Page 65 of The Kraken Bride

A smile bloomed, a fierce determination unfurling inside my chest. He protected the people, ja. But he no longer carried that burden alone. I would stand beside him adding my strength.

My purpose. My mission.

I petted his chest. The convergence took place tomorrow, and a sea clock now ticked down in the back of my mind. Above us, the court had gathered for the second night of the rites without us. Tonight they would gather for the third, and when it turned, the rune would wake.

As if to prove it, the waters beyond the dome stirred. I sensed them, too, but it only doubled my determination. Find a way. Protect him at all costs.

“This is how I wish to wake every day for the rest of my life,” he rumbled. “You on top of me, your fire in my head.”

The lines of his face had softened, his hair mussed from sleep. No tension hardened his jaw as he gazed up at me. I’d never seen him like this, so content and relaxed, but I was immediately addicted.

Without dislodging me from my perch, he reached for the nightstand and held up a gold coin hanging from a chain. “This is for you. A coin—and I realize now, it seems as though I’m paying you for services rendered. Oh, wow. I did not think this through.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “It’s supposed to be a gift.”

I snatched it as fast as immortally possible and clutched it to my chest. “Mine?”

He caught my excitement, as if it were contagious, and relaxed. “Only yours.” He gently retrieved the jewelry from my death-grip and wound the chain around my neck, securing the clasp at my nape.

Hot hands, cold metal. Pure happiness. He’d remembered my collection.

“After I became king, I swiped this coin from a merchant who’d stolen it from my father. I kept it to remind myself that mistakes can be fixed, if I’m willing to fix them.”

“I’ll treasure it always,” I said, stroking the coin. A vow I meant with the whole of my being.

Features soft, he stroked the shell of my ear. His gaze dropped to my chest, and a wicked smile spread. “Let me show you something.”

One second he was stretching beneath me, the next he stood behind me, a full-length mirror in front of us. What a pair we made. The towering, muscular kraken, all shadow and ferocity, and the tiny ballerina, all moonlight and hidden fire. White waves of my hair tumbled over my arms. Lips puffy and pink from his kisses, the rest of me soft and pliant and—blue?

A faint blue outline of Sebastian’s handprint now decorated my chest, tiny runes hidden within the lines. The second mark.

He gripped my hip with one hand and used the other to trace over the lines of the brand, primal satisfaction etched in his face. “I wanted to share with you my favorite sight,” he said, and bent and kissed my throat, right where my pulse hammered. “You. Like this. With me.”

I raised my hands overhead and combed my fingers backward, into his silken hair. “I would like it very much if you would do that thing with your—” I stiffened as knowledge downloaded straight into my brain. “Shifters have breached palace grounds.”

“Já.” His hand flexed on my hip. “Per my instructions, shifters are making camp in a hidden grotto to prepare for the convergence ceremony. I’m due for a meeting with Jon and his leaders to accept the rune stone.” He growled against my shoulder before kissing it too. “Join me when you’re ready.”

“I will,” I said, grateful for the time to recover from the delights of last night. This would be my first showing as kraken queen, and I wanted to be in top form.

He released me and strode into his closet, emerging minutes later wearing a plain black T-shirt and leathers. His step faltered when he found me exactly where he’d left me, naked and soft.

His growl came again. “I was never going to have the strength to resist you.”

Chuckling, I caught him by the shoulders as he passed me on his way to the door. I kissed him, quick and claiming. “I won’t be long.”

Before he could sling his arms around me, I darted into the closet.

Humming under my breath and dancing with every step, I showered and changed into a pale blue gown with ebony threads sewn to resemble tentacles and sheer golden panels falling from my shoulders like wings.

After strapping on a pair of shoes, I raced from the chamber. I sensed Sebastian’s location. And his emotions. He wasn’t happy.

Gunnar waited in the hall. He bowed low, as he’d never done before, saying, “My queen.”

I grinned even as I picked up the pace. “I love hearing that. But I’m not stopping to chat. This queen is in a hurry.” I had a solution to find.

Following the tether to a part of the palace I’d never ventured, I sailed down a quiet corridor not far from the throne room and the king’s study, past a stretch with multiple offices and conference rooms encased in glass walls. This must be where the business of the realm took place.

And there was Sebastian, inside one of the conference rooms, and my blood sang.

He sat at the head of a long, rectangular table, crafted from the polished wood of an ancient shipwreck. Harpa perched herself at the other end, regal in a way I’d not witnessed before. Along each side waited two shifters. Jon, with three men I’d never met.