27. Eve
EVE
Golden light pours into my eyes.
I feel on fire. Warmth radiates from my chest down my arms and legs. My senses are heightened. I can smell everything. Including the saltwater on the pillow beside me.
I open an eye and realize I’m not in my room. The sheets are different, and so is the bed. It’s double the size of the one back in my room.
The window is on the wrong side. It’s a sprawling cavern filled with silver furniture and overlapping tridents on the wall.
A comforting arm rests hotly on my hip. Harven’s handsome face is relaxed in sleep.
Memories of the previous night come rushing in. The sharkin. The water. I felt like I had died.
Maybe I did, but Harven had saved me in time. Just as he always did.
I ghost my fingers over his cheek. Dark lashes flutter. His arm around me tightens as he comes awake.
“Eve,” he gasps, curling me into him.
We are both naked. I fit my body along his. Tentacles rove over my skin and lock me close. I breathe in his sandalwood and musk. Our heartbeats pound in sync. It’s like I can physically feel his heart against mine.
How strange.
“What happened?” I ask, not entirely sure I wish to know.
“I got you back, Eve. I’m so fucking sorry I never should’ve left you.”
“I don’t understand. Who was—”
“The reason for my distance was because of a plot Lord Bane had helped uncover. We discovered correspondence between a sharkin and someone working in the castle who had been keeping an eye on you.” His hands trace along my spine.
“They plotted to abduct you from the palace. I hadn’t wanted you to worry—confident I could crush the threat immediately.
I was a fool, blinded by many things. I increased security, but it didn’t matter because whoever the sharkin was working with knew when and where to strike.
Knew I wouldn’t be with you last night.”
My blood runs cold.
“How?”
“Because it was Nixie. She orchestrated the entire thing.”
“Nixie?”
The female didn’t like me, but to go to such lengths. I wouldn’t have suspected her either. I thought she’d want to embarrass me—take Harven from me—not see me dead.
“My dismissal of the Pearls last night, I’m sure, solidified her choice in wanting you gone. The fool probably thought with you gone, I’d take her as my queen.”
The breath stills in my lungs. I replay his words, sure I hadn’t heard them correctly.
“You what?”
Harven rises into a sitting position. He drags me onto his lap and cups my cheeks.
I peer into the depths of his soul.
“I love you, Eve,” he says. “I don’t want anyone but you.
If that makes me weak in the eyes of the court, so be it.
You are my heart and soul—the only mother of my children.
We are bound, you and I. For eternity. We will never be apart.
Half my heart rests inside your chest. It was the only way to save you. ”
His hand drifts to my stomach, stroking it with reverence.
“Our child kept you alive long enough for me to reach you.”
“Our child?” I gasp.
I place my hand over his. The king’s smile is breathtaking.
Harven tickles my cheek with his nose.
“The Sea Witch confirmed it, as did the healers while you were asleep.”
It made sense.
I had believed my nausea to be a part of my cycle, but looking back, it was definitely morning sickness. Harven repeatedly reminded me of his strong seed, and it seems to be true.
Pregnant. I can’t believe it.
Joy fills me as I take in my flat stomach. It won’t be that way for long. I’m ready for the next adventure with my kraken at my side. My mate. Who loves me. Who dismissed his Pearls and gave me his eternal life.
“This is a lot you’re throwing at me this morning, Harven,” I quip. “What did you do to Nixie?”
Harven’s eyes narrow.
“She’s being tortured along with her sharkin lover.
I’m having her scales pulled out one by one until they grow back.
Then the whole process starts again.” He scrubs his hands along my shoulders.
“As for the sharkin, he’s being fed to all manner of predators.
Sharkins can regenerate limbs, but very slowly. Painfully.”
“Remind me never to piss you off, my king.”
Harven chuckles before his eyes turn serious.
“I’ve had Seera and Bly detained as well until we can confirm if they plotted with her or not.”
“They didn’t,” I assure him.
“How can you be certain?”
Males. Always so oblivious. Since he’s dispensed with their position, there’s no harm in telling him.
“They want us together.” My palms press against his chest. “They love each other. I know being together when they were your Pearls was forbidden, but sometimes it can’t be helped. Let them be united, Harven.”
His agreement is swift.
“If my mate wishes it, then it shall be done.”
Biting my lip, I raise a brow.
“So that’s it?”
“What?”
“No more Pearls?”
“None.”
“Ever?”
“Ever. You’re the only one I’ll ever want, Eve.” He curls a strand of hair around his finger. “You live so long as I do. The same goes for me, so take care of yourself, little mate. We are one. You are mine alone.”
