Page 34 of Monsters After Dark

Of Tentacles and Fin

V.T. Bonds

SARAH

This is the end.Whatever dreams I may have aspired to live, whatever hopes I had for the future, they were all for naught.

I will not live past sunrise.

The gentle sway of the ocean under my life raft neither inspires comfort nor dread in me. It just is. It’s another part of my demise—another piece of the backdrop for my anticlimactic death.

If the dastardly and temperamental ocean had stuck to the plan, then I’d be on a happy little island, watching the waves lap at a sandy beach while sipping a margarita under a colorful umbrella. Instead, I’m trapped on a bright yellow emergency raft with no food, water, or protection from the sun. I have no idea where I’ve drifted to, or what happened to the other eight people who’d been on the little charter boat with me.

I did my best to prevent sunburn yesterday by wrapping my dress over me like a tarp, but even in the dark I see bright red strips on my feet where they escaped the meager protection. The printed flowers already look faded from the bleaching power of the sun, and I swear my ass will forever boast the pattern from the bottom of the boat, since I don’t even have underwear to protect me.

Not that forever will be very long, since my time of living slowly comes to an end.

Untying the thin material from my waist, I prepare to drape it over my head again, for however many hours I have left before dehydration kills me.

I don’t want to die, but after crying for hours, my body refuses to produce more tears, so I settle into reality and accept the inevitable.

Where were dastardly pirates at a time like this, ready to swoop in and rescue a damsel in distress so they could ravish her?

Drifting in and out of awareness, I let my dreams bring me my fantasies, each one warped and taboo, yet soothing in the end as I find happiness, love, and devotion.

Years have proven my favorite romance reads are as fiction as my imagination, for even though I yearn for love, my every attempt has ended in failure.

And I’ve tried. A lot.

A splash startles me, the eerie sensation of being watched forcing my heart into my throat. I rise to my knees, grabbing the lip of the raft and searching the horizon for rescue.

Except, why am I looking far away, when the sound was most definitely nearby?

Movement streaks across my periphery, and I dart my focus toward it, the hammering of my heart drowning out the gentle sounds of water shifting against my lifeboat. Something large sinks below the surface of the ocean, and my fear skyrockets my heartrate into the stratosphere.

I’d rather die a slow and boring death than be eaten by a shark or swallowed by a whale.

The raft bucks under me, forcing me to grab the side with both hands or fly into the water, and I lean backward, hoping with every fiber of my being the raft rights itself. If it tips, I’m a goner.

My scream bounces off the water and disappears in the wind. As the boat rocks toward normalcy, my eyes deceive me.

Pitch black orbs rise from the depths of the ocean, surrounded by shimmery purple flesh, gills, and teeth. Too humanoid for my liking, yet too monstrous to be real, the creature closes the distance between us so quickly my scream still pierces the air as it breaks the surface. Silk wraps around my throat as the abomination reaches up and reveals his long, powerful extremities.

Other tentacles wind around my forearms and shoulders, pushing me until my back hits the rough surface of the raft. My lungs fill with oxygen and I scream again, reality fading away as I stare up into insanely intelligent eyes, the knowledge I sense lurking within my attacker more frightening than the thought of being ripped apart by a shark.

A fragrance burrows into my nostrils, something rich and masculine and full of power, and my scream dies as heat fills my belly.

Insanity settles over me as I freeze, instincts warning me to go statue still in hopes of appeasing the predator pinning me down.

Salty liquid drips from the beast holding me hostage, his myriad of tentacles sliding around my legs and pushing my untied dress off my stomach. Surprisingly soft fingers brush against my cheekbone after his countless tentacles part to reveal two human arms.

The deepest vibration I’ve ever heard leaves his chest and seeps into my marrow, melting my bones and heating my core. His mouth moves, but the language he speaks makes no sense, and I lay frozen in terror and confusion as he brushes his smooth cheek against my own.

He moves so fast I don’t even have time to flinch, his sharp teeth piercing the juncture of my left shoulder and neck. Poison sears into my bloodstream, sending agony streaking throughout my entire body, and I writhe under the assault. My brain splits in two as it revolts, one half refusing to believe this is happening while the other fights with all it has.

I push and kick, but the creature doesn’t budge, his hold on me barely allowing me to wriggle against the thrashing raft. He lifts his teeth from my neck and smooths his scorching tongue up my wound, the coppery scent of my blood mingling with his masculine pheromones.

“Mine.”

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