Oh, sweet bliss.
They molded their body against the back of my neck, tentacles contracting. It felt like being hooked to a TENS machine after the time I’d strained a muscle in my shoulder, only a thousand times better. They crept over my shoulder,sending shivers down my back as they caressed my neck with a furled tentacle.
Words failed me while the first episode of Brickleberry played out with me barely hearing a word. I couldn’t even decide if I liked the show. Everything was just soft and mellow as they pulsed against my shoulder, their tentacles pressing into my skin, working the tension out of the muscles.
“This is better than a massage chair,” I slurred and wiggled against the mattress until I was molded into the memory foam.
“I can tell; you look boneless,” Nyx said. “But I do have to borrow him for a moment.”
While he played Dunk the Jellyfish, I lay there on the bed, drifting in and out, unable to catch on to what was unfolding in the show. I couldn’t even follow the conversations that were taking place. It was all just a blur of sound. Seawater dribbled over my hip and across the globes of my ass, dripping into the crease, leading to a giggle and a shudder. The slow glide, coupled with the cool temperature of it, raised a crop of goosebumps on my arms.
“Did that on purpose,” I grumbled as Nyx moved my hair aside to place our jellyfish on my other shoulder.
If I’d worn it as long as Kekoa wore theirs, I’d have had to have Nyx braid it for this to be possible. My mate’s tentacles were truly magical, or maybe it was the way they crept over my neck and then did a slow slither down my spine. I’d have sworn the world was melting. My eyes were thin slits when Nyx dunked them again, but my body was so relaxed that him setting Kekoa on the small of my back didn’t even produce a quiver. I was boneless and loving every tingling surge of toxins they sent into me. Liquefied. I was an absolute puddle when Kekoa reached the back of my neck again. His tentacles felt like live wires as they turned, inching left onto the lower curve of my shoulder blade,finding a ball of tension I hadn’t realized I had until his tentacles contracted.
“Tomorrow, I think we’re headed to the strip,” Nyx said as he lifted Kekoa off me again. This time seemed to last longer, and I was startled when I felt Kekoa’s gelatinous body on my calf.
“What, um…why?” I asked when I forgot the rest of the question.
What lingering stiffness remained in them from being on my feet all day was soon caressed away by their gently massaging tentacles as they worked their way from my calf to my thigh.
“Just to grab a few things we couldn’t find at the market,” Nyx explained.
“Everything is at the market,” I muttered.
“Except the hardware store.”
“Ah…yeah, I forgot about that.”
“It looks like you’re about to forget your own name,” Nyx pointed out.
“Partially, just give it a few more minutes.”
Kekoa crept over my ass cheek and clung like they were trying to attach themselves. I didn’t even have the energy for a last-minute quip; I was that exhausted, so I closed my eyes and let them do as they pleased, since there wasn’t a single part of me that wanted to stop them.
Or move.
Or do anything but sleep.
Chapter 12
Nyx
“He’s not going to mind all of this, will he?” Kekoa asked as they dug through a row of garland to reveal the last silver and aqua one left.
“He’ll be happy and excited,” I explained. “We truly haven’t celebrated a real Christmas since we moved into the place. I love that we’re getting him plants for the living room instead of a tree, but you’ll probably have to remind him not to touch them. As tired as he was last night, he might not remember that there are finally things in the house he’s prohibited from touching.”
“Thanks for the warning. I’m sure the plants will thank you as well. I wouldn’t have said anything since I’d already mentioned it. I wouldn’t have wanted him to think I was harping about it or being a nagging mate.”
“No, you’re good,” I replied. “Lani never met a plant he didn’t want to water constantly, which is usually how we losethem. Just wait until he starts talking to them. I’ve walked in on whole-ass conversations, then been told to mind my own business when I offered advice.”
They snickered as they snagged some turquoise tinsel, our Christmas theme still close to the aquatic themes of our home.
“Is not wanting to decorate alone really the reason you haven’t decorated before now?” Kekoa asked.
“As embarrassing as it is to admit, it really is,” I explained. “The first year Lani had these grand plans for how he wanted to decorate, and we never even made it to the store for supplies. The second year after we moved in, we were proud of ourselves because we bought a bunch of flavored candy canes the moment they hit the shelf. He swore it was a sign of what our Christmas would be like, then he got caught up in organizing the village Christmas party and a vow renewal he took on after the previous party planner started ghosting the client after she’d received the deposit for the event. He had a handful of other projects he’d already committed to, and that last one just threw his timetable out the window, so I hung the candy canes on the cabinet knobs and off picture frames and anything else I could think of, and that was the end of our decorating.”
The12 Pains of Christmaswas playing on the store PA system, and I chuckled, thinking about the lights we’d picked up. The ever-growing frustration in the light hanger’s voice when they sang their lines was a little concerning, but we were only focusing on the inside this year, not the roof, which was a small mercy, since I wasn’t the biggest fan of roofs. Between falling off, mistimed jumps, and a few hairbrained ideas, I had more than a healthy respect for what happened when soft bodies hit the unforgiving ground. Landing on an anthill and riling up a swarm of the bitey insects had only compounded my misery.
