Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37

APRIL 6TH, 1667

R owan was speechless. He didn't know what he'd expected. A deal with a devil maybe. A play for wealth and power.

Not drowning. Not dying and resurrecting again and again.

Without realizing it, Rowan had sat forward, letting the sheet fall down his back as Yves talked. Tears spilled down Yves's face in earnest now, dripping off his pointy chin to plop to the white sheet over his lap. Rowan had so many questions, even more than before he'd heard the story. But he had no doubt Yves was telling the truth. He could feel it in his gut and regardless of how much it may have steered him wrong in the past, he wanted to trust Yves again.

"The admiral, he was General Batteux's son, wasn't he?" Rowan asked quietly. He didn't know why these were the first words out of his mouth, but his mind shied away from the bigger, deeper questions that nagged it.

Yves nodded.

"So you finally got your revenge. I'm happy for you." He tried to smile, but it faltered and died on his lips.

They descended into silence again, the questions between them sucking all the air from the room.

"So the demon has been here all this time," Rowan said softly. He wanted to take Yves's hand, but he needed more answers first.

"You've never known me without it." Yves dashed a tear from his chin with the back of his hand. "I am… I suppose I should say we are like one being. You fell in love with this me."

"You said you love me. But you aren't really capable of it. Are you?" It should have hurt, but Rowan's heart was already in pieces.

Yves's brow furrowed. His fingers flexed in his lap as if he desperately wanted to touch Rowan but was holding back. Instead he looked Rowan in the eye.

"That's why it took me so long to realize I was in love with you."

Rowan's cracked heart stuttered, but he asked, "How can you be so sure?"

"I've died many times, but I always come back. The only scar that has ever stayed with me was the mark you left when you killed me."

A shiver passed through Rowan, raising bumps on his bare skin. He'd killed Yves all those years ago on the deck of the Wolf . He'd seen Yves burn to death on the Vaillant and not even realized it. But Yves was here and whole now. Perfect and unscarred but for the bullet wound Rowan left in his heart.

"I thought I would go through this long life without love. I can't even love my own sister. All I have is the memory of affection. But you… When I came back this time, you were the first thing I thought of. Not that I was alive. Not pain. Not revenge. This time I came back for you. We—" He paused to collect himself. The tears had stopped flowing, and his eyes sparkled with their remnants. The candles flickered, burnt low. "Our thoughts are no longer different from each other. It is not simply that the human part of me loves you, it is all of me, all of us. I don't know how it's possible, but it's the truth."

Rowan leaned forward onto his knees, letting his armor of sheets slip further from his body. He laid his hand over the small round scar on Yves's skin, feeling the living heart beating beneath. Yves looked up at him with wonder and hope in his eyes. Hesitantly, he rested his hand over Rowan's.

Rowan's heart beat faster, mending itself with Yves's touch. He was suddenly overwhelmed with a flood of relief, love, and the remnants of interrupted lust. He surged forward, their lips connecting hard. A small noise of surprise escaped Yves's throat, and he gripped Rowan's shoulders, pushing him away .

"Rowan…" His dark gaze searched Rowan's face. "If you need time…"

"I don't need time," Rowan said fervently. "You might have all the time in the world, all the lives you want. But I don't. And the only life I have is this one, and I need you. Now." He didn't want to think anymore. All he knew was that he loved Yves, wanted him, and if he changed his mind in the morning, that was a problem for the light of day, not the candlelit darkness of their wedding night. He would savor love and pleasure while he could in this fleeting life.

Yves frowned but didn't resist when Rowan pushed aside his restraining hands. He submitted to the next kiss, and they toppled to the floor together, their naked bodies separated only by the rumpled sheet. Rowan braced himself over Yves's splayed body. The kiss became more fevered, an uncontainable craving building low in Rowan's gut.

