Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

LEVI

The way Kris accepted my vulnerability and took my hand to lead me past the lighthouse and toward the stairs that led down to the private beach made my hearts skip a beat. He’d been so honest with me about his feelings that my confession about being scared I was going to fail the town before I’d really even had a chance to prove myself had been an easy one to make. I knew Kris would stand by my side through all of what we were about to do and face.

And now more than ever, there was no doubt in my mind that he was mine.

My forever.

“Be careful. These steps can be really slippery, especially with the snow.”

The staircase was too narrow for us to walk side by side, so Kris went first. I gripped the handrail hard and followed him down to the beach. I hadn’t been in the sea since I’d arrived in Lifeboat, and my body itched with the desire to take my full form and swim in the icy water. The closer we got to the beach the more restless my tentacles became until they were straining the seams of yet another coat.

When we stepped onto the snow-covered sand, I shrugged out of my coat, my tentacles immediately whipping around me. Kris’s eyes were wide with interest, and he held out a hand.

“You can do this, Levi. I know you can, and if it doesn’t happen today, then we can try again tomorrow. Hell, you can move into one of my guest rooms and try every single morning and every single night.”

Kris seemed to realize that he’d essentially asked me to move in with him, and he shut his mouth, his lips closed tight.

“If I’m going to move in with you, I’m sure as hell not moving into a guest room.”

“You, uh, you’d want to move in with me?”

It was too soon. We both knew it, but in my hearts, I could feel that that was where we were going. We were going to build a future. I just hoped it was going to be one where the town and its people were safe.

“Definitely. But maybe not today. We don’t have to rush things.”

Kris smiled wide and nodded. “Right. Obviously. Plus, we have more important things to do than work out our future living arrangements.” He kissed me hard, making my tentacles curl in pleasure, then took two steps back.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m, uh, giving you space so you can do your thing.”

I laughed, the sound getting swallowed up by the crashing of waves against the shore. “I can’t take my full form on land.”

“Oh, yeah, That makes sense.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Will I be able to see you in your full form? And if so, can I snap a few pictures? They’d just be for me. I promise.”

The way he said it made it sound like he’d just asked me if he could take nude pictures of me, and that made me smile. “Yeah. I’ve never actually seen myself in my full form.”

“Really?”

“It’s a little hard to find a mirror underwater, let alone one large enough to let me see my whole form.”

Kris let out an excited puff of breath that turned to white mist in the freezing air and floated away on the sharp breeze coming in from over the water.

There was nothing else to say, and I’d stalled long enough, so I slowly started stripping out of my clothes, passing them to Kris, who draped them over his arm.

“Be careful with that T-shirt. It’s one of my new favorites.”

He held up the shirt and studied the picture of a squid wearing a top hat and monocle with one tentacle wrapped around a cane. Then he shook his head and neatly folded the shirt before slinging it over his arm.

My tentacles were already straining toward the water, and I started moving that way, letting the cold spray of the sea wash over my skin. My whole body craved the water, and I made a mental note to go for a swim more often. Though until the humans in Lifeboat knew their neighbors were sea monsters, that might be easier said than done.

The second my toes edged into the surf, I started to shake with sweet relief, and I ran forward until I could dive under the surface. The water was cold, but it felt perfect, and my body adjusted to make sure I stayed the right temperature. I pulled my half form forward, feeling my human arms and legs stretch and reform into thick tentacles. In this form, I was about the size of a small fishing boat, and I let my tentacles push me farther from the shore and into deeper water. In my full form, I was at least fifty feet wide and tall, with my tentacles extending even farther than that, and I needed lots of space to make the transition.

The water turned dark, and I knew I was far enough from shore that I could finally take my full form. My tentacles whipped up the water around me as each one stretched out from my expanding body as my cells rearranged themselves into their natural form, the magic I used to hold a human appearance fading back into my body and resettling itself in my core until I needed it again. When the shift was finally complete, it felt like a rubber band snapping back into place.

