Charlie, who had made a miraculous sudden recovery from being splayed in the water, quickly gripped onto Sage’s hand. “He does this every time,” Sage explained. “Octopuses are really intelligent, and Charlie has learned that if he looks as though he’s ill or dying, then somebody will go to his tank to check on him.”
“I think he fancies you,” Nic leaned over, dipping his finger into the water. Charlie glanced in that direction and then used more of his tentacles to cling to Sage. “He doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“They can tell what we are,” Luc said. “I’d say it’s because of our energy vibrations, or something similar. He clings to you, Sage, because you don’t have the same energies as we do.”
“I hadn’t even thought of that.” Sage tried teasing one of Charlie’s tentacles off his palm – it was tickling him. “Charlie’s only been here three weeks, and he’s already got all of the research assistants running around like blue-ass flies. Every time they come in here, they all panic because they think he’s died. He just wants people to play with him.”
“You are tickling me.” Sage chuckled as Charlie was grabbing on with one tentacle as fast as Sage got another one released. “I know you just want some attention, young Charlie,” he said. “I have other visitors I need to see to today. That injured tentacle of yours is working really well, don’t you think? Hmm. I’m thinking it’s about time for you to go back into the wild.”
Sage always thought it was fascinating the way Charlie seemed to understand what he was saying, even though he knew scientifically that wasn’t true. But it was as if Charlie had suddenly remembered he was meant to be injured. He took one of his tentacles and stuck it out really straight, trying to look pathetic all at the same time.
“That same tentacle was curled around my finger. I think you’ll find you’re fine. I’ll leave a message for Doctor Stevens about the fact that it might be time for you to go home. You’re getting just a bit too comfortable in here.”
Sage finally got Charlie’s tentacles to let go and wiped his hand on the side of his suit before latching down the hatch again. “Sorry about that. Charlie is really engaging. But it’s vital for our work that the creatures that we have here go back to the wild where they belong. Charlie here deserves to find a mate and startspawning a family of his own. He’s not going to be able to do that in a lab.”
“The setup you’ve got here is just incredible,” Nic said. “The main pool is huge.”
Sage tried to view it from a visitor’s perspective. It was big, but then Sage didn’t know how big the pool was up in the Regis penthouse.
“It was important we had someplace large enough, and with moving water, which is vitally important to sharks, and whales to a certain extent. The moving water helps calm them in an unfamiliar environment. You’ll notice there are jets on either end of the tank that recycle the water and keep it gently moving all the time. It also helps stop the water from getting stagnant in any way and prevents algae from blooming. I can turn the jets off if that’ll be more comfortable for you.”
“No, no, don’t do that,” Luc said, going over to the main tank and trailing his fingers through the water. “This setup is just…mind boggling. We are seriously going to have to talk about this jet system at another time. Nic, could you imagine us having that setup in our pool? How that would feel against our tentacles? It would almost be like being in the sea.”
Sage’s cheeks flushed again. It was becoming a habit around these two. “That was what we were trying to emulate here. We haven’t had any complaints. But in fairness, we also don’t generally have clients who can leave us a review either. Okay, but…yes. I’ll leave the jets on. I’ll turn a few of the lights off, so you can have a more romantic atmosphere. I’m sorry if the whole place appears a bit clinical.”
“It really doesn’t,” Nic said. He had already taken off his jacket and was unbuttoning his shirt. “You’ve actually crafted a beautiful space here - a segment of the sea, so to speak. The wayyou’ve got the rocks in the corners and on the sides to provide something a bit different, so it’s not just the glass or the metal bands around the tank. I can smell the water – so clean. It’s just, it’s like being out by an island, Luc, does it smell the same to you?”
“All I can smell is you two, and that’s doing stuff to me you wouldn’t believe.” Luc’s voice had dropped a full octave, Sage was sure of it. He was also getting undressed, and Sage wasn’t quite sure where he was meant to be looking.
“Well, I’ll just… I’ll just… Are you sure I should be in here?” Sage wanted to stay. It wasn’t for a pervy reason. He just…There was still a tiny part of him that thought the third business was a dream – and if it was…No. It wasn’t even that. Sage felt drawn to the two men and he wanted to stay.
But now the men were getting undressed. There was a lot of very enticing skin showing. Nic’s tattoos, Luc’s hair, and broad shoulders. Just the sight of them pushing their pants off their thighs, and Sage had to remind himself that he had other things on his mind. Although gods, it would be really easy to forget about any of the real-world hassles for a few hours if he just...
No!Sage didn’t consider himself an empath, but he’d caught something in Nic’s tone when the man had talked about always wanting Luc.These two have waited for years, and they deserve, even if it’s just a few hours, to be together on their own before they claim their third.
As far as Sage was concerned, that was the most important thing. “I can go and do some work in my office if you’d just like to be alone for a while,” he said briskly, prepared to do exactly that. But Luc’s hand on his arm stopped him.
“Don’t go,” Luc said, his voice still impossibly deep. “Please. My kraken would be really disturbed if you weren’t in the room with us. Now we’ve found you, we don’t want to lose you.”
“I can understand why you don’t want to get in the pool with us, but please stay,” Nic added. He was naked – not a stitch of clothing on, and Sage had to quickly swallow so he wouldn’t drool.
“Sure. Thank you. Yes. I’ll just get a chair. You guys get into the pool.”
The chair was easy to find, but gods, there were times when Sage cursed his pragmatic nature. He was so tempted to throw off his clothes and dive into the water as Luc and Nic slid into the pool and their tentacles appeared.They are sooo big.
Chapter Sixteen
Luc
Luc realized as he slid into the cool water that Nic had been right to want one time with him alone, and that Sage had given them a priceless gift. He’d craved Nic with every breath he took for so long that controlling his passion had become an automatic habit. It was a ridiculous time to realize that how a third was treated by a pair of krakens was entirely up to the krakens concerned, but spending just a few hours with Sage, he understood that, too.
As Nic slid into the water next to him, their tentacles bobbing as they rested their elbows on the edge of the tank, it was all Luc could do not to reach for Nic with both hands and tentacles. Stopping was a habit. Fifty years, they had kept the bottom halves of their bodies apart. Fifty years, they had trained their tentacles so they would never touch - Luc’s would go left, Nic’s would sway to the right. Ne’er the twain should tangle, because if they did, the claim would be started. They would never have been able to stop – vow or not.
We don’t have to stop now.This time Luc reached for Nic, smelling Sage’s sweet arousal in the air as their lips came together, his whole body sighing as Nic’s chest smashed against his - nothing between them but a few flecks of water. Nic was clearly as eager as he was. Tentacles that had yearned to be with each other, but kept apart, moved together with a churning of the water – exploring each other before moving up their human halves.
Luc gasped into Nic’s mouth as one of Nic’s tentacles slithered right up his back and into his hair. That slight tug, the pinch of pain… Luc arched his neck, pressing into the tentacle, encouraging the movement. Another tentacle snaked up the side of his neck. Opening his mouth was instinctive as the tentacle tiptouched Luc’s lip. Sucking on it – it was Nic gasping now, and another tip joined the first. Luc could tell Nic was taking care – Luc wasn’t a fan of gagging, but having two tentacles gently tease his lips apart as he sucked on the ends was a pleasure Luc had never imagined.
His own tentacles were busy too, while Luc’s hands slid up and down Nic’s broad back. There would come a time when he would trace every tattoo with his tongue, when he would loom over his mate’s back and take him in their human form. But for now, they were claiming each other, and Luc settled for teasing the edge between human and kraken at the base of Nic’s back.
