Page 80 of Sheltered in the Storm

We had never made love on the shore of the inlet. Too many dangers lurked around. But Vos had scared them off with all his beautiful, terrifying monstrousness, and now the bank was ours.

This was about much more than that, though. We were staking a claim on our special, sacred place, taking it back from the ghosts of the attack that had nearly ripped everything away from both of us. And maybe that was what Vos needed to start to let go of his guilt—to replace the memory of walking out of his beloved sea to find me gone with the sounds of me crying out his name.

When my Vos was satisfied with the number of orgasms he’d wrung from me, he discarded his clothing and finally,finallycarried me into the ocean—but not before I threw all the bloody shells as hard and far as I could into the water without caring where they ended up. I couldn’t fling them all that far, given mybody felt weak and nearly boneless with pleasure, but I did the best I could.

I also couldn’t get as deep of a breath as usual for a long underwater swim, so Vos brought me to our grotto in three shorter dives before swimming through the moss curtain on his back with me lying on his chest listening to his hearts beating. He loved taking me to the purple depths, but I could tell he didn’t dislike this way of reaching our special place. If his rock-hard cock hadn’t clued me in, the pleasant rumbling in his chest and the way his eyes shone would have.

As much pleasure as he’d already given me, my pussy ached for him—most especially for his knot. He swirled his tentacles in the water, keeping us afloat, as I stroked the frills and ridges of his cock languidly with one hand, my other arm around his neck while he pressed his lips into my hair.

It stunned me that for all the comfort and security it had given me in the beginning, how little I cared about the science of being Vos’s true mate anymore.

Everything about our coupling was wondrous and magical to me now, from how his blood and cum healed my physical injuries to his sweet cooing that soothed my heart and body. And in the sea, when his cock transformed before my eyes, swelling with bumps that increased both our pleasure, all thoughts of science washed away like a receding tide and left me with only awe and peace in my heart.

“What makes you smile, my love?” Vos asked softly.

What could I say? Him? What my life had become? Our growing garden? Poe’s happy trills? This grotto? The way I felt so safe and treasured in his arms? I chuckled to myself. His cock?

“Everything,” I said, and kissed his chest. “I don’t know how you’ve been so patient.”

He nipped my ear with his teeth. “An assassin never forgetshis training, my Calla. Patience is a requirement of the trade. But if I may be honest, my patience wears thin.”

“Mine too.”

The words had scarcely left my mouth when he rolled us over into the water, turning me so my back was to him.

He wrapped me in his arms, his tentacles swirling around us. “My Calla,” he said, one hand slipping between my thighs to stroke my clit as his cock head pressed into my aching pussy. “Take my cock, my love.”

I closed my eyes and arched my back as he thrust, gasping and moaning as each bump slipped inside me. He echoed my groans, his body quivering, until I took in his knot and he was sealed fully inside me. It fit easily for now, but soon it would swell.

He cupped my breast in his hand and stroked my clit with the other, slipped from me one bump at a time, and then thrust again. “Vos,” I gasped, trembling in his arms. “Yes. Oh, gods.”

He pumped in and out of me slowly, his ridges and bumps stroking over my G-spot and his swelling knot bumping me until the sheer pleasure and thrill of knowing he was about to give me his knot pushed me over the edge.

I came undone with a wail, shuddering hard in his arms as his fingers plied my clit to draw out my pleasure.

“My mate,” he murmured. And then he cooed.

Another, much softer orgasm swept through me unexpectedly. My pussy relaxed for him in the way I only did when we were in the water together. I let out a sound that was half groan, half sob.

His cock thrust into me, wrenching cries from me with every bump, and then his knot slipped inside me with that blissful sensation of pure completion I’d never known until the day we’d first knotted together.

Vos didn’t stop rubbing my clit even as his knot swelledinside me, sealing us together. His body spasmed and his arm tightened around my chest, his gills fluttering against my back.

With groans and spasms that shook us both, he spurted inside me, filling me completely one hot pulse at a time.

“Calla,” he breathed, his lips against my ear. “I love you.”

His twitching cock gave me another soft orgasm. I did sob that time, safe and treasured in his embrace. “I love you, my Vos,” I rasped.

He wasmine, this beautiful, monstrous man. He belonged to me—body, heart, and soul. Everything that made him Vos was mine. And everything of me was his. I had given him everything, and received the world in return.

I was his Calla and he was my Vos, and that was all that mattered to me.

EPILOGUE

VOS

The sun had not yet risenwhen I woke alone in bed. As they always did, my tentacles reached automatically for Calla. But this time they found only cool bedding and an empty pillow.

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