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“I don’t think I’m ready to move right in, but my leaseisup in a couple months, and I can go month to month after that. In the meantime, I wouldn’t be opposed to spending a whole lot of time here. Or having you stay with me.”

“You know I’d never say no to a night with you, little siren.”

“And until then,” I say, cautious optimism breaking through, “maybe we can try out a little bit more of that normal you wanted for us? I mean,actualnormal this time. Would that be alright with you?”

By the way his arms tighten around me and the soft laugh rumbling through his chest, I suspect it might be, but the expression on his face when I lean back and look at him for confirmation steals the breath from my lungs.

38

Elias

“Would that be alright with you?”

Would it be alright? She’s asking for something as simple as time together, wondering if that’s what I want, too. As if she doesn’t know I’d hand her the whole damn world if she asked for it.

“Is that a question, Nora?” I ask her. “Do you really not know?”

With a wicked little smile on her lips, she leans up and nips at mine. “Yes. I know. But answer it, please.”

My siren. As always, I’m powerless against her.

“I’ll give you years of normal,” I tell her with a kiss to her cheek. “Decades.” Another kiss, this one on the tip of her nose. “All the time in the world and all the years of my life, they belong to you.” A kiss on her jaw. “We could have the most normal, boring life in the world, and I’d be the happiest being alive.” My teeth scrape along her throat and she shivers. “But I’d also like to give you more than that, my mate. I’d like to travel with you, and show you some of the places I’ve known. I’d like you to meet some of my kin where they live in their far corners of the seven seas. I’d like to build a life and a family with you, but only when you’re ready.”

Maybe it’s more than she’s ready to hear, but it’s nothing less than the truth.

I want Nora, all of her, for the rest of our lives.

Still, I’m not sure how she’ll react or if she feels anywhere near the same for me, but when her smile spreads even wider and she surges up to claim my mouth in a long, possessive kiss, I have my answer.

“I think all of that sounds wonderful,” she says. “And we have all the time in the world, right?”

“All the time in the world,” I agree.

Laying back in the water and taking her with me as I push us deeper into the pool, I’m struck once more by the same sharp instinct that hit me the moment I first saw her.

Right. This is right. The two of us together.

We stay like that for a while, letting the water hold us steady, hearts beating in sync, with nothing much more that needs to be said right now.

Well, perhaps there is one more thing that needs to be said.

Looking at my treasure, I pause and consider for a moment. It might be too soon, yes, but she’s asked me to be honest with her, to give her the truth about how I feel and what I want. Even if she’s not yet ready to say it back, I could no sooner stop the words from breaking free than I could stop myself from loving her.

“I love you, Nora.”

She goes absolutely still against me for a few heartbeats before pulling her head up from my chest.

A slow, brilliant smile breaks over her face, and in that moment it’s as if the sun and the stars and all the centuries I’ve waited for her fade away. Here’s my new center, the soul I was always meant to find in whatever grand scheme conspired to bring us together.

“I love you too.”

She kisses me again, and all I know is peace.

Epilogue

Nora - Eight Months Later

I’m adrift at sea, being hunted by a kraken.