Page 14

The swings were empty, so was the small roundabout and the climbing frame, but on a bench overlooking Kracken’s Hole sat Baba Yaga again. She usually would be on the swings, but today she didn’t feel in the mood.

Sometimes swinging just wasn’t enough.

Sometimes, she needed to make like a big girl and watch the world from her bench.

Only, her world revolved around this town and the people and creatures within.

She never, not in all of her long years…

and when she said they were long, she meant she had knickers that were older than the coastline itself never mind the town…

She digressed…

She had never, not in all her “long years”, expected Kracken’s Hole to become so important to her.

The long line of witches who guarded Merlin’s Gate had always impressed her, but the Moonchild cousins, now they were family.

She was after all, Godmother. So, this town had gone from being under her watch to being hers to care for.

The magic that had created the new Krackens had not been her doing. She smiled.

She had heard Maeve give thanks, although why she included Fate, she didn’t know, the wench had nothing to do with it. She was currently off in Benidorm getting a tan on her pasty arse.

But yes, she had heard Maeve, and as much as she would usually take credit she couldn’t.

Whatever master plan the universe had for them had nothing to do with her, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t keep a close eye on things.

The fact all three girls were owning their roles as guardians made her smile.

Baba Yaga was not sentimental, she might be a tad emotional now and again, but sentimental was not her thing but… in her old age she felt she appreciated the little things more.

Like watching those hatchlings being born, and Blackbeard out in his glory, she sighed.

She always enjoyed that one. But what hit the most, was the fact that Kracken’s Hole, the Hollow, and Merlin’s Gate, was now a home.

The magics were no longer erratic and things had settled into a happy thrum of life.

She no longer worried, because her girls had it covered.

But that also didn’t mean she didn’t want to get involved. Smiling, Baba Yaga clicked her fingers, and her outfit changed. Gone were her eighties themed leg warmers and tutu, instead she was dressed as a very sexy pirate. Think Kate Beckinsale in Van Helsing but sexier.

Adjusting the corset, she grinned before she clicked her fingers again and vanished in a cloud of glitter.

A trip to the pub first, and then she would visit the family and maybe have a look at those hatchlings… maybe even adopt one… or two… noooo… maybe an army.

Dave felt bad for dropping Jessica into the ocean, but he was happy to see Maeve and Will, and he hadn’t felt this happy in a long time.

There was one reason for that, and she was sitting across from him drying her long hair on a towel.

As soon as he had fished her out, he had shifted back to human and got dressed, although the shift felt easier this time but that may have been because he had Jessica to focus on.

Nothing that could have made him happier, knowing Jessica liked his Kracken form had lit him up from the inside. Was he really the same Kracken that had never wanted to shift and wanted to leave the Hole? Yet now he couldn’t even picture leaving his home.

“Jessica,” he called her name before he scooted his big form closer and took her damp hand in his large one. “Sorry,” he stated. His words were coming easier, but he still found them difficult, especially to say long sentences. He didn’t want to waste words with Jessica, so he kept things simple.

“Sorry,” he repeated and bowed his head.

An idea came to him and instead of questioning himself or overthinking it, he acted.

Slowly, so not to startle her, he raised her palm and placed a kiss on the meaty part, right below her thumb.

He had seen Will do it with Maeve and knew it was a kiss.

But he wasn’t sure how Jessica would react to it.

Yes, she liked his Kracken form, but that didn’t necessarily mean she liked him.

As his lips touched her flesh, Dave couldn’t help but sweep a tongue out to lick her skin, tasting the salt from the sea water but also the essence of her very skin.

She tasted of salt, summertime, and sunshine. For humans, that probably would sound totally absurd but for a Kracken that lived at Merlin’s Gate, that was nothing. Dave regularly tasted colours.

“Dave,” she whispered. Her free hand held the towel on her lap as she looked at him, her eyes pulled together in a frown.

Dropping her hand, he sat back and bowed his head. “Sorry,” he repeated, but this time it was a sorry for kissing her. He didn’t look up, didn’t want to see the anger or disgust in her eyes.

He needed to talk to his brother, Dave had no idea how to court a human because that was what he wanted to do.

The connection he felt with her was confusing, but without talking to his brother, Brutas, he wasn’t sure if that was because she was his mate or because he was a horny Kracken that had never had that experience.

Dave was about to stand up and leave when her hand on his stalled his movements. “Dave,” she whispered again, and reached up to cup his cheek.

He lifted his eyes to hers and became instantly lost in their depths.

He didn’t dare move, instead freezing as she moved closer to him. Her eyes flickered from his down to his lips and back again.

He licked them in response, he had never had a kiss before. Would she do it?

“Don’t be sorry,” she whispered before she placed her lips against his, a gentle press as her hand slid from his cheek to the back of his neck.

Dave made fists with his hands to stop from grabbing her. Slowly, she moved against him, her lips coaxing his in the time old tradition.

He jumped as she slid her tongue against the seam of his lips, silently begging for permission to enter. Dave had seen the guardians and their mates kiss; they were so open about their affections that Dave had been desperate to try it.

Now he was, and it was better than he had ever anticipated. Opening, he let her in, feeling her tongue slide against his own, and he couldn't hold back a groan. Dave sat still as Jessica climbed onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck so she could kiss him harder.

“Hold me, Dave,” she murmured against his mouth.

Dave didn’t hesitate, he wrapped his arms around her and tugged her into his body harder, never letting her lips leave his own.

He was always told he was a quick learner, and he hoped that put him in good stead now.

His hands roamed up and down her back, getting used to the feel of her in his arms as she moved, standing quickly only to sit back down and wrap not just her arms but also her legs around him.

This new position put her right against his human tentacle.

He groaned loudly at the contact and felt it grow hard.

His body reacted to her touch in a way it had never done before.

Dave knew what was happening, he had seen his brother and his mate come together in very much the same way, but he had never understood it until now.

She was a need for him, one that he couldn’t get enough of.

He didn’t want to stop kissing her because she tasted so good, but he also wanted to lick every inch of her skin and see if she tasted the same everywhere.

She groaned in his arms, groaned his name like it was a plea to the goddess. For that noise alone, Dave would destroy anything she wanted him to. Fetch her whatever treasure she wished for from the bottom of the sea.

His body demanded something but he wasn’t sure what, it was on edge, and he couldn’t help but flex his hips a little, pressing his tentacle against Jessica’s body.

The friction felt out of this world, and he did it again, only this time Jessica cried out.

He stopped, afraid he had hurt her, only to find her grinding down on him herself.

“Oh my god,” she cried out against his lips.

Pulling back, he waited for her eyes to meet his own.

“Jessica?” he questioned, hoping she would understand. Understand that he had never done this before.

Their laboured breaths mingled as they stared at one another, bright green eyes meeting emerald ones before Jessica spoke.

“I got you,” she whispered and pulled back. Slowly crawling off his lap she took his hand. With slow steps she walked them back into the nursery cavern, and to the small sleeping area Dave had created for her. Once inside she released his hand and pulled the curtain, so they had privacy.

Dave’s heart raced as he looked at the little human who, in mere moments, had taken control of his heart and possibly his soul as well.

He knew Krackens mated for life, but he never expected to fall this hard and this quickly, and as she stepped forward and slowly caressed his covered chest, he was grateful for it.

“Show me,” he murmured; his voice deepened with emotion. He wanted to learn it all and he wanted to learn it all with Jessica.