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Caspian smiles into the kiss, and it’s in that moment that everything about my existence makes sense. All the years I spent alone, following lighthouses, saving humans without them knowing, watching and learning, then returning to the sea. It was all part of my story – a new legend in the making.
Because even monsters fall in love. Even creatures very few believe in have someone who fits them like a key in a lock. And Caspian Brody is mine.
My mate. My everything.
THIRTY
CASPIAN
Rolling over, I throw an arm out to the side, expecting to bump against a hard, warm body, but only finding cool sheets. I sigh, opening my eyes and stretching, relishing in the ache in my muscles and ass. A smile lifts on my lips when I think of the night before. How Sterling had taken me, slow and gentle, his human body pressing me into the sheets until we were both sweaty and covered in cum. Then he’d wiped me down with a wet cloth and rolled me onto my side, spooning me from behind. His heart beat against mine, a rhythmic song written only for me.
Removing the blanket, I look down at my naked body. I’m covered in tiny purple marks from my chest all the way down to my thighs, and there’s a long scratch down my sternum.
“Fucking monster,” I mutter, my smile growing wider. Though the house is quiet, I know Sterling is still here. That strange double beat in my chest is a signal that he’s not far. My guess is that he’s down on the beach, where he’s been spending all his free time in the week since I learned the truth.
I climb out of bed, and forgoing a shower, throw on fresh clothes before padding down to the kitchen where I make a mug of tea and then head out to the barn. The sheep are already out in the paddock, their hay buckets full, and Applesauce and Rhubarb are climbing over the new frame Sterling built for them while I was at work yesterday.
It’s Sunday – the bakery is closed, so I had a lay in after having the best sleep of my adult life. I’ve woken up feeling fresh and relaxed, with a spring in my step.
I open the gate of the paddock and usher the goats out.
“Come on, let’s go find him.”
Applesauce bounces ahead, making her way down the hill towards the sea. We find Sterling on his haunches, hands buried deep in a mound of sand. There’s a strong scent in the air, rotten and wet, and the largest sea lion is sitting close to his side.
“Morning, sweet human,” he says, his attention on the ground, his back to me.
“Morning, my love.” My love. Because that’s what he is. “She letting you look today?” I ask, gesturing towards the grey and white speckled cryptid who isn’t always happy to have Sterling down here.
He finally turns to face me, and the green in his eyes takes me by surprise. It’s human Sterling I’m looking at, but his eyes are glowing.
“She is, and I think I’ve found something. But I need you to test out my theory.”
I kneel on the sand next to him, the cool ground seeping through my joggers.
“Okay. What do you need from me?”
“When I touch it.” He points to a mound of grey-blue sand. “It stings, like a thousand bees breaking my skin, and I get this buzz in my head. White noise with a muffled voice hidden beneath it.” He presses his palm firmer to the ground, gritting his teeth. His ears grow pointed, and he snarls, his canines sliding out between his lips. Pain radiates across his face and I grab his wrist and pull it up and off the ground.
Sterling lets out a wounded sound, holding his hand over his heart.
“What the hell was that?” I ask, pressing a palm to his back. The heat of his skin bleeds from his t-shirt, hotter than is natural.
“When I touch it for too long, it forces a shift,” he says. “A painful shift.” He tips his head to the sea lions. “But when the sea lions do it, nothing happens at first.” As if she understands his words, the matriarch touches her nose to the sand, pausing for a heartbeat. “But after a moment…look.” The sea lion points her face to the sky and I note the blue moving through the white parts of the fur, covering her in patches that remind me of that time Pops washed my new navy shorts with his white shirt. Faint and patchy, but visible. She doesn’t shift, nor does she flinch like she’s in pain. If not for the change in colour bringing her fur to life, I wouldn’t have thought it affected her at all.
“And now you want to know what happens if I touch it,” I say with understanding.
Sterling nods. “But I don’t want you to get hurt.”
I reach out a hand, hovering it over the blue earth. “I think I’ll be okay.” We both hold a breath as I press my palm to the mound, burying it beneath the sand. Apart from the usual sensation that slides up my arm when there’s dirt between my fingers, nothing out of the ordinary happens.
“Huh,” he muses, scratching his bearded chin with one hand. “It’s like it reacts differently based on the biology of the creature touching it. I don’t understand how or why.”
I dust my hand on my joggers, then rest my head on his shoulder. “Maybe it’s one of those things we will never understand. Like parallel universes or math.”
It’s fascinating, but I wouldn't even know where to start looking for answers. Pops would have known. He knew everything. I wish I had listened more closely when he told me his stories.
Sterling chuckles, kisses the top of my head, then stands, holding out a hand to me.
