Page 16 of Hunter of the Tide

Rhea brushed her fingers through his hair, admiring its softness, before touching her own bald head. “I will never have hair like your females.”

He took her hand in his as she lowered it. “And I will never have tentacles.”

She wrapped the end of a tentacle around his wrist. “You do not mind that we are so different?”

Randall smoothed a hand up her shoulder to cup the back of her head. She saw his answer in his gaze a moment before he pulled her close and covered her mouth with his.

Rhea grasped his arms as her eyes fluttered closed. Heat spread through her body, trailing along her limbs, flooding her core. Her tentacle fell from his wrist to encircle his waist, and she leaned closer. He shifted his lips, and she felt the moist touch of his tongue against the seam of her mouth. Her lips parted in surprise. Randall’s tongue slid through to brush behind her teeth and stroke her tongue, beckoning it to join his.

This was a kiss. This wild, thrilling act, unknown to the kraken until recently, was a kiss. And it wasglorious.

She moved her mouth against his, tasted his lips, tasted his tongue, but it wasn’t enough. She needed to be closer.

Rhea slid her arms around his neck, pressing her breasts to his chest as the kiss deepened.

Randall dropped a hand to her hip again, sliding it to her back to draw her pelvis against his. He groaned. The sound vibrated through her, making the tips of her tentacles curl in anticipation. His hardness probed her lower belly, signaling his want, and she grazed her claws over his shoulder.

He abruptly broke the contact between their mouths, pulling away. His lips were red, his eyes dark and glowing with passion. Between ragged breaths, he flicked his gaze toward Melaina and Ikaros, who still slept soundly on the bed.

“Believe me when I tell you it’s not easy for me to say, Rhea…but we should stop.”

Rhea frowned. “I do not understand. You are ready to mate, as am I.”

Randall released a sound that was half shaky sigh, half chuckle, and leaned his forehead against hers. “Just give me time, Rhea.”

At best, the rules of human relationships were confusing to Rhea; right now, they were outright frustrating. Why wait when they were both willing? Bothwanting? “I feel the proof of your desire now, human. What time could you possibly need?”

He sat back and shook his head. “For starters, your daughter is two meters away.”

She glanced toward Melaina. “She is sleeping.”

“And I would rather not be in the middle of it when she wakes up.”

“If it is privacy you wish, we can move to the hall.”

Randall smirked, but the light in his eyes had already changed. His gaze burned with passion, but not with the immediate, scalding flames that had scorched her only moments ago. “It’s selfish of me to hold you to my way of doing things without any consideration for your traditions. If I was just another kraken male competing for your attention, you wouldn’t have given me a second look so far. You don’t even know if I can provide for you and your kid, or if I can protect you.”

She opened her mouth to deny his words, but nothing came out. He was partially right. Randall hadn’t done anything to prove his worth as a provider, though he’d demonstrated his ability as a protector by saving Jax from the other humans. But it was his inner strength that had drawn Rhea to him during those first weeks — the strength of his resolve, his unwavering humor in the face of his circumstances, his easy adaptability.

Rhea loosened her hold on Randall but didn’t release him. “What is it you wish?”

“Females choose the males, don’t they? That’s the way of your people?”

“It is.”

“I want to be chosen because I’m worthy, not because I’m…exotic.”

She tilted her head and searched his face. Perhaps that had been part of his draw, in the beginning — she’d been fascinated by him, the first and only human male she’d ever seen — but it wasn’t the sole reason she’d chosen him. “You wish to go slow. To prove yourself to me.”

“To you, and to myself.” He gripped her chin gently with his forefinger and thumb. “But don’t doubt that I want you, because once I prove that I can provide for and protect you and Melaina, you will bemine.”

Pleasure blossomed in her chest at his words. Before Randall, the thought of a male claimingherwould have bothered Rhea. Now the thought tantalized her. Perhaps it was because she wanted him more than any male she’d known.

Rhea nodded. “I will give you time, but you must agree to continue kissing me.”

A wide smile spread across his lips. “Deal.”

Chapter 6

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