Pitching a Tentacle, page 8
“He was of the open opinion that you were young and enjoying the freedoms of youth, and he didn’t feel comfortable taking you to his bed, being so promiscuous. It’s never been quite the problem for me. I’m quite the cad, myself. So I thought you might like to make a small arrangement with me.” The older gentleman, Lyle, gave a nod of acknowledgement. “But I see now that you’re a chaste and tame thing.”
“I had the council remove me from their care and they placed me here. The options they presented me with were undesirable and Degan took too much delight in my very public humiliation. I kept myself pure, as I was told.” Morgan gritted his teeth and glared at his parents before unfastening his leather band. “And I still am pure.” His voice wavered.
The marking, since their lovely first night, had dissipated, the bruising faded. The ink had spread until the original design was no longer visible, but concentric rings like shaded bubbles trailed around his wrist. Morgan stared at it with a misty expression. The tiny smile on his face made Cane’s heart flutter.
“You let a filthy calamari mark you?” his mom screeched through a horrid gasp.
Lyle froze and turned on his heel, eyes narrowing. “Meridian! I’m going to have to turn your offer down on the grounds that your son was not willing, and I would have nothing but regret if I were to tie myself to a family with such outdated views. My omega father was a cecaelia. I’m sorry, but your son was right to run away.”
Morgan froze as Cane slid his arm around the male’s waist. “We’ll talk, after,” Cane said, a soft whisper over the edge of his lips.
“Keep your tentacles off my son!” Steven marched up to Cane and put a finger to his chest.
Politeness would dictate that Cane hover at eye level with the male, but height wise, Steven was a few inches short of being threatening. Immediately, Cane rose to his full height, losing his slouch. “A mer’s form is what the goddess gives them of their parents and grandparents. The goddess does not hold one form better or worse. My alpha father was an orca.”
It’d been a sore spot most of his life, his wealthy father meeting his mate in another orca, leaving him and his papa alone with little support. He’d never sent much in the way of finances, but word always came back of the opulence they lived in. When Izaiah called, he seemed like he regretted it. They spoke often though. Cane pulled Morgan in a little tighter.
“That’s why he’s so tall.” Morgan grinned in delight, almost as if finding joy in his parents’ disgust.
“He left my father when I was six. He found his true mate.” Cane’s heart wrenched a little. He had barely two months to go to find his true mate, less than that if he wanted to keep Ripley. The poor boy was smitten with Morgan and rarely left Cane’s side.
Now or never.
“Yet you work at a summer camp?” Steven snorted dubiously. “How do you plan on caring for our son?”
“Well, I’m an underwater welder. I make very good money. I invest well. I live frugally. I can take care of Morgan just fine. My family also are close to the crown of my shimmer, so we have status.” Cane rubbed a soothing hand down Morgan’s warm back, digging his fingers in. The male’s pulse fluttered under Cane’s fingertips.
“Lyle. I am so sorry my parents dragged you into this, but what were they exchanging for me?” Morgan glanced at the older man, brows furrowed.
“The usual dowry, and his father is pressuring him for an alpha heir. So there’s that, too.” Lyle shook his head. “Come on, you two. The boy’s mated, plain as day. You’re grasping at straws.”
“That’s my inheritance! I cannot... We need the money, Lyle. We can’t just—” Steven glared at Morgan as if expecting him to buckle. Cane tightened his grip, and Morgan stood a little taller as if Cane gave him strength.
“Play nice, and those two may give you some orca grandbabies.” Lyle snorted. “But you two didn’t impress me at all. And you, Hurricane, was it?”
“Cane, sir.” He extended his hand, grasping the beta tight by the wrist for a solid shake.
“You’re a good man. My firm sometimes needs underwater welders, and it’s so hard to find a cetacean that is willing to get their flippers dirty. What family did you come from? Gale, you said?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Ah.” A dawning look of recognition registered over Lyle’s face. The Gale family was a larger family, well-connected and, from what Cane knew, seclusive. He’d never met any family on that side, but it wasn’t strange.
