Page 40 of A Siren of Beasts

My gaze narrowed as I looked at him. “You ran from me. I’m surprised you even came back.”

Hisceas’s expression went from shocked, to anger, to disheartened as his shoulders slumped. “I deserve that ire from you. The way I left the table with the barest of explanations was wrong and I owe you an apology for letting you ever doubt that I would come back to you. My Little Siren, I’ve been gone from this world for roughly two hundred years. The world I left behind is gone, and I can’t help but see my failures written everywhere on the scars of this land.”

Stepping closer to me, one of his tentacles twined its way around my throat in the comforting and possessive manner that I’d grown fond of. I let him pull me closer until our bodies almost touched but didn’t.

“Do you know what my biggest fear is, Kezia?” he asked.

“No,” I whispered, reaching out and putting a hand on his stomach.

His webbed hand cupped my cheek as he leaned down and rested his forehead against mine. “That something would happen to you and I couldn’t stop it. That I would fail you as I failed your mother all those years ago. While I cared for and respected your mother and the queen that she was, those emotions pale compared to the obsessive need I have for you. I constantly need to be aware of where you are, who you’re with, and if you feel safe and comfortable. I don’t read your mind the way you think I do, it’s more of an emotional check. Reaching out to feel you making sure you’re okay if I can’t have my eyes on you. The reason I left the table was because the person I needed to protect you from was me.”

“I don’t understand, you’d never hurt me,” I reasoned.

He gave me a small smile, more like the corner of his eyes crinkling as his thumb stroked my cheek. “You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that, Little Siren. In every situation I put you first, but that moment at the table I had been too long away from a water source, and my emotions were frayed. The madness took advantage of that and knowing that Grieth was touching you like that at the table in front of us all had me seeing red. I’ve seen your memories from the day you were born to the moment you begged the sea to save you. Doing something like that is how the humans treated you and I was furious. Then, add in the fact I was also jealous that you fully mated with him and he was the one pulling all those intoxicating screams out of you—I lost control.”

Hearing him admit so openly and honestly how he felt caused my brain to reel. Not only did he admit how deeply he felt about me, he also owned up to being jealous of Imp. I’d been worried that would be a problem since be they monsters or humans—males were possessive when it came to what they believed was theirs.

“So, to keep me safe you walked away,” I concluded.

“Yes, in the most basic of answers, that’s exactly what I did,” he agreed. “What can I do to help you believe you’re everything to me? I need you to be safe and happy because you are the representation of my heart living outside my body, Little Siren. If anything happened to you then there would be no reason to exist. The truth of how easily I could destroy everything in sight should terrify you. I could wipe this country off the map with the power that I hold and none of it would matter because you wouldn’t be there with me to experience it.”

That had me gaping at him in disbelief. “You can destroy a whole continent?”

Hisceas chuckled, pulling me into a hug. “I tell you that you’re my heart and reason for living and all you heard was that?”

“No, I heard the other part, too,” I admitted, wrapping my arms as far as I could around his waist. “I just don’t know how to respond to that kind of affection. Before, I would only get those kinds of platitudes when someone wanted something from me, or to get me to give them back, which is all they really wanted.”

Scooping me up with one arm so I was perched on his forearm, Hisceas brought me to eye level. “Little Siren, I will never lie to you. I know it will take time for you to believe me and let me prove it to you but I give my oath as Guardian, only the truth will be spoken to you, even if you might not like it.”

There was a tingle of magic and I felt the weight of that oath he’d given in the air around us. “Truth is truth, good or bad. I’d much rather hear it than a lie.”

Hisceas inclined his head in agreement before he nuzzled the side of his face with mine. “It is so clear to me, that while the humans might not have broken your strength, they stole the ability for you to see your value. Kezia, your skin glows in the moonlight because you’re absorbing its light and turning it into magic. This is the power source you feed off as a monster, but you are also part human so you might never be able to go without that type of nourishment. Not that it matters, because there is plenty of food to be found in the forest.”

