Page 15 of Kept By the Kraken

Why did I give her the power of my name? My Beast comes for me. I grit against the onslaught, barely able to contain him, but it won’t hold. “Leave and don’t come back.”

My eyes meet hers across the room. She’s drowning in my clothes, and it fills me with a sick sort of satisfaction to see that small claim.

“No. Not until you tell me the truth.”

“Forget me, this place, and whatever you think you saw in the water. I’m nothing to you.”

“Liar,” she says softly.

My Beast laughs. Like her, he knows the truth.

“Leave,” I roar. It’s a last effort. My resolve is crumbling.

She shakes her head and moves toward me. “I can’t do that.”

The words that come next are a desperate snarl. “I need you to go.”

“No, Bjorn. You need me to stay.” She wraps her soft curves around my middle, her arms locking behind my back.

My muscles sag in relief at the feel of her against me. I’m weak. So weak. I can’t leave her. She is a part of me now, like the sea, like my broken Beast, like my bloody memories.

She plants a kiss on my chest, her small hand caressing the skin of my back. Violet eyes, full of compassion, look up at me.

“It’s okay. Whatever you’re hiding, you don’t have to be afraid.”

My Beast snaps and I lose my skin.

Chapter 9

Penelope

Bjorn’s eyes do that thing again, turning to a slit ringed with flaming gold. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I know I’m looking into the eyes of the creature who was with me in the water.

“Hello,” I say awkwardly.

The not-quite-Bjorn doesn’t reply with words. He claims me with a kiss until I surrender to him, opening my mouth. Strong arms lift me, and my feet lock around his back. We bump into a cabinet as he lifts my borrowed shirt.

My hands find the scruff of his beard and I yank hard until our lips rip apart. “You won’t tie me up and leave me this time. And after, we’re talking.”

A rumble sounds from his chest. Before I can respond, his mouth is back on mine. The kiss is explosive, so full of fire and passion that it devours everything in its path.

He pushes me back against a wall, moving to suck along my neck. He touches me as though I’m the oxygen he needs to breathe. It makes me feel alive and beautiful, like for once I’m not too much.

My fingers dig into the muscles of his shoulders, bringing him closer. Like before, there is a pull between us, tethering me to him.

He sucks blooming marks on my throat until I’m panting and wet for him. My hips rock along the hard ridge of his abs as his lips trail across my collarbone. He licks a circle around my nipple, then flicks it with his tongue before sucking it into his mouth.

It feels so fucking good, that zing of pleasure heating up my core. He buries his head between my tits, sucking and biting until I’m squirming against him.

The low growly sound he makes sends a blast of heat to my clit. He releases my nipple, biting at the tip, then he’s moving. It’s a messy trip. He doesn’t take his mouth from my body, kissing everywhere he can touch. We bounce against furniture and bump into walls, until finally, he lays me at the center of his bed.

He strips and follows, yanking down my sweats. As he comes to rest between my legs, I lift onto my elbows and study his eyes. The blue has vanished, and I wonder how this all works, my mind taking me out of the moment and asking a thousand questions.

It’s happened before. My brain takes over and my body dries up, disconnects from pleasure. It’s my fault… if I only?—

My lover makes that deep rumbling sound again and shakes his head. He grits out the words, “No more thinking. You’re mine.”

He grabs my thighs and pulls them open so he can bury himself between my legs. The first swipe of his tongue through my wet center shocks my system.

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