He tore his mouth from hers with a growl and ran his lips down her neck, grazing his teeth along her skin. His hands framed her ribs, thumbs brushing the undersides of her breasts. Aymee tilted her head back with a moan that turned into a gasp when the heat of his mouth covered her nipple, and he sucked, sending jolts of sensation straight to her core. She spread her thighs to welcome his weight between them.
Arkon moved further down her body, sliding his palms to her hips. His shoulders forced her thighs wider. Cool air struck her heated sex. She shivered. Opening her eyes, she gazed down the length of her body. It was the most erotic thing she’d ever seen — Arkon there, between her legs, his gaze locked with hers.
He lowered his mouth without looking away from her and kissed her clit. Aymee’s hips bucked, but he held her down. She panted, unable to look away as his tongue slipped out to lick at her folds and flick against her sensitive bud. Liquid heat flooded her, and he drank greedily.
She watched him with hooded eyes, biting her lip to muffle her cries until she was unable to withstand the powerful sensations. Her head fell back, hips undulating against his mouth.
Pleasure built within her like the gathering clouds of a storm, and her skin tingled, every nerve lighting up.
“Arkon!” she screamed as the storm broke. She writhed, but he didn’t relent.
He growled, the vibrations prolonging her release. His grip on her tightened, and he lifted her hips, lapping at her until she was spent.
His hands slid back up her sides as he moved over her. She felt the slick hardness of his shaft against her thigh, felt his tentacles coil around her legs and lift them until they wrapped around his hips, felt the soft caress of his suction cups as they tasted her skin. Such strength, yet he was always so gentle with her.
Arkon pressed his mouth to hers, and she opened to him, tasting herself upon his lips. Her hands gripped his arms. It didn’t matter that she’d already reached her peak. She craved more of him, all of him.
“Now,” she breathed against his mouth, tilting her hips. His tip pressed against her opening, and then he thrust in, sinking deep. Her body clenched.
His forehead pressed against hers. “Each moment I am with you is more breathtaking than the moment before.”
Aymee slid her hands to his back. The feelers at the base of his shaft tickled and stroked her sex and clit. She was beyond words. Arkon withdrew, and she moaned at the loss of fullness until he pumped forward again. He didn’t stop, setting a rhythm that was both satisfying and maddening. He filled her, stretched her, stroked her, pushed deeper and deeper.
His lips and tentacles caressed her skin, and she clawed at him, needing more.
Growling, Arkon settled his hands on her hips and quickened his pace. The tips of his claws pressed against her skin, producing pricks of pain that added to the sensations building within her.
Her body shuddered, tightening around him, and her panting gasps turned into keens of pleasure as she came apart.
Arkon reared back, muscles tensing, and yanked her onto him, pinning her sex to his, grinding as his fire filled her. He turned his face skyward and roared.
As they descended from their climaxes, their connection was no less powerful. Aymee stared up at Arkon, nearly bursting with happiness. She pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the strong, steady beats of his hearts, and smiled.
He gazed down at her, eyes dark and half-lidded with lingering desire and adoration, shoulders rising and falling with heavy breaths.
“Glow for me,” she said.
His skin lit up, casting its glow on her. She trailed her palm down his abdomen, pausing to touch the round scars.
He covered her hand with his. “It is in the past, Aymee. We must look ahead.”
She took his wrist and guided his hand to her stomach. “To our future.”
He tilted his head to the side, brow furrowing as his gaze dipped. His eyes suddenly rounded, and his lips parted in wonder. “You mean…?”
“You’re going to be a father.”
The smile that spread across his face was slow, but when it formed fully it was more beautiful than the starlit sky and held all the joy in the world. Arkon leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her stomach. Aymee closed her eyes and rested her hands on his head.
“Our future,” he whispered.
