Chapter 23 #2
I had such confused memories of the lake.
Of the sudden stab of cold, the pressure of the water pushing in on me from all sides, the blackness.
I couldn’t really make sense of it. All I knew was that I’d thought I was going to die, and then I’d felt those tentacles around me, a drag through the water and then fresh, life-giving air.
I lifted one and pressed a kiss to it. Erik gasped.
“I-I meant how do you feel about this,” he said, and waved the tentacle in the air. “Now you can see them properly and you know what I am.”
“Oh.” Declan’s face was a picture, looking like he wished he’d never replied to that question.
I chuckled. “I don’t think Declan cares either way.”
He looked rueful. “I know that’s probably not what you want to hear. I-I don’t know how I feel about them yet, other than they’re there and I… Sonny’s right, I don’t care. They’re part of you, that’s okay. They feel nice, that’s great. Sonny loves them—”
“Hey, I don’t love them,” I protested.
Declan’s eyes dropped down to my dick, which was tenting the blanket. Apparently I hadn’t done as good a job as I thought covering it up.
“Really?”
“Half of this hard-on is for you, I’ll have you know.
And it’s not just Erik’s tentacles I like.
I thought he was hot the first time I met him, which also I hated about him, and I thought he was pretty when he arrived at the lake and then he gave me his scarf which was sweet and annoyingly kind, and I thought you’d go off with him and marry him and live happily ever after and I’d have to smile all day on your wedding day and pretend it was okay because of course I’d be your best man. ”
I ran out of breath, and had to inhale.
Declan gave a rueful smile. “So while you’ve been marrying me and Erik off in your head, I’ve been pairing you and him up because you look— well, you look good together. Erik’s just what you need, Sonny.”
“What do I need?”
“He’s kind of toppy. He gets bossy and takes care of people.”
Okay, I admit, that sounded soooo good. I snuggled further into the warm tentacles around me.
Declan hadn’t finished, though. “And you’re my— you’re a ray of sunshine. You’ll light up his world.”
Erik wrapped me suddenly tighter and moved me, lifting me slightly to create room on the couch.
“Wow, you’re strong.”
“We’re stronger than humans. Declan, come and sit here beside us.”
Declan lifted himself, and I could tell it was awkward, the angle of his arm against the fireplace was off, and he muttered, probably to cover his embarrassment, “See, I told you he was bossy.”
Erik said, “Yes, I am. It’s my job. And, where you and Sonny are concerned, it’s my privilege.” He stroked a tentacle gently over Declan’s arm as he lowered himself onto the couch the other side of Eric. “Thank you for letting me be bossy.”
I stroked my hands over one of them, a long, silky-smooth glide. I couldn’t help but play with one of those suckers. I really, really wanted to feel it against my skin.
“So are you an alien, then?” I asked.
Erik snorted, almost choking. “No, I’m not an alien. I’m a shifter.”
“Oh, okay.” I turned my head to look at him. “What’s a shifter?”
“It means I can change form, shifting between my human form and my octopus form.”
“Oh, an octopus, that makes sense.”
Declan said, “You’re big as an octopus, right?”
“Pretty big.”
“I saw you bring Sonny to the surface.”
“Thank you,” I said, and circled another of those suckers, playing along them in a pattern. “So are all your family shifters?”
“I don’t have a family. I grew up in the care system.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
I felt him shrug behind me, but I could tell from his voice that it wasn’t something he dismissed as easily as he was making out.
“It was a long time ago.”
Declan asked, “Is that why you don’t do much for Christmas?”
“Yeah. There’s no point if it’s only me.”
“It’s not only you now, though, is it?” I said. “You’ve got us now.”
“Yes, I do.”
“So why did you want to be a physiotherapist?”
“I’ve always been drawn to movement. I wanted to help people get better and heal their bodies, but I didn’t want to be a doctor or a nurse.” His voice turned sheepish. “I don’t like the sight of blood.”
Declan said, “I didn’t know that,” and it made me roll my eyes.
