Chapter Twelve
Nic
Luc was right. Nic could feel it – his kraken could feel it, too, and he could barely keep his tentacles in check. It was exactly how Nic felt when he met Luc, but multiplied because now it was Luc and Sage.
The moment Sage sat down with them at the table, it was as if Nic got a glimpse of what their future life could be like. Whereas Nic knew he and Luc were often perceived as larger-than-life, extroverted personalities, it was clear that Sage wasn’t anything like that at all.
It was wonderful. Peaceful. Calming. Nic didn’t see the need to perform – to be at the top of his game.
Maybe it was because Sage seemed so put together.
He was clearly shocked and a bit nervous, and Nic understood that.
But rather than talk to fill in any silence, Sage was just waiting, clearly wondering the reason behind the dinner, but prepared to listen.
“You know we’re kraken shifters, don’t you?” Luc asked.
Sage nodded. “Mates, so I understand. That must be a very special bond, as I hear you’ve been together a long time.”
“Fifty years,” Nic agreed. “Do you have someone special in your life, Sage?” Nic figured it would be a good idea to find out if there were any impediments to their relationship before they revealed anything.
“Me?” Sage chuckled as he shook his head. “I’m a research scientist. The only beings who try to hold my hands are octopuses, or an occasional squid.”
Tentacled beings? Some of Nic’s old fears started creeping into his gut, and he looked across at Luc who quirked his eyebrow. “Your field of study is tentacles?”
“I have a PHD in Teuthology, obviously specializing in cephalopods, but as I’m sure you’re both aware, any tentacled being is more than the sum of their appendages.”
Ahhhhh. Nic’s fears disappeared back into the dark again. “Do you…” Nic had to swallow a sudden lump in his throat. “Have you studied krakens?”
Sage’s eyes met his for the first time. Nic noticed they were a pale green, and it was as if they could see into Nic’s soul and that of his kraken. “Natural krakens are not easy to access in their typical habitat, and I object to studying any creatures kept in tanks or manmade aquariums.
“I did a couple of dives earlier in my research. I love being underwater, but” - Sage spread his hands apart - “I’m limited by my own physiology.
I imagine you two will have seen sights people like myself can only dream about under the sea.
I have no problem admitting I’m jealous of your abilities, but still.
I’m sure you didn’t invite me to share a meal just to hear about what I do for a living. ”
He doesn’t see us as just a set of tentacles.
He doesn’t believe in captured creatures.
He’s been on dives.
He loves the water.
Nic looked at Luc and could see he’d come to the same conclusion.
“We’re mates,” Nic blurted – the words just came out.
“I know. You confirmed that just before.” Sage smiled. “I understand that’s important among paranormals. I studied mating bonds as part of my earlier research before deciding to focus on natural cephalopods.”
“What Nic’s trying to say,” Luc said quietly, “is that the personal matter we wanted to talk to you about is that we realized you are our third – the mate we’ve waited fifty years for. If you’ve studied shifter krakens at all, you’d know we often mate in threes. We know you are our third.”
Sage’s gasp was interrupted by a polite tap on the door, and Nic sighed.
It was almost midnight. He was hoping to at least get a kiss to start the New Year.
He was seriously thinking all the talking was just getting in the way of the good stuff – even if it was necessary.
Sage’s stunned face was cute as well…just for the record.
/~/~/~/~/
Sage
Mates. The word shoved it’s way to the front of Sage’s head, pushing out all thoughts of his trip to Iceland, his parents’ constant calls, working on reception, or even Marty due back the next day, possibly with gifts for him.
Mates – I’m a mate.
Sage hadn’t been lying when he said he had studied mating bonds when he was still going through university.
It was a topic that really interested him.
He had thought it was fascinating the various ways that different paranormals sensed/found their fated mates, and the fact that they were considered fated at all.
He wasn’t sure that he believed in the story of the three women who determined the life path of all known beings and who wove the tapestry of life. Although he’d often thought there had to be some hand on the universal design, and the Fates were as good an explanation as any.
The crucial part, and Sage remembered this from his studies, was that the concept of mates was the most important thing in a paranormal’s life – they were bonds forged in bites and sex that could never be broken.
The physical attraction wouldn’t be a problem, Sage thought as he smiled at the server who put an empty plate in front of him. Luc and Nic had often starred in his personal fantasies, even though he never believed they’d meet.
But that was just a fantasy, right? Never in a million Sundays would Sage have thought that he could have some otherworldly connection to those same two men.
Luc and Nic both seemed adamant that he was the one.
Sage understood their belief at a gut level, even as he was still trying to work out how it happened at all. We live in different worlds.
Luc and Nic were both very successful businessmen.
They were sociable, friendly with everyone, and they had lots of parties.
Sage couldn’t lay claim to any of those things.
And yes, there were some things Sage had read about – tentacle orgies, for example – that he didn’t want to think about, and that’s without the whole idea that the krakens didn’t like non-paras at all. Barry did debunk that last one.
The mind-blowing part of Nic and Luc’s declaration – the one bit Sage was really struggling with – was that both men seemed really happy with the idea that he was the one for them.
