Chapter 34

Luna sat on the sea wall, her feet dangling over the edge and her eyes scanning the horizon.

Honestly, he’d only been gone a day and a night, but she was pining, lovesick. Like one of those women in tales of old, who waited patiently for their seafaring lover to return to them. All she needed was a little lantern to hold up as the sky darkened…

She almost laughed at the situation she found herself in. Who would have thought a few weeks back that she would ever… ever…

Fall in love.

But she had. She’d fallen for Kai. Hook, line and sinker.

“Hi, hon, how are you feeling,” Harper asked as she plonked down next to her on the wall.

“Fine.”

“No, you’re not,” Harper said, reaching over and giving her hand a squeeze.

Luna huffed. “I guess… oh dang, I miss the guy so much.”

Harper snorted a giggle.

Luna cast her the side-eye. “What?”

“I guess you know what it feels like now.”

“How d’you mean?”

“Before the games, remember, when I told you how I felt about Noah you told me you’d never feel that way about anyone. But I suspect that’s changed.”

“You suspect wrong,” Luna grunted, trying to hide the smirk at the corner of her lips.

She glanced at Harper to see her bright blue eyes dancing. “Gotcha.”

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t be so nervous if my fucking phone worked properly. It’s played up ever since the Wyatt incident, and I keep getting stupid human shit from Tween on my newsfeeds. I reckon the dumb selkie wrecked it.”

“Fucking Wyatt.” Harper grumbled.

“Yeah, fucking Wyatt. Grayson Lightfoot is onto it though,” The best gargoyle crime fighter in Motham had got to the bottom of it and Wyatt was facing charges for aiding and abetting the Council of Towns.

“Ah, that’s cool. Grayson will get him convicted and then hopefully he’ll go to prison for a long time and leave me alone.”

“To get on with courting Noah.” Luna nudged her friend

“Shush, you.” Harper nudged her back.

“Have you asked him out yet?”

“No, of course not.”

They both laughed. “Promise me, if all this does work out with me and Kai, you will ask him on a date.”

“Damn, that means I have to. Because you two will definitely stay together. Forever.”

“Hmmm. I guess we have a few obstacles to overcome first.”

Suddenly, she saw movement way off past the jetty. A flash of blue.

Luna craned her neck. Yes, there it was again. A blue tentacle, powering through the water. Then another. And another. At the end of the jetty, Kai, beautiful and resplendent in half shift, climbed out and jogged towars them. Folks called out to him, and he waved arms and tentacles in cheery greeting.

Luna jumped to her feet. Sat down again. Inside she was fizzing and popping, her heart pumping fit to burst, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to let it out.

“What are you waiting for?” Harper said, looking at her perplexed.

“I, um—” Luna stood up again.

Harper laughed and gave her a little push toward the jetty.

“Don’t just stay here with me, Go to him.”

Luna took a few steps, hesitated, then turned and ran back, hugging her friend tight. “Love you, Harps. Sorry I’ve never said that before, but I do, I love you so much.”

“Love you too, you crazy human. Now go.”

She tried to walk, tried to look like she was cool with this whole falling in love thing. And then she remembered Waldo’s words, no more running away. Surely that must mean running toward love, then? Her heart pounding, Luna broke into a jog, and then a sprint and in seconds she was flying down the quay with the wind under her heels. Toward her guy. And he was running toward her. And in moments she was wrapped in the circle of his love, all eight limbs of it, and his soft lips were on her skin, his whispered words in her ears. “Everything’s sorted.”

“Really?”

“Yes. We have their blessing, Luna.” He kissed her fervently. “But even if we hadn’t, I would be with you.” Another kiss. “Because wherever you are is the only place I want to be. If you want gills, you will get them, and if you want to live in Thedaka you can, or I will live here, or we can live between the two places… or hey, even in Merinda with Tom if you want.”

“Wait—wait.” She laughed breathlessly. “This is too much to take in all at once.”

