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It is said that on the day the young prince was born of his goddess-touched mother, a tree in the heart of the temple bloomed, though it was the middle of winter. It was seen as an omen of good luck. And that is why this scholar cautions against belief in omens—within a month, the island had fallen and the prince was dead.

Akeisa: Religious Figures and Rites

by Guildmaster Klement

The ocean was safe, familiar. Naia and Aleksi floated in it, cushioned from the violence above. Bits of jagged wood floated down around them, some missing them by less than a handspan.

So she sent out a silent plea. Protect us.

A heartbeat later, tentacles wrapped around them, each one larger than a person, with a leashed strength that could destroy a ship—and just had.

But this was familiar, too. The Kraken’s embrace. Naia relaxed into it and focused on breathing, on Aleksi’s arms around her, on the Kraken’s body surrounding them both as he pulled them through the water.

It was hours before they emerged into the shallows, rocks and sand abrading Naia’s legs. The sun was low on the horizon when she burst out of the water and onto shore, using a wave to carry Aleksi fully onto land. He gasped and sputtered, and she calmed him with a hand on his pale, icy cheek.

Then she turned to scream at the water. “ Einar! ”

The dying light slanted over a massive body as it twisted in the water and vanished. The water churned, and Einar broke the surface, rising to his full height in the shallows as he strode naked from the waves.

He looked ... different. Taller, broader. His hair was longer, wild , and his skin was a shade of silvered purple, with a texture that sang of sea creatures. His eyes blazed teal.

This was the Kraken. Not the man most people saw, or the tentacled creature who’d hauled them to this island.

This was Einar .

He dropped to his knees in the sand next to them, and she could feel the heat radiating off him as he reached for Aleksi. “The light is almost gone. We need shelter.”

The beach was a cold, barren expanse of rock, driftwood, and dead seaweed. But Naia could just see the peak of a roof over one of the dunes, and they hurried toward it.

It was a tiny fishing cabin, set back from the shore. Though apparently abandoned and weathered by the passage of years, it was mostly sound. Einar carried Aleksi inside, and Naia shut the loose door to close out the worst of the wind.

“We have to get him out of his clothes.” Naia’s jaw was starting to hurt from clenching her teeth to prevent them from chattering. Aleksi was far worse off, nearly frozen, his skin tinged with blue. “Help me.”

Together, they stripped off Aleksi’s clothes. His wet, naked body steamed against the furnace-like heat of Einar’s chest. Naia pulled the water from them both, drying their skin and hair so the heat would linger.

The narrow bedstead had been strung with ropes that had long since rotted away. But there was a hearth, and if they could get a fire going ...

“Over here,” she murmured.

She drew the water from Aleksi’s clothes and spread the dry garments before the hearth. She made quick work of stripping off her clothes, dried them, and covered Einar and Aleksi with her dress and cloak. Then she dried herself and climbed under the cloak with them.

For a while, they simply lay there, recovering their strength. Aleksi warmed—slowly, but at least he no longer felt like ice to the touch.

“He’s still shivering.” She pressed closer to Aleksi’s chest, sliding her arms around him until they met the blazing heat of Einar’s body behind him. “What if it’s not enough?”

Einar’s hand found her hip, pulling both her and Aleksi closer. “It will be enough. We’ll make it be enough.”

He sounded torn between determination and despair. Naia stroked the back of his hand. It was bigger than what she was accustomed to, his skin still soft but thicker, almost like a hide. “I didn’t realize that you could do this. Be this.”

His thumb swept over her hip, his skin almost rasping against hers. “I couldn’t, not at first. But I’m not like Dianthe. There’s no place in the ocean that doesn’t welcome her. But in the deep ...”

The ocean was dark and cold, the pressure of the water immense. “Is that how you found out?”

“Mmm. There was a raid along the Western Wall ... fifteen hundred years ago now, I think? Some Imperial general thought to make his name by slaying the Kraken. He’d had a giant speargun designed, and he managed to hit me before I crushed his ship.” His thumb drifted higher, drawing gentle circles on her waist. “I sank too deep and lost control of my form. But I didn’t regain my mortal body. Instead, I became this. And it saved me.”

Naia shuddered at the thought that he could have died. But it was an intriguing notion, nonetheless, that his power could transform him into something new in order to save his immortal life.

If she lived that long, what would she learn about herself and her abilities?

But all she said was, “I’m glad.”

“Me, too.” The caress slowed, until it was a mere suggestive whisper. His lips curved into a wry smile. “Though I learned over the years that most people find it unsettling.”

“I think it’s beautiful. Because it’s you.”

He raised his hand to cup her cheek. “Thank you,” he said. “For seeing me.”

