Page 17 of Stranded with the Kraken
She sniffs. “It’s just… No one has ever done that for me before.”
“What—licked your pussy?” I frown. “Who the fuck have you been hooking up with?”
Arielle’s cheeks turn pink again. “No, I mean, they have, that’s not the issue.”
I glower at her. The thought of some human guy tasting her like I had just now makes me want to drown all her former lovers in the sea. I’d drag them down to the bottom, and nobody would ever see them again.
“What I meant,” she continues with a softer voice, “is that no one’s ever made me feel this way. You said you’d take care of me, and you did. And I was just overwhelmed, so I…” She trails off and lifts the wadded-up tissue in her fist as evidence.
Oh.
I squeeze her hand tighter, then force myself to loosen my grip a little. “Do you want to go slower?” I ask. “Because we can. I’m in no rush.”
It’s her turn to clutch at my hand. “No, I don’t want that.” She stares up at me with those gorgeous brown eyes. “I want it all, right now, and that freaks me out. But I feel like maybe you want that, too?”
I shudder with relief. “Yes. My plan was to make you come on my tongue first, then fuck you so hard we’d both see stars, but I have an even better idea.”
Her expression lights up. “A better idea than sex?”
I reel her in for a dirty, sensual kiss that leaves us both panting. “Okay, maybe it’s not better than sex, but it’s what we both need right now.”
CHAPTER9
ARIELLE
Jasper lets me borrow his sweatpants, which are way too long on me, and a soft t-shirt that smells like him. He puts on a pair of well-worn jeans and a band t-shirt, and if I thought he was handsome last night in his slacks and cashmere sweater, I’m powerless against him in casual clothes. He makes me the largest stack of pancakes I’ve ever received and drowns them in syrup, then looks up as if he only just now remembered that maybe not everyone wants that much.
“It’s great,” I tell him. “That’s exactly how I like them. But I wouldn’t have guessed that kraken have such a sweet tooth.”
He cuts into his stack of pancakes and chews thoughtfully on a piece. “I do when I’m human-shaped. When I’m out in the sea, I’ll catch fish for myself.”
I raise my eyebrows at him. “So you do go out to sea?”
“Oh yeah.” He pours us both coffee from the fancy French press and offers me some half-and-half. “I have to. Staying in my human skin for too long makes me itchy. Kraken need the ocean. I usually go on the weekends, but I went earlier this week because of the forecast.”
He motions toward the window. I peer outside to find that the world has turned completely white overnight. The driveway is covered in at least two feet of snow, the decorative bushes only vague lumps under the white blanket. Rising from the kitchen island, I walk to the living room to check out the backyard. The glass pool house where we spent most of last night is dark now, with snow slipping from the steep roof.
“I’m not getting out of here today, am I?” I ask.
I mean it more as a general remark, but when Jasper doesn’t reply, I turn back to him and find him staring at me, still sitting, his expression crestfallen.
“Oh, no,” I hurry to say, “I didn’t mean that Iwantedto go.”
I return to his side and take his hands in mine. He’s stiff for a moment, then lets me step between his knees so I can get right close to him.
“Hey.” I raise my hand to his cheek and tip his chin up so he’s forced to meet my gaze. “Talk to me?”
He blows out a long breath and closes his eyes, leaning into my touch. “Sorry. I just… My mind immediately goes to, ‘Of course she wants to leave.’”
I shuffle in closer until I’m flush with his body. He brings his hands to my hips, then slides them down to my ass, and I grin, because this is definitely progress.
“What I wanted to say,” I murmur, letting our foreheads touch, “is that we’re snowed in. Sorry for freaking you out. I don’t want to leave. You gave me several fantastic orgasms, your bed is a hundred times more comfortable than mine, and you fed me pancakes?” I give him a rueful grin. “You’ll have to kick me out after the holidays or you’ll never have this house to yourself again.”
His grip on me tightens. “What if I don’t want that?” His expression goes serious, and he pauses as if he wants to find the exact right words. “What if I want you to stay?”
Something flips in my chest. The sensation is frightening, but it doesn’t feel wrong. “What do you mean?”
He pushes a hand through his short golden-brown hair. “I want you. And not just physically, though that’s a huge part of it. But there’s something about you that makes me want more, and for once, I can imagine it.” He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles, his lips warm on my skin. “I want to wake up with you every day and make you pancakes. I want to take you to the ocean so you can see my full form.”
