Leviathan's Lament

by Kaye Draper

  Grey was still gasping for breath when Levi slid up his body to lie beside him, planting licking, biting kisses along Grey’s pec, his shoulder, his neck, before finally nibbling and nipping at his lips. Grey’s hand slid over Levi’s flank, feeling the slight raised places where the guy was stamped in those silver markings. “I wanted to touch you too, you degenerate,” he muttered, trailing a hand downward across Levi’s hip and thigh.

  The monster chuckled, rich and deep. “You’re a siren,” he breathed against Grey’s skin. “And one who can change form at will. You think I don’t plan to wring every bit of pleasure from your body? To make you call my name until that pretty little voice goes hoarse?”

  Grey shivered. Every damned word out of the guy’s mouth sounded ridiculous. But when Levi said it, in that dark, husky, powerful voice, it also sounded one hundred percent true, like a promise he’d keep with his life.

  Grey breathed in and let his shift ripple over him, sinking into his softer, rounder body. She leaned in to press a kiss to Levi’s wicked lips, her fingers trailing lower, greedily seeking what she wanted. Levi was right. Grey was not only a siren, but a woman—she could do this all night. Her searching hand found its target and she grasped his long, hard cock, stroking it slow and firm. Then her knuckles grazed silky hard skin and she froze. What the hell?

  “Oh, my Gods,” she breathed, shoving Levi onto his back and sliding both hands up his sculpted thighs to his.... “You have two dicks.”

  His deep laughter was different this time, lacking any threat or promise, it simply poured out of him, all genuinely surprised and... real. “Well, yes, master. I am serpentine in nature, after all.”

  Grey huffed. “Oh, sure. Right. Of course that explains everything.” She rolled her eyes. “What do I even do with this?”

  He tucked on arm under his head, the moonlight ghosting over his angular features and sharp teeth as he leered up at her. “I’m sure you can think of something.”

  Grey threw her head back and laughed. She couldn’t help it. It had been a long couple of days. And here she was, naked on a moonlit beach getting freaky with a sea monster who had two dicks. And neither of them is small, she thought with another snort. Flinging one leg over Levi’s, she sat astride. There would be time for exploration and patience later. Right now, she needed to know, to really feel that he was here, that he was alive. That he was hers.

  Levi’s warm hands smoothed over her hips, the touch super-heated as he glowed from within with his power. Gripping his two cocks together in one hand, he held himself for her, and Grey canted her hips, leaning forward to steal a brief, breathless kiss as she sank down on all that girth. Some part of her probably should have been scared at the stretch, the foreign sensation, but Levi was right—Grey was a siren, and she was made to take.

  She sank down, a low hum rising from her throat, lifting to drift on the ocean breeze, her song calling to that primal thing in the monster beneath her. Then Grey rode the sea serpent, meeting his upward thrusts, glorying in his bruising grip on her wide hips even as she curled her fingers inward, raking her short nails across the smooth planes of his chest. Power swelled between them, calling to Grey like the sweetest lure as her orgasm built, rising and surging like cresting waves before it broke over them both. Levi’s deep, growling shout joined Grey’s high, keening song, and power flooded her, filling in all the empty spaces and remaking her. Leaving her trembling and awash in light.

  Warm, strong arms wrapped around her as she fell back down to Earth, her head coming to rest on one of the glowing silver sigils that decorated Levi’s chest. “Rest,” he soothed, his deep voice a mere tremor, a little rumble against her cheek. It took a moment before Grey realized she was crying. “Sleep, master, and all will be well.” Big, hot hands soothed over her back and butt, petting and calming, lulling her under when her mind insisted she probably had things to worry about. “I am here. All will be well.”

  Chapter 36

  “O h. Thank the Gods .” Luca’s soft, relieved voice would have been easy to ignore. Grey could have gone right back to the comfortable doze she’d been enjoying in the warm island sun.

  But Mat’s incredulous, “Is that...does he have two dicks?” was another story altogether.

  Grey lifted a heavy, sun-warmed arm and pointed in Mat’s general direction, not bothering to open her eyes, as content and sated as a fat kitten in a puddle of sun. “Don’t be a jealous Jennie.”

