Page 51 of Riding the Tide

Kannon rested his chin on his hand. “Almost like it was meant to be.”

“We talked—actually, I begged for forgiveness,” Blair said.

“Good,” Nisha said. Everyone at the table rolled their eyes, and Nisha huffed. “Everybody can roll their eyes as much as they want, but rejecting a mate is a serious deal.”

“But I didn’t know that I rejected him. I didn’t even know I was his mate until Brett let it slip,” Blair said.

“Oh shit, really?” Kannon asked.

“Yes. That’s part of the reason why I freaked out.” Blair toyed with his drink. “There was so much I didn’t know. Then my mind latched onto this wild idea, and I completely blew it out of proportion.”

“What wild idea?”

“That maybe he wasn’t as sincere as he seemed. That maybe this was a setup to get to my money. That he could possibly… possibly change me without my permission,” Blair said.

Kannon coughed, and Nisha glared at him.

“I left in order to think,” Blair said. “Ididn’tstop to think of the consequences. Actually, I wasn’t thinking at all, which became pretty obvious once I landed in New York.”

Nisha stared silently at Blair then he finally sighed. “Who am I to judge? I ran across Kannon while he was on vacation with his dad. They were snorkeling in my territory when I first saw him and instinct took over.”

Kannon snorted. “In other words, he lost control.”

“I gave him the first mating bite, but he was still so young. Just barely an adult and I… His dad was frantically searching for him… I could hear the pain and terror in his voice. I let Kannon go.”

“You did?” Blair asked.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, plus what I did really messed Kannon up. He saw me, but he didn’t know exactly what I was, even though the tail was a pretty good indicator. I bit him. He didn’t know what that would do to him, and he certainly couldn’t ask me.”

“I refused to go anywhere near the ocean for the next fifteen years, until my best friend over there”—Kannon pointed at Brett—“got married, and I returned here. Next thing I know this sexy guy with beautiful blue hair was constantly hanging around me.”

“You?” Blair asked Nisha.

“Yes, me. Kannon was only here a week to attend Brett’s marriage, and this time I wasn’t letting him go. Because of my actions over that week, and before, Kannon and I got off to a rocky start.”

Blair slowly nodded. “Thank you. It means a lot to me that you’d share that with me.”

Nisha stared at Blair. “It’s hard to admit when you royally screw up, but you did. I admire you for that.”

Apparently, Nisha wasn’t going to be that big of an ass. “Just to make sure I understand you, I can still stay in your territory? Meandmy mate?”

“Yes.” Nisha held his hand out to Blair. “As mate to one of my fiercest warriors and good friend, I welcome you, Blair, to my territory.”

Blair gulped. “Oh well, thank you. I was so scared you’d hold what I did against me.”

“You made a mistake.” Nisha shrugged. “My mistake was forgetting the mistakes I too made. And for that, I apologize.”

Marcus jumped up, his chair flying back. He hurried around the table, dragged Blair into a bear hug, and kissed him soundly.

Kannon sighed, happily watching the other couple. “Don’t you just love it when things work out?”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

ITWASlateafternoonwhen Blair dropped anchor.

A year had passed since he returned to the islands after his harebrained flight from Marcus and what he was. During that time Brett acquired papers for Marcus, making him legal. Once Marcus could prove his identity, Blair helped him open a checking account to deposit all the money from the gold coins he sold. Blair also bought a little touristy shop in town where he featured many of the local artist’s work, including Marcus’.

After they established the business, they bought oceanfront land that fell somewhere between Brett’s resort and Kannon and Nisha’s bungalow. They were in the process of building a bungalow with a nice boat slip for the yacht Blair bought not long after he moved to the islands.

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