Page 43 of Kringle and the Kraken

My tentacles were out, and one reached behind me to grab my coffee cup from the counter, passing it into my hand, and I took a sip to cover my smile. “Sore?”

“Mmhm. But in the best way.” That’s when he noticed my mug. “Is there any of that for me?”

“Of course. How do you like it?”

“Splash of milk or cream. Two good spoonfuls of sugar.”

One of my tentacles grabbed a cup while another unscrewed the lid on the milk, and a third scooped sugar into the cup.

When I handed Kris his doctored cup, he smirked. “Showoff.”

My shoulders and all my tentacles shrugged. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving. Last thing we ate was pizza at the community center.”

“And a ton of shortbread cookies.”

“Those would go so well with this coffee.”

I shook my head. “You need real food. Protein.”

One of Kris’s eyebrows winged toward his hairline. “Protein, you say? I never did get to taste you last night.” He licked his lips, and I watched the path his tongue took with interest, my dick and tentacles immediately on board.

So of course, before I could further debauch Kris on my kitchen table, my phone rang.

I’d unearthed it from the pile of clothes we’d left strewn from my front door to the bedroom, and it was behind me on the counter. A tentacle lifted it to my ear before I could glance at the screen.

“Hello?”

“Levi. This is Kori. There was another wraith attack last night. Blew the windows out on the restaurant.”

“Fuck. Why didn’t you call me last night?”

“We didn’t know until we got here to start prep this morning. The alarms didn’t go off.”

“And you’re sur?—”

“My mom recognized the smell. We’re sure.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Kris was watching me intently, and the second I hung up the phone, he was on his feet. “Another attack?”

I nodded. “At Kori’s.”

“Shit. Let me call my brothers.” He waved his hand at my body. “Might want to put those away if we’re calling in the cavalry.” He kissed me again, his hands stroking lovingly over my tentacles, and turned to hunt down his cell phone.

“Arethose the same clothes you were wearing yesterday?” Kevin asked when he and Keith pulled up outside Mizu Mizu. “Don’t those look like the same clothes, Keith?”

Kris’s other brother nodded. “Yep. Look like the same clothes to me.”

“So where’d you sleep last night, big brother?” Kevin climbed out of his truck, Keith hot on his heels, and they both gave Kris a hug before extending their hands to me.

“Ya know”—Keith pretended to study Kris, then elbowed Kevin—“I don’t think I’ve seen Kris all glowy like this”—he drew a circle in the air with a gloved finger that encompassed Kris’s face—“like ever. Nice job, Levi.”

“Fuck you both very much.” Kris’s irritated grumble still held the hint of a smile.

The two younger men guffawed as they moved around the truck and started sliding sheets of plywood out of the bed.

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