orning arrived in shades of honey, tangerine, and cherry blossom petals. Soft, gentle, beautiful pastels felt quite like the indescribable joy of waking up beside his Tempest once more. The comfortable, leisurely awakening he had only ever experienced here, with her.
Beside him, his pretty witch yawned, stretching both arms above her head as she shook the sleepiness from her body. Reed admired her quietly—the arch of her back, the dark lashes as her eyes fluttered shut, the rosy pink of her kissable lips.
“Good morning, Reed,” she spoke softly, her voice raspy with disuse.
“Good morning, my Little Storm,” he replied, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead. “Did you sleep well?”
Her stormy blue eyes met his, crinkling at the corners as she bestowed a beaming smile upon him. “So well! I can’t believe what a difference it makes, having you here.”
“I feel exactly the same way,” Reed whispered, holding her gaze just a little longer.
Reluctantly, he allowed her to crawl out of the cozy bed he adored.Their bed. In their beachside cottage, with the sound of
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the waves lapping against the shore just outside and the salty breeze drifting in from the open window.
He reached for Tempest’s wrist, pulling her toward him with a little tug. As soon as she was close enough, he took her cheek in his other hand and stretched up onto his knees to kiss her good morning properly. Those soft pink lips parted ever so slightly as Reed caressed her cheek with his thumb.
“Have a good day at work, Little Storm,” he whispered into her ear, relishing the little shiver that coursed through her at his proximity.
Her bright smile made his heart leap in his chest. His sweet witch slipped from his fingers, heading out into the kitchen to make her strange morning drink. No amount of chocolate could make the bitter taste of coffee bearable for his palate, which amused her to no end.
Reed sank back down into the blankets, still warm from her body heat, and closed his eyes. He soaked in the small sounds of Tempest moving quietly about the house. Pulling a coffee mug from the cabinet, pulling the iced coffee from the fridge, stirring in her mocha sauce just the way that she liked.
He wanted to memorize every little detail. To be able to make her coffee for her some day soon—he hoped the kind people at the cafe might teach him how to do so properly so Reed could surprise her.
Sooner than he would have liked, his storm witch slipped back into the bedroom and changed into her wetsuit. The way hishands itched to latch onto the curve of her hips and pull her to him hit him like a tidal wave.
Shaking his head, Reed tried his best to clear his mind of such thoughts. “Have a wonderful day, Little Storm. Say hi to Elliot for me. I’ll see you tonight.”
“See you tonight, Reed,” Tempest smiled, genuine adoration shining in her eyes. “I can’t wait to come home to you.”
Happiness swelled in his chest as the merman waved her off. Another exciting day full of new things had officially begun. He pulled one of his new shirts from a hanger in Tempest’s closet and picked out a pair of shorts from the dresser drawer that she had given him for his human clothing.
Like he belonged there, his things side by side with hers, together. Reed admired himself in the mirror, taking a moment to truly observe his human form. He hadn’t considered how he looked terribly much when he had lived under the sea, but humans seemed to value this factor far more than the pod.
His inky black hair, tousled the way the shopkeeper had shown him, fell into his eyes. Behind the wisps, his hazel eyes shone in the sunlight that streamed through the window behind him. The clothing still felt a bit weird to him, but Reed was slowly acclimating to the idea of fitting into human society. Or Crescent Cove, at least.
Satisfied with his appearance, the merman walked to the front door and stepped out onto the porch. He breathed in the salt and brine of the sea, his hair dancing on the breeze as he stared out toward the horizon. It was truly the best of both worlds—land and sea. For Reed, it was more than enough.
Two blonde heads popped out of the water then, their bright blue eyes blinking in surprise at the brightness of the sun from their new vantage point. Celeste and Lumina had agreed to lethim show them around Crescent Cove for the next few days.
He was determined to make them fall in love with the sleepy little beach town every bit as much as he had.
“Mermaids, welcome to our humble little town,” called Reed. “If you will pull yourselves to shore, I’ve got clothing for you to wear while we sightsee.”
“To shore?” gasped Lumina, as if she had forgotten the entire point of their journey.
“Can’t you help us?” whined Celeste, her lower lip sticking out in a childish pout.
“Of course, starfish. But you must swim inland first,” the merman tried to suppress his chuckle.
Their turquoise tails shimmered in the sunlight as they dragged their bodies through the sand toward him. Reed stepped closer to the water’s edge, his hazel eyes trained on Celeste, who outpaced her sister by several yards. When she came into range, he tucked his hands under her armpits and tugged her further out of the water.
The mermaid shuddered, the refreshing sea breeze likely feeling substantially cooler to her after being submerged in the warm summer waters her whole life. Though more than ten suns older than Reed, she had a childlike quality that had never really endeared her to him.
Sure enough, as she began to dry out, Celeste cried out. He did not bother to warn her that transforming her tail into a pair of human legs would be far more unpleasant than simply not being completely soaked in seawater. In a matter of moments, the process began on its own, and the mermaid wailed dramatically.