Hunter of the Tide (Book 3)
HIS SOLACE AND HIS HOPE
Randall Laster crossed Halora to hunt the kraken, sea monsters that weren’t supposed to be real. Betrayed by men he trusted, he was left to die. Instead, he finds himself living with the beings once meant to be his prey. Randall struggles to find his place amongst the kraken and to find a purpose to the new course his life has taken. Hope comes in two unexpected forms: an injured, amphibious sea creature in need of care, and Rhea, a strong-willed kraken who’s made no secret of her interest in him. Can he reconcile the tensions between humans and kraken and look beyond their differences so that he can claim Rhea as his own, or will old prejudices and hostilities tear them apart forever?
Chapter 1
361 Years After Landing
Rhea swam ahead of the search party, pulling Melaina along beside her. Her fingers flexed on the youngling’s wrist, and it took all her willpower to keep from squeezing tighter. Embarrassment and anger blazed at the surface, but those emotions weren’t what had her hearts pounding in a hollow chest, those weren’t what made her throat feel tight and her limbs tremble. Fear and helplessness dominated Rhea.
I might have lost her.
This wasn’t the first time Melaina had disappeared, or the second or third. Rhea was fast losing numbers to count her daughter’s expeditions. It didn’t seem to matter how often or vehemently Rhea explained to the child the many dangers of the sea — Melaina wouldn’t be deterred. How many times could they go through this before it ended in tragedy?
Rhea turned her head to look at her daughter.
Melaina struggled to keep up with the pace set by her mother and was being dragged more than she was swimming. She held a sealed container against her chest with her free arm, undoubtedly holding some new treasure the girl had found — a pretty rock, or a shell, or a broken chunk of coral. Besides Melaina’s gray eyes, the youngling shared her mother’s looks — the same gray skin, the same delicate facial features, even a similar build, all presented in miniature — but seemed to have nothing of Rhea’s temperament.
Though he was not Melaina’s sire, the girl was much more like Jax, whose restless nature had earned him the name the Wanderer.
For a moment, Melaina met Rhea’s eyes, and then looked away with discouragement and shame in her expression.
Rhea’s chest constricted with guilt. Melaina was heeding some inner calling, a voice Rhea couldn’t hear, an urge beyond her understanding, but it was too dangerous to allow the youngling to follow that call.
Rhea looked to her other side, where Dracchus swam nearby. He was the largest of the kraken, the strongest, and he’d been the one to lead the search for Melaina — this time, and many times before.
Noticing her attention, he turned his head toward her.
She signed with her free hand and altered her color to emphasize her sincerity.
Thank you.
Dracchus’s brow creased. Females did not give thanks; it was for the males to protect and provide, especially with so few females, and why would any thanks be given to a male for merely fulfilling his duty? Appreciation could be shown in other ways when warranted. Ways that had the potential — however small — to produce younglings.
But Rhea’s relief at having her daughter safe outweighed all of that, and Dracchus’s willingness to search without hesitation or complaint, despite having done so countless times, meant more than Rhea could adequately express.
Finally, Dracchus dipped his head in acknowledgment and looked forward.
Rhea let her gaze linger, sweeping it over his broad shoulders and muscular arms, past his narrow hips, and along the length of his thi
ck tentacles. Dracchus would make an excellent mate. Once, she might have considered pursuing him.
But now…now there was another who’d caught her interest.
Rhea blew through her siphons, expelling those thoughts as the Facility came into view. The main building’s exterior lights illuminated only a small portion of its manmade walls, leaving the rest of the structure nothing more than a shadow amidst the gloom. The other buildings, connected to the first by tunnels, were dark smudges to either side.
The other kraken broke their loose formation, swimming toward their dens in the other buildings. Only Dracchus remained. He went to the keypad beside the door and entered the sequence all kraken were taught as younglings. The light over the door shifted from red to green, and the door slid open.
Rhea tugged Melaina into the pressurization chamber. And Dracchus followed.
Dracchus followed them inside, closing the door behind him. The water drained.
