Songs of the Sea

Chapter 5-2

By the time Sartin had finished the short tale, the children were asleep on the beach. Although their parents preferred they practice flicking in the shallow waters, one night on the beach wouldn’t hurt.

“You shouldn’t tell such tales to scare the children,” Belzer said when Sartin was done.

“But I saw them today,” Sartin said.

The pod let out a collective, quiet gasp.

“You saw land people this close to Home Cove?” Barakat asked.

“I was on the island packing my wound when their tree whale appeared in the distance. It swam right near the crag where I spied on them.”

“What did they do?” Belzer asked, her tone bordering on defensive.

“Nothing, they just floated by.”

“Did they see you?” Bray asked. “Did they follow you?”

More gasps came from the pod. Some of them craned their necks, looking out to the open ocean to see if a tree whale was near Home Cove.

“No,” Sartin said.

“I don’t believe you,” Wickizer said. “You make up these stories to make yourself important.”

“Did you tell Thornton or Haenisch?” Sartin’s Aunt Bartek barked.

“No, but I will.”

As Sartin swam away, he heard Belzer say, “Do not speak of this to the children. There is no reason to scare them.”

The fresh wound didn’t help his sour mood after Wickizer’s telling of “Kirklin” or the reiteration and traditional values that came after that. He shouldn’t have continued with Klem’s Story and gotten everyone else riled up. Even though he ached and needed to rest on the beach, he went for a moonlight swim to relax. Wickizer’s strange behavior entered his thoughts once he reached the open water. Wickizer treated him awful at Home Cove, but conveniently ended up on watch with him more often than not.

Sartin swam under the surface of the warm water as much as he could. In seven more sleeps, the pod would begin their Journey South for the Winter Meeting. He swam past Haenisch and Thornton, on night guard, and mentioned the land people. Eventually he made it to the outer crag the males used to rest while on guard duty. Sartin laid on his back and allowed his tail to bob in the current. His n*****s rose to attention as the cool night air blew across his wet skin. He said another prayer to the Princess.

He repeated the prayer over and over again until something grabbed onto his tail and dragged him underwater. Pain and panic seized him for just a moment before instinct took over. He squirmed out of the hold of his attacker. Once free, Sartin coughed and spattered as he emerged for air.

“Thornton!” Sartin exclaimed. “What are you doing here?” Even though the air was cool, Sartin scooted back up on the rock.

Beall, Sartin’s cousin, had died earlier in the season in the mouth of an orca. She left Thornton a widower with their young son, Bertig. Ballard and Beall’s mother, Sartin’s Aunt Brandt, watched the child when Thornton was on guard or fishing duty.

Resting on his elbows, Sartin caught his breath while Thornton clung to his tail and bounced on the surface with the waves. Thornton’s well- developed arms and shoulders bulged as he held on. Sartin kept an eye for predators. The splashing might attract them. Most of the work of the watch was not attracting the sharks, killer whales, and leopard seals to Home Cove, like Wickizer had nearly done earlier in the day.

“Coming to check on you,” Thornton said with a mischievous grin. “Are you okay?” He continued to dangle on Sartin’s tail.

“Yes, I packed the wound, and it’s healing.”

“A natural born Alewar and a healer. What more could you want, Sartin?”

A mate and pod who wants an Alewar. Love and respect.

Thornton pulled himself up out of the water, on top of Sartin and forced Sartin to lie all the way down. Although it was dark, Thornton’s brown eyes sparkled with lust. He intertwined his tail around Sartin’s. If it had been light out, their tails would have been a shadowy contrast against each other, Thornton’s black against Sartin’s blue-gray. Thornton kissed him. The weight of Thornton’s body felt good as he compressed Sartin against the rock, although it made the injury ache. Sartin debated which was worse, the pain of the fresh wound, or going without Thornton’s contact for such a long time.

“Am I hurting you?” Thornton asked as he kissed Sartin’s neck and ear.

“It’s not bad,” Sartin lied.

Thornton slid off Sartin, to his right side to avoid the injury, and continued to gnaw at his ear and neck.

Sartin stopped him. “We can’t do this tonight,” he said, attempting to push Thornton away.

“Why not?” Thornton asked, resisting the push, continuing to pleasure Sartin’s ear and neck.

“I don’t have the energy.” Although Sartin knew the release would help him heal, he didn’t want to be Thornton’s secret lover that night.

“I may not be a healer, or the son of a healer, but I know what makes an injured body feel good.”

“Come on, just lie here with me.”

Thornton didn’t stop. “Relax. Let me take care of you tonight.”

Thornton leaned up on his elbow and kissed Sartin again. His look, his tone, the kiss told Sartin that he meant what he said and that, at least for tonight, Thornton was in charge. Thornton grabbed some moss from the rock and mixed it with a bit of fine debris floating near them. He crushed it in his hands, mixed it with a bit of water, and massaged Sartin’s sore muscles. Using circular strokes, Thornton rubbed Sartin’s chest up, around, and down the sides. He modified the caresses on the left sides to avoid the injury. Sartin relaxed as his sore muscles felt relief from Thornton’s touch.

