“Get the life preserver!” I pulled myself up the side of the boat, diving off into the water. The waves weren’t as rough as they had been on the last trip we took, but they knocked me around. By the time I swam to the guy, my muscles felt like they were on fire, burning hot. I grabbed the edge of the wood and rolled myself onto it.
“Hey, you all right?” I slapped his cheek, but he didn’t respond. Bending low, I put my ear near his mouth so I could hear his breathing. It was faint but there.
“Boss, catch!” Joey threw the preserver toward me and it landed a few inches from us. The waves were dragging it away, though. Growling in frustration, I dove off the wood and swam toward the ring, grabbing it before turning to swim back. The man didn’t as much as flinch when I pulled myself back beside him, clearly so deep in unconsciousness that he was oblivious to the world of the living.
“Fuck,” I muttered, lifting the guy up as much as I could. He wasn’t as heavy as I thought, even dripping wet. His blond curls clung to his forehead and the sides of his face, plump lips were nearly purple from the cold. He was shirtless, except for a pair of pants that were torn at his knees. I slipped the orange ring around him and maneuvered him over it before I pushed us both into the water. I nearly lost him, as he was close to slipping out of it, but I managed to grab his arm before an accident happened. Holding onto the preserver, I raised my arm to signal Joey to start pulling us in, which took ten minutes and four men pulling against the current.
The waves were beginning to rock harder, and I cursed when we crashed against the side of the boat and the stranger nearly slipped out of the preserver again.
“Pass me down a rope that I can tie around him,” I yelled up to Joey.
My second-in-command did what I asked, and when I had the rope tied around the stranger’s chest securely, I gave Joey a thumbs-up. He and the men pulled, raising the unconscious man out of the water and up against the boat. When I saw them yank him over the side, I swam around to the port side and climbed up the ladder attached to it. I shivered, the chilly wind making me very aware that I was now dripping wet.
Joey had the man splayed out on the deck and was checking his pulse and breathing, and when he looked at me with thin lips, I knew what needed to happen. I pointed at Taylor. “You know how to drive the boat. Get us back to the marina.” Then I turned to Joey. “Help me get him to the cabin. We need to strip him of his clothes and get him wrapped up, turn the heater on.”
Everyone moved at once. Taylor dragging another man who I knew had been with us before toward the helm. Joey and I lifted the stranger together and we dragged him down the stairs to my cabin, throwing open the door to the small area I considered my home for many months of the year.
Inside was a bedroom, a kitchenette, and a bathroom. Gleaming wood covered all the surfaces and made it look like the luxury boat it was. Lights twinkled in the darkness of the room, illuminating the small alcove that I often retreated to when we had another bad day of searching. I never expected to find amanwhile searching for merpeople, though.
“Into the bathroom,” I ordered.
Joey and I maneuvered the skinny man in the direction of the bathroom and gently lowered him against the wall. I grabbed towels and threw them at Joey before I began working at the man’s pants, dragging them down his slim hips and legs. He didn’t wear any underwear, and I didn’t have the time to care why.
He shivered, but his eyes never opened. I couldn’t help but let my gaze wander down his muscle-carved chest to his cock, sitting limp against his thigh, before I shook myself and grabbed the towels from Joey. We dried him as quickly as we could before we had him up and on my bed, the blankets wrapped tightly around his body.
“Don’t you want to get him into clothes?” Joey asked, panting in exertion as he stared down at the stranger. Now that the man’s blond hair was dry, the curls seemed bouncier and tighter.
I chuckled at the absurdity. “If you want to attempt to get him into clothes, good luck. He’s unconscious, Joey, he’s not going to help us.”
Joey shook his head, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “What was he doing in the water? Do you think he was in a boat accident? I didn’t see anyone else.”
“I don’t know….” I sat on the bed beside him, frowning. “Go upstairs. Find out how far we’re out. He needs medical attention. Call the Coast Guard while you’re up there, we’ll need an ambulance when we get back to the marina.”
Joey didn’t need to be told twice. He rushed out the door, closing it firmly.
The stranger shivered again and his mouth moved, like he was trying to say something, and I leaned in to try hear what he’d said, but there was no sound. I touched his face, his skin as soft as any I’ve ever felt. Not even a woman’s was as smooth and gentle as his.
“Who are you?” I whispered, memories of that night our boat overturned flashing through my head. Had he gone through the same thing?
I ran my thumb over his brow and down his temple, and he sighed, the glimpse of a smile playing over his lips. Fuck, he was beautiful, more than any woman I’ve known, even Amber in her incredible exquisiteness. His plump mouth parted and he let out a breath, small and barely there, but at least I knew he was still alive.
“We’re going to get you back safely,” I said, running the pads of my fingers over his bottom lip. “You’ll be okay.”