The panic had gone, replaced by fevered elation. Yves groaned. He gripped Rowan's waist, still slightly hesitant, as if Rowan would run screaming from him if he were too aggressive. But his mouth responded to Rowan's attention eagerly, warm and pliant. He pulled Rowan closer, their naked bodies pressed tight against each other. Rowan rolled his hips, creating friction between their aching cocks. Rowan's pulse quickened, and he tilted his head to deepen the kiss. Yves seemed to be holding back, letting Rowan guide his actions. Was he worried that Rowan would change his mind? Or was it something else?

Rowan pulled back, looking down at Yves's face. He was beautiful, his lips swollen and pink from kissing and cheeks flush with warmth. His dark hair splayed out across the floorboards reminding Rowan of the unseen shadows that still lurked. Yves's fingers tightened possessively on Rowan's waist as he pulled back.

"Tell me what you want," Rowan whispered. His body yearned to continue, but he needed to know Yves wanted this too.

A small smile quirked up the corner of Yves's full lips.

"Tonight isn't about me," he said quietly. "I want whatever you will give me. I am atoning for my sins."

"It is about you though. It's our wedding night."

Yves's smile widened, and through the thin sheet, Rowan felt his cock twitch. He rolled his hips forward again, watching for Yves's reaction. Yves practically whimpered, biting his lower lip. He was at Rowan's mercy, melting into Rowan's touch, and the momentary power over him was intoxicating. Rowan's fingers pressed harder into the wood floor as he leaned down to nip the long column of Yves's neck. A shadow wavered in the corner of his vision, and he wondered if one of the tentacles was trapped beneath his hand. Could he even touch them? Were they tangible, or did they consist only of shadow?

What could Yves really do with the power of a demon inside him?

He shook off the thought and trailed his lips over Yves's collarbone and down his chest. He pulled the sheet slowly out from between them, letting the soft fabric feather across Yves's sensitive cock. His other hand skimmed over the floor beside Yves's body. He couldn't feel the tentacles, but perhaps Yves could.

Rowan threw the sheet to the side, revealing Yves's rosy cock, pearls of precum already beading at the tip. Rowan wrapped his fingers around the shaft and thumbed the slit, eliciting a sharp inhale. He glanced up through his lashes, making sure once again that Yves was okay with this. The other man's eyes were closed, his breath uneven. Rowan lowered his head slowly and kissed the silky soft tip, his tongue flicking out to taste the salty precum. Yves's eyes snapped open, but he didn't stop Rowan as he wrapped his lips around the tip and his mouth sank down over the veiny shaft. The warm heaviness on his tongue made him salivate. He couldn't wait to have it inside him again. To be stretched and fucked and devoured.

Devoured by his demon husband.

His demon husband who had a plethora of currently invisible tentacles and who knew what else lurking in the shadows. Rowan's mind spun out in a thousand different directions. A thousand possibilities. He almost choked on them. Or maybe that was the bulging cock currently being shoved down his throat.

"Out of practice already?" Yves cooed. His fingers twined into Rowan's blond hair, pulling his head down and burying his needy cock deep in Rowan's throat. Rowan couldn't take it all. No matter how much he practiced he'd never be able to. Yves was too big, but Rowan wasn't complaining. He shifted position on his knees and opened his throat as much as he could. His throat constricted around the intrusion, and Yves's hips bucked up, forcing himself deeper still. Rowan gagged but recovered, swirling his tongue around the shaft .

"Ngh, Rowan…" Yves pulled Rowan's mouth off his cock by his hair and sat up. "Stop teasing and let me fuck you."

Rowan's breath hitched, and he let Yves pull him into his lap. Yves's hands wandered down to cup Rowan's ample ass.

Rowan bent to kiss him again. His lips tasted slightly of salt. He ran his hands down Yves's muscled back, but as expected, it was bare of the tentacles he knew were there just beyond his perception. Yves shifted Rowan so his dick pressed to the curve of Rowan's ass.

Yves leaned back to look at him, palming Rowan's cock and pumping it slowly. His other hand left Rowan's ass to retrieve the corked vial of lube that had rolled off the bed when Rowan freaked out. Surprisingly it was still mostly full. Thank the gods. They still had a long night ahead of them.

