Page 38 of Tentacles for Christmas

After pouring my heart out, I waited impatiently, my chest rising and falling rapidly with the strength it took to not just throw Cam over my shoulder and carry them off like a caveman.

Cam was still though, licking their lips before the corner of their mouth tilted up. “I love you, Rowen. You’re the only man I’ve ever loved, and I think you’re it for me, too.”

“Yeah?” I couldn’t help checking.

“Yes,” Cam laughed and wrapped their arms around my shoulders. “Let’s adopt a bunch of kids and teach them how to swim and fix engines.”

“A bunch, hmm?” I laughed and kissed their chin, leaving my lips there. “Whatever you want.”

Cam leaned back to look me in the eyes but didn’t let go. “I just want you.”

“You have me,” I assured them. “Everything else is a bonus.”

Epilogue

Cam

1 year later, Christmas Day

Thepastyearhadbeen like a dream. I never knew I needed a community like Blue Lake, but I was happy to have them at my back. The McTaryns caused more issues, the pack almost lost a member or two, but we came out the victors in the end.

Webeing intentional, because I was sporting my very own ‘Property of’ jacket. Rowen had insisted we could do alternate wording so it was less old fashioned, but I like the possessiveness of it all.

Plus, my heart belonged to Rowen without question. And I held his love in my hands, evident in everything he did for me.

He taught me to drive a motorcycle and helped me pick out one that was safe and fast, even though I knew Rowen would have preferred I stayed holding onto him at all times. I had to admit, that was one of my favorite places to be in the world, but… There was nothing like riding a bike, going sixty or faster with nothing but the open road ahead, my man by my side.

Rowen had also insisted I wear a lot more gear.

So, that was how I asked to spend Christmas this year. On my silver and black Ducati Scrambler 1100 Sport bike, zipping down the Pacific Coast Highway on our way to Mexico. The only reason I kept my speedometer under a hundred was that I knew Rowen would freak out on his slower bike. And I was happy to go at his speed.

We went to the ocean about once a month, but the north Pacific was freezing and dark. I could join him in my wetsuit and goggles, like I did in Blue Lake, but I wanted to explore with Rowen. To see him in his full shift without murky water between us.

After selling my updated houseboat for a big profit—definitely a lot more than the car I traded for it was worth—I moved in with Rowen on his houseboat. It had two rooms, and he’d welcomed my fish, even adding a couple to our aquatic menagerie.

I still laughed when Rowen admitted he freaked out a little after our first date because he saw how much I cared for my fish and it gave him hope. That and being worried his tentacles would pop out when he got turned on. That conversation was followed by my holes being double stuffed in the shower, so I counted it as an epic win despite Rowen’s embarrassment.

Our next plans were to build a house on the hill beside the shop. It would have privacy from the road and lake, to be built on stilts so we could have an upper-level deck for the hot tub with a view.

The biggest reason for the bigger, more secure house was to adopt. We didn’t plan to start the process this year, with only a houseboat to live in, but we talked to Valeria about the steps we’d take to startout as foster parents. If there were shifter kids who needed a home, we wanted to offer a place for them. And if they were plain old humans like me, Rowen and I agreed they all needed love and safety as well.

Rowen was my best present, and he was my future as well.

We spent Christmas Eve with Fin and the pack at the King lodge on their land, which I knew well by this point. Riley and I had become even closer, and I helped Channing with her university math homework. Gramps liked to call me when he needed tech support, not really understanding I worked with code and not remotes, but I found him hilarious, so I didn’t mind.

They were my family, and I knew they accepted me as well.

Shortly after passing through Carmel-by-the-Sea, the ocean came into view again and Rowen spoke into the headset that enabled conversation and phone calls–or music when I drove alone.

His deep voice came through clearly, “Let’s pull off and stretch our legs at the beach.”

“Sounds good, love,” I replied, happy for the excuse to stop.

We’d been driving for over four hours since the last stop, and planned to stay in a beach-side bungalow near San Diego that night before heading on to the border and into Mexico tomorrow. Then we’d have five days in a private bungalow to unwind and enjoy one-another before turning north on New Year’s Day.

Following Rowen, who did this stretch before with his dad after he graduated high school, we parked in a sandy lot. Our helmets secured to the hooks at the back of our bikes with our head covers in them, but we left our gloves on because it was chilly out.

We both reached out and wordlessly took one another’s hands. Our motorcycle boots were waterproof, mine a Christmas gift from Rowen, and I didn’t want sand in between my toes for the long drive.