Page 47 of Keeper of All

Maybe I’m the one who’s dreaming, Mao thought, but fortunately, Todd and his mates left—still bickering—leaving him and Ekon alone.

“Do you feel like having a bath?” Mao asked, dropping Ekon’s things on a chair as he passed, carrying Ekon through to the door he noticed. In the bathroom, an enormous tub sat in the middle of the room. “Although, you have just spent all that time in the water…” He really wasn’t sure what Ekon needed.

“I’m making your clothes wet,” Ekon said with a quiet chuckle. “I just like being here in your arms.”

“What was it like,” Mao asked, putting Ekon down on the tiled floor, reaching for a heated towel to drape over Ekon’s shoulders before kneeling to strip the sodden pants off Ekon’s lower body. “What was it like being in the tentacles of a kraken?” He rose and used the towel to slowly dry his mate and warm him up.

“It was nothing like they write about in stories,” Ekon said, pressing closer, as if instinctively seeking Mao’s scent. “It’s gonna be all right,” he whispered into Mao’s throat, inhaling.

Mao wasn’t sure if Ekon was reassuring himself or Mao, but he’d take it because it was a promise for their future.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ekon

Todd sat next to him on the jet they were once more on, holding Ekon’s hand. It seemed to be the only way that Ekon could stay awake. They had stayed at the Thalassa building for less than thirty-six hours, most of which Ekon had slept through.

Todd and Alexi had spoken to their other brothers, and they were going to stop off and collect Kelvin and Victor. Then they were flying to a private island where Markov and Cassius lived with their children.

A boat would await their arrival at the island and take them all where they needed to go. Not all of the krakens were mated to water creatures or had children with tentacles. Ekon had heard Todd tell Victor they didn’t need to travel through the sea, resulting in him asking what he meant by that. It turns out that mates of krakens could breathe underwater. Seriously, a cool thing, when Victor’s mate, Azim was a vampire!

It gave him something else to think about for a while, when Mao’s nerves were kicking in with thoughts of rough seas and big waves. He had thought to suggest taking something to settle his stomach, but one look at Mao’s tight-lipped expression and he’d kept that to himself.

They had left Marvin and Ajani behind. Marvin hadn’t been happy, but Todd had explained there was nothing he could do to help.

“Please, can everyone buckle up, we are preparing to land?” A fraught steward asked, looking at the four little girls running amok to get Alexi’s boys to chase them.

Ekon tried to smother his laughter as Mao started on the other side of him, wearing a look of alarm when Alexi unleashed his tentacles and grabbed the two boys, as Todd did the same to the girls and placed them into the seats with minimal fuss.

The steward scurried off to the back of the cabin. Ekon couldn’t decide if it was to escape the tentacles or the children.

“It takes some getting used to,” Todd chuckled, as another tentacle pushed his glasses up his nose.

“What?” Mao replied in confusion, his eyes never leaving the tentacles.

“Seeing this,” Todd waved a tentacle at Mao and tickled under his chin making his two mates laugh and cause Danik to snort.

“It never gets old. First time I met Alexi, he rolled up his sleeve and next thing there’s a tentacle digging in the dirt collecting scents.” Danik shook his head, wearing a besotted grin. “Those things sure do make you stop and stare.”

“Why, it’s me you’re staring at love, not my tentacles,” Alexi replied, a twinkle in his eye that got everyone laughing.

Danik rolled his eyes. “You keep believing that.”

The conversation continued around them, and Ekon was happy to just listen having lost his connection to Todd and therefore his energy source, for the time being.

There was a flurry of activity as Victor, and his mate Azim boarded the plane. There were hellos and hugs for the children before they were taxing off once more.

When the seatbelt sign was off the children were unleashed once more to create havoc. They headed straight for Azim who was laughing and pulling sweets out of a bag he’d brought with him, causing all six children to vie for his attention.

Ekon wasn’t sure how them all being in the water was going to be safe with how fast they were at evading their parents.

It’s going to be tricky that’s for sure.

Ekon glanced slowly at Mao, his lips tugging into a small smile. They do appear to be a little unruly.

Victor unclipped his seatbelt and got up to walk to where Ekon was seated, the dark eyes were alive with his animal spirit. “There’s something about you… that… that calls to me.” He turned his attention to Alexi. “Do you feel it?”

“My kraken felt something in the pool with Ekon, a welcoming of sorts,” Todd replied, looking between his brothers as he reached for Ekon’s hand, threading their fingers together, the same energy boost following.