by Dessa Lux
“Well,” Mar said. “If that’s how you feel about it, then I suppose there’s no need at all.”
There was an odd note in his voice, but before Lir could ask him what he meant, Devon stepped back out of the house, all smiles again.
“Thank you for your hospitality, good-brother!” Mar said, starting toward him. “But I must get back to my domain soon.”
“Oh!” Devon turned back. “I’ll just fetch your things, then.”
Lir followed them both into the house again, and watched Mar don his cloak in a dramatic flourish while Devon watched, smiling and holding his ridiculous hat.
Lir could have gotten a hat like that if he knew Devon would like it so much. He could have gotten a dozen hats. And a cloak. And...
“Ah, yes,” Mar said, reaching into the depths of the cloak. “I nearly forgot—a gift for my lovely host.”
He held out a slim, black thing. A phone.
“I already programmed in my number,” Mar added, waggling it gently in Devon’s direction. “So you can call any time you need a break from talking to this one, or any time you’re lonely for visitors.”
“Wow,” Devon said, his voice gone thin. “Thank you, I... Will it...?” His gaze darted to the laptop on the table, and then to Lir.
He had probably noticed that the laptop never needed to be plugged in and always had a signal, then.
“Amazing what you can do with a satellite connection,” Mar said breezily, and held out his hand. Devon blinked at him for a moment and then handed him his hat before dropping his gaze to the phone again.
Mar turned away, brushing past Lir as he went; it was a reassuring, familiar touch, moving past each other in the same way that the edges of their domains flowed by one another. Mar was in the doorway when Devon looked up and called out, “Mar!”
Mar turned back, and Lir could see the effort in the smile he summoned up—but he did smile for Devon.
“Thank you,” Devon said. “It wasn’t necessary at all, but... thank you.”
Mar nodded, tipping the hat he still wasn’t wearing, and turned away again, his stock of words to spend on land-dwellers obviously all used up. Lir stepped into the doorway to watch Mar walk down to the sea; his clothes vanished and his shape changed as he went, and he slid down, sinuous and dark, into the water.
Lir shut the door and turned to face Devon again. The phone was nowhere in sight now, and Devon was sitting on the side of the bed, slumped with his elbows on his knees and his head hanging down. Lir had known he was getting tired; he had always tired easily, and after the burst of energy before and after his heat, he seemed to be needing more sleep again. But he had had no idea it was this bad, or he never would have let Mar stay so long, dragging Devon all over the island.
“Here, sunlight.” Lir was at his side in an instant, guiding him to lie down, pulling the covers down under him so he could lie on those nice clean sheets he’d insisted upon, though Mar could hardly have seen them. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were so tired, I would have told Mar to go away sooner.”
Devon was perfectly pliant as Lir settled him in bed, but he opened his eyes and shook his head at that, smiling slightly. “No, it was good to meet him. I didn’t mind. I was just... making an effort.”
Lir hesitated, bent over Devon, and he reconsidered Devon’s constant tiredness from a different angle. “Do you... do I...”
Are you making an effort with me? He couldn’t ask it that way, not and be sure Devon would understand. He didn’t want to be difficult for his dear land-dweller. He didn’t want to be an effort. He certainly didn’t want Devon to think that any effort he was making wasn’t enough, or was unwelcome.
Devon shook his head and said drowsily, “It’s only an effort to let you go.”
“Don’t, then,” Lir whispered, shedding his own clothes with a thought and crawling into bed beside Devon, gathering him into his arms. “Don’t. I’ll stay.”
Devon didn’t reply in words, but he cuddled closer, wrapping one arm around Lir’s waist, and a moment later he was asleep, limp as still water in Lir’s arms. That was answer enough. Lir stayed where he was, holding on.
***
Chapter 12
Devon had been feeling better ever since his heat—give or take the morning sickness—but there was a morning, a few months along, when he felt himself wake up.
He didn’t feel sick, or tired. He felt hungry. For food, and for a lot more than that.