The transition from water to air was always slightly disorienting for Rhea. Her body grew heavier, felt bulkier, and her siphons gaped uselessly until her lungs expanded with their first breath. The sensation of floating always lingered for a time afterward, which only heightened how sluggish her limbs felt outside of water.
The light above the interior door went green.
“Pressurization normalized,” said the computer’s disembodied voice.
“Mother—” Melaina began.
“How many times must I tell you never to leave?” Rhea growled, spinning to face her daughter. Melaina flinched back. “Did you learn nothing when you were nearly killed by the razorback? When Macy nearly died to save you?” Rhea’s tentacles writhed.
Melaina ducked her head, lips turned down into a frown. Her small shoulders sagged. The human, Macy, was Jax’s mate, the female who finally eased his restlessness. Her arrival had thrown the kraken’s world into a state of change, and the devotion she and Jax showed to one another had forced Rhea to confront her own loneliness, her own desires for lasting companionship. Rhea had come to consider Macy a friend, and Melaina was extremely fond of the human.
Rhea’s stomach twisted. Had she fallen so low as to use Melaina’s adoration of Macy to guilt the youngling into compliance? It hurt to see her child look so small, so defeated, but Melaina’s safety was more important than anything else. Younglings were precious among the kraken because they were so rare, and females rarer still.
But she is my daughter.
“There could be hunters out there, searching for kraken to capture,” Rhea said, softening her voice. “What would happen if they found you? You cannot keep doing this, Melaina.”
“There are many dangers in the sea,” Dracchus added, “and if we do not know where you are, we cannot protect you.”
Somehow, Melaina shrank further at the male’s gentle admonishment.
Dracchus pressed the button on the wall and the interior door opened. They exited the chamber, entering a long corridor. “I will tell the others that the youngling is safe.”
Once Dracchus had turned down another hallway, Rhea turned to her daughter, who stood beside her with head bowed.
Sighing, Rhea lowered herself, easing her tentacles and curling them up at her sides. She brushed the backs of her fingers over Melaina’s cheek. “What did you find?”
Melaina raised her head, face lighting up. She placed her container on the floor. Before she could open the lid, something thumped inside, scooting the whole thing a hand span over the floor.
Rhea tensed. “What was that?”
“I’ll show you,” Melaina said, removing the lid.
Rhea leaned over to look inside.
A small, scaled creature stared back at her with large, dark eyes. Its paddle-like tail swished restlessly in the water filling the container, and the whiskers protruding from its snout twitched. The creature lay on the bottom with its rear legs folded beneath it, displaying puncture wounds on its hindquarters — likely the bite of a predator. Lifting a front leg, the creature extended its paw toward Rhea, stretching the webbing between its toes.
“A prixxir?” Rhea asked, looking back to Melaina. “It is a youngling.”
“He’s hurt,” Melaina said. “I couldn’t just leave it.”
Melaina reached for the creature, but Rhea caught her wrist before her fingers entered the container.
“It might bite, Melaina.”
Before the youngling could reply, voices from farther down the hall drew Rhea’s attention away. A group of females rounded a corner and approached.
“Melaina!” Thana, at the front of the group, hurried over with relief in her eyes. “Dracchus just told us you were back. I am so glad to see you safe.”
Another female, Aja, lowered herself beside Melaina. The prixxir moved suddenly, splashing water onto the floor, and Aja flinched back.
“What is that?” she demanded, eyes wide.
“A prixxir,” Melaina said. “He’s hurt.”
Thana leaned forward to look into the container. “And what are you doing with it, little one?”
“I want to help it.”
Rhea lowered her brow and tilted her head. “But you do not know how to care for the creature.”
Melaina looked down at the prixxir, crestfallen. “I could try.”
Pounding footsteps echoed along the corridor. Rhea turned toward the sound as Randall ran into the corridor from one of the intersecting halls. He skidded to an abrupt halt beneath the stares of the gathered females.
