2. the perfect mate

the perfect mate

Fisk

Fisk stared at his phone, his heart still racing and cock pulsing as reality set in. His skin itched in the worst way, telling him he needed to shift and be one with the sea, but before he could, he would need to set things into motion for the next day.

It was a good thing he didn't need much sleep, because he already knew he wouldn't be getting any.

Of all the people and all the creatures in the world, how was it that Lily Durham, the woman who had captivated him for years, was his perfect match? Even after graduating and reaching the age where he could shift into his natural state, she had still haunted his dreams, her eyes a beacon of light to lead him forward, her smile always warming him on the coldest of nights.

When the app had mysteriously arrived on his phone, he hadn't questioned it. Others had spoken of the magical dating app that only gave one match, your perfect one, so he had guessed immediately that his perfect match, whoever they were, was ready to meet their own, and he wasn't going to make them wait. He wanted a mate, a perfect companion who would love both his human and his monstrous form, so he wasted no time in choosing profile images and filling out the questions. He needed to make a good first impression, because even after years of growing into his skin, talking with others was often difficult for him.

The wait for the app to confirm his perfect match hadn't been too long, only a few hours at best, and he was a patient beast, able to relax and wait until the time was right.

That all changed the moment Lily's smirk appeared on his screen.

Lily had been his fantasy for years, and now, she was his perfect mate. She was even more beautiful than she had been over a decade earlier, still wearing her trademark smirk but with eyes that spoke of wisdom and a body that had him shoving his hands down his pants to tell his cock to cool it. This match was about more than just sex. He wanted a lifetime with her, to wake up every morning with her in his bed and fall asleep every night with his lips against her skin. He would give up the seas for her in an instant if so required, but if she was his perfect match, then she would love all of him, not just the human form he had finally grown into.

He hadn't been much to look at the last time they saw one another, all limbs he couldn't control, his head too big for the rest of his body, his mind unable to focus his overloaded senses on anything save for her. She had always held his attention in class, like a bright star he could follow to keep him on course, but he never could have imagined it was for more reasons than just her beauty.

His human form was far more attractive now, but would it be enough for her? He hoped so.

He wasn't going to fuck this up. He couldn't fuck this up.

He needed her, in all ways.

It was a good thing he didn't require as much sleep as humans, because it was going to be a very long night if he was going to be prepared by the time she arrived.

If she arrived.

But fuck, he couldn't think like that, couldn't allow himself to consider the possibility that she would change her mind. She hadn't seemed drunk in the text messages, just flirty and her normal blunt self. She had always spoken what was on her mind, so he wouldn't blame that on alcohol. Still, there was a chance that when she woke up, she would realize it was crazy to agree to come to his beach house for the weekend, as they were nearly strangers at this point. They had never been friends, and even calling themselves acquaintances was a stretch, but she had seemed agreeable to meeting up, and it was either wait a few days or go through with his crazy offer.

Fuck, she was going to be there in a few hours.

The house was stocked with food and anything else he could need, but he wanted more than just the basics. He needed wine, dessert, and more fresh fruits and vegetables, along with a meal plan he could easily follow. She needed to be enchanted with him, thoroughly seduced, so that when the weekend ended, she would want to stay rather than rush back to the city. He needed her in his life, needed her in all ways. Needed her in the sea, in the pool, the shower, and in his bed.

He had nearly slipped and asked her what she thought about having sex in the water, whether it be sitting on his lap in the pool or fucking standing up in the shower, or maybe even on the beach with the waves rolling around them, but he had changed his mind at the last minute, too afraid she might turn him down or point out the practicality of lubrication or something like that.

Lube. He needed lube. Because if she said yes to sex in the water, nothing would stop him from filling her up, save if he couldn't slide in in the first place.

Typing on his phone, he quickly began placing late-night orders, knowing they would all be delivered before she made it there. The drive from the city would take a few hours, and by the time she arrived, everything would be put away and he would be ready for her. He was ordering too much perhaps, but if she did decide to stay, even if just an extra night or two, he wanted no interruptions while he convinced her to make her stay permanent.

How the hell was he going to tell her his true nature, and how was she going to react?

He knew, deep down, that he should tell her the truth, all of it, before he even touched her, but his willpower was only so strong. When she had offered pictures, it had taken every last strand of self-control to tell her no. If he had seen anything more of her, he would have climbed in his car and raced back to the city, his need for the sea be damned. Waiting all night for her was torture enough. Knowing what she looked like when she was trying to seduce him? He would have never survived.

