Free Kraken by M. Caspian

ruthlessly.
     
    Will finally rested his head on Cy’s shoulder. “I’m exhausted. Please can we go in?”
     
    “Anything you want, my love. Maybe a nap, huh?”
     
    “Mmmmm. Sounds so good.”
     
    Cy flipped onto his back, pulling Will close to his chest. Will felt him change, effortlessly, shifting back and forth between human and cephalopod with every other stroke. Will felt warm thrusts of water coming from Cy’s siphon as he gently jetted them in to the shore.
     
    “Lost my clothes,” he murmured.
     
    Cy hugged him tighter. “Not important. I have some you can use.”
     
    Will closed his eyes and relaxed in his arms.
     

Chapter Seven
     
    “Time to get up, sleepyhead.” Cy nudged Will awake. “Drinks. At Aidens’s.”
     
    Will stretched and groaned. The cotton sheet caressed his skin, cool and delicious. He pulled the pillow over his head.
     
    “Don’t wanna,” he muttered, his voice muffled even to his own ears.
     
    The sheet was ripped off the bed, and Will felt the edge of the mattress dip as Cy sat, kissing his chest.
     
    “We have to go. It’s neighborly. And I want to show you off.”
     
    Will rolled over, away from Cy, lying face down on the bed. He was so tired, he felt he could sleep till the ice caps melted and Cy’s house became an island.
     
    The soft touch on Will’s leg made him smile, then a tentacle tip stroked his foot, leaving his leg twitching and flailing. Cy’s human arms were there, suddenly, holding Will in place while the tentacle mercilessly tickled his soles.
     
    Will shouted, and tried to strike out at Cy, but his hands were tangled in the pillowcase. He finally freed one, but when he hit one of Cy’s arms it yielded softly under his fist.
     
    “No, stop,” he gasped.
     
    Cy was relentless.
     
    “Stop, I hate this, please, I hate it.” Will’s breath left him as he squirmed, until reflex made him cough, not able to get enough air in. His body jerked in Cy’s grasp for long minutes, and Cy pulled him upright and cradled him against his chest. The room swum in his vision, as Cy whispered in his ear.
     
    “Sshh, it’s okay. No more tickling.”
     
    Will’s breath came in gasps for another minute, then he glared at Cy. “You fuck.”
     
    He pulled away and swung his legs over the bed, sitting forward with his elbows on his knees, filling his lungs, until he could talk normally.
     

     
    Cy got up and opened the closet door, riffling through the hangers.
     
    “Please don’t do that again.”
     
    “Then do what I say next time. And you’re awake now, right? Mission accomplished. Come on.”
     
    Cy pulled dark jeans and a black shirt from the wardrobe, and threw then across the room, hitting Will in the chest. He leaned against the bathroom door and crossed his arms, pointedly looking at Will.
     
    Will caught the clothes with his hands, then waited for a beat. It became apparent nothing else would be forthcoming. “Underwear?” he asked.
     
    “Nope.”
     
    “Why can’t I wear underwear?”
     
    Cy shrugged. “Just because.”
     
    “Well, move then, let me get into the shower.”
     
    “Nope. No shower.”
     
    It was easiest just to put on the damn clothes.
     
    Cy kept hold of Will’s hand, as they walked up the track through the fern forest, while he ran his tentacles up and down Will’s back under his shirt, making Will shiver as they walked. On the other side of the ferns Cy headed south, stepping over fallen logs and low branches.
     
    “There’s no track here?” asked Will, as they made their way slowly through the brush.
     
    “Didn’t used to be any point. There wasn’t anything here. And I don’t think Aiden’s clientele are the kind for hiking. He doesn’t own this bit of land, anyway.”
     
    “Who does?”
     
    “Oh, some firm of lawyers. They own a whole bunch of the interior, although they might not even realize it now. Back from when the mine was operating over the other side of the island.” Cy