Page 39 of The Kraken Games

“Yep.”

“Ah, Ms Monosyllabic is back.”

“Fuck off.”

“Happy to oblige.” He ducked his head under the water, then blew bubbles along the surface softly from his parted lips. Great, she’d come here to relax, to prepare, to visualize beating him and now her whole system was a mess, her pulse racing and her pussy screaming something she didn’t want to listen to.

Despite herself, Luna found her body language mirroring his, dipping her head lower, letting her mouth slide into the water. And there they stayed, blowing bubbles at each other, like a peace pipe.

Ha, not a peace pipe, a… a… She had no idea what to make of this encounter, except that she damn well wasn’t leaving after she’d just gotten here. Nor, it seemed, was Kai. He languorouslystretched his tentacles, letting them float across the pool toward her, getting way too close for comfort.

He said after a moment, “You don’t need to be so aggro. This whole thing is just a game.”

She barked a laugh, shooting a volley of bubbles at him. She had to raise herself out of the water to reply. “I call bullshit on that.” His gazed dip, and looking swiftly down, she saw her nipples bobbing above the waterline.

She ducked back down quickly, accidentally inhaled water, and coughed violently.

His eyes glittered with amusement. “Want a back slap?”

“Fuck off!”

Now he laughed, a low, sexy sound that made her pussy thrum. The feeling of intimacy was overwhelming, like she only had to inch closer and those tentacles would encircle her, pleasure her… Gods, she had to break this spell.

She slapped at the water with her palms, spraying water into his face. He spluttered and did the same to her. Were they fighting—or flirting?

Suddenly he asked, “Why do you hate kraken?”

Luna found herself speechless, her mouth moving like a fish plucked out of water, unable to form coherent thoughts, let alone words.

Finally, she managed gruffly, “You know there’s no love lost between humans and krakens.”

“Yeah, with good cause. Humans have inflicted terrible crimes on kraken for centuries.”

“It goes both ways.”

“Guess we’re quits then. Besides, the Treaty has protected humans from kraken and krakens from humans for the past two decades.”

“Yeah. Sure it has,” she spat.

“Are you questioning the law?”

“No, I’m questioning your species’ integrity in following the law.”

She saw him stiffen. “My people’s integrity is beyond reproach.”

“Fuck that! You kraken rig the games, and you dare to say your people play fair?”

“The games are about showmanship and keeping up appearances. You know as well as I do, there’s been an agreement from the beginning that kraken win. Until your mate Marrick decided to change the rules.”

“You wanna know why? Because everyone got sick of your one-sidedagreement. Acha was a prize dick, getting more dickish every year. He deserved to lose. The monsters here finally decided not to be pawns in your power games.”

“Power games? Gods, you’ve got a fucking cheek.” He shot higher and water ran off his magnificent shoulders and pecs. Luna looked away. “Kraken have saved monsters’ asses more times than you could count on your feeble human fingers. We rescued hundreds of orcs when they were forced off Orc Island after the war. Kept the whirlpool going to scare humans away from Motham Bay and ease the pollution so you could all swim and fish. Thanks a fucking bunch for acknowledging that.”

Luna fell silent. There was some truth in what he said.

“Well, I’m not a monster and not a valley human, so none of that applies to me.”

“What are you, then?”

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