14. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
Aliko
“What do we do with this?” Leif asks, picking up my egg from the mattress. It’s small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, the dark blue shade similar to me in my true kraken form.
We’re just getting out of the shower, where we washed up quickly. We only wanted to wash the cum off so we could get into the hot tub and it not be weird. I love cum, but I don’t want to sit in, though I wouldn’t judge someone who wanted to.
“I don’t know,” I answer. “I didn’t know it was possible to do that in this form. I am not sure what will happen to it.”
“Will it rot?”
“Rot?” I question.
“Like… go bad?”
I shrug.
“Can you make another one?”
“I would assume so,” I say. “It just kind of happened. A heat of the moment thing.” I take it from him, squeezing it to see if it is still hard.
There is no give to the light grey shell, the texture as rough as I know them to be.
When eggs are not accepted by females, the body rejects them, and they turn soft as they become one with the ocean, eventually disappearing.
But we are unsure if that happens because it has been inside or just because it is a bad egg.
This one is still very solid. Though of course it could not do anything to Leif, as he is right—he cannot be pregnant.
“Let’s get rid of it just in case. Better safe than sorry. ”
He nods but looks slightly disappointed.
“I’m sure I will make another,” I add and he gives me a small smile.
“What does it mean that you did? I thought you said you only do that with mates? Like when someone is in heat?”
“Yes, that’s what I thought. Perhaps I am just so attracted to you that my body assumes it’s the same thing?”
Leif grins. “I kind of love that.”
I place the egg into the trash and hope no one says anything about it. Maybe I should let someone know it’s there and make sure it’s disposed of the right way? I don’t need humans to learn there is a kraken egg here and take it to study.
“Everything okay?” Leif asks from the bathroom doorway.
I turn to face him. “I’m not sure how to throw this away. I don’t want someone taking it.”
He nods, understanding crossing his face. “There is a dumpster outside. Maybe wrap it in a towel, throw it in a bag, and toss it in the dumpster in the morning.”
I nod. “Good thinking.”
I take it from the can, wrap it in a towel and put it into the small trash bag and leave it by the door in the kitchen for me to get rid of tomorrow.
“Is the hot tub ready?” I ask when I come back to the room.
“I think so,” he says. “We can’t fill it too much, since you take up a lot of space.” He winks.
I chuckle as I make my way over to the hot tub. We get in, hissing at the temperature of the water. Hot but welcome.
Leif sits opposite me, but I reach across with all of my limbs and tug him toward me. He laughs as water sloshes over the sides.
“I like the way you feel against me,” I say against his ear.
A little too much, I think.
“Me too,” he whispers.
The water is hot, the jets firm against my body. I’m shielding Leif from them, but he doesn’t seem to mind. My muscles ache from all the use—not just the sex but playing music also. It takes a lot out of me because I’m using these muscles more often now that we’re playing so many shows.
Leif shifts his head, hitting my necklace and flinching away.
“Sorry,” I say, moving the amulet to the side. He turns his head to look up at me.
“You never take that off,” he says.
“I do, but only when I’m human.”
“Is that what stops you from being human?”
I give a small nod, and he smiles in return, but turns to face away from me. I wrap my arms around him a little tighter.
“The ring keeps me human. The amulet in this form.”
“Why do you need something to keep you in this form? Isn’t this what you are?”
I wish it were so easy.
“Not quite,” I say softly.
I’d mentioned my true form before, but I’m assuming he didn’t quite catch that. Why would he? He doesn’t know anything about my kind. I could tell him this is my true self and he’d believe me—it’s what I wanted the world to believe.
“How does it work?”
“Magic. Very expensive magic. The ring works all the time, but the amulet… it needs to be re-filled every two weeks or so. The witch nearly doubled the price this last time I saw her.”
“Then why do it?”
“My true form is…” I sigh, not sure of the words I want to use to explain. “I’m sure you’ve heard the stories.”
“Of monsters in the ocean so big they take down whole ships?” He huffs a laugh. “Yeah, I’ve heard them. But that doesn’t seem like something you’d do.”
“It’s not, but there have been some kraken over the years who went on rampages for one reason or another.”
“But they must have been much bigger…”
“Yes. Much bigger.”
“So, the amulet keeps you in this form so you’re… acceptable here?” he asks carefully.
“Yes.”
“Because it makes you comfortable or because it makes other people comfortable?”
That question hits hard. Way too hard, and for a moment, I can’t breathe.
How does he ask all the questions that make me feel the most vulnerable?
“I fit in with the other guys like this. I fit in the band like this. It makes sense that way. In my other form, there is no way I could play on a stage—or play drums at all. I am too big.”
“How big?” he asks.
“Big enough to take down an entire ship.”
He chuckles. “So, the stories are true… interesting. How did you first become human?”
I’m glad he doesn’t push the subject more, but now he has another little piece of me.
“A pirate that I was going to eat for lunch offered me the ring to spare his life.”
“Wow, what a tale.”
“We aren’t supposed to go to the surface, but I was having a bad day. It ended up being the best thing I’ve ever done.”
He glances at me over his shoulder. “I’d love to see you like that one day.”
