Page 88 of Echoes of the Tide

He was leaning against the edge of the moon pool, and the moment he saw her, all the lights on his body flashed bright and hot. She could have counted each glowing star on his form if she wanted to. But all she could see was the happiness in his expression and the relief in his gaze.

“There you are,” he breathed. “When I heard all of you shrieking, I thought something was wrong.”

No, nothing wrong, just a bunch of women having a moment. She shook her head, vowing to not let those words come out of her mouth before she tucked a short strand of hair behind her ear. “Can we talk? Somewhere private?”

She realized how bad those words sounded. She would have been terrified if he’d said that to her.

But he just grinned in that easy going way. “I was going to say the same thing. Care for an adventure before we crack the world in half, kefi?”

It was the only thing she wanted. So she reached out a hand and jumped into the water with him. No hesitations. No anxiety. No fear.

Just like he’d taught her.

CHAPTER 35

He had so much he wanted to say to her. But first, he had to do what his brothers had advised. The mating needs were riding him too hard, and right now, he needed to focus on fulfilling all the parts of himself that he had been denying.

He’d already stolen her. Brought her to the peak of desire. He’d fed her, made sure that she was well and safe and whole, but he had yet to find her a treasure that would show her just how much of a provider he was. What he needed was proof that he was better than all the others. Proof that he was the only one she should consider as her mate.

Such a task would make him feel better. Then he could know that he had done all that he could. After that, it was her choice to measure him and to decide if he was a valuable enough male or if she would choose another.

He hoped she would choose him. Forever. Even his people stayed mates if the male had survived the coupling. He’d never wanted to know what that was like, but now? Now he did. Now he had found a soft place to rest, and he wanted to dive so far into her body that neither of them knew where the other began.

“Maketes?” Ace asked, affixing his tentacle to her neck. “Where are you taking me?”

He’d already zipped away from the pod, just now realizing that he hadn’t made sure she could breathe before he was carrying her off into the sea.

“Sorry,” he muttered, running his finger over the gooey seal where his tentacle now pierced her skin. “I should have thought to do this first.”

She smiled up at him. “It’s all right. I know where it goes.”

By all the gods, she was just the prettiest thing he’d ever seen. With those lovely round cheeks and a face that lit up his entire world, she was the sun in his entire world. She was his guiding light, and as he swam her through the sea and toward the surface, he hoped to show her the sun once more.

But as they got closer, he could see that a storm had already reached them. White foam sprayed even underneath the surface, the waves inverting on themselves and churning air into the water. There was nowhere above he could bring her that would be safe for them to talk, which was a shame.

If he was going to give her a gift, he wanted her to see it in the light of the sun.

“I’d thought to bring you to the surface,” he muttered. “But I think that’s going to be hard to do today.”

“That’s all right.” She rested her hand against his chest, her fingers spreading over his hearts. “Would you take me to a cave again? I’d like to just talk.”

Right, a cave. She’d said she wanted to talk before, and he hadn’t thought much of it. Fine. If she wanted to talk, then he would give her the conversation of her life. After finding her a gift. After begging her to tell him that she wanted something, anything, in the ocean. He would spend months of his life finding it if she would just tell him a single thing that she actually wanted.

He knew a cave nearby. It was very close to the surface, but he didn’t think the storm would affect it too much. The waves might be a little higher, but there should be plenty of room for her to sit. Plus, the entire thing was coated in glow worms.

Zipping through the sea, he brought her to the entrance and wiggled his way in. Ace wrapped herself around him like they’d done this a thousand times. When in reality, he supposed it was only a few times in her own towers.

Strange how long ago that felt.

Once inside, he popped up to the surface and expelled all the water through his gills. Sealing them, he took a deep breath for her to make sure that the air wasn’t stagnant. But this close to the surface, the air was always much cleaner than some of the other caverns. Satisfied, he brought her to the edge and lifted her up onto the edge of the rock.

“Cold?” he asked, when he saw those goosebumps pop up on her arms.

She shrugged. “A little. But it’s not too bad in here.”

He could offer her something to warm her. Perhaps that would be a good gift. But the only things that would warm her would get wet on the way into this cave. A wet blanket wouldn’t warm her…

Her hand reached out and curved around his jaw. “Maketes, I’m fine.”

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