Chapter Twenty
Twenty
Cyrus
For the next two weeks, Reece and I trained, fucked, and joined each other for what we hoped were inconspicuous coffee dates. During the moments we weren’t together, we spent our time texting, and I’d learned a lot about my mate.
His middle name was Michael and he loathed wearing socks; he said he hated the way they felt on his feet. He played lacrosse in high school, and he shaved his chest hair each time he took a shower to avoid the annoying prickle of regrowth.
They were tiny mundane things, but I enjoyed knowing them, knowing him.
And I particularly enjoyed the Reece Rollins he kept locked tight under that tough facade.
He was terrified of buzzing insects, swatting and cursing at them as if they threatened his very existence. On walks, he had to stop and pet every dog, and for being a triathlete fitness freak, he had quite the sweet tooth.
All of our intimate moments took place at the gym, and after sex, he’d snuggle up against me in the shower, running his fingertips over my fins while he stared into my eyes.
He was sensitive.
Nuanced.
And with each passing day, I could feel myself falling in love with him.
Sure, part of that inextricable pull to Reece was the mating bond, but it was also due to who he was as a person.
The sun was starting to rise as I pulled my car to a stop outside Reece’s house. This morning we’d head down to the shore of the lake for his first open-water swim.
It was still summer, but here in the upper Northeast, the water was never really warm. According to my research, the average water temperature for the lake this time of year was eighteen degrees Celsius—brisk but not cold enough for him to need a wet suit.
The conditions of an open-water swim were different from the pool.
The cold temperature of the water, the slight waves, maintaining his location.
Anyone would find it intimidating, but if he was going to place well in this triathlon, we needed to start practicing under the conditions he was going to experience.
I was convinced he was ready. He’d been pushing himself quite hard now that I could use sex as a training incentive, but I’d seen his face when I suggested it.
Reece stepped out of the house dressed in his jammers and a hoodie, with the hood covering most of his head except for a tuft of red hair.
Gods, my mate was a stud.
I muttered a thank-you to the goddess as he slipped inside my car.
“Morning,” I said.
“Morning,” he grumbled back.
Reece wasn’t much of a morning person. I knew he had an unhealthy caffeine addiction, and I’d promised to take him for coffee as soon as we were done with our session.
He scanned the empty street for a moment before he leaned over and wrapped his hand behind my head, pulling me in for a kiss. His lips caressed mine, slow and questioning—almost like he was asking for permission to kiss me out in the open like this.
It was more than okay.
It was everything I’d ever wanted.
I slid my hand up the column of his neck, buried my fingers in his hair, and deepened the kiss. Our tongues brushed together, giving me a taste of his minty toothpaste. This wasn’t our normal frantic kissing. It was sweeter. Softer. Like we were savoring each stolen second.
“Well, that was certainly a development,” I said with a dreamy sigh as he pulled away and fastened his seat belt.
“What? I missed you,” he mumbled under his breath, pushing back his hood. “I can be sweet sometimes.”
He squinted at me in the dim lighting before wetting his thumb with his tongue and running it over my eyebrow. “Were you painting?” he asked, showing me the dried flecks of gold on his thumb.
I wanted to say yes, to tell him I’d been working on a portrait of him in his Parks Department uniform, but he’d find out soon enough.
That is, if I ever worked up the courage to invite him to my gallery show.
Sometimes it was best to keep the muse and the art separate.
“Yeah, I’m working on a few different pieces. I’ve been quite inspired lately.”
Inspired by the beauty of my mate—by you.
“I’d like to see your work sometime. You know, if you’re comfortable sharing it with me or whatever. I know how people can be about their art.”
A smile spread over my face, and my hearts sang over the fact that Reece was interested in seeing what I had created. For now, I’d hold off on the paintings of him, but I’d be happy to show him some of my older work. There was certainly enough of it.
“I’d love to show you sometime.” I put the car in drive and started down the road toward the lake. “How are you feeling this morning?”
“Tired. Not ready to jump into that cold-ass water.” He nestled deeper into his hoodie and I laughed.
“It’s only going to get worse as we get closer to the triathlon. Best to get used to it now.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” His hand snaked over the center console and came to rest on one of my tentacles, his thumb rubbing tiny circles over my smooth skin.