Thornton pulled Sartin to turn over on his stomach. He grabbed some more mud and added to the scrub he’d already created. The additional abrasion felt good on Sartin’s back.

While Thornton worked on his back, Sartin sighed and fell into deep relaxation, not quite sleeping. Thornton had been correct, the massage and cleaning helped the healing process. Sartin drew in another deep sigh, thinking about Thornton while he continued the ritual that would almost certainly end in s*x.

He and Thornton could be mates. The union would elevate Thornton’s status to that of Alewar, but Thornton didn’t want to proclaim their relationship publicly. Sartin didn’t want to ruin Thornton’s gesture that night or the time they had together by mulling a subject long since decided.

After cleaning Sartin’s backside, Thornton nudged him to turn over. His skin was a little tender from the cleaning, and at the same time, the pressure from Thornton draped over him felt good. Thornton continued to rub the sea scrub over his tail. Thornton stopped at the sheath.

Already half erect from the massage, Sartin’s body continued to react to Thornton’s stimulation. With just a few licks at the opening, Sartin’s c**k popped through the protective layer of skin. As much as Sartin hated to admit it, his body needed the release.

Thornton took Sartin’s hard shaft in his mouth slowly until he’d swallowed the entire length. Sartin felt the head of his d**k travel along the roof of Thornton’s mouth until he could go no more, providing pleasure for them both. Sartin pumped his hips in and out, f*****g Thornton’s mouth. Thornton opened wider so he could accept each gentle stroke from Sartin.

Sartin’s orgasm bubbled in his testicles buried inside his body. He was leaking the first drops of semen. Normally, he would stop Thornton and slow down to make the sensation last. Tonight, Sartin wanted to come and get back to Home Cove. Thornton stopped sucking.

“What’s wrong?” Sartin asked, lifting his head in alarm.

“Nothing,” Thornton whispered as Sartin’s c**k slipped out of his mouth. Thornton pulled himself up on top of Sartin, careful not to put any pressure on Sartin’s wounded chest. Supporting himself with his arms, like a seal dragging itself on the beach, Thornton rubbed his own hard shaft against Sartin’s, the slick pre-c*m from both c***s combining to form the slickness needed for penetration.

Sartin laid his head back on the rocks and relaxed as Thornton moved his ass to Sartin’s shaft and forced the head into the entrance. Slick with pre-c*m, and desire for Sartin, Thornton’s hole accepted Sartin’s length. Thornton held himself up on his strong arms, allowing him to get used to the invading girth.

Once he was ready, Thornton lifted his hips and f****d himself on Sartin’s c**k. Soon, the song in each of their heads synced together to form a melody that was uniquely their own. In no time at all, the need to come once again over took Sartin’s need for the s*x to last. Mustering what strength he had, Sartin pushed his hips to meet Thornton’s thrusts. Thornton clenched his ass around Sartin’s length while he Sartin emptied his warm semen into Thornton’s body. Thornton shifted the weight of his left hand and started jacking himself with his right. As Thornton got closer to orgasm, Sartin sensed Thornton’s ass tighten once again. Sartin looked down at Thornton’s c**k and saw the opening widen as his warm semen spurted onto Sartin’s stomach. Thornton lowered himself, coating his own chest, and kissed Sartin.

“I should return to watch, I don’t want Haenisch to be suspicious,” Thornton said.

“Sure, I should be resting anyway.”

Thornton pushed himself off of Sartin and into the water. He swam away without making a sound. Sartin splashed water on his torso to remove the sticky residue of the rendezvous. He lowered himself into the water and swam slowly, adding to the relaxation and comfort of his wounded body.

He wished they didn’t have to be secret. It was perfectly fine for widowed males to Couple with Alewars, though usually the Alewar took the passive role in s*x. Not that it was anyone’s business what any Couple did away from the pod. Thornton had refused to consider a partnership from the beginning of their nighttime meetings.

“Who would watch Bertig while we fished or had watch?” he asked when Sartin brought up the subject.

“My mother or aunt, like they do now,” Sartin had answered.

The justification wasn’t good enough for Thornton. Although Thornton definitely enjoyed Sartin’s c**k while they were having s*x, Thornton wouldn’t consent to being a passive spouse. In Sartin’s desire to have a mate, they even switched positions once. It hurt Sartin too much, so Sartin flipped them over and resumed his active role.

Sartin rolled his eyes to himself when he thought about Thornton even participating in the Presentation Ceremony this year to find a new female mate. It meant that he and Bertig would leave the pod and go with her family. If the child had been a female, she would have stayed with her grandmother.

Just as Sartin predicted earlier in the afternoon, the rain arrived by the time he returned to Home Cove. He swam through the canal to reach the cavern. The lagoon buzzed with tails flicking, keeping the pod floating on their backs, breathing while they slept. It didn’t take long for the soothing noise to put him to sleep.