I know better than to be close to her when my kraken is all jacked up. He thought all of his dreams came true all at once when Vivie asked for his eggs. I knew better, and I tried to tell him as much, but he shut me out completely.
The complicated part is that we’re one in the same. I might think of him as a separate being, but we share one body. His thoughts and feelings are in some way my own, and that makes me question a lot of shit I haven’t let myself focus on before now.
Hence the massive amount of alcohol. Well, that and the guilt. I needed some way to numb the constant berating myself.
Saber shoves inside Vivie’s apartment like he’s more familiar with the place than he truly is. I couldn’t be bothered with transforming back to human form, mostly because pants are annoying. Then there’s the fact that I have no idea how my human form will handle the obscene amounts of liquor I’ve imbibed since last night.
It takes an extreme volume of alcohol to overpower my shifter DNA, and if I transition back to human form, I might face-plant.
Vivie’s bedroom is dark as Saber steps inside. I follow him in, blocking the doorway as I freeze.
She’s covered up from the top of her head to the bottom of her toes.
“She was feverish. You should take care of that,” he says, trying to pass me to exit the room.
I toss out my tentacles, preventing him from getting through. “I need a monitor now, probably more than ever.”
That’s not an exaggeration, either.
The blanket flies toward the foot of the bed, and Vivie pops up. “Laz…”
I want verbal confirmation from Saber that he’s going to stay, but seeing how wrecked Vivie looks, I don’t hesitate to make my way to the bed.
I’m big in partially shifted form, but I make it work. My tentacles slither around Vivie, and I lift her. “I’m here, precious.”
She falls into my chest, burying her face in my throat.
Although Vivie has no sense of smell, she is able to soak up my pheromones through inhaling them, as well as skin-on-skin contact. “I’m so sorry. I’ll incubate the eggs or accept them. I’ll probably be an awful mother, but I will try. I think I can do better than my own mom?—”
“Vivienne, enough,” I murmur, smoothing my hand down her back over my hoodie that she’s wearing. “I don’t want to pressure you into anything you’re not ready for.” I always assumed that I would have children, but I want her more than offspring. “What we really need to talk about is this fever you’re running…” I glance at the door just in time to see Saber inching toward it. “Not a chance. Get your ass over here and fuck Vivie.”
“What?” Vivie chokes out.
“I can’t help you this quickening. My seminal fluid will signal to the eggs that it’s time to be fertilized.” I nuzzle my cheek to the top of her head. “But luckily, Saber can. He can come inside you over and over again, and it won’t fertilize the eggs. Not unless I come inside you first.”
My kraken tries to convince me that we could fuck her—as long as I don’t finish in her pussy. But I’m not sure if my precum could trigger the reaction in my eggs, so it’s better not to risk it.
This is exactly what I meant when I warned Saber about how much different it is being around your mate when they’re fertile.
My kraken loves and respects Vivie just as much as I do, but he’s guided completely by instinct. To him, it’s not sneaky at all to do everything in his power to protect our offspring.
He and I usually coexist peacefully, but I know he’s going to make this hard on me.
“You really should ask me if I’m down for that before you go making assumptions,” Saber says, reminding me I just told him to fuck my mate. He takes a seat on the edge of the mattress, and his icy gray eyes glow with his monster.
I almost laugh. “Are you?”
His eyes flash even brighter, and I’m sure he’s telepathically communicating with his sphinx. My eyes have been known to glow when my kraken wants to make his desires known. His beast likes the idea of fucking Vivie through the mattress, which says it all.
I just can’t determine why the man is so stubborn.
“Well, I’m not going to leave her suffering just because the two of you can’t get your shit together,” he says.
Gods.
He loves to take jabs.
Vivie’s arms tighten around my torso, and I’m once again reminded just how hot she is.