Yves uncorked the vial with his teeth. He dribbled some over Rowan's reddened tip and stroked it down his shaft. Tingles spread over Rowan's skin with every stroke. He rubbed his ass back against Yves's erection. Rowan reached back to run his fingers up the underside of Yves's cock and watched Yves's already blissed-out expression, his lips parted alluringly.

Rowan loved this man. Even if he was more than just a man. Even if he was merciless and not entirely human. Rowan wanted all of him, the truth of him.

Rowan reached up to the eyepatch which blocked Yves's true form from his view. He began to push it away.

"Stop," Yves gasped, snatching Rowan's wrist away, fingers slick with sweet-smelling lube and precum. "What are you doing?"

"I want to see you." Rowan leaned down to nuzzle at Yves's neck, his words echoing Yves's own from earlier in the night. "All of you."

Yves pushed him back to look him in the eye, searching his expression. Rowan hoped he saw only love and none of the fear and uncertainty Rowan was trying to keep clamped down. Yves's fingers tightened around his wrist.

"Please. I don't want to frighten you. I don't…" He swallowed. "I don't want you to see me like that again."

Rowan's heart was breaking all over again. Even if his reaction had been understandable, he'd hurt Yves deeply. Rejected him. Called him a monster.

So even if he was hesitant, and still a little frightened, he needed to accept Yves. They had to stop hurting each other .

"I'm not afraid," Rowan whispered.

But Yves was. Fear was written all over his face. The Deep Water Demon was not afraid of death. But he was afraid of losing Rowan.

Rowan cupped Yves's cheek with his free hand. "I made a vow too, Yves. Please, let me see."

Yves hesitated, but his fingers loosened, and he released Rowan's wrist.

Rowan reached up and removed his eyepatch. He held his breath as the deep blue shadows unfurled from Yves's back, and the sparkly darkness of his irises spread to envelop the entirety of his eyes. Yves wrapped his arms around Rowan's waist and buried his face in Rowan's chest, waiting for Rowan's reaction.

The tentacles were eerily still, as if they too were waiting. Rowan tamped down the thrill of fear that threatened to bubble to the surface. He was intimately familiar with fear. Both as predator and prey. It was only natural to be afraid in the face of something dangerous and unknown. But he refused to show it to Yves, and there was something else nestled beside it. Curiosity.

His hand moved from Yves's cheek, grazing down the side of his neck and over his shoulder. He reached out, his fingers dipping into the dark watery shadows.

Yves's breath hitched, and his head snapped up. Rowan didn't miss the throb of Yves's cock against his ass.

"Can you feel that?" Rowan asked. He was genuinely curious, but he could barely keep back the wicked smile that wanted to creep across his lips. The shadow felt cool and silky against his skin. He twisted his hand, and the tentacles writhed.

Rowan's heart pounded. His blood felt hot in his veins, throbbing through his cock and making him dizzy with desire.

"Rowan…" Yves sounded breathless. The flat black of his eyes, which had seemed so soulless before, now burned with barely restrained heat.

"What does it feel like?" Rowan asked. He knew that Yves and the demon were one being. But right now he felt as if he were directly touching the demon part of Yves. And he was acutely aware that there were three of them in this relationship, not just two.

"Does the demon have a name?" Rowan asked.

"No. It just is."

A thinner tentacle quested toward Rowan seemingly of its own volition, as if the nameless demon was reaching out. He expected the cool, watery feeling again, but when it touched his shoulder, it was solid, tactile, and real. Both Rowan and Yves gasped as the tentacle caressed his shoulder, as if Yves wasn't quite in control of whether the tentacles were solid or shadow.

The tentacle in question pulsed with a smattering of blue light as a few of the candles guttered and winked out. The skin of the tentacle was the same color it had been as a shadow, smooth textured and soft. The underside was dotted with delicate suckers which gripped and released Rowan's skin like kisses as it slid up his neck, leaving faint pink marks.

Yves watched him closely as if waiting for the inevitable stroke of an executioner's ax. A recoil of disgust. A flash of fear. Yet his arms still held Rowan close.