When she walked through the door, if he could keep himself from not rushing out to greet her at the car, he was going to have to restrain himself. Perhaps give her a tour, or something else, anything so they could test out their compatibility other than sexual and physical. He knew, without a doubt, that the match was a perfect one, but as a human, she had no idea just how accurate the app was. She would have to see it for herself and understand that this was so much more than just a booty call and a one-night stand.

And once she understood what he was, what she meant to him, he would show her his true nature, cover her skin in bruises from his sucking, and stuff her full of him.

He was losing control all over again at the very thought.

He needed to shift, and soon. The sea would help clear his mind so when she sent the text message that she was ready to be whisked away, he could hold himself together.

The sea called to him in a way he could never put into words, but he had never needed to before now. His clothes fell to the sand as he approached the crashing waves, and as his human foot touched the cold water, he stretched his arms over his head, ready to expand and shift into his true form. At waist deep, he felt the familiar tingle spread as he relaxed and let himself go, with his arms changing first, followed by his legs. Another wave moved towards him, not yet cresting, and he slipped completely underneath the surface, his body completing the shift as he did so.

Tentacles shot out in all directions as he moved deeper into the sea, careful to not let any part of himself go above the waves—not that anyone was out this late at night to see him. His home was on a private beach, with plenty of space on either side, and beyond that sat more private homes in each direction, all empty of inhabitants this time of the year. The only ones close to him now were those who lived under the sea, and they had certainly seen cephalopods before. Fish moved out of his way, not wanting to become his next meal, but they were safe in his vicinity.

The only thing he hungered for was Lily.

His gills allowed him to breathe underwater, and he took what felt like a deep breath, expanding his body in all directions before pushing forward, swimming deeper into the ocean. If there was more time, and there wasn't the possibility he would lose track of it, he would have swam down the coast for hours, exhausting this form and his need for it, but when the first rays of daylight appeared on the horizon, he would need to return to the beach and his home to prepare for her.

Lily. The very thought of her drove him to near madness, imagining her voluptuous body covered in marks from his suckers, stuffed full of him, unable to get away as his tentacles wrapped around her body, holding her against him as he pushed her into oblivion. She had said she felt empty after her orgasm, wanting something inside her, and he had promised her everything. He meant it. He would give her everything she had ever dreamed of, and so much more.

Never again would she feel empty, so long as she agreed to it.

Propelling his body forward, he pushed himself further and further out, going deeper and deeper until he felt the slight change in the ocean currents. He was nearing the continental shelf, which told him immediately how long he had been out in the water and that he would need to start heading back soon. Letting his muscles relax, he began to sink down towards the ocean floor, not that he planned to settle there. He needed to start heading inland soon so when Lily woke up and messaged him, he would be ready.

Even out in the sea, fully expanded into his monstrous form, all his thoughts were consumed with her.

He had asked her for a weekend, but if he had it his way, she would never leave. Anything she could desire, he had at his fingertips. Money spoke, and he had plenty of that, thanks to his knowledge of the seas and the weather. His ships were always the fastest. He prided himself on listening to his captains and placing crew wellbeing and security of the loads over making a quick buck, and with the way the world worked, he would always make more money than he knew what to do with. Generational wealth helped as well, as who better to sail the seas than those who were a part of it? His father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather, for generations. No other sea monsters would approach a ship captained by one of their own, and now, in the modern day, with his ink coating the outside of his ships, they would never face attack.

Years of working in business had made him even more successful in the changing tides of the business world, and now, he would use that money to give Lily anything she asked for.

All he had to do was help her fall in love with him first.

His tentacles began to ache with the need to expand and contract once more, and he turned his body away from the changing currents, pushing his head down as he began to move forward. He was too deep to see if the sun had begun to rise, but whether he returned early or not wasn't a concern for him. There was no moving any faster than his top speed, so he maintained it as best he could, pushing through the water until the ocean floor began to rise and he could nearly see the surface.

Poking his head out of the water, he looked to see the initial creeping of warmth on the horizon, telling him that sunrise was slowly approaching.

Would it be too much to text her good morning before she messaged him, or should he instead wait for a signal that she was still interested?