For a moment, I stayed fully submerged, enjoying the sensation of being back in my full form. I pulled water into my body and over my gills before expelling it again. Breathing underwater was so different than breathing on land, and I loved the difference in the way it felt. I let my tentacles stretch and curl and stretch and curl before I propelled myself through the water away from the shore. In this form, traveling long distances was easy, and in seconds, I could tell I was miles and miles away from where I’d left Kris standing on the beach. From here, he’d barely be able to see me, and I didn’t like that. It was time to turn around. In a flash, I was as close to the shore as I could get, and I pushed myself up until my head broke the surface of the water. Kris was still pretty far away, but my eyesight in this form was exceptional, and I saw him hold up his phone to snap a few pictures. I lifted some of my tentacles out of the water to really sell the whole giant sea monster thing, and Kris held up his phone again.

My tentacles were always a deep purplish blue, but in my full kraken form, the colors were even darker, edging toward inky indigo and a plum color so saturated it almost looked black. In the setting sun, water sparkled on my body as it ran over my flesh in rivulets, and I couldn’t wait to see the pictures Kris had taken.

But I wasn’t here for a photo shoot.

I pulled in more water, letting it slide over my gills and pushing it out through my siphon—the kraken equivalent of taking a deep breath—and focused my energy on the place in my core where my magic resided. It was easier to feel in this form, and I reached for it, trying to envision moving some of it out of me and into the water around me, but all I felt was the core of magic staying exactly where I always felt it. I slid deeper into the water, thinking maybe that would help, but still nothing. Then I tried closing my eyes. This time, a faint glow lit the water around me enough that I could sort of see it through my eyelids. The second I opened my eyes, though, it sputtered out.

So I tried again.

And again.

And again.

I could get the magic to glow, which felt like the first step, but the second I tried to move it through my body, the glow dissolved, and I had to start again.

My body burned through energy a lot faster in my kraken form than it did in my human form, and concentrating on my magic and trying to push it beyond my body was apparently very draining work. My tentacles were flagging, and I was getting tired.

After one last attempt where I was barely able to make my magic glow, I gave up and shifted down first to my half form and then to my full form as I swam to shore. The sun had fully set, leaving the beach dark, Kris’s lighthouse on the hill sending sweeping light out over the ocean and cliffs. Exhaustion sang through every cell in my body as I climbed from the water and trudged up the beach, my knees feeling like they were going to give out at any second.

I stumbled, but strong arms caught me before I fell.

“Hey, hey. I’ve got you.” Kris’s voice washed over me, and despite how wrung out I felt, I smiled. Warm fabric wrapped around my shoulders, and I leaned even farther into Kris’s touch.

“Thank you.”

“I have no idea what you were doing out there, but you kept glowing, your eyes and your body, and it looked like it was taking a lot of effort. I ran up to the house and grabbed a towel and stuffed it under my shirt to keep it warm. I hope that’s okay.”

“Yes. It’s nice.”

Kris stopped talking after that, holding the flashlight that had been in one of his hands between his teeth as he helped me dry off a little more, then pulled my clothes out from under his jacket, extending them out to me.

I shook my head. “Can I shower first?”

“Of course. Good thing I brought another towel. He tugged another warm towel out from under his jacket and balanced the bundle of my clothes in his arm as he helped me wrap one towel around my waist and the other over my shoulders before leading me across the snowy beach and up the cold metal staircase.

Once we were back inside his house, he directed me up to the second floor and his bedroom, which I knew from the earlier tour had a large glassed-in shower. He reached in and turned on the water, and almost immediately, the glass started to steam.

He opened a cabinet behind the door and took out two fresh towels, setting them on the vanity and turning to look at me. “I’ll just let you get cleaned up. Do you want to borrow some sweats? I don’t have any good squid pun T-shirts, though.”

“If you don’t mind, that would be great. And don’t worry about your lack of fashion sense. You’re dating a kraken now. I’ll hook you up.”

His eyes went wide, then a smile settled on his face, and I tried to replay what I’d said to warrant that reaction.

Oh shit.

I’d said we were dating.

Did he not want that? He’d confessed to falling for me earlier, but maybe I’d misread the situation.

Kris stroked a hand over his beard. “If we’re dating, does that mean we’re boyfriends?”

“Uh, yeah. That’s generally what dating means, right?”

