by EE Silver
“I don’t remember that one from before,” he said, gesturing at the raven on King’s chest, worked with such care it almost seemed ready to fly off the skin. It seemed out of place among the waves and sea life everywhere else, but at the same time Jonah had never seen a tattoo that resonated so thoroughly with him “Is it new?”
“Ugh. Right to meat of things?” King sighed, rubbing absently at the tattoo for a moment before giving Anya some fruit to mangle while they talked. “Yeah, it’s new. Just got it yesterday, in fact.”
Jonah winced. “I am so sorry,” he said, suddenly thinking of every rough move they’d made the night before in a new light. “I’d have been more careful. Fresh tattoos are such fragile things, you should have said something, I’d’ve—”
“Hey, no,” King smiled up at him, looking oddly sad. “It’s not like that. It showed up on its own. After.”
“After?” Jonah frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s what happens to omegas when someone in my father’s line finds their fated mate,” he said, looking almost resigned, like he was oblivious to the fierce bolt of joy the words struck in Jonah’s heart.
“Fated, huh?” Jonah teased. “That’s a pretty romantic fairy tale for someone like you to believe in.”
“It’s not a fairy tale.” King shook his head once and gave Jonah a lop-sided smile. “Especially in my family. There’s a gods-fated match for all of us, or so the rumor goes. I’d kind of hoped I’d keep taking after my mother and it would skip me, but I guess it could be worse. You could be sporting matching ink, too.”
“I mean, it would have been a hell of a shock to wake up to, but it’s not so bad.” Jonah reached out, fingers hovering just over the skin. Fated. It was both terrifying and exhilarating. “Is being mated to me really such a terrible fate?”
King shook his head. “Not at all,” he said. “I just…wasn’t quite ready for forever and ever. I haven’t even told you about my family. You deserved the chance to make an informed decision.”
“Baby,” Jonah said unable to keep from chuckling. “I think you’re failing to grasp an essential part of ‘fated mates.’ I’ll give you a hint: there’s not much choice when it happens. Or at least that’s how all the stories go.”
“Asshole,” King said, but without much heat. “Fate might direct some of us where it wants us to be, but I have to believe that we have free will for a reason. What’s the point, otherwise?”
Jonah almost laughed, but then he saw the fierceness in King’s eyes. “You wanted to choose,” he said slowly, finally closing in and tracing the edges of the raven. “And this takes that away.”
“Yes. Exactly.” King covered Jonah’s hand with his, pressing their fingers into his warm skin. That sadness was back in his eyes again. “And I wanted you to choose, too.”
“King, no, calm down,” Jonah said, cupping the side of King’s face in his free hand. “I think I’ve been in love with you since you told me how you broke your last boss’s nose. Fate’s late to the party in this case, because I knew I wanted to have you stay with me ages ago. I was just waiting on you to decide this was something you wanted too. But if this means you’ll stay long enough to love me back? It’s the best damn news I’ve heard in a long time.”
He had a lot more things to say, but King cut them all off with a sudden, fierce kiss that wiped Jonah’s brain completely clean in a heartbeat. The kiss ended way too soon for Jonah’s tastes, but it was worth it for the way his omega looked up at him with open, shining eyes.
“Let’s go for a swim,” King said. “There’s something you should know.”
Confused, but too happy to ask too many questions, Jonah let King steer him back to the bedroom to change while he cleaned up from their breakfast, promising it’d keep for later. By the time Jonah was changed into his swim shorts, King had managed to not only wrestle Anya into her suit, but had her happily sucking on a bottle of formula while they waited.
“Now I know you’re magic,” he said as he watched King expertly handle the baby. “I don’t think I could have managed that in less than half an hour on my own.
“My family has a lot of babies,” King said vaguely. “Speaking of, let’s head out.”
There was a kind of thrumming energy to King as they walked down the dock, like whatever he wanted to show Jonah had been building for a long time. Jonah sat on the edge of the dock, feet dangling just over the water when King began to strip off his jeans in preparation of his shift, and smiled up at his mate.