  Someone snorted. “I think her brain is broken.” Steffen. Of course. “ Mine would be after that.”

  “Hey, Grey?” Ethan’s kind voice was caught somewhere between concerned and amused. “Honey, could you at least sit up and look at us? Did you hit your head or anything? You’ve been out here a while, haven’t you? Maybe you’re dehydrated. We brought some bottled water.”

  Grey turned her head to look at him, mustering up the effort to actually open her eyes so he’d know how unimpressed she was with his mothering right now, even if she was glad they were all okay. She took in a breath to reply, but Levi beat her to it, flopping over to rest his head on her stomach and stare up at the clear blue sky, his silvery hair spilling across Grey’s body in tickling tendrils. “Mortals are so strange. As if I would allow my master to come to any harm.” He scoffed. “Water. Head injuries. Ridiculous.”

  Grey sighed and finally sat up, displacing the sea serpent and brushing sand off her pleasantly warm and newly tanned skin. “I’m fine. Just sleepy. I was enjoying my vacation from all the bullshit.” She crossed her arms over her chest, slowly regaining her modesty under the scrutiny of four pairs of eyes. “What else was there to do while we waited for rescue on a twenty-foot square of rock in the middle of the ocean?”

  Mat crouched down in front of her, long legs folded all scarecrow like, his elbows on his knees. “I don’t blame you,” he said with a wink, reaching out to brush powder soft white sand off the upper curve of one of Grey’s breasts. “I would have spent the whole time naked too.” He slanted an appreciative look at the naked blue creature stretched out alongside Grey. Levi was unabashedly sunning himself, his silver markings glittering in the afternoon sun.

  Grey rolled her eyes. Great. As if Mat needed more reason to think up kinky bedroom games. “I’m glad to see you all,” she said seriously. “And I’m happy to see the fucking fish bitches didn’t go ahead and drown you after all. But...did anyone think to bring some extra clothes?”

  She glanced around and was depressed to see there was no nice, big, comfortable boat waiting for them just offshore. Fucking waterspout again. Great. Although...she slanted a glance at Luca. “How are you all dry?”

  Luca smirked. “Pontus’ portals are keyed to me,” she said with a shrug. “Things go a little more smoothly when the portal isn’t trying to forcibly eject you.”

  Grey let Ethan pull her to her feet, refusing to even try to be embarrassed about being naked and covered in sand. And clearly on intimate terms with her pet sea monster. “So Pontus did do something useful for once.”

  Luca chuckled and slipped an arm around Grey’s waist to draw her into a brief side hug. “Yeah. He insisted on coming with us. I think he wants to talk to you alone.”

  Grey frowned at that. “Uh. Clothes?”

  Luca just chuckled and slipped off the tank top she was wearing, leaving her in a skimpy bralette. Grey sighed and pulled the tank on, laughing when it fit her bigger, curvier frame more like a freaking sports bra. Ethan handed her his jean shorts, blushing as he stripped down to his boxers. A brush of magic rippled over her, and Grey turned to find Levi wearing a pair of loose, flowing white harem pants.

  “Seriously?” she huffed. “You could have done that all along?”

  He just shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”

  Grey glared. “Where’s the old man?”

  Luca waved a hand at the ocean behind them, and Grey strode out to the shore, letting the warm surf kiss her toes. She had no idea where in the world they were, only that it was warm and beaut
iful, and she was half tempted to just live here as a hermit forever.

  A dark head broke the water’s surface and Pontus came striding into the shallows in his larger celestial form, seaweed trailing from his dark hair and long, curly beard. “Siren.”

  Grace nodded her head. “Pops. Thanks for helping find us and get us home.”

  He quirked a wry smile at her, his voice dry. “Thank you for foiling the sirens’ plans to repopulate the world. And for removing an ancient and dark power from the world.”

  Grey tilted her head. Surely, Pontus knew Levi wasn’t really dead. The guy was standing not ten feet away. Pontus held out a hand. “The gods who came rushing into the sirens’ pod demanding they hand over the kleidí were presented with nothing more than broken magic and a pile of rock dust. It appears the monster was destroyed along with the key stone.”

