Filed To Story: The Saltwater Curse Book PDF Free
How did I end up right back where I started, but with a… Jesus Christ, I can’t believe I’m even thinking this. But with a goddamn, living, breathing, eight-armed fucking kraken.
A kraken who does things to my body I can’t explain—relaxes it, lulls it into a faux sense of comfort.
A kraken whose suckers I can still feel around my nipples.
A kraken who wants to own me. Keep me as a pretty pet. Lock me in a cage, throw away the key, try placating me with pretty words or flowers to get me back in line.
Tommy told me I would want for nothing, that he’d take care of me because he loved me more than the moon and the stars. There would be nothing that would keep us apart. Little did I know, it was because he chained me up, then threw away the key.
Maybe I should be scared shitless about the mythical sea monster aspect of my captor. Sure, his size and the knowledge he could kill me with a single swipe is frightening, but it’s nothing I’m not used to. Size and shape and looks mean fucking nothing.
Tommy was beautiful. He had the most dazzling smile I’d ever seen, like he just walked off the cover of
Vogue.
Look where that got me.
On the other hand, Dad had friends who towered over me, could pick up a tire with a single finger, push trucks without breaking a sweat; one guy could even lift his Harley as a party trick. Despite their intimidating size, the leather jackets, and fuck you attitude, they were gentle giants, patched up teddy bears.
I don’t need to go out to sea to find a monster; they exist on land. They hide under human skin and call themselves men.
I don’t want to be around to discover whether the textbook monster is just as evil.
The cavern alone is as big as the small, two-bedroom cabin I was stolen from, lit by the glowing matter slimy to the touch, the last vestiges of moonlight pouring in through the hole above the pool.
I skitter to a stop at a deep alcove to the side of the cave, saying a silent prayer I’ll find an exit. Instead, beds of moss stare back at me, rich greens illuminated by the threads of blue and purple bioluminescent matter climbing up the walls.
Everywhere smells like him but better, and it’s sending me into more of a tailspin. It makes no sense as to why I’m having this kind of reaction to someone—some thing’s
—smell.
My eyes dart to the crooked archway on the opposite side of the cavern. I half limp to the opening, spreading my blood over stone from the cuts on my feet. If he doesn’t decide to eat me, maybe I’ll die from infection instead.
Or dehydration.
The entrance could be a gateway into hell, a black hole where things go to perish. The light from the main cave doesn’t reach more than a few steps into the tunnel. I swing my blurry stare to the undisturbed pool, swaying from the exhaustion that sank its teeth into me and is gnawing on me like a dog with a fresh kill.
The monster could return at any second. If I want to get out of here, I need to do it now.
I take a step forward, muttering a string of profanities.
He left.
That creature actually left.
Without me. Without any response or weak attempt at assurance that he won’t leave me here and check up on me once a day to drop off food and take his pound of flesh. I can’t fathom why else he’d want me here—
me, of all people.
Maybe he’s got other women trapped around here.
I don’t believe his promise of protection for one second. Maybe he doesn’t plan on sharing his things, but I’ve been a fool once, and it’s not happening again. Being Tommy’s fianc?e afforded me certain protections too—from everyone but him.
Tommy was exceptional at keeping other men away because he instilled the fear of God into me that it would somehow be my fault if someone’s gaze lingered too long. The one time someone played with his toy, I heard the echo of a gunshot, followed by total silence.
My mind races as I squint against the darkness. There’s no telling where the tunnel leads. I could get lost in there or come across something other.
I rub the muscles in my sore arm and glance back at the hole above the pool. There has to be another exit besides that.
Getting to it is a feat I’m not sure even a seasoned rock climber can achieve. The rock wall is curved with hardly any prominent grooves that I can make out. Jagged stones await at the bottom of the hole, promising injury if there’s one slip—and there will be a slipup with the state of my arm and shitty vestibular system.
Then, there’s the way we came in.
I’m a decent swimmer, but there’s no way I’ll be able to get out through the underwater channel without drowning.
I’m out of options. The tunnel is my only choice. It leads either to an unknown place or something far worse than the devil I know.
I swipe the tears from my face and grit my teeth against the agony throughout my body as I put one tentative foot in front of the other, using the damp cave walls as a guide. Minutes tick by, or maybe they’re a matter of seconds, possibly hours.
I can’t tell.
“Shit,” I hiss, losing my footing and crashing my knee into something hard and jagged. Pain slices up my leg. I rear back and almost lose my balance.
My hands fly out in front of me to land on a solid surface. Harsh breaths echo through the tunnel. Every sound I make is like an alarm that will alert the monster to my attempted escape. I squeeze my eyes shut. Rotting away isn’t how I wanted to go.
Pull yourself fucking together, I scold myself, drawing whatever is left of my sanity to gain some semblance of control over my emotions.
I quickly feel the walls around me to gain a sense of direction.
No.
It can’t be.
My heart hammers in my chest as I keep turning in my spot, hands out to orient myself. It’s the perfect 360 spin.
It’s a dead end.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Tears of frustration burn down my cheeks. Hopelessness, raw and guttural, pounds down on me.
Why is this happening to me? Why me? What could I have possibly done in my past life to deserve all this?
My knees buckle, and I narrowly stop myself from falling. I’m so tired, exhausted from constantly running, fearing for my life. There’s never going to be an expiration date to this feeling—it makes me question the point of fighting.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.