The last few miles, he took leisurely, slowly pulling his large body in smaller as he moved, until he reached the point that his tentacles could stretch from ocean floor to surface. He took one last intake of water, pushing it out through his body a moment later, then began his shift back into his human form, first his tentacles into arms and legs, then his torso, and finally, his head.

He could just barely reach the bottom with his head above water, but he leaned forward to swim the last hundred meters to the shoreline, noting the lack of any humans. He hadn't expected to see any, but given how he had abandoned his clothes on the sand and was naked under the surface, he still had to be prepared so he wouldn't give anyone the shock of a lifetime. His feet touched the ocean floor as he stood up to walk the last few steps to dry land, and the familiar ache from swimming with his entire body began to creep in. A hot shower would fix that, after his body temperature returned to normal, and with any luck, it would be gone by the time she arrived.

His body would soon be aching in other ways if she was as hungry as he was.

Fisk stepped in through the back door and grabbed the robe hanging there, wrapping it around himself to help warm his body while he sought out his phone. Several notifications greeted them, from Harry confirming he was ready to retrieve Lily to delivery confirmations, and when he went to the front door, he saw everything had begun to arrive. It took no time at all to bring in the groceries and other items, leaving him to once again stare at his phone and question whether she would message him when she woke up.

He wanted to know more about her, needed to know everything. What had she been doing since graduation? Where was she working? Was she still friends with everyone she had surrounded herself with at school? Had she seen anyone long-term, or had she kept it casual, as she had in university?

These were all questions he knew he should ask her once she had arrived, but it would be so easy to do a few basic web searches. Besides, he was inviting a near stranger into his home. It wouldn't be crazy to look her up, right? She had probably done the same, or would do so before she arrived, he was sure of it.

It would also give him something to do while he wrestled with the question of whether to message her first.

At that thought, he knew he was going to give in.

Looking her up was easy, and he quickly found the company where she worked, which from there led to a few news articles about clients she had worked with. He was surprised he hadn't run into her somewhere in the business world. He could easily see she was good at she did, thrived at it. Clearly, she had had a dream, and she had pursued it.

From there, he went in search of her on social media and easily found her. Only a few things were available publicly, and he scrolled through the pictures, trying his best not to drool. She truly was as beautiful as the pictures on her profile hinted, but as he clicked one to look at the comments, he noted the dates. Most of these were from over a year earlier, and she hadn't been tagged in anything he could view in a year and a half. Where had she been during that time, and why hadn't she been out with friends or posting about her life?

Flipping back to her job, he saw a news article about a project completed for a larger corporation, her name attached to fixing a number of internal problems. A job like that would have taken months, perhaps even a year. He could easily see her as a workaholic, someone who allowed themselves to become consumed with a project until it was done. Was that why she now had vacation days? Had completing the project been the thing to push her to rejoin the dating world?

She needed to relax, to get out into the world again, to become more than just her work self. He could give that to her. He could show her a whole new world.

Time kept ticking as he closed out the tabs he had opened, not wanting to be caught later having been searching for her, when he questioned himself again. A good morning text wouldn't be out of line. He was expecting to see her today, after all. He should do it. He would do it.

But as he opened his text messages, a notification popped up, and then, right underneath the picture of her clothes she had sent him, was a brand-new message, freshly arrived.

An address. It was her address.

He forwarded the message immediately to Harry then returned to the window to tell her his driver was on his way, only for another message to appear.

Lily ??

I guess I should have started with Good Morning, but I was too excited to think my first message through.

He grinned, barely even registering the confirmation text from Harry as he stood, needing to take a shower and get ready for her arrival.

Good morning, sweetheart. Trust me, I'm excited too.

Harry, my driver, is on his way.

How long will the drive take to get me to you?

A little under two hours, I would guess. He's ten minutes away from you. I know you can take care of yourself, but let him take your bag and open the door for you, or else he'll get huffy.

Two hours? That feels too long. I woke up cold and alone. And very empty.

She wouldn't be empty for much longer. He would gladly fill her up.

It will be worth the wait. I'll have breakfast ready for you by the time you arrive.

I don't want breakfast. I want you.

Fuck, how was he supposed to keep his hands off her long enough to tell her the truth?

You set the pace, sweetheart. Whatever you want, you can have.

A shower. He needed to get in the shower.

And maybe jack off one more time so he didn't blow his load the second he saw her.

Lily ??

Ready to give me everything you promised?

She had no idea...

Everything and more.