The Shark Who Rode a Seahorse (11 page)

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“You should really consider taking a break, Mr. Cunningham.

You haven’t rested enough.”

Skylar grabbed a crystal ashtray from the coffee table and threw it at Malcolm. “I’m only reading,” he shouted. “Leave me the hell alone.”

He was panting hard, furious, and feeling hunted. Two months into his pregnancy, he’d now grown to proportions that must have rivaled Byron’s shifted form. He felt angry all the time, something unusual for seahorses and for him in particular, and lately, he’d begun to throw items at helpful people, or even at Byron.

Still, it felt good to hear Malcolm call him Mr. Cunningham. He and Byron had officially registered their mating shortly after finding out about the pregnancy. Of common accord, they decided Skylar would take Byron’s name, but the children would have both their names, so that the Pierce line wouldn’t end.

Skylar now knew that he would have twins, although beyond that, many things were unclear. His last ultrasound showed two embryos, a seahorse and a shark, inside Skylar, something that concerned both the doctor and Byron greatly, given the history of cannibalism in the womb sharks had.

Not only that, but the situation made it impossible for Skylar to give birth naturally. He would have to suffer through a C-section in human form, although he’d be under anesthetic the whole time.

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But Skylar didn’t fear all that. He already felt connected to his children on a level he couldn’t even explain and knew the two brothers wouldn’t hurt each other. Already he knew what their names would be. Layton and Morgan. And he wasn’t afraid of the birth per se, either.

However, what did concern him was not knowing. The uncertainty was killing him. Like in Annabelle Wade’s case, he didn’t know when he would give birth, how much longer his pregnancy would last. She was luckier than him, since the difference between wolves and sheep wasn’t as big as between sharks and seahorses.

Hell, shark pregnancies were known to last up to two years. The mere thought drove Skylar out of his mind.

He took a deep breath and struggled to calm down. “I’m sorry, Malcolm. I’m just at wit’s end.”

“It’s all right,” the jellyfish said, not looking in the least bit bothered. Then again, the man was always calm. It sometimes creeped Skylar out. “I understand.”

Malcolm’s wife, Yuki, peeked into the room, and Skylar immediately felt relieved. As odd as it seemed, he’d become quick friends with the female octopus. She was small, like an Asian porcelain doll, but that didn’t make her any less deadly. Like her husband, upon her choice she could poison anyone she touched.

However, she was also very motherly. She and her husband were not able to have children of their own due to circumstances beyond their control. As a blue-ringed octopus, she risked certain death should she ever become pregnant. Even not knowing whether inter-species breeding was possible, the two had decided not to take a chance.

Since Malcolm and Yuki had come to live with them, Yuki had lavished all her affection on Skylar. For some reason, she was fiercely protective of him and his children, and that made her golden in his book.

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“Hi, Yuki-chan.” He patted the spot next to him on the couch, gesturing for her to approach. “Come sit next to me.”

The woman obeyed, and the moment she sat down, Skylar leaned against her. She was soft, and she smelled like flowers and the sea. It comforted him. “I don’t know what to do anymore, Yuki-chan,” he mumbled.

Her small hand cradled his head, gently caressing his hair. “How about visiting your parents, Skylar-kun? That might help.”

Skylar shook his head. He loved his parents greatly, and they’d been very supportive of him and his children. However, every time he visited, they told him to leave Byron and come stay with them. Skylar didn’t think he could stand another nagging session.

“What you need is your mate. Contact Cunningham-sama,” she suggested, using the respectful address for Byron. “You’ll see how you feel much better.”

“I can’t run to him every time I’m moody, Yuki-chan.” Skylar sighed. “He has work to do, you know that.”

Through his connection with Byron, sweet words slipped into his mind,
“Nothing is more important than you.”

Skylar couldn’t suppress a smile at Byron’s mental voice.
“Hurry
up and finish. I miss you.”

He knew it was selfish, but he wanted his mate home. He needed Byron’s strength to recharge for another day of wobbling, swollen ankles, cravings for unreasonable amounts of food, and sessions of hissy fits. By evening, he always felt exhausted, like he’d run a marathon, not slummed around the house under the best of care.

