I lay my hand before her and wait for her to come to me. Her delicate fingers ghost over mine until our palms connect in a burst of heat that radiates up my arm. My whole body heats, and the tentacles of my body beg for freedom to absorb Delphini and all the warmth she has to offer.
“Feels like lying in the hot sun all afternoon,” she murmurs, like she doesn’t honestly believe it.
“It feels like you are mine,” I say, unable to keep the awe from my voice.
“All it took was losing my humanity…” her voice trails off.
“What?” I ask, still marvelling at her touch, still soaking in every bit of warmth from her I can.
“I mean, people don’t just get magic and meet tentacle monsters.”
“What are you talking about?” I pull my hand back, and immediately goosebumps rise on my flesh and the tentacles holding me together push against my insides to get closer to her. “Nymphs believe in mates, don’t they?”
“What?”
She looks at me as if I have grown a second head, and my brows pinch together, trying to think of what else she possibly could be. Only, in the end, I decide being blunt is the best course of action. My soulmate can certainly forget such an offence.
“What creature are you?”
“What,whatnow?” She sits up straighter and my eyes are fixed on the curve of her form, the way the fabric drapes, sinks and rises like rhythmic tides across her body. A thrumming heat swells in my gut and I’m not sure if I’ve ever felt it with such an intensity before, this lust.
“There’s nothing to be worried about.” I try to keep an even tone, but the hairs at the back of my neck have risen again. My body is split in two, warring between craving her touch and suspicion. When she doesn’t answer, I press harder. “Just spit it out.”
“Spit what out?” Her voice wavers as her emotions reveal her aggravation.
If, for an instant, I thought she was reacting to the trauma she had experienced, I would have stepped down. I would feel Love trying to cool my anger before it is misdirected in a disastrous way. However, they are silent, and the daggers this woman is trying to stare into me tell me everything I need to know.
“What are you?”
I rise up from my chair and tower over her now, but she doesn’t allow it. As ever, my soulmate would; she stands up and stares me down. Delphini is taller than I am by a few inches, but that doesn’t stop me from stepping into her space with purpose. I will make her answer me by forcing her to approach the dying fire. Her anger rises further, her chest heaving, and the fist holding the blanket up clenches so hard I think she might tear holes in it. But she keeps her mouth closed.
“I will ask again.” My voice rises the longer she stares, unflinching and brutal. “What monster are you?”
“I’m a fucking human being!” she shouts, and every ounce of annoyance and fight leaves my body. No. It’s replaced with fear. “What the fuck else did you expect?”
“No.” The word slips from my lips before I can stop it.
Lamp light flickers, and then a voice cracks from the abyss.
“She has chosen us,”Love states.
Delphini, even while shaking from the experience of our patron’s voice, nods in agreement. She has chosen us. How do they expect me to accept that which I have sworn off? That which has shown us time and time again they aren’t worthy? As if there have not been centuries of fury to erase my humanity?
“We do not. Learn to accept her. She wants nothing but to be yours. She accepted her gifts with open arms, with grace, with joy. Learn from her, our heart, or you shall both suffer.”Love’s voice is a whisper in my ear as they read my thoughts.
The weight of their tentacles caressing my torso and neck doesn’t remove the tremor from my clenched fist nor lessen the goosebumps that erupt across my skin.
Delphini is a human.
My mind whirls. She has seen too much of this place already. She can’t leave, but I can’t let her around the others. The crew will eat her alive, and if the tightening sensation in my chest means anything, it is that Love will be greatly displeased if anyone hurts Delphini. I don’t want her to get hurt, but I can’t expose her to more of our world. There are rules, consequences, for humans seeing the monster world.
Without another thought, I shove all the fear I had buried deeper into the pit of my chest and grab her arm. She reacts instantly, trying to push me off her. But that’s not what has me pausing. It’s the warmth of her touch, of her skin on mine. It’s such a sweet relief to finally enjoy the touch of another, but it turns my blood to ice just as quickly.
“What are you doing?” she demands.
With a grunt, I have her arm twisted behind her, and she freezes. Her ragged breaths come out in short pants that only get shorter the longer I hold her in place. The line of tension across her shoulders is so tight she’s shaking. Or is she shaking from fear?
Good. Be afraid of me.That’s the way it should be. This is how it will be for us until I figure out what to do with her. She can’t stay here, no matter how much seeing this side of her suddenly causes me pain. She isn’t safe. She can’t be mine.
