10. Catalina

10

CATALINA

It has been weeks since I’ve seen Thane. At least my treatment has changed significantly since Ramanu first arrived like a crimson wrecking ball. The food has become significantly more delicious, even if it leans heavily toward fish. Embry, Thane’s sibling and heir to the territory, arrived the next day with more clothing than I know what to do with. Very little of it is practical, but that’s fine.

I’m not a practical person.

Ramanu has been showing up every other day, and even though I know it’s out of pity, I don’t care. I’m starved for company, and their company is delightful.

Even if it’s not the company I crave.

We wander the halls, and they entertain me with stories of kraken monarchs from times past. Apparently there’s been some truly questionable ones. In turn, I select my most amusing life stories, strip them of anything that might be worrisome, and share those.

We stay away from the underwater passages and climb to the top of the tower, poking and prodding in every room we come across. The ones that aren’t empty contain furniture even dustier than the room I made my own that first week. It couldn’t be clearer that this place has been abandoned.

Fitting that Thane stuffed me here and, for all intents and purposes, appears to have forgotten me as well.

I try to make friends with the staff—Annis and Della—but they’re horrified by my overtures. I can’t figure out if it’s because I’m human or a guest or just me, but they refuse to let me help with any of their tasks, and they all but run me out of the kitchen when I ask to take my meals with them.

Even with Ramanu’s visits, I am?.?.?. so alone.

I should be satisfied with the fact that I’m safe enough, clothed, and fed. If I’m lonely, I still have a better life than a lot of people have. But a locked tower isn’t much better than a locked room, and I have too much time on my hands.

I go so far as to stare out my window and consider just how far I’d have to swim to escape. There are a few islands in the distance, one of which I think might be where the keep is, and an even bigger landmass that’s so far away, it’s barely a smudge on the horizon.

Too far. All of them, too damned far.

Even if I could swim, I would have to brave all that open space to leave. I’ve watched enough Shark Week to know just what an ocean predator can do to its prey, and I’m sure whatever these seas have to offer are so much more dangerous.

Trapped. I’m fucking trapped. A rat in a cage. A wolf in a trap. It doesn’t matter how often I pace the perimeter or how many times I climb to the roof. There is nowhere to go.

Worst of all, I can’t stop thinking about Thane.

Which is why I’m here, braving the truly over-the-top staircase to the cavern where he brought me the first day. It’s dark down here and even damper than the rest of the tower. Below me, I hear water licking against stone.

Fear surges and I laugh, as if I can keep it at bay with sheer bravado. “Thane!” It’s late in the day. This is obviously his home, for all that he’s been avoiding the parts of it where he might run into me. He must be close.

Either that, or I’m making an even bigger fool of myself than normal.

If I had even the tiniest bit of self-preservation, I’d likely find his absence a relief. He’s distant, and even though he’s obviously attracted to me, he doesn’t like me. He sure as hell doesn’t approve of me. Also, he’s half tentacles, but that’s honestly the least questionable thing about him. I don’t know what it says about my current state of mind that this is my list of priorities.

Since I’ve never been the cautious type, here I am, singing his name at ever-increasing pitches as I descend the stone stairs into darkness. I reach the bottom of the stairs and refuse to admit how my thighs quiver a little from the effort. I can dance all night and drink my weight in tequila, but I skip the stair machine on my infrequent trips to the gym. Even the trips to the roof aren’t enough to actually build up my endurance. The thought of having to climb all those stairs again to get out of here makes my recklessness surge.

I’m going to feel really silly if Thane doesn’t show and I have to sleep down here, but?.?.?.

Ramanu will be gone for a while. They aren’t sure how long. That’s what they came today to warn me about. They’re being called away on bargainer business, and they wanted to remind me that no harm can come to me but also they won’t be here to keep me company. Someone else will fill in, but they’ll be doing weekly check-ins, rather than coming every other day.

Alone again.

Alone always.

I look around the space. It’s exactly the same as last time I was here. Aside from this small stone platform at the bottom of the stairs, the rest of the cavern is filled with water. This is where we came in, so it’s obviously connected to the greater body of water.

He has to be here. He has to be.

“Thane!” My voice breaks halfway through his name. “Get up here, you fucking coward!”

Ripples form in the water and grow ever larger as they race toward where I stand. I really, really hope that’s Thane and not some demon-realm predator who’s about to eat me in a not-fun way. The instinct to flee almost overwhelms me, but what’s being gobbled up compared to being left to wander the halls of this place alone like some ghost who hasn’t had the decency to actually die yet?

Thane rises out of the water like some eldritch god, all tentacles and stern fury. I don’t know what it says about me that seeing those tentacles makes my pussy pulse, but I think I can be forgiven since he’s made me cum with them. Honestly, that racist white dude author got it wrong. H.P. Lovecraft didn’t know what he’s missing.

