Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

TOBIAS

I should've known we'd end up back in the boat the next day. Pabbi missed the point entirely that the only reason we got paid like we did for that catch was because someone literally put fish in our net. He honestly wanted us to coerce Halaby into doing it again! And Pabbi wouldn't hear a word about how that wasn't fishing like we'd been doing for six generations either. Not even when I'd said it was like taking a handout.

I hadn't told anyone about Halaby and me yet because I knew they'd want to meet him. Meeting him would mean my own father could pin Halaby down and get him to bring more fish to us. I didn't want to put Halaby in the position of making him work for us out of some sense of obligation to me, so I kept my mouth shut.

With them, anyway. I totally spilled everything to Svein.

"Give me a number," he said over the phone. "Come on."

I was at the wheel driving us out into the harbor with Helli out on the deck—wearing a life jacket, thank fuck—so I knew she couldn't hear me. She might wonder why my face was bright red, though, since she was still slowly drying out her guitar at home and didn't have a distraction .

"Svein…" I dodged, half tempted to pretend my earpiece had fallen out and I couldn't hear him.

"Tobias, seriously, it's for research. I sucked off a delightfully fluffy gray wolf last night and I choked on him. You know I never do that."

I groaned at having to say something, but I was also kind of proud. "I didn't measure him?—"

"I'll take a good guess."

"—but I'd say at least nine. Maybe more."

Svein cackled over the line like a supervillain. "Yes! Thank god for the Norlons. They're turning our dating pool into an ocean!" He giggled before sighing in what sounded like relief.

He wasn't wrong about Kleifar getting an upgrade in the dating pool now that the Norlons were here. We had a decent showing of queer people, but it was practically getting incestuous at this point because we'd all hooked up at least once. The Norlons seemed to have an easygoing attitude toward sex with whoever—like maybe they were naturally pan or something—so the possibilities had been exciting before I ever met Halaby.

"I do need to tell you," I said before clearing my throat. Would he think it was weird? Too fast? Well, committing to Halaby in under an hour was too fast. No denying that.

"What?" Svein asked.

"Um, the guy I met?—"

"Pardon me, the doctor you met."

"Yes, right, the doctor I met… Um, well, he's my mate."

"Okay," he said like he didn't get it, but then he hollered, "Oh my god! Are you serious?"

"Yes?"

"Oh, fuck me, you absolute bitch. How? How did you manage it?" I could hear a lot of shuffling paper noises before he said, "And I'm taking notes, so don't miss a detail."

Now I felt even more embarrassed. "I, um, didn't do anything really. "

"Don't be coy. Spill!"

"No, seriously, I showed up to class, and he was there with a whole lot of other Norlons and a couple humans from Canada, I think."

"I don't care about the Canadians, Tobias."

"Well, I'm just saying that it wasn't anything I did. I walked in, started the class like I always do, and Halaby… He sort of had a reaction. To my scent."

"What were you wearing?"

"Just a sweater and?—"

"No, the cologne! What one?—"

"I wasn't wearing anything like that. It's just me , the scent of me ."

Svein made a considering noise, and I could hear him writing. "So it's true then, that they can sniff out their mate."

"Totally true, yeah."

"Then it's all about exposure. A numbers game. Get yourself in front of as many as possible and see who reacts." More scribbling noises. "What was his initial reaction?"

I was starting to sweat because Helli looked in at me with her eyebrows raised. She knew we were running out of harbor, and I just knew she'd come in and start asking questions. I'd have to stop and get the net dropped soon here and couldn't do that while on the phone.

Oh, duh, that was my excuse to end this torture!

"Look, Svein, I need to go out on deck, so?—"

He groaned. "How am I supposed to find a Norlon mate, too, if you won't tell me what to do?"

"You've already got it: literally get out there and meet them. And, believe me, you won't miss when it happens." Remembering that kiss in the hallway sent a shiver of desire through me and I blushed even more.

He huffed loudly over the line. "Fine. "

I groaned this time. "Seriously, I'd be thrilled if you found someone, too, so just wander around town."

Svein made a grumbly noise but relented for the most part. "Alright, but I still want all the sticky details. Have fun not fishing," he said perkily.

"Thanks so much," I said, faking just as much pep before I ended the call.

I did hope Svein would find a mate with a Norlon—the Disney princess in me wanted everyone to get their happily ever after. But after everything he'd been through since his accident, I was especially invested in him having a happy future. Last year, Svein had been up on the mountain when he'd fallen into a crevasse and broken his back. He'd suffered from depression because he couldn't walk and he hadn't been able to see a way that he could continue to be the outdoorsman he'd been before.

And then a group of people had approached him to work with them on a project to get people with various disabilities more involved with outdoor activities. Svein said a renewed sense of purpose had helped him see that his life wasn't over at all.

I still wanted him to find the love of his life, though. While some of the humans around here wouldn't have anything to do with him because of their prejudices or ignorance, his hookup last night gave me hope that the Norlons weren't like that. After all, the nanobots had given him additional sensation in "the fun bits" as he called it, so I had a feeling he was already in love with the Norlons in general.

"Who was that?" Helli asked as I came out on deck.

"Svein."

She grinned. "I heard he hooked up with a wolf last night."

"Aw, tell me he didn't post photos," I said, grimacing.

"No," she laughed, "someone else did."

"That's worse!"

"Apparently, in his chair, he's at the perfect height to su?— "

"Do not finish that sentence!" I didn't care if she was eighteen, she was still my baby sister.

