Page 9 of Echo and the Homicidal Sea Panda

“Says the little dolphin who crossed the line first,” Mael murmured. The treaty covered the waters, not the land. By law, he had every right to be there.

“People will see you,” Echo snapped. He glanced down the hallway, almost as if he hoped someone would swoop in and save him.

The only hero Echo was getting was Mael.

“Ashamed to be seen with me?”

Echo’s gaze flicked to his. “You being here will raise questions.”

“You should’ve thought about that.”

“The treaty…”

“Oh,you didn’t care much about that last night, now did you?” Mael asked. “I want to know what you were doing out there.”

Echo’s mouth moved, but no sound came out.

Mael watched those lips, starving for a taste. The first night he’d noticed Echo’s boat, he’d swam close to the boundary with plans to scare the guy into moving out. Then he’d caught sight of the gorgeous little dolphin on board, and he’d stopped dead in his tracks. Violent need had slammed into him. Need he’d viciously fought against.

No way was he attracted to a dolphin,especiallyone from Dolphin Bay.

While it wasn’t expressly against their laws to mix with dolphins, every member of their pod knew it was considered forbidden. Echo was the temptation that urged him to do the unthinkable.

When he’d later realized Echo might not be who he assumed, that brought up other questions he’d never seen coming. He’d returned home that first night ignoring the raw, aching need screaming in his veins and fell exhausted into bed. Sometime in the night he’d ended up dreaming of Echo writhing naked under him. Mael’s orgasm had awoken him in the early gray morning hours and left him feeling shamed in the aftermath, tangled in wet, sticky sheets like he was twelve years old again.

Denial had lingered even after that, but as the weeks passed, filled with more haunting, sensual dreams of Echo, he’d finally accepted he had a hard-on for a dolphin shifter.

Amaledolphin shifter.

Although, he didn’t know Echo’s gender. From the digging he’d done, all signs pointed to male, but looking at Echo, he wasn’t completely sure.

The bottlenose breed was known for their attractiveness in both human and marine forms, regardless of gender or class. Echo was a step beyond that, though, in his opinion. From his lightly muscled, willowy build to his soft, rounded face, he gave off strong feminine energy. Mael searched that gorgeous face once more, gaze tracing over those pink, pouty lips, his small, upturned nose, and up to his large, glacial blue eyes with full, heavy lashes.

He was even more beautiful close up.

No wonder Mael hadn’t been able to swim away that first night. He’d hovered near, watching from just under the surface, trying to figure out what Echo was doing. It had been a whole lot of nothing.

Yet Echo had returned the next night, and the next. He’d sat out there for nearly three weeks as far as Mael knew, right on the line—but never crossing it. That had driven Mael to distraction. The dolphin just sat there, watching their waters, but for what reason?

Mael slid a hand to the back of Echo’s head and drew the tie holding his soft, light brown waves in a ponytail off. He slid his fingers through the silky strands, the light above them casting a golden hue. He leaned closer and rubbed his cheek against the side of Echo’s head, inhaling the clean, jasmine scent.

When he pulled back to gaze down at Echo, the dolphin’s eyes were large and round. The fear was still shining in the depths, but there was desire swimming in there, too. Mael’s gaze fell on those soft, pink lips again. Did he taste as good as he smelled?

“What… what are you doing?” Echo asked, his voice barely above a whisper over the music.

Mael froze. He didn’t remember moving, but his lips were inches from Echo’s. He lowered his head a bit more, inching even closer. Those blue eyes went wide, and Echo inhaled deep, appearing ready for whatever came next.

When he caught the scent of Echo’s slick, he growled deep in his throat. He was already damned near losing control as it was. He didn’t need Echo’s lust to send him spiraling over the edge before he got the answers he sought. Mael hardened, his groin pressed against Echo’s belly, more than prepared to sate the omega’s need.

Let the little dolphin know.Mael wasn’t ashamed of his desire.

Echo’s breath came in short gasps. Mael leaned in and rubbed his nose against Echo’s, inhaling the omega’s scent again. “You smell…delicious.”

“Is that…” Echo shivered. “Is that a threat?”

Mael leaned back and looked down at Echo. “Do you want it to be?”

Echo didn’t reply, but the deepening scent of slick was answer enough.

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