Page 33 of The Lighthouse Keeper and the Mermaid
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I don’t have anyone I trust right now but you, and you’re not going to hurt me, right?”
“Of course not!” he practically cried out, taking both of her hands and looking her in the eyes. “I would never ever hurt you. Never. I hope I never even make you cry.”
She smiled and touched his cheek. “You beautiful, sentimental fool.”
He placed his hand on hers and closing his eyes, practically nuzzled into its warmth. “No, I promise you it’s not unrealistic. I want to never upset you. You have to tell me if ever am, okay? So I can fix it.”
“And what if it’s a happy cry?”
His eyes opened. “There’s a happy cry?”
She nodded. “There can be. It’s pretty rare I think. I’m not sure I ever have, but people speak of tears of joy. Papa said he cried when I was born. Happy tears.”
Now it was his turn to stroke her cheek as he pushed a strand of hair back into place and said, “Yes, for you, how could they have been anything but happy?” There was such warmth in his eyes that it was like snuggling beside a fire, such depths of love that she felt like she could fall into them.
She couldn’t help but hug him for that one. “You’re so smooth for a language you just learned.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“I’m not sure,” she laughed.
“Daria?”
“Yeah?”
“Why did you ask me about sleep?”
She was glad she was hugging him so he couldn’t see her cheeks light up in another blush.
CHAPTER 34
“Oh, I was just curious, since I’m about to go to sleep,” she answered awkwardly, feeling nervous, looking anywhere but at him and wishing she could stop so it would be less obvious.
But then she sighed. How could she lie to him?
“No, to be honest,” she started. “I just wished…well, gosh, this is embarrassing.”
“What is?”
She hugged him tighter, pressing her face against his shoulder. “I like this,” she murmured. “A lot.”
“Me too.” His answer was soft.
Hers was softer. “Humans who get married, they share the same bed. Oh! A bed is where we tend to sleep. They’re like a big man-made thing that’s soft and warm and fluffy.” He was smiling at her dreamily and it made her blush. “Anyway, they share a bed. And it’s silly but I just wished you could hold me all night.”
She couldn’t believe she had said it out loud, but it was somehow always so easy to talk to Kallias. “Crazy, I know,” she said, “when you have to stay wet, and I’d get too cold spending the night in the water. I mean, I guess I could for a few hours, but I doubt I could sleep like that. But it’s okay. I like things the way they are. I’m happy with what we can do. Anyway, I should probably go, shouldn’t I? It’s getting late.”
She pulled back but he caught her hand. “Daria, I breathe air. I can stay on land for a bit, just like you can stay in water.”
“What?” Her mind seemed to go blank.
Buthewas even blushing as his lips brushed her cheek. “Spend the night with me.”
“But surely you have to stay in water, don’t you?”
“I can be on land for a bit,” he said. “The problem is really the heat. I can get too hot without the water to cool me down, especially in the sun, but if it’s at night, I really doubt that would be a problem.”
“Still, I don’t want you to be guessing with your health. I—”