“Greedy as ever,” I purr. “Whatever shall I do with you?”
“I can think of something.”
His lips find my neck. My head falls back on a gasp, but it’s not from the nip to my pulse he delivers.
Above the bed are the two portraits I painted during our date in the library. Surveying the room again, realization dawns on me.
“This is your room.”
“Our room,” Harven corrects, licking the hollow of my throat.
“Told you I wouldn’t be kept out of here.”
He kisses my cheek.
“Your place is with me. Getting your pretty pussy fucked regularly.”
“Hm,” I muse. “That sounds nice.”
“We can get married,” he offers. “And I can officially crown you queen.”
“It seems there are many things to be done.”
“But not right now.”
I slide my fingers through his soft hair, and my lips curl.
“Did you have something else in mind?”
My hips lift. I grind myself against his hard abs. Harven’s hard cock presses against my backside. Pleasure spreads through my body.
“I need to be inside you, Eve,” he groans. “Need to fuck away the vision of you blue and unmoving.”
My fingers dig into his skull. I drag his lips against mine.
“Take me, my king. Give me every inch of you. Make me your queen in this bed.”
He snarls, capturing my mouth.
The air knocks from my lungs as he rolls me onto my back. My thighs wrap around his middle as his tongue slides against mine. His injured tentacle tickles my cheek.
Breaking our kiss, I open my hand towards the appendage.
“I think this one might be my favorite.”
Harven shakes his head.
“You can’t have favorite tentacles.”
“Why not?”
“The others will get jealous.” He bites my collarbone. “I’ll get jealous.”
“Possessive, my king?”
“I’ll show you possessive.”
Using his tentacles, he threads them through the silver bars of the headboard. They quickly encircle my wrist until my arms are taut. I pull against them, but it’s futile. Completely at his mercy, Harven throws me a wicked smirk.
His tongue dips into my mouth once more before he trails down my chest. I moan as he takes my nipples into his mouth. His large hands squeeze and knead my breasts expertly. My thighs rub against his sides, desperate for any relief.
Traveling lower, he licks into my navel with relish. He places a lingering kiss on my stomach before biting across my hips.
Hefting my legs over his shoulder, he pins me to the bed with his massive hands.
He devours me with groans.
I scream as his tongue tickles my clit. Arousal leaks from me and into his waiting mouth. Harven eats me like I’m his last meal. He bites, tastes, and plunges into my pussy with precision.
Pleasure gathers in my stomach.
“So sweet,” he growls. “All mine. Mine for a century—mine for a thousand years.”
He spits onto my pussy.
I moan as his saliva collects at my opening. His lips return to my clit as he slides a tentacle into me. This one tunnels without reprieve. It fucks me ruthlessly. The suckers glide along my inner walls. The tip nuzzles at my G-spot while Harven works my clit.
“Fuck, Harven. I’m close—I’m—”
Fire licks at my skin as I erupt. My head falls against the silky pillows as my back bows off the bed. My feet curl against his muscular back as I tremble with the force of my climax.
Harven doesn’t give me a chance to catch my breath.
He rotates us until I’m astride him, then leans against the headboard. His tentacle wraps around my waist and keeps my arms pinned at my sides.
Silk sheets brush my heated knees. A tentacle looms before my face.
“Open your mouth,” he commands.
It’s been too long since we last played our game. I eye him warily and shake my head.
Harven’s palm cracks along my ass.
“Don’t make me repeat myself,” he warns, squeezing the burning flesh.
Begrudgingly, I part my lips. The tentacle slides down my throat. I choke on the slick appendage. Tears burn into my eyes as it fucks my mouth.
Once it’s slick, Harven lets it slip free. A trail of spit clings to my lips.
“What the—”
My snarl ends in a moan as the tentacle pushes into my ass.
I shudder in pleasure at the dogged invasion. It doesn’t stop, not until it’s completely sheathed inside me. My mind whirls. Pleasure and pain chase each other in my blood.
Harven’s tentacles lift me and deposit me onto his dripping cock.
I scream at the fullness. In one downward glide, he fills me to the brim.
I’ve never been so stretched—so thoroughly used. His tentacles push and pull me on his impressive length. The ridges glide along my sensitive walls. His other tentacles trace over my skin, renewing their suck marks.
My breasts jostle from the force of his brutal impalement.
Harven’s head snaps forward to capture a nipple. I groan as he toys with it. He releases me with a pop and grins.
“Feel me, Eve. Take all of it.”
Another tentacle slithers into my mouth.
I suck on it like it’s Harven’s cock. Bobbing my head, I work it deeper into my throat. I bite and suck and lick for all I’m worth.
