Page 16 of Away in a Tentacle Lair
He lies down again, and I return, tracing constellations on Kai's skin, my fingers dancing across the warm canvas of his back, when he breaks the silence with a dreamer's whisper.
"If you choose to walk away from the marine centre, you won’t struggle for money," Kai muses. I have enough for both of us. We could spend our days diving into the heart of the ocean, just you and me. We could chase the currents, explore hidden reefs, and sleep under a blanket of stars.
"I’d like that very much, but I need some time to figure this out in my mind before I decide anything," I reply, trying to keep my tone light, but I can feel my smile falter. The idea of giving up my dreams for a one-night stand is terrifying. I’ve fallen hard for the man in my arms, but I need a longer, more secure relationship.
Kai rolls over, his gaze earnest and searching. "I know. You need to give it a lot of thought, and I’m not pushing you; I just want to answer the questions I know you have flitting through your head," he says softly. "I’ll shut up now and just grind against you until you decide to be mine.”
He ends his speech by keeping his promise, rocking his hips against my thigh. “But just because I’m keeping quiet doesn’t mean you have to.”
“You haven’t managed to keep quiet yet,” I remind him.
“No, but I have managed the humping part,” he mutters in a cheeky tone. “Priorities.”
The simplicity of his vision is tempting, a stark contrast to my aspirations. But Kai doesn't push; he lets the idea linger between us like a buoy bobbing on gentle waves. Rhythmic, like his cock rubbing against my leg, annoying me with the friction on his clothing.
“If I don’t discover what is living in the bay, I probably won't get offered the position anyway.” That doesn’t stop my dilemma, though. This job is only one part of my dream. If I pick Kai over my dreams, I’ll have to give up finding my place in another marine centre worldwide. There isn’t any point in asking him if he’ll come with me. Although he is already living his dreams, I don’t think his family would let him go. Am I willing to fight them all for him?
“Stop thinking about it,” Kai grumbles, sounding sleepy. “Your fingers were nice.”
I realise I’ve stopped working my fingers across his skin. Determined to enjoy this man while he is here and only let our future concern me when alone, I return to gently touching his bare skin.
“What was the first thing you noticed about me?” I ask, trying to use our connection to ground myself.
“Stalker in a wetsuit,” Kai laughs, his head resting on my chest. “It was your eyes first time because everything else was covered in your wetsuit.”
“Well, I didn’t want to freeze my nuts off.”
“Oh, I see. That was the first thing you noticed about me?” Kai says in a hurt tone, but we both know it's not true.
“The first thing I saw was your feet,” I confess. “No flippers. Then no air tank. I’m attracted to insanity.”
“That would sound far more sexy if you were attracted to how long I can go airtight for.”
“Never thought of that.” But now it’s all I want to think about. “A ten-minute blow job sounds pretty appealing.”
"It does, and you’ll have the pleasure of being my first," he grins, but then his eyes flick to the clock, and it's like a spell's been broken. He bolts upright, a flurry of tanned limbs in his urgency. "Shit, look at the time! My family's curfew—"
"Again?" I can't keep the question from spilling out. It's the same rush as the first night we met, the panic that grips him when the hands of the clock dictate it's time to return to his other life—one I'm not quite part of, not yet.
"Old habits," he says, throwing me a rueful smile over his shoulder as he scurries around, gathering his belongings. "You know how it is."
Do I, though?
I frown, but I force it away as quickly as it comes. Kai's presence and support are more than I could've hoped for, but as the door clicks shut behind him, I’m left in the sudden, stretching quiet, I can't shake the feeling that there's more to Kai Briareus that I'm still waiting to uncover.
Chapter twelve
Kai
Iscrub my hand through my hair as I enter the kitchen, feeling far less refreshed than usual. I’m not the first down today, as most of my cousins are huddled around the long table, hands gripping their coffee mugs.
“Morning,” I grunt, grabbing a coffee from the machine and a bowl of cereal.
This isn't a family who had a successful bombing run. I got home last night and went straight to bed, more because I didn't want to tell them about my date rather than not wanting to know about their success. Or by the looks on their faces, failure. I need to know before Nicholas and Frank get down. Failure means we have to double down on our efforts, and I have much sweeter things to do today than combing the coral in the bay.
"Okay, spill it," I say, cutting to the chase before my cereal gets soggy. "What happened with our little covert op at the marine centre?"
My cousin lets out a sigh that could deflate a beach ball and shakes his head. "No dice, Kai. We couldn't even get a toe in the door, let alone mess with the filter systems."