“Oh, no, yeah. But I wasn’t sure if krakens used different terminology.”

Mate , mate , mate echoed through my head, but I held the word back, nodding instead. “Boyfriend works just fine.”

For now.

Kris, a wide smile splitting his face, knocked twice on the bathroom counter, then strode toward the door, a noticeable swagger in his step. “I’m going to make something to eat. Anything you don’t care for?”

“Nope. I’m pretty easy to please.”

My boyfriend’s eyes went hot, and a shudder rippled through me. My dick tried to twitch to life under the towel still wrapped around my waist, but I was too tired to even get it up at the moment. Hopefully, the shower and some food would help.

“Okay. I’m not a great cook, so don’t expect gourmet.”

“I’m starving and not likely to be picky.”

He took a step toward the door, then doubled-back to press a hard kiss to my lips. “I get the feeling things didn’t go like you planned tonight, but I think it’s pretty damn amazing that you’re even trying.” Another kiss, this one on my forehead. “And for what it’s worth, you are one hot giant kraken.”

He turned and slipped out the door before I could say anything else.

Kris wasn’t running away from me. In fact, given his earlier declaration, it seemed the only way Kris was running was toward me. Toward us.

I floated through a quick shower and dried off for the second time that night, and when I walked out into Kris’s room, a neat stack of clothes waited for me. Kris hadn’t left me any underwear, and I wasn’t sure where mine were, so I slipped the sweatpants on with nothing underneath. The plain white T-shirt and dark gray zip-up hoodie Kris had left smelled like him, and I pulled the fabric up to my nose, breathing him in deep, his cedar and pine scent flooding my veins and seeping into my cells.

The shower had helped, and I felt some of my energy returning. A delicious scent wafted in from the hall, and my stomach rumbled loudly. Following my nose, I found Kris in the kitchen, his back to me as he worked at the stove.

“Whatever you’re making smells amazing.” Kris jumped and turned at the sound of my voice. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s fine. Grab a seat.” He cut the heat under a medium pot as I settled into a chair at his worn wooden kitchen table.

“What can I get you to drink? I have water, iced tea, and beer.”

“What are you drinking?”

He lifted an amber bottle. “Beer. It’s good. Don’t tell my parents, but it’s a Christmas ale from a brewery near Portsmouth.”

“I’ll take one of those.”

He grabbed another bottle from the fridge, used a bottle opener to pop the top, then passed it over. The beer was sort of spicy and reminded me of the way Kris’s family’s workshop smelled.

Kris returned his attention to the stove, where he fiddled with a flat pan. He grabbed bowls and plates from a cupboard above the sink, and a couple minutes later, he set a plate with two grilled cheese sandwiches stacked on it and a bowl of creamy tomato soup in front of me.

“Told you it wouldn’t be gourmet, but in my opinion, there are few things better than grilled cheese and tomato soup.”

“All we need is your mom’s cocoa.”

“The ultimate comfort food trifecta.”

When we were done eating, Kris offered me another beer, which I declined, then shooed me away to sit on the couch in the living room while he cleaned up. I tried to help, but he told me to rest and pushed me out of the kitchen with a kiss and slap on the ass.

At some point, Kris had started a fire in the large wood-burning fireplace, and the logs crackled while the flames danced and cast a pretty orange-red glow around the room. Like a lot of the furniture in Kris’s house, the couch was well worn and comfortable in that way that only truly loved things are. The fire made the room pleasantly warm, and I slipped off Kris’s hoodie, then tipped my head back to rest on the overstuffed cushions.

The ship in a bottle that I’d seen earlier caught my eye, and I studied it intently from my spot on the couch. Even from across the room, the level of detail was astounding. Kris had said it was his first attempt and that he’d made a lot of mistakes, but all I could see was the perfection in every line. Each sail was the same size, each mast perfectly straight. Looking at his art was mesmerizing, and I was so lost in the details that I didn’t realize Kris had joined me in the living room until I felt the couch cushion dip next to me.

“Are you doing okay?”

“Much better. I was pretty wiped out right after I got out of the water. Thanks for taking care of me.”

