by
- Beneath the Surface: Tendrils of the Heart
- Beneath the Surface: Strands of the Soul
Graham's inheritance was more than just a secluded cabin on a shimmering lake left to him by his enigmatic grandfather; it was a legacy shrouded in mysteries. Built by his grandfather's own hands, the cabin was a sanctuary fiercely protected, a place where no one else dared to tread, and yet it held secrets that beckoned Graham with an irresistible allure.
Now, with his grandfather's passing, Graham finds himself drawn back to the cabin, his grandfather's words echoing in his heart: "Look after my lake." What he discovers there is beyond his wildest dreams—a magnetic, otherworldly presence lurking beneath the water's surface, yearning for connection, for passion. As Graham succumbs to the call of this mysterious entity, he must navigate a burgeoning desire that defies the boundaries of his imagination. In the embrace of the lake's guardian, Graham discovers a love that transcends the stars, and a secret that binds him to the cabin and its otherworldly inhabitant forever.
Editors:
Cover Artists:
Genres:
Pairings: M-M
Heat Level: 5
Romantic Content: 5
Ending: Click here to reveal
Character Identities: Gay
Protagonist 1 Age: 18-25
Protagonist 2 Age: Ageless/Immortal
Tropes: Coming Out / Closeted, First Time, Hurt / Comfort, Monster Love, Most Mindblowing Sex Ever
Word Count: 34000
Setting: Mountain Lake
Languages Available: English
Series Type: Continuous / Same Characters
Graham’s skin prickled with goosebumps as the gelatinous tentacle heads, each glistening with an opalescent sheen that shifted from azure to violet in the midday sun, sensuously caressed and kissed his wet flesh. They left trails of viscous secretion that smelled of brine and musk as they slithered along the hollow of his throat to the sharp angle of his jaw. Gossamer-thin filaments, no thicker than spider silk yet as strong as steel cable, sprouted from the water beneath his head and wove through his damp chestnut strands, hundreds of microscopic suction cups latching onto his scalp and temples with gentle, insistent pressure. A tingling warmth spread through his cranium like hot honey, seeping into the folds of his brain. Graham's eyelids fluttered closed as he sensed another consciousness unfurling within his own—ancient, vast, and hungrily curious.
READ MOREThe darkness behind his eyes dissolved into prismatic light that began as a soft phosphorescent glow and swelled into blinding brilliance, a myriad of colors he had no names for folding in on themselves with the precision of a living kaleidoscope—fractals of crimson bleeding into cobalt, spirals of emerald twisting through amber, all pulsating in rhythm with the creature’s alien heartbeat.
Lochlan… Graham whispered the name in his mind, feeling it unfold like a secret bloom in the space between thoughts. The presence strengthened at once, tendrils of consciousness intertwining with his own as the kaleidoscopic lights responded, pulsing from a gentle aurora to a blinding supernova. I want to know you, he projected, each syllable shimmering with earnest longing, your joys and sorrows… your secrets… everything you shared with Grandpa Quinn. Show me your world… where you came from. Please, let me see.
Graham sensed a disturbance ripple through the entity like a stone dropped into still water, and the kaleidoscopic lights dimmed from supernova to dying embers. A consuming sadness—ancient and oceanic—flooded Graham’s consciousness, filling every synapse and hollow space until his chest physically ached with the weight of it.
Hot tears welled behind his closed eyelids, escaping in warm rivulets that mingled with the lake water on his cheeks. The iridescent tentacles wrapping his body tightened around him, their once gentle embrace now filled with a sense of desperation as they searched for solace in his presence, their slick surfaces pebbling with goosebumps of their own, while several smaller appendages—each tipped with a cluster of sensitive feelers—pressed against the pulse points of his neck, nuzzling deep into the hollow of his throat as if desperately seeking warmth and comfort.
Shuddered sobs clawed their way up Graham’s throat as the creature’s utter despair poured into him like black ink spreading through clear water, tainting every memory with its darkness. He instinctively curled his arms around the thickest tentacles. The creature’s skin rippled against his own in waves of tension, muscles bunching and releasing beneath the smooth surface, each contraction transmitting wordless desperation directly into Graham’s bones. A keening vibration passed through the tentacles into his body, too low for ears but unmistakable to his marrow—the sound of something vast and alien trying to express an emotion it had no voice for—seeming to cry out in a pain so profound it transcended species.
Show me what hurts.
COLLAPSE
