Page 13 of Kiss for My Kraken (Fairhaven Falls #8)

N ina hesitated outside the cabin door, still half-convinced she must be dreaming. For days, she’d gazed at this island from her window, imagining what secrets it might hold. Now she was actually here, invited into Sam’s private domain.

Moonlight filtered through the canopy, casting dappled shadows across the dock.

Tiny white wildflowers dotted the undergrowth, glowing like stars against the dark earth.

The scent of pine and earth filled her lungs, mingled with the clean, mineral smell of the river.

Even the air here felt different somehow—cooler, cleaner, untouched by the world beyond the river.

As Sam reached past her to open the door, she had her first real look at what lay below his waist—powerful tentacles, sleek and silvery-grey, that tapered to slender flexible tips. The sight sent an unexpected thrill through her, not of fear but fascination.

He caught her looking and hesitated, uncertainty flickering across his handsome face. She smiled reassuringly and walked through the door, noticing the intricate carved pattern that decorated its surface—swirling lines that mimicked the flow of water.

The door opened into a large room, rustic but surprisingly cozy in the soft glow of a lantern hanging from an overhead beam.

A stone fireplace dominated one wall, cold now but clearly well-used.

Shelves were built into the walls opposite the tall windows that overlooked the river.

There were only a few pieces of furniture, but there was a wide padded bench beneath the windows and two more on either side of the fireplace.

“This is lovely,” she said, turning slowly to take it all in.

He watched from the doorway, his powerful body half in and half out of the cabin, tentacles still mostly submerged in the water beyond the porch. In the dim light, his blue eyes seemed to glow.

“I built it myself.”

She moved deeper into the room, drawn to the shelves that lined the walls. They held an eclectic collection of treasures—books with weathered spines, polished river stones in a rainbow of colors, delicate shells, and glass bottles filled with what looked like sand of different hues.

“You’re a collector,” she observed, running her finger along the spines of the books. Many were classics—Melville, Stevenson, Conrad—tales of the sea and adventure.

“I gather what interests me.” He moved further into the cabin, and she turned to watch him.

In the confines of the room, she could see more of his form—the powerful upper body of a man, muscular and perfectly proportioned, transitioning below the waist into the tentacled body of a kraken.

His skin was a sleek silvery-grey with faint blue markings that seemed to shift in the dim light.

He was magnificent.

She realized she was staring and quickly looked away, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. “I’ve never seen a home quite like this before,” she said, moving to the window that overlooked the river. “It feels… alive somehow.”

“It’s adapted to my needs.” He moved further into the room, opening a hatch to the water below and settling himself on the edge. His tentacles moved languidly beneath the surface, powerful yet graceful. “Part land, part water—like me.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “That’s why it’s built this way, with part of it over the water.”

“Yes.” His eyes never left her face, as if gauging her reaction to his home—to him. “I need both worlds.”

Ozzie had completed his inspection of the cabin and now approached Sam cautiously, nose twitching. To her surprise, he showed no fear, only curiosity. After a moment’s hesitation, the dog settled himself a few feet from Sam, apparently accepting his presence.

“He likes you,” she said, smiling. “He’s usually more wary of strangers.”

“He knows I mean you no harm.”

She moved to the low table, running her hand over its smooth surface. It was beautifully crafted, the wood polished to a soft sheen. “Did you make this too?”

“I made almost everything here.”

“By yourself?” she asked, remembering what Flora had said about him being alone.

“Mostly. You’re the first person who’s been inside my home, but there’s a small landing on the other side of the island and I have the occasional visitor.”

She wanted to ask more, but something held her back and she changed the subject instead. “I haven’t thanked you properly for saving my life.”

“You don’t need to thank me.”

“I do,” she insisted. “I would have drowned if not for you. Why did you save me? You didn’t know me.”

“It was the right thing to do.” He was silent for a long moment, his blue eyes unreadable. “But I also recognized something in you. A loneliness that echoed my own.”

Unexpected tears threatened to spring to her eyes. How had he recognized that so quickly?

“I was lonely. I’d been running for so long, never staying in one place long enough to belong.” She hadn’t meant to reveal so much, but something about this place—about him—made her want to share her truth.

