I let myself sink below the waves. My bone density is heavier than normal humans, and I sink faster. The monster is never satisfied. It wants to dwell at the bottom of the sea, where the sun doesn’t shine. I can’t breathe underwater, but I can hold mybreath for a very long time. It would be too easy to let the current take me far away from my mortal concerns.
But my human side resists the monster. My mates are waiting for me on the shore.
I startle.
Mates?Who is thinking this, my human side or the monster?
Both, it seems. Both sides of me love Perri and desire Stellan. Even if Stellan likes to pretend he wants nothing to do with me.
I still feel the urge to protect, mate, possess, claim…
The monster is taking over. The need to chase Stellan is stronger than the need to let the sea take me.
I swim to shore and reach Stellan just as he’s walking out of the waves. He hears me and looks over his shoulder. He instinctively takes off running. It only spurs me on. I catch him on the beach and we both fall on the wet sand as I tackle him. My vision and sense of smell have narrowed, and all I see and feel is him.
He’s on his hands and knees, gasping, as my larger body cages him. He tries to elbow me, smelling of fear, but I dodge his attack. The monster makes me sink my teeth in the muscle between his neck and shoulder to hold him in place. I’m not piercing skin, but I’ve got a good hold of him. Stellan freezes, as if answering a primal need to submit.
“Fuck… Alastair… you…” he gasps.
He’s naked—he took all of his clothes to swim—and I touch and grab all the parts of his body I can reach. I’m fully clothed but my erection is rubbing on his bare ass through the wet fabric of my pants. My tentacles are searching for a way out of their confinement to grab him.
I feel unhinged.
Perri has joined us on the sand. He’s saying something, but I can’t hear him over the loud beating of my heart. I want to grab him, too, but he’s out of reach.
I’ve got Stellan right here.He’s mine…I’m not letting him go…
“Alastair…” Stellan whispers.
His voice reaches the human part of my brain, and I finally unclench my jaw. My teeth left crescents on his skin. I lick them, pleased to have left marks. Then I manhandle him until he lands on his back on the wet sand.
He still smells like fear, but under it, arousal. He’s hard, his cock pointing to his sand-covered abs. I surge forward to capture his mouth and devour him whole. Stellan is tense, still resisting.
Eventually, when I let his lips go to focus on the rest of his body, he whispers, “Wait—Alastair…”
His plea finally goes through my lizard brain to reach my human consciousness.
This isn’t okay, I realize.None of this is okay.I’m forcing myself on him. I let the monster take over.
My head finally clears long enough to fight the monster back.
“Shit. I’m sorry,” I say, scrambling away from him.
Stellan watches me, dazed. He’s wet and covered in sand, his cock erect.
Perri stands behind him and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Alastair, you—”
“Go,” I growl. “Now.”
Stellan jerks away from his daze and gets to his feet. I close my eyes not to watch him walk away—it might trigger my monster to see his prey escape.
It has been months since I felt it take over. Growing up, I had to learn how to keep my monster on a leash. It was always lurking under the surface, waiting for a chance to come out to the light and wreak havoc. It’s the reason why I was often referred to as the founders’mad dog. Violence came easy to me. The monster craves dominance, just like the Kraken who wasknown to be the bane of humanity since he emerged from the Mariana Trench.
I sit on the sand, regrets clinging to my skin like my wet clothes as I try not to watch Perri and Stellan walk back to the truck.
17
Fireworks.
