Page 1 of Stranded with the Kraken
CHAPTER1
ARIELLE
Ipark my Toyota by the side of the road, near a heap of snow that a plow must have pushed to the side, wondering if I’ve arrived at the right place. I double-check the maps app, then the last message I got from Jasper, the hot monster guy I’m meeting tonight.
Yep, looks like I’m right where I’m supposed to be. I take a deep breath, then type a message for Jasper in the Bone-R app’s chat.
Hey, I’m in front of your house.
Now that I’ve shut off my car, snowflakes accumulate on the windshield, creating a dusting of white I can’t see through. The radio I’d been listening to has been blaring out weather warnings, urging people to get off the roads. It’s two days until Christmas, and I debated postponing this rendezvous because of the severe weather warning, but what else am I going to do tonight if not hook up with Jasper? If everything goes to shit and we get snowed in, my home is only about three miles away. I can hike that far if I have to, then pick up my car another day.
It only takes him a moment to reply, so I don’t have time to second-guess my decision to be here.
The code for the gate is 122187. Come around the house to the backyard.
Okay, that’s a little strange. It’s not like Bone-R is an app to share picnic invitations. And it’s freaking freezing, with the wind whipping around the car, carrying flurries of snow. I came here with a very specific reason—to hook up with the monster hottie—and he invited me here because he really wants to, er, bone a human.
I sit there for a minute, seriously debating leaving. But I didn’t go through the rigorous onboarding process to back out now. I’ve been chatting with Jasper for days since we first got matched on the app, and I don’t want to throw away an opportunity of a real connection, even if it’s purely physical.
Still, I text my best friend, Morgan, to let her know where I am. She knows all about Jasper, but I haven’t shared his address with her yet. The message remains on unread, which isn’t unusual for her at all. Knowing her, she’s elbows-deep in her current research project and won’t see my text until much later. Still, I like the thought ofsomeoneknowing where I’m going tonight.
I push open the door, make sure I have pepper spray ready at the top of my purse, and lock my car. I punch in the code at the gate, and the eight-foot-tall sheet of metal slides to the side. This place is a fortress. A shiver of apprehension goes through me, and I feel as if I’ve strayed far, far away from my small hometown of Clearwater, Maine. I’m entering an entirely new world here, even if I’m actually only at the edge of town.
My slow steps crunch in the thin layer of snow. The gravel pathway leading up to a beautifully restored farmhouse has been shoveled recently, but that won’t do much good with the amount of snow coming down. We’re no strangers to snowstorms here, but this massive storm system has had weathermen in a frenzy for days.
I stare at the house in awe, because if I had the money to buy and renovate a property, this is what my dream home would look like. Inviting yellow light spills from the tall windows onto the snow, and what I can see of the inside of the house seems tastefully designed and classy. It’s nothing like my rental apartment above the general store in town, which looks shabby and worn, no matter how many times I deep clean it using tricks I learned online.
I shake off the melancholy and move toward the side of the house, anticipation rising inside me. At least I didn’t arrive to some weird den-type of a monster lair. I’d heard horror stories about women being matched with gargoyles who roost in abandoned stone towers, so arriving at a luxury country home is a good sign. As I near the backyard, strains of music reach me, a low rock ballad that I recognize but can’t place exactly. But it’s another thing to set me at ease, because Jasper said he wasn’t fussy about music, and our shared love of rock concerts was one thing we’d bonded over.
Not that I need bonding to have a one-night stand. I remind myself that this is supposed to be a one-and-done kind of situation. We’ll fuck, and then I’ll never see him again.
I round the corner of the house, and a wide lawn opens up, with trees lining the edges, creating pockets of darkness. But what catches my attention is a large pool, lit from within, gleaming blue. It’s encased in a massive greenhouse-like structure, which wasn’t visible from the road. Inside it, strings of fairy lights cast a soft glow over the scene, and Jasper even set up a couple of candles by the water.
I stare at it, unsure of what to do now that I’m here. I glance at the porch, but other than a set of footsteps leading from the patio door down to the covered pool, I don’t see anything out of place.
“Arielle, hi,” a deep voice says.
I swivel to the right and find the man sitting in a deck chair by the pool, a glass of white wine by his side. The door to the pool is open, signaling he’s been waiting for me. He puts away his phone, screen side down, and stands to greet me.
My first sensation at seeing Jasper in the flesh is intense relief. He’s even more handsome in person than in the photos he shared with me. Then I flush with the realization that this man is supermodel-hot, his clothes clearly designer, his medium-length hair styled perfectly, and I came here in black jeans and a cute band t-shirt. I picked my combat boots and black puffer jacket because I thought I was meeting a fellow Iron Maiden fan, not a freaking millionaire.
Which Jasper clearly is. Everything about this place screams money, and suddenly I realize just how skewed my vision of tonight has been. I thought I’d have the upper hand, in a way, being human, because monsters have to remain hidden in our society. Now I know nothing could be further from the truth—Jasper is so high above me, class-wise, I have no idea why he thought matching with me on the app was a good idea.
“Hi,” I squeak, far too late.
My voice is an octave too high, signaling to him that I’m freaking out. And I haven’t even found out what kind of a monster he is. But something pulls me forward, and I take a couple of steps, my boots scuffing on the flagstones leading down to the pool.
“I’m happy you’re here,” he says, walking toward me slowly. He’s barefoot, which seems strange considering it’s wintertime. “Did you have any trouble finding the house?”
I shake my head, still too nervous to speak.
Jasper stops several feet away from me and sniffs the air. His nostrils flare, then he grimaces and retreats a step.
What the hell?
“I’m sorry,” he says. “This won’t work.”
That has me straightening my spine. “Why?”
