Kelvin #5: MM Fated Mates (Tangled Tentacles), page 18
“There you go again,” Kelvin chuckled, “worrying about things that haven’t happened yet. There is not one personality type in that building that I haven’t come across and had to deal with before. Besides, I want to spend time with you, and I think lunch out to celebrate is the perfect way to end this meeting.”
“What are we celebrating?” Magnus’s mind raced. “It can’t be an anniversary already, surely I haven’t missed that.”
Kelvin, being Kelvin, just chuckled again. “I consider it a celebration that I managed to get you into that delightful suit. It makes you look very powerful and sexy.”
Magnus groaned as a hint of Kelvin’s arousal whispered around the confines of the car. “Do not do that to me, when I have to go and see the boss.”
“Ex-boss, and we’re seeing her together. Now, come on, you have to admit I have excellent taste. You need to feel the power of this suit and work it.”
“Power of this suit?” Magnus looked at Kelvin in disbelief. “Did you get taken by aliens while I was asleep? Who are you and where is the accountant I’m besotted with?”
“Aww,” Kelvin teased, stroking his cheek. And of course, Magnus’s cat loved that, so he succumbed to a bit of stroking, just because it was his mate. Unfortunately, the stroking didn’t last long enough, because Kelvin pulled back his hand and nodded at the passenger door. “Time for us to get out.”
“I don’t know why we had to come anyway,” Magnus grumbled as he and Kelvin got out of the car, and Kelvin locked it. “Just because Supervisor Day called first thing… She’s not my boss anymore. I told you, they accepted my resignation so fast, I don’t believe they fully read it. She probably just saw ‘I want to tender my resignation,’ and went off to plan a party.”
Coming around the side of the car, Kelvin straightened Magnus’s tie. “Just remember you’re a crucial part of the Thalassa Security company now, babe, all but married to one of the stunning Thalassa brothers.”
“We could do that.” Magnus put his hands up, catching Kelvin’s in his own. “We could fly to Vegas in your fancy plane, take Marvin with us, and get married in an Elvis chapel. We could do it today. Why not?”
Kelvin’s chuckle turned into a full-scale belly laugh. “If you are still insistent on us marrying in Vegas we can do that, after we’ve seen your ex-boss, and after Markov has given birth.” He stepped closer, and Magnus closed his eyes because Kelvin was just so overwhelming to his senses in every way. “Markov’s worried. Danik and the dragons have given birth, but Markov is the first kraken to do so since our mother. We have to be here for that.”
“You’re right.” Magnus felt a bit ashamed. It was just that he’d still been enjoying a delicious afterglow when Ms. Day called, and that was the excuse he was giving for not saying no in the first place. “We will be as supportive as we can be for Markov and help keep Marvin occupied too.” Stepping back from Kelvin’s hands, he brushed down the front of his crisp new suit. It was a far cry from what he usually wore – it fit and had been pressed for a start.
“Will I do? Do I look the part?”
“You look every inch a Thalassa consultant.” Kelvin blew him a kiss, then in a smooth move Magnus almost missed, he had their arms linked together walking towards the building. “I have to admit, I don’t care what you’re dressed in, or not dressed in as the case may be, but you do look stunning in that suit.”
“You’re not helping.” Magnus grinned as he pulled open the door for his mate.
Inside, he waved at the door security, just like he always did, although George did a double take when he saw him. Maybe the suit does mean something to some people. But as he took Kelvin up a floor and then across to the offices he used to occupy, things hadn’t changed at all. Scanlon saw him first.
“Hot damn, ghost whisperer, have you scored yourself a hot sugar momma or something? You actually look smart for a change.” He yelled across the room, in a voice designed to have everyone looking. Scanlon hadn’t changed and probably never would. “Not really the clothes you need for finding Bigfoot.” Scanlon laughed, confident that everyone would laugh with him.