Rowan removed his hand from the still intangible tentacle slowly and tilted Yves's chin so that their lips could meet. He took his time, letting his lips linger as the thin tentacle continued its exploration up into his messy hair.

"Can you control them?" Rowan asked quietly.

"Most of the time," Yves said bashfully. Rowan smiled.

"So tell me, what do you want to do to me, my demon? Does it feel good to touch me with them? Do you want to fuck me with them?"

Yves's whole body shivered, rippling through the tentacles and solidifying several of them. The small tentacle tangled into Rowan's blond hair and wrenched his head back to expose his throat. Yves nipped the delicate skin there as another tentacle caressed down Rowan's back.

Now it was Rowan's turn to shiver. The tentacle brushed the curve of his ass, small suckers puckering the taut flesh. A few of the suckers gripped tighter, the tentacle coiling up on itself like a snake ready to strike. The suckers adhered to both cheeks, pulling them apart. The tentacle tip delicately touched the pucker of Rowan's entrance. Rowan whimpered in anticipation.

"Is this what you want?" Yves asked, his voice roughened by the strain of barely keeping himself under control. The watery echo was still suffocating, but Rowan was too turned on to care. Rowan couldn't look down at him; the thin tentacle still held his head tilted back by his hair .

"P-please…show me what you can really do," he managed to choke out.

"I will," Yves promised. "Up until now, I have been gentle with you."

The tentacle slid in easily, and Rowan realized that Yves must have dipped it into the lube, or else the tentacles were self-lubricating, which he couldn't think about now. He gasped. The tentacle writhed deeper, stretching him as the thicker part of it intruded into his wet interior. The suckers brushed against his sensitive walls, sending shivers up his spine. He moaned, the sound lewd and wanton in his own ears. One of the suckers latched onto the small bundle of nerves at his core, and dark pleasure sizzled through his nerves. The sucker pulsed, milking Rowan's prostate like a suckling mouth. Filthy noises ripped themselves from Rowan's throat, and he heard Yves growl, low and dangerous and animalistic.

Yves's mouth moved over his chest and neck, leaving marks alongside the faint pink ones left by the tentacle's suckers. Rowan gripped Yves's shoulders, holding on for dear life as the tentacle undulated and pulsed inside him. He was already out of his mind with pleasure, legs shaking, barely able to catch his breath.

"Is it too much?" Yves asked. But there was a smirk on his face, and another tentacle snaked across Rowan's stomach to caress his aching cock. The coils wrapped around his shaft, twisting in contrary directions. He'd never felt anything like it before. An intense myriad of sensations overwhelmed his senses. Euphoria radiating throughout his body. His vision went dark for a moment as the tentacle constricted around his cock. He cried out, his whole body shuddering as he came. The tentacles swiped up the splatters of cum from his skin.

Yves lifted Rowan more firmly in his arms and got to his feet. Rowan wrapped his legs around Yves's waist as he was carried to the bed. The thin tentacle still cradled his head. He was lightheaded, floating in a cloud of bliss. But he craved more.

They fell into the bed, lips connecting bruisingly and bringing Rowan back to the surface. He moaned into the kiss as the tentacle still buried deep in his ass wriggled. The tentacle around his cock loosened, one moist sucker slurping up the last of the cum from the tip.

"M-more…" Rowan moaned. His bleary eye met Yves's flat bl ack ones, and the passion he saw there was both terrifying and exhilarating. He was completely at the mercy of the demon, perfectly willing to be torn apart by mind-bending pleasure.

More candles flickered out, plunging them into wavering half-darkness. The shadow tentacles added to the gloom, undulating behind Yves like the deep currents of the sea. But the few that had taken physical form sparkled with delicate bioluminescent stars. Yves ran his hands over Rowan's shuddering naked body, drinking in the sight of him fucked into oblivion. Penetrated by Yves's tentacle and lit from within by its seductive light. He ran one hand up Rowan's stomach, fingers roving over the constellations that now speckled Rowan's skin from the inside. He licked his lips, carnal hunger dripping from his teeth. There was no hesitation now, only possession.