He stopped, pulled back, fear in his beautiful dark eyes. “Are you going to turn me down?”

“No. No, I love you Kai, so much.” She slapped a hand over her mouth, staring at him wide-eyed with shock. “Oh god, those words sound so weird.”

Kai had turned a paler shade of blue.

“I mean, wonderful weird,” she gulped out quickly. “I’ve never said them before. Out loud to anyone. Never thought I’d feel them. Oh Kai, it’s beautiful and scary, and I just want to be with you. Wherever. However. Always.”

“Me too, babe. It was only you. From the moment I set eyes on you it was only you.”

She flung her arms around him, and he kissed her, long and sweet.

A tap on the shoulder made them jump apart. A minotaur was grinning, holding out a notebook. “Sorry to interrupt, but I need an autograph. Both of you, please.”

They signed willingly, but then as a couple of goblins and a gorgon approached, Kai said, “We need to go somewhere less public. I’ve got so much to tell you.”

“How about the hot pools?” Luna waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“Thought you’d never ask.” He grinned and, whipping her hand into his tentacle, they ran to her boat moored nearby, leaving a raft of disappointed monsters holding pens and scraps of paper.

When they reached the pools, she tied up on a rock and they slipped off their clothes, laughing, still embracing, and slid into the warm water.

Almost immediately, she felt Kai’s cock stirring against her. Just his human cock this time.

Okay, that was a little disappointing, but frankly she wasn’t sure if she was ready to take his mating arm again just yet. She was still sore in places she’d not known existed.

“Babe, I have to talk to you first, about something that may be hard.”

“Oh yes, and you are hard.” She felt down between them to his cock, gave it a little massage and relished the way his eyelashes fluttered over his dark eyes. “Stop it, you witch,” he groaned.

Reluctantly, she swam to other end of the pool. “Go on then, tell me.”

She was soon mesmerized by his story. Tears sprang to her eyes when he told her about her parents’ writings. “You will see all of their volumes soon, I promise.” Kai said softly. She nodded, swallowing back the emotion. “What happens now? For us?”

“Hana is going to be your donor, like she was for Tom.”

“Oh, my goddess, that is so kind of her.”

“She loves you, Luna.”

“I love her too.” It was true, she really had bonded with Hana, almost like she the big sister she’d never had.

Kai was looking at her solemnly. “There is a lot to be done to change the culture in Thedaka, and if, as Razad seems certain, I am to be the leader, then you must be there with me. I can’t do this without you Luna.”

“I want to be there too.” She swam closer, took one of his tentacles in her hand. “With all my heart and soul. It’s just a lot to take in.”

“There’s no rush. We can transition slowly. My mom suggested, we go between Thedaka and Motham while you are getting used to your gills, and that way you can spend more time in Merinda with Tomas.”

“I guess taking it slowly would be best. I’ll be the first human to live in Thedaka for centuries,” Luna mused, then chuckled. “But then I was the only human working the docks, so nothing new there I guess.”

“Until you’re ready, I can stay with you in your little marsh home.”

“I’d need to get a bigger bed.”

“There’s a nice big bath if I remember rightly.”

Luna smirked. “A bit squeezy for what we might want to get up to.”

“Then we’ll come here to the pools and make love under the stars.” Kai’s grin turned lascivious, and her pussy thrummed remembering the joy of attaining Metan here with him.

“We’ll take it one step at a time,” she said. “And guess what step I want to take now…” She gave him a seductive look from under her lashes. Kai was at her side in seconds.

Gently, Luna took one of his damaged tentacles and kissed her way down every single one of those scars. “I love you, every part of you, whichever form you take, kraken, human, both.”

Wow, how wonderful it felt to be able to say that with no fear, no holding back.

“And I love you, my little marsh human. My beloved warrior. Always and forever.”

“Guess it could be time for some combat now?” Luna waggled suggestive eyebrows.

“I surrender,” Kai laughed, and lying back in the warm water, he pulled her on top of him…