Page 52 of The Kraken Bride

Our gazes met, locked, both of us grinning. Victory turned his eyes into an ocean at sunset, and I drank in the sight, instantly intoxicated.

“One point for me,” he said, slowly lowering me to the ground.

“Congratulations. But I’m not worried.” I ghosted my fingers through the shadow, amazed to find it solid around me, but also as intangible as warm mist. I’d watched him slice and dice mers with these tentacles, and yet they now cradled me so protectively.

He sucked in a breath at the moment of contact, his smile gone. Then I was the one sucking in a breath as the tendril drew me closer. “Want to change a rule before we go again?”

“What are you suggesting?” Needing leverage, I didn’t tamp down my desire to draw closer. Nein, I flattened my palms on his chest, peering up at him through the thick shield of my lashes. “That I slow down? Tie one hand behind my back and make it less difficult for you?”

His mouth quirked. He cupped my hips, fingers twitching against the upper edges of my backside. “That’s big talk for the round one loser. Nei, I suggest you chase me every other go-round.”

I slid my hands up and toyed with the ends of his hair. “Very well. But I want more than a point when I succeed.” Leaning in, letting a promise of more hang between us, I all but purred, “You must tell me a secret or a story about your life. Not now, but later.” When we were sealed inside his bedroom, the one we were sharing, just the two of us.

Desire sharpened in his gaze. “Deal. But you’ll give me the same.”

He wished to learn more about me? Heat rose, painting my cheeks with pleasure.

He noticed, because of course he noticed. I expected another dose of triumph, but it was awe that he projected. He bracketed my face with reverent hands before stiffening, releasing me and backing up.

Before he could overthink himself into rebuilding his defenses, I wrenched backward and cried, “Go!”

His lids narrowed. His gaze fell to my mouth. I smiled… and unleashed my wings, propelling myself straight into his⁠—

Air, only air. Ugh.

“Looking for someone?” he asked behind me, as casual as ever.

Parts of me clenched with awareness. “Sneaky, sneaky, majesty.” I slowly spun and blew him another kiss.

“That was only the beginning.” He melted into a reef with the ease of a creature who belonged in shadow.

My pulse skipped. “You cannot hide from a dragon. But I can hide from a kraken.” I released a stream of smoke, cloaking myself, and launched after him.

I almost nabbed him, but he darted just out of reach. After that, the game blurred into motion and breath and touch. Every lingering brush between us awakened another note from The Singing Reef until the air thrummed. I grazed his chest with my nails, putting myself on the board and winning a story.

We went again and again, completing ten rounds. And tying. But the more we played, the less we laughed. Touches lingered longer and longer. Humorous taunting turned to low groans. Slow stalking replaced speed. No longer did it take the full two minutes to declare a victor. By the fifth round, the chaser always won in less than sixty seconds.

The game no longer revolved around the need to teach him something. Hunger muddied my aim, but I didn’t care.

At the end of that tenth go, I was panting. Aching. I couldn’t keep my eyes off his mouth.

“Bonus round,” I rasped. I owed him five secrets. But he owed me five as well. “Start the clock.”

“Clock started,” he replied, balling his hands into tight fists. He wasn’t panting, but his breaths emerged rough and ragged.

A challenge, if ever I’d heard one. Heart thudding, I stepped toward him.

He didn’t move.

I took another step. Then another, and another. Finally, there was no space left to close. We stood face to face, breathing the other’s breaths. His gaze met mine, raw and unguarded, and the wanting between us drew so tight it hurt.

“We’re both winners. But whatever happens before convergence will not alter what must happen after. You will leave, and that is nonnegotiable.” He tipped his chin, looking wrecked, as if the world was about to end. “Do you understand?”

Oh, I understood. He intended to force me out. His fear of losing someone important to him demanded he part with me before he fell. Well, too bad. “Tell yourself whatever you must, as long as you kiss me.”

The next second, he was thrusting his fingers into my hair, and I was slinging my arms around his shoulders. Our lips met in a melding of total surrender.

Everything but desire for him ashed. The past faded; the future ceased to exist. Only the present mattered. Sebastian consumed the air, the seconds—me.