“I’ve already seen you shift,” he said. “You’re gorgeous either way.”
“Glad you’re not blind, at least,” King said, kissing Jonah’s cheek before slipping into the water, shifting into his merman form in an instant. And he really was beautiful; iridescent scales ran down his chest and stomach to the powerful tail, standing out against the rich dark of his skin even under water, the webbing between his fingers the same shimmering colors that changed constantly in the light. His tattoos seemed to come alive under the water and scales, too, their stark simplicity from before morphing into almost three-dimensional images. The waves on his left arm seemed to move with the actual water, and it took Jonah a moment to understand they actually were.
“That’s new,” he said, gesturing at the shifting tattoos.
King laughed. “They’ve always been like this, but I had to hide them before.” He paused like he was waiting for Jonah to ask, but Jonah hadn’t been practicing his patience with King for the past two weeks for nothing. When no questions came, King huffed a laugh and continued. “They’re related to my true nature. To the heritage I bear from my mother and father.”
“Jamaican?” Jonah asked, unable to resist teasing.
“Very funny. Come down here, would you?”
Jonah shook his head. “We forgot Anya’s floaties. We’re fine up here.”
“You’ll both be as safe as if you’re on dry land, I promise.” King reached up so Jonah could hand Anya down. And Jonah had to admit that as far as swimming buddies went, a merman was probably one of the best he could have. Still, he held her close for a beat before handing his little girl over to his mate.
“Old habits die hard,” he said by way of explanation, and King smiled in understanding as Jonah slipped into the water.
“Thank you for trusting me,” King said, swimming close, Anya pressed between them as they kissed.
“Of course I trust you, baby,” Jonah murmured against King’s lips. “I love you.”
“It’s how I know I can trust you in return,” King said, smiling happily as he pulled away. “And it’s how I can accept you, Jonah Leander, as the mate of the only omega son of the goddess of the waves and her mate, the god of calm waters.”
It took a moment to sink in, but in Jonah’s defense this was probably the last thing he’d have thought he’d ever hear. At some point, King had handed Anya over, and Jonah barely registered holding her close as he numbly trod water. “Wait. What?”
“My parents are gods,” King said, as though he hadn’t just uttered the impossible. Gods were just a thought form, a vague concept to give people hope and reason in a world gone crazy. And yet King had never lied, and Jonah could feel the truth in his bones. “My mother followed her worshipers across the waters when they were stolen from their homeland, calling herself by many names over the years, though lately she’s been going by Mary. She’s the goddess of the ocean, of the moon and of storms, rescuer of shipwrecked sailors and the avenging fury protecting children and those who bear them.”
“Oh.” Jonah blinked dumbly at King. “And your father?”
“He’s from up north, and where I get my relation to Scott, the overbearing prick you met last night.” King watched him for a beat, as though measuring whether or not Jonah was with him. “He’s the god of the northern seas and those who travel them, the lord of calm waters, and son of Njord, elder god of the waters and all those who sail upon them.”
“Huh,” Jonah said, w
eakly. He didn’t know what else to say. He knew, on a fundamental and cellular level, that King would never lie to him. And yet what he was saying was so impossible. “I have to be honest, it’s a little… It’s a lot. It’s a whole lot, and I’m having trouble.”
“I know.” Above them, the clouds rolled in, filling the blue sky with dark thunder clouds that had Jonah eyeing the shore nervously. The wind kicked up around them, stirring up choppy waves as far as the eye could see. Every except, that is, in a small, calm circle around them.
“King?” Jonah asked, clinging a little tighter to Anya, who squirmed unhappily in his grip.
“I won’t come into my full powers for another 10 years,” King said, and with a sweep of his hand, a wave built and froze, lifting King almost a full foot higher along with it. “They’re called Imperium by my kind.”
“Your kind?” Jonah asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.
