Page 24 of The Lighthouse Keeper and the Mermaid
“Kallias,” she murmured. Fear didn’t want her to, but she might as well know. “Do you…do you want to be more than friends?”
“What is more than friends?” he asked. “Making babies?”
She blushed so hard she wanted to pull away, but his hands gently held her in place.
“I…don’t even know if that’s possible,” she stammered again. How could he look so calm? “But…”
“I don’t know. Do friends want to hold each other like this?” he asked.
“No, probably not,” she admitted. “Probably not this close.”
“Do friends have happily ever afters?” he asked. “Or want to stay forever?”
“No,” she agreed. “Kallias, I don’t want to be just friends. I want to kiss you.”
He smiled again. “Ah ‘kiss’ once more. Is ‘kiss’ making babies?Is that why you were so embarrassed?”
“No. No, a kiss is when you press your lips against someone, and when two people kiss, they kiss each other’s lips.”
“Oh, we do that too. Affection.”
“Affection,” she murmured in agreement. “And not the family kind.”
She was surprised to seehimblush, but that surprise was quickly surpassed by the shock of him pressing his lips against hers.
CHAPTER 24
She gasped and pulled back, but he pulled her closer again, though he himself pulled away from her lips. “Do you not like?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said, her mind too overwhelmed to process much of anything. But her mouth quickly mutinied as it said, “Try again.”
She didn’t know what exactly her father meant, but this was hardly only lips against lips. It started that way at least, but then his lips were finding hers again and then again and then his tongue was trailing across her lips, almost as if playing with them. It felt…surprisingly good. It was as soft as his touch, to the point where the skin beneath almost tingled, and she soon found her hands tightening and grasping his hair as she pulled him even closer. She didn’t think, just let her tongue respond to his, like a dance, like a play, like harmony, and it felt too good.
When they broke away, she wasn’t the only one huffing. He looked at her with desire, and leaning forward, she almost expected him to go in for another kiss, but instead he laid his head down on her shoulder. “Was that okay?” he murmured softly.
“That was more than okay. That felt really good.”
He looked like he wanted to say more, but he fell silent, the only sound his breath.
“Kallias?”
“Mmm?”
“Are you okay?”
Straightening, he nodded. “Yeah.” He touched her cheek. “Do you want a happily ever after too?”
“With you?” she asked and he nodded. “I certainly might. Youknow, humans have a period call courting where they get to know each other better and see if they match well. So let’s take our time.”
“And court?”
The very question made her blush. Even starting courting felt like it was moving too quickly based on everything Father had told her, but at the same time, she had just had his tongue in her mouth. If Father was alive, he’d probably have a heart attack.
“And court,” she agreed. It felt so sudden and yet also not sudden at all given how she wanted to hold him.
“What do we do in courting?” he asked.
“I honestly don’t know,” she laughed. “I think it’s more of the same. We spend time together and talk. Honestly, humans are much more…reserved. A man would never touch a woman like this until they were married, and I think most people have chaperones—that’s another person with them—so that they’re never alone until marriage.”
