Page 10 of Not So Stranded (Delaney’s Sea Monsters #3)

Good thing we weren’t far from home because the trawler was practically puttering along.

I realized I was spoiled completely by Eric’s yacht—and Jonah and Kevin’s, too—since I couldn’t jump off either of those boats and get back on without them stopping.

I could do it all day long on Kit’s trawler.

It also didn’t have a pool onboard, so Zenori and I had to jump off from time to time to keep ourselves from getting itchy and flaky.

I was resisting checking the instruments because I didn’t want to see that we weren’t getting very far.

As much as I’d wanted to find my own place to be with Zenori, I wanted to go home now.

“You don’t need to worry,” Kit said at the wheel. “We’re making good time.”

“Uh-huh. Sure.”

Was I a snob, or was he delusional?

My delusional mate. And everyone was learning about that except him.

Dad hadn’t spoken English, so at least there hadn’t been a surprise reveal thrown out during our phone call.

But I still had to find a way to tell Kit who he was to me.

That I didn’t want our time together to end, and Zenori didn’t either.

That, someday, both of us would like to have kids with him.

How was I supposed to start that conversation?

I could just blurt it out at him. He was abandoning his entire project to follow me home, so that had to mean something big.

I knew he didn’t mean it when he’d said he’d research us because there were practically stars in his eyes when he talked about turtles.

The unknown nesting site could be a significant lure for him, but he was coming home to meet my parents—my whole family! That meant a lot.

“It’s so strange,” Kit said, “to be out here on open water.”

“Never done that before?”

“Jeez, no. There’s always been land somewhere nearby.” He checked the instruments and looked behind us. “And all these huge cargo ships! I’ve been to plenty of ports, but never ones that deal with those, so I had no idea just how enormous they are. They’re like mountains!”

I chuckled at him. “They’re big enough to hitch a ride on without anyone suspecting I’m there.”

“You don’t,” he said, aghast.

“Sure, why not?”

“You could get caught in a propeller!”

“Well, I do my best not to.”

I wound a tentacle around his lower leg to comfort him, still amazed that he’d taken to going around naked without any prompting. That would be helpful on the island since every other human did the same.

“Honestly,” I went on, “most of the time, I’d do that to get through something or avoid something. Like going through the Panama Canal. There are just too many eyes there, so hitching a ride on something big helps me stay hidden.”

“Okay. That makes sense.”

“The submarine was way scarier.”

Kit turned horrified eyes on me. “Oh my god, you didn’t.”

I laughed. “I was curious. But I am pretty sure they knew exactly when I touched them.”

“Hiaka!”

“And they might’ve had cameras, too.”

Kit groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. “And you were worried about me saying something.”

“I’m not worried about you. Or them, really.” I shrugged. “I probably looked like a giant squid. Clear as a Bigfoot sighting, you know?”

“Good grief.” He chuckled ruefully. “At least if it’s the military, they won’t leak it to the public for, like, fifty years.”

I grinned up at him. “And I’ll be a great-great-grandparent by then, living my best life, never once caught, and so no one will believe it.”

But the laughing stopped as he stared at me for a moment. His voice was serious as he said, “Will you and Zenori have your kids at home now?”

“Yeah, we could.”

“I’m sorry I contributed to ruining that little island for you two.” Kit sighed and stared out ahead of the boat. “It would’ve been a great place to raise a family.”

I gulped. This was it. I could say it right now.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I said instead.

“No, I know. My boat, though.”

He set his hand on my shoulder, just resting there, and I knew I had to tell him.

“Anywhere I’m with my mates is a great place to raise a family.”

He smiled down at me and nodded, looked back out to sea, but then frowned at me. “Mates? Plural?”

I nodded.

“So polyamory is normal for cecaelia?”

Crap. This was going in a direction that had his scientific brain getting excited.

“Kit?”

“Yeah?”

“Zenori is my mate.” I cleared my throat because I sounded breathless. “And so are you.”

He blinked down at me for a solid minute, and I didn’t know what to say, so I just let him process whatever was going on in his head.

Then he checked a few readings on the panel in front of him, did things to cut the engine, and finally he sat down on the floor.

I settled lower there as well, wondering if maybe he wanted to be eye level as we talked.

