Page 56 of Last Shot at Love

He rocked the appendage, and the texture of the skin rubbed against erotic zones I didn’t know I possessed.

“Oh…” I moaned.

Was it just my imagination or was the tip growing bigger? Swelling to fill me?

“Claim me. Please.” I was desperate to know I was his. It had become more important than anything else in my life. “Make me yours.”

Cer sighed. “I want to claim you. But if I do it now, it will leave a mark everywhere a sucker is touching your skin. They will be like invisible ink that is visible only beneath a black light. Black lights and my venom are the only things that will make them visible.”

“I love that. I want to remember how you claimed me for the rest of our lives. Mark me as your mate,” I purred.

And so he did. His mouth found my neck again and the burn of venom moved through my blood once more. There was a wave of nausea, but it was quickly forgotten as I felt the kiss of each sucker teasing my skin.

The pressure inside me eased as my vampire was finally satisfied the bond was complete.

Cerulean’s finger moved to stimulate my clit as the mating tentacle heated me from the inside out. I couldn’t take much more without passing out.

“Cerulean,” I panted, “I need…”

He ground his palm against me, and I screamed as a final orgasm flipped my entire world upside down. Cerulean stiffened behind me. With a roar, the mating tentacle I was impaled on began to pulse and my mate joined me in erotic bliss.

“Mine,” I whispered, my mouth dry.

“Mine,” he answered, his tentacles cradling me to him.

We spent the next two days devouring room service… and each other.

My laptop remained closed, and I tossed my phone in my bag. Rather than leaving me to swim in the ocean, Cerulean used the pool, and my body, for his morning stretch.

Sitting on the patio swing, I snuggled against my mate, relaxed and content. I knew I should check in with Sara, but I struggled to pull myself away from his side.

He was the octopus shifter… shouldn’t that make him the clingy one?

Cer made a strange choking sound, and I twisted my neck to look up at him. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, fine,” he wheezed. After a minute, he pulled himself together. “I was thinking we should eat in the restaurant tonight.”

“That means we’d need to find clothes,” I whined.

I’d spent years in restrictive business suits, uncomfortable heels, and tight buns… now I was enjoying the freedom of being naked and not worrying about what I should wear.

Maybe we should join a nudist colony?

Cerulean coughed again.

I pressed my hand to his forehead, checking for a temperature. “Are you getting sick?”

Catching my hand, he brought it to his lips for a kiss. “Stop worrying. I’m fine. Just thinking about amusing things.”

I side-eyed him. He was being evasive, but why?

“So, dinner?” he prompted, running his fingertips down my bare leg and completely distracting me.

“We could stay in and have the restaurant bring the food here. We don’t have to go there,” I pointed out.

Cerulean’s tentacles wrapped around my body, pulling me against his chest. “Maybe I want to show off my beautiful mate.”

I was shocked to find my cheeks heating. How could we do everything we’d done in the last two days, and yet I could still be embarrassed around him?

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