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Feeling her grow tense against me, I stroke a soothing hand down her back. “Would you let me speak with Blair, at least? Sorenson found you somehow, and right now the Bureau seems to be the most likely source. He should know if Sorenson got his hands on any information.”

Nora is quiet for a few moments before answering. And even though those moments are fraught, and the idea of Sorenson still out there somewhere, walking free of the consequences he deserves, makes it feel like there’s a pallet of bricks sitting squarely in the center of my chest, there’s nowhere I’d rather be than right here, supporting her.

“I think that’s alright,” Nora says finally, laying her cheek against my chest and letting out a long breath.

It’s followed by a yawn, and I press a kiss against her temple.

“Sleep,” I tell her. “We’re safe for tonight. You’re here, with me, and that’s all that matters.”

“Goodnight, Elias,” she says, eyes closing as she stays firmly by my side.

“Goodnight, little siren.”

20

Nora

I could get used to waking up pressed against my kraken.

Like yesterday, I wake up before Elias, and it gives me a few minutes to savor the enticing, sexy sight of him sleeping.

Neither of us bothered with clothes after our shower last night, and that fact is working to my benefit this morning as I look him up and down.

He truly is a fine specimen of a man, kraken or otherwise.

Long, toned limbs, a sculpted abdomen and chest, deeply tanned skin peppered with coarse black hair. Such a contrast to my own body.

My physique is a lot less toned, and padded with a soft layer of fat I’ve grown to appreciate these past two years. It’s the body I’m comfortable in. A body that loves frozen pizzas and rich chai lattes, that likes long walks but detests running or lifting weights. I’ve always felt most at home in myself when I look like this, easy and natural, not striving and stressing to be something I’m not.

Something Daniel wanted me to be.

I shudder now to think of the young woman in the photos Elias must have seen. Thin, blond, and attractive, yes, but also so concerned with every bite she put in her mouth and every hour she spent in the gym of the high rise we lived in.

I’d hated the cameras and the attention, the way Daniel would pick and criticize and make unsolicited suggestions about how I could do better, be better, stop disappointing him. It had gotten so bad that I’d avoided those magazines and newspapers altogether, and felt a wave of anxiety any time a camera was present at an event.

Now, though, with a sexy-as-hell kraken pressed up against me, his big hand resting possessively on the soft curve of my hip, I don’t feel self-conscious at all.

Like he can sense me thinking about him, Elias stirs beneath me.

“We talked about this yesterday, Nora,” he grumbles. “It’s too damned early.”

“It’s hard to believe Morgan-Blair Enterprises is so successful,” I retort, allowing myself to be pulled back down against his chest. “With its CEO so lazy and prone to sleeping in, how does any business ever get done?”

Instead of answering, Elias kisses me. Unhurried and decadent, he probes and teases, strokes and inflames, until my body is melting into his.

“We’re going to have to do something about all of this sass,” he murmurs. “It’s really becoming a problem.”

There’s no true irritation in his voice, nothing but warm, wanting provocation that makes me smile and nip at his lips. “You like it. I think you needed a little excitement in that boring old life of yours.”

“Is that so, little siren? And do you intend to provide that excitement?”

My response is lost in the slow heat of his kiss and the unparalleled feeling of tangling my body with his. There’s freedom in it, playfulness, permission to be who I am and say what I want without worrying about being judged and found lacking, to indulge in the hunger I know my kraken feels, too.

It’s not until a few long, hot minutes later that we both come up for air. Elias’s cock—his human cock—is pressed against my lower belly, and he’s breathing just as heavily as I am.

Still, when he hesitates for a moment, there’s some uncertainty lingering in his eyes. I can’t decipher it, but when he leans in to press a quick kiss against my forehead before climbing out of bed, it puts a knot in the bottom of my stomach.

“I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”