His hips snapped forward, plunging his cock into Rowan's dripping hole alongside the tentacle. A guttural scream ripped from Rowan's mouth. His fingernails dug into Yves's perfect skin, drawing blood. Yves didn't wait for him to adjust. He fucked Rowan hard and fast, penetrating up to the hilt with every stroke.

Rowan felt as if he was about to pass out. He could barely catch his breath between thrusts. His hole burned with the stretch of both tentacle and cock fucking into him. The tentacle twisted deeper still, pushing further than Yves's massive cock could reach. Rowan almost choked on the overpowering fullness. His back arched off the bed, urging Yves to go deeper still. Yves grabbed his hips, tilting them up for a different angle. His cock hit the spot where a tentacle sucker was still lipping Rowan's prostate.

Rowan's vision went white, divine pleasure searing through him. He could hear his own voice but didn't understand the words. Only that he was begging. Yves growled as Rowan's nails raked down his back, leaving trails of crimson in their wake.

The thinner tentacle untangled from Rowan's hair and slithered around his throat, squeezing slightly and bringing Rowan's unending bliss to new heights as Yves's appendages continued to fuck and suck him. The tentacle around his dick slurped up his streams of cum greedily while twisting around his throbbing shaft. It was all too much, and his begging had become only Yves's name. Even though his voice was hoarse from screaming and the constriction around his throat, Yves's name was still there.

Rowan forced his eyes open, stars around the edges of his vision. Yves's thrusts were growing erratic, a vicious snarl on his face. But he was beautiful and terrifying, and he was all Rowan's. Every merciless, otherworldly inch of him.

Rowan would never beg for his mercy, only more.

Yves growled out Rowan's name, his voice like a storm on the open sea. The tentacle inside him twisted deeper beside Yves's pounding cock. Rowan buried his hands in Yves's hair, fingernails bloody, and pulled him down into a kiss. The tentacle around Rowan's cock stroked him in time with Yves's thrusts, and Rowan reached the dizzying heights of euphoria once again. Cum spurted between the coils of tentacle. In a few more thrusts, Yves's body shuddered, and warmth gushed into Rowan, overflowing his stretched and full hole to dribble down his ass onto the mattress. Yves groaned low in his throat as he rode them through their orgasms. The passion of the kiss became languid and slow, both of them savoring the bliss of their wedding night. Neither of them were ready to let go just yet.

As Rowan began to come down from his high, exhaustion washed over him like a relentless tide. The tentacles around his neck and dick uncoiled, leaving light little sucker-kisses as they slithered away. The thicker tentacle slowly withdrew from Rowan's backside until only Yves's human flesh remained in contact. Rowan wished they could stay like this forever, wrapped up in bliss and each other with no concern for the outside world.

Finally, Yves unseated himself from inside Rowan as well, bringing with it a gush of cum dribbling out onto the bed. Yves collapsed onto the mattress, the wing-like bloody claw marks on his back smearing the white sheets. After one last caress across Rowan's sucker-marked body, the tentacles receded back into their shadow forms, the blue light going out with them.

Rowan could barely move. His whole body shivered as if in shock, still trying to process the overload of sensations he'd just experienced.

Yves drew him into his arms and planted a soft kiss on his sweaty forehead.

"Thank you," Yves murmured. His voice was not a storm now, but the soft echoes of the deep ocean.

Rowan blinked at him blearily.

"For what? "

"For not being afraid."

Rowan smiled and kissed him lingeringly.

"I told you before, you terrify me. But with you by my side I don't think I'll ever be afraid of anything else."

Yves chuckled, and Rowan felt the cool, watery touch of the shadows smoothing the hair back from his sweaty forehead.

"I meant what I said," Yves whispered. "I'll protect you and love you as long as I live."

"And if you die again?"

Yves took his hand, thumb rubbing over the now bloodstained wedding band.

"Even beyond my death, across all my lifetimes, I'll love you."