Tentacles are sexy.

So is Thane. He may be only partially humanoid, but he’s well-made all the same. That look of cold disapproval on his face is all too familiar. He glares. “What are you doing down here? Did something happen?”

I refuse to see that last question as concern. Refuse. He doesn’t like me, or he wouldn’t be avoiding me. That’s fine. I don’t like him either. Probably.

“I’m bored.” I prop my hands on my hips to hide my sudden tremors. “You went through a giant headache to get me, and you’ve risked your entire territory for the pleasure of my company. Stop ignoring me, and entertain me. Unless you want me to fuck Ramanu, which I am honestly kind of on board with because they’re a delight to be around.”

He stops at the end of the platform I am standing on and presses his giant hands to the stone as if he can’t decide whether he wants to attempt patience?.?.?. or launch himself at me like a predator wrapping around their prey. “Ramanu won’t have you.”

I blink. Wow. Wow. “Jeez, tell me how you really feel.” I mean, it’s not really there for me with Ramanu either. I like them a lot, but it feels more friendship and less wanting to rip their clothes off.

But that doesn’t mean it feels good to hear Thane state it so baldly.

He sets his jaw. “You’re mine, Catalina.”

I don’t feel a thrill at that sentence. Nope. Not even a little bit. “Cute, but if that’s the case, I see why you don’t have any pets. They’d die of neglect.”

“I am not neglectful.”

“Prove it.” It’s not smart to provoke him. He’s proven to be caring when necessary, but despite being in his home for weeks, I don’t actually know him. He might decide locking me in a tower isn’t good enough and lock me in a room.

If he does that, I will jump out my window. Who cares if I don’t know how to swim? It’s not like I can drown.

“Leave,” he says.

“Or what?”

He blinks those eerie black eyes at me. “Or what?”

“Yes.” I’m being an asshole, but I can’t stop. My tone is petulant and spoiled. If I leave, he’ll go back beneath the surface, and I’ll be alone again. At this point, I don’t care if he yells at me as long as I don’t have to be alone. “Usually there’s an ultimatum or a threat involved.”

Thane’s fingers flex. I’m mildly horrified to watch solid stone crack in response. He speaks slowly, his dry voice somehow not echoing the same way mine does in this space. “Catalina, if you don’t walk up those stairs right now, I’m going to fuck the brat right out of you.”

Danger, danger, get the fuck out of here.

But I don’t. This is a terrible idea. We’ve cum together twice before—rather, I’ve cum, and he’s bolted like my pussy is made of acid—and he didn’t have this dangerous edge to him either time. But I’ve never been able to resist a gauntlet thrown at my feet—usually to my detriment.

“Fuck the brat right out of me. That’s a mighty big task.” Part of my mind is screaming to turn around and walk away, but I already know I won’t. I reach up and unclasp the shoulders of my deep purple gown. A new one, courtesy of Embry’s last delivery. Ze never sticks around long enough to chat, which is somehow worse than if he never came and the gowns just appeared in front of my door as if by magic. I liked what I’d seen of Embry, but apparently the feeling isn’t mutual.

The gown slithers down my body, and Thane watches the movement as if it brings him physical pain.

I lift my chin. “Bet you can’t. I’m a brat down to my very core.”

I don’t even register him tensing to move. One moment he’s glaring at me like I kicked his dog. The next he surrounds me. Tentacles lash out, wrapping around my arms and legs and taking me to the ground with a gentleness that shouldn’t surprise me but does anyway. They tighten, holding me spread wide and helpless.

Thane looms over me. I don’t know why it’s so terrifying and sexy that he still seems distant even while holding me down. He crosses his arms over his chest, the very picture of irritation?.?.?. until I look into his eyes. There’s nothing cold or distant there. He’s staring at my body like I’m his favorite dessert and he doesn’t know where he wants to start. “You are a perpetual trial, Catalina.”

Tell me something I haven’t heard before. “Ooooh. Big scary kraken.” I don’t know why I say it, other than the fact I’ve never known when to quit.

“Stop talking or I will gag you.” Both his tone and expression are infuriatingly serious. Too serious to test him.

With a glare, I make a show of pressing my lips together. His lips twist in a smirk, and then two tentacles slither up my spread thighs toward my pussy.

I hold his gaze. This feels like the wildest game of chicken I’ve ever played, but I refuse to fold first. He’ll do what he threatened, or he won’t. Either way, I win. He didn’t send me away again. Not yet. He’s here, and he’s touching me and giving me his full attention.

“What will it take?” He almost sounds like he’s muttering to himself rather than talking to me. “More orgasms? Fucking your ass?”

“Do it,” I gasp. “All of it. Now. Please.”

