Will he notice my mask? Now that I know it’s there, it feels so blatantly obvious. Like it’s cracking in places, exposing who I am beneath.
The luster.
Theugly.
I just want to pretend everything’s okay. Like I’m not destined for that boat moored to the brittle dock just beyond my Safety Line, taunting me with its bobbing presence. I want to pretend I don’t have a blue and gold cupla hidden in my bag on the shore.
Kai threads a hand into my hair and grips tight. “You should not have come out this far by yourself, Orlaith. You know it’s not safe.”
I’m in too deep. It felt appropriate.
I almost say it aloud, but I don’t want to drag him down, too.
“I just needed to swim ...”
“Inthisweather?”
I close my eyes and shrug.
His chest vibrates, as if some great beast is trapped within its confines, shaking the bars of his ribs.
“You’re smarter than that. Who knows what could have snatched you up?”
“Perhaps that’s what I wanted?” My reply is instant.
Tooinstant.
He tugs my hair, forcing my chin high. “Open your eyes, Orlaith.”
A command laced with a powerful undertow impossible to deny.
My lashes sweep up and I peer into wild, seagrass eyes spilling so much wrath I almost flinch. But the moment our stares tangle, all that anger melts off his face, replaced by such a tender regard it stings the back of my eyes with a thousand pins.
“What’s wrong?”
The question probes my soul, making me shudder.
I love that he asks; that he cares enough to do it.
Not that it makes me want to answer.
He loosens his grip on my hair, and I tuck myself against his chest again. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
His lips skim up my neck, and he plants the next words straight in the shell of my ear. “Your lies don’t work on me, Treasure.”
I’m warmed by his gentle approach to my fib, like he’s chastising me in a loving way.
Still ... I pull deep draws of his salty scent rather than validate the statement with an answer. For not the first time, I wish I had gills so I could slip into his safety net forever. Wish there were some tonic I could take to wipe my memory, myemotions, and dissolve this crushing sense of obligation.
“I know.”
I dig my nose closer to his neck andbreathe, his beat pushing against every inch of me, as if I’m deep inside the throbbing heart of the ocean.
“Then what is it?” he asks into the crook of my neck. “Gift me all your problems, Treasure. I’ll toss them in my trash trove.”
I tug back, seeing his handsome, heavy-lidded regard. “You have atrash trove?”
He shrugs a shoulder, lips curling into a half smile that flashes the sharp tip of his canine. “Anything for you.”
