Page 10

With trembling hands, I collect my clothes and dress myself. It takes me longer than it should because I fumble over every item.

There’s a swell of nausea in my belly, and when I bend over to put my shoes back on it rises, threatening to overwhelm me.

For a long moment I have to simply stand and breathe.

I just cheated on Justin. With a guy I barely know. Because we had one silly fight that wasn’t even a fight. Because I got upset.

I never thought I’d do such a thing.

FOUR

Noah

Furious, I drive straight out of the carpark of The Snapper, leaving the place unlocked. Fuck if I’m spending another moment in there with her. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t trust her or I don’t trust myself not to take things further than I already did.

With another man’s girl.

After what Charlotte did to me.

I screech around corners so fast there’ll be another discussion about speed humps at the next council meeting. I come to an abrupt stop at the top of the cliff at the lookout off the highway out of town.

By now, my skin is dry and I’ve long since shifted back into my two-legged form. Makes me a worse driver, but at least now I don’t have to look at the tips of my glowing tentacles in the dark.

Killing the engine, I stalk from the car, slamming the door behind me.

It takes about two minutes in the blustery, salty, ocean breeze to clear my head enough for me to think again.

Fuck!

What did I just do?

There are about a hundred good reasons why I shouldn’t have even kissed Olivia Zeston, let alone tentacle fucked her to a bloody glorious orgasm.

That’s the kicker. The look on her face when she came around the tip of my tentacle was like she’s never come harder in her goddamn life.

I run a hand through my hair. What with the sea breeze and the sweat from the kitchen and my messing with it, the longer middle section is probably sticking up at crazy angles.

I lean over the guardrail and draw in a deep salty breath and let it out as slow as I can.

I need to calm the fuck down and start thinking with my brain.

Not my dick. Not my tentacles which have been glowing for her from the moment I saw her.

That scares the fuck out of me, but I reassure myself it’s just an obsolete biological function.

I can’t have a fated mate because I don’t believe in fate. She’s just a female that I’m highly compatible with. Which makes no difference to me because I don’t intend to saddle myself with offspring and I certainly won’t be settling down.

Not now.

Not ever.

After Charlotte left me at the altar, I promised myself I’d never let myself risk that kind of heartache again.

I’m a bitter shell of the guy I used to be. I couldn’t survive that twice.

So I never let myself get attached.

Sure, I fuck women. I fuck plenty of women. I hardly ever fuck the same girl twice, though, and I cut short anything that feels remotely like there could be feelings attached.