Goddess, they better make this fast. For the first time, I wish witches had fangs or huge monster teeth. I’m the only one getting turned into a pincushion for the sake of mating, and it doesn’t seem fair.
“Now,” I add. “Before I change my mind.” Nos opens his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “I swear to the Goddess if you ask me if I’m sure—”
My seer silences my rant with a kiss, burning through my objection with the fire that instantly ignites between us.
When he finally pulls away, he says. “I was about to say, you’re incredible, I love you, and we’ll make it fast.”
Oh.
Without another word, he strips off his shirt. “We can’t ruin the skin of your sigils,” Cas says. “So we won’t do the biting. Just reach up and cut your hands on our fangs. It should still work.”
I swat his arm. “You knew that was the plan all along,” I accuse.
“Yep.” He pops the end of the word. “But yourface—Ow, Ma, watch the ears.”
His mother’s eyes twinkle. “You shouldn’t tease your mate,” she scolds.
Cas gives her an unapologetic little shrug. “But shelikeswhen I tease her.”
He walks backwards as he says it, winking as the backs of his legs hit the balustrade and he allows himself to fall back over it. He shifts mid-fall, not caring about the pair of shorts he’s ruining. Nos removes his before jumping after his twin.
I’ve seen the twins merged a handful of times, but it never gets less breathtaking. Two heads rise, dripping and hissing, from the ocean depths. Staring down the other leviathans, who back away, leaving plenty of space between them and me. Making sure my mates’ beasts know they’re not a threat.
Their father is the only one who remains where he is. He meets Cas’s stare head on, and a silent battle for dominance ensues. A long minute passes before Cas looks away. I get the impression it’s a gesture done out of respect rather than true submission.
As one, my twins lower their scaled heads to me. Their hissing turns into a pleased whirring noise, which is their equivalent of a purr. Nos’s forked tongue snakes out, tasting the air around me.
Cas almost knocks me off my feet as his beast attempts to nuzzle me. The action brings to light the reality of the situation. They’re just too big. I can’t even reach their lower fangs from here. Nos’s beast doesn’t give me time to wonder about the practicalities of what we’re doing. His forked tongue snakes around me, lifting me up and into his mouth without giving me a second to panic.
When he releases me, I’m standing inside his mouth. A wave of acute vulnerability freezes me in place for half a second. At any moment, those powerful jaws could snap closed, trapping me. Nos could sneeze and crush me. With every breath he takes, I’m blasted with fishy, salty, wet air, reminding me that most creatures don’t leave this fanged cavern alive.
Luckily for them, my trust in the twins is greater than the panic threatening to consume me and my sense of smell. With my arms spread wide for balance, I stumble across his tongue, heading for the tip of his fangs. Nos helps, raising his tongue high to allow me to reach the upper row of teeth.
They’re so sharp, it doesn’t take much pressure for me to slice open my hand on them. I hiss at the sting, but the sound is lost beneath Nos’s whirring purr of pleasure.
There’s a tangible shifting in our bond. The link between us tugs, then expands. A third presence fills the gap. Nos’s beast barely gives me a chance to get used to it before he tosses me into the air.
Up becomes down, and a surprised shriek lodges in my throat before a second tongue wraps around my waist, snatching my flailing body out of the air. When my stomach catches up with the rest of me, I’m standing inside Cas’s mouth.
“You two are dead!” I yell as soon as I manage to breathe through the intense nausea all the somersaulting has caused. “I amnota toy to be chucked around!”
Cas’s beast’s whole head rumbles with amusement, deafening me as he raises me up to his fangs with his tongue. When I don’t immediately place a hand on his fang, he huffs in impatience, almost bowling me over with the rush of hot, salty air.
I run my other hand over Cas’s fang, grumbling the entire time about stupid male shifters who treat their mate like a rag doll. Just like with his twin, I don’t even have to put pressure behind my palm to make blood well to the surface.
“I swear to the Goddess, if you don’t put me down gently…” I trail off, cheeks flushing as I realise their parents probably just saw my bare ass somersault past thanks to my lack of panties under this skirt.
At least shifters aren’t prudes.
My return to the deck isn’t graceful. Cas tries, but I end up sliding down his tongue, getting coated in slobber, and then free falling until one of Val's ropes catches me. The captain sets me on my feet, and another rope passes me a towel so I can wipe the slobber out of my face.
Aww, is this proof that Val can be considerate… occasionally?
Cas and Nos shift back and clamber back onto the deck, dripping with water. The former takes my hands and inspects them, before using the towel to wipe the cuts clean.
Nos addresses the six gathered leviathans. “Is that enough proof for you?”
I glance behind me.