Page 17 of Waiting For Psamathe

"And would you ever choose to become immortal?"

"I honestly don't know," he responded. "I guess it would depend on the situation and who was asking me."

"I see." But where did that leave me? After our kiss, it would be difficult to go back to pretending that I didn't want something between us, but could I put myself through the emotions only to end up heartbroken at the end?

Though perhaps that was always the risk I was going to end up taking.

And Zale was right. I'd never once regretted falling in love with Proteus, he'd been a wonderful husband, and I treasured many of the memories we shared.

Maybe it was time for me to make new ones to treasure with someone else.

My gaze slipped to Zale.

And maybe I'd found the person I wanted to do that with.

Chapter 8

PSAMATHE

The evening air chilled me as I left the sea, and I was glad that the beach hut we'd left our clothing in wasn't very far from here, and that there were towels inside which meant that I'd be able to get warm and dry.

Zale followed behind me, no longer seeming as bothered by the nudity as before. Maybe it was because we'd just shifted and that was a whole different situation than stripping in the beach house.

Or maybe it was that kiss.

I opened the door and stepped inside, heading straight to the bathroom to grab a couple of towels. They weren't the best, but they also weren't scratchy. Though I'd need to remember to tell my staff that they needed replacing and washing now we'd used them.

I wrapped one around myself and reentered the room, holding one out to Zale.

"Thanks," he said, taking it from me and wrapping it around his waist.

"There's another one for your hair," I said, holding out a smaller towel.

He ran it over his hair, leaving it sticking up all over the place and causing a small laugh to break free from me.

"What?" he asked, a lopsided grin on his face.

"You just look cute like that."

"Cute?"

"Your hair, anyway," I said, realising that a lot of the tension had gone from between us with my laughter.

"And the rest of me?"

Without meaning to, I raked my gaze downwards, admiring his lean but muscled chest, and the strong arms attached. "Really hot," I said without meaning to.

He raised an eyebrow. "All the swimming helps."

"Yes." My heart raced as I tried to work out what I was supposed to do next. Or what I wanted to do.

He stepped closer. "Sama..."

"Yes?" I looked up and met his gaze, realising as soon as I did that there wasn't going to be any escaping from it.

"Be with me," he whispered.

"For tonight?"

---