“Lir?”
Devon could hear that he was somewhere nearby. The two new rooms were nearly done, and most mornings when they met up over Devon’s morning round of vomiting, Lir would tell him what bits of work he’d been up doing while Devon slept.
“Sunlight?” Devon heard an odd noise, and then a solid thump of feet hitting the ground. He sat up with a smile on his face as Lir rushed in.
Lir hesitated by the foot of the bed. “You’re looking... better.”
“I’m feeling better,” Devon agreed, sweeping a look up and down Lir’s body. He’d put on a raggedy little pair of shorts, but he was wearing nothing else, and his skin was lightly dewed with sweat or sea spray; either way he would taste salty under Devon’s tongue.
“Better, like...” Lir was watching him with concern, almost nervousness. He didn’t know what Devon needed; he didn’t know what Devon was going to do. It felt exhilarating, like standing on the crest of a wave. Devon shoved the covers back and folded forward, slinking to the foot of the bed on all fours, grinning all the time.
“Better,” Devon repeated, and then he pressed his tongue to the little trail of black hairs, beaded with sweat, that started just above the button of Lir’s shorts. He licked up, up, past Lir’s navel, up the channel between ripples of muscle, up the little soft place under his breastbone and all the way up his chest. He pressed his face into the base of Lir’s throat, breathing in the scent of him, hot and strong and salty-green, a god of the sea and Devon’s own mate.
Devon was dripping. He could feel it starting to trickle down over his balls and down the insides of his thighs, and he knew Lir had to be able to smell his arousal.
“So that’s... a lot better,” Lir murmured, his hands sliding down over the cheeks of Devon’s ass to find where he was wet.
Devon nodded against his throat. He wanted to push harder, to keep up the boldness he’d started with, and he needed this, needed Lir inside him. But this wasn’t like heat. It wasn’t the kind of need that made him forget everything else. He just wanted to.
“Not all the way better yet,” Devon said, wriggling his hips under Lir’s hands, trying to make Lir move his fingers up and in. “I need...” he swallowed. “I need you.”
“Well, then I’m here to give you what you need,” Lir promised, but his hands drew away.
Devon made a helpless, hungry noise, jerking back to see what Lir was doing—only to realize that he was unfastening his shorts and shoving them away, letting the thick hardness of his cock rise up with nothing in the way.
Devon’s mouth watered. In a good way.
Lir climbed up onto the bed on the other side, and Devon twisted to keep his eyes on him, watching Lir’s every move. But once he was on the bed, Lir lay back, folding his arms behind his head, his cock resting against his belly.
“What do you need, sunlight? Show me how you need me.”
Devon let out a sound somewhere between a groan and a growl, but he moved, crawling again. He couldn’t resist Lir’s cock, bending his head over it to lick, filling up his senses with the taste and smell of his mate, all hot and hard for him.
Lir made a startled little sound, and Devon looked up and saw him looking surprised, as if no one had ever done this for him before.
Devon hadn’t had much practice at it, and definitely never with an alpha cock like Lir’s, but lust and determination surged through him together. He could do this for Lir, for his mate. He could make this good. He wrapped one hand around the base of Lir’s cock, getting it up at a better
angle for his mouth, and then took the thick head into his mouth.
His lips stretched around it, and the flavor of Lir’s arousal burst over his tongue like the first taste of food when he was starving. The mix of hot alpha musk and the sea-green salt taste of Lir went straight through him, getting him wetter than ever. My mate, mine to pleasure, mine to please.
He sucked softly, taking Lir’s cock in deeper, straining his jaw as that blunt hot weight filled his mouth, pressing down his tongue.
“Oh, sunlight—oh, that’s good.” Lir’s hand found his hair, tugging gently, and Devon let himself be drawn down a little farther. There was a trick, he’d always heard, to taking an alpha’s cock all the way. He didn’t know it, though, couldn’t help the spasm of his throat when Lir’s cock pushed in.
