Let’s not talk about what happened,” he suggested instead. He brushed aside Phoebus’ shoulder-length hair and kissed his neck.
He lowered Phoebus onto his back, but drew back when the merman cringed. “Can I at least stop you from bleeding?”
Phoebus nodded and removed the sponge. Caspian brushed his hand over the cut and sealed it. At Phoebus’ insistence he didn’t remove the lingering scar.
“Now, where were we?” Caspian murmured.
Phoebus moaned as Caspian slid his hand between his legs and eased them apart. He rubbed him intimately and Phoebus grabbed his hand to hold it in place.
“You like that?” Caspian teased.
Phoebus nodded as he guided Caspian’s fingers away from his arse and toward his testicles.
Caspian took the merman’s heavy balls in his hand and squeezed them gently. “Is this what you want?”
“Yes. Oh, yes.” Phoebus gave another long moan of pleasure as Caspian licked and sucked and fondled him.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to stop the shark,” Caspian said.
Phoebus snorted. “I don’t want to think about sharks right now.”
Caspian chuckled and kissed his inner thigh. “Sorry. I’ll try not to ruin the mood again.”
“Did I just hear a god apologize to a mere mortal?” Phoebus teased.
“Maybe. It does happen occasionally.”
Phoebus laughed. “I’ll be sure to remember this moment forever.”
“Do I detect a hint of sarcasm there?”
“Maybe.”
Caspian pulled back and gave Phoebus a mock glare before diving on the merman’s cock and swallowing him down.
Phoebus gasped and cried out something completely unintelligible.
Caspian hummed and relished each moan from Phoebus. He fingered the merman’s arse and as Phoebus shook and quivered at his touch, Caspian knew it would be a while before his lover regained his power of speech.
His own cock ached to be stroked, but since he had his hands full playing with both Phoebus’ arse and his balls, he had no chance of relief just yet. Unfortunately, the position they were in wasn’t one that allowed Phoebus to
lend him a hand either. With no other option, he ground into the sheets.
“Take me,” Phoebus demanded. “Caspian, please take me.”
He didn’t need any more encouragement. He released Phoebus’ cock and repositioned himself to do as Phoebus had begged. He nudged Phoebus’ hole with the tip of his cock. “Is this what you want?”
Phoebus grabbed his arse with both hands and pulled him forward with enough force that Caspian was inside him within a moment. “This is what I want.”
Caspian groaned and held steady while he tried not to lose control too soon. He was a god. He could do this. He wasn’t some mortal who barely knew the limits of his own body.
Phoebus clenched around him and Caspian came undone.
Buried in Phoebus’ arse, he came harder than he could ever remember doing in his life. And Phoebus was right there with him, his hand flying over his cock as he moaned with pleasure at his climax.
Later, Caspian watched Phoebus as he slept. He was safe now, here on the Isle of the Gods. No sharks could touch him here. He traced the faint line of the scar from the attack. He yearned to heal it entirely, remove the blemish from the merman’s skin, but he knew Phoebus didn’t want him to and he respected the merman’s wishes.
Phoebus rolled over and opened his eyes. “Why don’t you try to sleep?”
“Gods don’t need sleep.”
“Maybe not, but even gods might like to dream sometimes.”
Caspian smiled and kissed Phoebus gently on the lips. “Perhaps.”
Phoebus kissed him back and pulled him down on top of him. “What is it that troubles you?”
“I’m just worried about you. The life of a merman can be most dangerous.”
“The shark attack was an isolated incident. Most of them never make it past the guards, and for one to get to the fields is unheard of.”
“Not anymore.”
“It’s highly unlikely to happen again.”
“Still, I would prefer you remain safe.”
“I take care.”
Caspian harrumphed and pulled Phoebus into his arms once again. “What do you think about the idea of staying here on the Isle?”
“I do stay here,” Phoebus replied.
“No, I mean permanently.”
“What?”
“You could live here, with me.”