One tentacle reaches my pussy and presses inside. I whimper in response. I’d convinced myself that I had imagined how good it felt last time, had built it up in my head until it was far too good to be real. It’s soft and yet hard at the same time, and it’s?.?.?. twisting.

I’m so focused on that strange sensation, I almost miss the other tentacle pressing into my ass. It’s just slippery enough to manage it, and he stops before he’s gone too far. I try to keep silent. Truly, I do. But I am who I am. I gasp out a little breathy moan. “Oooh. Kinky.”

“I told you, Catalina.” He shakes his head slowly.

Another tentacle lashes out and winds around my head, covering my mouth. I try to curse, but he uses my open mouth to create a gag, sliding his tentacle between my teeth. He tastes slick and faintly like salt water, just like last time.

He works more and more tentacle into my pussy. The fullness is almost overwhelming—much more than the first time. I try to writhe, but I can’t say if I’m trying to get away or get closer. I hate that he’s surrounding me so effectively but hasn’t put his hands on me.

“This is better,” Thane muses. “You’re so much more pleasant when you’re like this.” His tentacle twists inside of me, the fullness making me feel like I’m about to burst. It’s too much. I make a muffled cry of protest, and he stops stuffing me. He doesn’t retreat, though. Instead, he moves closer?.?.?. or moves me closer to him, his tentacles shifting my body.

Pleasure beats through my blood as he looks down at me. This went sideways so quickly, and I still can’t pretend I’d do anything differently. I’m sure as fuck not bored at the moment, even if I feel a bit like Thane’s fuck doll. The distance between us, though less now, kills me.

“Touch me.” The words are garbled behind the gag.

“I am touching you.” He tilts me back, lifting my lower half so he can get an unobstructed view of where he’s filling me. “Yes, I like you like this.” His tentacle in my pussy starts pulsing in time with my racing heart. It’s the tiniest of movements, but it has me bowing my back and moaning around the tentacle in my mouth. I’m so close. If he just keeps that up?.?.?.

“Mouthy little brat.” He still has that distant tone that drives me wild, but his voice is a little rougher than normal. “You can’t provoke me into fucking you. You’ve made this a contest of wills.” He tsks. “You’ll get my cock when you earn it.”

I whimper. There isn’t a thought in my head beyond more, please give me more. I’m so close, it hurts, teetering on the edge of a truly devastating orgasm. And still he watches me like I’m an interesting specimen he could take or leave. I hate it. I love it.

I start struggling. I don’t know how to do anything else. It makes him pulse harder inside me, makes his tentacles wrap tighter around my limbs to keep me splayed open.

Finally, Thane presses a hand to my lower stomach. “Enough.”

I freeze.

He twists his hand so his thumb can brush my clit. “Prove you can be a good girl, Catalina.” His touch is so soft, I don’t know if I’d be able to feel it if I weren’t one giant nerve ending of anticipation right now. I think I might be sobbing. I can’t be certain.

“How?”

I don’t know how he understands me. Maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he’s simply waiting for me to lose control entirely. Thane’s lips quirk in a way that’s almost cruel. “Be a good girl and cum for me. Now.”

I don’t want to. I suddenly don’t want to give Thane a single damned thing, if only to wipe the satisfied smirk off his face. Unfortunately my body has other ideas.

I orgasm. The wave rises and rises before cresting and then cresting again. When it rises the third time, I cry out in protest. Too much. It’s too fucking much. It hits with the force of a tsunami, crashing into me and taking me under.

Sometime later, I surface to the sensation of being carried in humanoid arms, not tentacles. The temptation to open my eyes is nearly overwhelming, but I’m suddenly afraid if Thane realizes I’m awake, he’ll put me down and disappear again. Instead, I cuddle against his broad chest. He tightens his arms around me in response.

“I know you’re back with me.”

I close my eyes harder and inhale his ocean scent. This is nice, especially with the echoes of pleasure still singing through me. Thane sighs above my head and continues our ascent. All too soon he stops and sets me carefully on my feet. “Go to bed, Catalina.”

At this point, keeping my eyes closed is silly, but I’ve never let logic dictate what I do and I’m not about to start now. “That was fun.” God, I hardly sound like myself. My voice is raspy and almost weak. “We should do it again sometime. Like now.”

I hear the sound of a door opening behind me, the slither of tentacles against stone. Thane takes my shoulders and turns me away from him. His cool breath brushes the shell of my ear. “If you can behave yourself for a full twenty-four hours, I’ll consider it.” He nudges me forward and into my room.

It’s only then that I realize he hasn’t actually promised anything. Only that he’ll consider it. I’m in the middle of turning as the door shuts behind me. My legs try to give out, but I stumble for the door and yank it open with fumbling hands.

The hallway is empty.

Thane is gone.

Again.