Surrendering to his mercy, I take whatever my mate throws at me. He said I was his fucktoy and I am. I’m a vessel for his pleasure. To be used however he wants.
There is power in surrender. In relinquishing your troubles to the one person who would do anything to keep you safe. It’s why our game comes naturally.
Harven will never take things further than I want. I’m giving him pleasure, but he’s also ensuring mine. That’s what it means to be one with another.
Harven snarls as he pounds me from below. Each thrust is timed perfectly with the sliding tentacle in my ass. One goes in while the other pulls out. The alternating sensations make pleasure heighten.
I now know what it means to be fucked senseless.
The only thing I care about is my impending climax.
“Remember this feeling of being completely at my mercy. That’s how I’ve felt from the moment I saw you,” he snarls. “Only I get to have you—only I get to fuck you. Keep you. My toy to play with. Mine to own completely. Anyone who tries to take you from me will be met with death.”
I garble my assertion around the tentacle in my mouth. Saliva dribbles down my chin. Harven’s smile takes on a feral edge.
“You love it, Eve. Love that I’ve slaughtered thousands for this perfect cunt.
” His eyes blaze with golden fire. “When I bound our souls, Eve, I saw all the things you tried to hide from me. Every depraved desire and obscene want. You are my mirror. For years you were taught to fear what you crave most, but I’ve freed you from those shackles.
You need my dominance in order to feel complete. Isn’t that right?”
The tentacle slides from my mouth. Sucking down air, I nod frantically. His cock and tentacle slam into me at the same time. I’m not going to last much longer. The tingle in my stomach is back with a vengeance.
“Yes, yes! Kill for me, Harven. Keep me safe. I’m yours forever. Yours to fuck. Yours to breed. Yours to love.”
Harven takes my mouth with a groan.
Plundering it with his tongue, his tentacle slides between my thighs. I wait for it to touch my clit, but it pauses.
Without warning, Harven tosses me onto the bed. I snarl as he pulls his tentacles and cock from me.
Before my peak can disappear, he shoves his cock into my ass. The burn, the pain—the decadence of it all is too much. I erupt from the brutality of his claiming.
I scream his name. My pussy clenches down on nothing as he pounds my ass. My jaw slackens as I shift into another position. His tentacles support my middle as he crowds behind me.
Without a moment's reprieve, Harven slides two tentacles into my pussy. My climax quickly barrels into another one as he fucks me like a male possessed.
My fingers claw at the sheets. I tilt my hips back to take every bruising inch.
He rains slaps across my ass. The pain heightens everything, and I’m once more thrown overboard into a whirlpool of pleasure. I let it drag me down into the murky depths I may never resurface from.
I can only lie there and take his pounding.
His tongue licks sweat from my spine. Biting into my shoulder, I savor Harven’s guttural growl.
My monster. My kraken. My mate.
“I love you, Eve.”
His fingers find my clit, and it’s over.
Coming on a silent scream, my soul leaves my body. Harven slams into my ass one final time before emptying himself into my depths. I absorb every hot splash of his come. It prolongs my pleasure until I feel drunk with it.
Sliding out of me completely, I slump forward on the bed. My body trembles with the lingering remnants of pleasure. Harven’s strong body spoons around me. He cuddles me close, kissing my forehead and whispering gentle praise.
I tremble in his grasp, barely aware of my body.
“Mine.” He kisses my lips, then places his hand on my stomach. “Mine.”
“Ours.”
“Ours.”
So much death brought this one tiny life into being. Two weeks ago, I thought I was going to die alone. Now I’m about to be a mother. To a baby with tentacles.
Life has a funny way of shaking out.
A giggle burst from my mouth. Harven quirks a brow.
“That cruise ship you stole me from promised to lead us all to our perfect match. Never thought mine would be the kraken who kidnapped me.”
Harven smiles, pulling me closer.
“Life is funny like that.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
He lifts my chin and kisses me with a gentle press.
“You’re what’s perfect, Eve,” he whispers.
“I am pretty perfect.”
“And beautiful.”
Kiss.
“And creative.”
Kiss.
“And wicked in all the best ways.”
His kisses soon turn to more. Hands become seeking, and our moans rise inside the room. I give in to him as I always have. Always will.
Forever.
It doesn’t sound so daunting when Harven will be with me for every moment of it.
I used to be so uncertain of my future. I let life pass me by and wallowed in my loneliness.
Finally, I was home. The bond glows gently in agreement.
My great love was never on a dating app. He was a king who’d spent centuries searching for me at the bottom of the ocean.
If that wasn’t a fairytale ending, I didn’t know what was.