And a few did. But not everyone, and that could’ve had something to do with Kelvin, whose face was now an expressionless mask. “Is this the type of behavior you have had to contend with all this time?” He asked, his voice calm, but boy, everyone was listening now. “Rather juvenile, for someone in a position of authority, don’t you think?”
“I didn’t pay a lot of attention to things like that while I was working here.” Magnus began to lead Kelvin through the desks, heading for the back of the room. “I worked on cases. That was my job.”
“At least someone was working.” Kelvin’s words were pointed, and a number of cheeks were now red, on faces now bent over their desks.
Scanlon noticed, and like any bully, didn’t like it. Magnus cringed as he heard the chair scrape across the tiled floor, followed by a second one. Riggs, Scanlon’s partner, had clearly decided to tag along. “This could get mouthy, but if you let me…”
But apparently, standing back wasn’t Kelvin’s style either. Turning, it meant Scanlon reached Kelvin before he got to Magnus. “Yes?” Arms folded across his chest, Magnus could feel his mate’s kraken powers flood out just enough to be intimidating to any being.
“I don’t know who you are, or what business you have in our area, but this is for Special Agents only.” Scanlon blustered, stopping just out of arm’s reach. He wasn’t used to confrontation.
“Not that it is any of your business, but my name is Kelvin Thalassa, from Thalassa Security, and if you don’t mind, you are making us late for an appointment with Supervisor Day.”
Magnus watched Scanlon’s mouth drop open, and Riggs elbowed the stunned man to pull him out of it. He could see the beady eyes working – the suits, the confidence – putting two and two together and getting twelve as per usual.
“Thalassa’s, wow.” Scanlon found his voice. “Hey, look. I didn’t know you were recruiting, but if you’re keen on having some decent agents on your team, then you can do a lot better than ghost whisperer here. I mean, shit, he’s been sent off to chase up Bigfoot sightings more times than I can count – Bigfoot cases being a euphemism for the punishments agent go through when they keep sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong. Thalassa’s are all about team players, right…”
Kelvin held up just one hand, and Scanlon shut up. Just like a puppet. It was incredible. Magnus wanted to laugh, but that would totally break the spell his mate had cast on the resident bully.
“Special Agent Fallows came to our attention because he found the Bigfoot he’d been searching for, and in the process of doing that uncovered a huge plot that if executed by the perpetrators, could’ve brought down world governments it was so serious.”
It was as if Kelvin were daring Scanlon to disagree. “Contrary to your memories of your college days, we don’t look for team players. The Thalassa’s are a family. We look for men and women with initiative, drive, and who explore every angle of a case without giving up. People who can fit in and support the others around them, not malign them or their character for no other reason than they are jealous of another’s ability. If you know anyone like that, you can encourage them to send me a resume. I’ll see to it, it gets seen by the right brother. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
As soon as Kelvin turned his back to Scanlon, he winked at Magnus. Leaving a stunned Scanlon standing like a lump in the middle of the room, and whispers flooding around the office, probably over the finding of Bigfoot, the two men went to Rendall who was quick to nod that they could go in.
Ms. Day was sitting at her desk, and as per normal she didn’t bother to rise, although her eyes widened when she looked up and saw Kelvin with him. “I thought it would be assumed this would be a private meeting,” she said, waving the two men to seats.
“Mr. Thalassa is with me in his legal capacity,” Magnus said quickly. “As you’d already accepted my resignation, I could only assume you were planning to find a way to reduce my retirement benefits or shortchange me on the holiday pay I have owing to me.”
“Ah, yes, well.” Ms. Day actually looked uncomfortable, fiddling with a few papers on her desk. “With regards to accepting your resignation, it would appear I might have been a bit hasty. It would seem your quirky way of working on cases has been noticed by those higher up the chain of command, and they have been very pleased with your case closure rates and the way you work with others around you. They are concerned you’ve left your position because you might have felt unwelcome here.” She flicked a quick glance at Kelvin. “Or that you might have accepted another job with a private company.”
Magnus frowned, confused. “What are you saying? I handed in my resignation, you accepted it. Why I did it, or what I do after that is my business, surely?”
