STORY EXCERPT

The Shark Fin, the name of the ship, had come to port on Saturn yesterday. Most of the other former slaves were outside, taking in the view of a planet they’d never been on before.

The gravity was slightly different than what Tanner was used to, not enough to make him feel sick, but he wasn’t interested in leaving the ship. Not even when Tomas came back with his mate, the captain of the ship, and had a whole slew of items with him from the shopping and sightseeing he’d been doing. Everyone seemed excited to learn all about the planet and its people, with many spouting off fact’s they’d learned while staying on the surface, like how Saturn used to be covered in gas thousands of years go until it was finally terraformed and people and shifters alike had planted their roots here.

In all honesty, Tanner was curious about the planet. Some of the former slaves were even opting to stay on Saturn instead of making their journey to Earth because of the beauty of the planet and the friendliness of the people.

In truth, Tanner didn’t dare risk stepping off the ship just in case it accidentally left without him, and he never got to see Mikael ever again.

“I don’t want to leave the ship.”

His voice came out sounding more like a pathetic pout than anything, but how was he expected to help that kind of thing when he felt so helpless wherever he went?

Mikael sighed, and now Tanner didn’t want to look up at him because he knew there would be pity in the other man’s eyes. He didn’t want to see that either.

“All right. You can stay here, but how about Thorvald and I take you sightseeing later? We’re only going to be on planet for a few more days. You don’t want to miss anything, do you?”

Tanner would have absolutely wanted to go see what he could of Saturn, but only if it was just Mikael taking him. The fact that Thorvald would be going…

“Thank you for the offer, but…” he didn’t know what to say. Tanner started to sweat. How could he explain it without sounding ungrateful? Without sounding like a selfish bastard?

He was a selfish bastard anyway. Tanner was in lust with Mikael. No. Not lust. He was in love with this man. For the first time in Tanner’s life, he knew what it was like to be in love with someone, and to know the pain of feeling that love not returned.

Mikael was not Tanner’s real mate. The symbol was a lie, meant to help smuggle a group of escaped slaves off the shark planet Raxsor and get them to Earth. Mikael was Thorvald’s mate, and Thorvald was a shark. Tanner was terrified of the sharks. They had been his masters for so long that he didn’t know how he should react or respond when he was around them. Thorvald had been nothing but kind to him, but Tanner couldn’t bring himself to be close to the man.

Thorvald would likely beat him if he found out the things Tanner fantasized about when it came to Mikael.

“Hey, look at me.”

Tanner tensed when Mikael’s hands touched Tanner’s shoulders, holding onto him tightly as they looked each other in the eyes.

Tanner could sink right into those eyes, and the heat from his hands that pierced through his clothing…

Mikael only briefly glanced away to see what the rest of his men were doing. Luckily, they all seemed to be pretending nothing was happening as they returned to their work.

Mikael smiled softly as he looked Tanner in the eyes. “I know you’re worried about Thorvald, but he likes you, he really does. He’s not like the sharks you grew up with. They’re not all like that.”

Tanner’s self-preservation instincts denied that as a true fact, even though Thorvald had only ever been kind and patient with him.

The strange thing was how Tanner’s lust didn’t just end with Mikael. He felt it for Thorvald, too, and it scared him to no end to know he was in lust with a shark shifter.

Mikael seemed to take Tanner’s lack of an answer as a reply in of itself. His lips thinned, but he seemed more disappointed. Tanner searched for anger, but he couldn’t find it.

Which didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Tanner tensed, waiting for a blowback.

“I promise, Thorvald would never hurt you. I meant it, he likes you, just as I do.”

Hope rushed through Tanner’s body and exploded out of his chest. He looked up at the other man, eyes wide and eager. Mikael continued to look at him with that kind smile, his blue eyes easy to sink into as his hands stroked up and down Tanner’s arms. “Please, just give Thorvald a chance. If there’s anything you ever don’t like or are not comfortable with, it can end. We don’t have to go any further.”

Wait, what was he talking about? Because it sounded as though Mikael was speaking of the possibility of having a relationship with him.

Everyone knew that werewolves, sharks, and even dragons could mate in threes. It didn’t always happen, but it happened. That was how Mikael and Thorvald were able to take Tanner in, make it look as if he was already their mate for the sake of paperwork and travel.

A mate was easier to transport than stolen property, after all.

“Would you be willing to give that a chance?” Mikael asked.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Tanner, you’re not scared of Thorvald anymore, are you?”

