Page 71 of Music of the Ocean

“Adapt how?”

“It can increase in girth and rigidity or become smaller and more flexible.” A flush of color moved across Indigo’s cheeks. “The barbs also become more pronounced. It is a response to the partner’s chemical signals.”

Saxby reached out, then paused, his hand hovering in the water. “Can I touch it?”

Indigo’s breath caught. The mating tentacle twitched, curling toward Saxby’s hand. “Yes. But be gentle. It is... sensitive.”

Saxby’s fingers gently touched the tentacle’s surface. The skin was warm, and the texture was unlike anything he’d felt. Smooth in some places, ridged in others, the barbs flexed under his touch.

The tentacle pulsed once, a slow contraction that traveled from base to tip, and a soft sound escaped Indigo’s throat.

“It’s so…” Saxby murmured, more to himself than to Indigo.

He traced the length of it, feeling the way the barbs caught against his fingertips, not sharp but firm, designed to grip and hold.

“It is part of me,” Indigo said. His voice had dropped to a lower register, and his other tentacles were moving in restless patterns around his body. “Every sensation you create, I feel.”

“Do you want me to… stroke you off?”

“I would love nothing more, but if we start now, we will not be going anywhere, anytime soon, I dare say.”

Saxby withdrew his hand, disappointed. The tentacle followed for a moment, as if reluctant to lose contact, then curled back toward Indigo’s body. “Tonight?”

Chapter Twenty-Two – Indigo

“I CANNOT wait.” Indigo took a deep breath as his mating tentacle retreated. Every instinct insisted he toss Saxby onto the bed, but they really wouldn’t leave the chambers for hours if he did.

“Yeah, me either. And you can control it. The extension, the—everything?” Saxby asked.

“To a degree. The initial extension is voluntary. Once mating begins, the biological processes take over, and it becomes harder to halt things, which is why this conversation needed to happen first.”

“On that, we agree. And if I gave you blue balls, I’m sorry.”

Indigo frowned. “What is—”

“How did I know you were going to ask that?”

“My mate is very wise,” Indigo claimed.

Saxby outright laughed. “I’m already a sure bet tonight, but thank you. Blue balls is a common name for a harmless human condition. Although, most guys wouldn’t agree. It’s a heavy or aching feeling in the testicles that happens when a person stays sexually excited for a long time but doesn’t have an orgasm.”

“I do not have testicles.”

“I noticed. So, what’s next on the agenda?”

“I would like to show you the Kelp-sauna I mentioned earlier.” Indigo picked up a cross-body bag and placed a set of Saxby’s new clothes inside.

“Sounds like a plan. Should I bring anything?”

“I have a change of clothes for you.” Indigo placed his hand on the small of Saxby’s back as they left the chamber. “The sauna provides everything else.”

The morning light cycle had shifted to a brighter color, and the traffic had thinned as most citizens moved toward their workstations.

Indigo slowed his pace, allowing Saxby to keep up without effort. His tentacles trailed behind him, curling and uncurling in the gentle current.

They passed through the residential wing, then turned down several passages before finally coming to a doorway that led to a wide chamber with a domed ceiling.

The floor sloped downward, forming a shallow basin filled with thick, dark kelp. The fronds swayed in the warm current, their surfaces glistening with a faint iridescent sheen. Steam rose from between the stalks, creating a hazy layer near the ceiling.