Page 26 of Kiss for My Kraken
“Yes, but it was harder than I expected. I don’t even have a high school diploma, so it was hard to get a job, and they never seemed to last long. I also moved around a lot because I was afraid The Chosen would come after me. I was afraid to stay in one place.” She looked up, meeting his gaze. “Until now.”
“Why stay here?” he asked.
She considered the question. “Something about this place feels right. The people are… different. Accepting.” She smiled slightly. “Plus, I have a job I like and a place to live which is all mine, which is more than I’ve had in a while.”
He nodded, his expression thoughtful. “Fairhaven Falls has a way of collecting lost souls.”
“Like you?” she asked gently.
A shadow passed over his face. “Yes. I came here about ten years ago, seeking solitude after… a difficult time.”
“What happened?” she asked hesitantly.
He was silent for so long that she thought he wouldn’t answer. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and rough. “My family was… taken by humans who wanted to experiment on us.”
“That’s illegal,” she said furiously, but he only shrugged.
“They didn’t care. They thought our biology could be useful.”
The implication sent a chill through her. “They hurt you?”
“Yes,” he said quietly, his eyes distant. “My mother died almost immediately. My father would have followed her but he stayed alive as long as he could for my sake.”
She went to sit on the hatch next to him, reaching for one of his huge hands and wrapping it in both of hers. “I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “That’s horrible.”
He looked down at their entwined fingers as if puzzled by the gesture. “It was a long time ago,” he finally said.
“But the pain stays with us,” she said softly.
“Yes.” His fingers tightened around hers. “I wandered for a long time as well, moving from lakes to rivers and back, never staying in one place too long—much like you. I’m not even sure I would have stayed here, but Flora found me and convinced me that I had a home here.”
Why didn’t that surprise her?
“She found you this island?”
“She directed me to it,” he corrected. “Said it was waiting for someone like me. I’ve been here ever since.”
She nodded, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, before her gaze wandered to the powerful tentacles that moved with such fluid grace beneath the water.
“Your body,” she began, then hesitated, uncertain if the question was too personal, but he smiled at her.
“You can ask. I won’t be offended.”
“How does it work? Your body, I mean. The tentacles…”
He lifted one of his tentacles out of the water, letting it curl on the floor next to him.
“I’m a kraken. Half human in form, half creature of the deep. My tentacles are as much a part of me as your legs are of you—stronger, perhaps, and more versatile.” As if to demonstrate, the tentacle reached up and lifted a book from a nearby shelf, bringing it to him as easily as if he’d reached out his hand for it.
She watched, fascinated. “Can I…” she began, then stopped, embarrassed.
“Touch them?” he finished for her. When she nodded, he extended the tentacle towards her, slowly, as if afraid of frightening her. “If you wish.”
Heart pounding, she reached out, her fingers hovering just above it before she gathered her courage and touched it gently. The skin was smooth and cool, firmer than she’d expected. The tentacle remained perfectly still under her touch, though she sensed the immense strength coiled within it.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured, tracing the subtle patterns in the silvery-grey skin. Small suckers lined the underside, and when she ran her finger over one, it closed gently around her fingertip in a small sucking kiss before releasing it.
He made a sound—half sigh, half groan—that sent a shiver down her spine.
