Page 10 of Drown Me Gently

“I’ll drag you back if I have to,” Ulric said, even as his heart beat erratically. Even as his hands trembled with the effort not to touch more than was allowed.

The struggle was brief.

Ulric overpowered him with ease. But the closeness… damn it all, Ulric was losing the fight with himself by the second. Auren’s body was trapped in his, muscles coiled tight, breath catching. His tail thrashed in anger, hands trying to pry the limbs wrapped around his middle.

This is allowed. I’m taking him back to Atlantis. It’s my duty. Nothing more.

Ulric didn’t know who he was trying to convince. The magic in his skin, or himself.

I am fulfilling an order. Nothing more.

But even as he continued to deny it, Ulric knew his touch lingered too long, holding the prince long after he’d stilled and admitted defeat. One tentacle remained wrapped beneath Auren’s ribs, feeling every breath, every flex of frustration. The imprint of his shape etched itself into Ulric’s memory like coral scarring stone.

A single tendril ran down the length of his abdomen, feeling the muscles bunched there.

He’s not soft. He’s hard and heavy and…

Searing pain flashed in Ulric’s skin, the tattoos burning him like a brand.

The Kraken released him with a sharp breath, turning away before Auren could see the heat in his eyes.

“The Queen wants an audience,” he said stiffly, trying to shake off the pain.

Auren didn’t answer right away. When Ulric turned to him, his stomach dropped. Auren wouldn’t meet his eyes—his arms wrapped around himself, as if trying to scrub away Ulric’s touch.

“Did you hear me?”

“Yeah, I heard you,” Auren snapped. “Why is she bothering to talk to me now?”

Ulric gestured broadly to the cave. “This would be my guess.”

Auren’s eyes swept across the hoarded treasures. “She doesn’t know.”

“She might suspect,” Ulric said. “The Queen is as old as I am. You will not fool her easily.”

“I’m not going,” Auren said.

“Yes,” Ulric said with a growl, “you are.”

Another tense silence. Auren pressed his lips thin in defiance. “You always do this.”

“What? Protect you?”

“No. Drag me back. Assume I don’t know what I’m doing. That I can’t make my own choices.”

“It’s because you never listen. If you’d stop acting like a child⁠—”

“—then stop treating me like one.”

Ulric’s voice dropped low. “I’m sworn to protect Poseidon’s bloodline. That includes you.”

Auren moved closer. “Then protect me from the court. From the lies. From the ones who don’t actually care about Atlantis, only their own positions of power.”

Ulric flinched, and Auren pushed closer. So close that Ulric felt the wall press against his back as somehow, the prince herded him into a corner. He was close enough that Ulric could see the deep rise and fall of his chest. Feel the tickle of red hair against his skin.

“But you won’t, will you?” Auren whispered. “You’ll just keep locking me in there with those sharks.”

“You’re a prince of Atlantis, it is your duty to⁠—”