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 notneglectful.”
“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, Iwilljump 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.
Thane looms over me. I don’t know why it’s so terrifying and sexy that he still seems distant even while holding me down. He crosses his arms over his chest, the very picture of irritation... until I look into his eyes. There’s nothing cold or distant there. He’s staring at my body like I’m his favorite dessert and he doesn’t know where he wants to start. “You are a perpetual trial, Catalina.”
Tell me something I haven’t heard before.“Ooooh. Big scary kraken.” I don’t know why I say it, other than the fact I’ve never known when to quit.
“Stop talking or I will gag you.” Both his tone and expression are infuriatingly serious. Too serious to test him.
With a glare, I make a show of pressing my lips together. His lips twist in a smirk, and then two tentacles slither up my spread thighs toward my pussy.
I hold his gaze. This feels like the wildest game of chicken I’ve ever played, but I refuse to fold first. He’ll do what he threatened, or he won’t. Either way, I win. He didn’t send me away again. Not yet. He’s here, and he’s touching me and giving me his full attention.
“What will it take?” He almost sounds like he’s muttering to himself rather than talking to me. “More orgasms? Fucking your ass?”
“Do it,” I gasp. “All of it. Now. Please.”
One tentacle reaches my pussy and presses inside. I whimper in response. I’d convinced myself that I had imagined how good it felt last time, had built it up in my head until it was far too good to be real. It’s soft and yet hard at the same time, and it’s... twisting.
I’m so focused on that strange sensation, I almost miss the other tentacle pressing into my ass. It’s just slippery enough to manage it, and he stops before he’s gone too far. I try to keep silent. Truly, I do. But I am who I am. I gasp out a little breathy moan. “Oooh. Kinky.”
“I told you, Catalina.” He shakes his head slowly.
Another tentacle lashes out and winds around my head, covering my mouth. I try to curse, but he uses my open mouth to create a gag, sliding his tentacle between my teeth. He tastes slick and faintly like salt water, just like last time.
He works more and more tentacle into my pussy. The fullness is almost overwhelming—much more than the first time. I try to writhe, but I can’t say if I’m trying to get away or get closer. Ihatethat he’s surrounding me so effectively but hasn’t put his hands on me.