I shake my head, dread washing over me. “No, you wouldn’t.”
Leif turns in my arms, straddling my lap. Our cocks brush, but neither of them are hard. Now isn’t the time for that. I keep my arms and tentacles wrapped tightly around him, not wanting him to go anywhere. I want him like this, in my arms. Always.
His gaze meets mine, and his voice is firm when he speaks. “Yes, Aliko, I would. Why do you think I wouldn’t?”
“Because I’m a monster.”
He smirks, looking down at my chest then back in my eyes. “You’re a monster now.”
“It’s different.”
“It’s not,” he says firmly. “There are plenty of monsters out there. Looking different just makes you unique.”
“I’m ugly.”
He reaches his hand up to run his fingers along my cheek. His touch is soft. Gentle. Tender.
“I very much doubt you could be ugly in any form.” He leans in to kiss me, his lips soft and warm. “You’re certainly not ugly in this form. Or human. I’m sure you’re just as beautiful, if not more, in your other form.”
“You can’t say things like that,” I rasp out.
“And why not?” he asks, his voice so low I almost don’t hear him over the jets.
Because it makes me feel too much.
I wish I could say that. I want to say that. But I don’t. I can’t. So I just pull him close and kiss him instead.
Gently, he slides his tongue between my lips. It’s a slow, soft kiss not meant for people having a hookup. Even I know that much. I take it just the same, enjoying everything he’s giving me because maybe he will realize this isn’t as easy as he wants… and that it won’t be worth it.
When we separate, I look at him with a smile and he returns it.
“Are you hungry?” he asks.
“Starving.”
“Do you think room service delivers at this hour?”
“No,” I say with a smirk. “But they will for me.”
An hour later, we’re sitting on the over-sized couch, the coffee table in front of us covered in plates of food. The TV is on; some show that Leif chose and keeps laughing at. All I can do is watch him, so I don’t even know what the show is about.
“What?” he says when he looks at me, smiling around a mouth full of buttered bread.
“I just like looking at you.”
His eyes brighten and his smile grows. He turns his attention back to the TV before grabbing another roll and buttering it blindly.
“I ordered all this delicious food, and you’re eating bread like a bird.”
He scoffs. “Bread is by far the best food ever. It makes everything better.”
“Then why are you eating it alone?”
“Because it’s also an appetizer.” He takes a big bite of it and I laugh.
We watch TV and eat most of the food. I could eat more, but I don’t want to be too full. I plan to fuck him again and don’t want to be uncomfortable while I do it.
I lean back against the couch, and Leif crawls over to me, settling his back to my chest. I wrap him in all my limbs, holding him close, but I wish he could get closer.
“This feels good,” he says softly.
It’s easy to believe him now when he’s here, in my arms. But I know the moment he leaves, that voice in my head will be back, questioning everything and making things out to be what they’re not.
“Tell me about your family,” I say. “What are they like?”
He chuckles, his fingers brushing along the back of my hand.
“They live outside of Vegas. They’re good people, though none of them understand my love for music and being on the road. My parents are still together, happily married. I have three brothers and one sister.”
“That feels like a lot.”
“Five kids isn’t too bad for humans,” he says. “They’re all married with kids already. They work hard in their traditional jobs.”
“Did they shun you for not doing that?”
“No, nothing like that. They don’t understand it, and they want more for me, but that’s only because they don’t get that I’m doing what I love. They don’t understand how I could love this over sitting at a desk.”
“That sounds boring.”
“Exactly. But they all do it. My dad is an accountant and so is my oldest brother. My youngest brother is a tech guy, who might be the closest to understanding me at all. The other brother and my sister are teachers.”
“It’s so interesting to see how different humans are from kraken. It makes my life feel very simple.”
“In comparison it is, but that’s obviously not what you want.”
“It’s not. I feel like I was meant to be here, doing this, but…”
“But what?” he asks softly, his fingers still brushing along my hand in a soothing motion.
“It’s strange because even though I am happy and feel like I should be here, I don’t fully feel like I fit in.”
“How come?”
“Because I can’t be in my true form. It’s when I’m most comfortable in my body, but not my mind. So, it’s a little confusing.”
“It must suck when your head and your body don’t agree.”
I nod. “Maybe I will grow more comfortable like this when I’m here longer.”
“Sometimes fitting in takes time. It’s not an automatic thing,” he says.
I kiss the side of his head, lingering just a moment. “Thank you for that.”
“Is it easier to be this or your human?”
“They’re about the same.”
“Well, I’ll say that this form is much more fun.”
He looks up at me and smirks.
“You like that I can touch you with so many of my limbs.”
“Yes,” he says. “The feelings and sensations are different from what I’m used to, and I like that.”
I loosen one of my arms around him, using the tip to graze across the skin of his lower stomach.
He moans softly, his hand circling my wrist and squeezing.
I slide up his chest and brush over his nipples, flicking the jewelry and making him squirm.
He presses against my hardening cock, making it throb.
“You are probably sore—” I say.
“Not too sore.”
I huff a laugh. “I was going to say you are probably sore, but I don’t care. I want you again.”
“So take me.”