Page 5 of Not So Stranded (Delaney’s Sea Monsters #3)

Kit resolved to keep his distance from his intriguing neighbors.

He didn’t want to study them like the turtles.

Maybe the turtles didn’t appreciate him spying on them or counting their eggs as they dropped, but they couldn’t tell him to beat it.

The last thing he wanted from Hiaka or Zenori was a dirty look or a yell to leave them alone.

That the two of them were splashing in the waves not fifty feet from Kit’s encampment when he woke up made his resolution a little harder to keep.

As did the dream he’d had about them last night.

Kit didn’t have a lot of dreams that he remembered, but that one was sticking around and then some.

He was quite literally sitting there waiting for his erection to fade.

And again, having Zenori and Hiaka playing in the water where he could see them had his deviant mind pretending he was in the water with them… Which really wasn’t helping.

Not that what they were doing in the waves was pornographic or anything like that. It was just that they were laughing and teasing each other like lovers did, and there he was sitting on the beach wishing.

His last relationship had been two years ago and lasted all of three months.

He could see now that he and Riley had been trying too hard to make things work when they really just had some fun in bed from time to time.

Kit had started to wonder if he was better off on his own, not relationship material, and should simply get some when he had an itch to scratch without sticking around after.

But there he was sitting on the beach and longing for someone he could goof around with, cuddle up, and laugh with. If he was wishing for a friends-to-lovers kind of relationship, then he couldn’t be a lost cause. Right? He just hadn’t found the right person yet.

Or maybe the right couple?

“Nope,” he mumbled to himself. “Don’t do that.”

He could think about things and make plans for his future dating efforts, but he was not going to sit there and pretend that he might join a couple of nonhumans.

Like that would go anywhere at all. Wouldn’t be taking them home for the holidays!

Sure, fine, it wasn’t like he did a lot of that anyway, but how did a human make a relationship work with a cecaelia?

Hiaka would know.

Kit growled at himself because he was not going to ask those questions and got up to find somewhere semi-discreet to pee.

He hated to leave evidence of his presence on the island, but there were some things he couldn’t avoid.

And he certainly wasn’t going into the ocean to do it while they were out there. At least he wasn’t dehydrated.

“Good morning, Kit!”

He gasped and flinched, hastily tucking himself away.

“Oh, sorry!”

Kit turned, embarrassment swamping him, and found Hiaka and Zenori standing on the beach.

Their tentacles were covered in sand and about two feet of them were holding each cecaelia upright.

Their tentacles moved like legs to propel them forward rather than the slink and pull that octopus and squid used to get around on land.

Pushing away his self-consciousness and forcing a smile, Kit went down the beach to join them.

“Good morning,” he said as he got close. “Lovely day, huh?”

“Quite,” Zenori answered.

“Isn’t it?” Hiaka beamed up at Kit. “It’s always prettiest after a storm.”

Right then, Kit’s stomach growled obscenely, like it wanted to eat him from the inside out.

Putting a hand over his abs, he tried to laugh it away, but he really was starving.

He’d tried fishing after leaving them yesterday, but he’d gone to bed hungry.

He should’ve taken them up on their offer, but he’d thought he could do it himself.

“Sounds like breakfast time,” Hiaka teased with a big grin.

Kit forced a laugh only to have his stomach cramp as it growled again. He winced.

Hiaka came closer and took Kit’s hand. “Do you need help with food?”

Hating to admit it but needing their help, Kit nodded. “I tried fishing last night, but the line slipped right through my fingers and was gone before I could do anything about it.”

“I will hunt for you,” Zenori said. “I will meet you in the lagoon.”

Zenori was going to hunt for him? Kit stared after them, marveling at both their musculature as they moved and the generous offer from someone he’d thought didn’t like him much. “Thank you!”

“Well, isn’t that nice.” Hiaka squeezed Kit’s fingers before releasing him. “I’ll swim around and meet you there.”

Hiaka did a hopping-slash-skipping sort of thing to catch up to Zenori as they walked down the beach and into the water. They shared a kiss before ducking beneath the surface.

Kit was… Well, he was ashamed that he was so helpless, but he was also grateful.

They hadn’t fussed or pitied him; they’d simply decided on a solution and run with it.

That he hadn’t had a say in anything wasn’t so bad.

He probably would’ve been the one to fuss, lying about not needing help, even though he’d have given in eventually. He was starving.

He grabbed the water jug, filet knife, and little camping stove with all its accessories before trudging through the brush toward the lagoon. His stomach gave another awful growl, but knowing food was coming helped him get through it.

When Kit arrived at the lagoon, Hiaka was just entering from the creek as well. For a moment, Kit felt like he was coming home as they waved at each other. Sheesh, he really needed to get his head sorted. He’d made some new friends, not lovers.

“I got you some seaweed,” Hiaka said as they thrust a handful of slightly translucent green sprigs at him. “It doesn’t taste like much without any vinegar and spices, but it’s something.”