I turned around, drawing my feet up so I could lean against Erik and face him and Declan. Erik almost looked as though he were leaning into Declan, smaller and slender and darkly pretty, but his long limbs were splayed over Declan’s shoulders, holding him the way they were holding me.
“How could you not have asked that already? Didn’t you want to know?”
Declan shrugged. “I never thought to ask.”
“You don’t know much about each other at all, do you? You’ve just been lusting after each other’s bodies. Not that I blame you.”
I shimmied, and Erik laughed.
“If I confess that there was a substantial amount of lust, will you forgive me?”
Grandly, I granted forgiveness. “Yes, I will.” Then I got distracted by another thought. “Who taught you to shift into your octopus form?”
The laugh lines around Erik’s eyes vanished. “I learned that on my own.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s really not your fault. When I started going through puberty, that’s when my abilities kicked in.
I couldn’t control it very well. It caused…
a lot of problems for a while, until I learned to control it.
Well, almost control it. Sometimes I still lose control of my limbs and my octopus pushes out without me meaning it to. Like now.”
“Is your octopus inside you?” I peered into his eyes, trying to see it. His eyes were black and liquid.
“It’s always inside me. It’s part of me. I’m just used to keeping it locked away, that’s all. Most people don’t like my tentacles.”
Declan grunted, “We like them.”
“Oh?” asked Erik. “I thought you hadn’t made up your mind.”
“I have now.”
Declan sounded as though he wanted to go and murder everyone who’d ever made Erik feel shy and embarrassed about his tentacles.
“I used to hate that I was different. I didn’t know anyone like me, and even other shifters didn’t like to see my animal form.
But I’ve done a lot of work on myself and I’m glad that my animal is an octopus.
It’s freeing, to be able to slide into the water and drift.
And it’s useful. I’d never have got to Sonny in time if I hadn’t shifted.
I’m fast in the water when I’m not weighed down by clothes and skates. ”
“I probably owe you some new skates,” I said. “If you lost yours coming into the lake after me.”
“I got mine back. I snuck out in the night and collected them. That’s when I found your phone, too. It must have fallen out of your pocket.”
“No wonder it’s dead. But thank you.”
I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Erik’s lips, and then looked expectantly at Declan.
He rolled his eyes. “Are you going to make me and Erik kiss every time you kiss him?”
“Yes!”
Teasingly, Erik said, “If it’s too much bother for you…”
Declan took hold of his chin and tilted his head up so he could swoop down and lay one on him.
Erik’s dark eyes fluttered closed and their lips moved over each other, the soft sounds filling the air beside me along with the crackling of the fire.
They were both so handsome, both so strong and their bodies were the perfect contrast.
When they broke apart, their eyes were glazed and Declan kept his hand on Erik’s cheek. He looked deep into those liquid dark eyes and said, “I love you, Erik. I know it’s fast, but I can’t help it. I love you.”
Finally Declan had said it, and I expected to feel a bit sick, hearing him say that to another man right in front of me, but I didn’t.
I already knew he loved Erik, after all, and I was convinced we could make this work.
We had to because no way was I going to lose Declan now he’d told me he loved me, and I wanted Erik here with us, too.
Declan smiled into Erik’s eyes and then leaned forward again, kissing him softly, and reaching for me. He drew me closer, until I was almost pressed against them, my lips brushing Erik’s cheek.
I could feel the movement of their kiss against my skin, and it was almost as though I were part of it. And then Declan twisted his head and took my mouth, sliding his tongue inside me and lighting me up.
As Declan kissed me deeply and I felt Erik’s hard body pressing into me, I might, possibly, have made a desperate sound in my throat. Whatever it was, it made Declan pull back and I tried to grab him and pull him back towards me but I was too slow.
He blinked at me, a slow smile pulling at his lips.
“I never thought—” he said, and then kissed me again, and then turned to kiss Erik again. It was as though he couldn’t do it enough, couldn’t feel us pressed against him hard enough to believe we were actually there.
As I let him kiss me and watched him kiss Erik, I wanted to cry with how happy I felt. I must have made another noise because both of them looked at me, their lips red and puffy from all the kissing, Erik’s dark eyes glazed.
“What is it? Are you okay?”
