Page 69 of Poseidon's Island Flower

“Please can I–” He reached out, leaving his palm facing up for me to take.

The caregiver in me wanted me to put my hand there, tell him everything would work out. But I wasn’t sure if things were going to work out. He’d been hiding his identity for frick’s sake!

But I did it, anyway. Because I cared too much.

I gripped his hand and gave him a small smile to continue, because he had a pull on my heart. It wasn’t just the physical attraction, it was an emotional magnetism. Like we were always supposed to meet.

“You may not believe this, but I’m hoping the small clues I’ve left you will help you realize who I am. I know humans can have a hard time handling the truth,” he said.

“Cy, er, whoever you are. Just get to the point. You’re killing me.”

His eyes widened, his hands running up and down my arm.

“No, no, not really killing me. Just the anticipation is too much.” I laughed.

He heaved a heavy sigh and ran his hand through his thick, disheveled hair. “I want you to think back to when you were drowning. What did you see?”

I growled, not wanting the run around anymore. But, I bit my cheek, immediately thinking of the red-headed merman.

In combination with these fish people, Silas, the freaking town outside the cave, how my boyfriend’s hair waved into the air like he was still under the water made it click.

Holy heavy monkey balls.

“You!” I pointed. “You are the merman?!”

“Technically, I was in my siren form.” He chuckled.

“Y-you were the red-haired—” My eyes widened. My breath came in short pants. I felt like I was drowning all over again.

Cy gazed at my hand and back at me. “Can I?”

I didn’t answer, just held the towel closer to my chest. He pulled me into his lap, all on his own, and brushed loose strands behind my ear. “I need you to breathe slowly. With me.”

He had me concentrate on the rise and fall of his chest. I closed my eyes, remembering him holding me in the sea. I tried to push that dream away so many times, telling myself it wasn’t real, but it was. All of it was real.

His golden eyes, his ability to swim so well, knowing all the creatures of the ocean. Why did I not see it? Did I see him as a human all along? Was I that blind?

“But I’m not a siren, I’m…a god, Lani.”

I blinked.A god?I wanted to laugh, but I refrained. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but I did not see him that way, at all. He was so humble, kind, and so shy. Weren’t gods supposed to be all powerful? Confident? I would guess Zeus was a god rather than.

“Oh shells. You are THE Poseidon?”

His body morphed into a taller, more muscular man. His skin was pale, while his long red hair flowed with the imaginary current. His red beard, slightly curled, tickled my cheek as I stared up at him.

He sheepishly nodded, golden eyes staring back down at me.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Poseidon

Lanigasped,herfingersdigging into my skin. The tiny nails did nothing to pierce my impenetrable surface. The more she stared, the more I feared she wouldn’t want to be with me anymore.

Was she disappointed in who I was? A god that hid himself from the surface of the world? I was also nothing like I was depicted in human stories. I was never the tormentor of the seas, the ruler of the oceans. I was soft.

Lani’s eyes drifted, her gasp quickly turning into light pants.

“Lani, breathe, it’s alright,” I said. I tried to keep my voice soothing, giving her the same voice she was accustomed to. “Lani, it’s still me. I’m still the same. I just look like this. This is what I really look like,” I choked out.

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