Page 35 of Treasure of the Abyss

The weight of her words was immense; did she understand what they meant to him? Could she possibly mean them in the way he wanted herto?

It was a Choosing. Despite their conflicts, despite their differences, Macy had looked upon him and decided to give herself to him. Decided she’d behis. That was far more powerful than the claim he’d laid uponher.

His pounding hearts pumped searing blood through his veins. He wanted Macy more than he’d wanted anything. Their slightest contact was a thrill to him; he ached with longing, itched for another touch. Her reactions displayed equal intensity, but each time, she’d pulled herselfaway.

Offering herself was only one part of it. Did she want Jax inreturn?

He crossed the island and sank down before her. She didn’t flinch when he slid a tentacle over her lap and wrapped it around one of her wrists, didn’t pull away as he raised her arm and pressed his palm tohers.

Her warm, smooth skin sent a delightful pulse through him, and her scent suffused his suction cups. All the while, she held eye contact withhim.

“This is what you want?” he asked. “Truly?”

“Yes. I want to feed myself, to take whatIwant foronce.”

A hundred warnings flitted through his mind. The dangers of the sea were too great; she belonged with her people; their attraction was unnatural. All true, to some extent, but he rejected them. He’d given her little choice, but the choice was still hers tomake.

“And if I said I would take you back to your home? Back to your oldlife?”

Her brows fell, and she looked away. “Then I would go home…and part of me would regret it for the rest of my life. I love my friends and family, and I should go and let them know I’m alive, should take that pain away from them. I know I’ll have shelter, food, and security there. But…I wouldn’t behappy.”

The raw honesty of her answer struck Jax hard. He bent his fingers, pressing their pads to the tops ofhers.

“You think you will find happiness withme?”

Macy brushed her thumb along his webbing. “Ido.”

He had never cared much for the company of other kraken, apart from Arkon, and he’d never known one who shared his desire to journey to unfamiliar places. Solitude had suited Jax well. It wasn’t until Macy that he realized his own loneliness. What would it be like to have her with him as he pushed the boundaries of the known world? What would it be like to have her share in the wonder and thethrill?

He dropped his gaze to watch her thumb move. The gentleness of her touch was pleasurable against the sensitive skin, but it reminded him of something morepressing.

“I cannot stray far from the sea,Macy.”

“I know, and I’m okay withthat.”

“If you want to explore with me, it will have to be in the water.” He shifted his fingers, sliding them between hers. She had no webbing to help her swim, no siphons or gills, and being wet made hercold.

“I-I know that,too.”

“You said I saved your life when your boat overturned. Was it the water that nearly killedyou?”

Macy attempted to withdraw her hand, but he heldit.

“The ocean is unforgiving,Macy.”

“I know.” She looked away from and laughed, humorlessly; she was crying again. “I know that more thansome.”

“And I need to know that you will be able to handle yourself in the water. I need to know why you fearit.”

“I…I need to get the bucket off thefire.”

Jax pressed his lips together, siphons flaring, and released his hold on her wrist. He watched as she wrapped cloth around her hands, lifted the bucket of bubbling water off the crate, and set it down nearby. Though it had been removed from the heat, steam continued to billow fromwithin.

She picked up a tool from inside her shelter — a long metal handle with a shell-shaped piece on the end she’d called aspoon— and used it to fish out the hard-shells and deposit them on a scrap of cloth spread on the ground. Their shells had changed to bright red. Dideverythingchange so drastically when it wascooked?

She turned toward him, hesitated, and retook her place beside him. She sat in silence, looking everywhere but athim.

“Macy. We cannot avoid speaking ofthis.”

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