Baffled our foes stand on the shore.
Follow they will not dare.”
My heart does crunches in my chest, burning, throbbing squeezes that aren’t because of the pizza. Mercer’s voice fades, but as I peep out of my room, I can hear his bass murmur in the nightlight-lit room. “Good night, bonnie boy. My lad, born to be king.”
“What’s a foe?”
“An enemy. The bad guy.”
“The little boy had bad guys after him?”
“Some say so. But you’ll never have any bad guys after you. Not with your mother and me here to protect you.”
“I know.”
“Sleep, bonnie boy.”
“Love you.”
My heart crashes into my ribs and holds.
Mercer’s voice is thick with pride and maybe tears. “Love you, too.”
When he steps into the hall, he pauses, head resting against the door, shoulders working. His tentacles writhe silently, an emotional thermometer I’m still learning to interpret.
“Mercer?” I whisper.
He whirls, his tentacles thunking against the baseboards of the hall.
“Sorry! I heard you singing. That was beautiful. I’ve never heard that one before.”
“It’s an old Scottish lullaby. Calder and I have Greek and Celtic ancestry. Our mothers sang that to us. I imagine he sings it to his boys.” He swallows, and his eyes glint in the dim light. “I suppose I wanted to try it on my boy, even if he’s not really mine.”
Something in me, probably that aching, burning, exhausted heart that’s tired of men who play games, of men who walk away from their sons, bursts. I march the few steps across the hall and hop up into his arms, knowing full well some part of Mercer, tentacle or arms, will catch me.
He does, his arms locking around my waist with a surprised gasp as I kiss him like I’m choosing him over my last breath.
I am, in a way. This is my last gasp of fear, of fighting to be “independent” from the bad man. It’s my first kiss as a new person, a woman who realizes choosing a man—or monster—like Mercer isn’t a mistake.
“I still need time,” I whisper between desperate, hungry kisses. “But not as much as I thought. I want you with us, Mercer. I want... I don’t want to lose you, but I’m still in shock that I found you in the first place.”
Mercer nods, speechless. “You’ve found me. You are mine, I am yours. From the first second you kissed me, I saw the future, Madelyn. My future—and it belonged to you.”
For a guy who claims he never used to say much, he rocks a romantic speech. I arch my shoulder back towards my bedroom door—and for the first time, Mercer seems to notice what I’m wearing—a faded blue bathrobe with nothing underneath.
“Put me to bed. And stay the night?” I ask.
Mercer nods. “If you want. We don’t have to do anything but sleep. You’ve had a terrible shock.”
“And a wonderful one. The right guy is here. With me and my little boy. You love him?”
Mercer nods. “More than I understood a beingcouldlove.”
“Yes. Yes, that’s what it’s like when you’re a parent,” I explain, and my eyes overflow.
“Oh, love, please don’t cry.”
“I have to. Do you know... Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to share this feeling with someone? I mean, my parents get it; they have me, but this is different. Sharing your child with someone and believing someone can love them as much as you do... No, I’m probably not there yet, but to understand that you are starting to love him like I do, or like a parent does...” I trail off, blinking back tears and giggling at the same time. “It’s something I hoped would magically kick in with Eli—and it didn’t. He made damn sure of it. Then there’s you—you made damn sure itdidhappen. You worked for it from the first second you saved him. You called him your junior lifeguard and honorary kraken. You worked to get into our lives—and oh, my God. I want you somewhere else.”