“Gods and demigods,” King said, and the clouds above them danced as he spoke. “We are all given powers over different things, though all signs point to my Imperium being over the storms and waves.”
“That makes a lot of sense,” Jonah said weakly, his stomach twisting brutally. He was begining to regret the little bit of breakfast he’d managed, and he didn’t know how to process everything. Space. He needed space, and a chance to think. He tried to ease back, but the calm circle surrounding them ended too soon, choppy waves slapping at Jonah’s back and nudging him back close again. “Baby, you’re freaking me out. Please stop.”
“Gods.” King looked stricken, the water calming almost instantly as he lowered back the lake like he belonged, and the clouds calmed. They didn’t dissipate, though; instead they opened up, drizzling gently over them. “Gods, love, I’m so sorry.”
Jonah smiled at him, a little shaky until what King had said fully registered. He laughed, a little hysterical, but he figured it was owed him. “Gods? Isn’t that like me saying ‘dads’?”
King snorted. “Very funny. Ready to go in?”
“Yes please.” Jonah cast a look at the clouds. “Godly mate or not, it’s not safe for us mere mortals to go swimming in rain storms.”
Before he could say anything else, another one of those strange swells rose, this time lifting all three of them high enough for Jonah to step out of the water and onto the dock, Anya giggling happily like it was all a game. King shifted back to his land form and joined Jonah and Anya, looking immensely pleased with himself.
“I’m not sure that’s something anyone could get used to,” Jonah said with a shake of his head.
King looked at him, face unreadable. “But do you think you’d be willing to try?”
“Of course I am,” Jonah said without having to even think about it. “I love you. Freaky parentage or not, godly powers and all.”
“Good.” King relaxed, drifting closer until he’d tucked himself against Jonah’s side close enough to kiss the back of Anya’s head. “People tend to either freak out or ask me for wishes when they find out what I am. Since you’re not asking for anything…”
“Oh baby,” Jonah said, wrapping his free arm around his mate to pull him in for a slow kiss. If he ever found whoever thought they could treat King like some kind of private djinn, he was going to enjoy the hell out of knocking their lights out. The protective thought burned all of Jonah’s anxiety away, and all he wanted now was to love his mate like it seemed too many had failed to in the past. “If it’ll make you feel any better, I’d give a hell of a lot for some coffee right now. Think I could convince you to make some while I get this little one back in her clothes?”
King smiled up at him, so openly happy Jonah couldn’t help but smile back. “I love you, you know,” King said.
Something unwound at hearing King finally say those words, and Jonah sagged against him in relief before urging his lover back toward the house. “Let’s get inside, and you can tell me a few more times to make sure I understand.”
Chapter Eleven
King
King snuggled up against Jonah in bed as he fiddled with the baby monitor allowing them to keep an ear on Anya as she snuffled sleepily in her crib. It had been a long, emotional day, but right then all he needed was to listen to his mate’s slow and steady heartbeat while their daughter slept in the next room.
The pure domesticity of it filled King with a strange warmth. His mate. Their daughter. It probably should frighten him that he wasn’t having any trouble wrapping his mind around those concepts, but instead had embraced the ideas like they’d been there all along. But instead, he was too busy settling into the absolute rightness of having Jonah in his life and his heart. It was a relief to admit that maybe he hadn’t needed to be so wary of the prophecy all along, if this was the man he’d been destined for. Not that King would admit such a thing, even under pain of death.
“I have to admit,” Jonah said as he ran tender fingers down King’s bare arm. “Of all the things I thought you might have been keeping to yourself, the fact that you’re a god isn’t even on the list.”
It was the first Jonah had brought up what King had told him that morning. They’d spent the day working on small tasks around the house in between long, lazy make-out sessions, but Jonah had skirted around the big issue and King had followed along. Now, though, King let out a little of the tension he’d been subconsciously holding in all day.
“Demigod, actually,” King corrected him gently, sliding one leg between Jonah’s. The day had been hot even after his rain storm, and the evening had gone mid-summer muggy, so they both wore only their underwear. King was hopeful they’d be getting rid of those soon, too. “What did you think it would be?”
