Fear still hid behind my calm facade, but I wondered if I was right in that the tentacle didn’t want to harm me.
The tentacle made slow work of wrapping around my waist and creeping up toward my face. Even as it tightened, a snug move that didn’t hurt as I thought it would. The shouts of the surrounding crew snapped me back to reality as another crossbow was lifted, aiming at the creature. No, they couldn’t hurt him. He was only protecting the waters.
I moved forward quickly, lunging out and over the side of the deck, allowing the creature to pull me down into the depths of the dark abyss. I could’ve just jumped to my death, but there was no fear in my stomach. No pit that clogged my throat.
Instead, a strange calm settled over my shoulders and I relaxed my body, giving in to the pull of the tentacle. Its grasp was firm, yet warmth moved through their suction cups that clung to my flesh and clothing.
Before my lungs could explode from the lack of air, another tentacle neared the one holding me. It placed a leaking box over my head. There was a small air pocket underneath that allowed me to gasp and cough out the salty brine that now burned through my throat.
The creature didn’t want me to die. That should be a good sign, right?
As we went further down, though, the pressure of the water became too much and darkness encroached all around me. It started at the edges of my vision until it blurred and unconsciousness took hold of my mind, my body going limp.
When I awakened, there was no way to know how much time had passed. I was within a dimly lit cavern, trickling water pitter-pattering against the rough surface and echoing all around me. The air was heavy with a thick sheet of moisture, but I tried to breathe in slowly. A few feet away was the murky water of the sea, its depths shrouded in darkness, with no hint of what lay below.
My arms didn’t bear any marks from the sea creature, yet I could still remember the heat its tentacle left behind as it grabbed me. I was alone in this little area, but there was a rough ridge that rose behind me, leading further into the cave.
On unsteady legs, I pushed myself up and balanced carefully on the uneven rock surface. I scanned the water, but fear laced through my stomach and I knew I wasn’t going to try to swim out. There was no way to know how deep we were in the sea. The pressure had been so great I had thought my head was going to explode. I didn’t want to deal with that again.
I carefully pivoted and quietly stepped toward the side of the cavern where the ridge lowered and I was able to climb over. I did my best not to make a sound. Even if the creature hadn’t harmed me before, who knew if that was still going to hold true the next time I saw it.
My hands gripped the rough rock surface, and I heaved myself up, kicking my leg over the ridge so I could boost myself up. Beyond my small area was an alcove with another tricklingpool of water. Though this spot held more light, with bright emerald crystals adorned along the walls and underneath the water, shimmering. It was a shallow pool, knee-deep at best.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a man, his body half-blocked by a jutting rock. His figure was illuminated by the emeralds, causing his already bronzed hue to deepen with a tint of green. His hair was long and dropped in luscious waves of ebony locks. They sparkled with droplets of water as the man dipped his hands down into the pool and then ran them through his long hair. A soft smile tugged at his full lips, his eyes closed as he basked in the feel of the water running over his shoulders. His body was large and sculpted, almost as big as some of the shifters from the mainland, yet his muscles were more defined and smooth. His hands, though large, had long fingers that appeared smooth and gentle as they weaved through his hair.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the man. Heat shot down to the pit of my stomach and stirred my cock without warning. To have this beauty of a man before me, wanting me, a filthy pirate? The thought brought my cock to full mast, and I gulped down my arousal.
The sound, though soft, seemed to echo all around me, alerting the man to my presence. He whipped around, his swirling, dark gaze on me in an instant. I opened my mouth to apologize for staring, but I couldn’t force the words out. My brain shut down and my cock seemed to be the only thing working. It strained against my still-damp slacks, demanding attention.
A shimmer of red flushed the man’s face, and he was the first one to break eye contact, his hand going to cover his mouth. Was this beauty shy? Could he not see how ethereal he was?
“I–I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stare.” I cleared my throat as I slipped my other foot down from over the ridge and turned away. I should give him some privacy, but where would I go?Back over that ridge? Was there more room deeper in the cavern?
I heard splashing, and I chanced a glance back as the man rounded the rock that had hidden his lower body. I gaped, trying to force myself to tell him to stay. To keep himself covered. I didn’t think my cock could handle seeing his entire naked form.
But, as he drew closer, a jolt zapped up my back as realization cleared my mind. The lower half of his body was not human. His hips merged into scaly, rough flesh that moved and split into dozens of thick, meaty tentacles. They writhed all around him, undulating under the water and forcing him forward.
Fear tightened around my heart and clogged my throat as my mind tried to comprehend what was happening. This man, creature, was the one who had brought me down below the water. He was the one who attacked the ship. He had to be, unless there was another creature just like him within the sea in this area. Of which I had no idea if it was true or not.
I tried to step back but forgot I was still stuck next to the ridge, my back pressed up against the cold stone.
“I am Xexon,” he declared. His voice echoed throughout the cavern, a surreal resonance rolling over me and settling within my chest. Its gaze pierced through my walls and I swore it could see into my very soul. “I am the Protector of Brasil.”
My mind reeled, but more than anything, I wondered how it was that my cock hadn’t gotten the hint by now. It was still half-hard, unusually interested in this creature before me. His body, half of which was ethereal as a god, the other half so tantalizing it left heat behind as it had wrapped around my body. I couldn’t help but think what else the tentacles were capable of doing to me.
“I pulled you down in order to save you from the same fate as the rest of the crew.” Xexon’s voice echoed around me andwashed over my body, stirring emotions I wasn’t sure I was ready to acknowledge yet.
Fear had slowly ebbed and in its place came more of the heated need that my cock felt. There was no rational reason why I would feel so strongly toward this creature when I had never met him before. Especially as I watched him kill several of my crewmates. Though they may not have been the best humans, they were still people.
Yet, beyond all of that, there was this pull deep within my gut. An ache that urged me to draw nearer to Xexon and allow him to embrace me. His dark gaze was softened, though his expression remained calm. Was this how he drew in his food? He used magic to calm them down moments before he devoured them? Did he even eat humans? Why was I thinking of this? And damned the gods, why was my cock still hard?!
I opened my mouth to demand to be let free. To be allowed to go back to the surface. To face whatever fate was deemed worthy of the rest of the crew. But all that escaped was a quiet, “Why?”
Xexon’s lips twitched, and he shifted a bit closer. “Because you protected me. When your crewmate used that crossbow on my arm,” he lifted one of his tentacles that seemed completely fine, “you stopped him. You pulled the arrow from me, allowing it to return to the sea and be healed.”
“Are you immortal?” Why the fuck was I even asking that? He was a creature living at the bottom of the sea, protecting a magical underwater kingdom. Was there a need to know if he was unkillable?
Xexon tilted his beautiful head, his silky hair fluttering over his shoulders. “I do not know if I am immortal in the sense that I will never cease to exist. I have lived for centuries, forced into a pact with the five kingdoms. I can be hurt as any other person can be, I suppose, but if I submerge my body back into the safety of the sea, it will eventually heal itself. Some wounds may takelonger to heal. So, to answer you clearly, I do not know. I have been the only one of my kind in existence that I know of, so there is no way for me to find that answer for you. I apologize.”