“Do you want me to stop?” Ordus asks, sensing the shift in my thoughts.

I shake my head, pushing my hips down onto his appendage. I try to lift myself up to ride it, but the Curse leaves me winded after the second grind. He leans back against the rock and uses his tentacles instead to yank me down onto him.

The motion takes me by such surprise, the pressure in my core reaches a detonation point. Pure, unbridled pressure surges through me. My nails dig into his shoulder as my screams echo through the caves. Ordus growls against my throat from the grip I have on his cock, but he doesn’t relent, using the opportunity to push another tentacle inside me.

My walls clamp around him. Eyes rolling to the back of my head, I massage his bulb in my fist. It never seems to get smaller.

He slips the appendage back out, thrusting into me with the single limb. Wiggling my hips back, I whimper, trying to seek out the fullness.

“More?” Ordus rasps. His suckers continue their torturous puckering at my clit, and I grunt in response, unable to form any words. “I don’t think so, mate. I need to hear you say it.”

He slides the second tentacle back in, only to pull it out.

“More,” I cry.

Ordus complies immediately, stuffing his limb into me and fucking me until I’m so full, I can barely breathe. He leans back against the rock, and my arms drop forward to balance on his chest.

Moans and cries fall past my lips from the overwhelming sensations. It’s too much and not enough at the same time.

He tugs his cock out of my hand, and I feel it skate along my thigh down to my pussy. A violent shudder tears down my spine as he removes his tentacles, notching his cock at my entrance. Warm liquid coats my core and drips down my legs.

“Are you certain, little mate? Once we do this⁠—”

I cut him off with a whimper. “Please, Ordus.”

The tapered tip slides in, and I gasp at the screech the Curse releases from the depths of my soul. Its panicked cries raise the hairs on the back of my neck, and I crush my lips to his to try and block out the roaring in my ears.

His appendage abruptly stops, and my eyes widen at the hard, flared bulb pushing against me.

Carefully, he contorts my body to the side, easing my legs apart with a tentacle wrapped around each ankle so I’m spread wide for him to see his cock inside me. I turn my head to gape up at him, curling one arm behind his neck to keep stable against the sprawling limbs he has me lying on.

Ordus’ purr rumbles against my side as he draws his appendage out before thrusting back into me. I moan when the knot hits me, over and over, suckers plucking at my clit intensely as he pushes the bulb harder with each drive.

He pinches my nipple between his thumb and forefinger, groping the flesh as his harsh breaths fan over my heated skin, snarling and gnashing his teeth in barely restrained hunger.

The Curse is rearing its head, torn between fighting what’s happening and soaking it in.

With each thrust, my screams ricochet off the walls of the cave. The echo turns into a symphony, harmonizing with Ordus’ grunts and groans. Pleasure pools and spills from my core.

His hands are on me. Around me. Over me. I’m not sure. I can’t think from the combination of him fucking me and the way the Curse is jerking around inside me. It’s painful at the same time as it makes every sensation heightened.

Bright lights flash everywhere—maybe it’s in my mind. Maybe it’s real. I cry from the pure pleasure that ruptures through me, and it only climbs higher when this thick bulb pushes into me. I can’t feel the sting of pain through all the euphoria, but all at once, it becomes too overwhelming.

“My mate,” he rumbles. “My perfect mate.”

I push his suckers away as he gives short thrusts, his knot inside me, pushing against the spot that makes me see stars.

Ordus roars as spurts of liquid heat coat my insides and drip out of the place where we’re connected. The Curse thrashes against the walls of my body, frantic, feral, and I feel like I can’t breathe or I’ll explode. Tears gather in my eyes, and I try to blink them back. It all feels too much.

“I must return the mark.” I can barely hear Ordus’ heavy rasps over the live wire sparking in my veins, threatening to wrap around my heart and crush it so it stops beating. His cock pulses inside me, pumping me full of his seed.

“Will it hurt?” I force out, the sound almost animalistic from the darkness clawing at my throat.

“I’ll be gentle.”

A tear trickles down my face. “You’re always gentle.”

He kisses my wet cheek. “Only with you.”

I drop my forehead to his, trying to swallow back the searing pain in my soul. “I’ll be gentle with you too.”

He lowers his lips to the left side of my chest, like where I put my mark on him. Teeth pierce skin, and the Curse comes alive. Agony like nothing I’ve ever known rushes through my veins. Blinding white light bursts behind my eyes. My soul twists and tears like I’m about to rip into a thousand pieces. I open my mouth on a silent scream.

Everything goes black.

OceanofPDF.com

33

Ordus

I clutch the seaweed bag tighter, eyes darting around the water for threats. The fish within buck in their attempts to escape their fate of becoming my mate’s dinner.

It has been ten days since Lazell made his ultimatum, eight since Cindi and I married.

There is no telling if the Curse is broken.

Game has not changed. I still must travel far to hunt. The earth below is nothing but sand, stone, and decay.

I don’t dare travel to Krokant to see what state the land is in, whether there is absolutely nothing or if there is…more. I want to check my family’s graves as well, but anything I do will mean that I am separated from Cindi for longer, and it is killing me.

My wife comes first. Always. If the Curse remains, then so be it. What’s done is done. There is nothing I can do about it.

Tonight, we will flee, biding our time on the mainland until I can determine whether my kingdom has been saved. And if the Curse never lifts, I will protect Cindi any way I can, Vasz too.

I swim hard across the barren land, hating that Cindi is alone and vulnerable on the island. Vasz hasn’t willingly left her side once, not unless I all but throw him out of the den.

A flash of color out of the corner of my eye stops me in my tracks. I frown, squinting against the murky waters to make out the hint of…green?

It can’t be.

I swoop low to the floor and quicken my pace to get a better look. Sprouting from the sand are two shoots of bright green grass.

Grass.

Tentatively, I reach out and brush my finger along a shoot to make sure I’m not dreaming. Prickles rain across my skin when my nail hits it and it doesn’t float away. This is the first sign of life I’ve seen in these parts in over twenty years.

It worked. The Curse is broken.

A smile splits across my face. My mate did it.

I race toward the island. I must tell my Cindi. Hopefully, she is awake so I can see her eyes brighten with delight. My family’s lands are saved—their deaths weren’t for nothing. If Yannig could see me now, he’d call me to the palace and insist on throwing a feast in my name, no one but the two of us in attendance. Chlaena would make decrees in my honor. My mother would be proud her outcast son has saved the lives of all krakens.

We did it—the ones my people see as vermin are the very reason they will continue to exist.

My nostrils flare as I close in on the island. A subtle wave of foreign scents are quickly approaching. Among them sits an unmistakable scent.

My knuckles crack. They’re coming.