Chapter 3

Warm hands slid across my skin and snaked down until it reached my hard morning wood. I turned around and captured the lips of the person the hands belonged to.

There was nothing like a morning exercise to get the blood flowing. It was the perfect way to wake up. Jerry—or Jeralis or whatever the guy's name was—seemed to have the same mentality as he ground up hard against me.

A moan escaped his lips as I squeezed his ass, and what an ass he had. I remember really enjoying that ass with my dick last night, and I wasn'topposed to a repeat.

The loud ringing of my phone sounded just as my finger slipped down his crack. I groaned, this time in frustration, as I broke our kiss and sat up.

On nights I went out for a bit of fun, I usually put my phone on Do Not Disturb, and the only people who would repeatedly call until it went through were my family. Goddess knew what lid they would blow if I kept ignoring them.

"Looks like playtime's over. You wanna jump in the shower while I get that?" I said and grabbed my phone from the floor. Checking the caller ID, I was proven correct to see it was my oldest sister, Corelyn, calling.

"I swear to goddess you better not be fooling around," she greeted ever so sweetly. My hookup must have heard her loud voice too, since he quickly made himself scarce and ran to the bathroom.

"Why good morning to you too, my dear sister. It's always lovely to hear from you." The sarcasm was dripping from my voice, causing my sister to make a low noise that suspiciously sounded like a growl. "Careful, sis, we're sperm whales, not wolves."

"Enough with the bullshit, Tidun. Do you even know what time it is? Or are you too hungover from whatever recklessness you were up to last night? It's thirty minutes past the agreed time. The buyer's been spamming me with texts." Corelyn used her firm, next-in-line-to-the-throne voice, which meant she wasn't playing around. I liked to push her buttons, but even I knew not to mess around when she used this tone.

I pulled the phone away from my ear and checked the time. Fuck, and just like she'd said, it was already ten-thirty. This looked super unprofessional considering I'd already pushed the meet-up time to ten in case I'd slept in. I hadn't anticipated last night's activities to last as long as they did. Jerry—that had to be his name—had the stamina of a workhorse, which was usually my type, except in cases like today.

I'd fucked up. Again.

"Shit, tell him I'll be there in ten," I said and hung up the phone before she could nag at me any longer. Goddess knew how Corelyn loved to nag, with me being her favorite target. It didn't help that I was the youngest and the only son in the family. Growing up with three older sisters was just as suffocating as one could imagine, worse still when our mother was themonarch of the sperm whale kingdom.

I quickly threw on some clothes and entered the bathroom to brush my teeth. I didn't have time to wash off the smell of sweat and sex, but I could at least make sure I didn't have cum breath.Fortunately, the buyer I was meeting today was human or else the interaction would be a lot moreawkward than it already would be.

"You gonna join me?" My hookup opened the shower door and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. I continued brushing my teeth, my eyes roaming his body, and landed on his still-hard cock.

"As much as I'd love to, Jerry?—"

"My name's Richard."

"—duty calls. Maybe next time, baby?"

I knew I shouldn't have even tried guessing his name. I'd learned long ago it was just best to call these hookups baby or honey or any other term ofendearment rather than fuck up their name. They really didn't like it when I got their name wrong, and Richard seemed the same if his puffed-up cheeks and red face were anything to go by.

That was my cue to get the hell out of there. I already had one fuck ups too many for the day.

"Take your time in the hotel and order whatever you want for breakfast, honey," I called over my shoulder and closed the bathroom door behind me. Curses followed me as I quickly gathered my items. I hadn't come with much, mostly just my phone, wallet, and the very important briefcase full of shit.

Yes, I had a briefcase containing sperm whale excrement, or ambergris, as the humans called it. It came to a huge shock and fortune to find that humans paid a pretty penny for our shit. I heard it was for their perfumes—which ew—but honestly didn't surprise me. Humans had weird tastes.

We used to sell through goblins, but it was always a risk working with those greedy motherfuckers. We'd eventually found our own contacts with human buyers, and today's buyer was a regular of ours who needed supplies in a rush.

Leaving the hotel, I checked the meeting spot on the GPS. It was about a ten-minute walk, but I could probably do it in five if I rushed. Glancing down, I noticed my shoelaces were untied. I placed the briefcase beside me and kneeled down to fix my shoe quickly, and since I was already down here, I shifted my legs and redid the other lace as well.

I should have noticed the man with the hat pulled low on his face suspiciously loitering near the hotel and wandering closer to me, but perhaps I was still a little drunk from last night and my cap blocking most of my view, I hadn't noticed him at all. It wasn't until the man grabbed my briefcase and was already sprinting down the street that I finally reacted.

I shot to my feet, my cap falling to the ground as I tripped in my rush, which gave the human more time to increase the distance between us.

Fuck! How can a human run so fast?

"Stop! Thief!" I yelled, hoping someone might hear and help me, but the street was currently deserted. I ran as fast as I could, but I was a whale, for goddess' sake! I was made to cross oceans, not concrete paving.

The thief reached the end of the block, the distance between us widening even further. And just when I thought I was gonna fuck up yet again and really cement in just what a disappointment I was, the thief ran into someone who'd turned from around the corner.

"Conall! Are you okay?" A deep woman's voice shouted as the thief and the unfortunate passerby tumbled to the ground. This clearly startled the robber, as he quickly scrambled to his feet and continued down the street, leaving my briefcase behind.

"Not so fast!" I heard the woman call again and seconds later, she rounded the corner as well to chase after the runaway.

I finally caught up and quickly kneeled in front of the stranger, who was rubbing his forehead.

"Shit, are you all right?" I asked, helping him to his feet. My fingers grazed his skin, and it felt like I'd been shocked by an electric eel. I flinched back, wondering if I'd imagined it. The man didn't seem to have noticed and was still rubbing the red splotch on his forehead.

"Mostly. Still in one piece," he grumbled.

I knew he was injured, and this was entirely the most inappropriate moment, but fuck was his voice sexy. Even while he was in pain, it carried a bright, melodic tone that would sound so good shouting my name while I pleasured him.

He rubbed his wound one last time before letting his hand fall. His long, dark eyelashes fluttered briefly before he looked up at me to reveal clear, blue eyes.

He was exactly my type, beautiful and innocent-looking. They were the best kind to make a complete mess of. I had to quell the urge to flirt with him because again, not the right time or place.

"Uh, hi," he said shyly. His long eyelashes fluttered again.

I'd be a fool if I didn'trecognize his interest as well, and that made it so much harder to not flirt. But something about him had my gut telling me he didn't deserve to have some sleazy guy try to pick him up when he'd just gotten into an accident. He deserved something better, someone better.

Fortunately, I wasn't given any time to fuck up in front of the cute stranger. My phone rang again, and I just knew it had to be my sister, demanding to know where I was.

"I'm really sorry to run when you just saved my neck. I probably wouldn't have lived to see another day if you didn't make the thief drop my briefcase," I said, pulling out a business card from my wallet and handing it to him. Thankfully, I always had a couple on hand, just in case.

I looked past the cutie and saw the woman from earlier coming back with the thief in tow. She looked more than capable of handling the situation, so I stood to rush to the appointment before my sister tried feeding me to the sharks. Again.

"Call me and I'll thank you properly later!" I yelled over my shoulder. Picking up the briefcase, I answered my phone and sped-walked away.

As expected, my sister's angry voice filled the line. I shot one last look at the adorable, shocked expression the man had, and I couldn't muster up my usual annoyance at her nagging.

Part of me hoped to see him again, even if it was just to be in hispresence, but another part of me whispered that it would be better if I never did.

I didn't need another reason to be a fuckup.