Without saying a word, I gripped the steering wheel with my left hand and grabbed Reece’s hand with the other.
—
The light of the morning sun shone bright red on the lake’s surface as the waves lapped against the shore. Other than the two of us, the park was empty.
Reece stretched for a few moments before pulling his hoodie over his head, putting that perfect body on display.
“Shit, it’s cold!” he bellowed, and threw his hoodie down by my feet.
“It’s thirteen degrees Celsius, the average morning temperature for this time of year.”
“Okay, but what’s that in freedom units?”
I snorted. Metric holdout Americans. “Fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit.”
“How are you not freezing?” He rubbed his palms over his biceps with rough strokes.
“My body thermoregulates. Nifty little kraken trick. Unfortunately, the trade-off is looking like this.” I fanned my tentacles around me playfully and Reece stepped closer.
He wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me to him, the pointed tips of his nipples rubbing against my chest. “I happen to think you’re quite attractive,” he said, and pressed his forehead to mine.
I had trouble believing a gorgeous man like him found a creature like me attractive.
“Reece Michael Rollins has the hots for me. I better alert the masses,” I teased, using humor to cope with my own insecurities.
He blushed slightly, his tongue peeking out from under his mustache to wet his lips. “Soon, Cy. It isn’t gonna be like this forever.”
To be honest, I didn’t mind if it was. As long as we could keep going with whatever this was between us, with whatever made my mate comfortable, I was happy.
“I’ll be here. Take all the time you need, darling.”
He brushed his lips against mine, his hands traveling down to where my back met my tentacles, and lightly thrust his cock into my hips.
“You’re stalling,” I mumbled against his mouth with a laugh. “What if someone sees us?” For the second time today, he’d sought me out when we were out in the open. Where anyone could see us. As happy as it made me, I knew how important it was to him that we keep this between the two of us.
“They won’t. But yeah, I am stalling.”
“If you’re a good boy and do your swim, I promise I’ll get you a coffee and get you off.”
“Fuck,” he groaned into my mouth before pulling away.
He could be such a brat. But he was my brat.
“Do you want me to get in with you?” I asked as Reece pulled on his swim cap and goggles.
“Nah, I won’t subject you to that. Just have a towel ready for me when I’m done.”
He stepped closer to the water, hissing the moment it hit his toes.
“You need to just get it over with. Jump right in.” It was easy enough for me to say that from the comfort of the shore.
Reece clapped his hands together twice, and with a hoarse yell, he jumped into the lake.
“Motherfucker!” he howled the moment his head popped up from below the surface. “S’fucking cold.”
“The sooner you start swimming, the sooner it’ll be done, Rollins!” I yelled, my voice echoing out over the lake.
Reece got into position, and I started the timer on my phone as he swam out to the buoy.
He’d made leaps and bounds in his training. It was evident in how his arms moved and how his body cut through the water.
With steady strokes, he pushed himself, but as he reached the center of the lake, he suddenly cried out and his head bobbed underneath the water.
I watched for a moment until he resurfaced, his arms flailing wildly as he yelled out to me.
Panic set over me as I tossed my phone and rushed to the edge of the lake.
I’m coming. Hold on. I’m coming. I spoke to him in his head, trying my best to calm him, to keep my voice steady and even.
But I was absolutely terrified.
I plunged into the cool water, the muscles in my tentacles rippling as I shot off toward Reece.
A swim that took him a considerable amount of time was nothing for me, and I was able to find him easily with his thrashing and sputtering.
I breached the surface and wrapped him up in my tentacles, pulling his back tight against my chest, holding on to him for dear life because, fuck, there was no way I could lose him. Not yet. Not before I told him everything.
“I’m here, darling. I’ve got you. I’ve got you,” I said.
“C-cramps,” he stammered. “I c-couldn’t kick.”
His legs had seized up, and in his panic, he’d sucked in a decent amount of water.
My mate had been in danger, and I’d just been standing on the beach watching.
“Shh. I’ve got you,” I whispered in his ear as I swam us back to shore.
The moment I could stand, I rose on my tentacles and carried Reece up onto the shore.
“Fuck,” I shouted once I got a better look at him.
