Page 12 of Emerald Waves (Primordial Protectors #2)

It dawned on me then, that maybe I could get away with not having to show him the remainder of the horde today. After all, the shelving was all in this section, while the rest of the space was hidden around the bend.

“We should go get your things and get them situated the way you want them,” I offered, immediately heading back toward the door only to stop when he didn’t join me.

“It will be a lot easier for us to both continue our research as well as research together once we have everything situated and you settled in.”

“Not until I’ve seen everything,” he declared. “You don’t get to tease me with ancient artifacts and an awesome display of beautiful sea life and then rush me back out the door.”

Should have known my mate wouldn’t even consider an abbreviated tour.

Yes, you should have. And how had you ever thought he was half-human? Our mate is all dragon.

You be quiet, dragon.

Or what, you’ll ignore me, our mate and our dragon the way you have since everyone left?

The way I’d still be doing if you weren’t so fucking loud.

You resorting to crass words and vulgarities is always a surefire tell that you know you were wrong. You know of his insecurities. What you did caused them to spark. Even if it was just a little flare, he should never feel that from us!

And what is he going to feel when he sees what we’ve done to the space?

You will have to wait and see, now won’t you? Though from his reaction so far, I do not see why you are being so hesitant. He loved the reef tank.

Because it is one tank and a handful of creatures, like any aquarium lover would have. Not an obsession like what lies around the bend.

What is wrong with obsessively preserving those who the humans would otherwise have destroyed with their arrogance, negligence, and abject lack of caring for anything and anyone that is different from them?

I don’t think it’s wrong.

Then why do you insist on believing he would?

For the same reason I’ve never told our brothers. I can practically hear Mattias scoff and Odem’s laughter if they knew. Mattias would be put off by my obsession with his element.

Perhaps, or perhaps you’ve misjudged them and made assumptions because you are insecure and have always tried to hide how much you crave approval, especially from Ionus, whose praise means everything to you, despite how infrequently he gives it or maybe because of it.

You have always looked up to him, and on the surface, attempted to adapt to his way, like upstairs, in the home you created and furnished with things in a style reflecting his, not your own.

Leave me alone dragon.

Ahh, why is it you always ask me for the one thing I will never be able to do. We are one, even when you attempt to block me from your thoughts.

You could make it easier.

So could you.

“In case you were wondering, I’m not going to change my mind about wanting to see everything no matter how long you stand there staring into the tank,” Emerson insisted.

Sighing, I turned away from watching the clownfish to face my mate again. The look of resolve on his face was the fiercest look I’d ever seen on him. In my mind, I could hear my dragon rumbling.

“Emerson,” I said, licking my lips as I searched for the right words. “The rest of the horde is around the corner, but there isn’t anything else in it but sea life. Tanks and tanks of sea life.”

“L-like an aquarium?” he asked, eyes going wide.

Letting out a long, exhale, I nodded. “Exactly like that.”

He squealed much as he had in the library, grabbed my hand, and practically dragged me around the bend into my horde, where tanks of every size, shape, and ecosystem, were carefully displayed, each built into the side of the cave.

“Is that a manatee?” Emerson asked, the awe in his voice was unmistakable.

“Not quite, it’s a Steller’s Sea Cow, they are extinct in the wild,” I explained, “As far as I know, they are the final three left on earth. The two females are pregnant. With any luck, their children will reach maturity, and I’ll need to create a much larger habitat space for them.”

“And what’s in here?” he asked, rushing to the next tank.

I chuckled as he peered into a tank filled with sea grass, cocked his head, then changed sides, and his nose scrunched up like he was squinting.

“It’s just grass,” he declared, sounding almost disappointed.

“Look closer,” I suggested, no longer feeling the hesitation I’d initially experienced. Not when he was so overjoyed and curious.

He did as I suggested, moving around, staring from different vantage points until his mouth widened into a big ‘O’ as he pointed without touching the glass.

“There are snails in there,” he declared.

“Eelgrass limpets,” I explained. “And the grass is eelgrass, it’s the only thing they eat. They’ve also lost their wild habitat, as has a close cousin of theirs. They have their own tank, over here, and both are thriving in the environment I’ve created for them.”

“This is utterly unmatched and absolutely amazing,” he said, spinning to face me with curiosity and concern making his features scrunch a bit. “Why didn’t you want to show me?”

Shrugging, I squirmed and felt my cheeks heat up as I rubbed the back of my neck.

“It’s not a traditional horde, and not even of my true element,” I admitted. “I guess I was just afraid that you’d be underwhelmed after you saw it.”

He shook his head at me, then fixed me with a soft smile. “Then we’ve got a lot to learn about one another.”

“I guess we do.”

When he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me, actually melting against me the way he hadn’t earlier in our bedroom, I felt the lump in my throat and the ache in my belly ease.

Despite my fears and misgivings, it seemed like my mate found the place as magical as I did.

Harrumph!

The sound of my dragon in my head was momentarily jarring.

Tried to tell you that, human.

I know.

Then maybe next time you’ll listen to me!