Page 44 of Rising from the Depths

Thosewere what had been stroking her as they made love.

Eva squeezed her thighs together even tighter. She could almost feel the touch of those tendrils, caressing her most intimate flesh.

He followed her gaze downward and grunted softly. “You must rest before I take you again, female.”

Eva’s head snapped up, and she met his gaze. Heat suffused her cheeks; there was a predatory glint in his eyes that spoke of ecstasy to come.

She cleared her throat. “I, uh, still need to clean up.”

He frowned slightly, confusion again creasing his brow. He leaned closer to her, nostrils flaring, before one of his tentacles slid up from her right calf to brush the inside of her thigh. She inhaled sharply.

Understanding eased his expression. “I did not realize. Kraken usually perform such acts in the water.”He relinquished his hold on her, shifted aside, and pointed toward the bathroom.

“Thank you,” Eva said. She lifted her foot, took one step, and her knees buckled.

Rather than fall to the floor, she fell into the wall of flesh and muscle that was Kronus. She didn’t understand how he could move so fast — it seemed almost unnatural — but she was grateful for it. His arms slipped around her only long enough to adjust her position before scooping her up.

Eva slid her arms around his neck and buried her face against it. His skin muffled the laughter that bubbled out of her as her shoulders shook.

He paused halfway to the bathroom. “What is wrong, Eva?”

“Nothing,” she replied, folding her lips inward and biting them to keep her laughter contained. But it was no use; she couldn’t stop it.

He was silent until she calmed somewhat. “What is amusing?” he asked in hisseriousvoice, which sent her into another burst of giggles. “Female, are you broken?”

“What?” she managed to squeeze out.

He frowned. “Is something wrong with you?”

Eva took several deep breaths, attempting to calm herself. “I was just thinking about how you’re the one who helped me walk again….”

“And that isamusing?”

“Well, yeah, because you just sexed me so hard that I can’t walk now.”

His eyes widened with sudden alarm. “I will bring you to the clinic,” he said, tightening his hold on her and hurrying toward the front door.

“Kronus, no!” She raised her head and took his face between her hands, forcing him to look at her. “No. I’mfine.”

Perplexation mingled with the slowly fading panic in his expressions. “But you said I—”

“You didn’t hurt me. You just…made my knees weak.” She glanced away from him, skin flushing. “It felt good.Reallygood.”

The tension in his muscles eased, and he relaxed his hold. For a few moments, he remained in place, within arm’s reach of the front door. Then he turned around and headed to the bathroom.

“Why does your kind seem incapable of speaking plainly?” he muttered.

Eva narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He twisted his torso to carry her carefully through the bathroom door. “Everything from humans is always…metafordsand double-meanings. It is confusing.”

“Metafords? What is— You meanmetaphors?”

Kronus frowned deeply, narrowing his own eyes. “I mean what I said.”

His tone nearly had her laughing again; had her correcting him bruised his ego? Fortunately, she held it in this time. “Well, most people aren’t as blunt as you.”

“There would be a lot less pointlesssmall talkif they were,” he grumbled. Despite his gruffness, he was nothing but gentle as he sat her atop a stool in the corner, just in front of the toilet.

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