Chapter Five #3
“Isn't oral sex penetration?”
“Oral sex doesn't count.”
“So, I may give oral sex to another man?”
His eyes twitched. “No, but another man may give you oral sex.”
“I don't think that's the same.”
“Nadar!”
“Very well, I agree. Although it seems unfair that I may fuck someone else and they can give me oral sex when all you can have with another man is oral sex.”
“Oh, my slaves know many ways to give pleasure that do not require penetration.”
“And what are those ways?”
The Sea King smirked. “Perhaps I will share my slaves with you, and you may find out for yourself.”
“No, thank you.”
As the King chuckled, the driver pulled over and stopped the carriage beside the sidewalk. Pedestrians gathered to watch as the King climbed out of his carriage. He nodded and waved as I got out. I was glad to have a moment to gawk without being watched. Not at Jucai. At the restaurant.
Before me loomed a giant beast. A fucking leviathan. I'd heard tales of such creatures, but never thought to see one myself. Technically, I still hadn't. Not alive, at least. It was the beast's skeleton that towered above me.
Porcelain-smooth ribs curved down from the top of the building, each bone pillar carved with intricate designs embedded with gold.
Sleek and terrifying, the beast's skull formed an entrance, jaws eternally open.
Jucai took my hand and led me to a set of golden doors set within enormous teeth, as if the creature had chomped down on them.
Uniformed Gashi men opened the doors with perfect timing, and we strode willingly into the jaws of the leviathan.
The irony that I was traveling the same path as the beast's meals, on my way to dine myself, was not lost on me.
As we passed the jaws, a Leeya host rushed over to us.
He gushed over his royal guest while I stared up at crystal chandeliers hanging from the inside of the polished skull.
In a daze, I trailed after the King and the host, pulled along by his firm grip.
Passing through the corridor of its throat, we entered the belly of the beast.
Beneath my boots, polished volcanic rock formed a dark background for veins of iridescent shells.
As if that wasn't spectacular enough, millions of tiny seed pearls studded the walls in flowing wave patterns.
When the light shifted, the walls shimmered like moonlight underwater.
Rib bones curved overhead, emerging from the top of the walls.
Within their polished frames, crystal panes arched over our heads to form a vaulted ceiling.
I whispered, “It’s as if a cathedral grew from the body of a god.”
“What was that?” Jucai asked.
“It's beautiful.” I lowered my gaze to him.
On our way to the back of the restaurant, I noticed that it stood against the city dome.
The ribs stopped just short of the dome, creating an arched window without a pane.
We passed golden booths shaped like oyster shells, some open to show off round tables and curved benches tucked within, while others were closed.
Scents tickled my nose—citrus, bread, salt, smoke. The smoke wasn't heavy like that from grilled meat. It was cleaner, more mineral, with herbal notes I didn't recognize. I glanced at the plates carried on glowing trays by uniformed servers. Everything was beautiful and exotic.
Our host led us up a curling golden staircase, past six narrow floors of shell booths facing the dome in a single line.
On the very top floor, up past the ribs, a single, massive, golden oyster shell-booth waited, open and facing the sea.
Mother-of-pearl lined the shell, the opalescent colors blending into the pink bench that sat within the bottom shell, matching its curve.
Behind the booth, the floor ended in a golden railing, giving it more of a balcony feel.
However, once we sat on the velvet-cushioned bench, the top of the booth created a privacy wall.
“May I bring you beverages while you look over the menu?” The host handed us each a golden folder.
“Hot tea for me,” Jucai said.
“That sounds good.” I nodded. “Me too.”
The host bowed and left us, but I didn't even glance at the menu.
How could I when coral formed the base of our table?
Not dead, polished coral. Living coral. It sat in a base of sand, its branches coated in a thin, clear, flexible case.
When I brushed my hand over the casing, tiny polyps twitched and glowed blue.
“Stop playing with the table and help me choose our meal,” Jucai teased.