“What does being mates mean to you?” he asked seriously.

Okay, so we were going to work through it logically. I could do that for him.

“It means we’re compatible in every way that would make us good partners.”

He nodded. “And how do you know that applies to us?”

“Well… Okay, this is going to sound like magical woo-woo, but the first time I saw you, it felt like someone punched me in the chest.” I rested my hand over my beating heart. “I felt the same way when I saw Zenori for the first time, too.”

“Did Zenori experience the same reaction?” He cocked his head at me, curls bobbing onto his forehead before he brushed them away.

“Yes.”

“How does breeding work then?” Kit asked with a frown. “If you weren’t a hybrid able to host your own eggs, would the two of you have separated?”

“Some leave,” I said with a nod. “Some stay. I have memories of ancestors who did both.”

Part of me was thrilled that he was giving this so much consideration. The rest of me just wanted him to say he felt the same way about me.

“But you and Zenori want to stay together.”

I nodded.

“And…with me?”

I nodded again. Here we go.

He visibly gulped. “I have to be honest here. I, um… I didn’t feel—”

“You didn’t feel it. That’s okay.” I smiled, trying to reassure him.

“You’re not cecaelia, right? Why would you have a cecaelia’s reaction?

” His lips twitched with a grin, and I took that as his relief that I wasn’t disappointed or that I understood.

“I get it,” I told him. “I thought you should know how I feel since we’re heading to a place where a lot of humans and cecaelia are living together as mates. ”

“You told your dad.”

It wasn’t a question, but I answered anyway. “I did. And as gruff as he was on the phone, Dad’s really looking forward to meeting my mates and welcoming you into the family.”

Kit’s gaze flicked behind me. “Am I Zenori’s mate, too?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t attracted to you and invested in our relationship.”

I watched him seem to mull that over now as well. At least he was absently nodding—that seemed positive, like consideration. Like he was open to the possibilities.

But I needed to know.

“Kit?” I whispered. He looked at me, eyebrows up like I’d surprised him. My heart started pounding and I knew I couldn’t keep being logical about this anymore. Vulnerability swamped me, but I made myself ask. “Do you want to be my mate?”

He smiled, and my breath caught. A moment later and he was up close and cupping my cheeks, leaning in for a kiss. I wrapped my arms and tentacles around him, pulling us together, and opened up for him in every way that I could. I felt my tears fall, wetting both of us, and he pulled back.

Wiping my cheeks with his thumbs, Kit smiled again. “I don’t know how this is going to work out long-term, but I’m willing to try. You fascinate me, and I want to be near you all the time.”

It wasn’t exactly a declaration of love, but it was good enough for now. Even with Zenori, our connection had had to grow before we could say that to each other. I could wait for Kit to catch up.

At sunset and with all the running lights on to make sure they could be seen for miles around, Kit dropped anchor near Lalo.

He wore a pair of shorts for the first time in what felt like forever because, even though Lalo was uninhabited, they were getting closer to the big islands and people.

Part of him wanted to keep moving throughout the night, but they could use the rest and it wouldn’t help them in the long run.

He just didn’t like being the only person on the boat who didn’t have to hide.

He also didn’t like that Zenori and Hiaka would have to stay in the water in case any other vessels came by because they’d be way too easy to see while lit up like they were.

They could go below with him, but they’d have to come back out and get wet to keep their skin damp, track water everywhere, and again, risk being seen.

But after Hiaka’s revelation earlier, Kit didn’t want to be alone.

He’d never had someone say they loved him.

He himself had thought he was in love several times, but those men hadn’t felt the same way.

And now there was someone absolutely amazing who thought they were perfect together—went so far as to describe the connection like they’d been struck by lightning when they’d first seen him.

He’d said he had no idea what the future might look like for them, but by god, he was going to dive in and see what happened.

He had people who loved him!

As he made his way to the stern of the boat, Kit understood that no one had confessed their love, but a long-term, committed relationship was possible on a level he’d never experienced before.

Something about him had told Hiaka that he was the one for them.

Hiaka was in, no question. Zenori was more likely the one Kit might need to woo like any human he’d ever been interested in.

“All set for the night?” Hiaka asked from the water. It looked like they and Zenori both had some tentacles anchoring them to the stern ladder.