He was shivering and coughing like mad.
I scuttled to the parking area and started my car, cranking the heater and grabbing extra towels.
“Shit. Shit. Shit,” I mumbled, rushing back to Reece, covering him with towels, and pulling him into my arms.
At the moment, I didn’t give a fuck if anyone was around to see us.
“I am so, so sorry,” I mumbled with my lips pressed against his temple. “I should have swum out with you.” My voice was strangled. I was on the verge of tears.
“S’okay, Cy. Not your fault.” He snuggled closer against my chest, and my tentacles tightened their grip on his body.
He didn’t understand, though.
He was my mate, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to him.
We sat like that for a few minutes, huddled together on the cool beach as the morning sun crested above us.
Under other circumstances, it would have been beautiful, romantic even, but I felt like shit.
“Thank you for swimming out to get me.” Reece strained against my tentacles and stretched out his legs. “I think I can make it to the car now.”
I nodded, handing Reece his hoodie, and we wordlessly trudged across the beach to my car.
“I think I’m going to withdraw,” Reece said the moment I slammed the car door shut.
His hood was pulled over his head and he stared at the lake with a blank expression on his face.
“Reece.” I slid my hand over his thigh, and he looked at me with bloodshot eyes. “Today was a one-off thing. I know it was scary, but I don’t think you should withdraw from the race.”
“That was shit, Cy. What’s the point of entering if I’m going to have a shit time?”
He’d worked so hard preparing for this.
We’d worked so hard preparing for this.
And he was going to quit?
“This isn’t about cramping or almost drowning, is it?”
He didn’t answer me; he simply turned and looked out the window.
“If you don’t talk to me, Reece, I can’t help you. And I want to help you. So please, please talk to me. Don’t give me that hard-ass bullshit that you feed everyone else, because I know better.”
He finally faced me, his cheeks flushed red and tears already forming in the corners of his eyes. “Do you know why I got out of the pool that day?”
I’d had a lingering suspicion for some time now, but I shook my head no. I wanted—no, needed—to hear it from him.
“The way you were training me, yelling at me, it reminded me of him. Reminded me of my father.” He rubbed his eyes, smearing the tears over those perfect light red eyelashes.
“My entire life, he raised me to be the best. It was a given. Expected of me. And if I wasn’t, the old man rode my ass about it.
But for Tegan, it was different. He was always telling her how proud he was. How amazing she was.”
Tears streamed down his cheeks and he sniffled.
“I did everything he wanted to the best of my abilities, and it was never enough. No matter what I did, I could never make him love me. A lot of my issues are because of him. He’d berate me, belittle me, make fun of me.
That really fucked me up, Cy.” He let out a pained laugh.
“You know, there was a part of me that was happy when he passed. I feel like shit actually saying it out loud, but it’s true.
It was like this weight had finally been lifted.
I could let go of all of his expectations.
But when we were training that day, it was like all those inadequacies got stirred up again. I was that same broken little boy.”
Reece had been through so much. His father’s continuous verbal abuse had done serious damage, and he’d developed that prickly demeanor as a defense mechanism. He’d coped the best way he knew how…
“And with you, Cy,” he continued, “at first I didn’t even give you a fucking chance.
I was such a dickhead to you. I didn’t deserve your help or your kindness, but you gave it to me anyway.
I started to have this attraction to you.
I told myself we were just fuck buddies or whatever, but it’s grown into so much more than that. ”
He glanced over at me, his face bright red, those green eyes looking the prettiest I had ever seen them.
“I enjoy every second we spend together, whether you’re fucking me or blowing that fucking whistle at me.
The things I feel for you—I’ve never felt that way about anyone before.
It scared me at first, but I’m not scared anymore.
I have feelings for you, Cyrus, and I’m sorry it took a near-death experience for me to admit that. ”
I lurched over the center console and wrapped my arms around him tightly.
Seeing him like this broke me. My mate had been carrying all of this for so long.
“You’re going to do great. You know that, right?”
“But what if I don’t?” he asked, his head buried in the crook of my neck.
“As long as you give it your all, that’s what matters.” I ran my fingers along his wet hair, placing a soft kiss on the top of his head. “That’s something to be proud of.”