I nodded. “I’m very happy. This is the best Christmas ever.”
Declan frowned as though he’d forgotten what Christmas was. “Oh yeah, what day is it?”
“Um…” I did the maths in my head. “Christmas Eve?”
I looked at Erik, as though he was the one who would know for sure. He gave a soft chuckle and said, “Yes, it’s Christmas Eve.
Declan’s face fell. “What’s the weather like?”
I eased back as the mood suddenly dipped. The heat that had been scorching me from the erotic tangling of limbs faded, so I stood up, clambering off the couch. I went to the front door and opened it.
A swirl of chilly air blew in and wrapped around my legs. Outside, the world was white and glittering.
“It’s stopped snowing,” I said, and slammed the door shut. “By the way, Erik, did you lock your front door last night?”
He shook his head. “I never lock it. People don’t come this way so I never bother.”
Declan had gone still, looking into the mid-distance. I stood, feeling awkward and wishing I hadn’t got up because then I’d still be pressed against both of them.
Erik turned to Declan. “What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“We talked about you not cutting yourself off. Sonny and I want to know what you’re thinking and feeling. We want to know you. Don’t freeze us out.”
Declan took a big breath. “I just realised that I need to go home by tomorrow. My mum has arranged a whole family Christmas and we need to be there.”
“You can go home,” said Erik. “Sonny said it’s stopped snowing. I could probably drive you over there today, if we took it slow and careful.”
“No!”
Erik reached up and cupped Declan’s face, looking deep into his eyes. “It’s okay. We’ll be safe. If you want to get home—”
“No, I don’t want to go. I-I mean I want to be there tomorrow, I guess. I love my parents and my mum’s put so much effort into this Christmas, and I know she’s done it for me but— I want to stay here for as long as possible.”
Erik stroked his fingers over Declan’s cheek, across the stubble that had grown over the past few days.
“Okay. How about you call your mum now and tell her that you’ll be there tomorrow morning? We can spend the day and night here, and I’ll drive you over tomorrow once the snow has started to melt a bit more.”
Declan nodded and stood up, using the arm of the couch to help him.
It was impossible not to hear what he said, when he called his parents. I sat beside Erik on the couch while Declan stood in the kitchen, as though that would give him any privacy, and we listened in silence, not touching.
When Declan said, “Yeah, we’ll be there tomorrow, Mum. Sonny’s been salivating over your Christmas pudding,” I leaned over and whispered to Erik.
“Lilian makes the absolute best Christmas pudding. It’s so alcoholic, you can’t breathe anywhere near an open flame for hours after you’ve eaten it.”
Erik chuckled and then jolted as he heard Declan continue.
“Of course Erik will stay. He can stay in my room.” There was a pause while Lilian obviously said something I couldn’t hear, and then Declan’s faltering explanation, “Well, um, you see, we’ve actually started, um, going out? Yes, we— Oh. Great. See you tomorrow. Love you, Mum.”
I studied Erik’s face, which was white with shock. I whispered, “Did you not want anyone to know?”
“No, it’s not that. I just didn’t expect Declan to tell anyone so soon.”
I frowned. “I thought we were meant to be all in? Do you not want that?”
He grabbed my hand. “I want that.”
Declan came back into the room and sat beside us. “So I, um, told my mum about us.”
“How did she take it?”
“She wasn’t as surprised as I thought she would be.”
I could believe it. For all that Declan thought Lilian fussed around, she was astute and there is no way she’d have missed the growing attraction between him and Erik over the past few months.
Declan stuttered, “I know you said you didn’t want to come over for Christmas dinner, but that was before we-we started this.
I thought, now you’re family, you’d want to be part of it.
If you don’t, though, that’s fine. I can text Mum to say you’re busy or you’re not ready to meet everyone. She’ll understand.”
“I’d love to stay for Christmas dinner. And did I hear you right? I’m staying the night, too?”
“Yes. Again, only if you want to. I think Mum wanted to make up the couch for you since she assumed you’d be drinking. I thought it would be better to have you in my bed.”
Erik grinned. “That is a much better proposition.”