Page 32 of The Lighthouse Keeper and the Mermaid
“I love you,” she said, breathless, already breathless from the sheer weight of the words. Was it insane how quickly she was saying them, or more importantlyfeelingthem? She did not know.
But the world and everything in it were perfect when he said, “I love you too.”
And in the glow of the last rays of sun, they sealed it with a kiss.
CHAPTER 33
Truthfully, it hadn’t been that long since she had said they needed to get to know each other more before agreeing to a happily ever after, but now his arms were tightening around her and his lips were upon hers and everything felt so perfectly wonderful that she could scarcely care.
And when his lips drew away but his arms stayed, she could not help but think how nice it was to be loved.
She suddenly wished—and she felt ashamed for thinking it—that he was a man and not a mermaid so that he could lie with her, so that he could stay beside her in the lighthouse and keep his arms around her all throughout the night and hold her as she fell asleep, and that she could wake to him beside her each morning.
Yes, it would indeed be easier with someone of her kind, but she didn’t want Mr. Wilson or anyone else. She wanted Kallias. How silly the heart could be.
She wondered for a moment if he would have imagined the same—a woman to swim with and hold at night under the sway of the ocean sea, a baby mermaid together, a family. He had said he and his mom were alone, but that didn’t mean that was how it was for all of his kind. There could be happy mermaid couples with babies out there right now.
“Kallias,” she said, “Where do mermaids sleep?”
“Sleep?” he repeated. “What do you mean where? Sleep means rest, right?”
“Yes, it’s when you rest for the night. Or maybe you don’t do it at night. But it’s when you close your eyes and….Well, I don’t know. Do you lie down in the ocean or something?”
He shook his head. “That would be dangerous to be that helpless.”
“Well, isn’t that an unfortunate part of sleep?” It was probably why humans tended to stay together, she thought absently, vulnerable as sleep was. But he was staring at her like he didn’t understand. “Do you not sleep?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I rest, I guess. At night, I keep swimming but my mind sort of zones out and I relax. But I’m awake enough to always come back up for air and to notice anything approaching.”
“Oh. That sounds stressful.”
“Well, if I wasn’t alert enough, a predator would get me.”
“I don’t even like the thought,” she hushed. She trailed her hand along his lower torso. She had tried so hard to be proper and not look at his bare form as much as possible—especially not…lower,even though nothing was visible—that she hadn’t noticed the jagged scar on his lower left side. “And you have been hurt,” she murmured. “This looks so painful. Kallias, what happened?”
He put his hand over hers, stopping her from tracing any further. “First, tell me what sleep is to you. What does a human do?”
She wasn’t sure if it was to direct her away from a painful topic or if it was just curiosity but either way, she humored him and started to explain. “Well, sleep—”
And then suddenly, he was lifting her up and putting her on the rock. “You’re going to get too cold,” he hummed in explanation, his hands dropping down to her lower thighs. She knew he meant nothing of it for he looked as sincere and innocent as before, but she had never been touched there before and it was all she could think about.
Looking away, she tried to push any other thoughts away.That’s not what he’s thinking, Daria. Get a hold of yourself,she tried to tell herself as she attempted to calm her mind enough to answer.
“So in sleep,” she started again, forcing out the words to pretend she didn’t notice her own blush. “Well, humans literally shut down I guess. We lie down and then we’re totally out. I guess it could almost look like death, but we’re breathing. That’s sleep. That’s what I do every night.”
“Oh,” he said, drawing it out. “I’ve seen some birds do something like that where I thought they were dead or something but then they moved.”
“Yeah,” she laughed. “I guess it’s good I’m telling you this now so you don’t worry if you ever see me like that.”
But he started playing with her hand, eyes intently on it as if it held some secret. “I don’t know. I might still worry.That sounds dangerous.”
“Oh, it’s not. It’s natural.”
“No, I mean, what if anyone tries to hurt you? How do you defend yourself?”
“Hmm, I guess that’s one reason we have houses and we only let in those we trust.”
“But someone you trust could hurt you.” His protest was so simple, almost childlike despite the darkness in the words, and she wondered if he was thinking of that man and his mother again.