“Running from what?”

She hesitated, then perched on the edge of the bench in front of the windows.

“A community that tried to control everything—what I thought, what I wore, who I could speak to.” The memories rose like shadows, unwelcome but persistent. “They call themselves The Chosen. They insist it’s a place of faith and family, but it’s more like a prison.”

He moved closer, his movements fluid and graceful even out of the water. “How did you escape?”

“Slowly. They had plans for me—an arranged marriage to one of the Elders’ sons.” She shuddered at the memory, and he made an odd sound, almost like… a growl? She shot him a quick look but his expression hadn’t changed.

“But then my father died and they agreed to give me a year of mourning. They run a small diner for tourists and I worked there, saving every penny I could.” A bitter laugh escaped before she could prevent it.

“They thought I was saving it for the wedding. Mel, one of the older women who worked at the diner, was from outside the community originally and she helped me plan my escape. The night before my wedding I took my father’s old car and ran away. ”

“You were brave.” The admiration in his voice warmed her, but she shook her head.

“Just desperate. It was like a trap closing around me. Everyone was so convinced that I would go along with it. My former best friend is married to his brother, and she was all for the wedding, but I saw how much she changed after her marriage. My mother had remarried—to one of the Elders—and she was pushing me into it as well.”

“So you escaped.”

“Yes, but it was harder than I expected. I don’t even have a high school diploma, so it was hard to get a job, and they never seemed to last long.

I also moved around a lot because I was afraid The Chosen would come after me.

I was afraid to stay in one place.” She looked up, meeting his gaze. “Until now.”

“Why stay here?” he asked.

She considered the question. “Something about this place feels right. The people are… different. Accepting.” She smiled slightly. “Plus, I have a job I like and a place to live which is all mine, which is more than I’ve had in a while.”

He nodded, his expression thoughtful. “Fairhaven Falls has a way of collecting lost souls.”

“Like you?” she asked gently.

A shadow passed over his face. “Yes. I came here about ten years ago, seeking solitude after… a difficult time.”

“What happened?” she asked hesitantly.

He was silent for so long that she thought he wouldn’t answer. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and rough. “My family was… taken by humans who wanted to experiment on us.”

“That’s illegal,” she said furiously, but he only shrugged.

“They didn’t care. They thought our biology could be useful.”

The implication sent a chill through her. “They hurt you?”

“Yes,” he said quietly, his eyes distant. “My mother died almost immediately. My father would have followed her but he stayed alive as long as he could for my sake.”

She went to sit on the hatch next to him, reaching for one of his huge hands and wrapping it in both of hers. “I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “That’s horrible.”

He looked down at their entwined fingers as if puzzled by the gesture. “It was a long time ago,” he finally said.

“But the pain stays with us,” she said softly.

“Yes.” His fingers tightened around hers. “I wandered for a long time as well, moving from lakes to rivers and back, never staying in one place too long—much like you. I’m not even sure I would have stayed here, but Flora found me and convinced me that I had a home here.”

Why didn’t that surprise her?

“She found you this island?”

“She directed me to it,” he corrected. “Said it was waiting for someone like me. I’ve been here ever since.”

She nodded, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, before her gaze wandered to the powerful tentacles that moved with such fluid grace beneath the water.

“Your body,” she began, then hesitated, uncertain if the question was too personal, but he smiled at her.

“You can ask. I won’t be offended.”

“How does it work? Your body, I mean. The tentacles…”

He lifted one of his tentacles out of the water, letting it curl on the floor next to him.

“I’m a kraken. Half human in form, half creature of the deep.

My tentacles are as much a part of me as your legs are of you—stronger, perhaps, and more versatile.

” As if to demonstrate, the tentacle reached up and lifted a book from a nearby shelf, bringing it to him as easily as if he’d reached out his hand for it.

She watched, fascinated. “Can I…” she began, then stopped, embarrassed.

“Touch them?” he finished for her. When she nodded, he extended the tentacle towards her, slowly, as if afraid of frightening her. “If you wish.”