“You’re not slumming,”
Byron corrected him.
“You’re caring for
our children.”

And that was all well and good, but Skylar wanted this pregnancy over already. He wanted to have his babies in his arms and yes, out of his freaking stomach.

“Listen, I’m on my way home now. I’ll be with you soon.”

Excitement coursed through Skylar.
“Okay. Love you.”

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“Love you, too.”

Even with Yuki there, it seemed to take forever for Byron to show up. Finally, Skylar heard Byron’s car pull in. A different time, he’d have shot up and rushed to meet his mate at the door. Right then and there, Yuki had to help him up so he could even lift his heavy, pregnant body.

They walked up to the staircase which Skylar had stopped using one month into his pregnancy. Byron met them there and took Skylar into his arms, lifting him with ease. Their lips met into a kiss that put a damper on Skylar’s anger and made his horniness emerge with a vengeance. He’d discovered with great dismay that, when pregnant, he’d gotten even more sex-obsessed, a fact which could be very frustrating since Byron refused to do anything that could be in any way risky for Skylar and the babies.

Byron carried him back to their bedroom and placed him on their big bed. Skylar reached for his mate, feeling desperate and needy.

“Byron…”

Byron took off his shoes and jacket and lay down next to Skylar.

As his mate pulled him close, Skylar tried to reach for the shark’s cocks, but found that he could not move because of his too-big belly.

It was the last straw. Skylar burst into tears, frustrated, depressed, and feeling more useless than ever. “Oh, sweetheart,” Byron tried to soothe him. “Don’t cry.”

“I’m fat and ugly.” Skylar hated himself for even starting to cry.

“I’m angry and horny all the time, and I can’t even have sex.”

“You’ve never been more beautiful.” Byron lifted his shirt and caressed his swollen belly. “You have no idea how much I want you.”

“If you want me, then why won’t you take me?”

Byron moved down on the bed and pressed a kiss to Skylar’s stomach. “You know I don’t want to take any chances.” His hands began to work at Skylar’s loose pants, pulling them down and revealing Skylar’s already hard cock.

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“We might not be able to play around now, but we can do other things.” Byron grinned at him. “Just relax.”

When Byron spoke to him like that, Skylar could do nothing else but obey. He melted against the pillows, waiting to see what Byron would do, feeling strangely kinky and decadent simply for being naked just from the waist down. Byron moved between his legs, and his breath tickled Skylar’s skin. Unfortunately, Skylar’s belly didn’t allow him to see what Byron was doing. However, when Byron took his cock deep in his mouth, Skylar could no longer focus on anything else except the amazing pleasure.

It always awed him how Byron’s mouth could be so hot when the shark was at a most basic level cold-blooded. But between them, no boundaries applied, and as always, Byron gave Skylar exactly what he needed.

He took Skylar so deep, suctioning at a speed that threatened to short-circuit Skylar’s brain. Over and over, the shark bobbed his head up and down Skylar’s prick, the pleasure practically feeding Skylar’s needy body.

Byron’s finger teased at his entrance and slowly pushed inside.

Even if they weren’t having as much sex as before, Skylar’s body yielded easily to the penetration. He gasped, torn between thrusting into Byron’s mouth and impaling himself on the invading digit.

Skylar wanted more. He wanted his mate to stretch him, to fill him like only Byron could. He’d gotten pregnant so fast that they’d barely had the chance to explore all the sensual possibilities between them.

Byron must have heard the thought because he released Skylar’s erection from his mouth. He briefly left the bed and, in a few brisk motions, got rid of his clothing. Skylar’s mouth watered at the mere sight of his mate’s nude body. He could never get enough of watching Byron strip, of seeing Byron’s thick cocks bob between his strong thighs. His heart began to race even faster when his mate retrieved a new bottle of lubricant. The shark poured the slick liquid over his
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fingers and, gently, reinserted his digits in Skylar’s ass, lubing him up and preparing him with exquisite care. Byron took his time, and Skylar clenched his fists into the sheets in helpless arousal.

