Page 66 of Drown Me Gently

“Feels weird,” Auren said, words echoing slightly in the tiled room, “to be in the water like this. With legs.”

“You’re adapting well. Your balance is impressive, all things considered.”

“I’ll still never get over how sore my thighs are after walking all day. No one warned me about that. After all the treks in and out of town, this feels nice.”

“Oh, believe me,” Ulric murmured, fingers drifting along the curve of Auren’s hip, teasing the already loose tie of his towel. “I could show you a hundred reasons your thighs might ache by morning.”

Ulric was losing the battle with his free will. The siren’s call stripped him of reason, of the ability to hold himself back.

Auren flushed scarlet, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. “You’re the worst.”

Ulric chuckled and pressed a kiss to his hair.

I love you, my prince.

But he didn’t say it.

The words hovered, aching behind his teeth, but remained caged. Maybe he didn’t want to burden Auren with his confession. Maybe he didn’t want to expose the last bit of his heart. But no matter how he delayed things, every step Auren took, every symbol that disappeared from Ulric’s skin, brought them closer to the end.

Closer to the moment Ulric would cease to exist.

And Auren didn’t know.

He didn’t know Ulric could have returned him to his sea-born shape days ago. The potion's effects lingered only because Ulric was using his precious stores of magic to keep them here. To keep them in this human form.

Because the moment Auren returned to the sea, the moment Ulric’s purpose was fulfilled—the gods would owe him nothing.

And Ulric owed them everything.

Their blessing would leave him. Strip him of his magic and leave time to rapidly take back what Ulric had stolen from it. He’d dissolve into the sand. Forgotten by time. Buried, like all things the sea no longer wanted.

“You’re thinking too hard,” Auren said, gliding through the water until their knees brushed. He pressed an index finger to the furrow in Ulric’s brow. “Stop it.”

Ulric laughed. “Maybe I need a distraction?”

Auren leaned closer, water trickling from his hair. “I was hoping you’d come to that conclusion. I don’t think we’ve finished my lessons. There is more to this body I have yet to learn.”

Ulric took Auren by the arm, guiding him through the water until the prince was on his lap, his towel slipping loose as he settled, ass bare and perfect. Auren leaned into the embrace, his back to Ulric’s front. Ulric wanted to grip him, claim him, crush him close.

“There’s more than one place I can touch you,” Ulric whispered, lips brushing Auren’s ear, “to make you come undone.”

Auren shivered. “Show me.”

Ulric started slow. He kissed his way down Auren’s neck, his shoulder. His hands roaming lower still, until Auren gasped as Ulric’s fingers teased the inner apex of his thighs.

“Spread your legs for me, darling.”

Auren hesitated, his breath stuck in his chest. But a moment later, he obeyed, relinquishing control. And that submission made Ulric throb, tenting his towel, pushing against Auren’s back.

“Do you trust me?” Ulric breathed.

“Y-yes,” Aurent said, already breathy though Ulric had hardly touched him.

In one swift motion, the Kraken lifted him and spun, setting Auren on the edge of the bath. His legs still dangled in the water, and streams ran from his soaked scarlet hair.

“What are you doing!?”

“Hush,” Ulric commanded.