“Always.” The single word was said so matter-of-factly, that it made my hearts skip a beat. Kris reached out and took my arm in his hand, his thumb tracing over the lines of my tentacles where they rested against my skin, and by the time his fingers skated over the tentacle lines that creased at my elbow, my cock had perked up, tenting Kris’s sweatpants.

I watched his face and saw the exact moment he caught my reaction to his touch, but he didn’t stop his gentle exploration of my skin to head for more exciting territory. When he reached my shoulder, he pushed the sleeve of my borrowed T-shirt up and traced the thicker outlines of my tentacles there with his fingers. He leaned in and kissed along my jaw, his fingers still teasing over the raised outlines of my tentacles, which, now having been in their full form, stayed dormant against my skin. Kris trailed more kisses down my neck until his mouth met his fingers, and his tongue took over the teasing.

Kris kissed along the lines his fingers had traced until he reached my wrist, lifting it to his mouth and placing a kiss in the center of my palm. A moan slid from between my lips, and I shuddered under him, my skin buzzing with the echoes of his touch. His hands ran over my torso and under the hem of the T-shirt, pushing it up to expose my abs.

“May I?” he asked, his warm palms skating over my skin, and I silently moved forward enough that he could slide the shirt up and off my body. When the shirt was gone, tossed behind Kris on the coffee table, he moved to straddle my hips, one knee landing on either side of my thighs and sinking into the couch. The soft flannel of his shirt rubbed against my chest, and I leaned into the sensation. Kris began kissing me again, his fingers and lips and tongue working together to trace every line of my tentacles that rested against my shoulders, across my pecs, and down my chest. When he reached one of my nipples, he sucked the pebbled flesh into his mouth, flicking over it with his tongue in a way that made my hips arch under him, my rock-hard cock trapped between our bodies. His fingers found my other nipple, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger while his tongue continued to work the other. Until that moment, I had no idea I was into nipple play. Past lovers had spent very little time exploring that area of my body, opting instead to explore my tentacles. But Kris played my body like he was an expert, and I felt myself leaking precum, the head of my cock getting sticky inside the sweats I’d borrowed.

And something about knowing it was Kris’s clothes I was marking made me feel feral. My tentacles, which had been content to stay quiet against my skin while Kris licked each of them, lifted, the two that wrapped around my arms tangling in Kris’s hair and holding his head against me in a plea to keep going.

He switched his attention to my other nipple, his mouth and fingers switching sides to prolong the sensual torment. My fingers gripped his waist hard enough to bruise, and my tentacles tunneled deeper into his hair, tugging at the dark strands and making him moan and hum against my chest. I was rocking my hips, trying to find more friction for my now aching cock, but Kris had moved, pushing back as his lips abandoned my nipples and continued to trace my tentacles to where several dipped under my waistband.

When Kris’s hands slid under the fabric of my borrowed sweats, I lifted my hips without being asked, and he pushed the fabric down, freeing my cock so it slapped against my abs. He slid off the couch, landing on his knees in front of me, and one of my hearts tried to climb into my throat. He looked so beautiful kneeling on the rug, pulling the sweats off over my feet and tossing them away then spreading my knees wide so he could fit himself between them. The soft fabric of his shirt tickled over my inner thighs, but I craved a rougher touch, something I’d been imagining since he’d walked into my shop weeks ago.

Kris’s eyes met mine as I tried to move my body to show him what I wanted, my tentacles that had been tangled in his hair sliding down his cheeks to tug at his beard. His hands stroked over the tentacles as he studied my eyes, and when he spoke, his voice was thick and deep with desire that matched mine.

“Let me take care of you, baby.”

The endearment was my undoing, and I let my head fall back on the couch cushions as Kris’s mouth moved up my thigh, licking over the tentacle that was lifting from my body the closer he got to my cock. He stroked it with his hands and licked over it with his mouth, tonging several of the suckers on the bottom like he was working the head of my cock. My dick pulsed as his tongue laved over the circular pad of flesh. No one had ever done that before, and the feeling was almost indescribable. The suckers were sensitive, more attuned to pressure and temperature, and as Kris’s tongue traced a figure eight around two of the suckers, my hands gripped his hair.

