Page 16 of Cruel Tides

I moved closer, fascinated. It hung from her shoulder, nearly falling off her, the top two buttons carelessly left undone. Shadows did little to hide the smooth skin of her collarbone, and my hard swallow at the sight was like attempting to force down sea glass.

Her chest lifted with each breath. A gentle inhale, then exhale. It was the most beautiful vision I’d ever seen.

A blanket sloped over her hips. I wondered why she’d decided to curl up next to me, her hand tangled up with mine. Then I recognized the crisp feel of the blanket and realized where we were. But how had I made it back to my rented bedchamber?

I brushed more of Claira’s hair back to get a better look at her face. The room was so quiet, it almost felt like we were the only two souls left in the world. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so at peace. Was this some final sweet dream before death, or was Claira really sleeping next to me?

Her eyebrows tensed, and I found myself stroking the edge of my thumb over her bottom lip. She was so close. Too close, and yet, somehow, it wasn’t enough.

My thumb froze over her lip.

It wasn’t enough? What was wrong with me? What more could anyone want than this? Gosh, even though I wasn’t wearing a shirt, my body had grown so hot.

I didn’t know why, but I suddenly wished she was awake. “Claira?” I didn’t want this to just be a dream. I wanted this to bereal. “Claira?” I repeated, then held my breath as I waited to see if her eyelashes would flutter open.

Then they did, and here I was, holding my breath some more.

Blinking awake, her eyes focused on me. As she stared, her eyebrows furrowed like she wasn’t sure where she was or what to think of me being next to her, either. Then her mouth eased open, but before she’d even gotten one word out, tears pooled in the corners of her eyes. “You’re… you’re awake.”

She was crying? “Hey, hey—it’s okay,” I whispered, my voice straining as I drew an arm around her shoulder. I wasn’t sure of the best way to comfort her, so I squeezed her hand like she’d done to mine, hoping it would help. A tear spilled over, and I brushed it away with the back of my fingers before it could make it down her cheek. “I’m okay. I’m awake now, see?”

“But you weren’t okay, Kai. You—you almostdied.” She sat up, studying me like she was trying to decide for herself if I truly was okay. Only, the longer her eyes were on me, the more my skin heated. Our stare was broken when she suddenly gasped. “A shirt! I should get you a shirt!”

That’s right—my chest was totally bare. Reflexes had me going for the blanket, but I stopped myself before I’d pulled it halfway up my chest.

It was weird, but I… I didn’t want her to get me a shirt.

But what did I want? For her to keep looking at me?

A flush of heat moved down my face and neck. That was exactly what I wanted. Gosh, something must have been really wrong with my head.

“No, that’s—that’s okay,” I said. She’d mentioned once before that she wouldn’t mind looking at my chest. The thought was mortifying—I wasn’t built like Leander or Barren—but maybe… maybe she would still like what she saw. Summoning my courage, I squared my shoulders and drew the blanket back down to my waist until cool air beat against the burning skin of my chest, down to my hips. “It’s kind of hot in here, don’t you think?” I asked, nervous. I was about to give her a smile when she shot off the bed.

“It’s pretty hot in here, yeah,” she said, hurrying over to the counter. “So water? Uh, that sounds good when you’re hot, right?” She turned her head over her shoulder to glance at me for only a split second, but then focused back on her task as she cleared her throat. “I’ll get us some water.”

Plastic rustled as she crouched behind the counter, and my heart sank. Had my bare chest really made her so uncomfortable?

I waited for her to pop back up, a bottle of water in each hand, before asking, “Did I do something wrong?” I reached for the blanket, but hesitated before pulling it up. “Do you… not like what you see?”

One of the bottles dropped straight from her hand and hit the floor with a loudthunk. “No—I, uh—I mean, Idolike it,” she stammered, looking like I’d somehow cornered her from all the way across the room. “It’s a very nice erection.”

6

Claira

Did I seriously just compliment his erection?

Kai’s chin turned. “Erection?” he asked, raising a lavender-blonde eyebrow like I’d broken into a foreign language. Then he must have noticed the tent he’d pitched under the covers, because he jerked, his hips twisting to conceal it. “Oh,ow. Right—moving. Not great right now.” His teeth clenched and his body curled while he tenderly rubbed at his lower back. Even through the pain, a flush of red wrapped across his face, all the way to the tips of his ears. “Sorry—I’m just so happy you’re actually here.”

“I know. It’s hard to believe all of us made it back.” I couldn’t help but blush, too.Nice erection? Ugh.That moment was going to haunt me until I was as old as Gram. “I’m happy you’re here, too, Kai.” I crouched down to pick up the bottle of water I’d dropped. When I straightened back up, he had lifted the edge of the covers to look at himself.

Horror drained the color from his face as he stared under the covers. “How long have I been naked?”

“Uh, pretty much since you got back to land.” Returning to the bed, I sat down beside him. “But don’t worry. With the way Laverne was shrieking and carrying on when we got in the lobby, I don’t think anyone noticed you hanging off Barren’s shoulder.”

Kai’s lips parted as he eyed one of the bottles of water. He strained to sit upright, and I shifted the pillows behind his back to help prop him up. He looked at me curiously while I fluffed the pillow behind his shoulders. “Aren’t these supposed to go under my feet?”

“Pillows? Um, no,” I said with a laugh, then passed him one of the bottles Barren had brought for us. “Here on land, people sleep with a pillow under theirhead.Usually one, but sometimes more. They’re pretty comfy, don’t you think? Better than wrapping yourself up in seaweed to keep from drifting out of your bed at night.”

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