“You can’t spoil me like this.”
“Can. Will. Did it last night.” Mercer leans over me once more, his hands gliding a sinuous trail up my naked body before tucking me back in. “And will again whenever I’m allowed.”
Despite what Mercer said about sleeping in, once I’m awake, I’m usually awake. It’s a reflex of being the only one to get up with a baby and take care of a toddler, and probably also the desire to get work done before my ball of energy wakes up.
I check my phone and see the local news has announced “strong gusty thunderstorms” for my area beginning in about an hour. I see the alert that the beach is closed until further notice, to check back at noon for updates.
I see a message from Linda, asking if I received the letter.
Madelyn: No. I didn’t receive a letter asking me to choose between keeping my son with me, the only parent he’s ever known, and stop receiving financial support to provide food, shelter, and education for him, or letting him be stolen away by a—
I pause, then erase it all.
I don’t want to think about that letter. The man I married because I thought he was the best one, the most compatible one, the handsome one, the one with a good job and a secure future—even if I knew he was somewhat selfish and immature.
The boy masquerading as a man.
I look out the window and see Mercer’s shadowy form in the gray light of the overcast sky. He’s a muted green in this low light, and he stands like some ancient god, tentacles lifting to the air, hands cupped to grab the rain and then massage it into his broad shoulders.
That’s the real man. My man. My monster.
Mate, he calls me.
My mate. I try the words out in my head, and they reverberate with a primal thrill.
I stare at him longer, realizing when he turns that his silhouetted shape is different.
An extra tentacle, much shorter than the rest, juts up to the sky.
My pussy gives an achy throb, remembering what that man can do without even using that supremely thick, gorgeous cock with its delicate ridges.
Madelyn of a few weeks ago would never have slipped into her bathrobe and run outside in the rain, barefoot, eager to see if this gorgeous monster would be interested in my “flabby mom bod.”
Madelyn of this morning rushes to claim what’s hers.
“Madelyn! It’s pouring.”
“I was thinking that you’d better stay here today,” I answer, smoothing my soaking hair back. “Zack will be worried if you go home to the lake when the storm rolls in.”
“I’ve lived through a thousand storms in the ocean. You stay near the bottom in your shelter. In this lake? I’ll be fine.”
“Oh. In that case, what if I just want you to stay because I want to spend the day with my... my mate?”
Mercer had been shielding me from the sight of his erection by draping his tentacles in front of it, bunching two of them across his lower torso. Now, he drops them. “You don’t know what a turn on it is to hear you say that. You mean it?”
“I... I’m trying to. I’m just...” I swallow. “Yes, I mean it, but don’t expect me not to have random freak outs where I’m afraid to mean it. Deal?”
“Deal.” Mercer opens his arms, pulls me into them, and takes me into the secluded space between the big oak in our yard and the fence. His tentacles form a cocoon around our bodies as I open my robe and press into him, kissing him with a thankful sigh.
My hands trail down his chest, stroking each dip and ridge, kissing from his strong jaw down his hard, flat swathes of muscle, humming little kisses until my hands grip his cock. I use both to form a net around him, lacing my fingers and stroking. “I didn’t get this last night,” I remind him pointedly, eyebrows arched in a combination of playfulness and reproach.
“Last night wasn’t the time. You needed to relax.”
“Oh, I was relaxed.” My pussy throbs, and there’s an ache amidst the pleasure from how vigorously his thick tentacles plundered me.
“I didn’t want you to think I was only there for my own pleasure. I was going to take care of my needs this morning.”
“You know, you’re a wonderful person,” I say, bending. My chin brushes the tip of his cock, and Mercer stiffens, holding hisbreath. “And I love that you’re showing me how unselfish you are after I’ve been dealing with the fallout from one supremely selfish, immature jerk. But you have to remember—I’m not selfish.”