Rhea trailed her gaze over him. His cheeks and jaw were covered with a light growth of hair, and the hair atop his head was tousled. The dark blue material of his jumpsuit clung to his muscular form, hinting at the body beneath. Heat suffused her, and she gritted her teeth against a sudden wave of desire. She’d seen him without coverings when he was first brought to the Facility, and that only made her long to see him bare again. It took considerable effort to keep her skin from changing color when all she wanted to do was signal her interest to mate with him.
His bright blue eyes met hers.
He stood with his arms spread slightly to the sides, undoubtedly to make it clear that he wasn’t reaching for the holstered gun on his belt. Several kraken had voiced their discomfort with Randall carrying such weaponry, but Dracchus had insisted Randall be equipped to defend himself should the need arise.
Aja spun to face Randall and growled. “What do you want, human?”
Randall lifted his hands and displayed open palms. He didn’t move any closer, leaving several body lengths between himself and the females. “I didn’t mean to interrupt anything. I heard they found Melaina, and just wanted to make sure she was okay.”
“As you can see, she’s fine. Be gone.”
“Enough,” Rhea snapped, glaring at Aja.
Aja twisted to narrow her eyes at Rhea. “You are defending this human? Do you side with them?”
“There are no sides here,” Randall said. “We’re all just living, right? I’m not—”
Aja lunged toward Randall. “Were it up to some of us, you would not be—”
Rhea caught Aja’s arm and yanked her back, shoving her against the wall. She pinned her in place with her forearm across the other female’s chest and held the claws of her other hand at Aja’s throat. In her peripheral vision, Rhea saw Melaina carefully pick up her container and move behind Thana.
“Have you forgotten so easily that this human is under Dracchus’s protection?” Rhea asked, voice low.
“You are as much a betrayer as he is!” Aja snarled, struggling against Rhea’s hold.
Rhea caught Aja’s wrists with her tentacles, forcing the other female’s hands down to her side, and leaned more of her weight against her captive. She cocked her head. “Do you challenge me, Aja?”
Heaving through clenched teeth, Aja only glared at Rhea.
“There’s no betrayal happening here, and no need for a challenge,” Randall interjected. “I’m not here to cause trouble.”
“B
e silent, human,” Rhea commanded, though gently. She didn’t remove her gaze from Aja. “Do you?”
Aja shook her head sharply.
Rhea released her and moved back.
Sagging slightly, Aja rubbed at her chest with one hand. She glanced at Randall, face tight with anger and humiliation, glared once again at Rhea, and then spun away. All the females save Thana hesitantly followed her. Randall pressed himself against the wall as they passed him; none so much as looked at him while they were near.
“Has she sided with Kronus?” Rhea asked.
Thana sighed and lifted her hands, palms up. “If she has not yet, she is likely to now. I believe Leda has been whispering in her ear.”
“These jealous females will start a fight they cannot win.”
Thana looked at Randall. “Even threat of Dracchus’s retribution will not deter some of Kronus’s supporters. Though they despise Arkon, they gladly used the wounds he suffered at the hands of the human hunters as proof that humans are our enemies.”
“I’m not trying to incite more violence,” he said, frowning. The hunters who shot Arkon had been under Randall’s command until they’d betrayed their leader. Randall still bore scars as evidence of their treachery.
“Your mere presence does that,” Thana said.
“It’s not like I asked to come here.”
“But here you are,” Rhea said. “Thana, tell the other females he is under my protection, as well. An insult to him — to any of the humans here — is an insult to me.”
Randall clenched his jaw, and a crease appeared between his eyebrows. “I can’t say I don’t appreciate the gesture, but you don’t need to welcome trouble on my behalf, Rhea.”
Rhea grinned at him. “It is no trouble.”
Randall’s gaze dipped to her mouth. Humans had mostly flat teeth, and she supposed hers were as odd to him as his were to her.
“I am glad Melaina is safe,” Thana said. She looked from Rhea to the youngling. “I will see you both soon, I hope.”
The Kraken Series Boxset: A Sci-fi Alien Romance Series Books 1-3 with Bonus Exclusive Short Story Page 56