The sigh was familiar at least. “I would be a lot more comfortable having this conversation in private, Magnus, however…” She waited, but Magnus wasn’t going to tell Kelvin to go. “I know I might have come across as hard on you at times, but that was only because I knew you could be a darn good agent, if you stopped sticking your nose into other cases.”
Magnus’s cat bristled. “You mean the case involving my missing, and now found dead sister? The case I solved on my own, while running after your Bigfoot sightings? The same case that involved another body buried with my sister, that you would rather I ignored entirely. Are we talking about that case?”
“Believe it or not, I was trying to help you.” Ms. Day’s face was now an alarming shade of red. “Agents who start pursuing cases based on emotional attachments…”
“We’re talking about my sister Elsa. My late sister, Elsa.” Magnus jumped to his feet. “I accepted I couldn’t work on the case but being kept away from files and clues… for fuck’s sake, she was buried for more than a year when she was finally found. Do you know what that means?”
“I realize this was very difficult for you…”
Magnus leaned over the desk, with a snarl. “It means, my sister was held captive for nine months, two weeks and three days, according to the coroner. If you had let me exercise my quirks as you call them, during those nine months, two weeks, and three days, I might’ve been able to find her. Because we both know your agents didn’t. If you want a reason why I left the FBI, that reason is you. And Scanlon’s bullying, but mostly you. If you’re worried that I have already taken up alternative employment, I have. With the Thalassa Security company. They value initiative and their solve rate is superior to any other company because they like it when people stick their noses in where it might not belong. Now if you don’t mind, I have a lunch date to attend. You and I, we have nothing more to say to each other.”
Indicating to Kelvin who stood, and headed for the door, Magnus was heading in that direction too, when Ms. Day’s words stopped him.
“Magnus, please.” Magnus turned back. Ms. Day’s eyes looked surprisingly tear-filled. “If I can’t convince you to come back, they are threatening me with losing my job. You’re the best and most effective agent I have.”
“Past tense, ma’am.” Kelvin opened the door. “Mr. Fallows was the best and most effective agent you had, and now he works for us. Your department would work a lot more effectively if people like Special Agent Scanlon and his cohorts had been fired a long time ago. Magnus, shall we?”
It's for the best. Magnus knew he shouldn’t care as he left the office, but when it was all said and done, he was partially human, and he didn’t like anyone being upset around him – even his ex-boss. If his supervisor had given him just one ounce of leeway, just one chance…
“Those thoughts come under the shoulda, coulda, woulda, babe,” Kelvin said softly, as Magnus took him out of the side entrance. “Wishing things had gone differently, wouldn’t bring your lovely Elsa back.”
“I know. You’re right.” Magnus heaved in a huge breath and let it out slowly. “Let’s get out of here. The team playing stench that’s running rife around this building is going to ruin my new suit.”
“Say goodbye to your old life, babe, because your new one is going to be one hell of a ride.”
“With tentacles?” Magnus quirked his brow at Kelvin as they finally stepped out of the building.
“Is there any other way to ride?” It wasn’t only Kelvin’s grin that made Magnus smile, it was the hint of kraken he could see in his mate’s eyes.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Kelvin
There in the pit of Kelvin’s stomach was the familiar tug he’d felt before alerting his kraken something was about to happen. He slid out of bed careful not to wake Magnus and padded quietly to the bedroom door, shutting it softly. Until he knew for sure what was happening with Markov there was no point waking him too.
They’d already had a couple of false alarms as it seemed that Markov’s kraken was adapt at playing games with them. Finding it funny to get all the krakens in a tizzy over the impending birth, especially in the middle of the night.
The Christmas tree lights twinkled in the darkness, reminding Kelvin he’d forgotten to turn them off in his haste to get Magnus naked and in bed. The last few weeks had been some of the best of Kelvin’s life. His mate had slipped into life in Thalassa security as if the position had been specially made to fit him.
