Page 7 of Twisted Desires

I purse my lips. That checks out. Even in mythology and traditional lore, I know it to be true. The fae never share their full names for similar reasons, and when it comes to summoning monsters? Well, I think bloody mirrors, repeated names, dripping hooks, and fucking bees. I suppress a shudder. “If I’m to be your Fated Mate, shouldn’t I know it?”

“My—” he cuts himself off, his gaze glittering with an inner fire beneath the cold moonlight. “Don’t play with me, pretty. What are you saying?” He draws me nearer, wrapping my thighs in another tentacle so that my weight is distributed more evenly, and I’m instantly more comfortable.

“I’ve spent my whole life for as long as I can remember hating myself. I’ve always been the curvy girl that gets too much attention—and not the good type. I’ve been the butt of jokes, I’ve been taunted, ignored, and made to feel worthless and ugly. And I’ve wanted to kill myself more times than I can count because of it.” I pause, biting my lower lip for a moment before continuing. “But you think I’m worthwhile. You actually want me as I am. And I’ve never been wanted by anyone ever, not really.” I lick my lips, shivering in cool night air. “And I want to be wanted.”

The monster smiles, tilting his head as if in contemplation before answering. “My name is Kanaloa,” he says. “And I am one of the kraken—half-man and half-octopus. Though your kind have called us gods of water and sea in centuries past. We have existed in these parts, around this land you call America, for time beyond memory.”

“Kanaloa,” I repeat. “It’s beautiful.”

“And your second condition, pet?” he asks.

“I want to know what will happen to me when I bear your child,” I say.

“Once your body accepts my venom, you will change.”

I scrunch my nose at the thought of being bitten. “I’ll become one you? A kraken? Half-woman, half-octopus?”

Kanaloa laughs at my reaction. “You will, yes.”

“Will it hurt?”

My would-be mate bites his lip and nods. “The power in my blood is an ancient one, Bethany. I have heard talk of your popular witches and wizards, and the magic they command. This is not like that. Blood magic is pain. Your limbs will break and split, the bones in your legs will shatter and be no more. And as your body remolds into its new form there will be an agony unlike any you have ever known. My first mate screamed until not even the magic in my blood could heal the damage done. She was mute from then on, until the day she died, which wasn’t long after,” he adds.

I tangibly feel the color drain from my face. “But If I survive the change, I’ll be able to breathe underwater and swim wherever I want?”

“Your lungs will adapt, though you would not know it to look at you. You’ll be able to breathe air and water, as I do. Even salt water, when we venture out into the great seas once more—where my great kind originated.”

“And my third condition … I need your promise, your oath. I want you to swear that you will never leave me. If I do this, if I throw myself in the deep end like this, I want to know that I’ll never be alone again. And no other women!” I add as a jealous afterthought. “If I’m yours, you are mine—completely.”

Kanaloa draws me near, until my soft, shivering body is pressed to his muscular orange form. “You have my heart’s promise and my solemn oath that I will be with you always. I will never forsake you, and I will never be with another.”

I search his eyes and I see no lies hidden there, only a starving and honest truth. His words move me, and a perfectly macabre serenity envelops me like the blanket of a starry night. And for the first time in as long as I can remember, I feel at peace. It’s a strange and foreign sensation. The cold suddenly feels less intense, and my heart calms, ceasing its frantic thundering for a more even gallop.

Taking a deep breath, I reach out and touch his face as lightning cracks through the sky above. “Then what I’m saying is, I want to be with you, Kana,” I say, my lips brushing his. “I accept Fate’s call. I will be your mate.”

My kraken mate wraps me in his tentacles, shielding my body from the storm with his own, then his mouth opens to me, and we share the most intense and passion-defining kiss of my life. The wind howls, kicking up the lake around us, and the clouds rumble as flashes of white-hot light streaks through the glittering heavens.

It’s a picture-perfect moment, and one I doubt I’ll ever forget. In the deep, treacherous waters of Lake Superior, there’s just me and my monster. My Kanaloa. And nothing has ever felt more right, or wrong—and honestly, I’m down for both, because at this point … fuck it! Right?

Chapter Eight

Kana powers through the lake as I cling to his back for dear life, arms wrapped around his neck and legs about his waist. I shriek with excitement—the way you do on amusement park rides—just for the sheer thrill of it, but my voice is drowned out by the back-to-back claps of thunder. I’ve never felt more alive! My fear has evaporated like dew with morning’s first light, and all that remains in its place is an unbridled and wild sense of freedom.

Before long, we find ourselves in a secluded nook of the lake, a little pocket bay shadowed from all sides by sheer rock faces. The water sloshes upon a small beach that leads up into the lush forest.

When I’m sure I can stand, I slide from Kana’s back. It’s surprisingly comforting to feel the sand between my toes once more. I smile as he reaches for my face.

“You will not have your legs much longer, mate,” he says almost apologetically. “I thought you might like to stretch them and feel the earth beneath your feet one last time before your change.”

I’m genuinely touched by his sincerity and thoughtfulness as I lean into his hand. Withdrawing, I trudge through the shallow water and onto the beach. The sand is cool and gritty, and I’m suddenly very, very aware of my weight. I glance down at my curvaceous form and grimace. Though I didn’t notice at the time, the water offered me buoyancy. On land again, my voluptuous form feels strange to me—like I’m wearing extra layers that don’t belong. It doesn’t feel right. I don’t like it.

“What bothers you, mate?” calls Kana, his many tentacles moving him further up the sand toward me.

“It’s just gravity.” I sigh. “I’m not a fan, I’ve decided. I’ve honestly never spent so long in the water before tonight, and now … it feels uncomfortable to be without it. I appreciate the thought, but I don’t think I’ll miss solid ground as much as you might imagine.”

Kana extends his arm, offering his hand to me with a smile that says more than words ever could. “Come back to me, then, my beautiful Bethany. Let us consummate our union here in the shallows where the water is kind.”

How could I have ever been afraid of this monster? I wonder. Everything about the kraken calls to me. There is nothing but lust and warmth emanating from him—no threat, but the promise of carnal intimacy and an eternity of deep, twisted pleasure.

---