My attention fixes on the monster before me, carrying me like I’m his greatest treasure. Lips thin and wary. Jaw tight and clenched. Voice brittle. “I can’t say the wrong things if I never speak.”

The water quietly laps against us as I draw my hand over his hair and shoulders, down to the center of his chest where the purrs have stopped. It’s a sound I’ve come to long for, soft rumblings I hear as sleep lulls me into its clutches every night.

“You should talk more anyway,” I whisper. “You have a nice voice.”

A small smile tugs at my lips when the soft vibrations stir beneath my fingertips, unraveling every knot in my muscles.

Ordus’ eyes slowly travel down to my hand. He stills beneath me, so stiff, he could shatter. My eyes round, and every cell in my body screams in panic. Something’s wrong.

I frantically follow his line of sight to my breast, and the internal screaming turns deafening. My bikini shifted during the swim; now Ordus has a first-row seat to my exposed nipple.

Mortification stains my body in bright splotches of red. Before I can scramble to cover myself and collect the last vestiges of my dignity, a tentacle loops around my thigh, and the pointed tip brushes over my center.

I suck in a sharp breath, looking up at Ordus. Whatever pain painted him earlier has morphed into pure, unbridled desire.

He pinches my chin between his thumb and forefinger, the tip of his claw curving over my lip. “The Goddess made you perfect, little mate.”

My eyelids flutter at the heat in his voice. It’s deeper than I’ve ever heard it before, a fraying thread about to snap.

Oxygen whooshes from my lungs at the press of a pointed edge along the inner seams of my bikini bottoms before moving across my ass to hold me up. A growl thunders beneath his purr.

There’s an unfamiliar comfort in knowing I could say a single word, and this will all end. He’ll let me go, maybe even fix my top for me, turn his head to give me privacy. The tension would evaporate.

He hasn’t pushed me to marry him because it’s my decision. He hasn’t touched me in inappropriate ways or said anything that makes my skin crawl because he won’t do anything unless I ask for it.

I shift my hips against his tentacle, grinding along the hard limb. Ordus’ nostrils flare, and his lips peel back to reveal his sharp teeth, his expression twisted with rage and desperation. I’m not scared. On the contrary—I want to wrap my arms around him, trace his harsh jaw, and hang on every word he’s willing to give me.

“Cindi,” he warns.

A bulb drags along my inner thigh. It pauses over my sex.

Oh. He’s just as affected as I am.

“You should talk more often,” I whisper, lips moving against his clawed thumb that could rip me to shreds.

I poke my tongue out, swiping across the harsh pad to taste the saltwater clinging to his skin.

“Tell me what you want,” he rasps. His fingers twitch against my ass, eyes never once straying back to my exposed chest.

Control. He’s giving me every ounce of it in this moment.

This is for me, not him. Everything he does is for me.

Goosebumps erupt over my flesh as he draws us out of the water, settling me against his thick limbs on the side of the pool. He towers over me, his hand still inches away from finding out it’s not the water making me wet.

His tentacle tightens around my leg, and warm liquid spills onto the delicate skin of my inner thigh. The muscles in my lower stomach spasm, and he takes a deep breath. The blacks of his eyes devour the blue, more beast than man.

And the monster is still giving me the reins.

I want to take them.

“It…aches.” I almost don’t recognize myself.

Ordus’ purr jumps in volume. “Tell me where it hurts.” He trails his finger along my cheek, bending down to brush his lips up my jaw to the shell of my ear. “Let me fix it, mate.”

My breaths come out in short bursts. My free leg falls to the side, knee resting on his waiting tentacle. I arch my back, pushing my ass into his hand before grinding myself against the V of his abs.

He snarls, a sound so animalistic, my heart rate leaps.

Without warning, my bikini bottom is reduced to shreds, a pile of ribbons on the ground, swollen flesh exposed to him.

I’m distantly aware of the sirens blaring in my head, warning bells urging me to step on the brakes, to stop us from crossing a line I can’t uncross. I know what this would mean for me. What would it translate to for the monster who thinks I’m his soulmate?

Whatever the answer is, the question evaporates from my mind as soon as a tentacle sinks into me. A moan tears from my throat at the same time as he releases a growl that vibrates through my bones.

It’s a gentle move, cautious, like he’s holding himself back and doesn’t want to hurt me.

I clamp around him. Somewhere in me, there’s a long rope with dents and tangles. In a single second, it’s obliterated. His sucker pulses around my clit, and there’s nothing in this universe that exists except his tentacle in my pussy.

Ordus draws back before pushing back inside me, over and over, deeper each time. I look down as warm liquid drips from his bulbed appendage onto my core and trickles around his thrusting tentacle.

He’s fucking his cum into me.

“You stretch so pretty for me, little mate.” He’s all monster. There’s no hint of the man behind that voice. “Is this where you’re hurting?”

I grunt. Choke. Whimper. I couldn’t speak even if there was a gun to my head. He might have given me power over him, but in this moment, I’m completely and utterly powerless to my own whims.

“Perfect.” Ordus sucks my clit harder, and I thrash against him, clawing at his arms, bucking against his limbs. It’s pure ecstasy.

I’m not sure what happens, but my breasts fall victim to the cool cavern air and my top is on the ground right before a long, pointed tongue laves at the hard bud. “My sweet mate,” he purrs. I scream when his sharp teeth prick my nipple, and he does it again and again, alternating between licking and threatening me with his teeth.

Nothing about what he’s doing is rough. There isn’t an ounce of hurt or an inkling of incoming pain. Still, he isn’t treating me like I’m breakable. He’s looking at me like I’m the Goddess he spends his life praying to, and he’s on his knees appeasing me, worshipping my flesh and tasting me like I’m his first and last meal.

I lose all sense of composure when a sucker wraps around me and—dear fucking God.

Ordus’ pleased chuckle splashes my desire with fury that fizzles away when his tentacle eases into me, stretching me out until it stings.

“Is this what you wanted to hear? My voice?” He pulls out, keeping his tentacle an inch away from my entrance. My muscles spasm angrily at the loss. “It’s only fair I hear yours too.”

“Ordus.” It’s my turn to sound animalistic.

“That’s it, little human. Louder.”

He smiles a full, sadistic smile, plunging back into me in a single swoop. I scream, fisting his hair, then snarling in frustration when he deprives me of his appendage.

“Again,” he demands. He thrusts back into me, tentacles curling around my limbs to keep me in place, like he might die if I left.

I cry out, arching my back to take more of him. I’m not quite sure what goes through my head at that moment, but I slam my lips against his, and everything stops. He doesn’t move, doesn’t dare breathe.

Shame washes over me. I misread this.

Kissing is too much. I shouldn’t have. This probably means something else to him, and I⁠—

Ordus grabs the base of my neck and kisses me back as if his life depends on it. It’s unpracticed and unsure, but he follows my lead, moving with me. He tests out each nibble the way I do, sliding against my lips, tasting each other as he resumes thrusting into me and sucking my clit.