“No, this is great!” Kit stuffed half of it into his mouth and chewed. Hiaka was right about it being bland, but that didn’t matter to his empty stomach. “Thank you.”

“You could set your things up in there,” Hiaka said, pointing. “In case it rains.”

Kit turned to the cave beside the lagoon.

Like before, he thought it was a good place to camp.

The lagoon would have to rise two or three feet before it could flood the cave.

And the mouth of it was wide and high enough that he could probably have a fire without filling the space with smoke.

He went inside and set up the cook stove without turning on either burner yet.

“Hey, Kit?”

“Yeah?” he asked, looking out from the cave.

“Is there a reason you don’t want to eat the coconuts and mangoes around here?”

Kit stared at them. “The…what?”

Hiaka pointed up into the nearby trees. Kit looked, too.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he mumbled and covered his eyes. “I literally never looked up.”

They snorted. “That excuse isn’t going to fly once you realize the pineapples are growing from those bushes over there.”

A distressed noise left Kit’s throat as he looked where Hiaka was pointing now. “I am such an idiot!”

Hiaka laughed. “I’m guessing you’re pretty brilliant if someone let you come here to study turtles, but you are not a survivalist. Like at all.”

Kit’s laughter sounded a little hysterical to his own ears and wow did he feel epically moronic.

He knew they farmed mangoes and pineapples on the islands, but he hadn’t expected to find them on an island with no people.

And geez, coconuts were in every single stranded-on-a-desert-island movie he’d ever seen in his life!

He got up, took his knife, and went over to harvest a pineapple. At least he knew that if he could pull a leaf out of the top of it easily, it was ripe.

“You cut up your pineapple,” Hiaka said, coming out of the water, “and I’ll see about getting some mangoes for you.”

“You? But it’s… What? Thirty feet up?”

“Which one of us has sticky feet?” They waved two of their tentacles at him as they walked over to the tree.

Kit took his pineapple back to the cave, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Hiaka. They used their tentacles like a monkey used its tail. And hands and feet. In moments, Hiaka was hanging upside down within reach of the mangoes, picking several of them, and holding them to their chest.

By the time Hiaka came down the tree, Kit had cut up half of the pineapple.

Unable to resist any longer, he bit into a perfectly golden slice and moaned at the sweet, tangy flavor that burst on his tongue.

Hiaka set down the mangoes, and Kit gestured to the pineapple so they’d know to take some, too.

After two slices, Kit paused to breathe. “I can’t believe I wasn’t looking around enough to see pineapples, for Pete’s sake. I mean, I might not be able to haul myself up a tree for mangoes or coconuts, but I know what a pineapple is.”

Hiaka shook their head at him. “You’ve been focused on protein. Don’t beat yourself up.”

That was true. And while protein was important, it wasn’t the only thing available to eat on the island. Hiaka cut into a mango, revealing more juicy fruit to eat. It was becoming even clearer that they were in this together.

While his stomach thanked him for the food so far, Kit cleared his throat and readdressed a subject he knew they needed to talk about more.

“So, um, about breeding here…”

“Yeah?” Hiaka asked with clear surprise.

“Um, well, I just wanted to reiterate that I don’t want to get in your way. Cramp your style and…whatever,” he finished lamely.

They smiled and leaned on the ledge leading to the cave. “You won’t, Kit. It’s okay.”

“Zenori seems—”

“Zenori’s supportive. They’re just not used to humans. I probably should’ve taken them home first.”

“To introduce him to your human relatives?” Kit couldn’t help leaning closer, buzzing with curiosity.

Hiaka nodded. “There are… Hmm… Sixteen humans living there now, I think. And gobs of hybrids like me now. Not everyone is there all the time—except for holidays—but enough would’ve been there to give them an introduction to our way of life.”

“Which is very different from what Zenori knows.”

“Oh, yeah,” they said with a scoff. “Zenori was raised by a parent who had no idea there were other options out there. The hosts?” They made an ew face. “I think they used a wild boar. And then it was all about go forth and find others so we don’t die out.”

Kit wasn’t sure, but Zenori’s upbringing didn’t sound like a great time. That they were willing to change everything after meeting Hiaka was excellent, though. “Maybe your presence at the meeting place will help change how things are done going forward?”

Hiaka laughed and winked at him. “Let me just say there are several cecaelia out there who are really looking forward to my siblings coming of age.”

“Oh, no,” Kit said on an embarrassed chuckle.

“It’s a good thing,” Hiaka said soberly. “We’re changing the world, you know?”

“That’s beautiful. And, well, I just wanted to let you know that if you or Zenori need anything while you’re busy becoming parents, I’m here to help. Like you’ve helped me.”

“Thanks,” Hiaka said and seemed to blush a more purple blue color.

Suddenly, Zenori came gliding into the lagoon and right up to Hiaka. When they held up three rust-colored fish covered in bright blue dots, Hiaka threw their hands in the air and cheered. “All hail Zenori! Our hero!”

Kit echoed the sentiment, and it was the first time he saw Zenori truly smile.