Lir tugged him back up instantly, letting Devon stroke him and suckle at the thick head, trying to fill himself. But this wasn’t what he wanted, not really. He picked his head up and met Lir’s dark, glassy eyes.
Devon’s lips felt red and hot and used, and his mouth didn’t want to close after being stretched open so wide. His mouth was still watering, and he had to swallow before he could say, “Lir, let me have you?”
“All yours,” Lir repeated hoarsely, and that was all Devon needed to move, straddling his mate and positioning his wet hole over the head of Lir’s cock. He sank down onto it, letting Lir enter him, fill him up. It was easy at first—he was slick and ready, and he needed—and then halfway down, he realized that he hadn’t taken much time to get ready, hadn’t let Lir tease and stretch him to get ready for this.
“Fuck,” Devon hissed. He bit down on his lip and tried to work himself lower, but it hurt, but he still needed more. “Lir—Lir, I can’t—”
Lir’s hands found his hips. “Come here, sunlight. Bend down for me.”
Devon folded, moaning at the way it made Lir’s cock move inside him. He found Lir’s mouth with his, licking and kissing desperately while Lir’s hands stayed steady on his hips, holding him steadily in place halfway down Lir’s cock.
“Please,” he whimpered against Lir’s mouth, “please, I need—”
And then Lir moved, sitting up under him. Devon wrapped his arms around Lir’s neck, clinging like they were in deep water, like he could drown if he let go. Lir’s teeth scraped his lip and then Lir was kissing him, hard and deep, taking instead of letting Devon have his way. His hands pressed down, working Devon down onto his cock, and Devon let his breath go out and felt the surrender flow through him.
This was his mate. This was what he wanted, to belong to Lir, to be taken and filled and owned. His whole body loosened as the certainty took hold, and he was sinking deeper under Lir’s hands, taking more and more of Lir’s cock as Lir kissed him senseless.
Devon was lost then, dissolved in pleasure, feeling nothing but Lir’s body in and around and under his. Lir held him, moved him, gave him everything he needed, and Devon felt a different kind of hunger; he was sure now that he would be satisfied, and he only had to feel, to accept.
He was gasping yes, yes, as the sensations flooded through him, raising him higher and higher toward the crest. He clung to Lir, giving himself up utterly to his mate, and it wasn’t long before he was tipping over the edge into a shattering climax.
When it ended, Devon was panting, limp against Lir’s chest with Lir’s arms around him, and Lir was still hard inside him. He wriggled a little on Lir’s cock, encouraging him, and Lir groaned softly and rolled his hips, rocking up into Devon’s hole. Devon stayed pliant against him, shivering with oversensitivity sometimes when Lir hit him just right. Mostly he just enjoyed it, though, being fucked so sweetly when he didn’t need it but could luxuriate in giving his mate pleasure.
Lir stiffened under him with a gasp, holding him tighter as he finished, and Devon made lazy encouraging noises against his skin. He could feel the pulses as Lir’s cock emptied inside him, filling him up with more seed, as if he wasn’t already full enough. But he always needed more of this pleasure and closeness, and more of his mate.
Lir slumped back to lie on the bed, drawing Devon down with him, and they cuddled drowsily—and stickily—until Devon’s stomach growled, reminding him of a different kind of hunger. He pushed himself up to look around, belatedly remembering that Lir would have made sure there was no food in sight of the bed.
“Not feeling sick, huh?” Lir offered him a sleepy, pleased smile.
“Definitely not,” Devon agreed, leaning down to drop a kiss on his lips before he wriggled free of him and off the bed. He was still naked, a little sweaty and feeling pleasantly used, a trickle of slick and come making its way down the inside of his thigh, but he had his priorities. “I think pancakes? We have everything we need for pancakes, don’t we?”
*
Devon still felt ready and eager to be on the go for the rest of the day, helping Lir mix cob for the new walls, shaping windows and smoothing one layer into another. Now and then he would stop and just look around, admiring the way their house was taking shape.
