Mara woke in his arms, in his bed, in his house. She ached all over, but when she slid a hand over her belly, she could feel it. The pearl was there.
Tyron looked so innocent in his human form. She would never guess that he was capable of lodging the tip of his tail in her ass like he had last night. His brilliant eyes opened, and he smiled. “Hello, love.”
She blushed. “Hello, mate?”
“Oh, definitely. How is the pearl doing today?”
“Still round and hard.”
He slid down in the bed and kissed her belly. “Morning, little one.”
She chuckled. “It is remaining silent.”
He licked at her stomach. “Well, let’s get some food in you and go see the oracle. She will be able to tell you where you came from or, at least, allow you some insight.”
“Why can’t you tell me?”
“Union rules.” He chuckled.
He kissed her belly again and then got out of bed. She exhaled as his human form was truly lovely. All muscles and warm skin. She hummed softly as she watched him walk and then clamped a hand over her mouth. That wasn’t a sound she normally made. It had started below her sternum and vibrated out of her mouth. Her entire upper torso had been in on it.
Tyron grinned at her over his shoulder. “Something wrong, love?”
She squeaked, “Nope. All good. Very good.”
She pushed the sheets off and stood up then noticed that she had been decorated. “Okay, I want to know where the suckers are located because this is just... is this a happy face?”
He was in the kitchen getting a pan out, and he looked at her. “Yes, it is. Your belly button is the nose.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose and was going to head over to him, but he said, “There’s a robe for you at the foot of the bed.”
She looked at the back and snorted. “My husband is a sea monster?”
He chuckled. “I thought it was cute. It will change into whatever you need. One of the Arachne’s spun it for you.”
She looked at the words and smiled as she slid the robe on. She tied the sash and walked to the kitchen, where he was arranging a fruit salad.
He looked at what she knew was a smug expression. “Did you change it?”
“I did.”
He paused and turned her around and then laughed. “I am a fucking lucky sea monster.”
She grinned and stole a grape from the cutting board. She had changed the writing to My mate is a fucking lucky sea monster.
She stole a few more grapes and went to sit at the counter while he made her breakfast. Her robe slowly slid down her shoulders until it was resting on the edge of her breasts.
Tyron turned with plates ready, and he looked at her, exhaling a slow, “Fuck.”
“Well, I was hoping that would start the day, but you wanted breakfast.”
He set the plates on the counter and came around to lift her onto the edge near where she had been sitting, and when his fingers found her dripping. He groaned, and his tentacles gripped her while the main shaft moved into her, thickening as she watched. She grunted at the girth and moaned as he kissed her while the heavy, fast throbbing of him inside her spun her senses and encouraged her to wrap her legs around him as she bucked and pulled at him. He broke the kiss and applied his clever tongue to her breasts, sucking hard as she shivered and shouted. He kept pulsing into her and frantically caressing her with his hands and mouth, then she roared into another orgasm a few minutes later.
Mara was hanging in his arms, her thighs dripping with purple stuff, and he was resting his forehead between her breasts.
She croaked, “That was more like it.”
He laughed against her and lifted his head, wrapping an arm around her hips, and he walked her over to the plates. He fed her some fruit, bacon, and eggs, and the whole time he was pulsing softly inside her.
“This is definitely the best way to start the day I have thought of. I think I want to do this every day. Not too rough for you?”
“You screwed me halfway to the Caspian Sea last night. By the way, was that a kraken?”
He chuckled. “A god. Poseidon. My father. He was watching.”
“Oh. Delightful. Was my gown still on there?”
He threaded a hand in her hair. “Yes. The most he saw was your breasts and legs around me.”
She clenched on him and shuddered as a small climax went through her. “Your father is Poseidon?”
“Yeah, but don’t worry. He has a lot of children. I am not the favoured son.” He held another piece of toast to her lips.
Mara blinked and bit the toast and mumbled, “Are all the monsters descended the same way?”
“Most of us.” Tyron still softly pulsed inside her.
He fed her slowly and ate his own meal at the same time. When their plates were empty, he kissed her again. His tongue slid along hers, and she reciprocated in a way she couldn’t do when he was shifted.
She rolled her hips against his, and he pulsed faster. She gave a throaty chuckle. “So, what do I need to do for a healthy pregnancy? Arabella said it only lasts a month.”
He chuckled. “You? You only need to let me cum in you once a day. The breakdown that she got is distilled for each aspect because it is considered that the substance at full strength would become addictive.”
She sighed and moved with him. “And I get it full strength? Oh, I am a lucky girl.”
He got larger, and the pulse got faster. “And I am a very, very lucky monster.”