Lyle pushed a card into Cane’s hand. “If you need anything, work or the like. I pay handsomely. I can get you clients that pay even more handsomely.” Lyle clapped Cane’s shoulder. “For a finder’s fee, of course.” He shuffled out, shaking his head.
“You can’t be serious! Meridian, control your son.” Steven gestured wildly at Morgan, who pressed into Cane’s side.
“I’ve chosen my mate. He’s marked me and we’ll be sure to get started on getting you a nice heir. He’s got orca in him, so there’s always a strong chance at having orca babies.” Morgan grinned.
Steven stared daggers at Cane and Morgan before slamming a chair to the ground in anger and storming out, Meridian following without even a goodbye.
“Well, that was a shit show.” Cane sank down onto a seat and ran his fingers through Morgan’s loose curls.
“In many ways.” Morgan leaned over the table miserably and buried his face in his arms. “We really need to talk.”
Talking was the last thing Cane wanted to do. Everything in his body told him to protect his mate, that he was vulnerable, precious, and claimed.
This. This has to be it. My mate.
Chapter Thirteen
Morgan
“We really need to talk.” When his parents and the prospective mate for him were out of earshot, Morgan broke down, tears cascading over his cheeks, hard, racking sobs shaking his chest.
Cane was all arms when Morgan needed it, so large, tight and warm, his skin gaining the lightest tinge of purple underneath the golden tan, as if he yearned to shift, to surround Morgan with his tendrils and hide him from the world.
“What’s on your mind?” Cane was thoughtful like that. He knew what was wrong, his parents, but he’d witnessed it.
“How do you know if someone is your mate?”
Cane hesitated. “I—I was always told that I’d know when I found them. Did you find someone?” Cane’s entire face morphed into pure misery.
Morgan pushed up onto his tiptoes and locked Cane into a deep and desperate kiss, his heart rattling in his chest as he worked up the courage to say it. “No. I mean, yes. I found you but...”
Cane hesitated, stepping back from him, head cocked. “What?”
Morgan pulled at the hair on his head. “Mate me. Claim me. Please.”
Taking Morgan’s hand, Cane brought it to his lips, fingers delicately trailing the mark his tentacle had left. “It shouldn’t have stuck around this long, you know?” Cane kissed the bubbles left in the claiming ink, the new design full of more love than the old ever was, even if done so flippantly.
“Maybe it’s a sign?”
“Tell me why you want me to claim you so badly?” Cane sat down and pulled Morgan into his lap, letting the smaller male straddle him as they peppered one another with small kisses.
“Being stupid...” Morgan’s voice caught.
“I don’t think so. Something’s bothering you.” Cane nuzzled into the taut lines of Morgan’s neck and nipped gently, breathing him in. Every muscle in his body went rigid as his nostrils flared. “I see. So that’s what I’m scenting.”
“I thought we weren’t... I thought you kept it to yourself.” Morgan shuddered.
Cane hesitated. “We’ve rubbed up against one another but— Well shit.” His chest shook with light laughter. No anger, no derisiveness or shame. Only trust.
“What?”
“I’ve never had a dolphin. Your cock pulls into your channel. And we’ve been...” Cane hissed and clucked his tongue. “So, how would you like to handle this?” Cane trailed his hands to Morgan’s hips and stared down between them for some sort of sign.
“I dunno. I want to keep them. We don’t have to be mates, but you can help me raise them if you want or not.” Morgan flinched in preparation for an answer.
“I actually wanted to propose something similar at the end of summer, if you were still interested. My friend Beach works for the council.” Cane’s lips twisted. “We’ll take Ripley. We’ll move into my nice, big home. And you can still search for your true mate if you feel I’m not it.”
“That sounds nice, but I really think you are my mate.” Morgan rested his head in the crook of Cane’s neck, taking in his thick alpha scent.
“What are you two doing in here?” One of the counselors, an old bear, grumbled at them while shuffling his way toward the kitchen. “Better not be making babies at the dinner table.”
“Ship’s sailed on that one, Gibson.” Morgan groaned, halting him.
“No shit?” The bear glanced between the two. “Happy about it?”