Their third. Just thinking about it gave Sage a warm glow, imagining what it might be like to be with genuine sea shifters.
He had a sudden image of him sitting on a boat in the middle of an ocean somewhere, with two huge krakens swimming and playing underneath. That would be a dream come true.
“Did you want to try a bit of everything?” Luc’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. He was holding a serving spoon, and there was a trolley of different foods left to the side of the table.
“Just a bit, thank you.” Sage smiled and nodded, his grin widening as Nic and Luc reached over each other to put food on his plate. “That’s enough, thank you,” he added as his plate quickly filled. “I don’t have a huge appetite, especially at this time of night.”
Sage was glad that the two men didn’t say anything personal as the staff prepared to leave, although he noticed one man lingering by the door, glancing at his watch.
“Excuse me, sir, you did ask me to let you know when it was five to midnight. It’s four minutes and thirty seconds to midnight from now. ”
“Thank you, Jonathan,” Luc said. “That’s much appreciated.”
Jonathan left, closing the door quietly behind him, and to Sage’s surprise, Luc and Nic stood up.
“Please start your meal, you’ll just have to excuse us just for a moment,” Luc said, as he wrapped his arms around Nic’s waist, his mate stepping in close to him as his arms wrapped around Luc.
“Nic and I have a tradition we have carried on for fifty years – we always share a New Year’s Eve kiss as the clock strikes twelve. ”
That sounded normal enough. Sage was sure many couples enjoyed a similar tradition – it would be a romantic thing to do, celebrating the start of a new year.
Maybe that will be me one day. Sage quietly nibbled on his food – it was a really tasty collection, but as the minutes passed, he couldn’t look away from the way the two men looked deep into each other’s eyes.
Away from the social media cameras, journalists, and guests, Sage could see there was a very deep connection between the two men. It was obvious even to his non-paranormal eyes, and as the moments ticked over until midnight, Nic and Luc started to count down.
“Ten…”
“Nine…”
“Eight…”
“Seven…”
Each man took turns to count down until one.
Sage could hear a few cheers coming from down the hallway, and he imagined there was a lot of celebrating and kissing going on in the penthouse level.
But in the private dining room, Nic held Luc’s face in both hands, and the two men engaged in a kiss that had Sage’s face flushing as if he were sitting in front of a heater.
Looking down quickly, he stabbed at a piece of fish, focusing on his food rather than interfering with what was clearly a very personal moment.
It didn’t last long, barely any time at all.
Luc and Nic had spent more time counting down than they had actually locking lips together.
But both men ran fingers through their hair and took a couple of deep breaths before sitting down again, and then they both leaned over the table, and Sage felt a brief brush of warm lips on both cheeks.
“We didn’t want you to feel as if we were ignoring you,” Nic said with a cheeky grin as he straightened in his seat again.
“That probably looked a little weird to you,” Luc added as he sat up and picked up his fork.
Looking across at his dinner companions, Sage shook his head. “I think it’s lovely that you’ve been together so long and you’ve got traditions you like to follow. Your New Year kiss is something that’s clearly important to you. I hope the moment wasn’t spoiled by my being here.”
“That would never happen,” Luc said. “As we said, you’re our third.”
“Yes, about that.” Sage felt he should be fair to his…
mates. It would take him a little while to get used to that word in relation to himself.
“I’m not disputing this third business. You two would know about that more than I would, but I can feel” - he waved his fork in the air - “things, but I also feel it’s only fair to warn you that I’m nothing like you two.
Nothing at all - and I’m not just talking about the lack of height or tentacles. ”
Luc and Nic shoulder-bumped each other the moment Sage said “things.” Sage thought he was going to combust in his chair as his “warmth” was reaching interesting places.
Taking another mouthful of his food, Luc said, “We expected our third to be different from us.”
“I’m not as strong as you, and probably don’t have the same stamina levels either.”
Nic was already chewing, but he managed to say, “You will once you’re claimed. Stamina, I mean.”
Really? Sage didn’t learn about that in his studies. But then Luc said something that truly made Sage believe he’d fallen asleep at the reception desk.
“You’ll be able to swim underwater without all that equipment, too. You can come swimming with us in our shifted form.”
Sage stared at the two men who were still eating. He looked at the food on his fork, and then swallowed a huge lump in his throat. “Did I hear you correctly? As your third, I’d be able to swim underwater – no breathing apparatus, no tanks, and no masks. I can just breathe and not drown?”
“After claiming, yep,” Nic said. “We wouldn’t feel right going for swims, around our island, for example, without you coming with us. You did say you liked being in the water, and the water there is lovely and warm most of the year.”
Putting down his fork, Sage pushed his plate to one side.
He adjusted his glasses as he debated how to ask the next, most obvious question.
Finally, he decided blunt was best. “Is this for real? You’re not just winding me up as a New Year’s prank?
Marty didn’t set me up for this? This is actually true?
The third business, the swimming underwater – it’s true? ”
“It is all true. The one thing shifters would never joke about is anything to do with mates.” Pushing his plate aside, Luc reached for Nic’s free hand. “However, there is one thing you should know about Nic and me before we go much further.”