He leaned in and kissed her neck, sucking and licking as his tentacles crept over her clit and worked into her rear passage. She was slick enough that he went in easily.
Tyron let out a low groan, and his larger tentacles appeared, one rubbing at her breasts while the other wrapped around her hips before following its companions into her ass. She grunted as he pushed inside. Her eyes opened wide, and she groaned as he slid in far deeper than she had anticipated.
“Oh, god. Tyron!” She screamed and bucked and held on as he drove her to the edge and held her as she came apart.
He was smiling with smug satisfaction when she opened her eyes, in the shower with him, carefully held against him as he washed her. The tentacles could hold a shower puff without difficulty and were scrubbing her back for her.
“Oh, don’t look so pleased with yourself.” She didn’t even have the strength to smack him.
“I am afraid that this is going to be a constant state after I fuck you senseless. Your eyes went bright, then dozy, and a slow smile crossed your features that remained there until you woke up. Actually, it is on your expression as well.” He kissed her cheek and then her lips. “I like that expression. Like I have a sleepy, sexy kitten.”
He stroked her cheek with his hand, and she took his thumb between her teeth, flicking it with her tongue before sucking on it. His eyes went hooded and dark a moment later.
“You are hell on my self-control. I had been alone for centuries and only had to jerk off occasionally. Now, I want to be inside you twenty-four seven, and only part of that urge revolves around the baby.”
Concern ran through her, and she pressed her hand to her belly. “We didn’t hurt it, did we?”
He ran a slippery hand over her belly. “No, love. It’s still safe and sound in the pearl.”
She exhaled a shaky breath. “Oh, good.”
He stroked her back and said, “We are going to the oracle before I can comfort you in the shower.”
She chuckled. “Probably a good idea.”
They left the shower, towelled off, and he showed her how to manipulate the robe into daily wear. She just needed shoes.
They walked hand-in-hand up the hillside, and when they had travelled for ten minutes, there was a crevice in a stone wall that opened into a cavern. From the cavern, there was a stairway, and they walked deeper and deeper until she caught the scent of something herbal and familiar.
Tyron called out, “Reesa, are you there?”
“Yes, Commander. Come in with your mate.”
Mara walked toward the woman who had previously been identified as the oracle.
“Hello, ma’am.” Mara nodded with a smile.
The woman was sitting on a chaise and was smoking via a lorgnette. “I have been waiting for you for quite some time, Mara. You are practically glowing. So, what have you come for?”
“I want to know about my children.” Mara exhaled. “I know I have children.”
“Come closer. We normally don’t do this until citizenship, but I think that you are close enough.”
Mara walked up to her, and behind the couch was a pool made of white liquid.
“Kneel.”
Mara knelt, and the woman leaned forward and exhaled a stream of smoke into her face.
“Find your past, pet.”
Mara’s head started spinning, and she reached out, grabbing for Tyron’s hand. He gripped her fingers, and she let her senses fall.
“Die, bitch!”
Mara lay on the deck and stared at her husband. She held her hand to her throat, unable to scream. Bubbles of blood frothed up around her fingers as he laughed and stalked toward her again.
“Don’t worry, Mara. You died in a storm at sea, and the kids, too. Isn’t it lucky the insurance will cover my restart in life?”
She tried to run for the hatch to protect her children, but a searing pain struck her back, stabbing her through her heart as the laughter continued and her blood washed the deck.
There was a moment of silence, and the memory turned to reality, and Mara stood up, wearing the gold gown, and there was murder in her thoughts. “Oh, Andre. You asshole.”
He turned with a grin. “Back for more? You have far more stamina than you exhibit in bed.”
She felt Tyron with her and glanced at her dead body. “Not back for more, back for a conversation, or I let my mate tear you apart.”
She laughed when he rushed toward her, and the sea surged up and dropped Tyron next to her. “Hello, love.”
Andre stared and backed up rapidly, thudding against the window on their small yacht.
Mara looked at Tyron. “My children area below. Can they be taken to safety?”
He nodded and pointed. “I may not be the favourite, but my father still wishes success for me. He will haul the yacht to the shore for you, with your children on board.”
She nodded. “My sister will take care of them.”
Andre was staring at Tyron and babbling in terror. Mara lifted her hand and pointed it at Andre. “None of this would have happened if you had just taken your divorce like a good boy.”
The spear of water from her finger shot out, and Andre screamed. The children tumbled out of the hatch. Mara moved to stop them, but they saw her, the knife wounds sending her blood onto the deck and dripping into the sea.
Liette screamed, and Tobias sobbed, holding his sister. Mara walked toward them and knelt. “Lee, Toby, I have to go away now.”