Morgan flinched as he waited for Cane’s response. Morgan was terrified more than anything, grateful he’d never have to return to his parents, a ticket to be disgraced so badly that he’d never be wanted again. A baby would be freedom.
“Nervous as hell. I was not expecting this today, I tell you.” Cane laughed and wrapped his arms tighter around Morgan, but his grin lit up the room.
“Have you ever been mated, Gibson?” Morgan’s thoughts scattered.
“Yeah. Long time ago. We live apart now, but that’s how bears are. We get together around spring.”
“How did you know they were the one?” With a barely perceptible shiver, Cane squeezed Morgan a little tighter, waiting for the words.
“I’m not sure. It was like we were always drawn together. My inner bear was always so very content with her. But you two are expecting and not mated?” Gibson shuffled over and sniffed at them. “Nah. I think you two will be fine. The nose knows.”
Cane rubbed a hand up and down Morgan’s back. “Like father, like son. We’ll figure it out. I won’t leave our baby. And we can’t leave Ripley.” Gibson huffed and waved them on, grinning as he made his way to the kitchen.
“No, we can’t, can we?”
Cane scooped Morgan up by his ass cheeks, squeezing them tight. “Honestly, I think we need to take a break. My cabin or yours? If you’re already in the family way, we should finally go raw.”
“Seriously? We’re in a serious situation like this. My parents are furious. I’m damn near homeless. I’m pregnant, unmated and—” Cane silenced him with a kiss.
“In the arms and lap of someone who would never let you go. For as long as you wanted. We’ll figure it out. I told you I’d lie to the goddess herself if I had to, mate.” Cane smiled and stood. “But for now, I have a few phone calls to make. And feel free to stop wearing that bracelet. Let my marks show. Let me at least pretend I’ve claimed you properly.”
And like that, Cane parted from him with a soft kiss and a warm smile. “Go tell Ripley. We’ll be going home soon.”
Morgan had dreaded telling Cane. They’d been fooling around for months, and they’d discussed very little in the way of mateship, other than they wanted it. But something bothered Morgan. When they first met, Cane had almost been angry when he saw the mark, been insistent on covering it with his own... The goddess had given them their merforms so many generations ago, had made them what they were. Dolphins rarely mated for love. Few mers did. But when they did mate, finding their true love, it was a special and all-encompassing passion. A passion that Morgan could only pray he found with Cane. He believed he had.
The kids had gathered around with a junior camp counselor, lobbing cloth sacks of corn or pellets or something at a board with holes. Years prior, they used to do archery and fire little rifles.
“Hey, Mister Morgan!” Casper bounded up, eyes bright, hands full of the sacks.
“Sup? Seen Rip around?” Morgan craned his neck and Casper pointed toward his cabin.
“Seriously? Why isn’t he out here playing with you guys?” Morgan sighed.
“He was crying again, and I took him back there and gave him lots of blankets because Papa says that’s what omegas need when they’re sad.” Casper nodded sagely.
“Good job. Thank you.” Morgan ruffled his hair and jogged off toward Cane’s cabin, finding Ripley right where Casper had promised, huddled up amid a mountain of blankets with the scent of fear thick on him.
“Rip? What’s wrong?” Morgan shuffled over and sat on the edge of his bed with a half grin.
“I don’t know. I got lonely and scared and I thought your family was going to take you back home and I don’t want you to go.” Ripley shivered. “I want to go with you.”
“Oh, sweetheart. You can come with me when I leave.” Morgan didn’t dare pull Ripley out of his nest, but rather huddled in with him with a tight hug.
“I don’t want to! I want to go with Mister Cane! I— Maybe it’s this dumb fish thing. I don’t know.” Ripley tugged at his hair. He’d likely never been around merfolk before, never scented alpha and omega. He didn’t understand his own needs.
“Shh. Take a deep breath.” Morgan pulled Ripley into his lap and tightened the blankets around them, wrapping his arms firmly. “What do I smell like to you, little one?”
“You smell like a mommy...” Ripley nuzzled into Morgan’s chest and returned the lingering hug with a soft whimper. “And Cane smells like a daddy.”
