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He’s… well, there’s a lot of him.

My first impression is a sculpted swimmer—Olympic-level, with shoulders like a triathlete and a V-shaped torso right out of a Marvel movie, only the coloring’s wrong.

His torso is human-like, but his skin has a faint blue-green sheen. His eyes are solid black like a shark’s, and from the water around him emerge what are definitely tentacles.

Long and thick, they glide around him where his legs should be. Each one is lined with suckers—dozens of them.

“What the actual fuck,” I wheeze, trying to catch my breath.

I blink rapidly, wondering if near-drowning has caused me to hallucinate. “Your lake?” I manage once I’ve caught my breath. “Pretty sure lakes are public property. The rental listing didn’t mention any… tentacled co-renters.”

A smile curls his lips, revealing teeth that are too sharp. “Humans rarely acknowledge what they don’t understand. This is my lake. Kraken territory has been for millennia.”

“Kraken,” I repeat dumbly. “Like the sea monster?”

“That’s a rather reductive term,” he sniffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “But essentially, yes. I am Caspian, guardian of these waters, and you are trespassing.”

“I’m renting the cabin,” I say, treading water and trying not to stare at his impossibly broad shoulders. “So technically, I’m apaying guest, not a trespasser. And you just tried to drown me, which seems like an extreme response to a girl taking a swim.”

I’m still trying to wrap my head around what is happening.

Orwhojust happened?

“I wasn’t trying to drown you,” he says, looking almost offended. “I was inspecting you.”

“With your tentacles? Super appropriate. A handshake would’ve worked.”

One of said tentacles rises from the water between us, hovering like a snake about to strike.

This is insane! I should be freaked out.

Any sane person would be getting the hell out of the water by now.

Why am I not panicking?

I should be swimming for my life, getting back in my car, and driving straight back to civilization. Instead, I’m stuck here ogling every muscle and tentacle, unable to tear my eyes away.

I’m fascinated.

No, fascinated is an understatement. I’m downright mesmerized. And a little turned on?

What the hell, Lily?

Is this what rock bottom does to a person? I should be fleeing for my life, and instead, I’m considering the logistics of how interspecies make-outs could even work.

I mean, what is happening to me right now?

Total mental breakdown?

Repressed bad girl syndrome?

Tentacle-induced fever lust?

“You’re not scared,” he says, sounding surprised.

“I caught my fiancé, correction, ex-fiancé, balls-deep in my maid of honor, who also happens to be my sister. My fear response is temporarily out of order. Try again next month.”

His mouth—full-lipped and far too kissable for a sea monster—quirks up at one corner. “Interesting.”