15
Moss
Way to ruin it, dick.Moss was still trying to find the right words to strike the haunted expression from Carol’s face when she threw herself at him.
Neither of them was ready. She tangled her hands in his hair, elbows and knees knocking clumsily as she climbed him like a goddamn mountain. It was like when they’d clung together in the storm, only this time they weren’t holding desperately to one another to stay alive; they were holding desperately against the fear that they would never have this chance again.
Never. A lifetime without her. No glinting smiles, no stolen glances, no tantalizing hints of her scent. No push-pull of her sudden movements and stops, the way she could go from predatory stillness to striking speed in the blink of an eye.
No wondering what she tasted like. Noknowingwhat she tasted like.
Then her lips found his, and he couldn’t think about anything else.
She was all urgency and roughness, her body stumbling against his the way she sometimes stumbled over her words,and then—something changed. The tide turning. A wash of cool water over sun-baked sand. She melted against him, her lips softening, her body pressing against his. He pulled her close into his lap, and she let her legs fall either side of his hips. Possessive and welcoming.
But she had no idea what she was welcoming in.
His arms tightened around her. He shouldn’t be doing this. He had no idea what sort of danger he might be putting her in.
The kraken never had a mate.
There had to be a reason for that.
He broke the kiss, pulling away just enough to whisper an apology. “Carol, I—”
She made a tiny noise of frustration and kissed him again. Her tongue traced the seam of his lips, and what the fuck was he meant to do now?
What if they only had tonight?
He kissed her back, opening his mouth to taste more of her. She gasped, and he held her tighter, and she heldhim,matching his desire with her own. God. This woman. Everything that he was longed for her. To lose himself in her. Forge the bond that would let them belong to one another forever.
Forever.An echo of the deep and the dark, a loneliness that wore away at the soul until there was nothing left. No darting smile. No heart-racing glint of those jagged teeth.
He flinched, and pain bloomed in his mouth.
Carol froze. Then, fast as a knife, she jerked away, horror filling her eyes.
Moss raised a hand to his mouth. Blood. What had—?
Ah, fuck.
“I’m sorry!” Carol yelped, hiding her mouth behind one hand. “I didn’t mean to—”
Bite me.A not entirely unpleasant shiver tickled its way up Moss’s spine. The fuck was wrong with him? He pushed thefeeling aside. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry. I’ve done worse to myself in the kitchen.”
“How? Chewing on knives?” She groaned and covered her entire face this time. “Sorry. This is all going wrong. I shouldn’t have…”
“Pounced on me?”
She peeked at him through a gap in her fingers. He made sure she saw him smile, one eyebrow raised teasingly. Some of the horrified tension eased out of her shoulders.
“If a bit of biting’s the price I have to pay to be pounced on by you, that’s a deal I’m happy to make.” He tugged her closer, and she let him pull her against his chest, tucked in like the precious treasure she was. “It’s okay.”
“You’rebleeding.”
“I’m a shifter. It’ll fix.” He raised one hand, showing her the scars. “You want to really make a permanent impression, you’ll have to try harder than that. Like—there. Chuck a roasting pan right out of the oven at me. Or that one—not paying attention fileting a swordfish.”
Her body softened against his as she relaxed a fraction more. “Did the fish get you, or the knife?”
