Page 71 of Jewel of the Sea

Against his will, Arkon’s skin shifted toward violet. The same sort of fascination he so often felt was plain on her face and in her voice, but it was her closeness and the familiarity of her touch that caused his body to react so powerfully.

She flattened her hand and ran it along a tentacle. “I’ve seen you turn this color before, and red a few times. What does it mean?”

He released a long, slow breath. “Red is anger or aggression, though the nuanced meaning varies depending on the particular shade.”

“And violet?” She withdrew her hands and bent to collect her mask.

He dropped his gaze. “Embarrassment.”

Aymee’s face fell. “Oh.” She looked away from him, but not before he saw a flash of guilt in her eyes. “I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. I don’t think sometimes, and I let my curiosity get the better of me.”

“No.” Forcing his skin to its normal color, he lifted his head, settled his palms on her hips, and drew her closer. “You’ve no need to apologize. I am unused to such contact, but it isnotuncomfortable.”

She pressed a hand against his chest, and he again wished it was her skin on his. “The kraken don’t touch?”

“We share a home, but most of us live alone. There have always been some conflicting instincts within my kind that push us to both exist as a tightknit society and satisfy a need for solitude. Many forms of physical contact can be taken as a challenge amongst the kraken...an invasion of the space we consider private.”

She tilted her head. “Do I challenge you?”

Arkon smiled. “In many ways.”

Aymee chuckled, sliding her hand to his shoulder.

“While Jax was in The Watch, I observed the humans working on the dock every day,” he said, leaning his head down to press his forehead to hers. “I saw them share touches, and the warmth between them, the familiarity...I wondered what that felt like. Part of me longed to know. Macy has taught me much about the expression of friendship through touch in the time since, has shown me how it can strengthen a bond between two people.”

“And when I touch you?”

He closed his eyes and inhaled her scent, hands dipping to her backside. “When you touch me, I know I have had only the merest taste of what is possible, and I hunger for more.”

Aymee’s breath quickened, and she curled her fingers to keep from grabbing on and pulling him against her. This…this was a different Arkon. His touch was bold, confident. His words flowed through her, heightening her awareness of him, and her body craved more contact.

What had begun as fascination had grown into something deep and powerful. She’d been drawn to Arkon from the start, intrigued by the contradictory nature of his features — at once human and alien — but her curiosity had quickly extended beyond his appearance.

He’d become her friend. She could talk to him about anything, she related to his passions and doubts, and she trusted him unconditionally.

She also respected him and wouldn’t push toward anything he wasn’t ready for. No matter how much she wanted him, she would go slowly.

Aymee tilted her chin up and softly kissed the corner of his mouth, his jaw, his neck. His fingers tightened on her ass.

Lifting her head, she smiled up at him. “Let’s go swimming.”

She stepped away before he could react. It was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. His hands remained in place, as though still holding her rather than the empty air in which she’d stood a moment before.

Pulling up her hood, she tucked her hair beneath it and moved the mask into place. It automatically sealed, and a soft internal glow lit her face.

“Sam, could you turn the mask light off?” she asked. It blinked out.

She flashed Arkon a smile and walked toward the ladder, carefully lowering herself onto the top rung.

“In this particular instance,” Arkon said, moving to stand on the edge of the platform beside the ladder, “I think it is acceptable to forgo the usual caution.”

Without awaiting her reply, he leapt off the platform and hit the water with a splash.

Aymee laughed, watching him move underwater. “Easy to say when you live in the water.”

Facing forward, she took a deep breath and let go.

The water swallowed her, blinding her for a moment, and she waited fearfully for it to flood her mask.

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