“Your furniture breathes.”
He motioned down at the rib bones, barely visible beyond our black floor. “The living within the dead. I find it beautiful.”
“What kind of creature was this?”
“A turakvan. They keep to the deep trenches. They found this skeleton at the bottom of one. It must have been over a thousand years old when it died.”
With the sounds of the restaurant muted by the height and the back of our booth, other sounds rose. Distant whale song drew my gaze to the sea, and beneath it was a soft humming.
“What is that hum?”
“That's the dome responding to currents. Don't worry, it's functioning properly.”
“Oh.” My gaze drifted to the sea.
Clouds of shimmering fish gathered outside the dome, swirling in curtains of blue, gold, violet, and silver.
Long ribbon-finned creatures drifted past lazily, ignoring the tiny transparent fish that darted around them, flashing like moving glass.
Beyond the city lights, the sea darkened to impenetrable black.
Massive shapes moved in and out of the darkness, never coming too close to the light.
I shivered, feeling the tension of a fragile civilization pressed against an ancient and unknowable sea.
I glanced at Jucai. It was the perfect habitat for a creature like him—beautiful, mysterious, and deadly.
A server appeared before I could share my thoughts with Jucai, and I looked down at the menu at last. A delicate cup of steaming tea appeared on the table before me. Little bowls went between Jucai and me. Noting the silence, I lifted my head to find the King and our server watching me.
At a loss, I looked at the King. “I'll have what you're having.”
Jucai said to the server, “My usual for two.”
The man hurried off.
As he left, I nervously lifted my teacup to blow on the tea. “Why do fish swim near the dome? I would have thought all the light and movement would scare them.”
Jucai spooned some sugar into his cup and stirred. “The music attracts them. The Leeya know what melodies fish enjoy.”
“Music?” I cocked my head.
There. Just above the hum of the dome. Deep, vibrational music like whale song woven into melody. It had hidden with the actual whale song at first. But now I heard it. Somehow, it enhanced the view.
Jucai's hand slid onto my thigh, squeezed, and then went higher.
I put my hand over his and slid it back to my thigh.
Jucai jerked his hand back. “Are you denying me?”
“We're about to have breakfast. I was thoroughly enjoying myself until you grabbed my dick.”
His eyes widened. “You say that as if it were insulting.”
“Not insulting, but annoying. Is everything about sex for you?”
“Not everything. But if I'm with a lover, sex comes to mind often. It's the nature of our relationship.”
“Interesting.” I turned my gaze back to the fish. If I'd been looking for more than sex, his attitude would have infuriated me. But I wasn't, so he merely amused me. This man was so self-absorbed that he didn't bother to get to know the people he was intimate with, even those he was “faithful” to.
“What's so interesting?”
“You. The way you view people.”
Jucai narrowed his eyes. “And how do I view people?”
I looked back at him. “In terms of what they can do for you.”
He frowned. “You mean I view them by my relationship with them. Isn't that how everyone views others?”
I chuckled. “Nice way of twisting my words.
But no, that's not what I meant. I'm saying that a lover to you is simply a person you have sex with.
That's it. To you, a lover is a slightly elevated version of a bed slave.” I held up a hand when his eyebrows lowered.
“It's fine. This is just sex for me too.
But I don't view it as a barrier to getting to know you; rather, it's the opposite.”
“I don't understand your point. I am trying to get to know you.”
“You don't get to know someone through sex, Jucai.”
“But we are lovers. I have the right to touch you. We've established this. I don't understand why you're upset.”
“I know you don't. That's why I'm still here.” When his anger turned to frustration, I went on, “You think sex is a way to be intimate with someone, and you're right.
But it's physical intimacy, not mental. It doesn't tell you who I am.
Don't get me wrong. It's fine if you don't want to know about me.
I'm just saying that we have different views on what makes a lover.
You see them as people to have sex with, while I call that fucking around.