  Grey raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. Sure as fuck looked that way to me. Those assholes.”

  Pontus opened his hand to reveal a pretty blue-purple pearl, its surface pulsing and swirling with magic. “To ensure the leviathan never appears again.”

  Grey frowned, refusing to take the pearl. She felt the others come to stand behind her. Levi paced closer, standing at her side as she spoke with the ancient, primordial sea god. “I won’t let even you hurt him,” she ground out. “He’s mine. And he’s suffered persecution from your kind long enough.”

  Pontus huffed, looking to Luca in annoyance. “You couldn’t have chosen a more sweet-tempered life mate, daughter of mine?”

  Luca barked a laugh. “Absolutely not.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her father the god. “And she’s right. Leave him alone.”

  Pontus rolled his eyes and tried talking to Levi instead, the pearl still perched on his hand like an offering. “You worked your trickery well, creature. You twisted the spell I worked for you, wrote in runes older than even I had ever seen—all to allow you to tie yourself to Grey should the stone be compromised. You got your wish. You are free of the kleidí and bound to...this pain in the ass.” He waved his free hand dismissively at Grey. “But you need to remain dead in the eyes of the gods and others who would seek to abuse your power. Swallow the pearl.”

  The leviathan eyed the god, his galaxy eyes flashing. “Thank you. And thank those who you convinced to work this deep magic.” Then he took the pearl, tossed it in his mouth, and swallowed.

  Grey lurched toward him. “No! Damn it, Levi. I just got you back! You can’t kill yourself again!” Power rose up, flared around her body as her song rose up inside her, willing to fight the god before her, or die trying.

  But Levi just chuckled and grasped her upper arm, holding her back. He slapped a hand to his middle and...hiccupped. His magic rippled, then settled around him again. “The spell is god magic, true. But it will only make me undetectable to others.”

  Pontus rolled his stormy-sea eyes sat Grey. “He will be invisible to all but you and those under the protection of your magic.” He leveled a look at Levi. “As long as you don’t go devouring or blasting your power around, all who matter will assume you have passed from this world.”

  Levi bowed his head, his too-sharp teeth showing in a wicked smile. “Nothing could please me more than to play the gods and anyone who would seek to find me for fools.”

  Pontus sighed, as if they were just really all too much. “I’m going home. Stella will pluck my beard if I’m late for our anniversary dinner.”

  Grey smirked at that. “I knew she wore the pants.”

  Pontus cast one last warning look her way before he strode off into the sea. “Uppity siren-spawn,” he muttered darkly, but the twinkle in his eyes and little twitch of his lips said he wasn’t really mad.

  Luca looped a long arm over Grey’s shoulders. “I think he likes how you always keep him on his toes. Makes him feel useful in his old age.”

  Grey rolled her eyes. “Can we please, for the love of fuck, just go home now?”

  Luca grimaced. “We can. But you might wish you had stayed here on your nice little tropical rock.”

  Grey huffed. “Doubtful. Someone get us the hell home.”

  One wild, and surprisingly dry sea spout ride later, and her wish was finally granted.

  Chapter 37

  The sea spout took them to Pontus’s seaside home. As they were preparing to leave for the townhouse, the old god took Grey aside. His deep blue eyes swirled with the power of the oceans as he stared down at her. “All joking aside,” he said seriously, gripping Grey’s shoulder with one big hand and giving it a squeeze. “The power of the gods is ebbing. The reach and influence of our progeny—creatures like the sirens—is drawing to a close as well.” He quirked on thick black brow at her, his expression wry. “It makes sense that they would want the only male siren in existence to provide them with the chance to slow their decline and provide them with heirs of purer blood. But they missed the mark entirely.” He sighed. “I think you are the future, Grace. But not in the way the others think. Guard your secret well and keep your harem close, my dear. And let’s hope we’re all done with this sort of nonsense.”

  Grey nodded, for once not feeling up to snarking at the primordial creature. Pontus thought Grey was the future? What did that even mean? No. She didn’t even want to know. She’d had enough of this gods and monsters crap to last several lifetimes. “Thank you for your help,” she said instead. It was obvious that Pontus had pulled some serious strings to find Grey and make Levi disappear from the awareness of all the other supernaturals.

