Page 44 of Heart of the Deep

“Once you finish, I will. Eat as much as you need.”

Dracchus shook his head. “What’s left is yours. Thank you for saving it.”

Larkin arched a brow. “Kraken, you should know not to argue with me by now. You’ve been out all day and night while I’ve just been sitting around. Eat.”

He stared at her with a creased brow and swallowed the bite he’d taken. Finally, after a long pause, he opened the remaining bundles and wolfed down the meat.

“How does it work? Will it even fit?” she asked, eyes back on the suit, shifting it in her hands.

“It will stretch when you pull it on. The circle piece is the front.”

She held the suit up by the shoulders and turned it, locating the plastic-looking chest piece. She couldn’t deny her skepticism; the thing was way too small. But a lot of the old tech — the good stuff, anyway — was so advanced that it seemed more like magic than technology.

Bending down, she raised a foot and pushed it into the suit.

“You have to remove your other coverings,” Dracchus said.

She turned her head toward him, brows drawn. “What?”

“Macy said you have to remove your coverings,” he said, gesturing to his torso as though he had a shirt on, “or else the suit will not work properly.”

Larkin scowled. “Of course,” she muttered. “Turn around, kraken, and no peeking.”

He frowned and tilted his head.

“I’m not joking,” she said.

Dracchus shifted his lower body, sliding his tentacles around to twist away from her.

Once she was certain he wasn’t looking, she placed the suit on the ground and unbuttoned her pants. Hooking her waistband and underwear at once, she pushed them down her legs and kicked them aside. Her tank joined them soon after, leaving Larkin as bare as the day she was born.

Picking up the suit again, she tugged it open and shoved her feet in one at a time.

As Dracchus had said, the material stretched as she pulled, far more than she’d imagined possible — so much so that it threw her off-balance.

She stumbled backward, waving her arms to right herself, and spun as her heel caught on a stone. She pitched toward the fire.

Dracchus’s hands encircled her waist from behind, halting her downward momentum. For a moment, she stared down at the low flames, breathing heavily. He lifted her off the ground like she weighed nothing and set her back down away from the fire, turning her to face him.

Larkin’s fingers curled around his forearms as she looked up at him, wide-eyed, but he only briefly met her gaze. His eyes dipped. She remembered suddenly that she was naked above her knees. His amber irises darkened.

She stood there, frozen — unable to cover herself, to look away, to breathe. Her heart fluttered, and her awareness of him intensified. His hands on her waist were firm, but gentle, and she could feel the small pricks of his claws pressing lightly against her backside. Her nipples tightened beneath his lustful gaze, aching to be touched. Desire coursed through her.

His eyes moved lower, and he scowled. He brushed the pad of his thumb over the large, rough scars on her lower abdomen, and tension pulsed through his hands.

Larkin stiffened, an icy chill chasing away the heat that had suffused her.

“What is this?” he growled, nostrils flaring with a heavy exhalation.

She attempted to step out of his grasp, but his hold tightened. She covered her breasts with an arm and narrowed her eyes. “Let me go.”

“Did someone do this to you?” he demanded. His skin had taken on a crimson tint. “Tell me who, and they will know vengeance.”

Larkin’s brows furrowed. “What? No one did this. It was a hunting accident.” She pushed at his chest. “Now let go.”

Her shove didn’t budge him at all. He searched her face, his rage giving way first to confusion, and then reluctant understanding. His gaze fell to her stomach. “What happened?”

Glowering, she slapped her other hand over her scars. “I was stupid and paid the price for it.”

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