She had not always. She’d once thought Einar to be brash and abrasive, a cocky pirate who cared only for the glories of battle and bedding his conquests. But now she knew who he really was—a warrior and a prince, a man who pretended not to care because he cared too much.

No, she had not always seen. Not until Aleksi had taught her how to look .

She blinked back stinging tears. “What do we do now?”

“We survive.” He tucked her hair behind her ear and resumed his soothing caresses. “Remember what I said about my ship?”

She sucked in a breath. “That the Kraken will always find its master.”

“The crew knows the signs.” Einar huffed a laugh. “Dianthe took me through the Heart of the Ocean once without giving me time to warn the crew. The anchor chain snapped, and the ship was at full sail out of the harbor before Petya managed to get her boots on. It may take a day or two, but they will come for us.”

“And then what?” she asked softly, as if Aleksi wasn’t unconscious but listening to them. “Aleksi may have been poisoned by accident, but someone did try to kill us, Einar. Someone at Gwynira’s court.”

“They tried to kill us,” he agreed. “But they tried to take Aleksi. Someone wants to hurt him—or worse.” She heard a hint of the deep in his voice. The monster, protective and vengeful. “We find them. And we destroy them.”

The thought of someone harming either of them was the distillation of every nightmare Naia had ever had, brought to life. “I won’t let them hurt you. And I will not let them take Aleksi.”

“It’s sweet of you to worry about me, little nymph.”

“Aleksi!” Her tears would not be contained this time. She touched his face, his chest, reassuring herself with the warmth of his skin.

“Shh, don’t cry. I’m all right.”

“Let her cry,” Einar rumbled. “Hell, I might cry. You scared the shit out of us.”

“Fair enough.” Aleksi reached up and brushed Naia’s hair from her face. “Last I knew, we were underwater. Now we’re dry and on land. How long have I been unconscious?”

“Not long,” she assured him. “Or I’d be far more upset than I am right now.”

“How do you feel?” Einar laid a hand against the Lover’s forehead.

“I’m fine.” The words seemed automatic, as the whole of his attention was focused on Naia’s mouth.

“Aleksi ...” she warned. “You were half-frozen not long ago.”

“So warm me up.” He bent his head and brushed a kiss over her parted lips. “So many words, little nymph, when all you have to do is show me .”

It was a request for contact more than sex, for the reassurance of intimacy. So she kissed him back, slow and soft, and twined her fingers with Einar’s. He moved their joined hands over Aleksi and Naia both, soothing and warming them.

The gentle rasp was as arousing as it was comforting, and Naia sighed into Aleksi’s mouth.

“That’s right.” Whispered words, but they held the weight of a command.

Even recovering from hypothermia, Aleksi still had to be in control. But Naia didn’t mind, and she was fairly certain Einar liked it, as well.

But not right now.

She pushed Aleksi onto his back and climbed on top of him, straddling his thighs. She made a show of running her hands up to his shoulders, leaning close enough for her body to press against his. Her nipples brushed his cock, which twitched and strained beneath her.

She ran her hands back down just as slowly, lingering over his chest and stomach. Then she straightened and pulled Einar close to her side. “What shall we do with him?”

Einar’s teeth grazed her jaw in a teasing nip before he twined their fingers together and drew her hand back to Aleksi’s chest. “He wants us to warm him up,” Einar rasped, guiding her fingers until they circled one nipple. “I know just how hot your mouth is. Show him, Naia.”

She wiggled a little as she leaned forward this time, coaxing a groan from Aleksi. He arched up against her as she drew her tongue around his nipple, following the direction of Einar’s touch.

Aleksi hissed in a breath and threaded his fingers through her hair, tugging gently as she traced a path up to the side of his throat, his jaw, his ear ... and finally to his mouth.

But she did not kiss him. Instead, she looked at him, silently willing him to understand that this was about more than pleasure for her. That it had always been more, even if he had not realized it.

Aleksi smiled. “I know, love. I see it, all around you both. Steam rising from a hot bath. A waterfall rushing over stone.”

“As long as you see it.” She sat up again and turned her attention to his cock. It pulsed at her gaze, and she licked her lips as she ran her fingertips down its entire impressive length.

The noise that escaped Aleksi made her clench in reaction.

Einar stretched out beside him, clenched a hand in his hair, and licked his cheek. “Can you hold still and let her explore, Aleksi? You made me do it.”

“No.”

That was Aleksi, honest to a fault. Naia rewarded him for it with the mercy of her fingers around him. He thrust into her hand, then again—and harder—when she squeezed lightly.

Einar’s amused rumble filled the room as he tugged on Aleksi’s hair. “So impatient,” he chided, his free hand skating down the Lover’s chest ... and lower. He wrapped his fingers over Naia’s, hot and gently rasping as he guided her to stroke. “Should we take pity on him, sweet goddess?”