A lover ranks higher. They're someone you fuck and get to know.”
“We are talking right now, Nadar. Is this not me getting to know you?”
“Yes.” I rolled my eyes. “But we're only talking because I moved your hand.” I shook my head.
“I don't want to argue about this. It's fine.
I'm not looking for a lasting relationship.
We don't have to know more than each other's sexual preferences.
But to me, that makes us casual sex partners, not lovers.
Again, that's fine, but either way, I'm not going to fuck you in the middle of a restaurant.”
Jucai frowned. “We can lower the cover.” He motioned to the top of the shell.
“For fuck's sake, Jucai. Can't you go without someone sucking your dick for an hour?”
The Sea King drew back, his expression blank. It looked as if he were going to rage at me. But he didn't. His expression turned to confusion. “Yes, but why would I?”
I burst out laughing. “You recall that I'm a diplomat? My job is to tour your city, meet your people, and perhaps negotiate trade agreements between our kingdoms. I can't be bending over for you every ten minutes.”
“Don't be absurd.”
I started to think I had misjudged him.
Then he went on, “I last longer than ten minutes, and then I would need some time to recover, perhaps eat or bathe.” He motioned at the server coming to our table with a glowing tray.
As I gaped at Jucai, our server set several dishes onto our table.
Jucai exchanged a few words with the man, and then the server left.
All without me making a sound. I shifted my gaze to the food, utterly at a loss for what to say.
Honestly, I wouldn't mind spending a day just fucking, but not every day, all day, every week.
That would be exhausting, and I had work to do.
The only exception would be the settling of a mating bond.
But it would be temporary and compelled by magic.
And I was not looking for a mate.
One look at the food shifted my interest. Steam curled up from soft white buns arranged on a bed of crispy kelp.
There were packets of delicate egg ribbons wrapped around spiced fish, black rice that smelled of coconut, tiny jewel-colored fruits floating in chilled syrup, and translucent slices of something that shimmered silver.
Cold platters held thin slices of fish cut and colored to resemble stained glass, and bowls of volcanic salt and sauces filled the space between the dishes.
“Try the moonfish belly.” Jucai pointed at the silver slices, acting as if we hadn't just argued about sex.
I frowned.
He must have thought I frowned about the belly because he said, “Try it before you judge it.”
“Now I'm suspicious. You're pushing the fish too hard.”
Jucai chuckled and picked up a silvery slice of fish to hold to my lips. “We can find physical pleasure with each other without having sex.”
Holding his gaze, I bit the fish and his finger, then sucked his finger clean as I leaned back. Then the taste registered, and I made a surprised sound of delight.
Jucai didn't laugh. He stared at my lips, his hand on the table with his wet finger still extended.
“Great Gods, look at you.” I shook my head.
He cleared his throat. “What do you find fault with now?”
“I'm sorry if it seems as if I'm judging you. I don't mean to.”
Jucai's expression folded into disbelief.
“I only said that because you looked aroused.”
“You sucked on my finger.”
I laughed. “Yes, I was teasing you. It amused me that it took so little to seduce you.”
“Why is that amusing? You are a seductive man.”
“Thank you, but you have two harems full of people who think only about pleasing you. It surprises me that my sucking on your finger would come close to anything they do.”
Jucai leaned back, his gaze going distant. His hand slid off the table.
“Jucai?”
He focused on me. “Yes, it is surprising. Now, try the fish bundles.” He served me one of the egg-wrapped fish fillets.
I watched him, but he wouldn't meet my gaze. Instead, he ate. I ate as well. By the end of the meal, I couldn't stand the silence anymore. So, I grabbed his hand and put it on my cock. It's called diplomacy.
Jucai looked up in shock.
“Lower the shell.”
“But I thought you didn't want to?”
“I don't like to see you pout. Just go easy on me. I've got a full belly.”
“Not as full as it's going to be.” With a grin, the Sea King pulled a lever behind him, and the top of the shell lowered.