Page 36 of Kept By the Kraken

“You didn’t answer your phone. I was worried.” The false concern in his voice grates on my nerves. He’s only interested in me when he needs something.

I stare him down. “It’s been that way. We’re divorced, going on five months.”

“And whose fault is that, Penelope? I miss you. Us.” He steps toward me, and I busy myself by packing up my samples. “We were inseparable, Pen. Now you won’t even act like an adult and call me back after you had an accident on a dive?”

“I’m fine. It wasn’t a big deal.” I roll my eyes at his suggestion that he’s worried about me or that we were as close as he pretends.

He’s never been interested in the details of my work, never wanted to learn more than where I could get published or whatresearch awards it would make me eligible for. Daniel hates the ocean. As a result, he steered clear of anything related to my work in the field.

Daniel moves closer, brushing his fingers along the tools laid out on a workstation. “You forgot to mention in your email that you got hurt. I had to hear about it from Luz. Can you imagine how embarrassing it was to find out from her that my wife got in an accident?”

I toss my samples inside the biohazard disposal bin and turn on him, hands on my hips. “I’m fine.” I shake my head and hold my ground. “Besides, it’s not your concern. Nothing about me is anymore.”

“But it could be. Come home, Pen. This shows how much you need looking after. You know you need me. We work, you and I.” He gives me a wry smile that at one time would have pulled me back into his orbit. Now though, I see through his bullshit. When I raise my eyebrow but don’t soften, his smile falls. He moves closer, crowding me against the table and leaning in. His fingers brush along my neck, flicking Bjorn’s choker. “Come home.”

My skin crawls at the unwanted touch. The kiss he’s aiming for doesn’t come. I duck out of his grasp and return to my lab station, hastily cleaning up for the evening. “You saw that I’m fine. Leave. We’re finished, and I don’t want you here.”

Daniel doesn’t listen, coming up behind me and hovering too close to my back. “Let’s try again, Pen. I’ve changed. I know what I need now.”

What he needs isn’t me, it never was. The light clicks on. Duh, Penelope. The rumpled look and last season clothes—he’s burned through the last of the money.

I turn on him and push my finger against his chest, stepping forward so he walks back. “I don’t have access to the funds, Daniel. I can’t give you what you need. My trust reverted backto my father when we divorced. Remaining married was a stipulation, remember?”

“I want you, Pen,” he pleads. “It would make your family, me, so happy if we can reconnect. Come home.”

For years I stayed when he would plead like this after I’d caught him cheating. I thought it was me. I convinced myself I was the problem. I see through the mask now, know the truth. “You’re not my home anymore.”

“Pen,” he says softly, clasping my hand where it’s pointed at his chest. He looks devastated, but I can see the twitch of his jaw.

“You never were my home.” I shake my head, pulling away from him. Bjorn is home, and with him, I’m going to build a life so vast I can’t even grasp it fully yet. But I know deep in my soul that it’s right.

“I can be.” He gives me a heated look that comes off as more angry than sexy. He lunges, twisting me around in one smooth move that lands with me pushed against the lab table, my hand held behind my back. “I can learn to give you what you need, Pen. I find it easier to imagine punishing you now. I want to spank your ass for leaving.”

His body crowds into mine, too close, and it feels like little prickles caught in my skin. Bile, hot and thick, rises in my mouth and I yank against his control, freeing myself and pushing away.

“That’s not happening. You don’t get to touch me anymore.” I hold out my arm, pointing at the door. “Leave. Now.”

He stalks closer, his eyes angry and his movements jerky. “Isn’t that what you wanted, Pen? You get wet at the idea of a spanking for being a naughty girl?”

“Fuck you, Daniel,” I hiss. The way he said those words, he meant to cause shame. And they did, for years. I felt as if everything I wanted was twisted and that needing those things made me unlovable.

Books. Therapy. Distance. They taught me he was wrong. And now, Bjorn is teaching me what it can look like when my desires have free rein.

“Gladly,” he snarls. “Let me fuck that smart sass right out of you, then I’m taking you home.”

He pulls me against him, diving in for a kiss, but I push his chest hard. He stumbles back but rights himself.

“You disrespectful bitch!” he shouts, lunging for me.

In a show of strength, he grabs hold of me roughly, knocking me into a nearby lab stool. It falls to the floor beside me, the metal clanking against the linoleum as I scramble to get out of his hold. Daniel’s hands grip my arms too tightly, and he jerks me toward the open door.

Fear courses through my veins, making it feel as if my insides have turned over. Daniel is a cheating asshole with a vicious tongue, but he’s never gotten violent before and right now he sounds crazy. But he’s also never been without my money before, and the desperate edge in his voice scares me.

“What the fuck, Daniel? You’re hurting me. Let me go.” I fight against him, bucking in his grasp and clawing at his grip, digging my nails into his coat.

He grunts, using all his weight to overpower me, and we stumble toward the door.

“You don’t want to make up?” he snarls, squeezing me too tightly.

---