Peering up at the moon, I realized it must be why I’d always loved the night. How it was so much easier for me to be nocturnal and hate mornings. Why my skin never changed with the sunlight no matter how hard I tried. I was born of the moon and stars, the ruler of the night. My place in the world wasn’t among those that lived in the light, I was my mother’s daughter, heir to rule over those in the Hollowed Forest.

“How could I not have known all of this?” I murmured more to myself than Hisceas.

“We all have our journeys we must travel, and for reasons we might not ever know, this was how yours needed to be,” he shared. “You were brought back here at the exact time you were needed, Little Siren, and together we will figure out the reason.”

Reaching out, I cupped his face and his tentacles immediately wrapped themselves around my arms as if thrilled to have me so close. “I don’t know how to do this, my gentle giant. There is so much I have to learn about being what I am, about this land, and how I’m supposed to save it. All that aside, the thing I fear most is that I won’t be able to open my heart the way you have to me. You, Rhun, and Imp have all told me you just knew I was it for you, your chosen mate. I can’t say that I’ve felt that.”

Hisceas smiled as he leaned in slowly until our lips met. Unlike Imp, who was all bite and impatience in his kisses, Hisceas was purposeful and unhurried. My gentle giant’s lips were soft as silk as he tasted me, not forcing his way in but coaxing me to surrender myself to him. His tentacles wrapped around me, some holding me in place while others stroked over my skin in soft caresses. One wrapped itself around my breast and plucked at my nipple with its suction cups that line the underside of all his tentacles.

We sank back into the water that was noticeably warmer than before and I knew it was his doing. I was sure he’d been worried about me getting cold with bare skin and wet hair. Clutching my body against his chest with one arm, the other slid over my ass and between my legs to play with my pussy. Moaning into his mouth he swallowed them down, letting out his own rumble of pleasure as he ran two fingers over my weeping pussy. Stimulation was coming from everywhere with his tentacles attending to my breasts and his hand agonizingly gliding back and forth slowly from clit to asshole. He took the time to massage and press at my tight back entrance. It felt so good that I didn’t bother to tell him I didn’t need to be warmed up, I could handle anything he wanted to give me at a moment’s notice. While having lube involved made things easier for the male, it never affected me one way or another.

Breaking our kiss, Hisceas leaned back enough that I could look him in the eye. “Do you feel how your body responds to me? The way it lights up and sparks of your magic tease along my skin? These are all signs that you are enjoying my touch. While I don’t know the name of whatever species of monster you might be, I do know there are some that will never know pleasure unless it’s at the hands of their soul mate. The bond goes both ways, my Little Siren. I wouldn’t feel this way about you if we weren’t meant to be. You might not understand or recognize the signs, but the loss you felt at me leaving was your heart yearning for mine. I’m the only one of my kind, there isn’t anything for me to base on how my species mates. What I can tell you is that every touch, look, and smile you give me strengthens the feelings I have for you.”

I went to answer him but a tentacle pressed against my lips, stopping me.

“Close your eyes,” Hisceas ordered.

Frowning, I hesitated then let out a sigh and closed them.

“Now, I want you to call out to your magic, encourage it to come to the surface but don’t set it free. You need it accessible but we aren’t going to weave a spell, instead, I’m going to teach you how to see other’s magical auras,” he explained. “Once you have it flowing through your body, allow it to cover your eyes, creating a layer of magic over them. After you feel you’ve done that you can open them.”

Following his instruction, I reached out to where my magic lived just under the surface of my subconscious. It raced to my call like a puppy with its tail wagging excitedly, happy to be summoned. Remembering what Imp told me about communicating with my magic like an intelligent being I showed it what I wanted to do. A small ball of my silver magic split off and bobbed around eager to be of help. With a zig and a zag, it shot off through my body and exploded once it reached my face, coating it in a layer of magic and vibrating with anticipation for me to open my eyes. Hesitantly, I cracked open one eye then the other and sucked in a harsh breath as I took in the sight of swirling magic of various colors filling the room.

“Gods above,” I breathed out, awe and amazement coating my words. “This is incredible. Everything in here has magic attached to it.”