The Kraken's Sacrifice (A Deal With a Demon #2)(23)

Ramanu will be gone for a while. They aren’t sure how long. That’s what they came today to warn me about. They’re being called away on bargainer business, and they wanted to remind me that no harm can come to me but also they won’t be here to keep me company. Someone else will fill in, but they’ll be doing weekly check-ins, rather than coming every other day.

Alone again.

Alone always.

I look around the space. It’s exactly the same as last time I was here. Aside from this small stone platform at the bottom of the stairs, the rest of the cavern is filled with water. This is where we came in, so it’s obviously connected to the greater body of water.

He has to be here. He has to be.

“Thane!” My voice breaks halfway through his name. “Get up here, you fucking coward!”

Ripples form in the water and grow ever larger as they race toward where I stand. I really, really hope that’s Thane and not some demon-realm predator who’s about to eat me in a not-fun way. The instinct to flee almost overwhelms me, but what’s being gobbled up compared to being left to wander the halls of this place alone like some ghost who hasn’t had the decency to actually die yet?

Thane rises out of the water like some eldritch god, all tentacles and stern fury. I don’t know what it says about me that seeing those tentacles makes my pussy pulse, but I think I can be forgiven since he’s made me cum with them. Honestly, that racist white dude author got it wrong. H.P. Lovecraft didn’t know what he’s missing.

Tentacles are sexy.

So is Thane. He may be only partially humanoid, but he’s well-made all the same. That look of cold disapproval on his face is all too familiar. He glares. “What are you doing down here? Did something happen?”

I refuse to see that last question as concern. Refuse. He doesn’t like me, or he wouldn’t be avoiding me. That’s fine. I don’t like him either. Probably.

“I’m bored.” I prop my hands on my hips to hide my sudden tremors. “You went through a giant headache to get me, and you’ve risked your entire territory for the pleasure of my company. Stop ignoring me, and entertain me. Unless you want me to fuck Ramanu, which I am honestly kind of on board with because they’re a delight to be around.”

He stops at the end of the platform I am standing on and presses his giant hands to the stone as if he can’t decide whether he wants to attempt patience . . . or launch himself at me like a predator wrapping around their prey. “Ramanu won’t have you.”

I blink. Wow. Wow. “Jeez, tell me how you really feel.” I mean, it’s not really there for me with Ramanu either. I like them a lot, but it feels more friendship and less wanting to rip their clothes off.

But that doesn’t mean it feels good to hear Thane state it so baldly.

He sets his jaw. “You’re mine, Catalina.”

I don’t feel a thrill at that sentence. Nope. Not even a little bit. “Cute, but if that’s the case, I see why you don’t have any pets. They’d die of neglect.”

“I am not neglectful.”

“Prove it.” It’s not smart to provoke him. He’s proven to be caring when necessary, but despite being in his home for weeks, I don’t actually know him. He might decide locking me in a tower isn’t good enough and lock me in a room.

If he does that, I will jump out my window. Who cares if I don’t know how to swim? It’s not like I can drown.

“Leave,” he says.

“Or what?”

He blinks those eerie black eyes at me. “Or what?”

“Yes.” I’m being an asshole, but I can’t stop. My tone is petulant and spoiled. If I leave, he’ll go back beneath the surface, and I’ll be alone again. At this point, I don’t care if he yells at me as long as I don’t have to be alone. “Usually there’s an ultimatum or a threat involved.”

Thane’s fingers flex. I’m mildly horrified to watch solid stone crack in response. He speaks slowly, his dry voice somehow not echoing the same way mine does in this space. “Catalina, if you don’t walk up those stairs right now, I’m going to fuck the brat right out of you.”

Danger, danger, get the fuck out of here.

But I don’t. This is a terrible idea. We’ve cum together twice before—rather, I’ve cum, and he’s bolted like my pussy is made of acid—and he didn’t have this dangerous edge to him either time. But I’ve never been able to resist a gauntlet thrown at my feet—usually to my detriment.

“Fuck the brat right out of me. That’s a mighty big task.” Part of my mind is screaming to turn around and walk away, but I already know I won’t. I reach up and unclasp the shoulders of my deep purple gown. A new one, courtesy of Embry’s last delivery. Ze never sticks around long enough to chat, which is somehow worse than if he never came and the gowns just appeared in front of my door as if by magic. I liked what I’d seen of Embry, but apparently the feeling isn’t mutual.

The gown slithers down my body, and Thane watches the movement as if it brings him physical pain.

I lift my chin. “Bet you can’t. I’m a brat down to my very core.”

I don’t even register him tensing to move. One moment he’s glaring at me like I kicked his dog. The next he surrounds me. Tentacles lash out, wrapping around my arms and legs and taking me to the ground with a gentleness that shouldn’t surprise me but does anyway. They tighten, holding me spread wide and helpless.