Page 21 of Jewel of the Sea

“I wonder what your reward will be?” she whispered from nearby.

Arkon extended an arm. He sensed a change in the breeze — its flow was rerouted by something nearby. When he moved forward a bit more, his palm touched stone. He extended his tentacles to all sides, running them over the ground.

His suction cups brushed over an imprint in the sand — one of her footprints — and detected her unmistakable smell. He followed the tracks, keeping his hand on the stone as he circled it. This was the pillar-like formation that extended down into the ground from the overhang.

Her scent hit him like an electric jolt.

“What would you like?” she asked, now from behind.

Having marked the pillar in his mind’s eye, he had a better sense of the area. He turned toward her and hurried forward. “What are you offering?”

She released a squeak, and her feet whispered over the sand in retreat. He knew he was closing in on her by the strength of her smell and the sound of her movement.

He knew he’d won when her laughter filled the air.

Arkon opened his eyes as he lunged forward. Her eyes were wide and bright, her smile radiant, and her scream brimmed with humor. Arkon threw his arms around her, and they fell together. He turned before they hit the ground, wrapping his tentacles around her and taking the brunt of the fall — which was softened by the sand — on his shoulders.

She shook with laughter, and her curls fell over his chest to tickle his skin.

“You’ve not told me my prize,” he said.

Aymee placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed herself up, grinning down at him. “What would you like?”

As he paused to consider — she’d left open too many possibilities for his imagination to adequately examine — he realized their current position. Her pelvis and breasts pressed against him, and his tentacles were coiled around her thighs and waist, his hands on her back. The salty-sweetness of her skin — laced with somethingmore— delighted him. Quite suddenly, his self-control was in jeopardy.

She lifted a finger to touch his bottom lip, lowering her head. Her hair fell to either side of his face, curtaining them from the outside world. “Perhaps a kiss?”

His breath shallowed, and his skin blazed. Everything but he and Aymee was unimportant, faraway, forgotten.

Kraken didn’t kiss.

But Macy and Jax did. Often.

He could do little more than nod.

She smiled, holding his gaze as she eliminated the remaining space between them. Her warm breath danced on his skin, and his hearts raced. She touched her lips to his.

Arkon closed his eyes and tugged her closer. Her lips parted, and she applied more pressure, first at one corner of his mouth, then the other, and finally at the center.

Colors exploded behind his eyelids; he didn’t even have a name for most of them, but they stole his breath.Shestole his breath.

Holding perfectly still apart from the trembling of his hands, he inhaled, taking Aymee into him until she filled his entire being. She cupped his jaw, fingers spreading on either side of his siphons as the press of her lips grew firmer. Another scent clouded his senses — that mysterious, alluring hint he’d tasted before, stronger now than ever. It settled over his mind in a maddening fog, pouring fire into his veins.

He curled his tentacles up along her legs, reaching for the source of the alluring aroma.

Aymee gasped and stilled.

For the second time, his conscious mind noticed their position — noticed her pelvis was settled over his slit, and only her body weight kept his throbbing shaft hidden. The slightest easing of pressure, and he’d extrude immediately.

Arkon opened his eyes to see Aymee staring down at him.

“I hope your reward was worth the risk,” she whispered. The dark pools of her eyes were filled with uncertainty and desire, mirroring his own emotions.

His nostrils flared as he released a slow, shaky breath; its speed was deliberate, but not its unsteadiness.

Calm. We were caught up in the moment, but the moment has passed, now… Regardless of how much I want it to continue.

“A thousand times over.”

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