Heart pounding, she reached out, her fingers hovering just above it before she gathered her courage and touched it gently. The skin was smooth and cool, firmer than she’d expected. The tentacle remained perfectly still under her touch, though she sensed the immense strength coiled within it.

“It’s beautiful,” she murmured, tracing the subtle patterns in the silvery-grey skin. Small suckers lined the underside, and when she ran her finger over one, it closed gently around her fingertip in a small sucking kiss before releasing it.

He made a sound—half sigh, half groan—that sent a shiver down her spine.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked, quickly withdrawing her hand.

“No,” he said, his voice deeper than before. “The opposite.”

“Oh.” Understanding dawned, bringing with it a flush of heat that spread from her cheeks downward. “They’re sensitive.”

“Yes.” His blue eyes had darkened, watching her with an intensity that made her breath catch. “But every part of me is… alive to your touch.”

The admission hung in the air between them, charged with possibility, and she found herself moving closer, drawn by a pull she couldn’t explain. Her hand lifted again, this time to touch his arm, feeling the smooth skin and hard muscle beneath.

“You’re so different,” she said softly, her fingers tracing the line of his shoulder. “But not in a way that frightens me.”

He remained perfectly still under her exploration, but she could feel tension radiating from him—not fear or anger, but something else entirely. Her hand moved to his chest, feeling the steady, powerful beat of his heart.

“Nina,” he said, his voice rough. “If you continue touching me this way…”

She looked up, meeting his gaze. “What will happen?”

In answer, one of his tentacles curled gently around her waist, not restraining, just holding. The sensation was startlingly intimate, making her acutely aware of how close they were.

“I’ve wanted to touch you since I first saw you,” he admitted, his free hand coming up to cup her cheek. “But I was afraid you’d run.”

“I’m not running,” she whispered, leaning into his touch.

His eyes blazed blue fire. “Can I kiss you again?” he asked, his voice a low rumble that she felt as much as heard.

She nodded, unable to form words past the tightness in her throat. He leaned forward slowly, giving her every chance to pull away. But she didn’t want to pull away. She wanted to move closer, to explore this powerful, gentle male who looked at her with such wonder in his eyes.

His lips met hers, soft at first, a question more than a demand.

She answered by leaning into him, her body pressing against his, her hands sliding up to tangle in his dark hair.

The kiss deepened, his mouth moving with increasing hunger against hers.

His tongue stroked hers, longer and more flexible than a human tongue, sending excited little shivers down her spine.

Another tentacle wrapped around her lower body, cool and smooth compared to the heat of his mouth on hers.

It was intoxicating—the dual sensation of strength and gentleness, power held carefully in check.

She heard herself make a small sound of pleasure, and felt his response in the tightening of his tentacles around her.

When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, she found herself cradled against his chest, his tentacles supporting her weight as easily as arms would have done. She should have felt strange, or alarmed, but instead, she felt only a profound sense of rightness.

“I’ve never felt this way before,” she admitted, her voice unsteady.

His expression was a mixture of wonder and desire that made her heart race. “Nor have I.”

The intensity of the moment overwhelmed her, and she buried her face against his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heart against her cheek. His arms—and tentacles—held her gently, as if she were something precious and fragile.

“Are you afraid?” he murmured against her hair

She shook her head against his chest. “No,” she said, and meant it. “I feel… safe. With you.”

He made a sound—part laugh, part disbelief. “Most would not find safety in the arms of a kraken.”

She lifted her head to look up at him. “I’m not most people, and you’re not just a kraken. You’re Sam.”

Something in his expression shifted, and he smiled down at her—a smile so full of warmth and tenderness that it stole her breath. “And you’re Nina. My Nina.”

“Yes,” she said simply, feeling the truth of the words settle deep within her.

Ozzie chose that moment to let out a soft whine, reminding them both of his presence. She laughed, the sound breaking the intensity of the moment. “Someone’s feeling left out.”

Sam smiled—a real smile that transformed his face. “Perhaps he’s hungry. I have food, if you’d like to stay a while longer.”

“I’d like that,” she said, returning his smile. “I’d like that very much.”