Thorvald struggled to keep from sighing. What the fuck? He really hadn’t seen his mate coming right out and just asking that.

He also didn’t expect Tanner to shake his head. “No.”

“Are you nervous, though?”

Tanner nodded. “A little.”

“But not because of Thorvald, right?”

Thorvald purposely stopped himself from looking at Tanner, just in case that small act was enough to pressure the man into saying something he didn’t mean.

“No, I just…we’re going to have sex, right?”

Thorvald choked on his own surprise. He looked at Mikael, then at Tanner.

Neither appeared surprised. Right, so why was he shocked.

Mikael put his hand behind Thorvald’s neck, amusement dancing in his eyes. “You need to stop treating Tanner like glass. He’s proven that he’s stronger than we thought.”

Mikael had Thorvald there. It had been Tanner who had called Thorvald for help and told him where he and Mikael were, allowing him to make it to his mates faster. When Thorvald had spoken to Mikael after the man woke up, he’d also learned that Tanner refused to leave Mikael’s side, that he’d tried to defend him even.

Thorvald looked at Tanner, and he didn’t need to think about it for long to know just how proud he was of his mate. “You’re right.”

He just didn’t know how to handle the situation. He still didn’t know how to handle this situation without fucking it up and sending Tanner running, but it seemed that just by taking so much care, he’d already been fucking it up.

“I don’t know what to do either,” Tanner admitted, ducking his head, another one of those cute blushes colouring his cheeks. “I’ve never been in a relationship before, and then Mikael told me that you’re both mated to me. That I’m yours.”

Thorvald wasn’t good with these sorts of emotions. Mikael was better at that, despite how serious he could be in his workshop. “Do you want us?”

Tanner cocked his head to the side. “You mean sexually?”

Thorvald laughed a little. “Yeah, that.”

More blushing, this time the color was darker on Tanner’s skin when he nodded.

“How about we ease you into it,” Mikael said, reaching and playing with the cuff of Thorvald’s shirt. “I’ll show you that this big bad shark is really just a puppy at heart.”

“You’re the puppy,” Thorvald said, grinning as he was yanked to his knees as Mikael sat down on the bed.

Thorvald knew where this was going, and his body, already tense with pent up lust, humming with desire from being around Tanner so much, responded. His dick twitched and hardened almost immediately from being on his knees in front of Mikael alone.

Thorvald’s hands roamed. He slid them up and down Mikael’s thighs. “What do you want me to do?”

Mikael smiled at him. When he answered, he looked at Tanner. “I want you to put my cock in your mouth. Show our mate how good you can make me feel with it.”

Ah, because Tanner was still very clearly wary about Thorvald’s teeth.

Seemed like a good plan. After all, if Mikael thought there was a reason for him to fear Thorvald’s shark teeth, he wouldn’t trust for one second having the most sensitive, and possibly important part of himself, in Thorvald’s mouth.

Which made Thorvald all the more eager to get to it.

The ship was still humming beneath him, but it had slowed down. Even in space, the noises of the engines pulsing, keeping the shields up and things moving smoothly, were more pronounced down here. Thorvald liked those noises. He thought they were soothing. He hoped Tanner did, too. That might make this easier.

When Mikael undid the button and zipper of his pants, Thorvald wasted no time in pulling them down his thighs. The man’s cock sprung up from the material, curving towards his stomach, dark in color, and throbbing in time with Mikael’s heartbeat.

Thorvald took it in hand. He glanced at Tanner, who stood frozen, watching the exchange with his face such a bright shade of red it was a shock he wasn’t getting a nosebleed from the blood rushing to his face.

“You keep your eyes on us,” Mikael said, and he winked down at Thorvald.

Thorvald grinned. “You just try to keep the noise down. This one’s a howler. You know, because wolf,” he said.

Of course Mikael got offended. “That’s not true! I don’t just howl because I’m a wolf!”

“Sure you don’t,” Thorvald said, grinning at his made just before he leaned in and let his tongue slide wetly along the base of Mikael’s cock. From root to tip, he hardened his tongue into a tip and played with the underside of the mushroom-shaped head.

Mikael gasped, and Thorvald felt the shiver that rushed through his mate. Mikael’s hand slid across his scalp, holding him in place when Thorvald put his lips around the head and sank down.

He felt the thick shaft sliding against his tongue as he sank his lips deeper and deeper down. He’d become good at this over the years, since Mikael was the only person he would ever do this to.

Well, maybe not the only person anymore. If Tanner would let him, he would definitely do it to him, too.