Fionn realised he was trembling. He tripped over his own tongue with a hasty explanation. ‘Rory. Rory needs my help.’
The words trailed behind him as he was already bolting for the current. He sang the water to speed him along, faster than it had ever carried him before, all the way into Loch Broom and right up to the Ullapool harbour wall.
Fionn leapt from the water, stampeding over stone and then tarmac, drawing gasps and pointing fingers from strangers on the street. He didn’t care, despite the fact he was probably still half-blue and not wearing human clothing. Rory needed him and there was no worldly eventuality that would stop him from answering that call.
Following the directional pull of the bond coupled with a hazy memory of the town, Fionn found Rory’s front door and broke it down without hesitation. He took the stairs two at a time despite his loathing of the things, and finally sensed Rory behind another door off the landing. He heard splashing water and groans of distress—Rory must be in pain.
Fionn charged inside and was met by the sight of Rory spread-eagled in a white tub filled with water.
A bath,Fionn thought dimly.
Rory stared up at him, slack-jawed. Fionn couldn’t help but stare back at where Rory’s fingers disappeared inside his body. Rory’s cock was rigid—like the rest of his muscles really, as his whole body seemed contorted in the middle of a chaotic effort to pleasure himself.
‘Oh,’ Fionn managed, faintly.
Rory licked his lips. His voice was hoarse. ‘Have you come to fuck me?’
Oh, no.
The epiphany hit Fionn like a whale. No, he hadn’t come to fuck Rory. He’d come because he thought Rory was in trouble.But now that he was here it was like his own body was waking up. And the rush of foreign cravings it brought wasterrifying.
‘Do you want me to? I don’t—’ Fionn stumbled, ripping his gaze away from Rory. His chestburnedwith the heat of the bond.
‘F—uck it. Just stand there, then.’ Rory’s back arched, his fingers resuming motion. His cock bobbed in and out of the water as his hips strove to meet his own thrusts. The bond thudded against Fionn’s heart in time with Rory’s movements.
Fionn’s throat was dry. ‘What do you want me to do?’
Rory’s face was set in a deep frown, concentration and frustration pulling all his features into an expression approaching pain. ‘I don’t know. I don’t fucking know any more. I just want to come.’
Fionn knelt by the tub. Suddenly he had Rory’s full attention. Fionn rolled his shoulders back, trying to loosen himself up but in reality just tensing further. Stiffly, he leaned over the side of the bath, noting the way Rory’s mouth dropped open as he came closer.
His mate needed him and he would do his duty: this is what Fionn repeatedly told himself to quell his nerves. Rory needed him. Roryneededhim.
Fionn dipped his hand into the water, holding Rory’s gaze.
‘Fuck,’ Rory whispered. He visibly trembled as Fionn’s fingers lightly grazed his thigh.
‘Fuck,’ he said again as Fionn’s hand found his and gently pried it away.
‘Oh, fuck,’ he breathed as Fionn stroked a careful line from the cleft of his ass-cheeks to the tender skin under his balls.
Meanwhile, Fionn held his breath. He tried to recall, with panic, every ounce of information he’d ever gleaned about sexual acts throughout his life.
Oh, he knew how the deed wasdone. Knew the mechanics of it. Had studied reproductive biology with the same diligent focus he applied to every act of advancement required of a prince.
But as for these little moans and shivers coming from Rory… no reproductive text ever mentionedthat. Or more importantly, how to keep those moans and shivers coming. Those were details one was supposed to learn from peers. Through candid anecdotes from friends that Fionn did not have.
At most, he’d received the odd sly remark from Iomhar insinuating that Fionn might have more to learn than he realised. Fionn was galled to recognise that the old bastard was right.
‘You fallen asleep, or what?’ Rory mumbled from the tub.
Fionn gulped down his panic. He’d completely frozen up. What a worthless reaction for a prince. He wouldn’t let Rory see him this way.
‘Just making sure you are ready,’ Fionn replied with such confidence that he almost fooled himself.
‘Do something before I change my mind, Jesus.’
Fionn steeled himself and slid his fingers down to caress Rory’s hole. The move elicited a hiss from Rory who then squeezed his eyes shut.
