Page 22 of Snowed In Sucker
“What do you mean, Jett? Talk to me, please.”
Jett lets out a shaky breath, his arms tightening around me. “It’s because I’m an octopus. I’ve been throwing pheromones at you this whole time. I’m so sorry I didn’t think of it sooner, otherwise I would have warned you about what’s going on.”
I pull back in order to look into Jett’s eyes, in order to properly see his face as we talk. I’m trying to understand what he’s saying.
“My dads thought I was in withdrawal from you.”
“Yes,” he says, his eyes darting between my own. “We need to be together because our bodies are changing, preparing us for our mating and umm, for something else.”
“Mating? Isn’t that too soon?”
“My octopus has made up his mind. I am yours, Landon.”
My head finally feels clear enough to take all of this in. This is all so much but I’m not upset by any of it. Nothing that Jett has said has been wrong or too much. I feel the same way and it’s a relief to hear that he feels the same about me.
“You are mine,” I say, my voice taking on an animalistic growl.
“Yes. In every way that means.”
“Explain the rest. I want to hear everything.”
“I am an octopus shifter, as you know. We do things a little differently. There are no alphas or omegas, we are all the same, even despite genders. When my octopus has chosen his mate, my body will change. I will start to produce pheromones to prepare my partner. Then, once I have my partner's DNA, I will produce a mating tentacle.”
“Oh,” I say, breathing out a long sigh. Jett bottomed for me. I came inside of him. This is all very serious but my insides still send a thrill through me, thinking about the way I marked him like that. It had been so good. “Okay, keep going.”
“Your body, on the other hand, has changed in a different way. Your body is changing in order to accept my mating tentacle and the eggs that come with it.”
“I’m sorry, did you just say eggs?”
“Yes, though it might be just one! It could also be up to six,” he says with a wince. “They are how octopi reproduce.” Jett clears his throat. “They are our children.”
I stare at him, blinking slowly. The words play over and over inside my head.
Our children.
“You’re going to make me your mate and then we’re going to have children.”
“Yes,” he says slowly. “But only if you want that. If not, we just have to stay away from each other until this is all over. Your body, though it won’t feel very good, will go back to normal. My mating tentacle and the eggs will eventually dissolve on their own and will be reabsorbed inside my body. The process is incredibly unpleasant but that’s okay. I don’t ever want to do anything you don’t want to do or are not ready for. I can handle--”
I cut off Jett by surging forward and kissing his lips. I won’t even let him talk about dealing with this himself. I’m here and more than willing to be in this. Jett is mine and I am his.
The quickness of love doesn’t matter, it’s the quality that does and the quality with which I feel for him is off the charts.
“I’m all in,” I tell him when we finally break apart. I feel breathless and giddy. My affections for this man skyrocket until I can’t hold it in a moment longer. “It’s quick, I know, but I don’t care. I want you. I want this. I want your mating tentacle. I wantour babies. I want the whole thing, Jett, because all of that comes withyou.”
Jett kisses me. He kisses me over and over and over again. “I’ve never heard anything more beautiful.” I’m about to kiss him again but I freeze. “What is it?”
I let out a long groan. “This is so embarrassing but umm, my parents are here,” I say with a hissed out whisper. “How much of that do you think they heard?”
“Some of it but not all,” my dad says, walking back into the room. “Teo and I are just gonna go grab a hotel, okay? You call us when it’s safe to come back!”
I bury my face against Jett’s chest, my cheeks burning bright hot.
“You two have fun,” my alpha dad calls out with a chuckle. “It was nice to meet you, Jett! Looking forward to getting to know you later!”
We stay like that until the door clicks shut. “That might be the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever gone through,” I confess slowly, still hiding my face.
“Could be worse. I could have already had my tentacles out.”
