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I almost manage a little sway of my hips as I walk away from him and into the bathroom, clothes forgotten. He thinks my ass is nice! This god of a creature thinks all my parts are nice.

I’m not sure I believe it, but since I guess he doesn’t have any motive for lying, he might just be genuine.

That’s all it takes to paste a huge smile on my face for the rest of the evening. It doesn’t even faze me when I catch him in the doorway of the bathroom, watching me shower. I simply switch off the water, strut from the shower, and towel off quickly, breezing past him as if I walk around naked all the time.

I think I would if I had Noah around all the time just for the appreciative look on his face.

Collecting my things, I dress with regret and let him take me out to the bike and the quick ride home. At least this time he doesn’t tear off down the hill as soon as my key is in the door. He waits until the door is closed before I hear him start the engine up again and take off.

I fall into bed and press my fingertips to the smile that’s lingering on my lips.

That was just as good as I hoped it would be.

Now I need to make sure I don’t let my heart get carried away because I need what just happened at least a hundred more times in my life.

TWELVE

Noah

As soon as I’m back home after dropping Olivia at her bed and breakfast, I strip off and wrap my towel around my waist, heading for the pool in my apartment complex. Technically the pool closes at ten, but that just means I won’t have to share it with any of the other residents. I hate sharing.

And if anyone is offended by my naked late-night swimming, they haven’t yet dared to complain to the strata management.

That first moment when I drop the towel and dive into the water feels almost as good as sliding my cock into Olivia’s waiting mouth. By the time I’m immersed, I’ve shifted. My skin feels loose and soft. The tension falls away from my shoulders and I sigh, making a cloud of bubbles rise to the surface above me.

I don’t bother coming up for air. In this form I can breathe through the gills, which open on my neck. Instead, I swim a few lazy laps in the too small pool and tuck myself into a corner, using four tentacles to keep myself in place.

God that was good today with Olivia. I could get used to having her around. This should be a red flag waving in my face, but I ignore it. That blowjob was too good to pass up the opportunity for at least one more when it’s practically beating down my door. It’s been a while since I fucked anyone I had that much chemistry with. Hard to define, impossible to predict, but you know it when you feel it. And with Olivia, I definitely feel it.

Not that I’m going to get all hung up on her.

I’m not.

I can safely fuck her a few more times while she’s in town and when it’s time to say goodbye, I’ll put her out of my mind and move on with my life.

I’ll miss the sweet taste of that pretty cunt, though.

And Olivia Zeston might have the softest skin in both hemispheres with the prettiest dusting of light brown freckles and the cutest nose.

OK, this needs to stop.

I throw myself into action, twisting to launch myself through the pool. I swim laps until I’m not thinking about anything else but the perfect time to spin into a turn, the perfect way to move my tentacles through the water to propel my body at the fastest speed.

When the water is churning and I’m satisfied my little episode is over, I haul myself over the edge of the pool and grab my towel. Wrapping it around my hips, I stalk back to my apartment and into a long hot shower. Every time I see Mum she berates me about my skin looking dry and that I’m not taking proper care of myself. She always tells me I should move back home so I can sleep underwater like a kraken should, but I can’t bring myself to do that.

I value my independence too much.

Besides, my evening regimen of a swim and a shower is almost as good. I’m fine. I don’t need her fussing over me.

Against my better judgment, I exchanged numbers with Olivia in case there’s more online trolling overnight. So when I check my phone and see there’s a message from her, I think at first it’s bad news.

When I open it, however, I discover she just has a thing or two to learn about the whole fucking without feelings game.

Olivia: thanks for tonight. You’re a really great cook and I had a good time *heart emoji*

I roll my eyes and toss my phone aside without answering. Can’t let her get into the habit of expecting a response every time. That sends entirely the wrong message. And I’ll have to speak to her next time about her use of emojis. Even a wink or the melting emoji would have been a better choice here. A heart is too… serious. Too much.

I drop into bed and doom scroll until my eyelids are drooping and I’ve almost lost the urge to check again and see if she said anything else.