“Isn't oral sex penetration?”
“Oral sex doesn't count.”
“So, I may give oral sex to another man?”
His eyes twitched. “No, but another man may give you oral sex.”
“I don't think that's the same.”
“Nadar!”
“Very well, I agree. Although it seems unfair that I may fuck someone else and they can give me oral sex when all you can have with another man is oral sex.”
“Oh, my slaves know many ways to give pleasure that do not require penetration.”
“And what are those ways?”
The Sea King smirked. “Perhaps I will share my slaves with you, and you may find out for yourself.”
“No, thank you.”
As the King chuckled, the driver pulled over and stopped the carriage beside the sidewalk. Pedestrians gathered to watch as the King climbed out of his carriage. He nodded and waved as I got out. I was glad to have a moment to gawk without being watched. Not at Jucai. At the restaurant.
Before me loomed a giant beast. A fucking leviathan. I'd heard tales of such creatures, but never thought to see one myself. Technically, I still hadn't. Not alive, at least. It was the beast's skeleton that towered above me.
Porcelain-smooth ribs curved down from the top of the building, each bone pillar carved with intricate designs embedded with gold. Sleek and terrifying, the beast's skull formed an entrance, jaws eternally open. Jucai took my hand and led me to a set of golden doors set within enormous teeth, as if the creature had chomped down on them. Uniformed Gashi men opened the doors with perfect timing, and we strode willingly into the jaws of the leviathan. The irony that I was traveling the same path as the beast's meals, on my way to dine myself, was not lost on me.
As we passed the jaws, a Leeya host rushed over to us. He gushed over his royal guest while I stared up at crystal chandeliers hanging from the inside of the polished skull. In a daze, I trailed after the King and the host, pulled along by his firm grip. Passing through the corridor of its throat, we entered the belly of the beast.
Beneath my boots, polished volcanic rock formed a dark background for veins of iridescent shells. As if that wasn't spectacular enough, millions of tiny seed pearls studded the walls in flowing wave patterns. When the light shifted, the walls shimmered like moonlight underwater. Rib bones curved overhead, emerging from the top of the walls. Within theirpolished frames, crystal panes arched over our heads to form a vaulted ceiling.
I whispered, “It’s as if a cathedral grew from the body of a god.”
“What was that?” Jucai asked.
“It's beautiful.” I lowered my gaze to him.
On our way to the back of the restaurant, I noticed that it stood against the city dome. The ribs stopped just short of the dome, creating an arched window without a pane. We passed golden booths shaped like oyster shells, some open to show off round tables and curved benches tucked within, while others were closed.
Scents tickled my nose—citrus, bread, salt, smoke. The smoke wasn't heavy like that from grilled meat. It was cleaner, more mineral, with herbal notes I didn't recognize. I glanced at the plates carried on glowing trays by uniformed servers. Everything was beautiful and exotic.
Our host led us up a curling golden staircase, past six narrow floors of shell booths facing the dome in a single line. On the very top floor, up past the ribs, a single, massive, golden oyster shell-booth waited, open and facing the sea. Mother-of-pearl lined the shell, the opalescent colors blending into the pink bench that sat within the bottom shell, matching its curve. Behind the booth, the floor ended in a golden railing, giving it more of a balcony feel. However, once we sat on the velvet-cushioned bench, the top of the booth created a privacy wall.
“May I bring you beverages while you look over the menu?” The host handed us each a golden folder.
“Hot tea for me,” Jucai said.
“That sounds good.” I nodded. “Me too.”
The host bowed and left us, but I didn't even glance at the menu. How could I when coral formed the base of our table? Not dead, polished coral.Livingcoral. It sat in a base of sand, its branches coated in a thin, clear, flexible case. When I brushed my hand over the casing, tiny polyps twitched and glowed blue.
“Stop playing with the table and help me choose our meal,” Jucai teased.
“Your furniture breathes.”
He motioned down at the rib bones, barely visible beyond our black floor. “The living within the dead. I find it beautiful.”
“What kind of creature was this?”
