Page 47 of Lover from the Waves

Ector had chosen the hard way, knowing that, sometimes, they’d have to be apart to best fulfill their duties—both to one another and their community.

Fortunately, the hunt—which couldn’t have taken more than a couple hours up to this point—had provided an unexpected discovery that would make up for the time lost with Kathryn. It had become more than the fish, more than a chance to feel the soothing ocean waters after nearly a full day in the warm air, more than the fulfillment of an instinctual need to provide for his mate.

Ector’s views on his people’s traditions had shifted significantly over the last few years. Human influence had changed everything, most of it for the better. And last night…those memories would stand as proof that those changes were good. But there was one tradition he did not want to abandon, one tradition to which he longed to adhere. Perhaps it was all out of sequence now, perhaps it would have lost much of its meaning, its power, but he would still do it.

He would dance for her—and he’d discovered the perfect place to do so while he was hunting.

Anticipation quickened his hearts and sent a faint tingle across his skin. That now familiar ache—the one only Kathryn could eliminate—sank into place, low in his belly. He’d not danced in so, so long, and he’d never had such an eagerness to do so, had never had such meaningful motivation.

Despite the little aches in his joints that his hunt had agitated, he swam a little faster. He felt stronger than he had in a long while, and glided effortlessly through the water, as though Kathryn’s love were a force powerful enough to carry him anywhere. Bright afternoon sunlight spilled through the sea’s surface and danced across the sandy floor in rippling waves. Tufts of sea grass and stalks of seaweed swayed in the current, their leaves and blades shifting between dark and light shades as they turned, twisted, and bent.

Kathryn had never been down here. Though she and Ector had spent so much time on the sea since leaving The Watch days before, she had yet to delve below the surface. She’d shared some of the wonder and beauty of the world she’d always known; Ector couldn’t wait to share some of his. He knew that merely the look on her face would be more than enough to make this all worthwhile.

Just the thought of her potential awe and joy lifted his spirits impossibly higher. He flared his tentacles a little wider and snapped them together a little more boldly as he swam. Ector had spent so much of his life viewing most of Halora as dangerous, mysterious, and to be avoided, had always struggled to curb the curious nature of younger kraken like Jax, who yearned to venture into that frightening unknown. He’d changed his attitude on such matters in recent years, but he’d not truly begun to understand until this time with Kathryn.

There was so much beauty to be found after breaking out of what the humans called one’scomfort zone. Sticking only to the safe, to the known, led to eventually stagnation.

Had it truly only been nine days since he’d approached Kathryn during the festival? He felt like he’d learned so much in that time—about her, yes, but also about the world, aboutlife. Somehow, that time had passed with both lightning swiftness and blissful slowness. A lifetime had gone by in those nine days, and he craved a thousand more lifetimes to spend with his Kathryn.

As he neared the stretch of shoreline that was serving as a temporary home to him and Kathryn, Ector angled himself upward and lifted his head above the surface. He blew water from his siphons and filled his lungs with air. The ocean breeze was cool against his wet skin, and he couldn’t help but reflect upon it. Kraken had always split their time between the sea and the Facility, including the functioning parts of the latter that were filled with recycled air, but none of that could’ve prepared him for the sensation of open, natural air on his skin for such long periods as he’d experienced since moving to The Watch.

The wind was not unlike the water currents to which kraken skin was so sensitive and attuned; Ector had always drawn comfort from that.

But wind and air could not long hold his attention as he swam toward the shore; Kathryn was close by, awaiting him. A wispy column of smoke rose from the camp, carried away by the breeze, and he could see Kathryn standing beside it. She was looking toward the sea, one hand over her eyes to shade them from the glaring afternoon sun. She wore only her button-down shirt, which fluttered in the wind, leaving her legs entirely bare for his perusal and offering teasing glimpses of what was hidden between them. That ache low in his belly intensified, and his shaft hardened. He willed his slit to remain tightly shut; it was a battle that he knew he would eventually lose, but they had food to prepare first.

Ector drew his torso into the air once the water was shallow enough, and Kathryn’s eyes shifted to him. She waved. He lifted both arms, displaying the bounty of his hunt. Even from this distance, he saw a flash of white as she grinned.

A swelling of pride in Ector’s chest increased his pace as he moved fully onto land and crossed the sandy strand. His tentacles easily traversed the rocky ground leading to their camp, which was comfortably above the high tide line. For a few moments, the camp—and his Kathryn—was blocked from his view. Then he crested the rise, and his gaze met hers.

She was still grinning, and it made her eyes sparkle; those blue orbs were more beautiful than the brightest nighttime star, more enchanting than the face of either moon. The way she looked at Ector was enough by itself to instill him with a sense of purpose, with a meaningfulness he’d been hungry for throughout his life without ever realizing it. He knew in that moment, with a confidence and certainty so strong it seemed impossible, that this wasright. Kathryn was always meant to be his, and Ector hers. He wished he could’ve found her years ago, wished he’d had a full lifetime to spend alongside her, but he would gladly—and greedily—take every second with her he could have.

She was human, yes. Even when Jax had first brought Macy to the Facility, even when Arkon found his Aymee or Rhea her Randall, even when Dracchus took Larkin as his mate, Ector had never imagined himself with a human. Kathryn was small, relatively fragile, slower and weaker than a kraken—just like all her kind. But she was also stronger than most anyone he knew. She’d overcome heartbreaking tragedy and had found the courage to carry on. She’d looked at herself, her situation, and her world and saidI am not yet done.

And Ector greatly admired her for that. It was one of the reasons helovedher.

His lips spread into a grin mirroring Kathryn’s.

She taught me the true depth and potential of love. Something I’ve not truly understood for my whole life… She showed me in a few too-short days.

“I have returned with our evening meal, wife,” he said as he finally entered the campsite. He enjoyed the way that word—wife—felt on his tongue; it had power, weight, meaning.

She ran toward him, closing the distance swiftly, and barely slowed before her body collided with his and she wrapped her arms around him.

Ector chuckled and embraced her as best he could without rubbing the slimy fish on her. “I am wet, Kathryn.”

“I don’t care,” she said, squeezing him tighter.

His smile faded at the strange tone in her voice. He brushed his tentacles soothingly up and down her bare legs. “What is wrong?”

She shook her head and chuckled. “It’s ridiculous. I just…” Her shoulders rose and fell with a deep inhalation and a slow exhalation. Tilting her head back, she looked up at him, and it was only then that the slight sheen of tears in her eyes became visible. “You were gone for a long time, and when I saw you…I just felt thisrelief. Like my heart was going to burst out of my chest. It’s stupid. You live in the sea. It won’t drown you, but… I just found you, Ector.” She ran her hands up his back. “There are other dangers out there, and I was scared that the sea would take away someone else that I love.”

Ector frowned down at her. He passed the fish to his tentacles, laid them on the ground, and wiped his hands off thoroughly on his wet skin before covering her cheek with his palm. “It is not stupid, Kathryn. But the sea does not have me yet, and it will not for a long, long while still. I will not allow it.”

Her smile returned, soft and beautiful, before she turned her head, kissed his palm, and leaned forward to press a kiss to his chest. She stepped back, and Ector withdrew his tentacles and arms from her. Her eyes rounded when she looked at the fish on the ground.

“Wow.” Her features turned playful as she glanced up at him. “I suppose we did work up quite an appetite.”

For a moment, Ector was forced to clench his teeth against the stirring beneath his slit; that gleam in Kathryn’s eyes instilled him with heat. “We can always work to deepen that appetite further if you think this is too much food.”

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