They turned toward her and yelled, “Mom!”
She stroked their hair and hugged them while her children wanted to know what had happened.
“Daddy wanted to live like he didn’t have us, so he brought us here to kill us. He killed me, but I stopped him from killing you. There is a creature below us and possibly a nice man nearby who will take you to safety and ask them to call Aunt Risetta. She will take care of you. There is plenty of money set aside.”
Liette looked at her and frowned. “But, Mom. Why can’t you take care of us?”
“Because I am dead, baby. In the moments between my heart beating its last and now, I have lived months in the land of the dead, and this is my new husband. Tyron.” She smiled. “Tyron is a sort of police officer. He’s a good man, and he cares about me very much. You are going to have a new brother or sister.” She looked at her kids taking him in. “He also doesn’t always look like that. But he is the same person in either shape.”
“Mom, can you come and visit?”
Mara thought about it. “I will try, but if not, I will send your sibling to introduce themselves when they can. Be good. Love each other and know that I loved you more than anything else in the world.”
She stroked their cheeks, and they slumped in her arms. She held up her hand, and balls of water shot out and tore Andre to pieces. Tyron took the pieces and threw them overboard.
Mara looked over the edge and saw the huge eye of the kraken. It blinked slowly, and then, there was a shimmer, and a man with a beard and a heavily built body stepped onto the deck. A ship approached them.
“Ah, little guppies. Such a rough way to endure the world.” He smiled at her with the same bright eyes that Tyron sported. “And daughter. Such a devoted mother you are. My son is lucky to have found you.”
“I think the fates were dangling their fingers in the pool on this one. How can I have been at the island for months, and yet, I just died?”
He shrugged. “The ways of the land of the dead are most strange, but you have enough of the Styx in you to support you anywhere. You might be able to visit your children again. You must ask Hades or Persephone, but they will agree. The Styx will make them. But, first, you must bring my grandchild into the world.”
Tyron finished disposing of the pieces. “Will you take care of her children, Father?”
He nodded. “They will get to shore, and I will contact Aunt Risetta. I can work a cell phone. They will be safe, daughter. I promise you. Now, return to the island. You have used all your new power.”
She stroked their hair once more, kissed their heads, and then settled them with Poseidon. His boat was near, and she knew he would tow them. The storm was coming, so she kicked the blade Andre had used over to her body and covered herself with a tarp. “Just to preserve evidence.”
Mara returned to watch Poseidon jump over to the other ship as lines were thrown by phantom hands. Tyron grabbed her and lifted her. “Time to go, love. You look exhausted.”
Mara nodded and held him tight as he slipped over the edge and into the sea. She let the cold seep into her, and then, they were sitting in front of the oracle again.
Reesa had a teapot and quickly poured. “Okay, so I did not see that happening. Have some tea. Get back to bed. Rest. But, at least now you know what happened.”
Mara took the tea in shaking hands that Tyron steadied with his tentacles as she sipped. It was hot, but she needed the heat.
The warmth expanded inside her, and she slumped against him. She looked up. “They are really safe?”
“We will check on them in a few weeks. But, yes. My father would not break his word to me.”
She nodded and turned to hold him, tears running down her cheeks. “He killed me. He hated me so much that he killed me.”
“He didn’t hate you. He just loved money more. You are a delight.” He gathered her up and nodded to Reesa. “I am taking her home.”
“Good. She needs rest and to recoup some of what was lost. I am sure it will be no hardship.”
He snorted. “So you say.” His voice was smug as he muttered, “She’s nearly insatiable.”
Mara muttered, “Stop bragging.”
He laughed and carried her home in his monster form, helping her alter her gown into a silky slip, and then, he stroked her forehead as he urged her to get some rest.
She reached out. “Stay with me.”
He chuckled and said, “I am stuck in this form for a while. Can I hold you?”
She nodded and put her arms out.
He picked her up, leaned against the wall, and looped his coils so he could drape her over him.
“You called me love.” He murmured.
“I remembered what it felt like when I saw my babies. This is love. It isn’t what it will eventually become, but it is something for now.” She rubbed her cheek against his rough skin. “What did she mean I have been depleted?”
“Ah, the purple stuff gave you power and a certain sturdiness. We can wait until after your nap.”
She reached down and pulled her silky gown up. “Just in case you want to get a jump start. I know you like the feeling of me around you.”
She felt the thin tentacles pulling her into position, lining her up, and then the press of him into her. A noise came out of her that sounded like a purr but translated from her body to his. He wrapped his limbs around her, and he hummed at her.
She chuckled and let herself sleep with the heat returning to her soul.