Helli giggled wickedly even as she blushed, but then she gasped and pointed behind me. I turned to see a round, furry head bobbing up and down in the water about four meters from the boat.

"Halaby?" I hollered as I walked to the side.

"May I come aboard?"

"Yeah, come on!"

He swam over quickly as Helli said, "You found out his name?"

If she only knew what I'd found out…

Halaby climbed over the side of the boat and stepped onto the deck. I made the introductions. "Doctor Halaby Revazi, this is my sister, Helli Ahlberg."

She shook his hand, gushing her thanks at saving her and her guitar, and I kind of zoned out while staring at his body. Those orange Speedos were back, so literally the whole of him was on display. I'd been in some intense relationships that were totally physical before and, though I did want to fuck his brains out, I also really wanted to cuddle up with him.

Suddenly, Halaby was right up in my personal space. "Is there somewhere we can talk privately?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Follow me."

I glanced at Helli watching curiously before I lead Halaby below. The state of the galley was not going to impress him, but other than setting the boat on fire, there wasn't anything I could do about it now. I turned to face him as he came down the stairs and— "Mmph!" I said as he swooped in and kissed me.

His fur was wet, but I clung to him anyway. The front of my t-shirt got soaked as he ravished me like a good boyfriend should, and I hooked a leg around his to grind us together even though my thick, waterproof pants wouldn't let me feel him. Just before Mister "I can hold my breath for forty-five minutes" nearly suffocated me, I snapped my head back and gasped a huge breath.

Halaby chuckled and nuzzled against my neck. "I could scent your lust. I had to get you away or take you right there on the deck."

Fucking on the deck held some real appeal, until I remembered my little sister was up there. "Helli doesn't know. About us. I-I didn't… I was going to?—"

"It's alright." He kissed me briefly. "You don't have to tell anyone."

"No, I want to! Just…" I felt my cheeks blushing hotly. "I'm not ready to share you yet."

Halaby kissed me again, his tongue invading as he buried a hand up into my hair. When he tugged the band out so my hair spilled down, I moaned, but when he kept tugging, I found myself whimpering as I ground my cock against his thigh. That he remembered my fetish for having my hair pulled was getting me so very hot for him.

His hands were suddenly roaming all over me like he was looking for something. A way in maybe? I reached up and detached the straps on my oilskin trousers, gave a shimmy, and let them crumple to my boots. Halaby groaned and grabbed my ass only to jerk back and look down.

"How much clothing are you wearing?" he grouched.

I laughed at him and stepped back, kicking off my boots so I could free everything else. "Did you think I'd be naked under there?"

"Yes."

"It's only about fifteen degrees out there right now and the water's even colder." I took my t-shirt off and went after my jeans next.

"Fifteen? I thought it was sixty."

I paused to glare at him. "Halaby," I said seriously, "you can't live here and use Fahrenheit or the weird measurements the Americans use. Celsius and the metric system. I mean it."

He grinned and chuckled at me. "Yes, dear."

Why did him calling me that send a rush of lust straight to my dick? I shucked my jeans and underwear together and then jumped into his arms. He laughed again as he caught me, his hands now full of my asscheeks just like he'd wanted. A moment of frantic kissing later and he bent, sweeping everything off the galley table so he could set me on it.

We shouldn't do this here, but oh, when I felt him shove those Speedos out of the way to free his cock, I couldn't quite care about stopping as he ground himself on me. Even like this, I could feel those little ridges and I so desperately wanted to feel more of them.

"Fuck me," I begged. "Halaby, please ."

"Lube?" he asked, looking around.

"Aw, dammit." Panting, I looked everywhere, too. "Oh, there! The olive oil. Glass bottle, yellow liquid," I said to guide him in case he didn't know what it was.

Halaby lunged for it, snatching the bottle from the little shelf over the stove. He splashed some onto his hand before pressing his face against my chest and moaning as the slick sound of him coating his dick filled the room. I pulled my legs back, desperate to have him fill me .

A stiff cock was a stiff cock, but when there was a bone in it, I could definitely tell. I felt how hard he was as he eased himself inside me and went deep. Those tiny ridges bumped my rim like fingers playing scales on harp strings, and I could barely breathe from the pleasure. Halaby held my knees spread wide and watched me as he fucked me in long, slow strokes.

I reached up, pulling on my hair as I rode his cock, moaning and whimpering. I'd be embarrassed about the whimpering except for the fact that everything from the possessive look in his golden eyes to the grip he had on my legs said I belonged to him. This was my mate claiming me and, fuck, that did delicious things inside me.

"Are you going to come just like this?" he asked before licking his lips, his gaze clearly on my leaking dick.

I nodded, unable to speak, because yeah, it was going to happen and soon. Those ridges were riding my prostate while pinging my rim and I wasn't going to last much longer. I bit my bottom lip and whined when he looked me in the eyes and grinned so wickedly.

"Come for me."

Oh, did I! I came just as he finished speaking, everything in me clenching and pulsing as my cock shot all across my stomach and my thighs squeezed his waist. Halaby moaned and dropped forward onto his hands, bracing himself over me. I trembled, overstimulated, as he thrust a few more times before he pushed in deep and groaned with his own release. Pulling him down to rest on top of me, I wrapped my arms around him and tried to catch my breath.

Halaby huffed a laugh against my cheek. "I really did mean to talk with you."

"Oh. Oops." I petted his damp fur. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Our future together." He sighed. "I wanted to make sure you understood what being mates means in that regard."

Maybe I'd been putting off thinking about it, but I guess the time to bury my head in the sand was over. The fairytale had real-life to sort out.