Page 23 of Lover from the Waves

She hadn’t experienced this kind of sexual drive in a long time—and had never imagined someone like Ector pleasuring her. Before their brief conversation during the Dryfall Festival, Kathryn would never have considered the feel of tentacles on her bare skin, could never have imagined herself attracted to a kraken. But now those tentacles were simply anotherveryintriguing part of a male she was coming to care for very deeply. Though she harbored lingering uncertainties, she wasn’t repulsed by Ector or his body. Her hesitance was about her own insecurity. Her own cowardice. She’d gone so long without any desire for a relationship, for sex, that they were daunting concepts now.

Her body had changed in the eighteen years since her husband’s death; it had changeda lot. No one had seen her naked in all that time. Would Ector like what he saw when the time came, especially considering that she must’ve looked as alien to him as he did to her? And yet an undeniable anticipation thrummed within her at the notion of Ector’s golden eyes taking in her naked body.

The fourth day of their journey dawned bright and clear, bearing only a hint of the chill that often gripped Halorian nights throughout the wet season. Both sky and sea stretched out to the horizon, endless and impossibly blue. Kathryn and Ector took their time eating breakfast. There was no need to rush when their only destination wasfarther alongand they didn’t have to be there until whenever they arrived.

After they were done eating, Kathryn plucked a purple leaf from the stalk of star mint she’d picked near camp and slipped it into her mouth. Its cool, refreshing flavor swept through her mouth once she chewed, erasing the lingering taste of her meal.

“What is that?” Ector asked, cocking his head to the side.

“It’s star mint. It cleans your teeth and makes your breath smell nice.” She plucked another dark purple leaf from the stem and held it out to him. “Want to try one?”

A crease formed between Ector’s brows as he accepted the leaf. He held it up between forefinger and thumb and turned it slowly, examining it as though with deep suspicion. After a final glance at Kat, he slipped the leaf between his lips, and the muscles of his jaw bulged as he bit down. His eyes immediately widened. He turned his head and spit the partially chewed leaf into the grass.

“Don’t like it?” she asked, chuckling.

“How can something be hot and cold at the same time?” he demanded before sticking out his tongue to scrape a few violet flecks off it.

Kathryn continued chewing her star mint, unable to suppress her grin through her giggles. “Guess it’s just an acquired taste. Come one, let’s pack up camp. It should get your mind off the taste.”

The sun was already shining just above the vast inland jungle by the time everything was loaded and the boat was back on the water. Ector swam ahead, keeping close to the surface to guide Kathryn past any potentially dangerous obstacles—submerged rocks were the most commonplace of the dangers thus far, but there’d been at least two reefs that had been large and vibrant enough for Kat to spot from above through the relatively clear coastal waters. She relied on Ector more than her own eyes, however, as his perspective from beneath the surface allowed him to gauge the depth and positioning with much greater accuracy than she could achieve from the boat.

Once the vessel was in deeper water, Ector hauled himself over the side and sat down across from Kathryn. Sailing proved a somewhat difficult task while the beads of water clinging to Ector’s skin sparkled in the bright morning sun. Kat’s eyes roved over his body repeatedly—sometimes by conscious choice but more often of their own accord. She imagined not only her fingers running over those sculpted muscles, but her lips and tongue.

Her only comfort—and perhaps the only thing that saved her from death by embarrassment—was that his hungry gaze was just as often on her. She might’ve been made uncomfortable by the lustful light in his eyes were it not a direct reflection of what must’ve been in her own. Fortunately, she was able to eventually force her attention to the task at hand.

The sea was calm and the breeze gentle; progress was slower than it had been on the prior days, but the serenity was more than worth the reduced pace, especially when paired with the pleasant warmth of the sunshine.

Kathryn and Ector passed the time like they had over the first few days, with easy conversation that was broken only by occasional, companionable lulls during which Ector sometimes left the boat to scout the surrounding waters. With Ector, Kat had found none of the awkwardness that usually accompanied silence; so many people seemed to think that every moment had to be filled with conversation or sound to have meaning. She and Ector didn’tneedto talk. The bond forming between them already transcended the need for words. Even when he was silent, Ector was stillpresent. He was still there with her. He was still there for her.

It was early afternoon when Kathryn spotted the perfect campsite situated on a stretch of beach where the rocky slope leading inland was far gentler than most places. As ideal as that was, the stream flowing directly onto the beach and into the ocean was the feature that really caught her eye. Its path took it through a small, rocky ravine, and despite the outcroppings of bare stone around it, the stream’s banks were lined with lush grass and vegetation.

Though this was the fourth day of their trip, Kat and Ector had yet to venture very far inland. In addition to acting as a source of fresh water, the stream could serve as a natural path leading into and back out of the jungle, and Kathryn was excited to explore the wilderness like she’d done in her adolescence.

When she told Ector she wanted to make camp near that stream, he scanned the area she’d indicated and nodded. They conducted their landing procedure with practiced ease. Once they were closer to shore, he dove into the water and guided the boat onto the beach, where he went through his usual check for rocks and other obstructions under the sand that might’ve damaged the boat’s hull. He pushed the boat ashore and past the tide line along the path he’d established.

An onlooker might’ve thought she and Ector had been sailing together for decades rather than days. And Kathryn almost felt like that was the truth—all of this felt so natural and effortless that she could’ve believed she’d been doing it forever.

Ector accompanied Kathryn as she searched for the right spot to set up the camp. He didn’t need to ask which supplies needed to be brought to the site after she selected it; he knew by now and moved everything quickly and efficiently. Within short order, they were established on a low, grassy rise overlooking the beach, only about twenty meters from the stream. Ector had even arranged a ring of stones at the center of their little campsite, and Kathryn filled it with driftwood and spare firewood from their last camp.

With the preparations complete, Kathryn turned toward Ector and grinned. “Feel like exploring?”

He smiled and held up a hand, palm turned skyward. “Lead the way, and I shall follow.”

Kathryn picked up her rifle, slung it over her shoulder, and gestured to the water filtration jugs standing beside the tent. “Would you mind grabbing those?”

Ector moved to the tent—giving Kat another opportunity to watch his strange but almost hypnotic movement on land—and looped the end of a tentacle around each jug. He lifted them to his hands, offered her another smile, and followed Kathryn to the stream.

Kathryn remained mindful of her footing as she started up the gentle incline leading inland, where the stream widened and ran through a patch of loose rocks on its way to the beach. Bare stone and dirt rose to either side of the water, creating the small ravine she’d spied from the boat. The ground was interspersed with patches of vegetation, and the stream’s banks were bristling with greenery closest to the water, but there was a narrow strip of relatively clear ground on each bank that offered only the occasional cluster of rocks as an obstacle.

The lazily twisting stream led up the slope and eventually into the jungle about a hundred meters onward. The grass along the banks was sprinkled with pretty little indigo flowers that usually grew near the sea—capeweed, which was often used to make dye for cloth Kathryn used in her work.

“Right here is good,” she said as they reached a spot where the stream ran a little deeper. She carefully knelt on the smooth rocks, swung the rifle off her shoulder to prop it beside her, and held out her hand. Ector passed her one of the jugs. She twisted off the cap and dunked the jug into the stream.

Ector sank down to fill the other jug. “Even after two years, I cannot quite understand the need to drink water. It is strange.”

Kathryn glanced at him with a smile. “And I don’t understand not needing to drink. It only takes a few days without water for a human to die of dehydration.”

“I find it curious that you are land creatures but are so dependent upon water for your survival.”

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