“Yeah.” His smirk widened into a genuine smile, brightening his entire face.
My thoughts quieted, and I found myself smiling back. We’d spent the entire day together, and if I was honest, he’d made it way better. Being with Caspian was comfortable, easy.
“Thanks for putting up with my grandma,” I said softly. “I’m not sure she’s had anyone to help her in a while.”
“She’s really fun,” he said. “And I had a great time.”
“Me too. I wish I lived closer to her. I hate that she’s alone,” I confessed, the words tumbling out of me before I thought better of them.
I shied away, looking at the ground. Derek hated visiting my grandmother, which was why I hadn’t been in so long. The only people in my family he got along with were my sister and mother, which made sense to me, looking back. They shared some of his opinions about me. Honestly, it was such a relief to be away from him.
“Did you grow up around here?” Caspian asked, pulling me from my thoughts. Somehow he’d moved closer, or maybe I’d drifted forward. He smelled like salt and sage and cool night air.
“No, but my mom sent me each summer to stay with her.”
Memories of lazy days on the beach while my gran readunder an umbrella flashed through my mind. It had been utopia.
“I wonder if we were running around the beach at the same time,” he mused.
I thought about it, and a sense of dread grew in my chest. There was no way we were both kids at the same time. I tilted my head, pursing my lips, and faced the issue head-on.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-five.”
Cringing, I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes. “I’m a fucking cougar. Not only did I accidentally trap a selkie husband, but he’s a baby.”
Chuckling, Caspian gently gripped my wrists and drew my hands down. I stiffened, the surge of magic undeniable. He opened his hands, and I let my fingers rest over his palms, not ready to let the magic go.
“How old are you?” he asked quietly.
Exhaling my breath in a dry laugh, I met his lovely gray eyes. “Thirty-four.”
There was no recoil, no disappointment. His pupils expanded, gray eaten up by black, and my stomach swooped. The magic buzzing over my skin made me feel all kinds of turned on, and then he looked at me like he wanted to devour me, and it was all too much.
Pulling away, I took a slow, deep breath to calm my nerves. The ghost of his touch drenched my skin like he’d had his hands all over me.
“Well, I’ve got some emails to catch up on, and then I’m going to crash. It’s been a really long day,” I said. “I’ll find some spare pillows and blankets and you can sleep on the couch here. Unless you want to go home?”
There’s no way he’ll be happy sleeping on the sofa.
Derek would have whined and complained until he was given a bed.
“I’m right where I want to be,” Caspian said, unwavering. “The couch is great.”
The tightness in my chest unraveled.
“Okay, then,” I said lamely. “Good night!”
“Good night, my little witch.” His voice wrapped around me, as silky as his selkie coat. The sound of it washed away my anxiety. I hesitated, lingering in the moment, as he kept watching me.
This isn’t something I can indulge in.
Shaking myself mentally, I forced my feet to move, trudging down the hall to find pillows and blankets.
He accepted them graciously, watching me with that quiet admiration that sent my emotions tumbling. I raced back to the bedroom like my ass was on fire.
I continued to think about the feel of his calloused palm and the devotion in his eyes when I climbed into my bed. The selkie magic meant he was stuck with me, but I wasn’t sure it meant he was emotionally bonded to me. But I couldn’t take the risk that the selkie magic forced him to be attracted to me.
