Page 64 of Stealing the Merman

“I understand,” Darin said softly, “that you want to keep it to yourself.” He kissed Conall’s shoulder. “But please don’t run from us. Finn needs you. I need you. Who’s going to put me in my place without you?”

“That’d be a problem, wouldn’t it?” Conall growled through clenched teeth.

In one fast move, he’d pulled Darin onto his lap, hand clamping down on his mouth to stifle his surprised shriek. His giant paws slid down and cupped Darin’s naked ass, fingers sinking into his tender flesh. Darin whimpered.

“I could spank you until you cry, just because I enjoy breaking you into a thousand pieces and putting you back together,” Conall said, and heat shot into Darin’s face. He’d love that. “Or I could sink my fingers into your little hole.” Darin squirmed in his lap. “I’m sure you’re well-oiled from before.” He was, the slight grease in his crack made him nice and slippery. Conall’s cock had stretched him wide, and a couple of digits would slide in like butter in a hot pan.

It didn’t matter that Darin had fucked three times that day, he was rock-hard. But they looked to the side simultaneously, and their gazes landed on Finn sleeping on the mat. Suddenly Darin longed to be by his side.

“We should go to sleep,” Conall said.

Quietly, they padded over to Finn and wrapped themselves around him from both sides. Finn stirred in his sleep as two warm bodies pressed against him, but he didn’t wake, and it took Darin less than a minute to drift off.

The tavern building was close to finished when the three of them returned to Vieques Town for the gathering of the Brethren of the Coast. Conall was establishing a new life, but he was a pirate captain, and his attendance was expected.

During their absence, the pirates had turned the town hall into makeshift lodgings. The former offices on both floors had been remodeled into private rooms, and upon their return, Conall, Darin and Finn moved into a spacious chamber on the first floor overlooking the neglected gardens at the back of the building.

The majority of the Brethren had arrived the day before, and everyone was getting ready for the first round of meetings in the taverns and inns of Vieques Town.

“It’s going to be busy,” Conall said, rummaging through his belongings, which he’d spread on top of a baroque dresser.

The room featured a high ceiling and a marble floor, scratched and worn by years of use. Plum-colored velvet curtains framed the tall windows. It surprised Darin that they hadn’t been snatched by the other pirates. Perhaps the curtain rod was too high up the wall for them to bother.

Darin sat on their “bed”—nothing more than a mattress dropped on the floor. “How long will this gathering take?”

“Could be days, could be weeks,” Conall said. “Some of these people are nothing but chaos pirates, god knows how long it’ll take to negotiate who can raid when and where.”

“Chaos pirates,” Finn sniggered and tumbled next to Darin onto the mattress, dropping his bag between his feet.

“Some of them,” Conall said, his voice taking on an edge as he turned to face them, “areverydangerous.” He loomed over them, and Darin remembered how dark and menacing he’d found Conall when they first met. “I don’t want either of you to be alone, not even together.”

“Jealous?” Finn asked slyly, though unable to keep the laugh out of his voice as he scooted over to Darin, one hand sneaking under his shirt, the other sliding up his thigh, stopping an inch from his crotch. Darin sucked in air as heat flamed through his body under Finn’s bold hands.

“You know I’m not. I want you to spend time together, be it alone or with me. What I don’t want is to put you at risk. You’re to stay by my side whenever possible. Not even the most savage pirate will lay a hand on you if you’re with a captain. It’s not uncommon for captains to have a young, attractive companion at these meetings. It underlines status. If you’re not around me, you might have to look for protection elsewhere…”

Darin was horrified at what that implied. “Finn and I would never cop off with another man, not even for our protection.”

“I know,” Conall said, pleasure slipping into his tone despite the seriousness of the conversation. “I’d never seek out other boys either. But the bottom line is that for your safety, I don’t want the two of you to be alone, not even in this room. We’ve got a few long nights ahead of us I’m afraid.”

“We can lock the door,” Darin suggested, gesturing toward the brass key sticking out of the keyhole underneath the ornate handle.

“A door can be knocked down. Many of the pirates coming to the meetings have never been with a merman, but rumors of incredible sex and tight, wet holes are spreading like wildfire. Some of these men haven’t fucked in weeks. Any excuse to take a merman or a delectable boy is good enough for these brutes.”

“I have my flintlocks.”

“Aye, with one shot in each. There might be a dozen men armed to the teeth trying to get in here, and neither of you is trained with the sword. The answer is no. I’m sorry if that means you’re going to be tired tonight. We likely won’t be back until early morning. We can sleep all day, then do the same thing tomorrow evening. These Brethren nights are long.”

“All right, but what about Finn?” Darin snuggled against him, kissed his cheek. “We can’t expect you to go without from dusk till dawn, and then we’re supposed to sleep during the day. Conall, we can’t just pleasure him once a day. Finn needs more than that.”

Conall raked a hand through his hair, eyebrows pulling together as he paced the room. He understood the problem. Finn’s satisfaction was paramount.

“Don’t worry,” Finn said, “it’s a few days, I can…”

“No,” Conall cut him off. “We’re not going to leave you hanging, that’s not an option.”

Darin looked helplessly around the room, trying to manifest a solution out of thin air. Then his gaze fell on Finn’s unlaced bag, from which the tip of a sky blue object dotted with golds and pinks stuck. “Hey, what’s that?”

“What?” Finn asked, following Darin’s line of sight to the bag at his feet. “Oh!” Finn’s puppy eyes went even wider than they already were. He pulled the bag onto his lap, and a grin spread on his face. “I forgot about that.”

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