Without jostling Skylar too much, Byron then lifted him in his arms, changing their positions on the bed. Byron moved on the bottom and Skylar ended up on top of him, his fluttering hole over Byron’s prick. It reminded Skylar a bit of their first time together, and he experienced a brief moment of irrational amusement. Instead of having the shark riding the seahorse, the seahorse was riding the shark.

Slowly, with his mate’s help, Skylar lowered himself down on Byron’s prick. He’d learned in time that Byron’s two cocks were unusual even among sharks, although there were some others with a stronger than usual gene that kept this similarity to their animal counterparts. However, none of them could possibly be as gifted as Byron in the size department. Skylar had therefore lucked out.

He released a gasp-pop of pleasure as the twin heads of Byron’s pricks breached his body. His swollen belly made maneuvering a little difficult, but as it turned out, Byron didn’t even allow him to move much. The shark slowly lifted him up and down, all the while thrusting deep into his channel. Byron was essentially doing all the work, but in that moment, Skylar wasn’t above taking what his mate offered. He’d have felt selfish, but the emotions that swept through their bond told him everything he needed to know. Byron’s love and desire swamped him, making him forget all about his doubts.

Up, down, up, down, they moved in the same sweet familiar motion that had become Skylar’s drug, an addiction he wouldn’t have been able to give up if he wanted to. Their rhythm was like the sweet murmur of the ocean waves licking the white, sunny beaches at dawn, a caress, a meeting of two bodies intent on consummating a union that went way beyond lust and into pure love.

As always, his mate’s cocks filled him to perfection, pounding his prostate, or rather massaging it in an almost lazy way. It got too
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much, too good for Skylar to withstand. Arching his back, Skylar came, his seed splashing on Byron’s stomach. Byron pushed inside him one more time and then, wet heat bathed the insides of Skylar’s channel as the shark found his peak as well. Their orgasms entwined and their minds touched, so much so that Skylar didn’t know where he ended and Byron began.

He must have blacked out for a bit because when he recovered consciousness, Byron had already rolled him on the bed, huge belly up. “Hi,” the shark said with a grin.

“Hey. That was amazing.”

“It always is.” Byron’s smirk turned into a gentle smile. “It always is with you. My sweet, little seahorse.” Through their bond, the shark finished,
“My soul mate.”

Skylar valued those words tremendously, since in reality, Byron was never one for gratuitous expressions of affection. With Skylar, he was different. Skylar got to see a different side of Byron, one other people weren’t privy to. Knowing that and acknowledging Byron’s love for him made everything worthwhile.

* * * *

On Wade pack lands, Rick fretted in the dark cell, pacing to and fro. Months had passed now from his imprisonment, months since his own elder had chosen the word of a seahorse over Rick’s. Granted, Rick might have roughed up the whore a little, but he didn’t deserve being deprived of his freedom for a thing like that. After all, elders were supposed to stand up for their own kind, not for other creatures.

It had all started years back, when Brody had met that damn lamb.

Rick should have acted then, gotten rid of the problem before it escalated. But the elder had seemed receptive to the issue and mated his son to an appropriate bitch. Rick had been in shock when their leader had allowed that mating to be dissolved and punished Brody’s wolf mate for protecting her dignity and her kin.

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Everything had happened so fast after that. Rick hadn’t been able to come up with a plan to stop it. And now, his elder had mated a ewe and allowed for his two sons to claim mates from prey races as well.

It wasn’t right. Anyone with a brain could see it. The so-called alliance and cooperation the elder spoke of was against nature. It needed to be stopped. But how? And what could Rick do from this cell?

In a way, he was freer now than ever before, since he didn’t have to consider the elder’s commands. If only he could manage to get out of this place, he’d teach that seahorse whore a lesson and make sure everyone understood predator shouldn’t mate with prey.

Just as he considered this, he heard motion outside. Usually, his guards pretty much left him be as a silent support to their own kind.

Even if those who’d backed him up that night had been punished as well, they were still brothers of the same species. The others might not free him, but they didn’t taunt or bother him either.