“Yes.” She slid back to kneel between Aleksi’s thighs and bent her head to his cock. The moment her tongue touched him, a shiver, almost like an electric current, jolted through her, leaving tingling pleasure in its wake.

Einar hissed in a breath, his fingers flexing. “ Fuck. I forgot about that.”

Naia gasped in a breath, her nipples aching. “What was that?”

“That’s what happens when you please the Lover.” Einar claimed Aleksi’s mouth in a fierce, growling kiss. His hand still curled around Naia’s, and he squeezed their hands tighter, eliciting another shock that left her moaning and shuddering.

A hot flush stole over her skin, and Naia braced her other hand on Aleksi’s hip. A drop of moisture had pearled at the head of his cock, and she caught it with her tongue a moment before Einar’s questing thumb would have rubbed it away.

Einar broke their kiss, panting as he stared down at Aleksi. “Has anyone ever made you come before they did?”

His answer was immediate. Sure. “No one has ever made me lose control.”

“A challenge, then.” Einar left Aleksi’s side, kissing his way down his body. He joined Naia in her attentions, swirling his tongue around Aleksi’s cock just as she did. Their tongues twined, parted, and twined again, meeting in a hot, open kiss around the head.

Aleksi groaned. This time, the sound melded with the quick jolt that was already becoming familiar. Necessary. She tightened her hand around the base of his cock and closed her mouth around him. Einar grasped her hand, guiding her to twist her grip lightly as she stroked. The electric rush surged through Naia again, more intense this time, leaving her dizzy.

Einar’s lips found her ear. “Do you want to ride him, goddess? Do you want to know what it feels like when he comes inside you?”

To answer, she would have to lift her head, and she wasn’t willing to lose the heavy weight of Aleksi’s cock on her tongue. She grabbed Einar’s arm instead, digging her nails into his rough-smooth skin.

His dark chuckle washed over her. With a last fleeting kiss to her cheek, he moved. Then she felt broad, hot fingers stroking down her spine. “The Lover’s bounty is generous.” Einar teased his fingertips over her hip, then lower to her inner thighs. “Should I get her ready to take you, Aleksi?”

Aleksi shifted beneath her, his chest heaving, his skin hot. “ Yes. ”

Naia sucked in a breath as Einar’s touch rasped over her clit. He lingered until she moaned shakily, then began to push, slowly and inexorably, into her.

“My fingers are bigger in this form.” He dropped a kiss to the small of her back. “But you’re so wet ...”

She was ready to beg, was getting ready to raise her head to do just that. But before she could do more than moan around Aleksi’s cock, he grabbed her hair and pulled, harder this time.

“She needs more,” he rasped. “Now.”

Einar fucked his finger deeper, stretching her. “Is that true, goddess? Do you need more ?”

Naia tossed her head back with a moan that Aleksi immediately echoed. It was all the answer Einar needed, because he eased his finger from her body and returned with a second, fucking them into her faster than before.

The sensation of it overwhelmed Naia, but there was no pain. Only an insistent, unquenchable need that drove her to rock back, taking Einar’s fingers deeper.

He growled against her hip. “That’s it, sweetheart. Just like that. Do you like being full?”

Her legs shook, and she maintained only the most tenuous hold over her own body. Something else loomed before her, something earth-shattering, but so, so worth it.

“Look at Aleksi’s face. Look at how much he loves watching you like this.” Einar fucked her harder. “You can do it, goddess. You can make him lose control. Take him.”

Desperate, she sucked Aleksi’s cock into her mouth again, silently pleading with him to understand . To know what she needed, and to give it to her. She fluttered her tongue, met his gaze. His eyes were burning coals, and the heat enveloped her a heartbeat before he swelled and jerked in her mouth, spilling over her hungry tongue.

Every cell in Naia’s body contracted and expanded at the same time, and she could not even scream as the orgasm swept through her. It was intense, inescapable, because it was everywhere , all at once, curling her toes and making her lungs burn.

And it did not stop.

Behind her, Einar groaned, and she felt a hot splash against her leg as he came on her thigh. “Fuck. Fuck. ”

The pleasure melted into aftershocks that rocked her, and she knew this feeling now. It was the same thing that had happened at the festival, the sense that the world was open to her now in ways it had not been before. That she could see and hear and taste it all. Feel everything .

And what she felt was hunger. Not to have another orgasm, or even to give one. But to be a part of them both.

She climbed over Aleksi again, grinding against his wet, still erect cock. Then she shifted her hips and took him inside her in one claiming thrust. He was big, but the overwhelming sense of invasion was exactly what she needed to center her long enough to catch her breath.

She wanted this moment, wanted them .

And she was going to have everything.