All the walls were curved, which seemed to make sense here, following the curves of currents or the examples of bubbles and coral reefs. It made the place feel den-like, too, along with the thick walls and cool, sturdy stone underfoot. It was good and solid.
Devon thought about the island’s roots, growing down and down into the dark. He knew without having to get Lir to say it that they didn’t stretch all the way down to the ocean’s floor. The island wasn’t quite a real island. But it was getting closer all the time, growing underneath as well as on top.
Devon set a hand on his belly, where their growing baby made a little curve now. It was hardly noticeable when he had clothes on, and probably wouldn’t be obvious without them to someone who wasn’t watching so eagerly for any sign of what was going on inside. His hand fit just right around the small swell, though, growing invisibly inside him.
Just like their island. We’ll make it perfect for you, Devon thought. You’ll be happy here. We’ll be a family.
They wouldn’t be a pack, though, unless... Devon shook off the thought and got back to work. He wasn’t going to let Lir have all the fun.
*
Lir insisted that Devon stop and take a nap in the afternoon, which turned into a repeat of their morning in bed, except that Devon pointed out that Lir wanted him to rest, and so let his mate do most of the work. It satisfied the hunger in him for a while, but when Lir went into the sea for an hour in the evening he felt his mate’s absence like something worse than hunger. When Lir returned, Devon didn’t even let him get all the way out of the water before he was on him.
They floated afterward in the shallow water off the island’s northern edge. Lir kept a few tentacles wrapped around Devon as well as his normal arms, so he didn’t have to worry about keeping himself away from the deeper water. Devon thought Lir’s grip might just as well be keeping him from floating off into the sky, he felt so blissfully satisfied with everything.
Lir nuzzled at his ear, and said, “So, uh... is this... how things are going to be now? I don’t mind, obviously, I just... wonder.”
Devon huffed a little laugh and turned in his grip so that he could meet Lir’s eyes. “Worried about keeping up with me?”
Lir tightened his grip everywhere, tickling the backs of Devon’s thighs with an agile tentacle-tip to make him squirm. “No, I certainly am not! I just want to know whether it’s ever safe to leave you alone, or if I’ll come back to find you making do with the contents of the vegetable box.”
“We really ought to get a fridge,” Devon murmured. “Then it’d be a vegetable drawer. And they’d be too cold, anyway.”
“Fridge, then,” Lir agreed, laughing a little. “First thing.”
Devon held on tighter to him, and didn’t answer the rest, though he thought he knew what he was really hungry for. He had his mate, and soon they would have their baby. They would be a family. Every pack started out that way, didn’t it?
*<
br />
They got a fridge and a stove, and Devon decided to keep on not asking Lir about the weirdly flexible relationship everything on the island had with electricity. The food that didn’t go into the fridge went into cupboards, and their bed moved into the newly-completed bedroom, which had a southward view over low green grasses to the endless ocean.
Mar came to visit again, and brought three little rosebushes in pots, along with all the things necessary to help them grow, since the sand around the house was still a long way from being proper soil.
“It was Lir’s idea,” Mar explained with a wink. “I’m just the deliveryman—he didn’t want Caroline sending you flowers.”
Devon looked over at Lir, who looked sheepish and grumpy at the same time, as if he hadn’t wanted Mar to say that because there was too much truth in it.
Devon went to lean against Lir’s side, patting his belly with his free hand. “Hey, I’m pretty well spoken for. No one’s going to turn my head that easily.”
Lir relaxed a little at that, but Mar still didn’t stay long, and Devon felt the absence of him when he was gone. It was quiet on the island when only he and Lir were there.
*
That night, when Lir finally insisted that that was quite enough and Devon needed to sleep, he still felt restless. Pleasantly sore and exhausted, and Lir was as pleasant as ever to cuddle up to, but Devon still felt the uneasy urge to find something, to do something. He tossed and turned all over the bed, squirming into a new position every few minutes, while Lir kept mostly out of his way or let himself be rearranged for Devon’s comfort.