He pulled away and looked up at me, his mouth shiny, but he didn’t wipe at it. “Is that okay?”

“So, so okay. That feels amazing.” My voice was breathy, but I didn’t care. He was taking me apart and had no idea that his tentative exploration was bringing me to my knees, and I knew deep in my three hearts that I was never going to be the same.

Emboldened by my praise, Kris lifted my tentacle, turning it in his hands so the underside was exposed. It curled around his fingers, squeezing him tight as his mouth connected with every sucker, his beard rubbing over the sensitive pads and over the skin of my thigh. My cock was leaking now, desperate for attention, even as I wanted him to keep teasing me. The contrast between his soft tongue and warm mouth and the rasp of his coarse beard lit every single nerve ending up like one of the Christmas trees out at his parents’ place. I felt more alive and more desperate than I’d ever felt before, and I could no longer hold any of my tentacles still as they wrapped themselves around as much of Kris as they could reach.

Now tangled up in my tentacles, Kris moved toward my cock, his hand wrapping around the base.

“Can I taste you, Levi?”

“Gods yes. Please. I need your mouth.”

His lips closed over the head of my dick before I’d even finished speaking, and my hips thrust up into his mouth, but Kris’s hand on my hip, his wrist encircled by one of my tentacles, stopped me from going too deep, from taking over and taking what I wanted.

Instead, he worked my head and shaft with the same patient exploration he’d shown the rest of my body. His tongue lapped at the precum dripping from my slit, and the moans he let out as my flavor hit his tongue sent seismic shockwaves through my body until I was trembling with need.

Only then did he take pity on me and start sucking my cock in earnest, his cheeks hollowing as he took me to the back of his throat and tightened his lips around the base. Incoherent words slipped from my lips in torrents of praise and desperation as Kris’s mouth brought me to the edge of orgasm. Two of my tentacles and both of my hands were tangled in his hair, trying to hold him in place as one of Kris’s hands moved between my legs.

His fingers skimmed over the flesh behind my dick, pausing for a second when he didn’t find my balls where his were, but the moment of hesitation ended quickly, and his fingers slid toward my hole, his middle finger tracing the pucker as he sucked hard on my cock, his tongue massaging the underside as he pressed the tip of his finger inside my body.

“Kris! Fuck. I’m coming!” He received no other warning, and with my hands and tentacles gripping his head, there was no chance for him to pull off as I flooded his mouth with my cum. Kris’s throat worked around me as he swallowed, the pressure on my cock not letting up until I stopped twitching against his tongue.

I loosened my hold on his head, and he slowly slid off my dick, pressing a kiss to the head and licking away the last dark drops of my release. It took me a second too long to realize that two of my tentacles had found their way into Kris’s pants, and one was sticky with his cum.

He squirmed as I let go of his cock, bringing the cum-soaked appendage to my mouth and licking his cum away as I kept my gaze locked on him. His head was resting against my thigh, his beard rubbing over my skin as he caught his breath. One of my tentacles stroked over his face, and he leaned up into the touch, his eyes drifting closed.

We stayed like that for a long time, the only sounds in the room the crackling fire and our heavy breaths as my world righted itself after having been kicked off its axis. I had a feeling when it started turning again, Kris would be at the center, the sun which everything in my life revolved around.

And I wasn’t mad about it.

Long minutes later, Kris sat up and found my borrowed sweats. He bunched them up so I could put my feet into them and then got to his feet, taking my hand to help me stand and shimmy them up my body. My knees wobbled, but I stayed upright, and Kris handed me the T-shirt he plucked up off the coffee table. My tentacles had settled, now sated, and I tugged the shirt on over my head.

Kris tucked his cock back into his pants and zipped up, then flopped back onto the couch. I did the same, and he turned, pulling me back against his chest.

As the afterglow faded, the events from earlier in the evening resurfaced, and my anxiety about being able to save the town started swirling in my brain.

Like he’d plucked the thought from my head, Kris whispered against my ear. “You’re going to fix it, Levi. I know you are. And when you do, I’ll be right there. I promise it’s all going to be okay.”

His words settled my mind, and with his promise ringing in my ears, I fell asleep against his chest.

I could worry about saving the town tomorrow.