“Do you want us to be your papa and daddy? We can all be together?” Morgan stroked over Ripley’s head, coaxing the unruly locks to lie flat.
He didn’t speak right away, only whimpered as he nodded fervently. “But they’re gonna send me back to the boarding school after summer. I cry too much and they get mad at me.” Ripley sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve. “Will you be here next summer?”
“Hah. Probably not. I mean permanently, to come live with other merfolk. Teach you how to be an omega.”
“You’re gonna get rid of me because I cry too much,” Ripley said, his voice full of stubbornness.
“Want to know a secret?”
Ripley nodded.
“How do I know you’re crying if you’re underwater all the time?” Morgan grinned and Ripley glanced up in shock. “But never hide it. Getting you to stop crying is stupid. We have to do things to make you forget to cry.”
“I don’t want to cry. It just happens. Casper was really nice to me and put me in with lots of blankets and said his papa said that’s how to help.”
Morgan chuckled. “Cane is on the phone right now making sure we get the paperwork. You’re coming home with us. You’re scared and anxious all the time because you can’t shift enough. You can’t let your fish part out, or burrow in the sand, or snuggle and nest like an omega needs to. And there’s a likelihood that your instincts want an alpha to protect you. Casper knows what you don’t.”
Instead of the joy Morgan expected, tears welled up again as Ripley whimpered, sobbing into the blankets.
“Shh! What’s wrong, Ripley? We don’t have to take you if you don’t want.” Morgan patted his back.
“I don’t want Kip to protect me!”
“Ew. No. Cane is an alpha. No Kip. He’s a shifter, not like you. You’re mer.” Morgan kissed his temple and squeezed him tight.
“O-okay.” Ripley closed his eyes and sank into the protective hold of an omega, a parent. Morgan had spent a while at this camp, playing the part of raising kids, helping shifter kids integrate with humans. He thought of himself as the cool older brother, but with one on the way, and the fish fry in his arms, Morgan thought he could do this. And if he couldn’t, Cane would be there.
Chapter Fourteen
Cane
“Caaaaane! How’s my favorite man doing? I was wanting to talk to you.” Beach’s welcoming voice over the phone took a little of Cane’s nerves off edge.
“Is it good news or bad news?” Cane hesitated but sighed in relief when Beach laughed.
“Nah, all good. We got some info back on Ripley when I was reporting your mate status. Turns out, he was surrendered by a young male, likely an omega. And the hair sample sent in tells us his alpha father was the darter. His omega was some sort of goldfish, which probably explains the red hair.”
“So, is someone going to come get him?” Cane swallowed, dreading the answer.
“Yeah. You two. He was fully surrendered, likely hoping to keep his tail out of the eye of the darters so he didn’t end up with his spirit cleaved.” An audible shudder wracked Beach’s voice. “I insisted he go with you and that Lake boy. Cute, isn’t he? I had a feeling he’d be your type, hmm?”
“Matchmaker, matchmaker. You’ve done well. How would you have known?” Cane snorted.
“When you were a kid, you never stopped taking in injured animals. You had a pet lobster that came when you called for fuck’s sake, man. How could you not fall for an injured bird?”
“Fell like a damn rock. But I have a question... They tell us that you’ll know when you find your mate. How do you know?” Cane leaned against a tree and stared out at the sparse kids running about.
“I always forget your alpha father wasn’t a cecaelia.” Beach laughed. “The alphas don’t get a sign. The omegas do. Our wild counterparts were made to basically lob ol’ number eight at the female and skedaddle so she could make babies on her own time and die protecting them.”
“Yeesh.” Cane sighed, question unanswered.
“Nah. The reason why you’re taught to keep that tentacle tucked is because that’s the mating tentacle. You not only breed your partner with it, but you mark them, too. Your brain doesn’t know, but his does.”
Cane thought back to his desire and urgency to destroy the ink in that tattoo, to use his tentacle to make that mark... “I haven’t told my papa yet. Hell, I’ve not told anyone yet. We just found out he’s expecting. I didn’t waste time, apparently.”
