Page 9 of Little Saint Nautilus

“Cirri. Yes.”

I stood up and put my hands on my head. If he was any other random naked person I’d found on the beachwho told me they were a nautilus, I would laugh it all off. He wasn’t, though. He was the very same person who had saved me in an impossible situation that likely would have ended in my death if he hadn't shown up. And I…I believed him. Which was a lot to swallow. “Holy shit!”

Cory stopped talking and looked as if he was trying to hold his head in place.

“Are you all right, Cory? Does your head hurt?”

“My head? Oh, uh…no.” He lowered his hands. “My mind is blown, but no, it doesn’t hurt.”

I tilted my head to see if anything was leaking out of him, but he seemed okay. “Blown? Is that a bad thing?”

“No. It's not bad, not necessarily. It just means I'm processing new information that changes the way I see the world.”

“Hmm. I understand. My mind, too, has been blown.” I didn't know what to expect when I stepped onto the sand, but I trusted my instincts and followed the magnetic pull within. Cory must have felt the same pull when he ran out to greet me. When he offered me the blanket, my insides lit up at my mate, giving me a gift.

Cory was that—my mate. I'd wondered for so long, but that pull had led me right to him. Touching him in this form, when every sensation was heightened, it sparked inside of me. I didn't know how or why, but he was my mate. We had a bond. So when he asked me to come with him, I knew I had to, despite the risk of leaving my shell for even longer. I'd looked back and sent it a silent promise to return soon before letting Cory lead me away.

“So, I take it you don't do this a lot, then?” Cory asked.

“Do?”

He waved his hand around the shop and between us. “I don't know. This? All of it? Any of it?”

“Visit a shop on the beach and drink coffee with a human?” I asked.

He snorted and smirked. “Yeah, sure, that.”

“No. I have never done this before. I do, sometimes, change to my human form and come on land, but never somewhere as busy as this. There are a few small islands where those of my kind like to walk on two legs. They are isolated, less inhabited, and the people who live there have an understanding of beings that come from the sea as I do. But here? No. I always stay in the water in my nautilus form.”

“And you have tentacles, uh…cirri.” His blue eyes watched me.

While it wasn't posed as a question but a statement, I answered anyway. “Yes. I do. Would you like to see them?”

Cory seemed interested for a moment before taking another drink of coffee. He stared at the cup and quirked his lips to his side. “I think I need something stronger.”

“What do you need? I’m strong, I can help,” I offered.

“I know you are. You were able to get me out of the water. That's actually a pretty impressive feat, but that’s not what I meant.” Cory met my gaze with his ocean-blue eyes, a color that felt familiar and comforting. He wore a crooked smile on his glistening lips that I found myself staring at. He had short, light hair that surrounded his lips and covered his cheeks and chin. I'd seen humans with hair on their faces and I found it fascinating, but never more so than now. I longed to touch Cory, to learn what it felt like. What kind of sensations would I feel if I used my cirri to explore him? The idea alone had my dick hardening again. At this rate, I would have to do something to alleviate the tension soon.

He broke our connection, casting his attention to the shop’s closed door, before returning it to me. “Do you want to get out of here? I don't think I could concentrate on work today, and I definitely could use a strongerdrink.”

“I…” Iwantedto go anywhere he went, but I'd already ventured further into the human world than I ever had. I wasn't sure I could handle more. And there was my shell. Tucked away in a cave. What if something happened to it? The thought sent panic through me. I shuddered involuntarily.

Suddenly, Cory stood before me, lifting my chin with two fingers. “It's okay, little one. We don't have to do anything or go anywhere if you don't want to.”

His touch, his closeness, they overwhelmed my senses.My mate.I would go anywhere, do anything, simply to have him touch me and look at me like this. “I want to. I do. But…”

“But what?” Cory stepped back, putting his hands in his pockets. I nearly lunged forward to grab his hands and bring them back to my face, but I managed to keep myself in place.

“The human world. The city. It is new to me, and truthfully, it is terrifying. The noise, the people, the carelessness, the violence. It’s a lot.”

He nodded thoughtfully, not dismissing my foolishness. “It can be, but there’s good, too. If it’s too much, we can come back, but I promise I’ll keep you safe.”

I let out a happy sigh. He wanted to protect me, just as I always hoped my mate would. How could I possibly leave his side now? I could come back later for my shell. I wanted to mention it to him. Perhaps I could bring it with me, but as much as I trusted him, letting him see my shell felt more vulnerable than I was ready for. It would be safe, ashewould keep me safe. His promise made me feel much better.

With a nod, I let out a soft, “Okay.”

“Okay, great. Let me just shut my register down and lock up.”

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