Jonah hummed, and kissed the top of King’s head. “Mostly tragic backstory type stuff,” he said after a moment. “Probably details about whatever ex who taught you to hit first and ask questions later, if I had to guess.”
“You’d be closer to right than anyone else,” King admitted softly.
“You don’t have to—”
“No, I want to,” King said. And he did. “It’s the kind of thing you should know. And I don’t want there to be secrets between us.” Jonah shifted awkwardly under him, and King worried he’d gone too far, but if he had it wasn’t the kind of thing he could take back. Besides, better for Jonah to know King wasn’t ever going to hold back before they actually mated with bites and forever. “I was young and thought I was in love with a werewolf alpha I met near the docks. He was young and in love with the idea of marrying into a family of gods. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in love with the idea of that mate being an outspoken omega, so he did what he could to help me fix my perceived faults. By any means necessary.”
“Baby—” The anguish in Jonah’s voice only underscored the idea that this man, this alpha, was everything King had been waiting for.
“Oh, I hit back the first time he tried to get old school with me,” King assured him. Jonah still growled protectively, though, and king had to hide his pleased smile in his lover’s chest. “And my mother flattened his shore house with a hundred-year storm when she saw the bruise I came home with. With him in the house, I should add.”
“Good.” Jonah’s voice was dark and rougher than King had ever heard before, and it sent a shiver of delight down his spine.
“I’ve got to say, by the way,” King said, sliding his hand down to tease at the elastic waist of Jonah’s boxers. “I never thought I’d be so turned on by ‘growly, possessive alpha,’ yet here I am, ready to climb your caveman ass like I’m about to go cliff-jumping.”
Jonah huffed. “Less possessive, more relieved that you almost certainly broke more than a few of his bones before your mother wiped him off the face of the planet. The thought of anyone even considering hurting you has me…”
“Bloodthirsty for tales of vengeance?” King supplied. “You’ll fit in fine with my family, love. Even though I’m sure more than a few of them will doubt your sanity for encouraging my violent tendencies
.”
“I like that you won’t wait to be rescued,” Jonah answered. “Even though my ego might like the opportunity to ride in like a white knight, your strength is one of the things that drew me to you. After your ass, that is.”
King snorted. “Flattery will get you everywhere with me. But just so you know, I’m already a sure thing.”
“Much as I’d like to take you up on that, we don’t have any condoms and I don’t think my ass is up for another round just yet.” Jonah still cupped King’s ass and pulled him closer, though. “Plus, I’m not sure I’d be able to resist claiming you if we were to make love tonight.”
“I inspire that much lust?” King teased.
“Pride that you want to be mine,” Jonah said, squeezing King’s ass again. “I don’t know what I did to deserve a mate like you, but holy shit I never want to stop doing it.”
“Don’t be an alphahole and never lie to me, and we should be good,” King said. Then, before Jonah could make things too serious again, he moved, straddling Jonah’s hips. “And you seem to have forgotten that I went shopping this morning. If you think I didn’t grab condoms before anything else, you clearly underestimate my desire to have you fuck me until my teeth rattle.”
Jonah blushed adorably, and King grinned down at him. “Besides,” King went on, leaning down to brush kisses along Jonah’s jaw, “I don’t see a problem in you claiming me.”
“King,” Jonah breathed, hands clutching at King’s back to hold him close. “Are you sure? I can wait if you need me to. I won’t change my mind about wanting you, whether we do it tonight or a year from now.”
Warm, fluttery emotions danced in King’s chest, and he nipped playfully at Jonah’s mouth. “I want your mark,” he said finally. “Tonight, if you’re taking requests. I want you to be mine just as much as I’m already yours.”
“You’re so fucking perfect,” Jonah murmured, pulling King in for a kiss. He grabbed at King’s ass, fingers knotting in the fabric of his underwear. “We’re also overdressed if that’s what we’re going to do right now.”