His chest heaved in and out and he looked a little lost. Jessica placed her hand on his arm and smiled.
Nothing needed to be said as he moved. He gently lifted her by the waist and walked across the sand to the shore, by a group of large rocks jutting out from the water. As if she weighed nothing Dave placed her on a rock, high enough that she didn’t get wet before he stepped away.
Jessica expected to see Dave shift, ripping through his clothes and bursting into Kracken form, but that didn’t happen.
Instead, she got more than what she bargained for and was prepared for. Slowly, Dave stripped. First the jumper, which was then folded and placed onto another rock, then his shoes and socks. Each movement was slow and careful, as well as painful in anticipation for Jessica.
Then his T-shirt went, revealing a torso that should have been banned, it would be her downfall and if any other woman saw it, it would be hers too. Muscles jumped and flexed. Pectorals that looked as if carved from stone that led to the world’s finest eight pack. Biceps flexed and his skin gleamed in the early morning sunlight. When he moved just right, his skin had an iridescent sheen to it.
Jessica was so focused on the ripple of pecs and abs that it took her a long few moments to realise that he had continued his strip tease, and now standing gloriously naked.
“Holy shit,” she breathed out as her eyes wandered lower. Considering they were in her skull, she should have full control, but she didn’t. They wandered and stopped and stared.
Dave was a Kracken, yes, he also was a Kracken as a human too. Long, thick, and guaranteed to make a girl’s eyes water.
Jess, stop looking at it, eyes up, girl, stop it… seriously, stop looking at it.
With more force than she ever thought she would need, Jessica lifted her eyes to meet Dave’s. She expected a touch of embarrassment yet there was none, instead he tilted his head almost like a dog does and smiled.
“Okay?” he asked. Oh, she was more than okay. The day was starting off fabulously.
“Yes, I’m okay,” she replied and smiled back.
“Not find me… disgusting?” he asked and now she saw it; the uncertainty in his voice, his eyes showing a sadness that Jessica had missed.
“No, god no. who called you that?” She jumped off the rock and into the water, only she didn’t expect it to be so deep. But then again, she wasn’t a giant Kracken man like Dave. In a flash, she was held against a naked chest with his “tentacle” smacking her leg. It thumped against her thigh like an elephant’s trunk.
“You okay?” he asked as he swept her hair away from her face.
“Yes, sorry, didn’t realise it was that deep.” She patted his chest, unable to stop herself from touching his skin, or the muscle for that matter. “Who said you were disgusting? ‘Cause they are very wrong.”
“Everyone tells me to dress, they turn away quickly, not wanting to see me,” he admitted, and Jessica fought the need to giggle.
She knew exactly why, any man that looked the way Dave did was going to get ogled. But because he was family the guys here were trying to give him the respect he deserved.
Although Jessica would be having words with Maeve when she next saw her, she could have forewarned her about certain details.
“You are perfectly fabulous to look at, Dave, as human.” She grinned. “The jury is out on your other side.”
Placing her back on the rock Dave stepped back. With one of his devastating grins he dived beneath the surface of the water. Jessica had wanted to see him shift, but that was something she could always request later. A few minutes passed and nothing, Jessica started to worry. Then she felt it.
A gentle grip to her ankle alerted her to a tentacle as it slid up the rock to her and wrapped around her leg. Soon, it was followed by the others, all sliding slowly up the rocks until theysurrounded her. She found herself picked up and carried in a cradle of long limbs, before the bulk of Dave finally made an appearance and, in turn, made Jessica’s dreams come true.
His bulk was a multitude of colours; blues and greens that got darker and more intense closer to his face. Scales with flecks of purple and orange framed his eyes, and every single part of him down to the end of his tentacles held that iridescent sheen. But it was his eyes that held Jessica captive. Green, deep, dark, and mesmerising. They promised her the secrets of the sea, and yet also a fragility that Jessica wanted to protect. Seeing a full-grown Kracken for the first time was everything she had hoped, knowing who he was made it all the more special.
Yet there was one thing that played on her mind and in her heart.
Was she falling for a Kracken, and how could it happen so quickly?
Ignoring that for now, she stroked a hand up and down the tentacle that was wrapped gently around her waist, and placed the other hand on Dave’s head. Beaming, she couldn't hold back.
“Holy fucking shit, you are amazing.”
13
Maeve,Arietta, and Isabeau stood and looked over the nursing pool, all showing shock in a variety of facial expressions. They hadn’t expected the eggs to already be hatching, and definitely not as many at the same time as there were.
“I did not expect them to be do damn cute,” Isabeau admitted as she bent down and sat on the edge of the pool, letting one of the hatchlings wrap its tentacle around her hand.
