She nodded, leaning into my touch, her cheek pressing deeper into my palm, and I had the distinct feeling that whatever she was about to say wasn’t something she had ever given to anyone before.
Chapter 11:Kara
THE SAND WAS STILL cool beneath my toes, and a soft breeze rolled in from the water, brushing against my skin in a way that made me suddenly aware of how little I was wearing. Vulnerable didn’t even begin to cover it. And yet, that wasn’t what had my body so tense.
Octavius stood above me like he was trying to give me space. When I looked up at him, he was almost as bare as I was, dressed only in his pants. His muscled body caught the moonlight while his tentacles swayed behind him, their colors shifting from a blushing pink to a deeper red, and I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad one. He seemed just as tense as I was, concern etched into his features as he waited for me to say what I couldn’t quite find the words to explain.
A part of me just wanted to go back to kissing him, to let him continue touching me like nothing else mattered in this moment. But he deserved the truth, and if he didn’t want me after it... well, it would hurt like hell, but I’d survive.I always did. Even if it meant running again. Even if it meant doing it with a broken heart.
I swallowed, my fingers curling slightly into the sand at my sides. “Octavius,” I said finally, forcing myself to look up and meet his gaze. “I haven’t been honest with you.” My throat tightened around the words. “About why I’m here.”
There was no shock in his expression, almost like he had already suspected something was off about me.Of coursehe had. He could sense things, couldn’t he? Maybe this was something he already knew and had just been waiting for me to admit on my own.
“I figured there was something more,” he said, his voice surprisingly steady.
“You did?” I asked, the thought creeping back in that he might have known the truth all along. Was that why he had been here? Why he kept coming back?
“Is that why you’ve been spending time with me?” I asked. “Because you knew I was hiding something and you were trying to figure it out?”
“No,” he answered immediately, before pausing like he was working something out in his head. “Well,” he said, almost sheepishly, “at first, maybe a little. But that’s not why I stayed.”
I stilled at his admission, my chest tightening, because somehow that made this even harder to say.
“I don’t care about your past,” he continued, his gaze holding mine in a way that made it impossible to look away. “I just care aboutyou.”
“Thank you, but... that may change once you know the truth,” I said quietly, my voice barely rising above the sound of the waves behind us. I swallowed, forcing the words out even as they scraped against my throat. “I want to be honest with you, because you’re the first person I’ve actually wanted to be honest with in a very long time.”
I thought maybe he would step back then, put space between us, brace himself for whatever was coming. But instead, he lowered himself into the sand beside me, his hand finding mine as his fingers threaded through my own.
I glanced down at where our hands were joined, his thumb brushing slow, soothing circles along the side of my hand, and my heart stuttered before picking up faster. It would be so easy to stay right here, to let this moment stretch just a little longer before everything changed. But I couldn’t lie to him anymore.
My gaze lifted back to his, and I drew in a slow breath, trying to steady myself before the words left my mouth—because once they did, there would be no taking them back. “I’m not here because I have a relative who’s a sea sprite.”
He tilted his head slightly, a smirk forming on his distracting lips. “What, not your fifth cousin? Or was it your sixth? I think at one point you said tenth.”
A small, startled laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it. Of course he had noticed how often my story changed. I mean, after all,Icould barely keep my own lie straight half the time, especially around him.
Some poker face I had, if he could see right through it.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I actually don’t have any cousin who’s a sea sprite... because I’m not related to one.” I hesitated for just a fraction of a second before forcing the truth out, like ripping off a bandaid. “I’m human.”
His hand stilled, and the gentle movement of his thumb stopped while his fingers went slack in mine, as if I wasn’t still holding on, his hand might have slipped free completely. Panic flared in my chest, and I tightened my grip on him, squeezing his hand like I could remind him of what he’d said—of what he’d promised, that whatever I said wouldn’t matter. Butnow? Now I wasn’t so sure.
I looked down, my fingers tightening around his once more, like I could remind him I was still me. But he just sat there, silent, as if the words hadn’t fully settled yet, as if he was still trying to make sense of them. The hesitation stretched too long, and something inside me started to fold in on itself, and I knew I should have just kept my damn mouth shut.