With Christmas looming in two days the fun of the festivities with the children was on everyone’s mind. Marvin had gone from apartment to apartment and decorated them all with Riley. The whole building looked like a department store had spewed its contents through the building. No one was complaining when it was Marvin and Riley’s first Christmas with family. Alexi’s boys and Todd’s girls were still a little young to appreciate what was happening, but it wouldn’t be long before they’d be joining in the fun.
Out the main corridor he got no more than two steps when Todd appeared. “You felt it too?”
“Yep, do you think it’s the real thing this time or more of Markov’s kraken’s antics?”
Todd pushed up his glasses and ran a hand through his messy hair. “Let’s go find out.”
They headed down to the pool, knowing it was the only place that Markov would be giving birth in. The door slid open, and Kelvin grinned at the sight of Markov, naked, his belly swollen wearing a scowl that rivalled Cassius’s.
Cassius was fussing over Markov as Riley stood watching the pair with wide eyes. “I don’t have to get in the water, do I?” he asked, looking at Kelvin, then Todd.
“It’s the best place to be when the babies come. It’s a magical experience you really won’t want to miss.” Kelvin worked to convey as much enthusiasm as he could when Riley looked at the water, his nose wrinkling, and a look of disgust on his tiny face.
“Magical, it doesn’t fu… flippin’ feel like it right now,” Markov complained bitterly. His belly rippled with each step he took, and Kelvin suddenly felt weak at the knees.
Magnus it’s happening, oh, fuck it’s happening.
There was a moment of silence. What? The babies? I’m coming.
He sounded as panicked as Kelvin, although that was the least of his worries when some gooey substance ran down Markov’s legs as he got to the edge of the pool.
The door behind him slid open and Kelvin glanced back happy to be distracted when his stomach flipped over. Alexi held one of the boys and Danik was right behind him with the other, both were only in boxer briefs. Next came Victor and Azim, both looking more alert than the rest of them.
Kelvin glanced at Todd. “Are Ki and Lucas bringing the girls? They will want in the water too.” He’d barely stopped speaking when the pool door opened again, and the dragons arrived.
Kelvin laughed at the sight of the three small krakens that Ki was trying to hold as their tentacles splayed in different directions.
“A little help would be good,” Ki muttered as he came towards Todd.
“Here, give me the girls.” Todd arms formed into tentacles and the girls’ tentacles wrapped around Todd’s.
The sight warmed Kelvin and gave him an odd paternal tug that up to now he’d not considered would be a path he’d take for a long time. Magnus came bursting through the still open door looking sexy as fuck in low slung sweats, his chest naked and the pendant, he’d not taken off since Kelvin had put in on, hanging around his neck.
“Have I missed anything? Marvin is coming. He went in search of his camera.”
Marvin, when they’d gone Christmas shopping for the babies and Riley, had gotten very excited over a camera, which Magnus had bought for him. So, wherever Marvin went the camera came too. The man turned out to have an excellent eye and an affinity with capturing moments others wouldn’t necessarily see the beauty in.
They’d created a dark room in the small spare room in Kelvin’s apartment which was next to Marvin’s bedroom.
Kelvin, unable to resist, walked to his mate and kissed him. “Unless you consider seeing Markov leave a trail of goo behind and get all grumpy, then no.”
There was a groan and the sound of water splashing before a loud squeal. Kelvin turned in time to see Cassius shift in the water next to Markov and Riley skip away from the edge of the pool.
The tug Kelvin had felt earlier came back and his body spasmed. “It’s time,” he murmured through clenched teeth as his kraken rose.
There was no time to consider his next move, his kraken was firmly in charge. The shift was on him before he could get to the water. His brothers were much the same as him, they slid over the tiled floor entering the pool together. Todd held the girls in his tentacles as they entered the water. They immediately let go and went to Markov, their tiny bodies and tentacles wrapping around his belly.
There was something unearthly about the hum of magic that came when they were all in the pool together. This was so much more and Kelvin to his core understood the monumental occasion that was about to occur.
