Page 86 of Jewel of the Sea

Aymee pressed her lips to his before laying her head on his shoulder. They remained in that position for a time, enjoying the mutual embrace. He closed his eyes and focused on the steady beat of her heart.

“We should make the most of the early hours,” she eventually said, slipping from his arms. “We’ve been cooped up for days.” She grabbed her suit and grinned at him. “Take me swimming, and when we get back, you can have your wicked way with me.”

He watched her walk away, appreciating the play of muscle in her lithe legs and the sensual sway of her hips and backside. Once she was out of sight, he turned his gaze upward.

If Jax had wandered the seas in a physical search, Arkon had navigated tangled paths of thought, hoping to find meaning, to find purpose. To find something beyond mere survival. He’d been restless in his own fashion.

Now, he’d found contentment. He was still curious, still inquisitive, still thirsted for knowledge, but he was content with Aymee. He washappy. Though he couldn’t pretend to understand the changes he’d undergone, he couldn’t deny them. She filled in a piece of him that had been missing.

She was his muse, his centerpiece, the jewel that belonged at the heart of his life.

His tentacles shifted over the bedding, picking up hints of her taste on the fabric.

His Aymee.

“I’m ready!” she called.

Arkon turned his head to see her emerge from the bathroom. She picked up her mask from one of the nearby bunks and moved toward the door leading into the corridor. He rolled off the bed and accompanied her.

They hurried through the corridors, sped by her excitement. Aymee was the first through the door to the submarine pen.

“—mee? Arkon?” a voice called, echoing through the chamber.

“Is that…” Aymee stepped forward, looking over the rail. “Macy!”

He hurried to the railing beside her. Macy stood on the lower platform, water dripping from her diving suit, flanked by Jax and Dracchus.

Macy tilted her head back and beamed up at them before she and Aymee simultaneously raced for the stairs.

Arkon followed her, turning toward the stairwell as Macy and Aymee met on the center steps and embraced one another.

“I missed you so much!” Aymee exclaimed.

“I was worried when we came in here and didn’t see either of you!” Macy grinned at Arkon. “I’ve missed you, too.”

“It is good to see you,” he said, and shifted his gaze to the two kraken at the base of the stairs. “All of you.”

Aymee pulled back. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but why are you here, Mace?”

“They wanted to check on you two, so I demanded they bring me along.”

“Macy demanded to see youbeforeshe knew we were coming,” Jax said, his half-smile belying his serious tone. “She said she would go by herself if I didn’t take her.”

“I knew he wouldn’t let that happen.” Macy’s gaze was warm as it met Jax’s. “And it worked, right?”

“Where’s baby Sarina?” Aymee asked.

“Rhea has her with the other females and younglings. They’ll protect her from anything. Even Dracchus wouldn’t cross those women.”

Dracchus grunted. “They will not keep me from my...what was your word, Macy?Niece?”

“I thought she wasmyniece.” Arkon looked at Macy and lifted his brows in question. On the surface, human familial relationships seemed simple, but perhaps they were more complicated than he’d assumed.

Macy chuckled. “You’rebothher uncles, and she’s got the best uncles in all of Halora.”

Arkon was reminded of how much he missed these people — not the kraken in general, but hisfamily. Only Sarina was related to anyone else by blood, but that didn’t matter. Their bonds had formed in different ways.

And now Aymee was part of his family, too.

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