Page 50 of Rising from the Depths

She arched a brow. “Your females don’t wear these things. I didn’t think it’d matter to you.”

“It matters because you aremine, Eva, and I will tolerate no male looking upon you.”

His words sent a bolt of desire straight to her core.

My kraken is possessive.

She was pretty sure she was wearing a pleased, goofy grin.

Kronus leaned down and kissed her again; one of those soul-searing, claiming kisses that left no room to question his statement. He washers, and she was without a doubthis.

By the time he raised his head, Eva was panting, and her sex throbbed in need. One of his tentacles had coiled around her leg, the tip teasing her inner thigh.

“We’d better get in that water before I strip and demand my kraken mount me right now, onlookers be damned,” she said.

A long, low groan escaped him, and his tongue slipped out from between his lips for an instant. His brief hesitance suggested he was prepared to skip the water just to have her. But he finally stooped, slipped one arm behind her shoulders and the other behind her knees, and lifted her off the ground. He carried her to the edge of the pool and entered the water smoothly.

It was refreshingly cool compared to the hot evening air, especially welcome after the exertion of the journey to get here — they’d left their house and descended onto the beach, following the cliffs around to this spot. The distance hadn’t been great, but the terrain had proven difficult for Eva. The sand, especially, had proven bothersome for her prosthesis, and her crutch was useless on it.

Kronus held her, and they drifted lazily through the water together. The pool was surprisingly deep, and when Kronus stilled, she caught glimpses of tiny sea creatures through the sparkling surface. He assured her that none of the creatures were dangerous, and she didn’t question him. He’d earned her trust far more than anyone else.

She broke away from him and began the clumsy but freeing process of learning how to swim with nearly half of one leg missing. Kronus remained nearby, tugging her over the surface when she floundered, but she didn’t require his help often. Though she wasn’t graceful by any means, this would do. With a little adjustment to her stroke, she moved through the water without assistance.

Soon, they were swimming side-by-side at a leisurely pace. Kronus was quiet, but his unwavering presence gave her all the strength she needed.

Kronus drew himself to a halt and turned to look toward the ocean. “This is what I truly wanted you to see,” he said, lifting his chin toward the sea.

Eva followed his gaze with her own. The sun hung low over the horizon; it was red-orange, its glow staining the ever-moving seawater in the same shade, which was contrasted by the deep blue and violet of the shadows beneath the waves’ crests. Flecks of pure, sparkling white shined everywhere, glittering with more brilliance than all the stars in the sky at night.

He took gentle hold of her and swam to the edge of the pool farthest from the sea, where he leaned his back against the stone and positioned her to lay atop him. His arms banded around her, holding her close, and she rested her head on his shoulder. He settled his cheek upon her hair.

They remained like that as the sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon. Violet chased away the reds, pinks, and oranges staining the sky, and the shimmering color on the ocean’s surface shrank until only a narrow strip of vibrancy remained.

“I have watched the sun set over the ocean almost every day for nine months,” he said. “I had never seen it before coming here. Not like this. Not from…above. And I never understood how beautiful it is until I met you, Eva. You opened my eyes to this. To everything that’s always been around me.”

“How have I changed that for you?” she asked, running her fingers over his forearm beneath the water.

“Because yours is a beauty I could not ignore,” he said. His voice sounded slightly strained, as though the words were difficult for him to get out. “Once I saw you, I could not help but see everything else…could not help but compare it to you and find it lacking, or wonder if you would appreciate it as I do.”

Eva raised an arm, reached back, and cupped Kronus’s cheek as she turned her face to look up at him. “And you never found me lacking?”

His tentacles coiled around her legs and waist, offering an almost full-body embrace. “Never.”

She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his jaw. The simple answer meant so much because his actions often transcended the need for words.

Warmth spread through her body, and little wings fluttered in her belly. When she and Kronus came together, it was as though the whole world fell away; all her troubles, worries, and struggles ceased to exist, and there was only the two of them with their passion and caring for one another. He’d been there for her during her lowest moments, had pulled her from the deepest, darkest despair, had been a shining beacon that guided her ashore from a sea of blackness.

“Thank you, Kronus,” she said, lifting her head and opening her eyes to meet his gaze. The final rays of sunlight had faded, but his eyes burned with a light of their own. “For never giving up on me, even when I gave you reason to.”

She turned in his embrace, and his tentacles loosened, allowing the movement. The water lapped just beneath her breasts as she straddled him and cupped his face between her hands. “I haven’t said it yet, but you deserve more than anything to hear it. Thank you for saving me that day, and every day that followed. Thank you for teaching me to live again.”

His skin changed to a violet as deep as that of the sky, making his eyes seem even brighter in comparison. “I have only tried to give you what you deserve, Eva. And I have failed that task time and again.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Because you deserveeverything, but all I can offer is all of me.”

“Who is to say what I deserve?” Eva leaned closer, skimming her lips over his cheek and placing a light kiss on the corner of his mouth. “What you’re offering is what I want, Kronus. All I want…isyou.”

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