Page 34 of Kringle and the Kraken

His inflection said it was a question, and I shook my head. “No.”

His callused fingertips traced one tentacle from my wrist up to my elbow. “Can I see?”

Finally, I lifted my head and met his eyes. The fear and trepidation I expected to find there was missing. Instead, Kris’s eyes almost glowed with curiosity.

“Uh, sure.”

Kris was kneeling on the wet ground, so at least if he passed out again he wouldn’t have far to fall.

It didn’t take much to partially shift, and I watched Kris’s face the whole time as the tentacles that rested against my arms lifted from my skin. I kept them close to my body, but the one wrapped around my left arm slid over Kris’s hand where it was still touching my wrist.

“That is so fucking cool.”

The tentacle preened at the praise and wrapped more of itself around Kris’s hand until it looked like we were joined together.

In the back of my mind, I wondered if maybe my tentacles knew something I didn’t as a voice that felt like it came from somewhere in the middle of my hearts whisperedmine.

“Don’t you need to be in the water?” Kris asked, his voice tinged with concern.

“Yes, if I want to take my full form. I can partially shift like this on land. I can actually take a half form that’s a little more than this. My body and face remain vaguely human but my arms and legs shift to their true form as additional tentacles.”

“Will you show me your full form?”

I swallowed back the nervous laugh that threatened to climb up my throat. “If you want me to.”

He nodded. “I do.”

“Are you freaking out right now? I can’t tell.”

He smiled, his beard twitching. “No. I’m good, I think. I’m actually a little embarrassed I fainted.”

“In your defense, I can imagine being saved by a pair of tentacles probably wasn’t on your Saturday evening bingo card.”

Kris laughed, his body vibrating with the deep, rich sound, and I felt it in each of my hearts and a little lower. Now that my tentacles had been revealed, the need to get all my appendages all over Kris that I’d been repressing surged to the surface again, making my cock thicken and my hearts beat triple time with anticipation.

“Can’t say that it was.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. Things in Lifeboat are different than they are in Baleen. I never had to hide there.”

A strong gust of wind blew through, bringing a thick swirl of snow, and Kris got to his feet. I stood too. “We need to get back, but will you explain what you mean on the way?”

“Of course. You deserve to know, and Calder Delmar and his family have been doing their level best to keep the humans in Lifeboat from knowing the truth.”

Kris’s face dropped into a scowl. “I really hate that guy.”

“Feeling’s mutual.” We gathered up the pieces of my ruined coat, and Kris frowned. “Aren’t you freezing?”

I shook my head. “The coat’s just for show so I can blend in. I can regulate my own body temperature. It’s a kraken thing, an evolutionary advantage that makes it comfortable for us to swim in water that’s any temperature.”

“So freaking cool.” The words were muttered, and I wasn’t sure Kris had even meant to say them out loud.

True to my word, I explained the oceanic ley lines and haven towns to Kris on our way back to the barn.

“I’ve recently learned that my family was appointed to protect Lifeboat by the magic, but due to circumstances involving leadership in Baleen, they left. Apparently, it’s a big deal I’m back in town.”

“If it means getting Calder Delmar out of the mayor’s office, I’m here for it.”

“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy. Marvin was telling me?—”

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