  He squeezed her shoulder one more time in farewell. “Stella says to come by for dinner with your whole family sometime when there isn’t an emergency or a magical need.”

  Grey snorted. “Got it.”

  Then she slid into the passenger’s side of Luca’s Monte Carlo, chuckling at the way Ethan, Mat, Steff, and Levi were all crammed into the tiny backseat. She had never missed the townhouse more in her life.

  “So,” Luca said as they pulled away from Pontus’s mansion and headed toward town. “I guess now is probably a good time to warn you that things are about to get crazy.”

  Grey frowned at her. “Not funny. Things have been crazy. Things are about to settle the fuck down and get really quiet and boring. ”

  Mat let out a short, scoffing laugh. Grey looked at him in the rearview mirror. “What was that sound? That did not sound like the noise a person makes when they are in complete and total agreement with what has just been said.”

  Steff was grinning. Not a good sign.

  Ethan’s blue eyes met hers and he looked apologetic. “There’s probably going to be a fuckton of media people back at the house. Oh...and there’s all the flowers.” He glanced at Luca. “I forgot about the flowers.”

  Luca sighed. “Everyone thinks you’re dead, Grey.”

  Grey just gaped at her, mouth opening and closing like a beached fish. “They what ?”

  Mat shrugged. “The captain and crew of the ferry knew you were missing after the storm. They knew you went overboard.” He narrowed his eyes at Grey, and she was startled to see such a serious rebuke on the broody flirt’s face. “Thankfully, they didn’t actually see you jump overboard.”

  Grey wrinkled her nose at him. Eh, details.

  “Anyway,” Luca said tiredly. “We couldn’t really hide the fact that Lucifer came back missing its lead singer. We talked to Pontus and George—who knows all about magic now, by the way—and decided that the best course of action was to just let it be until we found you. Otherwise we would have had to invent some story to explain where you’d disappeared to.” She rolled her eyes. “And George insists it will be a good publicity stunt when you show up unharmed.”

  Grey rubbed her forehead to ease the ache that was starting there. “Did someone at least tell my dad I’m alive?”

  A bunch of guilty eye shifting followed that question. “For fuck’s sake.”

  Luca shrugged. “I wasn’t sure if we could trust him to keep quiet, given his history
with the sirens and your sometimes rocky relationship with him. I didn’t like it, but Pontus was adamant.”

  Grey sighed. She knew Rick wouldn’t really have ratted her out or anything like that. But yeah, he probably wouldn’t have been a convincing mournful parent. And he might have been tempted to do something stupid, by Arianna or one of the others. Who knew, really, when magic was involved? But this was going to blow.

  They pulled up to the townhouse and Grey just stared. There were flowers everywhere— bouquets, wreaths, garlands, loose petals strewn on the sidewalk. Candles lined every raised surface, and a cluster of fans were sitting on the retaining wall by the garden with their arms around each other, crying like they’d lost a family member. It was the kind of thing Grey had only seen on the news when a really famous person died or someone important was missing or killed. This couldn’t all be for Grey.

  A cluster of reporters descended on the car, but no one made any move to open a door or window. Luca picked up her cell and made a call. It was answered almost immediately. “Hey,” she said in a soul-weary voice. “We’re home. We’ve got Grey, so they’re gonna be worse than usual. Can we get some help please?”

  Grey watched in awe a few seconds later as the sea of people parted, shoved back by a team of buff people in suits and a couple of harried-looking police officers. What the hell? Did Lucifer have security now?

  One of the suits opened the car door and offered Grey a hand. “Welcome home, Miss Hawthorne. I’m glad to hear you’re okay.”

  Grey took his hand, ignoring the flashes of the cameras as she studied her reflection in his sunglasses. A little trickle of something flowed between them when he took her hand. Not human. She glanced back at Luca and got a shrug. “My dad hired them.”

  The guy turned and led the way toward the house, shoving anyone who got too close out of the way with ease, his coworkers doing the same all around them. The fans started screaming when they saw Grey. One girl fainted and fell, narrowly avoiding a head injury when she was caught by one of the guards. For fuck’s sake, this was ridiculous.