Page 37 of Dragon My Crazy

“Decent enough,” he rumbled, his voice like gravel. “Though I can’t say the same for you, dragon. You drove right over the drawbridge several times, and didn’t even once say hi.” Then his eyes landed on Elana. He grinned, showing sharp teeth that were most definitely not human. “And who’s this beautiful creature?”

“This is Elana,” I said. “She’s visiting for a few weeks.”

Elana extended her hand toward the kraken’s offered tentacle without hesitation.

Kai’s gaze flicked to me, then back to her. “Ah. The one who’s been keeping Emmett so busy,” he undulated suggestively, “that he couldn’t visit when I’m literally just at his doorstep.”

Elana’s cheeks flushed.

I rolled my eyes. “Ignore him. He just likes to stir the pot.”

“More like churn the water.” He made several obscene hip thrusts.

Elana ignored them. “So how did a kraken get so far from the ocean?”

“That’s a long story, but I can summarize,” Kai said, lifting himself out of the water down to the waist where the human skin ended, turning a purplish gray. “At my very lowest, a sea witchtold me that I must follow legs to find what I seek most in life. So I made my legs, got out of the water, and started walking wherever my legs took me.”

“That sounds like quite a story.”

“It is, and it isn’t. I had a few false starts, walked across a number of the Hawaiian Islands, before I realized I had to swim a bit to get to the mainland first. I spent a few years traveling up and down the coast before I started into the mountains. My legs got tired here, so I stopped. I still don’t know what I’m trying to find, but my legs don’t want to walk anywhere else.”

“Well, I hope you find what you came here for.”

“Me too. But in the meantime, I’m living the life. I take trips out to the big city when I can, and I get my own saltwater moat, and all the sashimi I want. I’m in a lot better place than I was when I first started. And I’ve only had to eat one intruder.”

Elana’s face visibly paled.

We stayed a little while longer, and I steered the conversation away from the devouring of intruders and to creatures he was raising in the moat. Apparently, not all fish were for eating. Many were pets. The kraken’s eyes lit up as he called over his favorite, a particularly clever octopus named Inky.

He proudly had Inky show us a few tricks, including opening a jar to get the shrimp inside, and “jumping” through a hoop. Though it was more like swimming through a hoop instead.

As we finally prepared to leave, I turned to Elana. “I’ve been meaning to check on the plants in my conservatory. Would you like to come along?”

“Yes! I keep forgetting to check it out.”

I offered Elana my arm with a flourish. “Shall we?”

That had her grinning as she slipped her hand into the crook of my elbow, and together we crossed the drawbridge and were back inside my castle’s inner walls.

The conservatory was a little overgrown. It always got this way in the summers—Alder, my satyr groundskeeper, always had his hands full this time of year—but I didn’t mind. I liked it a little wild. I guided Elana along the winding path between the raised beds, pointing out my favorite specimens as we walked. The ferns here grew in lush clusters, their fronds arching gracefully overhead to create a natural canopy.

My prized orchids occupied the far corner, which was where I was taking her. Technically, everything here was part of my treasure hoard, but living things didn’t do well hidden inside a cave, so I’d had this built for them instead. I’d been collecting orchids since they were considered status symbols for the wealthy.

“Wow, these are lovely.”

“I’ve been collecting them for a long time. I have some of the rarest specimens.” My eyes landed on a pink Vanda orchid. Ah, so it had decided to bloom after all. “Want to help me pollinate some orchids?”

Elana looked amused. “Sure, show me how.”

I pulled Elana closer and handed her the small brush I kept around the orchids.

“These orchids were considered quite salacious back in the day,” I murmured into her ear. “Almost vulgar.”

Elana’s eyes widened as she took in the orchid’s shape, her lips parting in realization. The flower’s ruffled lips were a light, delicate pink, its center a deeper, bolder, almost red. “Oh.” Her voice was breathy, her gaze locked onto the flower.

“Now, take the pollen and rub it right there.” I guided her hand, my voice dropping almost to a whisper. “That’s the spot,” I purred. “Mmm.”

She swallowed hard, and lust blossomed in the air as I leaned in, my chest pressing her back.